Food cravings

Not until this weekend had I really been craving any foods. As I mentioned earlier, my liquid diet is very flavorful (thanks in large part to the folks at Gracies) and I feel like I am getting the nutrients and calories I need to work, exercise (walking only) and be fairly productive. However I am starting to get sick of drinks with various combinations of ice cream, milk, peanut butter and chocolate and there is only so many strawberries, raspberries, mangoes and bananas I can take in one day. And even though the food is flavorful and makes me full, it does not make me all that satisfied. Even though a banana or a piece of cake or chips and salsa (one of my new favorites in the blender) taste the same in liquid form as they do in their 'real' form, it is much less satisfying to drink them than it is to eat them.


Case in point. Last evening after drinking a glass of salsa I decided to blenderize a piece of Italian Marscapone Torte from Pastiche, an awesome bakery and cafe in Providence, with some milk and vanilla ice cream. The result was a shake that tasted amazing, but left me feeling really unsatisfied. There is really something missing when you are drinking a piece of cake. You miss being able to taste cream and then vanilla cake and then espresso as opposed to all of those flavors blended together. Plus, and probably most importantly, you miss the textures. No spongy cake or smooth marscapone, just liquid. That for me is one of the worst things about the liquid diet.

The other terrible thing about having your jaw and teeth banded shut is the inability to use your tongue. One of my favorite things when I am cooking is licking the spoon or my fingers when I get food on them. There really is nothing better than running your finger along the edge of a mixing bowl after you have mixed up a batch of brownies and stealing a taste of the chocolaty batter. Your tongue is also very useful because it allows you to taste the things you are cooking while you are cooking them so that you can adjust the seasonings if need be. Not being able to open your mouth prevents you from engaging in this type of activity. You basically cook, blenderize and then taste and try to make adjustments from there. The most infuriating thing, however, is seeing cream, ice cream or yogurt right in front of your face and just wanting to put your finger in and taste them, but being unable to do so. Such is life, I guess.

Here are a few of the things I have been craving: popcorn, a baguette with butter on it, pizza bagels, a bagel with cream cheese, donuts and hot dogs. Almost all of these things my husband has eaten in front of me in the past week (excluding the hot dogs and donuts) and I have been really jealous when I watch him eat them. I have been trying hard not to watch when he eats so I won't crave those things as much and feel upset that I cannot eat them, but it is not always that easy.