As someone with sickle cell, I try to make my life easier to deal with– not more difficult. I have my refrigerator full of healthy fruits and veggies, I have a smoothie at least 6 days a week. I have days when I struggle and cooking dinner is overrated, yet I try to cook and know what is in my food.
I went through a period when all I made for dinner was reservations. I still eat out one or two nights a week. My husband and I enjoy it. What has made my life easier is my crockpot.
When I wake up and feel awful I make something out of my crockpot. I make the best crockpot granola, crockpot lasagne, and many other dishes. If you spend 20 minutes cutting up food and layering it in your crockpot your dinner is ready in a few hours. I start most of my crockpot meals between noon and one pm to be ready by 6:30 if I cook it on low. I like to put things in the crockpot and forget it. I have a cookbook Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker. which I have made almost every recipe in that cookbook, including dumplings! I also use the website which is where I got the granola and the lasagne recipe.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com
Remember the slow cooker is not just for soups and stews. Although most people tend to only make that. My husband loves my lasagna. He requests it often. I use the no cook lasagna noodles for my vegetarian lasagna. (You don’t have to boil the noodles) I use portabella mushrooms, and lots of vegetables, a whole onion, bell peppers, whatever I have on hand I throw in. Even kale or swiss chard.
I make a soup bar with the crockpot, and a taco bar out of tvp (textured vegetable protein) it looks like ground hamburger but is far healthier. I have avocado, and organic blue corn chips, and all the accoutrements that even non vegetarians ask me to make frequently once they have tried it. They never guess it’s not beef! I don’t recommend crockpot granola, even thought it comes out better than oven granola with no burnt edges. The downfall is that you have to stir it every half and hour and it takes some real muscles to stir it.
Make your life easier. If you don’t feel good take out your crockpot once a week. My husband knows I did not feel good when I made a crockpot meal, but I still have a good healthy dinner ready. My daughter has a giant crockpot with a liner. I’m not sure about liners cooking plastic with your food. To me it does not seem healthy I avoid the liner. However I get a lot of use out of my crockpot. I got the crockpot on sale. It’s not huge, but I have leftovers it’s just my husband and I which If I can cook one day and have leftovers I am happy.
I love my crock pot. I typically use it for chicken and vegetables. Sometimes I’ll add noodles as well. I like to start it early Saturday morning and eat it during the weekends while I’m resting. So simple to use. I’m single so I don’t have to worry about anybody else:)