*Babyfood*

[silveyk]

Has anyone ever tried babyfood? My spouse is flaring, but really misses fruits and veggies. When she is flaring, she cannot do fiber. One day she came home with babyfood. It seems the stuff has little to no fiber. If anyone has any other suggestions on ways to eat fruits and veggies while flaring, I'd like to hear them. Note, she refuses to drink Ensure and other kind of nutrition shakes.

Dr. S (spouse of a Crohn's sufferer)

****
Humira twice monthly
6-MP
Asacol
Gingerforce
Probiotics
Senna/Miralax

 

[supercellbaebe]

Baby food is excellent if she can stand the taste and texture. I tried baby food when I was very ill and couldn't eat anything, but I just couldn't stand it, its like eating snot (or how I would imagine snot would be like to eat).

There are some baby food smoothies which are really delicious, I don't know if you get it in the US, it is called "Little Dish Baby." These are delicious because its like your drinking a sweet smoothie rather than eating a horrid sloppy mush and trying to pretend its food.

Excellent vegetables to introduce, which are easy on the digestion, and which I have always found helpful are as follows:

Sweet potato, butternut squash, celeriac, carrots, tomatoes (without skin), avocados, swede, turnip.

Your wife may also find very dark cocoa rich chocolate useful, and delicious! I find it very easy on the digestion, but it is quite high in fat and if your wife has any liver or gallbladder problems the high fat foods can cause nasty symptoms. But trial and error are her best friends I think!

Grains that are very easy on digestion are:

white rice or rice flakes, quinoa, oats.

There is a fantastic website which pulled me back from starving when I couldn't eat. Here is the link:

http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_Interface/Eating_Hints/eatdiets.html

This gives fantastic ideas of foods which are easy to digest and how to build up from liquid only to solids.

Good luck xxx

 

[Keona]

Has she tried Carnation Anytime? (use to be called Carnation Breakfast). I haven't yet tried it - just bought it today but my dietician told me that they don't taste like Boost or Ensure.. doesn't have the vitamin taste to them. I don't like them either.

Here is a site on fibre & veggies and how much fibre each has. Not sure if it will be helpful for her to know. I will be using it as a guide for my smoothies...process of elimination I suppose.
http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2008/02/high-fiber-low-fiber-vegetables.html

 

[mikeyarmo]

I think that baby food could be something worth trying. I know as something equivalent that it is often recommended that vegetables are cooked until mushy when you are flaring, which is basically turning them into baby food.

What is good about experimenting with this is you can start small and slow to ensure your spouse will tolerate the veggies.

 

[Lisa]

yup - used to buy baby food.....bananas, peaches, other fruit mostly - the butternut squash too.....one nice thing about the jars is the servings are small too, so you don't overload yourself.

Hope she gets sorted soon!

 

[rygon]

Im wondering if its worth making your own? At least you know what goes in it (with regards to presevatives sugars etc) and i guess if you have a blender already it will be much cheaper.

 

[ameslouise]

Sweet potatoes are great, full of vitamins and taste good, too. I also buy sweet potato fries and bake them.

Have you tried baked kale? Yum, and easy to digest as it turns almost like celophane when baked.

Do you have a juicer? Will she drink juices? This is a quick easy way to get veg and fruit vitamins without the fiber.

I think it would be worth making your own babyfood. I just saw a commercial yesterday for the Baby Bullet and had my hand on the phone. I almost bought it but then rememberd the $300 I spent on my juicer and thought I should start putting that to better use first!

-Amy

 

[rygon]

Got any recipes for Kale Ameslouise? I like it but never know what to do with it.

With regards to juicers Ive been looking at these and think the cold press ones are definately the best. More expensive but do keep the nutrients in (plus you can make fresh pasta with them )

 

[Lydia]

How about homemade baby food. I made all of my child's food when she was a baby. It tasted and smelled great.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Smoothies are good too if she can tolerate them. A banana, a handful of greens,blueberries, a tablespoon of coconut oil, maybe some peanut butter, and some almond milk or fruit juice. You can also put it through a seive to get any fibrous things out, like seeds, or skins that didnt get obliterated. You can add a scoop of frozen yogurt if you want to get fancy.

 

[Lydia]

Got any recipes for Kale Ameslouise? I like it but never know what to do with it.

With regards to juicers Ive been looking at these and think the cold press ones are definately the best. More expensive but do keep the nutrients in (plus you can make fresh pasta with them )

I grow kale in the summer and then freeze it as is. I crumble it into everything. Mashed potatoes, soups, stirfrys, pasta sauce, etc. Its so nutritious.

 

[supercellbaebe]

I do the same with seaweed Lydia, it is delicious! I think I'll do what you do with Kale as well, that sounds wonderful xxx

 

[Miss Spencer]

If anyone has any other suggestions on ways to eat fruits and veggies while flaring, I'd like to hear them.

You could try steaming fruit or vegetables to softness and then blending them to mush - this is the natural way of making baby food, and a lot healthier than bottled commercial baby food.

I also like poaching or baking fruit in water, as it makes it very soft.

I also like smoothies. Blend fruit and vegetables in water. Blend long enough to ensure all of the plant is completely broken down and silky smooth in appearance.

I drink a lot of vegetable juice. You still get your nutrients from vegetables, but it is in a pure liquid form without the fibre. I find juice helps me recover from a flare quicker. In fact, if I am flaring I just avoid all solid food and drink vegetable juice and water. It must be freshly prepared juice though, not processed (i.e.) not bottled or concentrate.

Just experiment and see what suits.