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Food

R

ruru

Junior member
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
15
Location
UK
I'm currently on a course of antibiotics after having a tooth extracted, and my diet is limited (ensure plus, tomato soup, and scrambled egg (not a favourite!)). I was wondering what foods everyone else eats both normally and after an extraction?

I have a restricted diet anyway so I'm finding things really challenging right now. I'm allergic to peanuts, nuts, a whole host of fruit (banana, kiwi, apple, cherries, cranberries), I'm lactose intolerant, have non-coeliac gluten intolerance, and I don't eat pork. I avoid crisps and sweets too, although potato smilies with mayo are one of my favourite meals (maybe I can have that tomorrow...?). My favourite soda is sugar free tonic water with lime.

I find food a very hard topic, so would like to see what others here have to say - what you like/recommend after dental work, what you love eating normally, any strange combos you enjoy (milk wasn't appealing to me so I'd put orange juice on cereal as a kid - apparently weird to everyone else!).

I would really appreciate it if this thread could be kept free of talking about any foods you find disgusting or that make you sick - thank you!
 
I have had a limited diet for about 6 months now...soft foods only. I had two lower molar extractions on the right, and am awaiting an implant for one and the crown for another (one implant in place). I have a cracked lower molar on the other side, but trying to hold off treatment until I can chew on the right again.

You definitely have a challenge with your limitations. I pretty much eat eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, or grits. Sometimes I make french toast or pancakes, but I am not much on sweet stuff in the morning. Lunch and dinner usually is tuna, or baked fish, chicken breast seasoned and cooked the crockpot or pressure cooker, meatloaf, very soft pasta, mashed potatoes, smoothies, almond butter on bread (no nut allergy but I think peanut butter is too sweet), and sometimes soft cheese and just deli meat.
 
We have a list of soft food ideas here on the page, if you haven't taken a look yet. Any vegetables cooked for long can be soft enough to be eaten comfortably. I love mashed cauliflower and also soup made of red lentils. Hummus and guacamole are my other favourites, those are all very soft foods. If you feel any food is boring, try to use more spices - cauliflower mash tastes amazing if you use some tumeric, curry, a bit of cinamon and put in some coconut milk. Eggs can taste pretty boring, but you can experiment a lot with it - you can put in some tarragon for example or (my favorite one) put in some canned peas. They taste a bit sweet and are a good addition to the eggs. I got a new cook book just yesterday, they suggest four different ways to prepare eggs using different spices and even lime, one of them is even with tamari (soy sauce). Lemon juice is also a big one, it can give taste to anything. So my point is, soft foods can be boring but using spices can be a real game changer.
 
After having my lower molar extracted a couple of years ago I ate pretty normally within a few days, but while I was waiting on the extraction and it was painful some of the things I ate were:

Porridge, with cinnamon, peanut butter or Nutella
Yoghurt with honey
Muffin with mashed avocado (with chilli flakes) topped with a poached egg
Chilli with rice
Stuffed pasta in sauce
Harissa spiced chickpea stew (carrots, onion, celery, peppers, tin of chickpeas, tin of tomatoes, harissa spices, chilli flakes, paprika, cook down for about 30 minutes - we have it with pitta breads)
Jacket potatoes with cheese, baked beans, tuna, egg mayo (not all together!)
Ice cream
Soft crisps like Quavers, Skips, Wotsits

(I realise some of these things won’t work because of your restricted diet, but might be useful for someone else.)
 
I have definatately had to learn a soft food diet with so much dental work.. there are definately alot of favorites that were listed here like mashed califlower.. yummm.. I put garlic and butter, hummus and tapenade are great and one thing I love after extractions is Gravy, egg fou young gravy is great because it is very thick and feels more substantial . not that alot of gravy would be good health wise.. but.. it is tasty.. and easier to eat for short periods. I also have alot of chocolate mousse.. and soups and broths.
 
Ooh there are so many good idea I hadn't thought of before! Thank you guys! I didn't say but I struggle to cook and also can't afford food most days of the month but luckily the money I had saved up for a root canal was more than the cost of the extraction... I might try to get some hoummous... Anything that can be eaten out the packaging is a major bonus ?
 
Oh gosh, I forgot about soups! I am generally too lazy to make it myself, but I like the Baxter’s tinned soups (not sure if you get these outside Scotland?) and also the tubs of fresh soup from M&S - both of these are really filling and come in lots of flavours, although I realise the M&S pots are quite expensive. I often have soup if I am home alone, with either bread or rice cakes, as a quick, easy meal.

Frittata is another good option, and can use up any old veg you have knocking about.

Still on eggs, scrambled eggs can be pepped up with smoked salmon or ham stirred in towards the end, and grated cheese on top. (I sometimes add feta cheese at the end if we have some left over from something else.) Toast with scrambled eggs and baked beans is another easy thing I often make if OH is out and I am cooking for myself.

Another quick and easy, super-yummy staple recipe I do is chorizo and red pepper pasta - no use for someone who doesn’t eat pork, but again, might help someone else, so here goes:

Chop up your chorizo (I use a half chorizo between two of us) and heat it on low. While it’s doing its thing, chop a couple of garlic cloves, and a red onion. Ideally keep your onion in rings. Once your chorizo is oozing oil, bung the onion and garlic in, and chop a red pepper. Stir. Once the onions are soft, add the pepper. Stir. Add a pinch of chilli flakes and some smoked paprika, then a tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir. Chuck in a handful of frozen peas. Stir. The longer you can leave it to simmer, the softer and more flavourful everything becomes, but it’s ready in about 15 minutes if you are in a rush. Add cooked pasta. Stir. We have it with garlic bread, and it tastes good cold for a work lunch the next day.
 
Tonic water with lime is highly acidic and regular consumption leads to erosion
 
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