I want some advice. At around 5 weeks after your surgery, what kinds of foods were you eating and what kind of foods were you having trouble with?

Also, I'm looking for good foods to buy cheaply from a grocery store during my mushy phase. Specifically, I want cheap, 2-3 ingredient meals. I'll be traveling, and moving from one city to another every week or so, and I don't want to pack and transport food. I also can't afford to eat out every single meal (I'll be in expensive cities like Paris) so I do want to prepare some foods at my rental apartments. I'll have a full kitchen everywhere, as well as a big thing of Protein powder for shakes.

I'll be gone two months and I really especially want to avoid any foods that will make me sick.

Thanks in advance

Bread of any kind except for a couple of dry crackers was - and still is - a recipe for pain for me.

At 5 weeks out, yogurt and Soup were still my best friend.

1/2 a small baked potato with greek yogurt

Turkey bacon

Baked potato soup with greek yogurt and turkey bacon

Applesauce with a tablespoon of PB2 powder

Protein drinks

chicken salad with a couple of crackers

Tuna salad with a couple of crackers

2 oz hamburger patty - chew, chew, chew, chew, chew

2 oz chicken fajita strips with a little bit of queso

Greek yogurt

By six weeks out I was solidly on on solid food. We took a 10-day vacation to New England and our goal was to get sick of lobster. Guess what? It worked! I ate lots of shellfish (not fried), and Soups and such. But the main trick I learned while driving around a lot, beef Jerky (and almonds) can keep you satisfied. I know... jerky sounds like the antithesis of everything French, but if you bring store-bought sealed bags, they will stay fresh and it will help you make it through. At your stage, one 3.5 ounce bag is easily a meal! You're not going to believe this, but a quick search turned up a TripAdvisor thread about taking beef jerky into France. How funny is that?!! So have fun, and make good (read, protein) choices!

Okay, here you go.... http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187070-i12-k1158057-Beef_jerky-France.html

Eggs are cheap and easy when you're eating in. Cottage cheese too. I know you need more variety but they are good for the mushy phase and easy to find .

At 5 weeks I was still having a Protein drink for Breakfast daily.

Lunch/Dinner/Snack Staples that are cheap and easy: Tuna salad, Chicken salad, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, Scrambled egg with cheese, refried Beans with cheese. I found Tilipia and Flounder very easy to digest, and super quick and easy to cook in a skillet with a touch of olive oil and some seasonings. A package of turkey meatballs are very convenient as a meal or protein snack. String cheese, Laughing cow, or sliced cheese with a piece of lunch meat make a great roll-up. Beef jerky is always handy and keeps well. A boiled egg is just about the perfect size for a meal or snack at 5 weeks.

At 5 weeks I was on soft foods.

eggs

black/pinto Beans

soups

yogurt

cheese

moist meats (with sauces...slow cooked)

tuna

Peanut Butter

cottage cheese

ricotta cheese

cooked veggies w/o skin

mashed potatoes/cream of wheat with Protein powder mixed in