My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a healthy choice?

In article ,
Denise~* wrote:

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a healthy
choice?

Just about any cooked veggies and meats can be pureed, and stick to
lightly spiced. Looks like you already pretty well know what to do. :-)
Baby foods might be good for a switch too, as would be lightly stewed,
pureed fruits.

There are a million and one soup recipes, but, not only will he get
tired of them, they are difficult to make nutritionally complete. You
might want to consider Met-rx? HEB carries it, as do most health food
stores, and even Wal-Mart.

Vanilla Met-rx can be mixed with fruit juices to make it more
interesting, and it is a total food replacement product far superior to
boost or ensure.

K.

--
^ ^ Cat's Haven Hobby Farm ^ ^ ^ ^
,, ,, ,,

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:45:18 -0600, Katra
wrote:

Denise~* wrote:

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Just about any cooked veggies and meats can be pureed, and stick to
lightly spiced. Looks like you already pretty well know what to do. :-)
Baby foods might be good for a switch too, as would be lightly stewed,
pureed fruits.

Aww, phoo, Katra. I was going to say exactly the same. :-) A friend
(and excellent cook) never bought baby food, but just whirred up
whatever the adults were having for dinner (before any heavy
seasoning). No need to make it a soup, either. A veg puree, a separate
meat puree (with broth), a fruit puree. With stick blenders, mini-chop
gadgets, and some baby-food hand-grinders, it shouldn't even be that
much trouble.

From: Denise~*

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

Awww, diverticulitis is no fun.Here are a couple suggestions that will most
likely require a trip to your local health food store.

Diverticulitis Tea
2 teaspoons wild yam root
1 teaspoon cramp bark
1 quart water
1 teaspoon each chamomile flower and peppermint leaf

Put wild yam and cramp bark in water and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and
simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat, add chamomile and peppermint, cover
and steep for at least 15 minutes. Strain. Drink 2 or 3 cups a day. You can use
the same proportions of these herbs to make a tincture.

Mushroom Barley Soup - From Medicinal Mushrooms, Hobbs
¼ cup barley
¾ cup soup stock
2½ cups water
2 teaspoons tamari (or ¼ teaspoon salt)
½ cup chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ pound fresh medicinal mushrooms (such as shiitake)
black pepper to taste

Cook barley in soup stock until tender. Add water and tamari. In a separate
pan, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil. When onions are transparent, add
mushrooms. When mushrooms and onions are tender, add them to the barley-tamari
mixture. Sprinkle in black pepper, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. For
variety, add cooked vegetables of your choice, either chopped or grated. You
can also puree this soup.

Ellen

"Denise~*" wrote in message
...

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???
==================

Hi D,

Had similar surgery myself...

Into your recipe, throw in some spuds, lentils, a bit of barley, broccoli,
corn, cauliflower, garlic...

Add a small shot of Worcestershire, a pinch of cumin and/or rosemary, thyme
or marjoram or coriander; and/or a shot of soy sauce, and/or a cube of Oxo.

The thing with spices and herbs is to use just the smallest amount a first,
keeping track of your blends, then increase as your tastes develop.

Also good to use just one spice/herb at a time, to get to understand each
one.

For easier digestion, strain soup after blending/whizzing with hand blender,
then reheat with a bit of corn starch to give it body.

What is really good, and good for one such as your hubby, is to stir room
temp plain yogurt into the serving bowl just before serving.

For treats, add a dab of butter and a bit of grated cheese...maybe with a
dusting of very fine fresh ground pepper.

The baby food idea is most excellent, particularly the fruits. I have found
the veggies and meats to be horrible tasting!

A bit of well-chewed rye krisp is good, stay away from seeds of all kinds,
particularly tomatoes, cukes, kiwi etc.

-bg-

www.thelittlecanadaheadphoneband.ca

"Denise~*" wrote in message
...

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

Quite frankly, I like gelled (chilled) Campbell's consume with a squirt of
lemon juice, It has a nice mouth feel and is a good source of protein.

Dimitri

Denise~* wrote in message . ..
My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

What exactly do you mean "he is not handling solids so well"?
The surgical procedure for Meckel's Diverticulitis is one
of the simplest and whole food should be tolerated easily
after ten days. Not that he's going to eat near as much as he
used to but it is very important that he eat bland but
"solid food" to keep the intestine from healing improperly
and creating an obstruction.
Is he having excessive pain or nausea? If so, he should see the
Surgeon ASAP to check for proper bowel sounds.

Been there, Done that.
Patriot from a M.A.S.H.

"Denise~*" wrote in message
...

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???

You are on the right track - here are some ideas for variety:

- Use beef or vegetable stock.
- Vary the veggies: mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, rice, tomatoes, spinach,
etc.
- Add a small dash of hot sauce. This can "liven up" a soup without actually
making it spicy.
- Other seasoning ideas: paprika, curry powder, Old Bay.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"Frogleg" wrote in message
news
Aww, phoo, Katra. I was going to say exactly the same. :-) A friend
(and excellent cook) never bought baby food, but just whirred up
whatever the adults were having for dinner (before any heavy
seasoning). No need to make it a soup, either. A veg puree, a separate
meat puree (with broth), a fruit puree. With stick blenders, mini-chop
gadgets, and some baby-food hand-grinders, it shouldn't even be that
much trouble.

I remember awhile back on Oprah, when she first started getting into her
"diet" crap, she did a show on alternatives to pricey commercial foods. One
thing discussed was steamed vegetables can be mashed up and substituted for
baby foods very cheaply, and with their full nutritional values.

Why pay for a can of baby food when you can steam the produce yourself for a
similar price and have loads of surplus veggies to go around?

Just about any veggies or meats can be puree'd so try to get a fair variety.
Do some of his favorite meals. For instance, if he likes a roast with
potato on the side, puree some roast beef and potato. Beef or chicken
stock/broth can be a base for many interesting kinds of soups. Use your
imagination.

;-)

Denise~* wrote in
:


My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

snipped

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Pumpkin (squash) or sweet potato soup. What I usually do is to soften
some chopped onion in a little oil, then add chunks of pumpkin (I use
butternut pumpkin, known as butternut squash in the US I believe). Cook
for a couple of minutes, then cover with chicken stock and simmer until
the pumpkin is soft. Puree. Spicewise, this is nice with some ginger, or
with curry powder, however it's quite nice as it is or perhaps with just
a little nutmeg, for someone who can't handle anything spicy at the
moment.

I've done the same thing using kumera (orange sweet potato) and it's
pretty nice as well.

----
Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

In article ,
Denise~* wrote:

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Denise,

Sorry to hear about Brian's surgery. We had a nice vegetarian soup at
Christmas dinner, made with butternut squash and pears. You could also
add cooked dried beans in small amounts to your pureed soup. Don't add
too much at first, since his innards may not deal with the fiber well.
As he feels better, you can back off on the extent of pureeing until
he's back eating more-or-less solid food.

Hope he's feeling better soon!
Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

In article ,
Frogleg wrote:

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:45:18 -0600, Katra
wrote:

Denise~* wrote:

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Just about any cooked veggies and meats can be pureed, and stick to
lightly spiced. Looks like you already pretty well know what to do. :-)
Baby foods might be good for a switch too, as would be lightly stewed,
pureed fruits.

Aww, phoo, Katra. I was going to say exactly the same. :-) A friend
(and excellent cook) never bought baby food, but just whirred up
whatever the adults were having for dinner (before any heavy
seasoning). No need to make it a soup, either. A veg puree, a separate
meat puree (with broth), a fruit puree. With stick blenders, mini-chop
gadgets, and some baby-food hand-grinders, it shouldn't even be that
much trouble.

My mom had a pretty delicate digestive system towards the end, and a
serious Hiatal hernia...

One other suggestion for treats is frozen fruit juice popsickles. You
can get popsickle molds at many stores. Puddings are always good too. :-)

K.

--
^ ^ Cat's Haven Hobby Farm ^ ^ ^ ^
,, ,, ,,

This is a delicious recipe and I made it for Christmas dinner. It sounds
very rich, but it's only 3 points for WW so isn't that bad.



* Exported from MasterCook *

Helen's Mushroom Broccoli Soup

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 18 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Family

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 tb Oil
4 tb Butter
1 large VIdalia onion
6 large Mushrooms
3 tb Flour
1 t Nutmeg
10 c Chicken stock
3/4 c Heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1 bn Broccoli

* peeled and chopped ** washed and chopped *** chopped

In a medium pan, heat oil and butter and saute onions and mushrooms.
5 min Add flour, stir well and add rest of ingredients except cheese.
Let simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add cheese, mix well
and serve.

When I made this, I omitted the cheese and I would process the soup
before serving. Delicious!




- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 961 Calories; 97g Fat (90.2% calories
from fat); 4g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 69mg Cholesterol;
1415mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk;
19 1/2 Fat.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


"Denise~*" wrote in message
...

My husband had an emergency surgery 2 weeks ago (Meckel's
Diverticulitis), and he is not handling solids so well. The doc
suggested warm liquids.

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Today I heated up a quart of chicken broth with some carrots, onions,
celery and Tsp of dried parsley and set it to simmer. Came back &
half-hour later & decided I should have turned the simmer down.
I had a black bottomed pot with some nicely roasted veggies. I gently
scraped off the veggies, dumped them into another quart of warmed
chicken broth and puree'd it all. DH actually said it was good, and
he is not one to tell me what I want to hear.

I'm glad I did well, but I would like to know if there is anything I
can do to spruce this up a little. I'm pretty good at following a
recipe, and sometimes good at improvising, but I really don't have a
knack for spices and/or how much to use.

The soup cannot be very spicy, and it cannot have lumps.
His tummy just won't handle it.

Suggestions???


Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a
healthy choice?

Denise~* wrote in message . ..

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

I like potato, fennel, and leek soup, or carrot dill, or curried
cauliflower and apple. I can provide more complete recipes, if you
would like.

One of those hand-held blenders is great for pureed soups. It leaves a
few chunks, but it is well worth the convenience.

Good luck!

--Erica

Denise~* wrote

I need some comforting, filling, and "blended" soup suggestions.

Oh. Cook any veg or combination of veg in chicken broth. Whir up and
add cream (or milk if cream too rich).