Teeth: THREE - The Liquid Foods
The foundations have been laid. There are temporary new acrylic teeth up at the top of my mouth and in the pic at the head of this post. It is exactly a week since my big day in the ‘comfy chair’. Before my dentistry is given the all-clear to chow down in earnest I have to give everything time to establish strength and stability. This will mean a couple of weeks of as-near-to-liquid food before moving up the scale to just plain old non-threatening mushy stuff.
I told my consultant that I would write a little about my experiences and make particular reference to the ‘meals’ which I take. Nowhere else on my blog have I suggested any great scientific knowledge to back up ideas about the nutritional value of food. You won’t find any here either. This is still about my main thrust. Cooking and sharing food for flavour and fun.
The choices I am currently making constitute my diet. Diet as in something which no-one else needs to follow, much less should follow. If you want to think about and manage what you put into your own gut there are countless more ideas available. All I ask is that you think very carefully about people who assure you that the diet they are promoting (yes, of course, it will cost you!) has worked for thousands of others. Those people are slimy bastards who are keen to get fat… on your money. We’ve reached a stage in history where I reckon there are now far more diet offerings than there are religious ponderings from someone with a questioning faith. Of course, if you fancy seeking help from a properly qualified dietitian I am all for it!
Let’s return to that less tricksy thing - going for flavour. Here are three batches of soup which were prepared and frozen on the night before my appointment. Lovely turkey and vegetable based on the Christmas carcass, sweet potato coconut and ginger and a leek and potato. Also a fully charged mp3 player at the ready but not used the next day.
All in the frame for my change of food regime.
The rest of any plans relied on using whizzing liquidiser blades to make smoothies and nutritious concoctions.
Smoothies have been tried and relished with bananas, apples, pears and frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and forest fruits in various combinations. Lime or lemon juice to add zing and bring out flavour. Almond and coconut milk to ‘dilute’.
Some of those items are also part of what might be regarded as the heavier duty products of the plastic jug. The ones with kale, spinach and other greens. Spirulina and baobab powder get a look in, as do sunflower and pumpkin seeds and cashew nuts. Honey, maple syrup and occasional sugars have been used sparingly as most mixes have proved surprisingly sweet already. All in all, nothing so far has achieved anything like that taste which can be off-putting enough to be tolerated only by the thought that “… it MUST be doing me good”
The ingredients below are pepped up with enough salt, pepper, cream, butter and mustard to provide even more than they offer in isolation. Leeks and carrot and swede mash were soggy (let’s avoid ‘moist’, shall we) partners waiting for a threesome with Mrs. Cheoff’s perfectly smooth and rich Comté cheese sauce. Baby food for the eyes. Ate like a meal for a monarch.
The depths of the plastic jug below present an uninspiring picture of tonight’s ‘dessert’.
3 plums, stoned, halved and frozen
200ml almond milk
100ml orange juice
4tbsp boozy (rum) caramel and walnut sauce*
*Christmas leftovers… I reckon you could substitute some soft dark brown sugar and a little cream.
Not exactly glamorous. We make Delia’s pud and her Hot Punch Sauce at Christmas. This tasted like a glorious mix of those two lovely elements in drink form. When something tastes so damned fine I’m prepared to skip right over uninspiring looks and go straight for enjoyment. It will be repeated soon… and it’s likely to be seriously considered in the guise of a festive sorbet later this year!
So I’m still not having anything which can’t be swallowed easily without chewing… and I’m still enjoying my food. Four shop bought protein shakes in a week and some Farley’s rusks and Weetabix should be added to the final credits.
A daily check on weight has revealed little or no fluctuation. I’ll go with the premise that a few weeks of altered intake isn’t going to damage me too seriously. If I do fail to spot the signs of going the way of all flesh, at least these last posts will serve as a warning to all who survive me. I appear to be genetically damned to be lithe and lissom whatever I eat. Oh, and so far my poos have been regular and of comfortable consistency. Too much information? Well I’m leaving you in peace for a while anyway. A neighbour has just popped a card through the letterbox and asked me to “Smile, Sparkle and Shine… and show off to the world your magnificent new Crown Jewels”. I think it’s imperative that I abandon you and explain human geography and the correct location of my recent procedures to her. Erk!