Howdy... I start the soft & mushy food phase this weekend and I'm wondering what you all have been eating that is rich in protein. I would love, love, love to get away from the nasty shakes and get my protein intake from real food if possible. Any ideas? Or am I stuck gagging down shakes until I can eat normal food?

I made smoked ham and lentil soup with onions and carrots. As I progressed through the phase, I would puree it less and less. It is packed with protein and good carbs. REALLY tasty and took me about 20 minutes to make a huge batch. I stored the leftovers in jelly jars and put them in the freezer. Grabbed one on my way out the door to work. I also made chicken veggie and turky chili. Same thing. Puree with hand blender as needed.

I put unflavored protein in soups, pureed and strained them. I ate a lot of yogurts and cottage cheese (still do). Just about any meal can be pureed to work. I would stay away from red meats, but chicken does well. Eggs and egg whites are okay, but it took me a bit to be able to eat them without getting queasy (it was the only food that did that). Trader Joes's has an organic no meat chilli that's good and quick and easy to pop in the microwave (you can mash up the beans pretty easy with fork or puree it.

Thank you! I keep forgetting that I can make healthy meals and just puree them. Now I know what I will be doing this weekend... making my white chicken chili.

Oh, yes ... don't buy the processed stuff. Try making a couple varieties of soups as you don't want the white chicken chili to grow old. Then, years from now you won't be able to eat it because all you can remember is eating pureed white chicken chili.

Know what I mean?

Yes! lol... too funny. I'm going to try and 'half' the batch. It is amazing how many 1/2 cup servings a dish can make when it is pureed.

I'm in the purée stage and I love my Vita Mixer. I purée 2 cans of lentil soup put them in containers. Wala. Protein for 6 meals.