Can Hospital Food Taste Good?
 

My brother is currently recovering from brain surgery and a stroke that left his right side paralyzed. He's in the hospital right now making slow progress but the big problem is that he won't eat. He loves my cooking and I'm allowed to bring my own food in for him so I'm searching for ideas. He has a really hard time swallowing anything too solid or too watery, something around the consistency of yogourt is ideal. He can't take anything with any crunch to it either, it hurts his head. I'm going to start by trying to give him some meat sauce with some small-shaped pasta, overcooked to make it easier on him. Some other ideas would be greatly appreciated, I'd like to be able to give him as much variety as possible.

To answer the title question, it totally depends on the hospital. My wife gave birth in a small hospital where they just replaced the head dietitian. The food was excellent. The last night of your stay, they give you a fancy meal in your room; I would have been pleased if I had ordered it as a ~$20 plate.

No answers for the real question, however.

My brother had brain surgery a few years ago and was in the same kind of boat. As I recall we blended/pureed a lot of things so he wouldn't have to chew anything crunchy. He also ate a lot of soup (you could make thick soups with split peas/lentils) and mashed potatoes. I'll ask him what else we fed him during his recovery.

What about middle eastern type things like hummus and baba ghanoush (and I know I didn't spell that right)

Tuna and/or egg salads

Risottos

Soups would probably be best.

This is exactly what was done for my dad. He initially entered the hospital unable to swallow anything, including water or saliva. As he regained his swallowing ability, he was limited to stuff with a thick soup consistancy. There are thickening powders out there for stuff like thin soups or drinks which work well. In addition to onesnowyowl's ideas, stick with simple stuff like applesauce, cottage cheese or other stuff like that.

My ex fianacees mother works in the food service in my hospital so at first my food was great, they let me order of the kids menu, then when we broke up i think the food was eaten already. So they do have good food, its just a mater if you know people

I don't have much to add to what you can cook for your brother. How about some of the softer fruits like melons?

However, I do want to add that hospital food can be good. When I started in my practice, my patients frequently commented on how good the food was. Then the administration got conned by some company that provided frozen meals that cooked in transport from another facility on specially designed trays in heated carts. Everyone insists the food was great at all the tastings. In practice it was horrible and often arrived still frozen. They finally went with something new. Now the patients have a menu in their room and call their order in as if it was room service. The food is presented well and everyone seems to like it. Ironically, I am told that it costs about the same as the previous company. Unfortunately the cafeteria still sucks.

i really liked the food when i worked at a hospital. i'll eat virtually anything, though.

you should make him homemade custard for dessert; it's the perfect consistency. also, it's pretty, umm, nutritious (high calorie) if you make it with egg yolks and cream and/or whole milk. sprinkle it with nutmeg, or serve with a little real maple syrup. YUMMY!

hospital food is da bomb

Soup is a great way to go, and there's a lot you can do. I make a pretty good split pea with potatoes and carrots, which are all pretty soft by the time everything's cooked. And frankly, split pea soup tends to get thicker the more it sits around, so you'd definitely have your yogurt-like texture. You can use a meat stock from a can instead of a ham bone or whatever, if you want the flavor but don't want any chewy meat bits. Black bean soup is also good, has a nice smoky flavor and doesn't need much chewing. You can put sour cream or yogurt on top to jazz it up. And like split pea, home-made bean soup tends to a pretty thick consistency, not watery.

For dessert or something sweet, take canned pumpkin pie mix and bake it in the oven in a casserole dish, _without a crust._ Works fine; we used to have it that way as pumpkin pudding, and you can put whipped cream on if you really must. It's the consistency of custard, and it slides down easily. Frankly, crust on pumpkin pie is an afterthought for most people, so this could really be a treat for him if he actually likes the stuff.

You could also make him guacamole, but he'd have to eat it without chips. Wouldn't stop me, but he might not like it.

take canned pumpkin pie mix and bake it in the oven in a casserole dish, _without a crust._ Works fine

hum chocolate pudding... but thats my answer for everything lately. chili is always good made with ground beef instead of steak so its not too tough to chew. any thick soups would be good. stew would be good too i bet with some sort of soft rolls or bread.

I had a Cochlear implant back on May 31st. I fucking loved the hospital food. Although, I didn't have any taste buds...does that count?

What about quiche? If you bake it without a crust, it might not be bad. For something sweet, why not try flan? Sounds like a good consistency for him.

Is hospital food good? Yes, sometimes I was given the menu card when dosed high on painkillers and the food was bad (didnt know what I was ordering) Next visit I was not drugged and food was good (especially the apricot puddding) Though veggies all tasted the same.

I'm not sure about hospital food- my mom complained that it was bad, and I'm trusting her judgment since she was not heavily drugged after her surgery (it was to help a slight incontinence issue).

Anyway, why not do different compotes? Compotes are like applesauce, except you can do other fruits. It is delicious, and boy, I could eat that for days. :) I also love dipping bread in olive oil, or flavoured oils. Maybe a soft bread and some oil could be a side as well as soup. Jello made with ginger ale is great, and spices up normal Jello. Any kind of soft souffle (thinking cheese here) would be tasty, as well as the suggested quiche, or maybe an omlette.

Hope your brother feels better. :)