"Quick" or "5 ingredients or less" forum?

[cave76]

I would be glad if I still could prepare my dinner when I'm 80....

I think you all can be proud of yourself that you are still able to live your own life!

Thank you, Cara. Did I forget to tell you that I'm also incredibly stubborn? I refuse to give up.

BTW--- I love your sig.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

When I feel good and am up to cooking, I will cook double what I need. The third and fourth portions are placed in frozen dinner trays, labeled and put in the freezer, for those days when I don't feel good or working. I know it's not easy planning feeling good enough to cook. I keep several convenience foods on hand like jarred spaghetti sauce, canned beans etc that we like. I can always throw something together or micro our dinner.

 

[cave76]

Serendipity? Coincidence? Synergism? All?

I just found this on DC----and since I cook a lot of ethnic (translation=delicious) recipes this was a great find:

The Lazy Cook's recipes | Try the magics! Enjoy your meals super quickly in abroad !

Now, it has a bunch of too cute stuff for me (heart shaped yolks in hard-boiled eggs!) it also has some good tips for saving energy (mine) when cooking Japanese food.

 

[GotGarlic]

cave, I have issues with strength, stamina and foot pain, so I too understand how difficult it can be to cook.

I have a nice kitchen stool that I use when preparing meats and veggies and I pull it over to the stove when I'm making something that requires several ingredients. That has made a huge difference.

And we also keep on hand items that are easy to put together to make a quick dinner, including frozen breaded fish, frozen veggies like peas, corn, and green beans, and salad fixings. Sometimes we have a salad with leftover meat or chicken on top or nachos with just chips, salsa, homemade pickled red onions, and cheese. If we have other leftover bits of veg, they might go in there, too. A loaded baked potato is another way to use up extra veg and cheese. Hope this helps.

 

[cave76]

@GG----"A loaded baked potato is another way to use up extra veg and cheese. Hope this helps."

It's a great idea----- so our minds think alike! I 'bake' several russets in my crock pot. (That won't work for people who have to have crispy skin!)

Then I halve them and load them up!

But in the weather here now, a oven going full blast sounds like the perfect thing!

 

[Mad Cook]

Cave, I too have the same problem. but I don't let that stop me. I have to make an apple pie for my SIL. I have ten apples I have to peel. I will peel a couple, put them in a large bowl of water with lemon juice, ten sit down for about five or ten minutes. Once the pain from my hip and spine has subsided, I will get up and do a little more. It may take my longer than the average cook, but I refuse to give in to something I have no control over. Try to plan dishes that will allow you to sit down while preparing some of the foods. Get a kitchen stool. I have a lovely red one that I love dearly. The only things I can't do that I was able to do 15 years ago is vacuum and ride a bicycle. And I will be 75 in March.

Addie, my mother had your problems and we found her a special "perching" chair. It's height adjustable and you can adjust it so the back legs are longer than the front and the seat is sloping so you part sit, part lean on the seat - well, I suppose perch does describe it best. She found it very useful and got one for the bathroom too, for when she was cleaning her teeth or having a quick wash.

Hers came from the Red Cross loan service, I think, but I don't think they are very expensive to buy.

 

[Mad Cook]

@GG----"A loaded baked potato is another way to use up extra veg and cheese. Hope this helps."

It's a great idea----- so our minds think alike! I 'bake' several russets in my crock pot. (That won't work for people who have to have crispy skin!)

Then I halve them and load them up!

But in the weather here now, a oven going full blast sounds like the perfect thing!

I "bake" potatoes in the m/wave. Again the skins aren't crisp but I prefer mine that way.

I've just had one with broccoli in cheese sauce. The potato was a big one so took 10 minutes cooking and 5 minutes standing and while it was cooking I steamed the broccoli and made the cheese sauce.

You can make bechamel if you have the time and the inclination but Delia Smith has a quick way - cold milk, butter and flour in the cold saucepan. Beat with a balloon whisk while it all heats, when it's thick and smooth cook it off stirring with a wooden spoon then add the cheese of your choice, S&P and a scraping of nutmeg. By the time the spud was ready the broccoli cheese was ready. Split potato, pour over sauce and eat. I sometimes add some breadcrumbs on the top and pass it under the grill but this isn't necessary. It almost takes longer to eat than to prepare and cook, filling and nutritious including 2 of you 5 a day.

(OK so the food police say that potatoes don't count towards your 5-a-day but they are good for you especially with their jackets on.)

 

[cave76]

@ MadCook------ that 'perch' sounds like something I could use. Can you remember anything else about it so I can go searching the Internet? I'll look in the Adaptive Devices links on Google to see what comes up,

The reason I don't use a stool is the fixed height and the hard seat. Can I say coccyx? Of course a pillow or special pad would help.

The strangest thing----- when first taken ill and attendant woes with sitting I kept thinking about sitting in my English saddle. (Go figure) My husband brought in a saw horse and put the saddle on it----- I managed to get onto it and wow----much less pain, even without having a back.

Riding English style demands that a person sit in a 'perfect position' that can't be done on any chair! Naturally I don't have my English saddle here. LOL Or my horse.

 

[cave76]

MadDog:
"(OK so the food police say that potatoes don't count towards your 5-a-day)"

You're busted!

 

[Mad Cook]

I would be glad if I still could prepare my dinner when I'm 80....

I think you all can be proud of yourself that you are still able to live your own life!

My grandmother was still cooking a "proper" dinner at lunchtime every day for herself and on school days for her great-grandson, until a few days before she died aged 89. "Meat and two veg" as we call it here and a pudding with custard. All that despite being nearly crippled. I hope to be doing that myself at that age.

I'm not as old as some of you and don't have your problems but as I have only myself to please I no longer have my "dinner" in the evening. I have it at lunchtime. That way I have the time and the inclination to cook it and when I get home from sorting out the Wonder Horse at night I still have the energy to make a sandwich or something on toast like scrambled eggs or a tin of baked beans. I find I eat more sensibly through the day and I feel better. I still have my glass of wine (occasionally) though even if it's with a cheese sandwich in the evening!

 

[Mad Cook]

@ MadCook------ that 'perch' sounds like something I could use. Can you remember anything else about it so I can go searching the Internet? I'll look in the Adaptive Devices links on Google to see what comes up,

The reason I don't use a stool is the fixed height and the hard seat. Can I say coccyx? Of course a pillow or special pad would help.

The strangest thing----- when first taken ill and attendant woes with sitting I kept thinking about sitting in my English saddle. (Go figure) My husband brought in a saw horse and put the saddle on it----- I managed to get onto it and wow----much less pain, even without having a back.

Riding English style demands that a person sit in a 'perfect position' that can't be done on any chair! Naturally I don't have my English saddle here. LOL Or my horse.

Google "perching stool" or "perching chair" . There are several entries. I don't know if the American Red Cross operates that same as the British Red Cross but it might be worth asking them for recommendations or they may have a medical loans scheme.

(There is also a Scandinavian designed "kneeling stool" but it looks uncomfortable to me and I would think that it puts pressure on your knees
and hips. It's expensive too!)

I know what you mean about your English saddle.

 

[Mad Cook]

@ MadCook------ that 'perch' sounds like something I could use. Can you remember anything else about it so I can go searching the Internet? I'll look in the Adaptive Devices links on Google to see what comes up,

The reason I don't use a stool is the fixed height and the hard seat. Can I say coccyx? Of course a pillow or special pad would help.

The strangest thing----- when first taken ill and attendant woes with sitting I kept thinking about sitting in my English saddle. (Go figure) My husband brought in a saw horse and put the saddle on it----- I managed to get onto it and wow----much less pain, even without having a back.

Riding English style demands that a person sit in a 'perfect position' that can't be done on any chair! Naturally I don't have my English saddle here. LOL Or my horse.

I've just Googled the American Red Cross and many of their branches do have a temporary loan service so it might be worth approaching them to see if they can lend you one to try then you can buy one if it suits you.

Might be worth looking on Ebay, too. Or do you have "Freecyle" in America? It's an on-line free recycling system where if you need something you put a wanted ad on the website or if you want to get rid of something you can offer it. Everything has to be offered free .

 

[cave76]

I just googled perching stool. Seems that's an UK name for all the hits (at least on the first page) were from the UK. (Shipping cost would be prohibitive, but the price is certainly right!)

But I'll keep looking for something that useful has to be made in the U.S.

It looks as if that would work for me. Thanks for the suggestion.

Kneeling stool! Yeah I bought one when all the rage and when I was a lot younger------I hated it! And you're right----would not be good for the knees!

 

[cave76]

@MadCook---- What a sweetheart looking up the American Red Cross. I'll start with that after my nap. I AM a senior, you know. (grin)

 

[GotGarlic]

Just for the record, I'm 50 Years of chronic illness have taken their toll, though.

 

[MrsLMB]

I found this .. might be what you are needing.

Angled Kitchen Perching Stool - elderstore.com

Boy there are a lot of options out there but most are horribly expensive.

Good luck in your search .. let us know what you decide.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

This is the one I want when I am ready:
Adjustable Height Stools | Gold Violin

 

[cave76]

Mrs LMB and PF------ Yay! Thanks for those links. I will definitely look into them. First I'll see if I can borrow one (Red Cross or ??) to see how they work for me in my tiny, narrow kitchen.

 

[taxlady]

Google "perching stool" or "perching chair" . There are several entries. I don't know if the American Red Cross operates that same as the British Red Cross but it might be worth asking them for recommendations or they may have a medical loans scheme.

(There is also a Scandinavian designed "kneeling stool" but it looks uncomfortable to me and I would think that it puts pressure on your knees
and hips. It's expensive too!)

I know what you mean about your English saddle.

I had a kneeling stool back in the '80s. It was very comfortable. Then one day while I was doing something on the computer, sitting in my kneel chair, the doorbell rang. I stood up, and fell down, all tangled in the danged chair. Never used it again.

 

[Mad Cook]

I found this .. might be what you are needing.

Angled Kitchen Perching Stool - elderstore.com

Boy there are a lot of options out there but most are horribly expensive.

Good luck in your search .. let us know what you decide.

Yes, that's the thing I meant

$60 = (about) £40 I think so not that bad. Perhaps you could have one for Christmas? Your nearest and dearests might be persuaded to club together to get it for you.