My New Best Friend, The SLOW COOKER

Sas Freeman

June 23, 2014

Pavlova

Cooking is something I used to enjoy, not the everyday meals so much but entertaining, having friends around was something I loved. It was a chance to try out new recipies, some old favourites and some exotic ones. On an everyday level I don’t like wasting food so would always turn left overs we nicknamed solos ‘smelly old left overs’ into something new, I liked the challenge of making up completely new, edible & hopefully enjoyable meals, out of left overs.

Due to my disability caused by stroke I do not cook at all now, Nick, my partner, does all the cooking and I simply sit and enjoy whatever is put in front of me, some may feel that it is a bit of a  luxury yet as it isn’t my choice I don’t see it that way. Instead I see the extra burden it puts on Nick and something else I haven’t yet achieved.

On occasions I have tried cooking for the three of us, making it easier by using ready chopped vegetables and my disabled gadgets. But even these, what used to be simple and effortless tasks which were second nature now leave me feeling mentally tired and exhausted which I find very frustrating. When I did manage to prepare something I kept forgetting I had put it in the oven or on the hob until someone asked what was burning?! Another saucepan ruined and nothing for supper. I have spoilt many a meal, scalded myself and still we haven’t actually had anything to eat.

Then I was introduced to my new chum, the slow cooker. This has enabled me to created meals from scratch that we can actually eat and enjoy together. With all the additional help of ready chopped ingredients and disabled gadgets to open tins etc  I can place things in the slow cooker, and forget until ether Nick or Henry return home to take over and the three of us actually get fed.

It has made me feel so much happier that I am actually capable of achieving something that smells good which gets the taste buds going, Nick & Henry, my son, can return home to the aroma of cooked food, not the fear of the house being burnt to the ground. The icing on the cake is we have the lion share of an edible meal prepared with little else as everything has been chopped for me. It can then lifted out and served later, accompanied by rice, salad or potatoes which have to be done for me but I have actually prepared the main part which is edible rather than totally burnt.

An example of how my brain is now is when I was sitting in the kitchen chatting with a friend today totally unaware that I had put a meringue cooking in the oven and a saucepan on the hob two hours ago and had completely forgotten and was in great need of being rescued. Nick returned to the kitchen just in time to prevent the saucepan boiling dry and removed the meringue from the oven before it was too late.

It is so frustrating that my brain just cannot cope with doing two things at once any longer and even when it isn’t doing anything, it just doesn’t seem to be able to remember things that it should. It seems to have lost the ability to remember things that need attention, the fact that I have put something in the oven to cook, the brain considers the task to be complete.

This is where the SLOW COOKER comes into its own.

The person who designed the slow cooker must have an understanding of brain injury, cheers whoever you are.

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My New Best Friend, The SLOW COOKER

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Sas Freeman