Ahh the wonders of and the dilemma of food and feedings. I have found with my mom as y'all have, that if its sweet, she will go for that and the heck with the other foods. Spoken with the doctors and they have all said the same; let them eat what they want.
Having a meal with my mom does help encourage her to eat however, now I'm finding that she is eating more and more with her hands and fingers. So be it. As a rational person we may find it disgusting, but they, our loved ones, are not thinking rationally, or their minds are not rational to us. My mother's favorite saying is "I've never heard of, or had that before". I have found that depending upon her mood, will depend upon what she will or will not eat and how she will eat it (by herself with or without utensils, with or without help {feeding herself or my having to feed her} if and what she may like at the moment). As an RN friend of mine once told me, look at it this way, imagine if you will, you're in a foreign land/country, and someone is trying to communicate with you in their language with no interpreter. We really can't understand them. Its the same way for those with this horrible disease. To them, they see and hear us, but their brains do not, for the most part, understand what we are trying to tell them. They, like us, would just mimic the actions we show them, so let them be. Be thankful they are physically here with us.

let them eat wat they want and its got to tasty like sweet things and soup is good needs to have a strong taste otherwise they dont taste it well thats wat ive found with my parents

I was told by a neurologist that sometimes you have to turn the patient's plate so they know there is more there. I have not experienced this with my father yet, but it is worth a try

Hi! So hard! I had that issue too! With my mom I couldn't get her to sit long enough to eat. She just didn't have the attention span to focus on eating. So I tried a few different thing that worked depending on her mood vs stage she was at.
1. I would tie her to a chair ( I know it sounds horrible but they do not make high chairs for adults) & it was just for a meal that's it!!!! ..... It wasn't tight it was like a rubber band belt type and I got her to eat that way she didn't realize what was going on she would try to get up I would distract her with something and get her to eat a meal. That worked sometimes. My Aunt had a fit when she came to visit & realized what I was doing but soon realized sometimes we had no options😢. We tried other things like moving the table a trapping her in a corner with the table but that didn't always work either.

2. I would feed her in passing. She would walked hours on end. So I would feed her whenever she would pass by ( one of the reasons I had to come up with a way to make a high chair! ) sometimes I'd get her to eat half a sandwich then 15 minutes later the other half. I fed her a lot of finger foods.... All day.

3. Sometimes I fed her in the car. Because she was kinda trapped so it made it easier. Sometimes we would go to a restaurant and I would sit in a booth a have her sit between myself and the wall.

4. Sometimes I would take her for long walks outside since that's all she liked to do and I would feed her on her walk. We had a waist leash the connected us for safety!!! When it was nice outside that worked well! Especially at a park!

It really was a challenge but it was in my opinion with her just a focus thing. Attention span. I guess they don't understand the sensation of hunger anymore. Just like drinking. I had a sport drinking cup. So she couldn't spill it on herself. She would get upset! It always was full and on the counter for her but I was always reminding her to drink. I did give her ensure too. In the same kind of cup.

Same as the bathroom I would take her very often every time I went I took her & I would take her a bit more often.

Also eventually they forget how to chew so keep an eye on that. Try smoothies.

Best of luck! Finding the tricks that work for you guys will come to you! My mom ate foods she would have never eaten before she got sick. But she enjoyed them (it seemed) so don't beat yourself up. I'm sure it's not the cooking! It's the disease! Just think of her as a big kid! I know it's not fun and it's hard and totally sucks but that's how I figured things out. I was babysitting my niece at the same time! That's how I got a lot of my ideas! I was like uhmmmm ...... Wonder if that would work. My father & my Aunt thought I was crazy at times! But in the end I was always the one who knew how to handle her! I spent the most time with her!!!!
Hugs to you!!!!

Hi, Thanks for letting us all know a few strategies that worked.........I found this all so good to store up for the future as I know these types of things will probably occur but as yet Mum is still eating and sits all the time in one place but eats less and less. hugs