Managing in the kitchen with Parkinson's
Parkinson's symptoms can mean you may have to adapt how you prepare food, cook and bake. Here, people with Parkinson's share what has helped them make things easier in the kitchen.
- "If I know I’ll be cooking a meal after a long day I try to do some preparation earlier in the day - even if it’s only peeling a few potatoes as my left hand tends to go on strike when I’m tired. They can go on to cook the minute I get in then."
- "I use ready prepared food vegetables if my hands aren’t too good or I am tired and don’t want to risk using a sharp knife but I can still cook dinner."
- "These days I do more one-pot cooking. Recipes have to not take too long to prepare or cook because they are too tiring - my slow cooker is well used."
- "I have a perching stool in my kitchen so I can sit and prepare meals."
- "I actually do best with some good quality kitchen knives. They do not need so much pressure to cut foodstuffs as long as the blade is sharp. Mine have covers that sharpen them each time they are pulled in and out."
- "I find my stick blender can cope with just about everything a hand mixer can and is a great deal lighter."
- "I swapped my standard kettle for a smaller 1litre one which is not so heavy. Sometimes I just use a travel kettle. Lightweight saucepans are also helpful."
- "I have a weakness on my right-hand side, so chopping food is difficult. I bought a mini food-processor, which I use to blitz things like garlic, ginger and spring onions. Then I freeze the ingredients and just get them out when I need them."
- "Arrange your kitchen so that the items you use most frequently are easily to hand. I have my plates and bowls on a two-tier drying rack on the counter top, which is much easier than a pile in the cupboard."
- "When baking little cakes, I use an ice cream scoop to get the mixture out of the bowl and into the paper cases. It helps because I can hold that with two hands."
- "I am so grateful that I can still cook and bake - be it at my own pace. It’s nice to think about ‘normal’ things, like ingredients, and enjoy the moment."