Enjoying food with a stoma | by Summer

Cosy season has officially arrived which means so has the time for hearty comfort foods to get us through the winter. This is personally one of my favourite things about the winter, because there is nothing quite like coming home to a tasty stew after a cold winter day. While the change in diet might cause alarm bells to ring for some people with a stoma, I’m here to tell you why it shouldn’t and share some of my favourite winter recipes.

Winter foods my stoma has an opinion on:

Any roasted veg with skins on still is an accident waiting to happen, so making sure they are all peeled is a must.
Soup: I find if I have a smooth soup on its own, my output is exactly the same as it went in and I am hungry really quickly. As the already short process of digesting is sped up by liquid foods. So, to make this more manageable I will always opt to have a toastie or some bread with to slow the digestion down.
Beans/lentils are just too fibrous for me and always give me stomachache, so I usually will just cut these out of any recipe I make.

Eating out:

Going out for food is one of best things to do in winter – think a cosy warm pub for a Sunday lunch. When eating out I always opt for a ‘safe choice’ whether that’s a meal I’ve had before or foods I know my stoma will tolerate. So what have I eaten when I’ve been out lately?

Beef pie, chips and steamed veg (we love a steamed veg option!)
Chicken shish, pomegranate rice (if a few pomegranate seeds are with something carby my stoma doesn’t mind!)
Bottomless pizza – need I say more… (great because you can try lots of different flavour combos while still opting for stoma-safe toppings)

Homemade winter recipe inspo list:

I am a big foodie and my love language is definitely cooking, so here are some of my favourite winter dishes I love cooking up:

Beef stew that’s been cooking all day in the slow cooker, because is there anything better to come home to?
Marry me chicken, homemade roasties, garlicy tendersteam – this is my absolute favourite winter dish at the moment
Chicken parm with a tomato spaghetti, because sometimes you just need some pasta
Chicken, leak, carrot filo pie with a side of roasted veg – it’s giving winter dinner

So that’s my winter line up of cosy, easy and genuinely enjoyable foods. Make sure you drop me a message with any of your go-to winter meals, I am always looking to expand my recipe repertoire!

Summer
@summers_stoma