Boy, Part 1 of Meal Planning when Mom has ADHD drew many, many responses. I see that I’m not alone when it comes to figuring out meals as a mom with ADD!
Today, I’d like to share another tip on how to find your way from your chair to the stove, without having a major freak out. But before I do that, I want to explain a bit more about why cooking, shopping and entertaining can be so difficult for many of us.
People with ADHD have problems with executive function. In a nutshell, that means we get thrown off when trying to get from Point A to Point B and then from Point B to Point C. Distractions, inattention, but simply how our brain works, makes planning and implementing meals a sad affair.
Have you ever gone to the grocery store and had a panic attack? Or felt completely overwhelmed by all the choices (c’mon- an entire WALL of cereal options?), or gone into sensory overload from the “music”, crying babies, cell phone conversations, visual kaleidoscope of colors, odors…and even just too many people walking towards you, making you feel like you’re drowning in a sea of humanity?
And how many times have you gone to the store to collect items needed for that night’s dinner only to leave without a single one?
Once home, there’s of course, the problem of deciding what to make. But the next step is just as difficult: gathering the items, paying attention to all the steps needed for prep, and the worst (for me, anyway), timing it so that all the dishes are done at the same time. Oh my goodness, my stomach feels sick just thinking about it.
One would think that cleanup would be a breeze because for the most part, it’s an automatic, unforgiving daily chore. But I have a memory from 20 years ago where, while in the kitchen with a guest, I froze because I could not listen to her chat and clean up the kitchen at the same time. I remember, sadly, holding a wooden spoon in my hand and having no idea what I needed to do with it.
But I digress…
Today, I’d like to share another tip for meal planning. It’s called the POS Plan (Plan or Starve) and you can see me describing it HERE.
Next time you’re paralyzed at the store and need some immediate help, look for me online and I’ll help you get through it, via my ADD SOS service.
2 words:
PRESSURE COOKER
This device has revolutionized my mealtimes, since I can make ANYTHING in 1/4 or less of the time. I can go from 0 to Coq au Vin made from frozen chicken, chopped onions, potatoes, and leftover wine in 30 mins, including prep.
SPICE MIXES
sweet, savory,international…go to a spice store or gourmet store or ethnic market…you can flavor the most basic meats and veggies and rice and come across like a gourmet, and bring flavor and variety to your family.
If I could plan meals, I wouldn’t be reading this blog. But trust me, my sister-in-law and kids dropped in the afternoon I bought the pressure cooker and I fed us all a delicious meal with NO stress. Last week, I got home from work and my husband announced his friend was coming to dinner. No problem. I even sent his bachelor buddy home with enough chicken that he ate it every night for dinner for 4 days.
I am as spacy a cook and as nondomestic as it gets, but thanks to internet ideas for cooking with the pressure cooker and premixed spices, I have it HANDLED. And my family gets from scratch, gluten-free, nutrition-filled, really delicious food. And I do it without much planning or thinking…but don’t tell!
The way I made peace with my ADHD kitchen is to realize how my “condition” was a benefit. Instead of shopping for ingredients for recipes that I am usually too distracted to follow, I stock a pantry with stuff I can use to create. I really only use recipes as suggestions – what ingredients go with what, and how much of things to use in relation to others. Since being diagnosed with a gluten allergy, it is even more important that I prepare my own meals.
The super basics, I always try to keep on hand: carrots, frozen peas and broccoli (the only veggie one child will reliably eat), rice (an automatic rice cooker is the magic invention that has eliminated burned pots, and it cooks other grains like quinoa), flash frozen chicken tenders or breasts that can thaw or be cooked from frozen (cause who remember to defrost?) butter (yum), olive oil, mayonnaise, cheese, corn tortillas, canned tomatoes, milk, eggs, canned tuna and/or chicken, chicken broth, pickles and relish. The crock pot helps too. I have a parsley plant that I haven’t managed to kill, so I use that whenever it fits. Box of pasta or mac and cheese, nuts, raisins, yogurt. A variety of spices I am comfortable using – salt, pepper, cumin, mild curry powder, tabasco, various dried green stuff. Just last year I learned how fast red lentils cook – wow. Protein, cheap, fast – throw in a few frozen veggies toward the end, serve with rice. Take advantage of sales. Freeze things when you make or buy too much. Breakfast dinner happens. Be gentle on yourself with the not-so-great creations. I have fed my compost pile with a few.