What might I need in my kitchen?

[notinvisible]

I am a young adult who is planning to get out on her own next year. Since most of you don't know me I will recap.- substantial short term memory loss issues (less than first percentile) and my fine motor skills tested to be the same a child who just turned 7. A cause hasn't been found but it is not believed to be progressive. I also have major issues with fatigue, but I deal with all of this okay and work full time.

At any rate, can anyone suggest any helpful equipment for the kitchen? I have a really hard time using a knife to cut things. I also tend to drop things if I start thinking too hard about anything else. Well actually- I have a difficult time with just about everything kitchen related but I don't want to live on tv dinners.

Please let me know if you have any ideas.

[Gymnast_Navy_Wife]

My best and most useful kitchen tools are 1. microwave and 2. Toaster. 3. Electric can opener

I am a microwave girl :D when my husband is away, I rarely ever cook (the exception being baking cookies and brownies)--- I am not a big meal maker even when he is home, BUT, it is even more unapealing and boring to just cook for me. So, the microwave is my best friend. Now days you can cook almost anything in the microwave-- from macaroni, hamburger helper, canned food, TV dinners, hot dogs (oscar mayer now makes pre cooked hot dogs-- in packages that require only 30 sec to 1 min to "cook" ) Pot Pies, scrambled eggs & even frozen foods. Also, I just found and bought some pre made deserts from Betty Crocker (they have small individual size and larger size) that you just add water and stick in the microwave and are pretty yummy. With the exception of eggs (which obviously you have to prepare) most boxes and cans include microwave directions in addition to stove top directions. Can you tell I am a microwave guru ? LOL.

My Toaster. Its not used nearly as often as my microwave, but is useful for a lot of things that you can't put in the microwave. I use it to cook waffles (think Eggo's ), warm up pop tarts/toaster strudels, bagels/english muffins, toast and other thin stuff (as foods that can actually fit into the toaster slots).

Also, an elctric can opener is a wonderful tool as well. The hand held ones are OK, but I get really frustrated very easily if the can is tricky, big, heavy, etc and take a long time and requires dexterity and energy. I prefer the Electric type any day :) .

On a slightly non appliance note, like you I also have coordination/motor planning and memory problems. I have tremors related to medications and I soooo understand how frustrating trying to make food and then eat it-- spilling stuff, having difficulty cutting, etc. What I suggest is to get some weighted silverware. My OT (occupational therapist) had me try out some for a week and they were soooo helpful. They weight and the way they are made help to stabilize my hands and fingers---getting and keeping the food from my plate to my mouth is much easier.The weighted knife is a really unique design--- it is curved and requires almost no effort to use. You can get them in a variety of weights. Since they aren't sold in stores, I have found them at : www.rehabmart.com ( i like the good grips weighted utensils in the pediatric dinner ware section, but they also have bigger ones for adults) ; www.activeforever.com ; www.theraproducts.com --- there are a lot of other places, but those are the ones I have book marked

Some other things I am a fan of--- both kitchen/eating/cooking and "life " type things that I have found really helpful are using water type bottles (during meals and any other place you take drinks) and cups with lids rather than glasses. I know they may look "boring" and not very cute or decrotive, but scrap book stickers, permant markers, photo's can brighten them and make them look any way you want; plus you can find them in all sorts of colors and shapes if you look not only in the tupperware/dinner ware section of the store, but also in the baby/toddler section--- playtex makes some awesome insulated cups that do not look like a bottle or sippy cup and are in plain, bright colors..... Anyway, I've found them to be very useful and eases the frustration when I have coordination/motor planning problems, tremors from meds and other things that would cause me to spill or possibly spill my drink. Being that I also have seizures, there have been times when I've had a seizure while eating/drinking and my drink has gone flying across the room-- spilling on me (and sometimes whomever I am with, lol ) and my food. This can get REALLY embarrasing so water bottles and cups with lids are one of my best friends ;) .

Well, I apologize for this reply being so long. I hope I've at least given you a few ideas and wanted to share some of the things that I've found useful and helpful. PM me if you want to discuss things and swap ideas more.

:) GNW :)

[howdydave]

It sounds like you will probably want to go the "frozen vegetables" route since you don't need to cut them, peel them, etc.

A TIMER! (so you don't forget about a pot on the stove)

Coffee pot with automatic turn-off,
Big pot (or dutch oven) for spaghetti (with lid)
*Medium pot (maybe even a 3 pot set - with lid/s)
*Big frying pan (ideally, get one that the big pot lid will fit)
*Small frying pan (ideally, get one that a smaller pot lid will fit)
Collander (draining/rinsing spaghetti & vegetables)
Crock Pot
3 size unbreakable bowl set (Correll,stainless stee or somethng like that)
Microwave
Microwavable Meatlof pan that can also be used in an oven
Measuring cup
Can opener
Measuring spoons.

*An alternative for these is an electric frying pan with adjustable temp. control. (You will need some of the others anyway if you plan on making anything other than a "one pot meal.")

Spatula,
Slotted spoon,
Mixing spoon,
Large, medium and small sharp knives -- lets face it, you will need to do some cutting

Cups, Plates, flatware, soup bowls.
For cooked food storage, look at the dollar store for food containers.


As you go along, you will discover what else you need.

The cheapest way to get this stuff is from yard/church sales or Goodwill/Salvation Army.

When I first started out, there was a great book called "The Impoverished Student's Cookbook" (just did a search on Amazon -- it's not there) that listed "essential tools" for a student's kitchen.

Dave

[notinvisible]

Wow, thanks for all the ideas! My mom got me the kitchen plates and bowls as a gift. She knows not to get me anything breakable, so she got Corel. I think I still need glasses but I am going to make sure they are plastic. I tend to drop things in my hand if I start thinking about other things. I've never heard of a microwavable meatloaf pan! I love meatloaf though so I need to find it!

I am so scared of knives. I'm going to try to go as much as possible without using them.

Gymnast, I really liked your ideas as well.

Thanks so much for the help. Move in date is soon so I'll let you know how it goes.

[moose53]

This sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you :D

I don't have any of the great ideas that others have offered. I do have two suggestions though. One would be to learn how to develop 'habits' in the kitchen that will hopefully override the forgetting. One thing that I ALWAYS do is turn on the light over the stove whenever I turn on the oven or turn on a burner. That way there is another cue for me that the stove is on. If you do things in the same way every time they become habits -- habits become automatic and don't really need our memory to click on for us to perform the steps.

Oh, and one other thing. Don't forget your grocery store as a wonderful resource. There are a lot of precut vegetables in the frozen food section that can be microwaved or cooked on top of the stove or in the oven. Get to know your butcher and your deli man/woman. My butcher will cut a pork loin into pork chops for me or will make a pocket in thick pork chops so I can stuff them. The person behind the deli counter will cut sliced turkey extra thick so you could use it for a Thanksgiving-type meal. If you go when they're not busy, I'm sure they would be more than willing to cut up vegetables for you (after all most grocery stores now have a salad bar where you can already get cut veggies).

One appliance that I absolutely love is a bag sealer. I can portion out meats into individual bags before I put them into the freezer. It's easy to thaw out one hamburger in the microwave and then just cook it for a few minutes on the stove-top (don't forget the light overhead). I buy pork chops, boneless chicken breasts, hamburger (which I form into patties and meatballs before freezing), steak, . Most meat can be thawed briefly in the microwave and then cooked on the stovetop or -- like I do, you can cook one portion of frozen meat in a medium-heat frying pan for 10 minutes per side without freezing.

This guy (Rehabengineer) has a lot of wonderful bookmarks for things that you might find useful: http://www.mybookmarks.com/public/rehabengineer/#current He also has a website that's really interesting (http://www.rehabengineer.com/) -- it'll give you ideas for ways of thinking about solving problems.

I collect bookmarks. I have a whole section on Assistive/adaptive technology (http://public.murl.com/moose53/HEALTH_AND_MEDICAL/DISABILITY_RESOURCES/ASSISTIVE-ADAPTIVE_TECHNOLOGY) (click the [page-down] key 2 times to get to the appropriate section).

Just for an example, one of the things that I found under "Workshop Soltuions" was this: http://www.workshopsolutions.com/COMPLETE/cutting.htm -- a cutting board that was designed so that someone with limited use of their fingers could use a cutting board and a sharp knive.

The whole field of assistive and adaptive technology is really fascinating. Don't forget to ask in occupational therapy for ways to accomplish what you want to be able to do.

Let us know when you move, we'll send you a virtual bottle of wine and a virtual floral bouquet. I know this is going to be fun and is going to give you another opportunity to learn and to grow.

Good luck. Hugs.

Barb

[notinvisible]

Thanks for the great ideas, Moose. The links were very helpful! I've been learning so much here. Great idea about asking the butcher what they can cut up for me :)

I will definitely post on moving day if I have internet!

(As I was reading your post, I spilled pop all over the carpet when I was trying to put the cap back on!)

[howdydave]

Oh...

Don't forget a steel for sharpening your knives (unless you get a can opener with a knife sharpener on it.)

The sharper your knife, the less chance of an accident! (strange but true)

[Lavandula Canadensis]

magazines websites have a lot of useful info., tips, etc. for new chefs ;)

this one is Vegetarian Times... you don't have to be vegetarian to enjoy...

this link's page is on kitchen tools...

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/resources/kitchen_tools_101/

bon appétit!