What are some very easy to make meal kits/prepared food that are accessible?
As mentioned before my partner is a new paraplegic. He was a chef before becoming disabled a decade ago and the primary cook at home until the more recent injury. He's struggling to make sure he eats in part because making a baloney sandwich is currently an ordeal. We expect that to get easier as he gets OT and more used to being in a chair, but I'm wanting to start with prepared meals and work up to easy meal kits that help him get back into cooking. Difficulty level is things that taste good and have a variety of foods, as well as, for the future, kits that require less manual dexterity.
Recipes also welcome as well as any must have kitchen items. We have an air fryer, microwave, electric kettle and toaster he can use easily. Oven and stove that are a bit more tricky right now.
ETA: in the United States and with a large variety of grocery stores around me.
First, my heart is aching for you and your partner. It's devastating to watch a loved one suffer the loss of mobility, especially when it's sudden. I've had (thankfully temporarily) injuries that put me in a wheelchair for a bit, and it was the absolute worst. I just felt so useless and dependent. Even when people around me were willing and happy to help, I hated it. It really made me understand and value my physical independence.
Second, i have questions before suggestions. From your baloney sandwich example, it sounds like fine motor skills and/or strength might be an issue? Can he open a jar? Can he open a fridge? Can he open tupperware? I understand his ability now isn't what he might be capable of in the future, but where you're starting from and a goal might be helpful.
I'm also a person who loves simple foods. It's summer where I am, so I've been eating a ton of sliced watermelon with feta or ricotta salada, caprese salad, or just baguette with marinated goat cheese. I love to cook for others, but for myself want really basic, easy-for-me stuff.
Depending on his range of motion and comfort, slow-cooker meals, especially where it's something like chili, might feel easier and more like "cooking." And smoothies are an option, too! Frozen fruit is already prepped, and you can make smoothie packs for a freezer that just need to be dumped into a blender.
Thank you, I appreciate the empathy. He's struggling with feelings of uselessness and helplessness and helping him be more self-sufficient through creative means is part of me trying to support him.
He can open the fridge, but reaching in requires a grabber. He's having some twitching/shaking in his hands (due to medication) and then he'd drop things and have to struggle to pick them up. Goals are starting with just some decent ready to eat meal options and working up to sort of "assisted cooking" hence the meal kit idea.
I'm also worried about him eating enough when I'm not around during the day so that's secondary. We've bought pre-cut fruit and that is a win, but haven't really gotten into recipes. (He's sort of similar to you but before the recent incident if I left him home alone he'd want canned ravioli and tuna noodle casserole. He cooks for me but won't bother for himself.
I do like the pre-made smoothie idea (I may start with some individual packets from the store and work up to making our own bags.) Chili is a good idea too (once it cools off)
Thank you so much
The available Meal kits and prepared food services are usually different in every country, so knowing which country you're from would help narrow it down. AFAIK, the only one available in multiple countries is Hello Fresh. It's what I use, alternating with another Canadian one called Goodfood, depending on which meals I fine most appealing every week. I haven't found either kit's meals especially difficult to prepare, but I am not paraplegic so can't say for certain whether your partner would struggle with them, sorry. :(
Fair criticism, USA! Thanks for pointing it out.
I'm worried Hello Fresh will have too much prep at first. But it's been a while since we've used them.
When we used HelloFresh in the US there was a lot of slicing and dicing. It doesn't seem like a good fit for your husband's needs.
That is currently difficult, bordering on unsafe, so I'll probably come back to it after we've made some progress. But I wasn't sure if some of them came more pre-cut/prepped
Just as a pro-tip, would it be worthwhile investing in one of those food cutter machines that do it for him if he puts in very large pieces? Might be safer?
Yes! I mentioned in another thread that I'm looking for tools that would be worth getting too! But honestly been so overwhelmed I hadn't thought of anything specific.
The prep for most is usually just washing and cutting the produce, and opening all the packages (meat, sauces, spice packets, etc). So if that doesn't sound too hard then Hello Fresh is probably a decent option. I don't know of any meal kits that make it any simpler than that though, unfortunately.
p.s. If you want to give Hello Fresh a try again, to see if your partner can handle them, they usually have discounts for when you sign up or reactivate your subscription. I also have some codes for a free box (3 meals IIRC), but it's for Hello Fresh Canada and I'm not sure if it would work for the US. If you want to see if the code will work for you let me know and I can PM it to you.
Wasn't sure if any of them came more pre-prepped. Right now he's dropping a lot of things and besides being frustrated it's not super safe to do a lot of chopping.
Have you considered trying to find some more accessible/disability-friendly kitchen tools for them? E.g. Something like the OXO Good Grips Chopper might allow them to do the basic prep work most meal kits require without risk of injuring themselves.
I have thought of it but truly am at a stage where I don't even know what things to look for, so suggestions welcome. I have to overcome his chef background but I'll definitely suggest this!
OXO is a good brand to look at in general for that, since their design philosophy focuses heavily on comfortable ergonomics, which often improves accessibility. E.g. All their can openers have big, chunky, rubberized handles. And another brand worth looking at is Dreamfarm, which makes all sorts of ergonomic kitchen multi-tools.
You could also look for "adaptive" kitchenware | cooking tools | kitchen equipment as well, since those are specifically designed for people with limited fine motor skills.
Thank you so much!
YVW! Glad to help. :)
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I've been using Factor_ for pre prepared meals for almost a year now. A box comes once a week, with the meals you pick out or whatever they select for you if you don't customize your box. Cooking them is simple, 2 minutes in the microwave, and it's ready to eat. Like a TV dinner, but not frozen and actually good food.
I have some free codes if you want to try it out. I don't get any kickbacks from them. PM me if you're interested.
I will check it out and keep your post if it looks usable and we'd want to try some codes. Ty!
I have never used it. But I had a friend who went from not even knowing how to use a knife properly, to cooking amazing meals by using hello fresh. They are too pricey for me and I pretty much eat whatever's on sale at the store. But for ease of use and everything I think it fits your bill pretty good.
I don't eat meat or fish so only veggie recommendations, but one meal that came to mind would be burritos with falafel. You can heat up the burrito in a microwave, falafel in the oven, and eat it with hummus and some ready chopped lettuce or spinach leaves. Hummus is super good and you can buy it premade, if he wants to he can also add some spices of his own, or add some cherry tomatoes to the mix / on the side. Those are also ready to eat straight from the bag
I don't know if it falls into a chefs type preferences, but did you know when you buy frozen potato waffles you can prepare them in a toaster? Just run them 3 or so times in the toaster and done, just as good as prepared in the oven.
Ironically he loves things like canned tamales and tuna noodle casserole for himself in the past but values cooking for "us" too. Frozen potato waffles in the toaster are a good easy trick for crunchy potatoes.
Thanks for the meal rec! We do occasional meatless meals so it isn't difficult for us to try or anything
Sorry that you're going through these changes. Checkout Soylent, you just mix it with water; though, there may be too many calories in it for a paralyzed person. All the nutrients one can need though.
Realistically we're more worried about him losing weight too quickly as he dropped about 30lbs in a month prior to the surgery. He's not underweight and he's fine with losing it, but not eating leads to a bunch of medical side effects.
I've been keeping some protein heavy/lower sugar meal replacement shakes in the fridge. Is Soylent reasonable for a diabetic?
It's been nearly a decade since I've had a Soylent drink, but it looks like the current ready-made formula (version 2.0) is being marketed as diabetic-friendly. I can't find the same verbiage on the bulk powder (version 1.9).
Kinda tmi, but the drink also made me really gassy the couple of times I had it! I don't remember if it got better, because I didn't have it often or on consecutive days. But searching "soylent flatulence" shows that it's apparently a thing.
Worth knowing, thanks! He can eat a general diet but sometimes shakes get sugary so I like to check. I'll look into it more!
I couldn't say with much authority; but it does have some sugar in it, most of the sweetness is from sucrose though. There's links to the full ingredient list on the website.
I use a prepared meal service called Mosaic. Its menu is entirely vegetarian or vegan, and there’s no prep needed (everything is microwave or oven ready). I don’t know if it’s available across the country or not (I’m also in the US), but I’ve been very happy with them and would eagerly recommend them. Most of their meals are quite tasty; they have a good variety of foods so I don’t get bored; and eating their stuff is waaaay healthier than what I eat when I’m left to my own devices.
If you have any questions about it, let me know. Best wishes to you and your partner. I can only imagine how difficult this is for you two.
Thanks! I'll look into it and reach out if I have more questions on it. It's sounds like it might be an option if it's available here
Would your friend be comfortable handling pull tabs on cans? If he is, pre-cooked canned foods like curry, salted meats are an option.
They can be eaten with toasted bread. My air fryer is large enough for the smaller sizes of frozen flatbreads. Sometimes I'll toast flatbread in it with toppings like cheese, mushrooms (my supermarkets sell canned pre-sliced mushrooms). Getting the bread out of the air fryer basket needs a bit of dexterity though (since it fills the base), maybe doing it in the oven is easier.
You can make soup from powdered soup, miso paste, etc with boiling water from the electric kettle, goes well with bread too. Top that with herbs, wakame, croutons etc.
I can't imagine what it's like losing the ability to do much of what you love. Best wishes to you and your partner.
I really like the idea of doing some toasted flatbread with dip/toppings. He can do pull tops (he's been dropping stuff but at least a can is a relatively safe "drop") and we have some cups of (nicer) ramen. I am trying to set him up to make things feel more "normal" even as they're super different.
Thanks for the best wishes!