Spicy tidbit's are my husband's downfall at parties - red pepper in particular. Even the deviled eggs were inedible at the last party we attended. And the fried chicken was too dry. Very frustrating!

I have trouble with spicy food, too. Chicken is awfully dry for me, as well. I think that it's the texture that gives me trouble. I also eat so doggone slow, and sometimes it gets cold by the time I finish. I have been buying Bob Evans frozen sausage, egg and cheese burritos-they aren't very spicy, and I get little packages of guacamole and put on them. I can also eat chicken wings if they aren't breaded as long as they are the "mild" variety. Maria, I see you are in Ohio, do you have "Frickers" near you? I can eat the shrimp there as long as it is the "mild" kind.

Try using a pressure cooker when making meats. It will give you moister meats which should be easier to eat. Also dark meat with chicken and turkey are alot easier.

Hum, never thought of a pressure cooker - sounds like it would work, though.

We have been playing with mexican foods - turns out that I can do salsas and so on, replacing hot peppers with cubanelles or red bell peppers and it tastes good to my husband and to me. It's a pain in the you know what to make them, but I was thrilled my husband enjoyed them. The general approach is as follows:

Find a salsa recipe that looks good
Replace the hot peppers with bell (color of your choice), ancient red, or cubenelle pepper.
Roast or grill the peppers - get a char so that you can remove the skin and cook the pepper a little.
Roast, grill or microwave the onion so it is less harsh.
Always use fresh lemon or lime juice - less harsh, tastes better.
If too acid, replace some of the lemon or lime with vegetable or chicken broth, and add extra olive oil.

Salsa's can all be blended to make them smooth if desired!

I will look up my enchilada recipe when I get home if you like!

There is a Mexican restaurant not far from us that has a seafood enchillada that I can eat with no problem. It has the enchillada gravy which helps, and I also get guacamole on the side. I have been buying the individual packs of guacamole which they sell at Krogers in the produce department. It's called Wholley Guacamole, and it's not too spicy. It also has a fair amount of fiber which is good. If your husband likes seafood, that seems to work well for me if it's not heavily breaded. I can also eat Hebrew National or Nathan's hot dogs, too, and that's something that we can grill. I sure wish that I could have a nice steak, though!

Venting has proven to be theraputic, so don't apolpgize for using a healing technique.

I have just come out the tunnel of recurrance, still in ICU, scheduled to move to temp. Care Faciliry, 5-24.
Surgery 5-1, again 5-3 & 5-6.
Each to recover/repair issue of preceeding surgery.
Nothing happens in isilation.

Check in after T.C.F. move.

Paul

Hugs Paul! We're thinking of you!

Yeah, I love it when you tell people you can't eat much meat or dry stuff anymore and that swallowing works for the most part but is still a hassle and they always seem to say: "it will get better soon I'm sure." They mean well but have no clue how oral issues mess up your day to day existence. Regardless, I'm doing pretty well after one year so I can't complain.

Part of my problem is my teeth are in such bad shape, so the food gets caught in my teeth and sticks, making eating in public not very pleasant. I also look pretty good right now, so people have trouble believing that I still have issues. I can usually manage eating at home, because I can take my time. This cancer certainly sucks, even when you are doing fairly well. On the plus side, I saw both of my oncologists yesterday, and they feel that I am doing well enough that I don't have to go back until November, unless I have some problems in the meantime.

Zen did you ever try a really thin sliced rib eye or new york strip? I bought them for Ron and cooked on the grill and he uses Steak Sauce on it to help slide it down, he has NO teeth so he pretty much has to cut it up good and than he sucks it down like a jello shot. You can't cook the steaks very long either or of course will be tough. And baked beans homemade is is MOST favorite thing, I swear he has eaten them everyday for over a month! But he claims he loves them and it works for him and yes I fry up bacon and chop it up and put it in AND it has to be a whole package, he knows if I skip a couple slices too...don't know how but he does. And no he will not eat in public ever. He sometimes will gag and have to spit the food back out and he will say to me "wanna go out to eat with me" and I told him it's OK it don't bother me at all as long as you are eating I don't care how you get it down. Other folks would think he was choking(as I did in the beginning) but he isn't. Now they are just normal sounds he makes when eating.