Tips for Cooking on Crutches

When you are on crutches, everything you do is harder and will take longer. One thing that you will likely have to do in order to recover is to make healthy meals for yourself and your family. In order to recover, your body will need all the nutrients it can get. But cooking is not as easy as it once was.

When your family’s hungry, they’re hungry. Whether or not you are on crutches does not matter. The tummy rumblings have begun. And while you might get away with freezing some meals to help you past the initial recovery stage, you know you have to get back into the kitchen and start cooking again. With these tips, almost any dish is possible!

Here are a few tips to help you cook while you are on crutches.

1. Move Essentials

Before you were on crutches, you could reach anything and everything in your kitchen by stretching, getting out a stool, or bending over to get the items you needed. Now that it’s so important you stay non-weight-bearing, all of those things are much harder to do. As you plan your meals, have someone help you gather what you need and place them on the counter or in another location that you can reach with ease. You will still have to get out the food items you need, but at least the utensils will be ready to go.

2. Cook Sparingly

Since cooking is so hard to do when you are on crutches when you finally find the energy to do it, it is a good idea to do a lot of it. You can cook once a week, for example, if you have enough energy to cook a large meal at one time. Then, you can freeze meals and save them for later and not have to expend the energy to cook every night.

3. Familiarize Yourself with Takeout

You can always order a pizza or some other form of takeout meals to help you get by on the nights when you are too tired to cook anything at all. Keep in mind that pizza and other takeout items like it are not the only options. Some companies have casseroles that you can freeze and warm, soup, and plenty of other healthy items. It might take a little research to find the companies, but once you do, you will be well-fed and happy for the duration of your recovery.

4. Consider Mobility Device Alternatives

When you are trying to cook on crutches, you may quickly realize how hard the task really is since you are balancing on one foot and do not have the full use of either of your hands. Using modern mobility options that can be purchased or rented will make everyday activities much easier than when on crutches… The Hands-Free Crutch allows you to walk much like normal, and you will have the use of both of your hands. If your balance is not excellent, the Easy Crutch will give you back the use on one hand. The most popular option is the Knee Scooter, also known as a knee walker or Roll-a-bout. This stable device lets you scoot yourself from place to place in your kitchen while keeping your balance firm. If you can’t kneel comfortably, the Seated Scooter saves you the energy of standing while you cook. With any of these devices, your hands will be free when you are stationary so that you can cut, chop, and arrange food; however, you need it to be.

5. Accept Help

If your friends ask you what they can do to help you during your recovery, you might ask them to bring you a meal or two. You could also ask them to come over to your house and cook for you in your own kitchen. You will enjoy not only the help but also the company.

6. Plan Ahead

Don’t try to do too much at once. Plan the meal out and do a little at a time.

7. Put Things In Reach

If you have made a certain dish a million times, you know what you need. Have someone put all of the items you need on the counter or somewhere else within reach, so you do not have to strain to gather things.

8. Be A Watcher

If there are some things that are still too hard for you, have someone else do them. You can sit nearby and direct the process with a watchful eye.

9. Sit

If you have a Seated Scooter, it is simple to sit down and prepare whatever is needed. If you don’t, you could use a rolling desk chair to help you out.

10. Keep It Simple

You may usually make your own meatballs when you plan to have spaghetti, but this time around, it’s okay to skip a few things and keep things simpler. Everyone understands you’re working with just one leg beneath you.

11. Buy It

You might enjoy making bread and cookies and other items from scratch, but now, the task would wear you out. Buy the items you can buy and heat them up to make them as fresh as possible.

12. Enlist Help

Peeling and chopping might sound like a simple task, but when you are running low on energy, they become tiresome. Have someone else in the family prepare some of the things while you work on others.

13. Make Extra

When you are cooking, go all out and make enough for the family to eat the next night or two as well.

14. Don’t Balance

When you are opening hot oven doors or trying to carry things across the room, you need to forget about trying to balance on your crutches. The combination could be very dangerous. Either sit down or use the Knee Scooter, the Hands-Free Crutch, or another alternative.

15. Use The Phone

The easiest way to cook on crutches is to simply call out for a meal. There are places in your area that deliver that you may not even know about. Do a little research and find the ones with the most nutritious family meals.

16. Utilize An Apron

Not everyone is a messy cook, and an apron may not be something you ever use. But when you are on crutches, get an apron with pockets. You will really use the pockets to carry your measuring and stirring spoons and other items when you are moving yourself around.

17. Never Turn Down Help

It’s your kitchen, and it may be hard for you to hand it over to anyone else, but when someone offers to help, let them! Cooking is hard enough on two legs, much less one. If someone offers to bring you a meal, assist with what you are making, or take over completely, let them.

Cooking might be something you used to enjoy before you were on crutches. Now, it’s a lot harder, but that doesn’t mean you should go hungry. Take these tips into consideration so you can get yourself back into the kitchen, enjoy the nutrients you need, and recover as quickly as possible.

Cooking is a challenging task when you are on one leg, but keep in mind that you will recover and you will have your kitchen completely back into order and under your control in no time! In the meantime, utilize these tips to help your family avoid starvation!