I'm 8 weeks out and am a little behind on advancing my diet to normal food because I've been in and out of the hospital, but today I came home and wanted to try something other than frickin yogurt! So I tried some deli turkey meat..it was too dry..I tried some turkey sausage, too dry. I want to hold off on any dark meat. I want to try different fish, shrimp, turkey, but don't know how to prepare them so they aren't too dry help! What are examples if what you guys first started out with in this soft to normal food stage? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

what about eggs. chunked tuna, Beans, other options.. good luck

Meat that is braised or cooked in a crock pot tends to be very tender and juicy, so I would look for those kinds of recipes. For poultry, stick to thigh meat instead of breast meat -- it is much softer and moister. You can bake fish in a little casserole or foil packet with liquids added in to make sure it is moist and not dry.

Some sample recipes:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/braised-turkey-legs

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-thighs-385169

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-deen/tilapia-foil-packets-recipe.html

This is my favorite shrimp recipe, it comes out very tender -- just be careful not to overcook!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/garlic-basil-shrimp-recipe.html

One way to ensure your shrimp stays tender and juicy is to brine it before cooking:

http://www.salvationsisters.com/2010/04/brining-for-succulent-shrimp-every-time.html

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, check out their prepared meat section. They usually have a lot of chicken that is precooked in sauce that I have found to be very tender (even the breast) and you just need to heat it up. They also have a lot of pre-marinated chicken and fish that is ready to be cooked and will stay soft and tender when you cook it, as long as you are gentle with it. Good luck!

I started with tuna salad, crab salad and chicken salad (made with canned chicken breast,) so I could shred the meat as small as I wanted and add as much mayo as I wanted to make it plenty moist. I also added water to scrambled eggs to make them more moist. Plain eggs were even too dry.

One trick to keep fowl moist it to brine it using salt Water. There are many recipes on line. I have heard it works on pork but have not tried it. As for turkey I will never cook a non brined one again. The difference is night and day. Keep in mind you do not want to over brine or it will have the reverse effect through osmosis. Also do not over cook meat.

Meat works better with a little sauce. For chicken you can crockpot it with FF soups, for beef there are FF gravies and barbecue sauces. Make some Au Jus for your deli meat with a packet in the McCormick section. Fish is soft and should not be a problem, along with shrimp. I had 2 pieces of sushi last night, with soy sauce.

Pulled pork was good for me. I could chew that until it disintegrated. I didn't put it in a sandwich or anything.

broth definitely helps and as someone mentioned, wrapping it in foil. If on the stove, I cook it very low with a lot of broth. Mind you, I'm not where you are with meats, but I've always had an aversion to dry meat.

Oh my, avoid the processed deli meats like they're the plague! They are way too dry. Get some stew meat throw it in a crock pot, pour beef stack on it and cook it on low for may hours until it's falling apart. It slides right down that tumm.