#Cooking for Spoonies

[grandmatapati]

As soon as I read this article I ordered a copy for myself. I prefer physical books for cookbooks so I am waiting for it to arrive next Monday. (I enjoy flipping through, discovering interesting recipes and seeing the pictures without being online.)

This is the book I've been dying to read, as I told Jules when I found him on twitter. He's very kind and says he looks forward to hearing what I think after I've had a chance to read and use it.

Before this the only thing I found was a guide to baking with brain fog on the King Arthur's flour site. Useful but I needed so much more.

I look forward to more volumes, such as Cripping Your Outdoor Kitchen. I'm guessing this first book will start many conversations and that will lead to a mass sharing of tips and tricks throughout the Disability Universe. We Spoonies already discuss getting calories in on days when it seems impossible. But this makes me think that cooking more often may be doable with a bit of guidance.

#disability #cooking #food #brain fog #chronic fatigue #spoonie #recipes

[zillanovikov]

Surviving under late stage capitalism is hard, especially when you're out of spoons and you're lucky if you have a plastic knife. We're here to help. 

The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die is a community-built, vegetarian/vegan guide to getting food in your facehole when you're suffering from depression. Or other mental illnesses or physical illnesses or *waves hand generally at the state of the world* anything else. 

We've made it free on our website because life sucks enough without having to give Jeff Bezos money, but we also do have a paperback copy available for sale over there too, since we also need to eat.

https://nightbeatseu.ca/the-sad-bastard-cookbook/

#depression #coping mechanism #coping #cooking #eating #food #cookbook #mental illness #physical illness #disability #spoonie #adhd

[hellyeahsickaf]

Cooking While Disabled

One of the things I miss most about being less disabled is cooking. It was one of my favorite things to do and something I've always been good at.

On good days there are things I can do that make it easier. It's not the same as before, but I hope that sharing what makes it possible for me to cook helps others who struggle with it.

Tips for cooking while disabled:

You can incorporate precooked food in your meals. For example, stir fry with precooked rice with the ingredients of your choice, or taking frozen pasta (like the ones with maybe sauce and a couple other things) or plain microwave pasta (I prefer these, but heat it first) and putting it in a pan adding other ingredients like vegetables, cheese, garlic, etc

If it comes frozen or canned that can really help. Frozen rice you can just microwave, frozen cut veggies and garlic and onions are good as well

Buy a chopper with different shaped blades, spiralizer, electric slicer/grater, food processor, or any appliance that will save you energy. Ideally machine washable. Stand mixers are also better than manual ones. Especially helpful if you have joint/wrist issues

You can always prepare ingredients ahead of time. I find that sometimes it helps to prep (chopping or mixing ingredients, etc) earlier in the day or even a day before. Then you can put it in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to cook the full meal

Look up easy recipes or recipes for elderly/seniors. With the latter you may find more nutritionally balanced food but an unbalanced easy meal is better than none

You can sit while you prepare ingredients.

You're allowed to take breaks. You can turn the stove off, maybe put a lid on it to retain the heat, sit down, maybe take something for your symptoms. Some things you may not be able to stop in the middle of like making pancakes or deep frying something, but if you're making soup or curry or chili or something, often you can turn it off for a bit and take care of yourself.

If you need help and can get it, please ask for help. I know many of us need to work on asking for help including myself. Even if it's just washing the pots and pans or chopping something. You are not a burden you hear me?

Stretch before and after cooking just as one would before a workout. It will likely lessen any joint pain or stiffness as you are still exerting yourself

Listen to your body. Just as you're allowed to take a break, you are allowed to decide you won't be able to finish what you're doing. You may put away your food before it's done (if this won't ruin the meal). You are allowed to leave a dirty pot in the sink and come back to it later (just make sure you or someone else does before it gets gross). You can wash them in the dishwasher. I know this is bad for the seasoning on pots and pans but you can reseason them to be nonstick again and use nonstick spray

You can buy seasoning mixes rather than using individual seasoning. Instead of parsley, oregano, basil, etc you can buy Italian seasoning. Instead of paprika, pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, etc, you can just get taco seasoning. This may sound obvious but it can save a lot of time and energy

An issue I have is buying perishable ingredients thinking I can use them, having a bad week or two, and the ingredients have gone bad. Try to plan out your meals before shopping and ask yourself if there's an easier alternative for any ingredients. Maybe pre chopped fresh onion instead of a whole one, sliced mushrooms instead of whole, frozen vegetable blends instead of individual, powdered ginger instead of the root, bullion instead of stock that you may not be able to use all at once. I know this is like one of the other points but these are what I find most helpful

Use supercook.com! You input the ingredients you have on hand and you'll get a list of recipes you can make with what you have. Often there's a wide range of complexity and difficulty

Make enough food to freeze or refrigerate leftovers. It helps if you can portion it into single servings in Tupperware or freezer bags. You can prepare frozen burritos for your next few lunches or dinners, separate portion sizes of spaghetti, portion salads, etc

Feel free to add any additions!

#spoonie life #chronic pain #chronic illness #disability #cfs #long covid #actually disabled #chronic fаtiguе ѕуndrоmе #fibromyalgia #spoonie #me/cfs #cfs/me #pots #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #cpunk #cripplepunk #cooking #spoonies #disabled life #idk if this helps even one person I'm happy tbh #especially anyone more recently disabled still learning to navigate it

[accessible-cooking]

Easy Chilli

This is for when you have the energy and physical strength to do stove top cooking. I have not attempted to bake chilli and i likely never will (i got rid of anything deeper than a simple baking sheet) but if someone would like to give it a shot and offer pointers, definitely let me know!

what you need:

1 can of stewed tomatoes for every 1 can of beans

1 chilli seasoning mix pack (i usually use McCormick hot chilli seasoning)

+ 1 can of water

Optional:

can/s of vegtable/s of your choosing

can/s of canned meat of your choosing

seasonings of your choosing (i like adding a gerous amount of seasoned salt, cayenne, and garlic powder)

hot sauce of your choice

rice or a similar grain/pasta

Measure with your heart and a taste test spoon. Dump all the desired cans in + the 1 cans worth of water (this will be more like a soup than your traditional chilli), dump the seasoning and stir occasionally until the chilli begins to boil. While heating, add any of your other optional choices.

Excellent for batch cooking for future easy left over meals.

Word of the wise: if you get adventurous and decide to put in a peeled apple, the result will taste good BUT FOR THE LOVE ALL THAT IS HOLY, THROW THE APPLE OUT BEFORE YOU STORE THE REMAINING CHILLI, PLEASE, I AM BEGGING YOU!!! IF YOU LEAVE THE APPLE IN OVER NIGHT IT WILL COMPLETELY RUIN YOUR AMAZING CHILLI!!!!!

#actually adhd #adhd #adhd post #adhd problems #chronic fatigue #chronic illness #chronic pain #chronically ill #cooking #disability #spoonie #spoonies #executive dysfunction #efd #chilli #soup #foodies #foodie #food

[crippleprophet]

okay i made the discord server for cooking with dietary restrictions! open to anyone - vegans, celiacs, folks with allergies, people with gastroparesis, people without any medical restrictions themselves who want to learn how to cook accessible foods for friends/family/events, and so on :)

https://discord.gg/wfuvYrHMkd

#dietary restrictions #food allergies #cooking #spoonie #chronic illness #mac.txt

[totally-sick-blogger]

Low energy/low prep snack and meal ideas

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about how difficult it can be to find the energy to make food when you're having high symptoms or low energy so I thought I'd make and share a list of snack and meal ideas that require minimal preparations.

You can make one serving of these things when you're hungry or most of them are also great to prepare in advance on a day when you're feeling really good or when you can have a friend, family member, or caregiver help you out. Snacks

dried fruits

precut veggies and dip

trail mix

popcorn

apples with cinnamon

cheese and crackers

pretzels and peanut butter

crackers and hummus

yogurt and berries (greek yogurt has lots of protein)

pickles

peanut butter on toast

guacamole and tortilla chips (guac can be homemade or store bought)

Meals

Cheese quesadilla (this obviously is not authentic lol)

boiled eggs

ramen (neither is this. I’m talking mr noodles. Not the real thing)

avocado toast

canned soup

rice (can be mixed with eggs or veggies or whatever else)

I hope these were helpful and as always leave any other suggestions in the comments

Love u all <3

#chronic illness #disability #disabled #chronicillnessawareness #disabled community #spoonie #totally sick blog #food #cooking tips #meal prep #accessibility

[ub-sessed]

Please share your tools and tricks for including the glory that is garlic in your food! 🧄♥️🧄

#garlic #disability #cooking with disabilities #cooking #food #poll #spoonie cooking #chronic illness #what should i tag this? #abled people: think hard before you assume you know what should be easy for another person to do

[onceuponaroast]

Alright let me turn you guys onto something real quick. Are you disabled? Depressed? Bad at cooking or just generally very busy? Do you feel like you'll be sick of you even think about another box of Mac n cheese?

Then I have the food for you: Mother. Fucking. Frozen. Potstickers.

They are even Easier to make than boxed Mac n cheese. Stick em in a hot pan with some water and cover with a lid. Cook for however long the directions say (my brand is about 5 minutes). Microwave some sauce if you want. Then BOOM: Full meal with something that has protein and vegetables in it.

They're delicious and bite sized, so they're easy to eat And easy to portion. If you shop in bulk like I do you can get massive bags that can last weeks to months depending on your eating habits.

Those delicious little buggers have absolutely changed my life. I am eating vegetables! More importantly, I'm consistently eating- because even on days when I just don't have the energy to even think of what to cook I can yoink these out of the freezer and be sitting down to eat in less than 10 minutes with minimal dishes.

Also, if you're someone with good and bad days you can prepare your own in advance! Make your own sauce or wrap your own potstickers and freeze them for later. This is a meal that never loses.

#frozen potstickers yall #seriously #fi talks #adhd #depression #mental health #physically disabled #disability #disability pride month #cooking tips #disability tips #cw food #spoonie #spoonie tips

[ansitru]

"Girl dinner" I whisper to my iced coffee with two scoops of protein powder

#astrid rambles #I'm officially too exhausted to cook #spoonie life

[pearlypeacepeacock69]

Alright Spoonie Bitches here's how I make my life suck less.

➡️ Rice cooker/ crock pot/ instapot/ etc

➡️ Use one of these fuckers

➡️Make 🍝 pasta or rice 🍚 or one of these

➡️ 🥫 Can Soup ➕️ Can Veg

Put the shit in the pot

➡️ Air Fryer for Meat 🍖 if you also have a lipid problem 🙃

➡️ 🧄Season ya heathes🌶

✨️Enjoy✨️ your one pot meal and use the liner bag for left overs!

This works for:

Curry 🍛

Spaghetti and meatballs 🍝

Ramen 🍜

Chik n dumplings

Green bean casserole and of that ilk

And other shit

Also it's cheap (and if you buy meat with bones it's cheaper and you have bones for broth!)

#spoonie #spoonie cooking #easy cooking #one pot meal #dorm cooking #dorm room

[melodymorningdew]

Be sure to check out my latest short video if you're disabled and need ideas for quick easy meals that don't expend all your energy.

#Mind Your Spoons #spoonie #low spoons #easy recipes for disabled people #disabled #disabled cooking #melody morningdew art #chronic illness #chronically ill #furry artist #chronic disability #chronic pain #female furry #fursona #artist #easy recipes #recipes for disabled people #undiagnosed disability #young and disabled #invisible disability #undiagnosed chronic illness #undiagnosed chronic pain #chronic migraines #chronically fatigued #chronic migraine #chronic fatigue

[myalgicencephalomyelitiscfstom]

From the @MassMECFS July e-newsletter https://www.massmecfs.org/newsletters/856-2023-7-july-newsletter

Link to Jennie's review: https://occupyme.net/2023/06/19/lightning-book-review-crip-up-the-kitchen

#spoonie #chronic illness #Disabled #cooking #mecfs

[hellyeahsickaf]

Not to keep reminiscing about when I was more abled but man what I'd give to be thinly slicing garlic, onion, tomatoes, throw them in a pot with ghee on medium-high until the onions are translucent and yellowed but not caramelized, and chop some carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, mushrooms, throw them in with some peas and corn and let those cook, mince a green chili pepper, cilantro, and ginger and lime zest, add bit of tomato sauce, then about 4 cups of stock and simmer it on low adding lime juice, a couple of prunes (trust me on this), seasoning it with cumin, cardamom, salt, cinnamon, clove, turmeric, curry powder (most of these spices are in curry powder it's more of a ratio thing), and peppercorn, and then let that bitch simmer for an hour or two until I have curry and throw some naan in a pan with butter, maybe pan fry some okra and make a side of chana masala or dal. No pre packaged meal beats that yknow?

#I'm not even fucking hungry I just want to cook #the reason indian food is so great from a culinary standpoint is that it tends to contain all of the basic flavors #like a perfect combination. salty sweet sour spicy. #also butter. ghee and butter and garlic and love #this and pasta are equally my favorite things to make #chronic pain #cfs #actually disabled #chronic fаtiguе ѕуndrоmе #chronic illness #cfs/me #fibromyalgia #disability #spoonie #me/cfs #pots #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #long covid #eggplant goes well in there but I'm allergic to plants in the nightshade family. salicylate allergy #same reason I'm allergic to NSAIDs #I still eat some of those veggies. for whatever reason bodies react different when it's in like food bc it won't kill me to eat eggplant #but boy will it tear up my GI tract! used to be one of my favorites tho so its sad #no more ratatouille for me :/

[accessible-cooking]

Turkey Patties

Cooking options:

fry it in a pan (requires standing the entire time, monitoring cookedness, avoiding grease pops, dealing with over all heat, washing the pan, grease splash clean up)

grill it (requires live fire, direct heat exposure, heavy and hard to clean equipment, exposure to elements likely, standing the entire time, monitoring cookedness, dealing with grease popping)

Bake it (stick it on an aluminum lined baking pan, oven or toaster oven at 400°F for 30 mins. add 5 mins if using a conventional oven without preheat. when done, just throw out the aluminum foil for cleanup. minimal standing. Needs a timer.)

#disabilties #disabled #disability #adhd paralysis #adhd post #adhd problems #adhd brain #actually adhd #adhd things #adhd #executive dysfunction #efd #chronically ill #chronic illness #chronic pain #chronic fatigue #cooking #foodies #foodie #food #accessibility #meat #spoonie #spoonies

[singsongraptor]

It finally happened, I scalded myself tryna cook from my wheelchair 😭 only first degree, & thankfully, it wasn't the whole pot, but a cooking spoonful of boiling water is more than enough. I can't really get cold water in my leg in the kitchen, so ice pack it is. I'm glad my husband was still up and he came downstairs for other reasons, cuz he's finishing the cooking I was doing for me. Anybody got safe cooking tips for wheelchair users in inaccessible kitchens?

#disability #spoonie #disabled #cooking #accessibility

[spooniechef]

Cooking With Spoons: Intro

Hi; I go by Thess most of the time, and I have a lot of chronic conditions. The worst of them is the fibromyalgia, with its attendant fibro fog, fatigue, and IBS as well as the chronic pain. I also have chronic migraine, a gluten intolerance that may or may not be coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, chronic sinusitis, and what is probably undiagnosed ADHD. I am, in short, a bit of a mess.

All of the above conditions, individually or all together, really affect how people function, especially in the kitchen. The food intolerances make ready-made meals impossible or at least expensive. The pain and fatigue make cooking difficult to bear, and conditions like fibro fog and ADHD make following recipes tricky. With food prices skyrocketing, cooking at home is a necessity, but spoonies generally struggle with it. I know that for my own part, I round up just clinging to a few very simple recipes, and not expanding my range much more than that. It got boring. It got depressing. I wanted variety, but I didn’t want to suffer too badly to get it.

I’ve been doing well at picking up recipes and kitchen hints that make life a lot easier for me, and allows me to add variety to my meals while still not necessarily cooking every day. I’m still learning, and there’s a lot of trial and error involved, but it’s helping. So I thought, “Why not share what I’m learning with others?”

That’s what this blog is for. I’ll be posting recipes, tips and tricks to make things easier in the kitchen, notes on worthwhile kitchen utensils and what makes or breaks a gluten-free or milk-free substitution, and everything else I’ve been figuring out to make sure I’m eating right in a very tricky situation. Obviously you don’t have to have a chronic illness to enjoy any of these hints and recipes; just that I’m writing these posts with the understanding that not everyone can do the things recipes ask us to do easily - like “stirring continuously”, just for example.

So welcome to notes from the Spoonie Chef - all of the cooking, with a minimum of spoon usage.

#The Spoonie Chef #Intro post #cooking