One of the hardest things for me to do when I am having lots of pain is to even think about cooking a decent meal. I live alone so eating some crackers for supper was a common occurrence. When my kids were still at home and I was working full time and running around with activities (before I had lupus) I would make up several casseroles, pasta sauce, soups, breakfast burritos and enchiladas and freeze them. I started doing that again. I usually try to get a friend or family member to come and help and share what we make. For me, I use single serving containers or small plastic freezer bags. But for those with families, you could use aluminum pans or big freezer bags. On days when you aren't feeling up to cooking you can thaw something out, stick it in the oven or microwave, and have something homemade.
This is a great ideal. I have noticed that I am eating out more because I just don't feel like cooking after work. My mom lives with me and is diabetic so home cooked meals would be better for her.
Great idea! I always try to make double and freeze the extra, but lately I've been lazy and tired so I just grab a sandwich or soup.
I cook early in the ay sometimes that. Works. Vicky
Good idea but I can’t stand long enough to cook anything anymore. Thank goodness for my husband now or I would go days without eating.
Great idea! I got used to cooking for a big family, so have never scaled down what I cook. Half goes to the freezer, and there are left overs for work for my husband. Having a helper is nice, lucky you!
Sheri, I often have trouble standing. bad back, already had 1 surgery, need another but putting it off as long as I can. We have a few bar height table chairs, so keeping one close to my stove is a blessing. I can sit if something needs constant attention.
my kitchen is small, and counter space lacking, but I keep my cutting board, food processor, etc all right next to the stove. Any tools I may need live in the drawer right below it. Sometimes, if you have the energy to organize and change the use of a space, it can work better for you.
Sheri said:
Good idea but I can't stand long enough to cook anything anymore. Thank goodness for my husband now or I would go days without eating.
I have always wanted to do this but never have the energy. When I do cook I use a barstool to sit in between things or while chopping or preparing a lot of times.
This is a great idea, and i love the barstool Idea from ohsoperplexed too! Im gonna try both of these! Thanks!
I love these ideas. I find I often don't even have the energy to go out to eat and eating healthy is really important. Another easy trick I use is to buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and make salads with it. You'd be surprised how creative you can get. I always buy already washed and bagged lettuce, so I only have to chop a few things and throw some dressing on. I also buy already cooked, frozen rice in bags from trader joes. I throw one of these in the microwave and have rice, chicken and salad that takes only a few minutes to make. Because I live alone, 1 rotisserie chicken provides me with about 4-5 meals, so it's actually a bargain and a time saver. Thanks for the great ideas!
Hi, this is a good ideal for us who can’t and don’t have the engery to cook!! In other words we are in pain-smile. My family and me use to do things like this for road trips, but of course they get older and fast food is the thing for them now , being adults now…Beverly L.
most excellent. I just don't really know how to cook. I have 2 recipes- kale (it's quite good actually, now that I've tweaked it) and salad dressing (sounds goofy but it's really good, dairy-free and hubby loves it). The kale is so easy because I tear it up and put it in a steamer, and stick a gluten free tortilla in the toaster. not much standing. Then I just add a few things to the kale when it's done steaming, and mix in a bowl and put on tortilla. super easy, standyby meal, not much standing. The other thing I do, since I have such a limited repertoire of recipes, is keep a very clean protein powder on hand at all times. something with no wheat dairy or soy, like sun warrior or plant infusion. then i get my protein. plant infusion is so tasty i just mix it with water. And I keep meal bars around. A lot of them have dairy or soy protein isolate (very unhealthy) so I eat "pro bar" meal bars. full of organic ingredients and very filling. And nuts. I keep nuts and baby carrots and hummus on hand.
Thanks Ann A for sharing these two recipes! I am tickled. I make a lot of homemade soups, and love using stock to cook with. You could probably home can them as well. My freezer is full when I can get my hands on good clean natural or organic veggies, meats and fowl.
Keepgoing, thanks for starting all of this.
Ann A. said:
I too live alone and often do not feel like cooking. When I do feel like cooking, when I am having a very good day, I enjoy making chicken stock using the recipe in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions - http://www.amazon.com/Sally-Fallon/e/B000APH4JA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1. This recipe must simmer for at least 12 hours, with 24 being preferred as the way of getting all of nutrition out of the chicken. The difficult part is straining out the solid pieces and getting the liquid into containers. I use a 34 quart stock pot. That is a lot of stock. Sometimes I make a smaller amount using my slow cooker. The slow cooker can really get the nutrients out of a chicken.
When this stock is in my freezer, I feel protected on the food front. When I am feeling really "poorly", I just heat and drink the stock. Otherwise, I use it to steam my fresh or frozen vegetables. Carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower cooked in this broth taste great. But so do collard greens, kale, field peas, butter beans. They just take a little longer.
When I visit sick friends I usually take them some of my stock. And my four year old granddaughter makes stock requests - "Grandma, let's see what this taste like when it is cooked in your stock!"
I also have a broth that does not use meat. Making the broth is a full day of work, but having it on hand is a work, time, and sometimes I feel a life saver.
http://rebeccakatz.com/recipes/magic-mineral-broth/Sally Fallon and Rebecca Katz are among my favorite cooks. Thanks Keepgoing.
I wasn't sure about posting this, but I am glad I did. I have loved the responses and picked up some great ideas. I am going to buy a bar stool next time I go shopping. :)
This is a great discussion, I am a convert to juices, my husband bought a fusion juicer, we just love it. We also burned up a Nutri bullet. And we have a ninja as well, but really love the fusion juicer. I can make smoothies and protein drinks with the single serving cup.
I am also Vitamin D deficient, and I found a liquid Vitamin D3 5000 IU at my local health food store. It has an dropper dispenser and it is gluten and dairy free, I just put it in my juice in the morning when I take my morning meds.
Super idea. My husband is the cook in the family (of 2) and make up single portion servings as he sometimes works late, is out of town, or has to have dinner with clients or committee meetings. That said, there are several good recipes in the Gluten-free section of this site. I promise to get some more recipes on there ASAP.
This weekend my husband made pot pies. Using Reds Mills all purpose gluten-free flour actually make a better crust than regular flour. He made all from scratch and extra gravy (rice flour makes great gravy). So comfort foods can be made as well.
We also make gluten-free pizza crust (Reds Mills) and make calzones (small) and freeze.
If you do this I highly suggest a FoodSaver as they really do a wonderful job keeping out freezer burn.
I do Mexican Casseroles, Lasagna, Udon soup and many others, without gluten and with as many natural ingredients as possible. Doing this on a good day may wipe me out the next day...but it only takes a sec to nuke something to eat ;)
DeAnne
Thanks for the info DeAnne. I didn't even know there is a GF recipe file here. My husband has celiac and I am switching to all GF just as soon as I get rid of a few more gluten things I have. I eat mostly GF already.
These are all such great ideas. How can I find the gluten free recipe area? Thanks!
My Mom calls them Home-Made TV dinners. I've never been a picky eater but recently I am. I try to cook something(s) at least once a week on a fair day and make a lot to last me for 2-3 meals.
I have "instant meals" available always, such as veggie hot dogs and burgers, mexican tortillas that I put beans or veggie cheese in.
I also cheat. On my worse days, if I cannot get up, I call my family to bring me chinese. Ha! They come in and hand me the food in bed. Good service!