When I first had my brain injury, I couldn't cook but I needed to eat. While I was at Timber Ridge Ranch Neuromedical Facility (and away from Larry) meal time meant making decisions with an injured brain. A list of meal ideas that did not require a lot of preparation was the answer. This page of meal ideas will grow larger and larger as we add more and more easy meal ideas. It's purpose, of course, is to help you make those meal time decisions.
Click these links to jump down the page:
Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner - Snacks
Breakfast Ideas :
Instant Oatmeal - These come in packets already measured for each serving. It normally only requires adding water (or milk if you prefer). Be sure you have a measuring cup, a microwaveable bowl, and a spoon available as well. I like to add a dab of butter and you will also need to add either sugar or artificial sweetener to taste. There should be instructions on the packet. Some brands may not require you to add sweetener, so be sure to read the directions before starting the process. - Easy
Cold Cereal - Probably the easiest of all – just make sure you have milk to add and a bowl and spoon and you are done!
Bagel (frozen)
This one is pretty easy too. Remove the bagel from the freezer and put it in the microwave about 15 seconds to thaw before placing it in your popup toaster. Now if you don’t have a pop-up toaster, there are other ways to prepare your bagel. Let’s save that for another time.
Remember to set your toaster to the desired setting (hopefully, this is already set to the way you preferred your toast prior to brain injury). Once the bagel pops up, remove it (careful not to burn yourself), and place it on a plate. You can then add butter, cream cheese, or whatever else you prefer to use.
Lunch Ideas:
Soup - I like to buy the microwaveable soup with the pop tops. They are really easy to prepare and clean up is a snap. If you buy the type with plastic cover on top and the metal pop tops (THAT YOU REMOVE), there are the directions:
Remove the plastic top, remove the metal pop top, and then replace the plastic top.
Place the bowl into the microwave and choose the correct cooking time (read that on the soup container). It’s a good idea to do that prior to removing the metal top since you could spill it otherwise.
Once the microwave beeps at you, remove the soup (careful, it’s full and could spill hot soup on you. Then find a spoon and enjoy. You could have crackers with it too.
Cold Sandwich - I use deli meat or packaged turkey or ham. I really prefer the packaged meats because the package has an expiration date printed on it. The only other items you need are a couple slices of bread and whatever dressing you prefer (mustard, mayonaise, ketchup).
Larry and I make our sandwiches a little different. I spread dressing on one piece of bread using a knife, add the meat and a slice of fat free cheese, then the other slice of bread. Larry puts dressing on both slices of bread.
Hot Sandwich - There are frozen chicken patties in the grocery store that are microwaveable and easy to prepare. After you purchase them, remember to place them into your freezer - not just the refrigerator. You will need to remember to place them back there after you remove a patty to prepare. Place the patty on a paper plate or microwaveable plate and follow the directions on the package to heat the patty.
Then you would prepare it just like you did the cold sandwich with your choice of bread and dressing.
Dinner Ideas:
Microwaveable Frozen Dinners - At the grocery store, select the dinners that don’t require you to do anything to it other than place it in the microwave and choose the correct setting. The alarm on your microwave will let you know when it's ready.
When you're ready to prepare it, remove it from the freezer and read the directions. You may want to write the time down before you place it into the microwave. Usually, the directions will also tell you to poke holes into the plastic on top before cooking.
Place the dinner into the microwave and set the time as instructed in the directions. When the alarm beeps, remove it from the microwave and remove the plastic. You may want to let it sit for a minute before removing the plastic since the steam can be very hot. Note: Make sure you remove it from the microwave before letting it sit; you'll be less likely to forget it if it's sitting in plain sight. Find a fork and dig in.
Fast Food - Fast food is not as fast for someone with a brain injury as it is for others. Even fast food requires planning. The planner pages we talked about in the book contain Driving Directions pages. I would recommend you complete a page for each fast food place you plan to visit. (In the upper left hand column of this page is a link called Planner Pages. You can go to that page and download those pages for free.)
Many fast food places have their menus on the Internet. If you cannot download one on the Internet, you can certainly ask for one the next time you visit the restaurant. Keep the menus in your planner so you will always know where they are.
It is BEST if you write down what you plan to order BEFORE you leave home. You will also want to write down a second choice in case the first one is not available. You DO NOT want the pressure and stress of having to make a decision knowing that other people are waiting for you to "get out of their way".
You don't want to fly up the Cycle of Response we wrote about in the book when all you want to do is buy a hamburger.
Your visit to the fast food restaurant is another good use of your journal. You should already have a journal entry with the date on it, so write down your food choices in your journal. (Trust me, some loving family member will ask if you've been eating right. Sometimes they will forget you have a memory problem and ask, "What did you have for dinner last night?" It's great to smile wickedly, pull out your journal and read to them what you ate.)
Now, remember that other list in your Planner Pages - What Do I Take When I Leave the House? You're going to a fast food restaurant so you will need driving directions, your written list of what you are going to order, money, car keys, driver's license and cell phone. You can even drive much more safely knowing that you have everything under control; you will not be distracting yourself about potential problems you might have at the restaurant.
See, I told you fast food wasn't that fast for someone with a brain injury.
Pizza - Ordering a pizza and having it delivered to you is even simpler than getting a hamburger at a fast food restaurant. But you will certainly need a menu and write down exactly what you want. Pizzas have a lot of choices, and each of those choices requires a decision.
Be sure you have plenty of money to pay for the pizza. A couple of dollars is a good tip for the delivery person.
Snack Ideas:
Microwaveable popcorn. Microwaveable hot chocolate. Pudding cups. Flavored yogurt in those one-serving cups.
Coming Soon
We're putting together a recipe section to make cooking even easier for you. If you have a recipe you would like to have published on our website, please click here.
