Information provided by Smoothe Foods:

“Smoothe Foods are pureed foods made with a healthy blend of ingredients.

They make a great meal for any day of the week.

People who love great tasting nutritious foods sometimes need pureed meals

as part of their dietary plan.

You should not have to be downgraded to powdered, canned, or boxed foods.”

Smoothe Foods offers you easy to eat and swallow nutritious pureed foods that you can enjoy when you are facing conditions such as:

• Swallowing difficulties (Dysphagia) caused by issues such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, AIDS, ALS, head injuries, etc.
• Poor digestive functions due to a gastrointestinal condition
• Chewing sensitivity due to dental issues including surgery
• Bariatric, dental & general surgery recovery
• Eating Disorders
• Malnutrition

My Review of Smoothe Foods / Pureed Foods for People with Difficulty Swallowing (Dysphagia)

Smoothe Foods (along with CWI Medical) made this coupon to support SwallowStudy.com and its followers. I believe it is so important to not compromise on quality of life and taste if you have difficulty swallowing and need pureed foods. If you have a problem with your oral, pharyngeal or esophageal stages of swallowing, make sure your Speech-Language Pathologist has fully tested your swallow function to determine that puree is the best consistency. For some people, puree is not always the easiest texture. Based on the Speech-Language Pathologist’s recommendations, your doctor may have prescribed a Pureed Diet for you.

Of course, anyone can enjoy pureed foods. We eat naturally pureed foods all the time (e.g., yogurt, pudding, squash, mashed potatoes, etc). 

Karen Betz, the owner of Smoothe Foods, sent me samples to taste and analyze. I’m happy to report the results of my taste test! I was fortunate to have the help from my son, who has an excellent palate. He never orders off a kid’s menu, and his Daddy is a great cook!

Here are our findings:

• Handy small containers that will stack in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Perfect one-portion sizes.
• Meals are fully cooked and come frozen.
• Easy microwave instructions, such as “remove lid, heat for 90 seconds, stir, and heat for another 60 seconds.” I found that with my high powered microwave, I needed only an additional 30 rather than the 60 seconds suggested.
• Easily pop out of the plastic container to heat them in the microwave in a glass bowl or ceramic dish.
• Great smell right out of the microwave. The Mac-n-Cheese, Chili and Spinach Lasagna really smelled exactly like the “real thing.”

1. Three Bean Chili got our top vote.  He said if Daddy’s homemade Chili is a “10,” he would rate this Three Bean Chili a 9 3/4! (He loves fractions.) I totally agree with his rating. We found the Chili to be moist, smooth, easy to swallow. It is important to mention, it is not hot/spicy at all. This is good to know for reflux precautions or if your mouth is very sensitive. It has 480mg of Sodium. 140 calories.

Look at the ingredients! I can actually read them all.

INGREDIENTS: DICED TOMATOES, BLACK BEANS, KIDNEY BEANS, WHITE BEANS,

ONION, TOMATO CRUSHED, GARLIC, GROUND PEPPER, GARLIC POWDER,

SOYBEAN OIL, AND SPICES.

2. Spinach Lasagna is another favorite. The ingredients are also very natural, and the consistency was very smooth. It does contain wheat and soy. Sodium is 430mg. Wonderful blend of herbs, such as nutmeg, basil and oregano. With my son, I played “close your eyes and open your mouth.” When he did not know what he was tasting, his initial rating of “yumminess” was 8 1/2 – 9 out of 10. When I told him it was Spinach Lasagna, he said the closeness to homemade lasagna was 9 1/2 – 10 out of 10! Again, I firmly agree with his high ratings! As we know, the taste buds and palate of children are very acute. Even my total foodie husband said, “wow, not bad!”

3. Mac-N-Cheese got a score of 8 out of 10. It was a little sticky, but this could be fixed with a little milk or butter after cooking. This item is good for people who need to put on weight, especially if having difficulty swallowing is causing weight loss. It has heavy cream. Saturated fat is 4.5g, but there is no trans fat. Sodium is 500mg. It really tastes like real Mac-n-cheese, but the only downfall is that it contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. 

4. Pancakes with Ricotta and Blueberries were best when we drizzled our real maple syrup on top. Adding moisture is a good idea for people with difficulty swallowing who need food to be smooth and moist. It is always tricky to make puree foods out of bread products. They tend to become sticky. Without syrup, my son described the pancakes as “plain,” and that they “don’t taste like much.” However, the syrup really brought out the pancake flavor, and he said: “Yum, yeah, that really tastes like a pancake now!” The downside is the use of high fructose corn syrup in the blueberry filling. We also did not taste much blueberry flavor. Rating would be a 5 out of 10.

Add your reviews to the CWI Medical website as you taste the products.

This helps people with difficulty swallowing still enjoy food. You CAN be a foodie, even if you can only eat purees.

Thank you for reading this review!

I want to make sure that people analyze any puree for safety before assuming that all purees are easy to swallow.

If your pureed food item at your hospital, nursing facility or home is dry and sticky, you could actually choke on it. It may get more stuck in your mouth and throat than a soft-moist regular food item. Make sure your puree is an Ideal Puree, meaning moist and cohesive.

Play with your food & Evaluate:

• Does it mash easily with a fork, staying moist and smooth? Does the liquidized puree slip through the tines of a fork? Does the typical pureed food pass the “Spoon Tilt Test,” by sliding easily off a spoon turned sideways? –> Eat and Enjoy

OR

• Does it stick, clump, or crumble when you mash it with a fork? –> Try adding moisture, like sauce or gravy.

OR

• Does it pick up in one dry-sticky-hard glob? –> Avoid due to choking risk!

Make sure to include this Smoothe Food coupon codes (SWSTY5) to save money on your purchase and support SwallowStudy.com at the same time. Thank you!