The I-Can't-Chew Cookbook: Delicious Soft Diet Recipes for People with Chewing, Swallowing, and Dry Mouth Disorders Hardcover – August 1, 2003

Sadly never had a chance to work with this book as mom went from eating to not wanting to chew or swallow and passed away with a couple weeks, in hospice. But it looks like a well thought out book.

I was initially excited to read the beverage and soup sections, as there were some interesting (tho confusing) recipes. (Pineapple cooler, first I read, mentions sugar twice in the description; once in the ingredients list with a note you can substitute aspartame—then directs you to *cook* the mixture for 15 minutes, which please don’t ever do this with equal/aspartame—it’s a terrible idea. I’m also directed, after fully refrigerating the whole mess, to “add ice and sugar and serve”. Uhm….what sugar?) Anyhow, once I got to entrees, it seemed more than half were either casseroles or “bakes”, neither of which is appropriate for the needs of this I-Can’t-Chew family. Also, “snack on popcorn”?! I haven’t been able to eat popcorn since *long* before they took away my teeth. Popcorn is a reason I *broke* several teeth, for crying out loud. Really wanted to like this cookbook: I desperately miss cooking and wish I could cook for us again. This wasn’t it.

The first portions of this book were very good and helpful as it discussed issues such as proper nutrition for those who have difficulty chewing. Then the author listed tons of recipes that are great when it comes to nutritional value. These were good - but in my case there are lots of choking hazards like rice that cannot be used. My son has dysphasia which means he has difficulty swallowing and he is just starting to chew a little bit. Most of the recipes I looked at look very good and are nutritionally rich - I also found the discussion portion of the book to be very helpful in helping me generate new ideas for ways I can prepare food for my son.

If you're having trouble swallowing, this is a great cookbook with some fun ideas. My husband is a survivor of throat cancer and has no saliva in his mouth, as well as we've had to have multiple procedures to open up his throat to even swallow food at all. He was on a feeding tube for 2 years, and is just now starting to eat again. But finding the right foods, textures, and recipes has been tricky. Thankful for this cookbook and their ideas. So far so good with a few of the recipes... :)

This cookbook was very disappointing. Almost all recipes call for canned soups. Those soups are not too healthy. So I won’t be making anything from this book.

Husband was treated (successfully) for a cancerous lump on the back of his tongue. The radiation weakened his jawbones and he lost several back teeth. Chewing food with just front teeth was wearisome. This cookbook helped me provide more variety in his meals and made him a bit happier. I recommended it to the doctors, should other patients suffer as he did. Thank you.

As I noted in a review of another (unrelated) cookbook with the focus on difficulty chewing and swallowing, I have combined this CB and another as my working resources in preparing easy to chew/swallow meals. My husband recently had radiation which necessitated preparing meals that were conducive to the healing process, were easy to chew and swallow. Great choices and easy to make.

Pretty basic but decent information at your fingertips

Great help and plenty of diversity

Good book, bought this when my partner had cancer of the throat. Unfortunately he died of the disease

All recipes seem to base themselves on processed canned soup etc. Too much sodium and sugar content. Better off to do some research on the internet for better and more healthy recipes.

Bought this for a present but I didn't realise that there was no photos/pictures of the food in there so not very inviting to the eye

This is an American book and different vegetables are used in the recipes. Since my husband doesn't eat cheese a lot of the recipes are of No use to me.