By Judy Davie
For further information about food and nutrition, visit Judy Davie’s website at www.thefoodcoach.com.au
**I urgently need some advice. My son Michael has knocked out three teeth riding his bike and I need to swap his diet to some softer foods. My problem is that the softer the food is, the worse it seems to be for him. He has been making a huge effort to lose weight and I really don’t want him to lose his motivation. I have made him soups for the last few days but that is getting a little boring for him. Any advice would be appreciated.
Lee**
Generally soft foods like custard, ice cream, instant porridge and cheesy sauces have a higher GI and are often full of fat and sugar. But you can still find some better alternatives. You just have to employ some of the gadgets around the house!
He’ll still need five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit a day, so you may have to grab the slow cooker and food processor to change the nature of these foods so he can eat them.
Stewed fruit is easy — pears and apple cooked in water with some cloves, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, are naturally sweet and can be served for breakfast or as a dessert with yogurt.
Mashed cauliflower or sweet potato are a low-GI alternatives to potato (mashed cauliflower with pear is surprisingly nice). Jerusalem artichokes are a particular favourite. They are softer than potato and because their starch cannot be digested you can eat them without them converting to energy. Boil and peel the artichoke before mashing it or putting it through a blender.
Spinach is great cooked and processed with low fat ricotta. It forms the basis for many Italian dishes usually found wrapped in pastry. You could use it inside a soft omelet made with two fluffed up egg whites and one yolk. That way you reduce the fat content and bump up the protein.
At breakfast make him real porridge with coarse oats and pearl barley (use ¼ cup of each with four cups water). Sweeten it with chopped apple and 1 tbs honey and ½ tsp cinnamon to make it more interesting. Cook it overnight in the slow cooker and it will be ready first thing in the morning. Served with reduced-fat milk, it makes a low-GI, high-fibre and low-fat start to the day. Pureed apple and yogurt would also be nice on the top.
Minced beef or chicken should still be manageable and you can serve it with a soft low-GI grain like freekeh or quinoa*, or mashed beans! Pureed chickpeas, lima or haricot beans are perfect low-fat, high-fibre and low-GI carbohydrate base.
School lunches will be particularly difficult for both of you as there are very few soft and transportable foods other than soup. You would be best to make a few different soups and batch them in individual portions so he can alternate each day for variety. He should be able to handle pasta in minestrone, lentil and pureed vegetable soup.
Semolina is quite a nice soft dessert. Use the smallest amount of sweetener and always cook with low-fat milk.
Most importantly, get him back on that bike!
*Available from the health section of the supermarket.
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