Get Cooking!
Cooking is about more than just eating. When you get to decide what to eat and when, you’ll experience a sense of independence by taking control over the flavors and nutrients of your food. And when you eat a meal you’ve prepared, you’ll feel confidence and pride as well.
Plus, cooking lets you tap into your creativity! Like writing a song, assembling an outfit, or painting a picture involving pairing elements together based on your tastes, cooking involves adjusting flavors based on what ingredients YOU think taste great together. Sprinkle herbs and seasonings, toss in some cheese or bacon, or mix in only the veggies you like (while leaving out the ones you don’t) — it’s all up to you. Even when a meal doesn’t come out quite the way you hoped, remember that the process of cooking can be about experimenting. You can learn and try again a different way next time, putting that creativity to use once again.
Cooking is also a great way to connect with loved ones. Maybe your grandparent or parent can show you how to make a beloved family recipe while you share memories of enjoying it. Maybe you can teach a sibling how to prepare a dish you love. Just because you want to be independent doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help; we can all use some help and advice in the kitchen. Team up with others and see what magic you can cook up together.
And the joy you’ll feel from feeding and nourishing people you love is something you’ll want to experience again and again.
Here are some tips to make cooking a tasty task instead of a downer duty:
Arrange an accessible kitchen
If you’re ready to start cooking meals for yourself, the first thing you’ll need to do is make it a comfortable place to work. Look for ways to make surfaces lower or more reachable. For example, can you pull out a drawer and lay a cutting board across it? Think about options such as retractable shelves that can be pulled out as needed and then stashed away, color-coded utensils, labels on containers, rolling carts, or kitchen organization that keeps everything you’ll need to reach accessible without having to move all over the kitchen.
If you share a kitchen with a roommate or family members, talk about how you can make some small changes that support your independence and are useful for everyone who uses the kitchen.
Also important is making sure that you keep a clutter-free kitchen. Ensure that surfaces are clean and free of objects that could interfere with your work.
Build a nutritious plate
Remember that everyone should have some proteins, grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods every day to stay healthy. The USDA’s MyPlate website is a resource that can help with this by suggesting ways to incorporate all of these items into your diet, and it even provides budget-friendly food suggestions. Even a budget-friendly meal can be nutritious — beans and rice, eggs and toast, and pasta with frozen vegetables are all healthy meals that are easy on your wallet.
If you have trouble reading food labels, this page by the Blind Welfare Society offers other resources that can help.
Start simple
Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. As nice as it may seem to prepare Steak Diane or coq au vin, it might be better to start with some simple recipes and work your way up to the fancy stuff. Find recipes that can be cooked in the microwave or those that only involve a few ingredients or one pan. Make smoothies or foods that can be eaten cold. Look for shortcuts, such as premade sauces or precleaned/prechopped produce. Some precut items may cost more, because you’re paying for the labor and packaging, but they definitely add convenience.
Try premade meals
Most grocery stores now offer premade meals or meal kits, which are usually located in the deli or butcher shop areas. From Chicken Alfredo to sweet-and-sour chicken or stuffed bell peppers, there’s usually an array of meals to choose from, whatever your preferred type of cuisine or dietary requirements. Even better, the packaging usually provides easy-to-follow instructions for heating.
Another option that many find helpful is subscribing to one of the many meal-delivery services, such as HelloFresh, Hungryroot, or Blue Apron. There are dozens to choose from, and some specialize in certain diets, such as plant-based or high-protein. Simply place your order, and the box will contain the exact right amount of each ingredient needed to prepare a recipe, with step-by-step instructions provided.
Finally, many local restaurants and meal-delivery services can cater meal options to people with mobility challenges, such as ready-made healthy meals or meal kits tailored to your dietary restrictions. Local examples include Foodie Fit or 702prep in Las Vegas.
Make one-pot, one-pan, and slow-cooker meals
Any experienced home cook will tell you that a one-pot or slow-cooker meal is a joy. It means fewer items to watch over and fewer things to clean later. If you can find a recipe that involves starting with one pot and simply adding ingredients to it, rather than cooking separate items at once, you’ll improve your chance for success.
Slow-cooker meals also have the benefit of not needing to be watched. Simply pop everything in the cooker, put the lid on, and turn it on. You can even start it before you go out for the day. When you come home, your home will smell delicious and dinner will be ready when you are!
Schedule meal prep days
Look for recipes for large-batch dishes, so you can spend one day in the kitchen and have meals for the week. For example, you can roast a whole chicken and cook a big pot of rice, then chop up a big batch of lettuce and other vegetables in a bowl for salad. Then, place individual chicken portions, a large spoonful of rice, and some salad into single-meal-sized storage containers that you keep in the fridge. Then, all you need to do is grab them, reheat them in the microwave, and drizzle a little dressing on the salad — voila! A healthy meal that’s ready when you are. This approach also helps you save money; you waste less food, and when you have meals ready to eat, you’ll be less likely to buy food on impulse at restaurants or convenience stores.
Read the recipe before you start cooking
Even people with lots of experience cooking sometimes forget this step, but it’s one of the most important jobs in cooking: Read your recipe all the way through before you ever pick up a knife or turn on the oven. Why? It may seem like recipes are written so you can simply read the first step, do it, then move on to step two. But in many cases, if you do step 1 without looking ahead, you might make a mistake.
For example, a recipe might call for “3 tablespoons olive oil, divided.” The word “divided” means that you won’t use the whole three tablespoons all at once. You might use one tablespoon, then add the other two later on. If you dump all three in at once, it could ruin your whole recipe. The same goes for instructions to turn up or down heat, to only partially cook something and then remove it from heat until later, and so on. Reading ahead helps you make sure that you keep special instructions like that in mind, which lessens your chances of making a mess of your meal.
Do your prep work
After you’ve read the recipe all the way through, break it down into the fewest steps possible. Gather all your ingredients together in one place. Premeasure ingredients. Chop everything first so it’s ready to add when needed. Grease pans, take note of “divided” amounts, take note of any cautions from the recipe writer, and get familiar with what comes before and after what. This prep time helps make the cooking process less stressful.
Use technological tools
Of course, you probably already know that there are zillions of recipes available online to satisfy any need or craving. Looking for a great chicken recipe, a potluck appetizer, or a no-bake dessert? Just enter it in a web search and you’ll come up with hundreds of ideas. But there are other tech tools that can help you with cooking.
AI recipe generators, such as ChefGPT, Dishgen, or Let’s Foodie (and many others), will devise recipes for you based on what ingredients and tools you already have on hand. You can even program them to come up with recipes that suit your cooking skill level. Some are free or very low cost, but free versions may limit the number of recipes you can use each month.
Do you have a voice-activated smart assistant, such as an Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod? These tools can help with numerous cooking-related tasks. Add to your shopping list, search for certain types of recipes, convert ounces to tablespoons or cups, find substitutes for ingredients you might be missing, and set cooking timers.
A note for caregivers
It might be tempting to jump in and help a person with disabilities as they are cooking, to make things “easier.” But while you may feel like you’re doing a nice thing, it can counter any efforts they’re making toward independence. It’s best to respect their choices and techniques and make it clear you’re available to help if needed — but don’t just jump in. Empower them to make decisions and ask for help when they need it, but to do what they can, for as long as they can.
