Disability Friendly Cooking – Tin Can Cook

Posted on by SingleRheum

Tin Can Cook: 75 Simple Store-cupboard Recipes

1 June 2019 Format: Paperback

This is the 5* review I’ve also posted on Amazon & Goodreads.

Anyone who follows me on twitter will know I’m a big fan of Jack Monroe & her recipes, this is the third cookbook of hers I’ve bought & it’s already loved!

So impressed with this cook book. Written in Jack’s inimitable and endearing style it was intended to help those living on food bank parcels or with very limited budgets to create simple, nutritious meals in a short time and it does this beautifully. Pitched at the novice cook but in no way patronising for those with more experience it’s a lovely read and I already know I’ll be using this lots!

For me personally it hits another sweet spot though, and that’s in spoonie friendly cookery. For those of us living chronic life, suffering from disability and severe fatigue, cooking is a massive energy drain and often impossible. With rheumatoid arthritis in my hands food prep itself is a challenge I could do without, even with years of experience as a chef.

As someone who’s spent years ‘cooking from scratch’ it’s been a big adjustment to buy pre-prepped food without losing control over what’s in it (see ready meals – useful but not every day!). So discovering Jack on Twitter a couple of years ago felt like fate was smiling. I now happily eat tinned potatoes, olives, mushrooms, lentils, chickpeas, fruit, along with frozen peppers, stir fry veg, and spinach. Often cheaper, nutritionally sound and so easy as it’s already peeled \chopped\sliced and often partially cooked, it’s helped me cut down on wastage and save pennies! I also make my own wholemeal seeded bread and pizza bases – with a stand mixer and a slow cooker bread is an effortless wonder.

Additionally as I’ve followed Jack’s books and picked up more of her vegetarian recipes I’m only eating meat a couple of times a week, good for the environment and my budget! Highly recommend this, a fabulous variety of breakfasts, breads, soups, meat and vegetarian main courses, plus desserts will not leave anyone wanting for variety.

I’d highly recommend buying a copy for your kitchen, & if you can afford to donate one to your local food bank too it will be very gratefully received, or you can donate the cost of a copy to Jack’s GoFundMe & she’ll get it delivered through the Trussell Trust.

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A Question of Kindness…

Posted on by SingleRheum

An author I admire, Vironika Tugaleva, asked a question of her followers a while ago – the seemingly simple ‘What is the difference between being nice & being kind?’ I fired off a quick tweet in reply & promptly forgot about it – the transience of twitter!

My response, which was very off the cuff, was this – ‘I think being nice comes from conscious thought, whereas being kind is unconscious & authentic.’

You may understand the moment of sheer (if irrational) panic when she tweeted me back today, saying ‘That’s an interesting distinction. Do you think we need both?’

For a few seconds my brain just fizzled! “Why did I say that, I’ve never really thought about it, what did I actually mean, arghhh!” It was roughly the adult equivalent of sticking your hand up in class at school then realising you’d forgotten the question 🙃

(This only lasted for an instant & I’m actually amused by my thinking. In some dim recess of my mind I’m still, like most of us, waiting for someone to stand up & shout “fraud!” whenever I put my thinking out for scrutiny. Do we ever lose that completely?).

Once I’d taken a breath & re-read my initial response, of course it made sense to me. I’d like to think at the grand but young age of 48 I’m consciously responsible for at least some of my thought process! So my response was thus:

“I’d say yes – for me I think being nice would be saying yes to giving someone a lift even while internally saying “damn that’s going out of my way”, while when being kind I would offer without any thought of inconvenience. Does that make sense?”

(Just realising that even then I’d ended on a plea for understanding, note to self, post with more confidence!)

For me I think both are equally important, especially in today’s hurly burly rush-rush world. I think when we’re on auto-pilot through the day it’s easy to forget to be kind. When you’re perhaps juggling the school run, breakfasts, & getting to work, & you’re already running behind the neighbour asking if you could drop her kids off too is an immediate irritant. It’s too easy to feel like saying ‘fgs can’t you see I’m busy’, & I think a societal expectation of nice or pleasant behavior kicks in & makes you say ‘yes of course, more the merrier’ instead of throwing your smoothie* at her children.

*please don’t try this at home!

On the other hand, when we’re able to slow down & breathe, when we’re living more mindfully, our internal priorities tend to be more aligned with our conscious behavior. And that’s when our innate kindness is to the fore, when we selflessly offer to help others without first weighing up costs to our time, our schedule or our own expectations of the day.

Because being kind is heartfelt & authentic behaviour, it makes us feel good too, because we’re sending a little seed of love & kindness out into the world where it can perhaps take root and grow. And that’s better for everyone.

Wishing you all a joyful week

Namaste 🙏💙

Vironika’s latest book, The Art of Talking to Yourself, is a beautiful read, it’s currently sitting beside my bed & although I’ve not yet finished it I’d highly recommend you treat yourself to a copy – it’s food for the soul.

My Autumn Soup…

Posted on by SingleRheum

I’ve been asked a number of times to share #spoonie friendly recipes. I’m pretty sure this is my first. But what a great one to start with!

For me there is nothing that says Autumn more than a gently spiced root vegetable soup. It’s comfort food, a cuddle in a bowl. It’s healthy & warming. And so incredibly easy to make! I’ll give rough guides to quantity, but I rarely weigh or measure anything, most of my cooking is about being creative, and using what I have in the fridge/pantry.

It’s also about ability on any given day, & using short cuts where possible. For example I can’t chop hard veg anymore, my hands won’t allow, so my basic food processor is an essential kitchen tool. I sometimes buy pre chopped veg & other prepped foods – it’s often the difference between me having a meal of some sort or eating toast!

(I will try to remember to do a follow up post about some fab kitchen shortcuts if you’re disabled &/or low on energy).

So…. My Autumn Soup

  • 4 parsnips
  • 5 carrots
  • 1 onion
  • 4 pieces frozen spinach
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 good pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 good pinch of black pepper
  • 1.5 pints hot chicken stock (veg is fine too)
  • 1/3 cup of split red lentils
  • 1/4 to 1/2 pint of skimmed milk
  1. Use the food processor to chop or slice veg, (except spinach) it doesn’t matter which, we’ll be blending at the end
  2. Warm the oil in a large saucepan, stir & gently fry off veg & onions for a few minutes. Add in the spices, stir through well then add in the hot stock, and the frozen spinach (it defrosts in the pan).
  3. Bring to a simmering boil, throw in the lentils, stir then cover & reduce heat. Simmer gently for approx 25 minutes. Stir in the milk then remove from heat.
  4. Allow to cool, then use food processor to blitz to a thick soup. That’s it. All done! Easy right?

Today this has made me five portions, at approx 147 kcals each. It freezes beautifully, meaning on low energy days I can have homemade soup in a few minutes using the microwave, and that’s a definite win.

Changing it up

Any combo of root veg &/or squash works brilliantly, I don’t think I’ve ever had one fail me and I’ve been cooking variations of this soup for years.

I love lentils, & they’re a great source of protein, fibre & potassium. If you don’t like them I promise you won’t know they’re there, but for me they add a lovely thickness to the soup. If you really don’t like them you could add a couple of potatoes instead, they thicken well too.

Spices are fun to play with, I love the North African flavour of cumin, turmeric & cinnamon. It just adds a little kick without being ‘hot’. But you could easily swap for ground ginger, smoked paprika or chilli, don’t be afraid to experiment a little.

I like to keep this pretty healthy hence the skimmed milk, you could use full fat or even cream & croutons if you’re feeling decadent!

This easily changes to vegan by changing the stock to veg & leaving out the milk. I’ve heard coconut milk is a nice addition but I’ve not tried it yet.

Comments welcome as always, let me know if you try making this 😊

Emotional Eating…

Posted on by SingleRheum

I’ve been thinking today as I sorted out my sewing box (how many buttons?!) and my stationery box (how many pens?!) about the how’s and why’s of my relationship with food, and what lies behind it.

I don’t know anyone, overweight or underweight, who doesn’t have problems with emotional eating, and in some ways I think it’s the hardest thing to step away from. Unlike with heroin or crack or alcohol where one just abstains from the substance to deal with the addiction with food we can’t, we all have to eat to survive.

And these are deeply ingrained behavior patterns melded into our psyche as children then carried through to adulthood where they become a subconscious belief – the belief that certain foods make us ‘feel better’.

What do we do with a crying baby? Feed it. How do we cheer a toddler out of a mood? Food. What do we reward children with when they clear their plates? Sweet food. (two lots of issues there – we are all trained not to ‘waste’ food from an early age so we stop noticing when we’re full). What do we have as treats on special days, holy days, birthdays? Food, food & more food.

It’s no big shocker that we associate food with comfort more than anything else. When we eat that bar of chocolate or packet of biscuits we are unconsciously reaching back through time to our first feeds, when food also meant being held close, safe & loved, with no worries or cares. That’s a really strong pull, and in essence it’s what we’re fighting.

I don’t know what makes the difference between people who have a healthy relationship with food and those who don’t. People who can have two chocolates and put the box away for another time. Maybe it’s nurture, maybe nature. I’m sure the answer would be worth millions!!

But I do know my eating issues started in my early twenties, and I’ve had them ever since. I can look back at times when I was really happy and the weight fell off, and then sometimes when I thought I was happy and the weight was piling back on anyway.

For years I’ve watched furtively as slim people ate chocolate bars or ice cream and thought “well they can have them, why should I go without”. Yes they. They (the slim people) are obviously a race of aliens with incredible willpower. Except no. They simply view food as fuel, enjoyable fuel but without the emotional baggage we attach to our eating.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know what it isn’t for me. Diets. Shakes. Low Carb/fat/protein. Intermittent fasting. Atkins. Weight watchers. Banning sugar. Spending three mornings a week at the gym. Yes, I’ve done all of these plus others over the past twenty eight years. And I’ve lost weight. And on it has gone again because I haven’t tackled the cause. My mind.

So for me the change I make now has to be permanent, and yes, if that means I calorie count for the next twenty years so be it. Because I can’t be trusted not to. Interestingly I’m not finding this hard. Difficult yes, but not hard.

I’m rediscovering a love for fruit and salad and veggies cooked well with flavour. I’ve found a wonderful organic granola that has no added sugar or fruit and its gorgeous. I’m remembering to reach for grapes or a carrot or a rice cake if I’m peckish. I’m actually planning meals on the days that I can cook, and enjoying preparing them.

Believe me when I say I could happily ditch this tomorrow, go back to eating mostly crap and put weight back on in a heartbeat. But you know what? I want this more. I don’t want to have to use an extender on plane seat belts. I don’t want to keep looking for the sturdier chairs. I don’t want to keep wearing shapeless tunics because they ‘cover the bumps’. And I don’t want doctors to be less concerned about my symptoms because they look at me & see fat. I want to remove that excuse from their arsenal.

But most of all I want… Leather trousers, 50th birthday 😎👖👢💛

As always comments & opinions are my own and not a substitute for speaking with a medical professional