The first secret to keeping yourself fed is doing a food shop before you run out of everything.
My friend Molly Lane and I have just moved into a new flat at the National Star college where we study. Last year our main meals were cooked for us by our lovely chef Lucy in a residence. Now we are cooking for ourselves.
Molly and I face daily challenges that mostly aren’t experienced by other people our age. This is because we both live with a variation of a disability called cerebral palsy (CP). It effects us in different ways. Molly has it down the one side of her body, whereas I had to be greedy and have it all over! Our flat has adjustable workspaces, automatic doors, and electronic controls for beds, curtains and the television.
The easiest way to describe my type of CP is to imagine a puppet. My brain tells my body what to do and then it’s as if someone pulls it away and it does its own thing. Anyway, enough CP talk.
Since being at National Star, Molly and I have started to overcome challenges in our different ways. Molly has become independent in the community, meaning she can safely go out to town without staff support. Whereas I can now make a sandwich for myself.
Preparing a sandwich looks so easy. But a year ago, for me, this was a very frustrating task. Many slices of bread ended up on the floor or got hacked into in the buttering process. That was until I changed utensil. Using the back of a spoon allows me to spread things without cutting into the bread. A simple, inanimate object suddenly opened a whole new world of possibility.
Next: beans on toast. The first time I tried, it took me an hour, bringing me to tears. I wanted to do every stage by myself, the “normal” way. I learned from my mistakes that it works best if I heat beans in the microwave and put the bread in the furthest toaster hole.
I feel pride when I achieve even the smallest things. It was predicted that I would have little hand function, so beans on toast is a real victory. I have my triumphs learning new skills, but I also end up in frustrated tears when I can do a task in my mind but the physical attempt fails because I can’t control my limbs.
I live my life with quotes. This one pretty well sums me up: “I don’t know how my story will end, but nowhere in my text will it read, I gave up!”
Now that we are cooking for ourselves our choice of three meals has turned into millions. Once we’ve chosen a meal, we obviously need to have ingredients – but it would be a waste of time and effort to shop everyday.
A weekly meal plan is the answer - we plan seven days of meals, see what we have, and then shop for the rest. But how do you carry a week’s worth of shopping in a wheelchair (bearing in mind Molly and I can’t drive)? Now that one is simple: internet shopping. It’s easier to find what you’re after and flexible, with no closing times.
We make bigger meals when we have time – shepherd’s pie, sausage casserole – and then freeze what’s left. In other words, home-made ready meals – cheap, quick and healthy.
I won’t lie, living by yourself (disabled or not) isn’t as easy as you think. Especially at first. But life isn’t meant to be easy, that’s the best and the worst part of it. My advice is: stick with it, talk to the people you trust, figure out what’s right for you. Here’s another one of my quotes: “A glass is always full, if you choose to see what’s inside.”
In a late-night chat, Molly and I decided we are starting to become positively middle-aged. Our shopping lists, once all about clothes and make-up, are now full of food and brillo pads. This evolved into a conversation about what we want by the time we are actually middle-aged: buying a sports car is our number one priority.
Although, on occasion the odd takeaway or glass of wine doesn’t go amiss. In another late night discussion, (after a night out with friends) we both questioned whether cider or wine count as one of your five-a-day? This remains unsolved.
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