Disclaimer #1 -- That title was written to the tune of "Babysitting Blues" from Adventures in Babysitting. I now have that song stuck in my head. LOL

Disclaimer #2 -- I am mostly going to whine. Feel free to ignore me.

So, I'm not even through my first full week of "mushies" and I am MISERABLE about it. Seriously, turkey taco's (no shells) in the blender looks like cat vomit! I have two cats, legit looked like what I've cleaned off my floor. Now, they tasted fantastic but every time I looked at my plate, I had to talk myself into taking the darn bite. My chicken and cauliflower tonight looked like someone chewed it up and spat it out for me. Like I'm a baby bird.

I've had some pretty good success with chili -- though Wendy's has been my go to since I've never made chili and the sodium has me up a couple pounds. I have all the ingredients to make a turkey chili that my sister (a chef) is going to make up for me tomorrow. For some reason, that's been one meal that I can eat pureed and the texture isn't killing me. Plus, its good in Protein and once made at home will be nice and healthy. I also made a delish butternut squash Soup. I'm trying to mind my carbs with that so I'm treating it like a side dish and not having too much in a serving.

Snacks are OK. Yogurts, pudding, cottage cheese and smashed banana with some PB mashed in for protien have been yummy. That said, right now I want crunch. I want bite. I want something to chew.

But, the reality is THIS STAGE SUCKS! I need to think of more meals to have for dinner, too. I'm not sure what to mix with the meats so they are not dry. I suppose I can live on chili for the next two weeks. My husband may want to divorce me by the end of that, tho. Ha ha ha. I have two more weeks of hell. I know I can do it. I know I'll get through it. I just needed to whine a bit about it and share with people who can sympathize.

So, if you have have taken the time to read this, I thank you. If you, too, have "Babysitting Blues" stuck in your head, I apologize -- unless you like Adventures in Babysitting -- and if that's the case we should be friends.

Disclaimer #3 -- Lack of solid food is clearly affecting my sanity as evident by this post. LOL

You're doing great. We have all been there. For mushy I ate meatballs w/sauce and sweet and sour meatballs. I am the world's worse eater. I don't eat most things you listed. I also had jumbo lump crab meat. That was on my list. I still love to eat it.

For chewing, chew on popsciles.

Kelli-a few weeks and you will forget this stage.

Say HI to Jim.

Thank you!

Hmmmm, I should make some meatballs. I must admit that I'm a bit of a sauce snob but I could whip up a small batch of that, too, I think. Good idea! Thank you very much.

Appreciate the encouragement and you reading my rant!

Oh and I'm sure if Jim was awake he'd say Hi back. He's currently passed out with the Sox game on, leaving me to watch it. Good thing I like baseball. Ha ha.

I am in the mushy stage as well and mashed potatoes has been my go to comfort food but I have GAINED 4 pounds. I feel like crying now.Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I did very soft scrambled eggs alot. I did not pay any mind to carbs while in this phase but I did make sure I got my protein. I actually lost pretty good during this stage though my surgeon told me I probably wouldn't.

I just started eggs this morning. I have to watch my carbs since I'm technically still diabetic.

I'm also up a couple pounds. Blah. Going to ramp up the exercise this week.

I just had surgery less than 2 weeks ago, so I understand your "blues". I feel it too! However, I am surprised to learn what everyone eats. My dr told me NO carbs for a couple months. Strictly protein. I have a week by week schedule to follow, and carbs are not allowed for me for awhile. It just shows how different all doctors are. We will all get through this!

I had a real difficult time with that phase two. I had a couple of things that were "go to" meals for me. I'll post them here (with recipes as needed) and you can try or ignore anything.

For Breakfast, I would eat runny scrambled eggs with a bit of shredded cheese.

For lunch, I would have two ounces of either chicken/salmon/tuna drained (just from a can) with a third of an avocado and some salt, pepper, and dried ground mustard. I would just eat that with a fork.

For dinner, I made (half of) the following:

Potato soup

1 32oz bag Frozen Southern Style Hash browns (be sure it has 0 fat) - thawed (or potatoes o’brien)

42 oz fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth or 3 14oz cans

Salt to taste

1 cup fat-free skim milk

1 cup Water

1 pkg McCormick original country gravy mix

6 Tbsp Hormel Bits, real crumbled bacon 30% less fat

Spray your soup pot with some non-stick cooking spray. Heat your pot and put in your hash browns. Brown them slightly; be sure not to burn the potatoes. If some of the potatoes get stuck to the bottom, that's ok. Pour in 1 can of the chicken broth and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Then pour in the other two cans. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer.

In the meantime, in a separate bowl, whisk together the water & milk with the package of country gravy mix. Once potatoes are soft and starting to break down, pour in gravy mixture. Mix in bacon bits and let cook until thick and creamy. Add Salt to taste (be careful with adding pepper as the gravy is very peppery) If you don't like chunks in your soup, blend the soup in small batches

My surgeon also said I could eat baked fish if it was light and flaky....nothing with a tough skin. I made a small batch of cauliflower mashed potatoes to go with my fish, and was set.

Hope that helps! you'll get through it I'm sure.

~David.

I have tried everything in the world to be creative, but by the time you blend it up....it is like looking at vomit or baby poop!!!!! Please please hurry up 10/17!!!!! Not to mention, I'm hungry and have to ignore it!!!! Eye on the big picture, eye on the big picture, eye on the big picture..........

Thanks for the recipes and idea's, David. I started eggs with some cheese just the other day. We actually use Egg Beaters so I need cheese added for taste. I make them very soft and chew them until I can't possibly chew them any more.

I have also taken to chili. It puree's nicely and I've been having it for lunch and dinner. Good protien. I made it with Turkey so it's a healthy version.

The soup sounds wonderful! I will try it.

Has anyone tried baby food? My dietician recommended Gerber during the mushy phase. Haven't tried them yet but seems like I remember them being good when I fed them to my son!

5.0 junkie - I don't remember baby food ever tasting anything but pure bland. At least when I blended the green beans and ham, it did "taste " like it was supposed to as long as you don't focus on what it looks like! All I could think of was this is how we started out and this is probably how it will be when we're old and can't chew up our food!

I actually hated stage 2 so much that I stuck mostly with stage 1. Texture was a real problem for me.

I'm with you Jim, the texture makes me gag!

I hated that stage so much, l also stuck to liquids most of the time, until I tried fish pie (topped with mash and even blended with a bit of milk is nice), curried lentils (over cooked so that it's very soft and curried mince with lots of sauce. I was enjoying these so much, they are so filling and satisfying, I thought I would put on weight but I actually lost. The most disgusting thing is blended chicken yuck!

I lived on and still do homemade shepherd pie and soups so I watch what goes into it... Also don't worry to much re gaining a pound or two at this stage it's because u haven't eaten for a while and that's normal.. It will come off