Please see our "Waiver and Release of Liability" page before using these tips.
Tips
- When combining ingredients to make something, ensure that each element is edible on its own. If you would not eat it by itself, it should not be mixed in there. For example, in most of our recipes, we puree, chop, or blend each item before mixing them all together. Doing so makes a "whole" that easily breaks up and has easy to swallow "parts."
- Keep in mind how cooking an ingredient might change it. For example, some cheeses are easy to eat when cold, but very hard to eat once heated.
- Crispy is good. Anything that is crispy, such as crackers and chips, tends to break up easily and therefore requires less chewing. If something is hard to eat or not edible, try to make it crispy. Examples: Fry a corn tortilla and make a tostada; put a thinly sliced piece of bread in the oven, flipping frequently until it becomes crostini (like a cruton).
- I LOVE bread, but it can be a death trap. Not all bread can be turned into easy to eat crostini. Avoid gummy, solid, and rustic bread. Look for bread that is is more porous/airy, perhaps has small nuts and grains that break it up. Toast until very crispy or turn into crostini in the oven. Ideal is a crostini that breaks up easy and the bread almost disolves in your mouth.
-There is a bread found at Mexican bakeries called "Sema." It is easy to make into a crostini, and once I bite it, it melts in my mouth better than any other bread I have found. I prefer the less sweet kind to go with savory dishes.
- Mix textures. Eat something crispy with something soft. For example, a crispy tortilla chip can help in swallowing refried beans.
- Add a moist element. Adding a moist element to any bite of food, especially to dry food, can help it go down. Think along the lines of spreads, dips, dressings, sauces, pureed salsas, yogurts, syrups, and even ice cream. Check out non-traditional grocery stores and farmers markets for unique "sauces" to jazz up recipes and make them easier to eat. Don't be afraid to make your own sauces. Some mayo, cream, and various herbs can come together to make a tasty sauce.
- Some things are "soft" and would seem easy to chew, but if they don't break into small pieces easily, they are not for you. For example, pasta is soft, but you have to bite it just right to break it, and it just breaks where you bite it. The rest stays together.
- Bendy foods can be tricky. Pasta mentioned above. If you bend something and it doesn't snap in half, crumble or mush, it could be hazardous. For example, if you don't cook carrots long enough, they can be bendy and hard to chew. I personally use the very soft ones in the can. Also, if you eat bacon, it can appear crispy, but when you bend it, if it does not break, it can be hard to chew.
- Look for consistency. Regarding crispy and bendy foods, make sure they are consistently OK. The ends of a tostada or part of a strip of bacon might be crispy, but if other parts are not, you could have a problem.
- Avoid skins and seeds. Some foods have insides that are easy to eat, but the skin can be hard to chew/break up. Think along the lines of a baked potato. Also, sometimes the seeds of a food are small, but can cause problems because they are hard to break apart from each other or the rest of the food item. Cucumbers are a good example.
- Quinoa and millet rock! Potatoes - boiled or baked until they fall apart - are equally cool. You can add so many different spices and ingredients to make excellent dishes. Also, quinoa has a lot of protein.
- Basmati rice traditionally used in Indian cooking and other long grain rices are easier than sticky rice traditionally used in Chinese cooking.
Scary Foods (Before Altered)
Pizza - top of the list for hard to chew dough/crust and stringy cheese
Pasta
Most Bread
Many raw vegetables and fruit
I'm a vegetarian, but I can guess: steak, chicken, ???
Tips
- When combining ingredients to make something, ensure that each element is edible on its own. If you would not eat it by itself, it should not be mixed in there. For example, in most of our recipes, we puree, chop, or blend each item before mixing them all together. Doing so makes a "whole" that easily breaks up and has easy to swallow "parts."
- Keep in mind how cooking an ingredient might change it. For example, some cheeses are easy to eat when cold, but very hard to eat once heated.
- Crispy is good. Anything that is crispy, such as crackers and chips, tends to break up easily and therefore requires less chewing. If something is hard to eat or not edible, try to make it crispy. Examples: Fry a corn tortilla and make a tostada; put a thinly sliced piece of bread in the oven, flipping frequently until it becomes crostini (like a cruton).
- I LOVE bread, but it can be a death trap. Not all bread can be turned into easy to eat crostini. Avoid gummy, solid, and rustic bread. Look for bread that is is more porous/airy, perhaps has small nuts and grains that break it up. Toast until very crispy or turn into crostini in the oven. Ideal is a crostini that breaks up easy and the bread almost disolves in your mouth.
-There is a bread found at Mexican bakeries called "Sema." It is easy to make into a crostini, and once I bite it, it melts in my mouth better than any other bread I have found. I prefer the less sweet kind to go with savory dishes.
- Mix textures. Eat something crispy with something soft. For example, a crispy tortilla chip can help in swallowing refried beans.
- Add a moist element. Adding a moist element to any bite of food, especially to dry food, can help it go down. Think along the lines of spreads, dips, dressings, sauces, pureed salsas, yogurts, syrups, and even ice cream. Check out non-traditional grocery stores and farmers markets for unique "sauces" to jazz up recipes and make them easier to eat. Don't be afraid to make your own sauces. Some mayo, cream, and various herbs can come together to make a tasty sauce.
- Some things are "soft" and would seem easy to chew, but if they don't break into small pieces easily, they are not for you. For example, pasta is soft, but you have to bite it just right to break it, and it just breaks where you bite it. The rest stays together.
- Bendy foods can be tricky. Pasta mentioned above. If you bend something and it doesn't snap in half, crumble or mush, it could be hazardous. For example, if you don't cook carrots long enough, they can be bendy and hard to chew. I personally use the very soft ones in the can. Also, if you eat bacon, it can appear crispy, but when you bend it, if it does not break, it can be hard to chew.
- Look for consistency. Regarding crispy and bendy foods, make sure they are consistently OK. The ends of a tostada or part of a strip of bacon might be crispy, but if other parts are not, you could have a problem.
- Avoid skins and seeds. Some foods have insides that are easy to eat, but the skin can be hard to chew/break up. Think along the lines of a baked potato. Also, sometimes the seeds of a food are small, but can cause problems because they are hard to break apart from each other or the rest of the food item. Cucumbers are a good example.
- Quinoa and millet rock! Potatoes - boiled or baked until they fall apart - are equally cool. You can add so many different spices and ingredients to make excellent dishes. Also, quinoa has a lot of protein.
- Basmati rice traditionally used in Indian cooking and other long grain rices are easier than sticky rice traditionally used in Chinese cooking.
Scary Foods (Before Altered)
Pizza - top of the list for hard to chew dough/crust and stringy cheese
Pasta
Most Bread
Many raw vegetables and fruit
I'm a vegetarian, but I can guess: steak, chicken, ???