Infinitec - Shopping and Cooking

Energy Management

Grocery Shopping | Tips for Managing Fatigue | Nutrition | Safety in the Kitchen | Cook Books

Cutting labor in meal preparation is of primary concern for many of us, so If you don't want to cook or you're unable, you don't have to! Not cooking doesn't always mean eating frozen dinners, soup, or fast foods. Convenience foods are readily available these days—not just at Boston Market restaurants, but complete dinner plates from your grocery store's hot bar. Choose from rotisserie-style chicken, pasta, or meat to sandwiches or salads from the salad bar. Deli counters also are greatly improved from years past, and health food grocery stores compete with major grocery chains for the freshest, most convenient gourmet foods. If you're not already familiar, check out Whole Foods and Bread & Circus food stores for good, fresh, homemade food. Now you can purchase gourmet, vegetarian, low-fat, or ethnic foods at the grocery store any time.

Of course you'll want to make regular recipes too. For help preparing meals, click on Kitchen Tools.

Grocery Shopping Ideas

If shopping for yourself is not an option, grocery stores do deliver, but you may instead recruit someone from your neighborhood to do weekly shopping. Try calling the student employment office to place an ad at your local junior high, high school, or college. Students are always looking for easy ways to earn money and they'll get to know you and your shopping preferences.

On-line grocery shopping is another good option. If you live in or around Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco or San Jose, Peapod will save you the trouble of shopping, waiting in line and bringing it home. Select all your groceries from your home computer. Peapod has various cost-saving plans: See www.peapod.com for the details.

Netgrocer is another:national shopping service: www.netgrocer.com. Deliveries are made via Federal Express and they do not deliver perishables but the service works well for stocking up on everything else from dry goods to soda pop, laundry soap, cat litter, and prepared foods. If you don't have regular access to a computer, call 1(888) NETGROCER.

For the semi-ambulatory shopper, most (but not all) grocery stores now provide scooter-type carts with a seat and large shopping basket. The cart is the only thing that makes grocery-shopping possible for many people. They are lifesavers for someone recovering from knee surgery, as well as those with permanent disabilities, such as M.S. or severe arthritis. Go ahead and request the store's motorized cart-give yourself a break! You may also request a store employee to walk around with you to reach the higher items, and of course anyone with a visual impairment will be assisted upon request in locating their groceries.

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Tips for Managing Fatigue

	Pace yourself by resting occasionally or stopping for breaks or lunch. Things will take longer, but at least you'll get it done and you won't be over-stressed.
	Drink water or fruit juice. Fruits restore blood sugar levels quickly and give you energy. For this same reason, try to make balanced meals with plenty of fresh or cooked vegetables, protein and grains. (See Food Pyramid below.)
	If you're heat sensitive, avoid staying in your kitchen once you've turned the oven on. Do the chopping, peeling or other preparation beforehand or in the dining room.
	Chop up a large, multi-portion salad at the beginning of the week and make other courses in bulk. Pasta or a hearty soup are great one-pot meals and very easy, with bread and a salad.
	Freeze food in single portions for another time.
	Prepare food a day ahead of time when you're expecting company so you're not drained when your guests arrive. Don't be afraid to enlist their help: Friends and family often love to help out while they chat with you in the kitchen!
	Let dishes air dry.
	Look for time saving recipe books; hundreds of them are written for people with disabilities or even the cook on the go. (Click on Cook Books for a listing). Here's a quick recipe: Easy Pasta Primavera (just boil water) 8 oz. pasta (any kind) 8 oz. frozen vegetables (any kind) 2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese 3 quarts water 1 1/2 T olive oil Salt & pepper to taste Boil water and drop in pasta. Cook according to package directions. When pasta is almost cooked but not quite ready, drop in frozen vegetables. Return to a boil and simmer another four minutes. Drain it all into a colander (see Kitchen Tools for pots with built-in strainers) then transfer into two serving bowls. Add olive oil to each bowl, then sprinkle with cheese and desired seasoning. Serves two. Bon Appetite!

Don't forget to eat right in order to have optimum energy. It's easy to do!

Follow this Food Pyramid. It's a good guide for everyone.

	The largest part of the food pyramid is grains: 6-11 servings a day. 1 serving = 1 slice of bread, 1 oz. cold cereal, 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta. Whole grains are best because they have the most vitamins and provide fiber.
	Next is vegetables: eat 3-5 servings a day. 1 serving = 1 cup raw leafy greens, or a 1/2 cup other Veggies chopped, or 3/4 cup vegetable juice. For maximum nutrition, select dark leafy greens, deep-yellow or orange vegetables and starchy vegetables like potatoes and yams.
	Fruits: 2-3 servings. 1 serving = 1 medium apple, or a banana or orange, 1 melon wedge, 1/2 cup chopped fruit or berries or 3/4 cup juice. Eat enough fruit and you won't crave sweets as much.
	Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs or nuts: 2-3 servings. 1 serving = 2-3 oz cooked lean meat, poultry or fish, 1 egg, 1/2 cup cooked beans or 2 tablespoons seeds and nuts. Protein is good fuel as long as you don't eat too much of it.
	Milk, yogurt and cheese: 2-4 servings. 1 serving = 1/2 cup milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 oz. of cheese. Don't leave this category out. Everyone needs calcium for their bones.
	Fats, oils and sweets: use sparingly. These foods provide calories but little nutrition. However, 1 oz. of vegetable oil is a good source of vitamin E. Molasses is an excellent source of iron. Olive oil has the least cholesterol.
	Note: Don't forget to follow a special diet if your doctor recommends one.

	Whenever possible, wear elbow-length, flame-retardant oven mitts, particularly if you have sensory or visual problems. Otherwise, you may use regular-length, flame-retardant mitts. Avoid using a towel or pot holder to remove something from the oven because your fingers or arm inadvertently may be exposed to a hot surface.
	Avoid wearing baggy clothing or loose sleeves around the burners.
	Keep flammable objects, such as paper or grease, away from stove.
	Be sure to clean grease from oven and burners frequently to prevent grease fires.
	Wipe up spills immediately so nobody slips and falls.
	Use a stepladder only to reach something up high; do not stand on a chair, especially if you have difficulty balancing.
	Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and keep it charged.
	Make sure you keep fresh batteries in your smoke alarm.

Cook Books

Cooking with Feeling ... and other useful senses
**Deborah DeBord Publisher: National Braille Press, Inc.; ASIN: 0939173409; Large Print edition (January 31, 1999), Spiral-bound: 307 pages
Deborah DeBord, an experienced blind cook, shares 180 adaptive culinary techniques for the visually impaired. DeBord's delicious recipes are adapted from the Moosewood and other gourmet cookbooks and described in detail. You'll find every adaptive technique you'll need as a blind cook. Available in braille (5 volumes) or in large print.

Note: As you might have expected, cookbook titles written especially for cooks with disabilities run far and few between, but there are some older titles sold used through http://www.amazon.com that sound very useful and interesting:

If You Can't Stand to Cook: Easy-To-Fix Recipes for the Handicapped Homemaker by Lorraine. Gifford, Publisher: Zondervan Publishing House; ASIN: 0310249805; (June 1973)
The Wheelchair Gourmet: A Cookbook for the Handicapped
by Mary. Blakeslee, Publisher: Beaufort Books, Inc.; ASIN: 0825300630; (August 1981)
Everybody Can Cook: Techniques for the Handicapped
by Henrietta Baron, Publisher: Special Child Publications; ASIN: 0875620418

Look for mainstream titles that say "quick and easy." for folks with busy lifestyles! Also look for crock-pot cookery and one-pot meals, as well as guides for a week of cooking (or several days), with subsequent shopping lists; they're very practical. I recently found a very easy 3-day cooking guide in the October 2002 issue of Real Simple magazine.

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