Help, New false teeth, need soft but tasty recipes

[ritabwh]

Howdy Chowhounders,
Need your help!
My Mother-In-Law just had her upper teeth removed. It will be at least 4 weeks according to her dentist that she will be able to eat any "hard" food.
I will be visiting in 2 weeks. Right now, she is doing canned soup and scrambled eggs .
I have 3 dinners and 2 lunches to cook.
Immediate idea is a risotto and a fritatta.
Maybe some kind of fettucini or egg noodles....alfredo?
She is very conservative in her tastes, no spicy hot anything and teriyaki chicken bowl is about as ethnic as she gets.
Thanks for your help.

[ritabwh]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas and suggestions!
I'm going to have to be ready, menu in-hand when I arrive in town.
So far, risotto, mac and cheese, tuna casserole, frittata, french onion soup, the mentioned shrimp bisque....
Thanks, all!

[Querencia]

1) My best thing for getting protein into somebody who for whatever reason can't chew is Shrimp Bisque. Bring just enough water to a boil. Drop in raw shell-on shrimp. Let water return to boil. Remove from burner. Let cool for a couple of hours so shrimp sits in water. Save water, which will be pink and shrimpy. Shell shrimp. Put through Cuisinart to desired degree of ground-upness. Make like a cream sauce using the shrimp stock and as much milk as you need to get an appropriate soup consistency, actually a little on the liquid side. Add the shrimp and anything you want to flavor it with (you can put a little onion, green pepper, sweet red pepper, pimiento etc through the Cuisinart after you do the shrimp so you don't have to wash it twice). Season the Shrimp Bisque as desired with salt, garlic powder, Old Bay, hot pepper, etc. Color it with a glop of ketchup. You can customize this but you see the basic idea---to get a lot of Cuisinarted shrimp into a person who otherwise has trouble chewing meat.---it is protein-intensive, also delicious. 2) And here's a variant: if you make it a little thicker you can use it as a sauce in which to bake filet of cod, with some shredded cheese on top---also very soft to chew. 3) Desserts are useful: Fluffy Tapioca Pudding made from recipe on Minute Tapioca box; baked custard; rice pudding; chocolate pudding with whipped cream; real applesauce made with MacIntoshes. 4) V-8 for vegetables without chewing.

[silverhawk]

mac n cheese
chocolate malted milk--with a spoon, not a straw
peanut butter sandwich--pb was created by a dentist, so the story goes
bisque, i'd avoid chunky chowder for a bit
baked apple or apple sauce
pureed roasted vegetables--eg squash
polenta with roasted tomato relish
fruit/yogurt smoothy
frozen daiquiri

in four weeks--lamb shanks, veal shanks, or short ribs as a capstone meal.

[smartie]

rice might be annoying and get stuck in awkward places.

suggest mashed foods, soups, shepherd's pie, chocolate mouse, jello, soft boiled eggs on light toast, egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches. It probably won't take 4 weeks, get her something for the sore areas of the gums.

[Emme]

Polenta -- you can layer it with a crushed marinara and cheese

Lasagna/Manicotti -- too ethnic?

Enchiladas -- too ethnic?

Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh -- perhaps too ethnic...

Stuffed Potato skins with some cheese

Pancakes

Baked fruit

Rice pudding/ tapioca pudding

Tiramisu

Clam Chowder or other soups like french onion

Pastina with butter and parm

Quiche

Fried cheese sticks?

[Cherylptw]

Here's some threads on eating with braces, it's kinda similar to your need so perhaps you'll find some ideas to work with

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/333752?tag=search_results;results_list
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/296494?tag=search_results;results_list
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/466456?tag=search_results;results_list

Also, threads for soft foods:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/276325?tag=search_results;results_list
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/637541?tag=search_results;results_list
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4445...

[lovessushi]

I unfortunately have no patience to read through the threads so I'm sure this has already been mentioned, but
-mashed potatoes
-bolognese (sp?) sauce/meatloaf, etc.
-If she is conservative in tastes, perhaps a casserole of sorts with cream of mushroom, etc. That will make everything a bit mushier I would think.
-puddings or jello for between meals perhaps?

Just some thoughts - I hope all goes well for her!