The thing about extreme fatigue is that it robs you of impetuous so as well as being physically unable you are mentally disinclined too. Supermarket ready meals have come on in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. They are not perfect but Pierce and Ping is ideal when you are feeling exhausted. It’s very little effort - you can eat out of the carton if need be. They are not too expensive and it’s a hot meal
On good days I like to cook 4 portions of one pot things, eat one and freeze three in ziplock bags you can microwave right in the bag so it’s a hot meal on those days I just can’t manage anything I’m always on the lookout for one pot recipes and have quite a repertoire now I also do freezer packs for the slow cooker - everything chopped and measured ready to just chuck in the pot.
Yes. And with the addition of a portion of plain frozen spinach (or similar) they can really taste like proper food - somehow adding some un–messed-about-with vegetable makes the whole thing look and feel less processed.
For a completely no-effort meal with veg included, Wiltshire Farm Foods are really very good in my experience. They deliver frozen meals to your home. Their drivers are CRB checked, and you give them the code to your key-safe so they can let themselves in and load the stuff in your freezer if needed. Most supermarket ready meals need something to go with them, but the Wiltshire ones are complete meals and only need taken out of the freezer and put in the microwave. I thought the food would be dispiriting, but it is surprisingly decent.
Fish pie from Sainsburys. Not only is it low in calories, it contains fish and you can heat in microwave for 3 mins. (I usually have lots of fruit in the fridge too, oh and salad, oh and dried apricot, oh and dark chocolate.
We used to have an electric can opener. Might that be useful? Amazon have some with free delivery. For example:
Might Father Christmas bring you one? It worries me that you mention not being able to afford certain foods. Please check with CAB that you’re getting all the benefits you’re entitled to.
Have you ever spoken to your local council’s social services? It would be worth getting in touch to see if you qualify for any assistance. Don’t be put off by the fact you get low rather than high care component of DLA. Even if you managed to get only an hour of help a week, that could help loads towards preparing you some meals. And are there any friends you could call on, to let them know you’re struggling and to see if they’d be happy to cook up a big chilli or something, to then freeze the portions?
My dad uses Wiltshire Farm Foods. He can cook but he has really bad arthritis in his hands and when they are at their worst he can manage to put these in the microwave and cut the lid open with a sharp knife. The delivery driver puts them all straight into the freezer for him. They always ring him to remind him when they are due to deliver and he can order as much or as little as he needs. There’s never any pressure for a minimum order.
I bought him a special plastic tray to put them on which has large handles to help him get the hot meal out of the microwave. The ready meal tray can be a bit flimsy once it has been heated and with his hands I was a bit worried about him dropping the hot meal. It was really cheap from a factory warehouse shop but it does the job really well.
Wiltshire Farm Foods offer a really good choice of meals in different sizes (including large portions for bigger appetites and small portions for those with a small appetite) and desserts too.
Pie…I LOVE pie. So much so, I’m thinking of having it for Christmas dinner.
There’s only me here, so who gives a damn?
The past few years I’ve spent all day struggling to do something I never do - i.e. cook a proper dinner with trimmings. The results have been variable (sometimes very nice: glass for me, glass for the gravy…), but by the time I sit down to eat, I’m literally shaking - not with anxiety, but exhaustion. And it takes me just ten minutes to eat it, and then there’s all the washing-up. So I’m thinking, this year, I’m not going through it all again. I’ll do what I’d do on any other day, and have some sort of ready meal - pie or curry.
I’ve ordered some Christmassy cakes and nibbles, and bought some wines that are usually out of my price range, so it won’t be completely ordinary, but I’m not going to spend three hours standing up in the kitchen. At least, not unless I’m seized by a drastic change of heart in the next few days.
Talking of quick and easy meals, I was meant to go food-shopping today, but couldn’t, because I was notified at 8 a.m. there was an Amazon delivery coming, so had to sit in all day for it. It came on the dot of six!
So anyway, after that complete waste of a day, I had to scrounge whatever I could from the kitchen. I had two bread crusts - literally the end pieces I was saving for the birds - not proper slices, a tin of sausage and beans, and some ancient eggs I was afraid to crack, but turned out still useable.
Toasted the crusts, buttered them, put the sausage, beans and eggs on top - one dinner! Quite nutritionally balanced, dead quick, and dirt cheap. Wouldn’t have been my first choice if there was anything else left in the house, but completely fine.
i couldn’t agree more about the Christmas dinner. Last year I cooked pork and all the trimmings, it was yummy but it completely wiped me out and on balance I would have preferred your beans on toast. I’ve not decided what to do this year but I’m not going to kill myself - might have a sausage roll and chips! Well it’s festive!
I find cooking a whole meal from start to scratch to be too knackering as well. So I try & chop the veg in advance, even the day before. That makes cooking the meal much easier. Frozen veg is good as well, as it’ll already be chopped, and is much cheaper than fresh veg too.
I’m no longer able to do the cooking so my hubby has taken over. He can cook VERY basic things & as neither of us are fussy eaters it’s ok. For Christmas day we’re having Chinese takeaway, get it the day before & reheat it on the day with microwave rice…dead easy My two sons & daughters-in-law & children will be here for Boxing day so there’ll be plenty of help to take over the cooking chores & give hubby a rest!