Soft Food Diet Menu

Soft foods are any foods that are easy to chew and swallow. Most people who are required to eat soft foods have either gone through a recent surgery or have dental problems. It's important to remain diligent when choosing the right foods for this diet. If you're unable to adequately chew your food before swallowing it, your digestive system will have to work harder to process what you eat. While strict, a soft-foods diet doesn't mean compromising on flavor. Below are some ideas to help you enjoy your meals throughout the day:

Breakfast

Most of the popular breakfast items will work: eggs, oatmeal, yogurt and cottage cheese. Enjoy your eggs scrambled, sunny side up, over easy or as an omelet. For an added boost, indulge in a smoothie or homemade juice. As long as you have a blender, it's easy to make a fruit smoothie--puree yogurt, milk and your favorite fresh or frozen fruit. If you're craving vegetable juice, use tomato juice with any combination of your favorite veggies.

Lunch

For lunch, you can enjoy a soup-and-sandwich combo. Corn and clam chowders are a good fit for this diet, as long as the potatoes are skinless and diced and all of your vegetables become extra soft in the cooking process. Make sure there are no remnants of clam shells in your dish. Miso soup--the popular appetizer for a sushi meal--is ideal for this eating plan, with its soft tofu, sliced seaweed and chopped green onions. As for the sandwich, you can savor tuna, egg or chicken salad on un-toasted, crustless, soft bread. Make sure these fillings do not contain crunchy vegetables. Another tasty lunch option is spinach and cheese quiche without the crust.

Dinner

For dinner, start with a vegetable soup that has carrots, broccoli and peas. Dice your carrots and cut your broccoli florets into small pieces. All of your vegetables should be cooked until they are soft. Your entre can be baked salmon with lemon-dill sauce or baked scallops in butter. You can also saut and season soft tofu, which you can buy according to firmness at any grocery store. As a side dish, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and gravy or garlic mashed potatoes are ideal. Make sure to use skinless potatoes. Russet is a better choice than red potatoes, which are smaller and harder to peel.

Dessert

If you're a fan of mousse, custards, ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet, then you won't have a hard time enjoying dessert on a soft-foods diet. Pumpkin pie without the crust is an ideal option as well. If you're on a low-fat, low-calorie diet, buy Weight Watchers' ice cream at major grocery stores. It's a little pricier for a smaller portion, but worth it if you want to satisfy a sweet tooth while sticking to your eating plan.

Snacks

In between meals, you can snack on pudding, cottage cheese or jello with whip cream.