Hi Lively,
Love the name...I would never have dared but there you have it...those who dare, succeed!
I don't think that a fancy machine is necessary...I have a real blender and a hand held type and I use the hand held one 50xs more than the 'real' one.
It is just easier to use and I don't even think about it or clean up.
I blend chopped veggie salads, fruit salads, soups and stews...they all get the chop and I can slurp or sip without a hitch.
As for veggies that I can eat whole...A big part of them is the cooking. Most veggies work well either raw or overcooked. It is that in between stage that is catastrophic for my pouch. (I have a k pouch so I get the double whammy of having to empty through a tube too).
I steam in a pressure cooker most of my veggies. Artichokes, asperagus tips (the stalks of both asperagus and leeks are way too stringy so I stick to the tips), broccoli, green beans etc. They all get steamed and then I just add lemon juice or a sauce to them.
I make chopped fruit and berry salads for hubby and unless it is just berries or bananas I blend it all.
Throw on some ice and you get a smoothy.
I am now avoiding a lot of diet breads with strange grains in them...they seem to cause a traffic jam in my guts and scare the daylights out of me. (had one with soya and linen seeds plus a ton of other stuff...Took 2 days to eliminate!).
For the rest my diet is mostly fish and chicken with a bit of hard cheese and yoghurt.
Hope that this helps
Sharon