Fortunately, someone who stopped by was willing to cut up onions and potatoes, so I had them do that and leave those items on a plate in the frig. Once I had that done, I was halfway home so I yanked out the frozen boneless chicken breasts to defrost.
My next challenge was to get the can of cream of mushroom soup and peas open. I was able to manage that with the help of a delivery man who happened to stop by. Trust me, this not only is a useful way to get items open if you're a quadriplegic but can lead to meeting some cute guys.
Once the frozen chicken breasts were defrosted, I tossed them in the bottom of a crock pot, covered them with the onions and potatoes, then added the can of soup and peas along with a bit of pepper. This requires a willingness to worth with gravity because my arms won't reach up very high. I find that putting the crock pot on as low a surface as possible and dumping everything in works best.
I turned the crock pot on HIGH for four hours...and voila!
It was a delicious meal - the chicken was juicy and pulled apart, requiring no cutting. The potatoes and peas went well together too.
Just remember when you're cooking with a disability, the following tips can make the difference between being able to do it - or not:
1) Delegate what you can't physically do - and plan your starting cook time accordingly;
2) Keep it simple! Use canned ingredients and recipes with as few ingredients as possible; and
3) Keep it safe - do not handle sharp or hot objects in ways where you might be injured - only you know your physical limits so go ahead and experiment to find safe ways to do what you can.
Hello - I hope the two of you have enough energy to post often, in spite of your health problems. I love the idea of your blog and hope you find an audience. Question, using canned soup makes cooking easier. But I hate washing out the can to recycle. Especially the can from cream of mushroom soup. I, too, have to adapt my cooking and cleaning up due to physical limitations. Do you think it awful to throw the can in the garbage headed for the landfill? Can I skip being green to make it easier to clean up my kitchen?
ReplyDeleteMeredith here, Suzanne. And no, I don't think it or you are awful for tossing the can (even unwashed) into the trash. I've been known to do so on days when everything is just too much. You could always counter-balance the can by using energy-efficient light bulbs or in other ways that aren't physically challenging for you.
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