Personally speaking, cooking from a wheelchair is a royal pain in the everywhere! I am always concerned about touching the wheelchair and then touching food, burning the food or burning myself.
While I love those cooking shows that make cooking feel therapeutic and rewarding, I find it frustrating and time consuming. So what’s a diva to do?
Answer: The Crockpot!
I stumbled upon this amazing little cooking device which can actually make my poor cooking skills appear to be the work of the legendary cooking chef, Julia Childs.
A crockpot is usually a ceramic pot with a glass or ceramic lid that only needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet.
The cooking steps are simple. Place the ingredients in the crockpot, turn the crockpot on and set the timer. Voila! That’s really all there is to it.
When I use the crockpot, I take as many short cuts as possible. I buy meat that is cut up into smaller pieces like the meat for stir fry or stews. Any vegetable I want to add to the meal I buy chopped up in the vegetable section of the grocery store. I found out that most grocery stores have diced peppers, onions, and celery which cuts prep time to a bare minimum.
For this particular meal, I add the meat, the vegetables, and small potatoes which don’t require cutting or take regular size potatoes and chop them up.
Season it to your liking, add either a bit of water or broth and start the cooking!
I know, it’s that easy!
Crockpots come in different sizes and the pot in the crockpot comes out for easy cleaning. Not that I would be the one to clean it!
There are endless cookbooks specifically for crockpot meals from stews, to chilli, and chicken casseroles.
I love the crockpot.
People with physical disabilities can have a healthy meal with less time in the kitchen. Even your personal care attendant, should have no qualms about preparing a meal for you in the crockpot.
The only downsize I see in a crockpot is that it takes several hours to cook which can also be a great trait depending on your time constraints.
I know people who have made their meals the night before by placing the cooking timer on 10 hours and the next day they eat a deliciously homemade lunch or dinner to reheat later.
The food won’t burn because once the meal is ready, the crockpot keeps the food warm until you are ready to eat it.
So imagine, a whole chicken surrounded with sweet potatoes, and vegetables cooking in your kitchen without you having to slave over it.
Yummy and divalicous!
Questions and comments? Email us at nathasha@audacitymagazine.com .