Cooking With Disabilities

We live in an abundant society. We have so many different options for how we want to stay entertained, how we stay fit, our transportation, and even our food is abundant with the millions of different options we can choose from each day. There are three basic needs that every human needs to survive which include; food, water, and shelter. For many, they can earn the money they need for these basic survival items; that's if they make the decision to get a job and work for it, but what about people with disabilities?  Being a person with disabilities, I have loving people in my life to assist and support me each day, but as I get older I am always trying to find new ways that I can help my family out each day. That's why I am decided to try my hand at learning how to do a skill that everyone does every day and that is cooking. How do you cook with one hand? You may be wondering. Let's find out.

My Younger Years

             

 As a little girl, I learned how to do some of the basic tasks like buttoning my pants with one hand and tying my shoes, but a lot of the other tasks I learned from watching my parents and then figured out how to do it in my own way. I am going to tell you a little story. One afternoon I was helping my mom make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I was tending to one of the sandwiches to make sure it did not burn as my mom was prepping for the next sandwich. The next thing I know, my mom looks over to check the progress of the sandwich I was watching and in a panicked voice said " Alyssa, your hand is on the burner." I removed it quickly not even realizing that it was even on the burner or even felt it. We looked down at my hand and I started screaming, not because it hurt but because my hand was bubbling. My mom than as calmly as possible got some cold, wet towels and wrapped it around my hand until my hand stopped bubbling. As you can imagine, I wasn't the best at cooking since I tried to cook myself along with my meal.  I didn't give up though, after this incident I didn't really do much cooking, but I  still would sit in the kitchen while my mom and dad cooked to learn different tips on how to cook our favorite meals.

As I Get Older

I have never really been one for cooking or even baking for that matter. I always found it to be tricky because the pan would spin around in circles as I stirred bean or chopped hamburger meat and then I would have the occasional cucumber running away from me as I cut it into small slices for a salad. Food and I are like frienemies; I like to eat it, but cooking it is a totally different story. Although, it would probably be very funny for whoever watched. It would be like an at-home circus with food. Over the years though, with the help of my parents and my creative mind, I have discovered many different tips and tricks to help me make simple meals all by myself.

 Making Breakfast With One Hand

For many, making a bowl of cereal is a no brainer. You open the box of cereal, pour it into the bowl, add some milk, grab a spoon, and walla you have a bowl of cereal. Pretty simple, right? Well for a person with disabilities there a few more factors to consider; like how do you open a brand new box of cereal with one hand? How do you get the bag inside the box open? And how do you pour the cereal into a bowl without making a total mess? 

Opening The Cereal Box

There is a way I have found to open a box of cereal easily with one hand. The main way to open a box of cereal with one hand is by placing the box on the counter where the front of the box is facing you. After that, you will want to put your fingers under the side that overlaps the other side on the top of the box and pull back the tab that seals the box. Now you're ready to open the bag inside.

Opening The Bag

Opening the bag can be tricky at first, especially since you have to do it in a way that won't rip the bag too much that your cereal goes bad. At first, when I was younger I use to use my teeth to open the bag. I know it isn't the most effective way to open the bag, but it worked for me at the time.  Plus what else was I suppose to do? When you live life with one hand you use your teeth and thighs to hold and open different items. I don't recommend using this method because if you tare to far down the side, then it can be hard to roll up the bag after you pour some cereal into a bowl. 

As I got older, using scissors became my new best friend when opening different food items. Once I got the box open I would pull the bag out of the box and stand it up where it was sitting straight up where the countertop and the wall came together. I would smooth out the top of the bag of cereal and grab a pair of scissors chopping off a little bit of the top of the bag.

Pouring The Cereal Into The Bowl

This step is pretty straight forward. Once I get the bag open, I pick it up and carefully put it back in the box before pouring some into the bowl. One thing I do recommend when pouring your cereal is to hold part of the bag against the side of the box you are holding to help keep the bag from sliding out of the box and making a mess.

Pouring The Milk

One thing I really enjoy in the morning is cold milk. It is so refreshing whether it is in a glass or in your bowl of cereal, but it can be a little messy and challenging if you have a full gallon of milk. If you end up in the situation where you have to pour from a full gallon I recommend that you pour a little bit and then set it down for a minute and then finish pouring to help your arm not get too tired by holding the heavy gallon of milk because trying to pour a heavy gallon of milk all at once could cause you're to shake which then causes you to spill some of the milk. After that, just grab a spoon out of the draw and enjoy your breakfast.

Its Peanut Butter and Jelly Time

When mealtimes come around we have such a big variety of food to choose from for breakfast and dinner, but what about lunch? unless you take the time out of your busy day to cook a full meal as you would for dinner or grab fast food which isn't healthy for you at all, then what other option do you have. For most of us from the time we get up we are constantly on the go whether it be going to work, school, or running errands that for lunch the quickest and easiest food to prepare is a sandwich of some sort. 

For my family, when we are busy throughout the day our go-to meal is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

What was the first meal you made completely on your own? For me, the first meal I made on my own was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was quite a fun experience. Remember when I told you guys earlier how when I tried to help my parents with dinner it would turn into an at-home circus with food; well this was one of those times. Normally making peanut butter and jelly sandwich takes about 10 minutes to make 3 from start to finish, but when I tried to make one sandwich my very first time it took me 30 minutes from start to finish with having the plate spinning around as I spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, jelly on the other slice, and end up putting a hole through one of my slices of bread. I must have been really determined to finish this sandwich since I stood there trying for half an hour without giving up.

That was a fun experience that taught me what I could do differently the next time I make a sandwich and gave me the will power to keep practicing over and over again to get better at the task. Which was exactly what I did and now I am able to make two and three sandwiches within ten minutes from start to finish.

Steps To Making A Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich With One Hand

1. Get out all your ingredients ( bread, peanut butter, jelly, butter knife, spoon, and a plate)
2. Get out two slices of bread for the number of sandwiches you are making. I am making a sandwich for two people so I will get out four slices of bread and place them on the plates.
3. Open up the peanut butter container and using your butter knife and gently start spreading peanut butter on one of the slices of bread. * Note This is the part that I put a hole through my bread by pressing down too hard when spreading the peanut butter*
4.  I like to do one ingredient at a time, so when I finish doing spreading peanut butter on one slice of bread I do it on another slice for the other sandwich.
5. Once I am done with the peanut butter, I put the lid back on and move it to the side so I can apply the jelly to the sandwiches.
6. One thing to keep in mind is that opening the peanut butter container is way easier than opening a jelly container. As you will see in my video I easily screwed off the lid to the peanut butter, but when it came to the lid to the jelly container I had to wrestle it off. When this happens the important thing is to not get frustrated, but instead, laugh at yourself as I did with this situation.
7. When you finally get the jelly container open use your spoon to scoop out the jelly and plop it on one of the slices of bread that doesn't have peanut butter.
8. Once you feel like you have enough jelly for your liking, then take the butter knife and spread it around to cover the whole piece of bread. You may need to get get more jelly if you still see places on the bread that don't have jelly.
9. Then, take the jelly side of the bread and press it down on the peanut butter side to make a yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
10. If you are only making one sandwich then you can put away all your ingredients when you are finished with making your sandwich before sitting down to eat, but if you are making other sandwiches for other people, then the fastest and easiest way is to apply the method I talked about in step 4 when spreading the peanut butter and jelly for the other sandwich(es).

Cooking Dinner With One Hand

I haven't had much experience yet with cooking dinner. Mainly I brown the meat up for tocos and stir the refried beans, but I spend most of the time sitting at the island in our kitchen observing and learning how my parents cook. Which is good because you have to first learn the task before you can master it. Even though I am still in the process of learning how to cook there are still many different products that I have found helpful over the years.

One-handed Cutting Board

By Rehabmart Reviews

I absolutely love using this one-handed cutting board. When I was 13 and was starting to learn how to cook I received this as a Christmas present from my mom and dad. Right off the bat, it helped keep the cucumber that would run away from me in one place so I could cut it. It also kept things like cans and other bottled ingredients still so I could open it without making a mess. This product has been super helpful to me and allows me to learn a new skill while helping my family out.

One-handed Can Opener

When it comes to opening cans with one hand there is nothing more helpful and easy to use than a one-handed can opener. There are many different things I love about this product is that it has a little metal piece that allows you to easily get the lid out of the can without getting your fingers dirty. 

How To Use A One-handed Can Opener

To use this one-handed can opener just follow these simple steps.

1. Get out the can you want to open and place it on the counter in front of you
2. Press the little green button on the top of the upper handle to release the bottom handle in which the can opener will open up and is ready to use
3. Place the edge of the can opener with the metal piece that opens the can on the side of the can and click it into place by pushing the bottom hand up towards the top hand.
4. When ready you will push the bottom handle up and down while keeping it steady with your hand as the can begins to move in a circle with each motion of the bottom handle.
5. When the lid is completely off it will fall down in the can a little bit in which that cool little metal piece comes in handy to get it out. 

With a little help from these products and a learning mindset. You too can develop the skill of cooking with one hand.