Hey everyone. I have not had my appointment yet with my nutritionist for pre op but am scheduled for rny next month. I have just started trying to cook some post op things and freeze them. Tonight I made kidney beans with a 4 pepper sausage. I had onions, green pepper, cilantro, garlic and other seasonings/spices in there. Can I use these beans for either a soft or purée food?(of course I would have to purée it)

Also, this time cooking it, I added extra water to the beans. When it was done cooking and before I added a cornstarch mixture to thicken it up for our meal tonight, I took a good amount of the liquid out. It is very liquid and not creamy at all. Could this be used as a clear or full liquid after being strained?

are beans considered a “healthy” food choice post op?

1 hour ago, Puffy-no-more said:

Hey everyone. I have not had my appointment yet with my nutritionist for pre op but am scheduled for rny next month. I have just started trying to cook some post op things and freeze them. Tonight I made kidney Beans with a 4 pepper sausage. I had onions, green pepper, cilantro, garlic and other seasonings/spices in there. Can I use these beans for either a soft or purée food? (of course I would have to purée it)

Also, this time cooking it, I added extra Water to the beans. When it was done cooking and before I added a cornstarch mixture to thicken it up for our meal tonight, I took a good amount of the liquid out. It is very liquid and not creamy at all. Could this be used as a clear or full liquid after being strained?

are beans considered a “healthy” food choice post op?

Yes, beans are one of the healthiest things you can eat. Once you get to the soft food stage, you can use refried beans, thinned with broth. Delicious and well tolerated by most.

Be very careful of peppers and spices your stomach may not like it early on..

Ditch the cornstarch. If you puree a portion, or all of them, they will be creamy. For more creaminess, stir in a spoon of Greek yogurt (nonfat) into each serving. Ditto about the peppers and spices. New tummies can be finicky with spicy food. I had to go to mild after 50 years of being a pepper head.

11 hours ago, AZhiker said:

Yes, beans are one of the healthiest things you can eat. Once you get to the soft food stage, you can use refried beans, thinned with broth. Delicious and well tolerated by most.

Thank you!

55 minutes ago, Superman84 said:

Be very careful of peppers and spices your stomach may not like it early on..

True. It says 4 pepper sausage, but to me it’s not spicy at all, just very flavorful. But that might be different post-op. Thanks for the tip!

45 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Ditch the cornstarch. If you puree a portion, or all of them, they will be creamy. For more creaminess, stir in a spoon of Greek yogurt (nonfat) into each serving. Ditto about the peppers and spices. New tummies can be finicky with spicy food. I had to go to mild after 50 years of being a pepper head.

Yes on the cornstarch! I only added it for my family after I had taken mine out. Good idea about the Greek yogurt. I will have to try that. I’ve always felt like I was a “decent” cook but I feel like there’s a totally new world with cooking healthy that I have to learn. Thank you for that tip! And I will definitely be careful with spices!!

I agree - I'd be careful eating the peppers/spices. You definitely don't want to do something that might irritate staple lines or something like that.

Beans are great for many people after surgery, but you will have to see what you tolerate at the different stages. There are a lot of foods you love before surgery that you don't tolerate so well after surgery. It doesn't mean you can never eat those foods again, but you might try them, learn you can't eat them yet... wait a few months and try them again. I do very well with most beans... but when I get a power bowl salad from Taco Bell (without the rice), I can't eat the beans in it. But it has to be how THEY are preparing the beans, because I don't have any problems with anyone else's beans. The spicy foods are hit or miss for different people. Personally, when I reached soft diet, I LIVED on homemade chili for weeks. It had kidney beans, ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and celery in it. Tolerated it just fine and found it easier to go down than most foods. Sausage: Some I tolerate fine, others I can't eat.

And I agree... skip the corn startch. Not only do you not need the extra starch in your diet... but also the thinner broth will help when eating any kind of soup or stew type of food.