Food, Cooking & Eating,  Wellbeing

Fifteen Tips for Making Cooking easier and more enjoyable after stroke

Mediterranean vegetables ready for baking

Good food is such an important part of a good life! Cooking again after stroke may not be possible for everyone but if you are able, you can make easy nutritious meals for yourself, family or friends

These are my Top Fifteen Tips for Making Cooking Easier and More Enjoyable after Stroke.

  1. Separate preparation time from cooking time
  2. Ask a partner-in-crime to help you prepare regularly used ingredients and freeze them
  3. Put your energy into one pot, stir fry, slow cooker, simply grilled or baked dishes
  4. Buy some prepared products for tired days
  5. Keep some basic ingredients in your cupboard or fridge so that you can always put together a quick nutritious meal
  6. Minimize chopping and slicing by slow cooking and ‘cooking double and freezing’
  7. If you have friends over for a meal, get them involved in some food prep
  8. Cook easy egg based meals each week
  9. Cook when you are less fatigued
  10. Buy a cheap rice cooker or ask a significant other to give you a gift of one
  11. Cook quick stir fried meals with packets of fresh cut vegetables from the supermarket plus a protein
  12. Buy an electric mini chopper/blender or ask a significant other to give you a gift of one.
  13. Make simply grilled low fat high protein dishes and add vegetables or salad
  14. Remember the ‘healthy plate’
  15. Accept invitations to lunch or dinner with family and friends

Get your printable version here

  1. Separate preparation time from cooking time

Separate preparation time from cooking time to preserve energy. If you have your main meal at lunch time, prepare as many ingredients you can the day before and put in covered containers in the fridge. If your main meal is dinner, then prepare the ingredients you can in the morning, so you can get on with the activities of your day and have a rest before you cook. You can chop or slice vegetables, nuts, fruit and cheese and mix sauces, toppings or marinades. Make sure you store your prepared ingredients in the fridge. Check out Everything you need to know about food safety

2. Ask a ‘partner-in-crime’ to help you prepare regularly used ingredients and freeze them in small zip lock bags, freezer bags secured with clothes pegs or containers.

Prepare foods such as:

  • Sliced or julienne carrots
  • Peeled, sliced or chopped onions
  • Washed, trimmed and chopped spinach or kale
  • Peeled, diced and blanched potatoes and sweet potatoes

You can get information about freezing from The Healthy Food Guide

3. Put your energy into one pot, stir fry, slow cooker, simply grilled or baked dishes

Some stroke survivors can return to more complicated cooking after stroke but if fatigue or upper limb issues affect you, then simplifying your cooking might be a good way of preserving energy for socialising, rehabilitation or exercising.

Avoid recipes with lots of ingredients, multiple steps and multiple pots to wash

If you don’t have a recipe collection like mine which is threatening to take over the bookcase then check out your local library for inspiration.

The library is likely to have books with titles like “One Pot Cooking” “Slow Cooker 4 Ingredients” “Easy meals” that you can borrow and gain inspiration from.

There’s some great websites where you can type in the ingredients you have on hand e.g. eggs, zuchini, leek and they will find a recipe you can use with these.

Ones that I use frequently are:

Australian Healthy Food Guide

and Taste Australia

4. Buy some prepared products for cooking on tired days

Don’t overdo it, but it’s OK to cheat on days where you have been busy or are fatigued, to make a meal using products such as:

  • Prepared chicken and vegetable stir fry from butchers or chicken retailers
  • Frozen vegetables e.g. peas, beans, corn kernels, brussell sprouts
  • Prepared shashliks or skewers
  • Pasta sauces in a jar
  • A section of BBQ chicken
  • Refrigerated pasta/sauce combos

5. Keep some basic ingredients in your cupboard or fridge so that you can always put together a quick nutritious meal

In the cupboard

  • Cans of tuna or salmon
  • Cans of chopped tomatoes
  • Jars of tomato Passata sauce
  • Cans of legumes like chick peas, kidney beans, lentils
  • Herbs and spices
  • Soy sauce
  • Asian sauces
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Potatoes, onion and garlic
  • Rice and pasta

In the fruit bowl

  • Fruit
  • Lemons

In the fridge

  • Eggs
  • Block of cheese/fetta in jar
  • Greek yoghurt
  • Crushed garlic, ginger and herbs in jars or tubes

In the freezer

  • Vegetables such as beans, spinach, peas, corn kernels
  • Individual portions of chicken breast or chicken thighs

6. Minimize chopping and slicing by slow cooking and ‘cooking double and freezing’

Cut down on work by using a slow cooker and ‘cooking double and freezing’

For example you can make a great ragu sauce for spaghetti or noodles using full pieces of economical blade steak. Place the meat on the base of a well oiled slow cooker. Top with diced vegetables and a jar of Passata or tomato and onion pasta sauce. Add some herbs and seasoning and cook for 6-8 hours on the low setting. The meat can then be pulled apart with a fork and mix beautifully with the vegetables and sauce. To add extra depth to the sauce add 200 ml of red wine or two tablespoons of tomato paste at the beginning.

If you are eating alone or as a couple make sure you don’t eat more than a portion size and spoon the rest into meal sized re-usuable freezer containers or zip lock bags to freeze straight away. Make sure you label and date your containers so you can store them for the right time.

Another idea is to invite a friend over to help, and have a cuppa and a chat while you both prepare vegetables for soup (do about 800g) then:

  • Fry one chopped onion and some garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan or boiler
  • Add chicken or vegetable stock (you can buy stock as powder which you add water, or you can buy stock in cartons ready made)
  • Add the vegetables that you and your friend have chopped with some legumes (such as a drained can of white beans or lentils
  • Cook for 30 minutes and you have enough soup for multiple serves or meals while you have caught up with a friend

Note: If you want to make this basic vegetable soup into minestrone, just add a can of chopped tomatoes and some tiny dried pasta shells before cooking.

7. If you have friends over for a meal, get them involved in some food prep while enjoying a cold drink or a glass of wine

Your friends will enjoy helping out with:

  • Top and tailing beans
  • Stirring a sauce or gravy
  • Peeling potatoes or carrots
  • Adding toppings to pizza bases or English muffin mini pizza bases
  • Toast bread to have with soup
  • Open cans
  • Chop or slice fruit
  • Read out recipes
  • Set the table
  • Get out glasses
  • Contributing parts of the meal e.g. salad or dessert

Last but not least they can help wash the dishes.

8. Cook an easy egg based meal each week

Eggs are an easy form of healthy protein. You can make omelette (with grated cheese inside is yum), scrambled eggs (with chopped fresh or dried herbs), poached eggs, and easy no pastry slices such as zucchini or asparagus slice.

9. Cook when you are less fatigued

Fatigue can be a real barrier to cooking. It’s a good idea to decide which meal is going to be your main one, lunch or dinner, so you can get the ‘best value for energy’ in your day.

10. Buy a cheap rice cooker or ask a significant other to give you a gift of one

Rice (particularly basmati or brown rice) is a great way to add complex carbs to your meal, but can be tricky to cook and involves scrubbing a saucepan later. Rice cookers can help make cooking and cleanup easier (if you spray the inside with olive oil before adding the rice and water) and they cook rice to perfection and then keep it warm.

11. Cook quick stir fried meals with packets of fresh cut vegetables from the supermarket or greengrocer plus a protein

The advent of pre-cut packaged vegetable mixes, while not great for the environment, has helped many of us who aren’t able to cut some hard vegetables.

This easy cook meal has four steps:

  • In a hot wok or large frying pan fry your choice of protein such as chicken strips, beef/lamb/pork strips, tofu squares, nuts or fish/shrimps in a high oliec peanut oil (such as Picky Picky)
  • Add a bag of cut vegetables and stir for a few minutes
  • splosh in some Teryaki / Sate / Hoisin / Chilli or Sweet Chilli sauce and stir through
  • Serve with rice or noodles

12. Buy an electric mini chopper/blender or ask a significant other to give you a gift of one.

Electric mini-chopper/blenders can be a great addition to your tool set for chopping small hard to handle items like garlic, ginger, chillies, nuts and herbs. The blender stick is great for making milkshakes, smoothies and mixing batters for pancakes. I use a Sunbeam Stickmaster Plus SM7400

13. Make simply grilled low fat high protein dishes and add vegetables or salad

This meal formula is great if you’re cooking for one or two.

Step 1: Choose your protein – either:

  • A portion of chicken e.g. half a chicken breast fillet (halved horizontally)
  • A Sizzle steak
  • 2-3 Haloumi cheese slices
  • 1 Pork chop
  • Shashliks
  • Satay skewered meat

Step 2: Marinate or ‘spice up’ before cooking

Any of these can be marinated or spiced up before cooking

Some popular marinades that can be stirred together, shaken in a jar or blitzed in a mini-chopper are:

Thai-style marinade

  • 1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander (leaf and stem)
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, finely chopped

Teriyaki marinade

  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Greek style marinade

  • 125ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh lemon juice
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves

Smokey BBQ marinade

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup golden syrup
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Masterfoods BBQ Sauce

You can find many marinade or BBQ rubs on Taste Australia

Step 3: Grill your selected piece on a griddle pan until cooked

Step 4: Serve with a salad or with steamed vegetables in a rainbow of colours

14. Remember the ‘healthy plate’

Australian dietitians recommend that for a healthy diet your plate should be made up of 1/4 plate of lean protein (such as meat, chicken, fish, tofu, legumes)f , 1/4 plate of carbohydrates (such as potato, pasta, rice, sweet potato) and 1/2 plate should be filled with colourful vegetables (such as broccoli, carrot, red cabbage, spinach)

See more on the Healthy Plate here

15. Accept invitations to lunch or dinner with family and friends

It’s wonderful to eat a meal someone has cooked for you, no matter what it is. Accept invitations to meals with family and friends, it not only feeds your body but your heart and soul!