apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd use the one good hand to call up friends and ask them to cook up meals for me! Or maybe to come over and help you cook? Then it's fun too.

Trader Joe's also has a selection of pre-cut veggies in the fresh produce department, like butternut squash - perfect for roasting.

Roasted Chicken a la Fabio?

TJ's makes pretty darned good pasta sauce, if those are ok for you to eat. I'm especially fond of their bolognaise. I know they also sell brown rice pasta (celiac is a sensitivity to wheat gluten, right?). You could scoop the pasta out of the pot with a spider or a small strainer.

Eggs are another good suggestion. I eat them a lot as it is because I'm lazy, but they're possible one-handed.

What about soup with frozen or pre-cut veggies? I noticed that TJ's sells a mix of chopped onions, carrots and celery and that's the base for a good minestrone, along with tomato sauce (although you might need help to open to cans if you can't find the pop-top kind), chicken broth and a couple of bags of frozen veggies. And maybe some canneli beans.

Hmmm, I'm noticing how many of my fall-back recipes are pasta based. This is harder than I thought...I'm going to feel like an idiot if I'm misremebering what celiac disease is.

Roasted chicken breasts (cleaning a whole bird would be hard one-handed, I think), pork loin or tri-tip or something would be good with roasted baby root veggies and the leftovers could be rough-chopped to go into a bagged salad.

If all else fails, call a friend and ask for help.

Poor Emily!

How about a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store? It will be cooked and ready to go, and you can easily take it apart with 1 hand I would think.

If you can figure out a way to open cans, canned soup is a good fall back. Also, vegetarian chili -- 3 cans beans, 1 large can tomatoes, 1 can corn. Easy.

Protein shakes might be a good fall back for breakfast -- protein powder, banana or other fruit, liquid (milk, rice milk, etc). Blend and go.

Yogurt with almonds, jam and honey would be good. (variation on original post)

Finally, Thai food is usually gluten-free. Maybe a yummy coconut curry would be good.

As an aside - take some Vitamin C. Recent studies show that it speeds fracture healing. 2,000 mg/day is good (I'm a nutritionist so please don't start flaming that it's too much; I have a degree in this stuff and do it for a living). Emergen'C is what I like - you can buy it at Trader Joes.

Good luck -- I hope you mend quickly. I believe Whole Foods carries a line of gluten-free frozen meals. It's admirable that you want to continue to cook, but won't it be difficult to wash pots, pans, and utensils with only one hand?

I agree with ilovebutter, shakes/smoothies sound like a good idea. If you have pre-cut veggies, maybe do a quick stir-fry? And like Tiamat said, soup is probably really easy.

Hope you heal quickly. Good luck.

I'm sorry for your situation, I'm chronically ill and have muscular dystrophy that affects my lower arms, hands, etc. but am lucky enough to still have some dexterity, I don't know what I'd do without my right hand. I have been bedridden with surgeries plenty of times where it's very boring and frustrating to not be able to do anything.

I would have to say you're going to have to ask for help, and fill your freezer.

Can you ask a friend, or a few, to come over, or have you over, on the weekend for a shopping/cooking marathon? You can get help shopping, prep meals to be frozen, marinate chicken/meat in freezer bags, chop and freeze veggies, freeze pasta cassseroles, make batches of soups, etc. and they can make their own portions too.

We freeze chopped vegetables from the summer's farmer's markets for later use and they fare pretty well. Just portion everything out, label it, defrost as needed, or use right out of the freezer. Frozen meals have gotten me through some rough days by being able to pop something homemade in the oven and eat well, with minimal effort.

I also don't know what I'd do without my food processor, stand mixer, immersion blender, and blender. When I'm not up to chopping, mixing, blending, these items really make cooking possible for me, if you have them hidden away, bring them out for the next month or so and let them do the work.

I also agree with keep using TJ's for their already prepped goods. I've found the new frozen steamers vegetables to be pretty easy and tasty as far as microwave food goes.

Just please accept help, or ask for it, it's hard for so many people to ask if they are used to being independent but I've certainly learned the only way I'm going to get through life is with help, and that has allowed me to eat quite well and do things I know I can no longer do on my own. Hopefully time passes quickly and you'll get some dexterity soon.

If you're having trouble with things like keeping the bowl steady while you're stirring, go to Wal-Mart and buy the foam stuff that you put in your cabinets to put dishes/glasses on. (Maybe someone else can help me out with the specific name?) It's a type of shelf liner, and you'll find it with the other peel and stick shelf liners. Get the thick stuff. Put it under your cutting boards and bowls, and they won't slide around.

Oh no - that really stinks - I dont know what I would do if I were in your situation.

But maybe these ideas will help:
I always find hummus and fresh veggies (bought pre cut, in your case) pretty filling, and I think you could probably make hummus one handed in a food processor if you had access to an electric can opener.
Can you eat potatoes? I always bake a potato and smother it in frozen chopped broccoli and shredded cheddar when I am starved and on the phone.

Thanks for your sympathy and suggestions! I guess it's time I learned one of the hardest lessons of DIY: sometimes it's better to NOT do it yourself!

I'll spend the weekend learning to break eggs with one hand and cooking with friends to stock my freezer. After that and another trip to Trader Joe's with an eye open for pre-cut veggies, I should be set to feed myself with style while I heal.

Thank you!