Cooking/recipe advice with disability

Tiddlywinks

I have arthritis pretty much all over and have real problems with making my hands work sometimes. I also have reduced strength in my right shoulder (past injury and surgery).

Add in chronic fatigue and I can empathise.

Oh, and I'm idle as anything too - always have been .

My solutions?

1. Get some sturdy trays and use them on your lap.

I use these (commercial grade and non-slip):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00366NX7C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can then do some of the prep whilst sitting and watching TV - so can your husband - the night before .

2. Get a pie maker.

Use ready rolled pastry and leftovers to make a filling meal... for instance, leftover veg, meat etc can be layered with baked beans or mushy peas etc.

My favourite is leftover sausages and barbecue beans or Quorn pieces, mashed leftover potatoes and mushy peas... all inside the pie.

3. Use gadgets

I've got a Tri-Blade stick blender for mashing, pureeing etc.

I use a mixer for cakes/batter/dough and an attachment for grating.

The bread maker is great for making dough or bread - home made makes even a can of soup seem special.

I've got a microwave steamer for making rice - which is then just placing rice into the pot, add water and nuke!

4. Use short cuts

YouTube is full of demos for shortcuts to making bread, pizza etc.

For instance, a couple of days ago I made a pizza - the dough just needed mixing and resting... no kneading.

Potatoes can be nuked instead of boiled to save juggling heavy pans of water.

I use frozen veggies for bakes - one of my fave veggies is butternut squash but I have a hard time cutting into it... so I buy frozen pre-prepared, microwave it and then squish it into a mash.

Coucous - just put it in a bowl, add boiling water and stock, stir, cover and the steam in the bowl will do the rest. You can then use this instead of rice and mix in beetroot, asparagus, mushrooms or whatever.

Finally, just remember that one of the most nutritious meals is beans on toast... you can jazz it up with grated cheese, sausages or salami.

Jacket potatoes are also a great standby. Scrambled eggs on toast, using pitta breads as pizza bases.

Umm. that's it for now as a cuppa and a digestive biccie is calling my name - it's my age !

myonlysunshine

ivyleaf wrote: »

This thread on Mumsnet might be useful. I have M.E. myself but still haven't got around to reading through it

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2514575-Very-low-effort-meals-needed

I hope the link works.

Thanks Ivy, I'm sat down with a brew so will have a read..hope you're managing ok with your M.E.? X

ivyleaf

Thanks I had been doing really well, getting quite a lot of housework done and cooking proper meals and managing a fair amount of walking (not all on the same day!), but the last week or so I'm back to having to be really careful not to get to the unable-to-put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other stage :eek: I think it's because we've been needed to help more than usual with the grandchildren after school. They are very good, but just the interaction can be ridiculously tiring, especially if someone needs help with homework.

Oh well, it will be the school hols very soon and I can have a rest

ETA Thanks everyone for all the good ideas on here!

myonlysunshine

cbrown372 wrote: »

I spotted a split dish for a slow cooker in Aldi the other day might be a good idea if you don't want to add say tomatoes to half a meal?

Il have a look for that thanks, wouldn't mind having space for a couple of jacket potatoes, thanks! 😊

myonlysunshine

ivyleaf wrote: »

Thanks I had been doing really well, getting quite a lot of housework done and cooking proper meals and managing a fair amount of walking (not all on the same day!), but the last week or so I'm back to having to be really careful not to get to the unable-to-put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other stage :eek: I think it's because we've been needed to help more than usual with the grandchildren after school. They are very good, but just the interaction can be ridiculously tiring, especially if someone needs help with homework.

Oh well, it will be the school hols very soon and I can have a rest

ETA Thanks everyone for all the good ideas on here!

Sounds like you have been busy! It's really hard not to try and cram everthing in isnt when you're doing well? I really hoep this lasts for you, it's great to hear of other M.E. folk doing well gives us all hope! 😊

Gigervamp

I second prepping veg on the sofa. What I do is get a bowl for the peelings, as well as the dish the food is going to be cooked in, a knife and chopping board, then sit here peeling and chopping.

I can't do anything else that involves standing in the kitchen, and I can't sit on a stool out there either, so that's my limit, but it helps me to feel I'm not so useless!

Don't remember if it's been mentioned, but you could make tarts on the sofa too using ready rolled puff pastry. Just cut into quarters or whatever, spread with some pesto or tomato puree and add chopped veg such as peppers and mushrooms, maybe some mozzarella, and seasoning, then bung in the oven for about half an hour.

I use ready made mash. Not the frozen, but the fresh. It's actually alright, tastewise and better than what my son makes which tends to be lumpy!

Lance_De_Boils

myonlysunshine wrote: »

Thanks Suki some great advice! I try and do a corned beef hash when I can which goes down ok(ish!) didn't think to cook two chickens at once so will do that too, anyone use frozen mash? I think I need to be more open minded about what I can do realistically, I think everything that's not whole food is laden with salt and bad for you, but then we end up with beans on toast or pizza so I've obviously got to get my head right!! 😂

I love frozen mash, as does my mum who has arthritic hands. She also uses those big round frozen Yorkshire puddings. She sticks some sausages in the oven and has toad not quite in the hole.
She likes the microwaveable sachets of rice too.

lessonlearned

Wow.....some great ideas and recipes here. I've just skimmed them but will definitely come back and take notes.

I have IBS, Gord, and arthritis so struggle a bit with both recipes and lifting and bending.

I definitely agree with "cheating" when necessary.

Take full advantage of gadgets and short cuts and when necessary use prepared chopped veg, either chilled or frozen. You might need to experiment a bit but for me my slow cooker and a good food processor are worth their weight gold.

I keep things like oven chips and various forms of prepared potatoes in the freezer - roast potatoes, potato croquettes,hash browns etc for bad days when my wrists are bad and I can't lift much. I also find sachets of microwave rice, cous cous etc come in handy for the same reason.

With my IBS and Gord I rarely eat grains so I do eat a lot of vegetables and salads and occasionally some quinoa. With a bit of cheating and my food processor I can cope with veg prep quite well.

theoretica

I learnt to cook dessert early on, I liked to eat it more than my parents cooked it. Cunning parents!

A lot of stove top meals can be shoved in the oven rather than boiled. It takes a bit longer, but does away with stirring and boiling over.

LameWolf

I have RA, lupus and the attendant pain and fatigue that go with these.

I meal-plan in advance, but always leave myself the option of swapping a couple of days about. Say for instance I had Qu0rn fillets in white wine sauce planned, and I didn't feel well enough to muck about making sauce, I'd swap it for tomorrow's veggie sausages.

Also, when my DH was working (he retired in March) I used to get him to chop the next day's veggies the night before, and leave them in a bowl of water ready for me to use.

I do agree with the "make two, freeze one" principle, but if you don't have a huge freezer, and nowhere else to put another freezer, you can only take this so far.