Hello Sue aka Delilah
My wife Vilma was under hospice care for over two years. She was also on a puréed diet that entire time. I was very fortunate that @A myALZteam Member was here guiding us along with his wonderful example of caregiving. Below is what I copied from him back in late 2019. Little did I know at the time how valuable it was. I used this as a guide and developed variations over time. It allowed me to prepare meals for several days, simplifying my life. I would have never come up with this on my own…. basically providing nutrition with added flavor.

“My best friend is a stick blender.

Breakfast: Banana, half a dozen prunes, yogurt, whatever jelly I’m trying to get rid of and chocolate spread, all blended smooth.

Lunch: Home made vegetable soup to which I add either fish, cheese, egg or pate. Again blended down. Pudding is rice pudding with either apple or pear, again, blended. Breakfast and lunch go about 10ozs each.

Supper: is Ensure (a pot of custard style “ensure” blended with either avocado or rice pudding. The consistency I go for is just thin enough to not hold its shape. Thinner, no good, thicker, no good. Pretty narrow band and it took us a lot of coughing and spluttering to find it. Jackie still reacts badly to any lumpiness in her food. Jackie weighs just over 80lbs. This plan has maintained her weight over a year.

My second best friend is a thickening powder. She only drinks cranberry juice and I use the powder to get it to the same kind of consistency.

Good luck. Come back if I can offer anything more, but take to heart Sid’s words. I think we are a fortunate exception, for many people this problem just doesn’t go away. Be kind to yourself, you have already gone above and beyond for Den. Hugs”
(SteveNuttall @ alzteam)

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A myALZte...

I've dealt with this for almost 2 years but the problem was rotten teeth. Most were removed and he hated baby food. The good thing was he could swallow. Soups, yogurt, ice cream, puddings or just liquids if necessary. Forget balanced "healthy" diets. Feed him what he enjoys.

@A myALZteam Member occasionally I did. I tried just about everything.
Mayonnaise is good for adding calories and fat when weight loss becomes a problem.
I used a product called KaChava. It’s a meal replacement powder with a good amount of protein. I added peanut butter to it as well.

I saved Steve’s last line on purpose. He was always very good about reminding us to be kind to ourselves. We can only do the best we can…

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A myALZte...

@A myALZteam Member
When I made my soups, I would crack a few eggs into the simmering soup, kind of like an egg drop soup. It doesn’t take long at all for it to be fully cooked. With everything being blended, I suppose it wouldn’t matter too much either way.
The other way I added protein to the meal was blending in garbanzo beans as well.

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A myALZte...

Try peanut butter, cooked oatmeal, applesauce. Many fruits and veggies can be pureed in a blender.