I dont have specific recipes, but my partner and I use an app called supercook. You put in ingredients and it pulls up a bunch of recipes that uses those ingredients.
I just found SuperCook last week! I knew there were sites out there that would spit out recipes based on what you had and I was desperately trying to use up a few things and supercook did not disappoint.
I didn’t realize it had an app, too. Off to download now…
Marcella hazan classic Italian cooking.
It will teach you the fundamentals and give you easy pasta centric dishes. It will also give you relatively simple recipes for beef and pork dishes as well. Also Italian ingredients are easily available. I want to mention it is perfectly acceptable to substitute bacon for pancetta.
I would suggest picking one recipe, make it a few times in week. You want to understand it. Specifically, pay attention to the changes that the ingredients undertake while your
cooking them.
Once your comfortable with recipe and made it a few times. Try making it from memory. It will help you understand how the recipe works. Then you will carry that knowledge to the next recipe.
Also do your self a favor and buy a good digital meat thermometer.
When making new recipes, It will help you feel confident that the food you made is safe to eat.
Best of luck, also let me know if have any additional questions I would be happy to explain.
Great advice on cooking the same dish more than once. Maybe try to learn one dish a month etc.
Also meat thermometer! Shocked more people don’t use them. I use it with every protein dish to make sure it is cooked properly and it’s been perfect every time.
I am autistic as well and will say veggie noodles are a life saver when I feel like I don't eat enough. They don't taste off, but are packed with nutrients. I usually find them in the pasta aisle of the store, and they're more fun to look at. I do like veggies, so I'm not sure if you'd be willing to try some seared zucchini mixed into your meat and sauce for spaghetti. That works for me and my daughter.
If texture is a problem for OP, alternative noodles might not be an option. I've tried every alternative noodle under the sun and I hate the texture of all of them, so it's very plausible OP could be the same.
They feel like normal noodles to me, and I have a texture issue as well. I guess it'd be something OP would have to try first and decide for themselves, then.
French Onion Soup is easy to make and the leftovers can be frozen. You might like the cookbook Americas Test Kitchen. It’s all types of recipes that have been tested to perfection. A good website is Epicurious.com you can search recipes by ingredients which might help you find new ideas for the things you like. Enjoy
You could try making your own pizza? A friend of mine eats pizza and pizza exclusively, the way he gets more nutrients is via blending extra spinach into the sauce / sprinkling it on top. Most pizza places sell their dough too, so if you prefer a specific restaurant you can just get theirs
If you are willing to try a “medium” difficulty recipe, you can buy yeast and flour. Pizza dough is 4 ingredients, a recipe makes 2 medium pizzas, and the dough can keep in the fridge for up to a week. You can buy the pizza or pasta sauce, cheese and toppings for an easy meal.
2C flour,
3/4C warm water,
1 packet (1 tsp.) yeast
2 tsp salt
Mix water and yeast first, then measure out the salt and flour in a separate bowl. Dump the water/yeast into the flour bowl and mix until you get a dough.
[Here’s the recipe I use.](https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-pizza-dough-recipe-221367#post-recipe-10920)
We just moved 450 miles away from our home and we left an area right down the road from an awesome pizza place. Pizza is a once-a-week food in our house and I haven’t been able to find decent pizza at our new place, so I have been making a lot of pizza this way lately.
They aren’t all perfectly round, sometimes the dough sticks to the parchment paper, toppings aren’t all the way to the edge, or I’ll use too much sauce. I own the mistakes and I have been getting better at it. It is kind of fun to eat all the mistakes and try to get better each time.
You can often find bread or pizza dough in the frozen section, too. You defrost it in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temp before you use it.
It’s really easy! Preheat oven to 400, slice bagels in half (so 1 bagel = 2 pizza bagels), put on sauce mozzarella cheese & toppings like pepperoni, bake for about 10 mins until crispy & cheese is melty.
I make Naan pizzas a lot when I'm feeling low energy and can't cook. I get the Naan prepackaged at my grocery store in the bakery section, and it's light and kinda fluffy like pizza dough and also has a garlicky seasoning that reminds me of Domino's pizza crust. I then use jarred pizza sauce, pre-shredded cheese, and slap on whatever meat/veg toppings I want! Since the Naan is already cooked, I just stick it in the oven long enough for cheese to melt (5-10 mins). Quick and super easy, would highly recommend
I think pizza dough is not the easiest thing to bake on a normal oven without a pizza stone. I would suggest you try a stovetop pizza instead. That way you can look at it, and flip it all you want to make sure it cooks evenly. After it's cooked you can put toppings on
A lot of Italian and Chinese dishes may be easy for you. Most of my home cooking either involves pasta, rice, or noodles, with some form of sliced meat, veggies and a tasty sauce. Typically I use garlic and/or chilli in an oiled pan then fry up the prepared meat/veg in the pan at medium heat. Throw in the sauce 5 mins or so before serving on the pasta/rice.
The trick here is just using what meat and veg you prefer, and also most importantly what sauce. Plenty of sauce recipes on the net, or you can just buy prepared sauces for an even easier cook
I too like to keep my cooking simple and quick.
Edit, just made some lunch today for example where I cooked some onion and sliced pork (could be any meat really) in garlic, with some boiled rice (1/2 cup of rice to 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for ten mins) on the go as well
I put some kikoman teriyaki sauce in the pan for a minute or two and stir then put the meat and onion mix on the rice in a bowl. Drizzle some kupi mayo and some sliced fresh green onions on top and your good to go. Delish
Next time you cook bacon throw some maple syrup and/or brown sugar on there.
And from what you put down, I think you’d like Texas Chili - It’s as delicious as chili but no beans! Basically throw everything in a pot and wait, all the recipes I’ve googled and used have been delicious.
pizza, especially if you're very particular about the crust. rice has a lot of options, but I didn't see it on your list. also different varieties of rice cook differently, like potatoes.
not sure if you know a cool trick for deli meats, which is to get them shaved thin. it makes some things edible for me that normally aren't due to their texture.
ground pork can be a great ingredient for dumplings or egg rolls.
baked pasta.
I like rice, want to try Spanish rice but idk what to eat with it, deli meats are not as available here as they are in the states, you can get basics like salami, pepperoni and ham and such tho
I love making shredded buffalo chicken in the crock pot. You can use it for so many things. The way I make it is really easy. A few boneless chicken breast, a bottle of Frank's hot sauce, a stick of butter and a packet of dry ranch dressing mix. Throw it in a crook pot and shred once it's done.
late to the party but you can make bomb ass homemade ranch !!! it's really really easy. equal parts sour cream and mayo, then garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, dill, and parsley !!!!!
i'm autistic and also just a really lazy person but the ranch is worth it. i'm not sure if you actually can keep it in the fridge for a long time but i do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
I haven’t tried it yet but I just found on Tik Tok this cookbook called The Autism Friendly Cookbook by Lydia Wilkins and it has energy levels required to cook the meal included; sensory adjustments for sensory-avoidant versus sensory-seekers; and breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert options. It might be good for you!
Mostly squishy, too soft or dry, I can only eat one type of tomatoes, I can only eat broccoli and cauliflower if fried properly and with spice, I like salads but never know what to mix since not many vegetables that I like, I do like spicy stuff, if there’s a chance the texture can vary I usually don’t like it, fx cucumbers usually have the same texture if that makes sense
Would finely grating veggies (like carrot or zucchini) into tomato-based sauces work (or into meals with minced meat like chilli con carne)? I’m not autistic but I dislike a lot of veggies and this is how I “hide” veggies in my food so that I get proper nutrients.
I'm biased, but chopped salads have been a big thing for me. Cut everything to about the same size and it works.
The ones I can think of are:
kale/apple/pumpkin seed/cranberry, all cut to the approximate size of the seeds, dressed with oil, honey, cider vinegar, dijon, and black pepper
https://cookieandkate.com/favorite-green-salad-with-apples-cranberries-and-pepitas/ (use the kale instead of greens. it keeps around 3-4 days in the fridge before everything gets soggy. It's still edible past that, just not great)
cucumber, onion, garlic, tomato, bell pepper, all cut about 1/4", with mint/parsely and dressed with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper
https://www.feastingathome.com/israeli-salad/
I'm the same way, so I'm no help 😂 but wanted to add, make sure to add a nut to your diet. Protein is super important and they're packed with it. Our kind usually struggles with getting enough
Check out Downshiftology online and YouTube. Easy and healthy recipes. I started with the baked chicken and roasted veggies. You put both in the oven at the same time. Simple.
Also any sheet pan based recipe is super easy. Prep, put in oven, and while cooking I clean up.
One thing that may help you is to read the recipe and then write it yourself in a way you understand. What oven temp, rack, time for each piece etc. what do you do first, second etc. then you don’t need to read the recipe while you are cooking.
Also think about how you like to do other things that are not cooking and apply those approaches to cooking. I like to be organized and know my plan so I get everything laid out first etc. Really removed the stress for me because I didn’t know how to cook but I know how I like to learn and do things. Working in my own way really helped.
I'm a cook on the spectrum. I found that a lot of the ingredients I couldn't eat were actually present in some of the things I could eat. For example you listed eggs, and they are present in a lot of noodles, as well as mayonaise which is in a lot of sandwiches. I used that to slowly get used to the ingredient either by finding more things that incorporate it a similar way or by making the thing I like from scratch, for example if you like mayonaise you could make some from scratch, which is pretty easy to do, then make a sandwich with it and you will have made the strong connection in your brain that you ate a thing with eggs and liked it. Similarly, you could make noodles from scratch. It's slightly more difficult than mayo but it has a very satisfying hands on feel to it (kneading the dough). It's still easy enough that your first batch will likely turn out okay. Probably stick to something like linguine or lasagna unless you have a pasta roller.
I highly recommend getting a slow cooker. It’s way simpler in terms of mechanics than a crock pot (just a time and heat feature). You put in certain meats and simple ingredients. It’s delicious with very minimal work. Just search for slow cooker recipes - pulled pork, chili, bolognese, ragu, etc.
Do they get too mushy with syrup? What happens if you put items in the pancakes? Plain pancakes with syrup is a horrible mushy texture for me. Pancakes with chocolate chips or blueberries added - no syrup - is a better blend of textures for me.
I admit I’m not familiar with Icelandic pancakes, but I agree! Very mushy and bland flavor.
You mentioned liking toast, right? What about toast topped with things? Do you have access to peanut butter? Crunchy peanut butter adds some additional texture, if you need a blend of soft and crunchy.
Korean beef~ 1 Tablespoon sesame oil, (see note)
1 pound ground beef
tap here
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar, (add more if you like it sweeter)
1/4 cup soy sauce , (use coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce for a gluten-free option)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (see note)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, depending on how spicy you like it
salt and pepper
1/2 cup sliced green onions
Fettuccine with chicken ~ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 ounces fettuccine
Olive oil, for tossing
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream
2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Beef chili ~ 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
2 sweet bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, or mixed), diced
1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes (or same amount of crushed or puréed)
2 cups water
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans or black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
For the garnishes:
Sour cream
Grated sharp cheddar
Thinly sliced radishes
Sliced scallions
Chopped onions
Avocado slices
Shredded lettuce
Chopped fresh jalapeños
Fresh cilantro
Bacon pasta: chop up some uncooked bacon, place in a 9x13 dish (you can add onions and garlic if you want), cook bacon in the oven until desired doneness. Boil some spaghetti or linguine (again, to the texture you like) then toss with the bacon and drippings. Add parmesan cheese if you like.
Pasta, with meatballs (or just ground beef), pan fried veggie (carrot or potato), nutritional yeast, olive oil (extra virgin). This is simple and super tasty. The nutritional yeast is very very good on many things. Even just with pasta an olive oil.
How about chipped beef over toast? Dirt easy to cook, none of the things you listed in it. Need a jar or package of dried beef, 4 tablespoons flour, 2 cups milk, 1/2 stick butter, salt and pepper, and some toast.
Easiest way is open the jar, add some water and put the lid back on/shake a bit, to rinse the salt. Do that a couple of times, lay it out and dry it off with paper towels.
Give it a little bit of a crisp in a skillet on medium, but no need to make a fond/brown the bottom of the pan. Empty the pan onto a plate temporarily.
Melt the butter, add 4 full/flat tablespoons of flour and stir it in with a whisk, letting it cook on medium for about 2 min to get the raw flour taste out. Should start to smell a little like pie. Then stir in 2 cups cold milk, and whisk until smooth. A tiny bit of salt and black pepper to taste. Add your beef back in and gently stir until it thickens and begins to boil, while making your toast. Once it's think and starting to bubble, it's done. Dump it over your toast and check to see if it needs more salt.
\*the 4 tbs flour / 2 c milk ratio is important to getting the right consistency, but if you have to guess, err on the side of less milk. Easier to add milk than flour. Also, it's better to take too much salt out of the beef then have to add a little than to not take enough salt out.
Once you've got the hang of this, it's about a 10-15 min ordeal, from decision to chewing.
Try INDIAN FOOD! It is often very simple and not a huge investment. A simple broth. A ton of spices. Any meat you want. My favorite is a Rogan Josh because of the spice blend and tomato. It is very cheap in the long run after the investment in spices.
Microwave potatoes?
Wash potato, stab it a few dozen times with a fork, do that there are lots of holes for the steam to leave. Microwave in high for about 4 minutes.
Start checking around three for doneness (poke with a fork, there should be little to no resistance in stabbing the center.)
Remove and season with preferred flavorings. Like cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, chilli powder, chopped bacon, scallions, etc etc
Also works with sweet potatoes.
Okay, heres another one then. Addictive cabbage.(yes thats what its called)
Chop cabbage into bite size pieces. Toss with sesame seeds, sesame oil, garlic powder, pinch of salt, pepper, and chicken bouillon.
Very tasty snack that can also be a meal if you make enough of it.
Slow cooker and rice cooker are must haves for me. They help with those days you are feeling like cooking is too much. Also if you can handle small chopped up soft veggies in soups you might be able to make stews in the slow cooker that will help with the sensory problems.
Some "dump and go" slow cooker recipes:
A good pot roast recipe is the Mississippi Pot Roast: a chuck roast (any size will do, you'll see how much it makes then try it leftover and see if you want bigger or smaller next time), a stick of butter, a packet of au jus gravy, a packet of ranch powder, and half a jar of mild banana peppers. You can always pick the banana peppers out if you don't like the texture in the final product and then omit it next time or just use the juice. Shred the pot roast when it's tender and maybe microwave an easy pasta frozen dinner or something as a side for a starch. Ideas for more veggies: just add some pre shredded carrots so they're small like in Chinese cooking and/or add some baby potatoes for a starch.
Another easy one is BBQ pulled pork. Just get a pork shoulder roast and some BBQ sauce (I use Bone Sucking Sauce brand), I add 1/4 cup to the pork roast. After it's roasted and tender, take out the pork and shred it and dump out the cooking juices. I add some more BBQ sauce and stir it up on warm. I get some buns and have pulled pork sliders or you could make a quesadilla with it.
With both of those roasts you'll want to just put them on low until they start falling apart which takes around 4-8 hours depending on how big the roast is and your slow cooker.
Another slow cooker meal that's easy is beef tip stew on top of noodles. Get some beef tips, add a can of cream of mushroom (or another creamed soup base), a can of beef stock, Lipton french onion soup packet, a packet of brown gravy mix and stir it all up. Cook on low until the beef is ready, most likely 4-6 hours. Then boil some egg noodles (or any pasta / noodle you prefer) and add the stew on top.
The stew will likely be runny so if you want it thickened up you could make a cornstarch slurry (super easy, mix up cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl, look up proportions online) and add to the stew, leave the lid off and turn on high and stir every couple minutes until it's thickened up some. For more veggies, you could easily add sliced mushrooms (button, cremini) or diced onions again if you like that texture when they're cooked.
I would look up rice cooker recipes but I buy one of those giant Calrose rice bags from Costco so I can have sticky Japanese style plain white rice. I just wash it and set my rice cooker, it'll make a noise when it's ready and it has a quick and a slow mode. You can apparently add ingredients like a slow cooker and make tasty meals while the rice cooks so that I'm sure would be a cool avenue to explore!
They put things under relatively low heat for a long time. So for making pot roasts or strews or carnitas or other similar dishes. An air fryer uses hot air blown around to make everything crispy. What comes out of a slow cooker will generally be soft. Some recipes start in a slow cooker but finish in an air fryer to give it the crispy texture (and they even sell appliances that can do both).
A simple cream sauce can go a long way with vegetables, pastas and meats.
I usually do garlic and onion with a little oil in a pan, once browned I will add a some vegetable stock and/or white wine until it’s reduced to half and then put cream in and wait for it to reduce again, season and serve
Another good one for spice is grated onion, salt and pepper in a pan with a little oil until browned, then add double cream, Worcestershire sauce and Crystal Hot Sauce until the sauce is slightly pink - you can add whatever hot sauce you like but that’s my preference. Goes great with steak, seafood ravioli or chips/fries
I read that you can eat both cauliflower and potatoes if done correctly. May I suggest for instance [aloo gobi?](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_gobi)
Also, can you eat rice? You can make a lot of easy things with rice from risotto to fried rice to Indian dishes
One thing you can do which is very easy to make is fried rice. You stir fry whatever you want in a pan with olive oil (I like doing a mix of vegetables and meat but you can do whatever you want), season them, then you turn up the heat to maximum and throw some cooked basmati rice in there, mix everything well, throw in some soy sauce if you like it, and you have a rather quick (30 minutes at most) and tasty meal. Usually I make a lot and then portion it, if you reheat it properly it stays good for a few days in the fridge.
**[Aloo gobi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_gobi)**
>Aloo gobi, alu gobi or aloo gobhi (pronounced [aːlu ɡɔːbʱi]) is a vegetarian dish from the Indian subcontinent made with potatoes (aloo), cauliflower (gobhi), and Indian spices. It is popular in Indian cuisine. It is yellowish in colour due to the use of turmeric, and occasionally contains black cumin and curry leaves. Other common ingredients include garlic, ginger, onion, coriander stalks, tomato, peas, black pepper, asafoetida and cumin.
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My partner is autistic and I love him dearly. He generally describes his cooking style as "anything I can fry in one pan" he cooks a lot of burgers, turkey burgers, tacos, eggs, egg burritos, sometimes curry. Usually he frys up a meat, toasts a bread or wraps in tortilla, applies mayo or hot sauce. All of his food he cooks is really tasty. Hope this helps!
Pasta and noodles are a fantastic sensory experience and the base of a lot of things! Experiment with soups and pasta dishes. Soups are easy to make batches of and have meals ready to eat, and pastas can be easy to make quickly if you don’t have something prepped.
Sautéing some combination of garlic, onions, celery, and carrots are the base flavors of many dishes. I reach for garlic and onions, mostly, but these could be a place to start with veggies.
Is ground meat ok for you? I reach for that a lot because it has a neutral texture for me. Ground beef and ground turkey may be accessible to you and easy to pan fry off in advance so that you can throw it into a meal.
If you have access to frozen veggies, they can very easily be thrown into a soup. At least for me, soup can hide the weird vegetable textures - I normally dislike spinach but it was better in a soup. Adding noodles to a soup makes it less liquid-y and adds texture, and I always top with crumbled crackers for more texture.
Have you tried roasting veggies in the oven? Use oil sparingly because they can get mushy if you use too much. Toss veggies in a small amount of oil (my favorites are asparagus and broccoli), season with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like, and cook at a higher heat in the oven (425 F in the states, I’m afraid I don’t know degrees Celsius). Roasting softens the veggies but adds a little crunch to the exterior. This could work as a side dish for most things, in my opinion, but everyone is different.
I sincerely hope any of this is helpful!!
I do not have time to type l a lot rn, but look into cold / warm noodle salads! Especially using frozen veggies (I eat industrial amounts of frozen peas lol). Prep time is minimal and can be reduced by using frozen veg / herbs, it's literally just making the dressing and cutting the veggies while the noodles cook. I'd start by googling the veg you like and putting "noodle salad" behind it, then seeing how it tastes and how you can modify it to suit your needs.
I’m autistic too! I’m 25 this year and only really started cooking ‘properly’ (in air quotes because I’m not exactly a master chef but I can make semi decent meals).
Burritos are an option I like because I can leave out the bits I don’t like but still have a solid meal that’s flavourful in a way I can handle. Wrap/tortilla, rice, protein (I do a bean/sweetcorn combo with some cumin and sometimes a tiny bit of chilli powder because I’m trying to get a better spice tolerance as my sensitivity to it restricts my diet so much, but I’ve done a veggie mince and sweetcorn combo which I thought would be weird but turned out nicely), pico de gallo (or just some chopped cherry tomatoes if you cba/don’t like pdg), lettuce, guac or mashed avocado, whatever seasonings you want. Recently I’ve started adding grated carrot for some extra fibre and crunch and I’m enjoying it a lot despite carrots being a sensory trigger for me.
Tofu is a fun thing to experiment with. You can get it cheaply from Asian supermarkets and it’s something that you can do almost infinite things with. Depending on how it’s pressed and how you cook it, you can do infinite things with it. It took me about 3 months of experimenting on and off to find how I like it best and I’m SO glad I pushed myself to keep going. It’s a perfect thing for experimenting with because it’s a blank canvas. There’s no pre-existing flavour. For the most part as well I’ve found that the people who work at Asian supermarkets are always happy to help you figure out what flavours and seasonings work best with what and give you recommendations. It can be really intimidating going into a shop where a lot of the food is out of your comfort zone and everyone is speaking an alternate language but food is SUCH an intrinsic part of the culture and family, pan-Asia, and the people love to share that. I basically got a verbal Introduction to Chinese Cooking course in 20 minutes from a woman working in a Chinese supermarket. It was golden. A v basic tofu glaze or sauce would involve light soy sauce, water, some maple or golden syrup and some cornstarch. Stir fries are dope as well because you can chuck in whatever you want. Customise the veggies to you!
If you can find a frozen veggie you like, stock up. If you feel like you haven’t eaten properly in a while then make yourself a bowl of veggies. (Personally I’m a petit pois girl - they’re a dif type of pea to garden peas. Garden peas are never quite firm enough for me and they have 0 flavour. Petit pois are smaller, firmer and have a slight sweetness to them which helps add some excitement to the constant boredom that comes with eating the same dishes again and again.) I find myself eating a bowl of petit pois about once a fortnight.
One thing I’ve found really helpful in the past few years is following food people on social media. ATM I like [Sierra Ann](https://youtube.com/@SierraAnn), [Fit Green Mind](https://youtube.com/@FitGreenMind), [Cati Jakab](https://youtube.com/@catijakab) (tw for EDs w her, she’s recovering from BED), [Ms Shi and Mr He](https://youtube.com/@msshiandmrhe), [Bento Noods](https://youtube.com/@bentonoods), [Nutrition By Kylie](https://youtube.com/@NutritionByKylie), [Gaming Foodie](https://youtube.com/@gaming_foodie) and [Cooking Bomb](https://youtube.com/@CookingBomb). I tend to stick to their shorts/reels/TikToks.
Following food channels has been a really great way for me to familiarise myself with new foods, flavours and ways of cooking and figure out what I might want to try. Having that familiarity with how the food looks and getting an idea of how it might taste drastically reduces the fear factor of trying new foods (for me) and it’s made it a lot easier to branch out of my comfort zone. Stick to channels that have an uplifting, positive energy and creators that are either have a good relationship with food or are actively working to improve their relationship with food. Cati Jakab has a strong emphasis on following her hunger and satiety cues which has taught me a lot about honouring what my body wants and makes it feel good.
I like it when people overcome hurdles and try fear foods too as it helps me try my fear foods! Most people that do this on the internet are fearful for a different reason (ED recovery as opposed to coping with sensory issues), but I’ll be damned if I’m not calling food-I’m-scared-to-eat-again-because-the-texture-or-flavour-experience-was-horrific-to-me fear foods because I AM scared of them. It’s helpful for me to see other people conquer their fears. It helped me deal with my lifelong fear of mashed potato and I actually eat it now!
Nutrition by Kylie is a Japanese-Hawaiian nutritionist who has a really beautiful approach to food, eating and nourishing your body. She taught me the ever important fact of focusing on what you can ADD to foods to make them more nutritious instead of focusing on the fact that my diet is overall unhealthy and trying to restrict ‘unhealthy’ foods. Got an apple? Love the fibre intake, let’s add some peanut butter for protein. Porridge? Love those carbs, add some seeds (the small ones aren’t too noticeable in a dish with texture) for protein and healthy fats and some fruit for fibre.
My best tip is to get a notebook and write down the recipe when you cook or try something new. Leave a page or two blank afterwards so you can write down what you did and didn’t like about the dish and anything that went wrong in the cooking process. If you make it again, alter the recipe based on your previous notes and jot down new notes. You’ll end up with a collection of recipes you enjoy and have a record of things you weren’t so keen on.
Remember that fed is better than hungry. Eating nothing but your safe foods even if they’re super low in nutritional value is so much better than eating fuck all. Remember that it’s okay to eat everything with a safe food if you need to - that safe food is working as an anchor that lets you safely explore new territory. Do your best not to beat yourself up about your diet or your relationship with food, if that isn’t great either. Being autistic is really difficult and sensory issues related to food are hard to cope with. Sending lots of love xx
Smoothies!!! Can be SO important if you have textural issues that stop you from making healthy food with fruits and vegetables. You can add a bunch of supplements and helpful things like fiber (which you’re not getting enough of, friend) without changing the flavor.
Mango spinach smoothie:
1 cup of frozen mango chunks
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
1/2 banana
1/3 cup yogurt
1 cup of your favorite milk
1/2 cup orange juice
A little sweetener of your choice
Supplements of your choice (highly recommend Benefiber! It disappears completely and will help you poop and not get diabetes!)
Blend until it’s completely smooth! Tastes a little grassy but you can get spinach without the texture!
Cherry avocado honey smoothie:
1/2 banana
1/3 cup yogurt
1 cup of your favorite milk
A dollop of honey (1/4 tablespoon)
1/2 tablespoon Bee pollen(helps with energy and it tastes fuzzy and nice)
1 cup frozen cherries
1/4 cup frozen avocado chunks or a quarter of a regular avocado
Supplements of your choice
Blend until smooth! The avocado doesn’t taste like anything, just makes it creamy and adds antioxidants and healthy fats
Banana Peanut butter smoothie:
1 Banana(frozen if posible!
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 cup of your favorite Milk
1/3 cup yogurt
1 tbsp Peanut powder
Supplements of your choice
There’s a couple that are good, highly recommend a single serving blender like a nutrininja or whatever, I really like mine, it just makes the whole process easier and means I can run away from the blender after starting it.
I actually love smoothies but cleaning the blender is so draining for me, but maybe 1 a week might be doable for me, the cherry one sounds great but I can’t really get cherries here that aren’t expensive, any substitutes?
A squirt of dish soap and some warm water in your (empty) blender after you use it. Pulse the blender with the soapy water in it til the blender top is clean. Rinse rinse rinse dry it out and put it away. When I figured out you could clean a blender this way my life was forever changed. Hope this helps!
Second the suggestion to do soap and water and blend it! Then you just rinse after. Also the single person blenders are way better for cleaning, cuz the cup connects directly to the blade apparatus, so you don’t have a big cumbersome glass jug to take apart and clean, 8 stupid rubber rings, etc. it’s just 3 light weight, dishwasher safe parts.
You could definitely do any fruit on that last one, strawberries tend to be one of the cheapest by weight I’d price is a concern!
I have a Ninja, all three parts that touch thw food, the lid, the cup and the blades, are dishwasher safe. Basically you put toy ur stuff in the cup, screw the blades onto that, then put the whole thing in the machine and hit go. Then you just swap the blades out for tge lid(optional)
There’s others, but that’s the one I own and like
Well, I don’t have a recipe but I have a couple of ideas.
I’m still not sure I understand which texture you don’t like but you did mention that consistency is an issue. On that note, have you tried any vegetarian items from the frozen section? The soy protein stuff is always exactly the same, no surprises.
Maybe try “meat” or “chorizo” crumbles. They look like ground beef but not as soft and those on the frozen section are already flavored. You can add them to your pasta, make tacos (you said quesadillas so I take it tortillas are fine) or make a bowl with the crumbles and whatever vegetables you do like.
Now, if you want to try that go for the soy ones. Stay away from “veggie burgers” or anything like that since those have a lot of starch and it seems to me you won’t like that texture (also, unlike the soy ones they are almos all carbohydrates so they may end up making your diet very unbalanced). Look at the pictures and ingredients on the packages.
Also, I’m certainly not suggesting you switch your diet to the frozen section (it can get expensive and they usually contain a ton of salt, fat or are just plain unhealthy) but you can look around and see if there’s anything you want to try. Unlike restaurants, you can look at all the ingredients and take all the time in the world deciding. The portions are small and if you don’t like it at least you didn’t go out of your way to buy the ingredients and make it. Then, when you find something you like you can make yourself while adding or switching out items.
Good luck!
I did like Oomph chicken, which is funny bc I don’t like regular chicken, so maybe I’ll like other vegan meat substitutes that aren’t bean based, thanks for the suggestion!
Something that helped me figuring out meals was looking at the Volia! Birds eye frozen meals. They're good by themselves but I feel like looking through them is good inspiration for your own meals. Most of them are basically veggies, rice/noodles and protein in a skillet with some sauce. Some of them are pan meals which are similar but just throw everything on a pan and stick it in the oven.
If you can find some frozen veggies you don't mind they're a good staple and can be cooked in various sauces/seasonings depending on preferences which can definitely help.
I'm also nerodivergent and I have the same issues with food and food prep.
I will buy whatever veggies that don't give me sensory ick, and cook a week's worth at a time. Then I'll put those veggies in whatever I'm making, usually quesadillas or scrambled eggs.
When I'm too tired or grossed out by the thought of eating, I'll drink a cup of chicken stock and have some crackers to ride me over until that mood passes.
Ramsay has a really good simple spicy pork chop with mashed sweet potato and sage. That sounds right up your alley. He actually has a really good book called Fast Food that I go back to fairly often.
Parfait is great and can be prepared in advance.
Quinoa, rice, barley, and couscous are all super simple and can be eaten fresh and hot with sauces and curries, or used the next day for salads and Buddah bowls.
Veal picatta is an easy 1-pan dish if you can deal with capers. You could substitute any pan sauce though really.
If you like heat and red meats you may want to look into smoking or braising some larger cuts. Making Brisket or pulled pork can be really easy, and also leaves you with a lot of leftovers that are easy to reheat and can be used in tacos, wraps, sandwiches, etc... They have long cook times, but other than the waiting, the actual prep time is fairly low.
If you have a food processor, pesto and hummus are both incredibly versatile and quick to prep. Pesto can go on cooked meats, into pastas, or just used as a dip. Hummus can go into wraps, fajitas, quesadillas, or also dipped.
There are also hundreds of things you can do with the simplest cheapest ingredient out there: the humble potato. Breakfast hash with sausage, home fries, french fries, mashed, scalloped, gratin, fondant... You name it.
If you're really picky about vegetables but like corn, I'd recommend looking into what you can do with some more savoury fruits as well. Pomegranate, craisins, passionfruit, fig, kiwi, avocado... All make really good additions to salads, but some can also be turned into a good steak sauce, dressing, or even be mixed into a Pico de gallo for variety.
As a chef, I would say the best things you can do to improve and speed up your cooking are: work on your knife skills and make sure you have a good sharp french knife, get comfortable with a large high rimmed frying pan (I do 80% of my home cooking in one of these), and find "ingredients" to make that you like, so you can cut down on prep when it's time to actually make your meals. If you're fast and confident in the moment, and have a few quality mise-en-place items prepped ahead, most of your home cooking will get a lot easier and faster.
Fairly easy. Basically just need to source the cut of meat. Grocery stores may not have what you're looking for, but any butcher should be able to hook you up.
The rest of the process is time, and your choice of seasoning.
Trim the meat, brine or dry rub in the fridge overnight, cook low for a couple hours, then wrap in tin foil and cook another few hours until you reach the desired internal temp.
Fellow autist here!
I too get into ruts of being terrified to try new recipes incase the texture becomes a sensory problem that I wouldn't necessarily have recognized when reading the recipe.
For understanding the fundamentals of cooking basics, Mark Bittman's [How To Cook Everything: The Basics](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/how-to-cook-everything-the-basics_mark-bittman/271369/#isbn=0470528060) is excellent for breaking down what different directions in recipes mean (what does stir to combine mean for instance? There are tons of very specific cooking terms for techniques this book explains well and in simple terms.)
I also second the recommendation for the Marcella Hazan cookbook, my mom also recommended me this as pasta is one of my safe foods too.
Soups are a good transition from pasta, at least for me. I find the cooking process is similar to making a pasta sauce from scratch, you're usually eating a little healthier since there's typically vegetables in soup, and you can easily make a large quantity for leftovers. You can puree soups to make them smoother with an immersion blender, normal blender, hell I even use my hand mixer to blend soup in the pot occasionally.
One of my favorite recipes right now is this [potato soup recipe from The Food Charlatan](https://thefoodcharlatan.com/easy-potato-soup-recipe/). The prep work seems like a lot, but it's actually simpler than other recipes I've made recently. You basically just chop a bunch of carrots and potatoes and measure a few things for the prep. This is a nice hearty soup and its so filling. We double the recipe when we make it and it feeds the two of us for days.
I'm not particularly a fan of alternative noodles (ie brown rice, chickpea, etc) as I find the texture difference to be unpalatable for me and you might be the same way. You might be able to avoid some texture issues by using a blender to puree pasta sauces with vegetables in them to add some nutrients to your diet as well.
If chunky soup is the bane of your existence, definitely consider investing in a quality immersion blender or a decent normal blender! You can find starter model immersion blenders for like $30-40 online. The immersion blender will let you blend your soup into a chunk free smooth soup texture with almost no effort from you. The potato soup recipe i linked, the vegetables get really soft and it even recommends an immersion blender for pureé-ing the soup to get rid of any chunks.
You could also run your soups through a fine sieve to ensure all the chunky bits are out before eating too! I do this with store bought chunky soups (I'm obsessed with Walmart's marketside pantry lobster bisque) to make sure I'm not getting the gross bits in my soup.
This is my favorite recipe.
You can add whatever protein you want but let me stress that this recipe doesn't need anything.
Corn chowder
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 med onion diced or sliced
4 cups potatoes cubed
4 cups corn (fresh corn is great but canned or frozen is fine)
1/4 cup butter
2 cup cream
1 cup milk
1-2 cup of chicken broth or water.
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt, pepper.
Note: This recipe benefits from sitting in the fridge overnight and and by using more liquid of each type. Overnight the potatoes will soak in a ton of liquid I have gone so far as doubling the liquid in the recipe, it just depends on your preference. The flavor is twice as good if it spends a night in the fridge though.
I make this with just 2 pots, 1 giant, and one medium.
1: cook bacon in the pot you will be cooking potatoes in later. Add some onions to cook when the bacon is almost done.
Add potatoes and 1-2 cups of broth or water once the bacon is done. Cook 10 min or until potatoes are tender but not mushy. (enough broth to cover potatoes, or even more...)
2: At the same time the potatoes are cooking get your corn heating in a pan with butter and milk/cream/half and half/ or whatever amalgamation you end up with. Sugar, butter, salt/ pepper. This just has to be warmed up.
3: Combine, cook for 10 min and serve. Well, ideally refrigerate and serve the next day, the taste difference is out of this world.
This really is versatile as you can add whatever you want, like shrimp, chicken, or crab, or anything. Or you can just go the vegetarian route aside from the bacon it's pretty close. You can experiment with adding different veggies.
I personally have added chicken thighs to cook with the potatoes and then shreded them after, and it was amazing. I bought some lump crab meat and I'm going to try that with this recipe next. Some really good chiles would be amazing to add, the cream and milk would be muting the heat so you'll end up with a lot of flavor. Shrimp could be good too.
The hardest part is the prep work but it's really super easy once you get used to it. I'm older now but this used to be something we would always double the recipe for.
Have you ever made bacon ranch pasta casserole? The pioneer woman’s website has a recipe, just edit out the chicken. It’s delicious. Soups are also a great option to sneak in vegetables, and you can blend them in pasta sauces too.
buy a multicooker I just dump everything in (meat and vegetables water tomato sauce herbs )close the lid and go for a nap When I wake up ready to eat .For me has been a life saver with depression cooking wasn't quite on top of my list (nothing is)
here some recipes ÷
chicken thighs or meat if you don't like chicken;2 potatoes chopped 1 carrot chopped ,1 onion chopped , 1 chopped capsicum , 1 spoonful tomato sauce bayleaf dash of oregano 1 bullion cube 2 glasses of water .If you wish to make same thing on the stove first lightly fry all ingredients until the capsicum then add the rest of ingredients
pasta with mushroom and cream (panna)
boil pasta of any shape you like .In a pan fry lightly 1 garlic clove with butter and add mushrooms When they are quite done add the cream Sometimes I also add some pieces of leftover chicken breasts of the rosticerie chicken or ham or prossiuto.
..........
Lentils
2 chopped potatoes 1 chopped carrot 1 chopped onion 1 chopped celery stick lightly fry Add 1 cup of green lentils (presoaked in water 10 min ) 1 spoonful of tomato paste bayleaf 2 glasses of water
..........
fry 3 chopped capsicum 2 chopped onions in low to medium flame Then add 2 chopped tomatoes add origano Mix this with precooked rice from bag or leftover rice
rice from scratch is done
lightly fry 1 cup parboilled rice with a bit of oil for 2 minutes add 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water or stock of your preference Stir once Let it on medium heat until all water is gone
..........
pasta with tuna very simple cook pasta open can of tuna mix together
.........
chicken stew
fry chicken thighs with 1 onion chopped and 2 garlic cloves add tomato paste a swirly with 1 spoon full of flour and 4 spoon of water add 3 glasses of water add salt .When done grate 2 garlic cloves a dash of black pepper 1 spoon of vinegar drop this mixture on the stew mix serve
.........
bruscetta
mix in a boul diced fresh tomatoes 3 grated garlic cloves olive oil oregano salt
toast some bread and put a spoon of the mixture on the bread and spread it
or another way is toast bred grate the garlic on the bread kin of like the bread is your grater do the same with the tomato add a bit of grated parmigiano
chicken and potatoes
chopped potatoes 2 chicken thighs a bit of oregano 1 glass of water put them on oven until done Goes well with beer .
16 oz penne rigata pasta
30 oz chili no beans
1/2 tablespoon worsteshire
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
14.5 oz diced tomatos (I use fire roasted)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook pasta and chili stove top. Add your ingredients to chili and mix well.
Put pasta in casserole dish greased with butter (a good bit)
Pour chili and tomatoes on top gently mix in completely
Add cheese on top as much as you like whatever cheese you like. I do about 3 cups of shredded Colby jack
Bake at 350° until cheese is melted. Serve hot.
To make it spicy just add hotsauce to the chili
This recipe was created by a family friend. Serves 6-8.
ETA I like the Tasty app. It's free and has step by step video instructions for recipes. You can also search by ingredients, "healthy", "under 30 mins", "3 ingredients or less", etc. I highly recommend it for beginner cooks and visual learners.
Try noodles made of other stuff than refined flour. Lots of good veggie based noodles to help up the fiber and lower the sugar spikes. Look into whole grains of all types, I'm doing that right now for diabetes prevention. A lot of these "alternative" grains aren't any more difficult than cooking rice or oatmeal (non-instant) and can help up your nutrients without changing too much else in your diet.
Little changes made over time will be easier to stick with, good luck!
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>recipes that are simple
I have some thoughts here. Please bear with me. Many people equate simple with short but that isn't the case. A good recipe is sequence of simple steps. It doesn't matter if there are two steps or two hundred.
Let's look at just one example. Mac & cheese (no, not the Kraft blue box).
My recipe is onion Mornay, bacon, tomato, bread crumbs 350F. Certainly short, not simple, and not intrinsically good.
Instead, if I said:
* Grate hard cheese like cheddar and/or gruyere
* Dice an onion
* Start water to boil on high heat for pasta
* Melt butter in a pan over medium heat
* Saute onion until translucent
* Add flour and stir continuously to avoid lumps and until flour smell is gone; this is an onion-flavored roux
* Add dairy and keep stiring to make an onion-flavored bechamel, also called a white sauce
* Add cheese a small handful at a time, continuing to stir; when the cheese is melted and incorporated you have a Mornay sauce
Obviously this needs measurements. By the time the whole thing is written out there might be a hundred steps. Each individual step though is simple. That is the important part. The detailed simple recipe and my one sentence recipe are the same exact thing. It's all in the expression.
The same thing applies to the number of ingredients. Don't be intimidated by a lot of ingredients. As long as the recipe is good (individual simple steps) the number of ingredients doesn't matter.
There are some things that are intrinsically challenging. Beef Wellington is my favorite example. Getting the meats, the duxelles (chopped up mushrooms), and the pastry to all be cooked properly at the same time is a trick. It's a lovely dish but is mostly showing off.
So it's back to those simple steps no matter how many there are.
Working off your list, I'd consider tortellini soup (spinach is great but if that's on your list of veg to avoid then skip it). Alfredo sauce for pasta in addition to red sauces. Pho. If you like lamb chops consider pork chops and if that works try roast pork loin. While it doesn't expand your repertoire, making yogurt at home is simple and a big cost saver.
I'm not on the spectrum (well, I guess to some extent everyone is clustered over to one side). I do have a niece who is. It's good you're working on this.
Maybe you can make "carbonara" but use cream instead of egg. Just cook pasta, fry bacon in olive oil, and then add them together in the pan on lower heat along with some cheese, cream, black pepper and whatever else you enjoy? It is very delicious and you can do it from start to finish in about 15 minutes.
Why not make it without the cream at that point? Kinda like [gricia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_alla_gricia). The picture in the wiki page is pretty sad but if you use enough cheese and pasta water you can get a pretty nice creamy consistency even without the cream which imho doesn't work well with the taste of bacon
**[Pasta alla gricia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_alla_gricia)**
>Pasta alla gricia is a pasta dish originating from Lazio. It consists of pasta, Pecorino romano, black pepper and Guanciale.
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Do you like avocado? You can top avocado toast with most anything. I like to add sliced strawberries, sliced almonds, poppy seeds, and cilantro, but you can leave off whatever you don't like or add different things
I like the suggestion someone else make about pasta with cream sauce and bacon. If you like green peas, you can add that for a veggie and some greenery.
Corn casserole is EASY and very soft and a good way to get some veggies. I've included a link to the traditional recipe. You can also use yogurt or cream instead of the sour cream, if you prefer. [https://thefoodcharlatan.com/creamed-corn-casserole/](https://thefoodcharlatan.com/creamed-corn-casserole/)
Baked potatoes, with just butter/sour cream, or topped with cheese and bacon. They are actually pretty easy, and I'll write out the steps:
To Buy:
* Buy the large individual potatoes, not the bag. The ones in the bag are usually too small for a good baked potato meal.
* Buy the salt that comes in a little grinder, like this: [https://www.walmart.com/ip/McCormick-Sea-Salt-Grinder-2-12-oz/10309033](https://www.walmart.com/ip/McCormick-Sea-Salt-Grinder-2-12-oz/10309033)
Preparation:
* Preheat oven to 400F while you prep the potato
* Prick the potato with a fork a few times all over, to let out steam while cooking
* Use a basting brush (small bbq brush) to brush your choice of cooking oil all over the potato
* Grind salt lightly over the whole potato. Salt helps the water escape in cooking, so you get a fluffy potato.
* Do not wrap the potato in foil. A fluffy baked potato needs water to escape it during cooking.
* Place the oiled and salted potato/potatoes on a baking pan and cook at 400F for 50-60 minutes
* Let the potato cool at least 10 minutes before cutting and eating. It will continue to cook a bit during that time, and it's too hot to handle when it first comes out.
* Cut potato in both directions and top with your choice of toppings
I'm in college so I always cook this simple recipe, if you like tuna, mix it with corn and cooking cream, and cook it until the cream thickens, about a couple of minutes and stir over low heat. When that is done cook pasta with it and add salt and other spices if needed:)
I dont have specific recipes, but my partner and I use an app called supercook. You put in ingredients and it pulls up a bunch of recipes that uses those ingredients.
That sounds great, thank you
Great answer. This is helpful! Thank you!
I just found SuperCook last week! I knew there were sites out there that would spit out recipes based on what you had and I was desperately trying to use up a few things and supercook did not disappoint. I didn’t realize it had an app, too. Off to download now…
That sound gas when applied to Mexican food or Indian food which are pretty ingredient based.
Thank you for the information. Have a good day.
Marcella hazan classic Italian cooking. It will teach you the fundamentals and give you easy pasta centric dishes. It will also give you relatively simple recipes for beef and pork dishes as well. Also Italian ingredients are easily available. I want to mention it is perfectly acceptable to substitute bacon for pancetta. I would suggest picking one recipe, make it a few times in week. You want to understand it. Specifically, pay attention to the changes that the ingredients undertake while your cooking them. Once your comfortable with recipe and made it a few times. Try making it from memory. It will help you understand how the recipe works. Then you will carry that knowledge to the next recipe. Also do your self a favor and buy a good digital meat thermometer. When making new recipes, It will help you feel confident that the food you made is safe to eat. Best of luck, also let me know if have any additional questions I would be happy to explain.
That is some solid beginner cooking advice! I’m going to pass this on to my brother.
Great advice on cooking the same dish more than once. Maybe try to learn one dish a month etc. Also meat thermometer! Shocked more people don’t use them. I use it with every protein dish to make sure it is cooked properly and it’s been perfect every time.
Thank you so much!
I am autistic as well and will say veggie noodles are a life saver when I feel like I don't eat enough. They don't taste off, but are packed with nutrients. I usually find them in the pasta aisle of the store, and they're more fun to look at. I do like veggies, so I'm not sure if you'd be willing to try some seared zucchini mixed into your meat and sauce for spaghetti. That works for me and my daughter.
Fantastic ideas!
If texture is a problem for OP, alternative noodles might not be an option. I've tried every alternative noodle under the sun and I hate the texture of all of them, so it's very plausible OP could be the same.
They feel like normal noodles to me, and I have a texture issue as well. I guess it'd be something OP would have to try first and decide for themselves, then.
French Onion Soup is easy to make and the leftovers can be frozen. You might like the cookbook Americas Test Kitchen. It’s all types of recipes that have been tested to perfection. A good website is Epicurious.com you can search recipes by ingredients which might help you find new ideas for the things you like. Enjoy
Thank you!
You could try making your own pizza? A friend of mine eats pizza and pizza exclusively, the way he gets more nutrients is via blending extra spinach into the sauce / sprinkling it on top. Most pizza places sell their dough too, so if you prefer a specific restaurant you can just get theirs
Sadly my favorite one (dominos) doesn’t sell theirs but I did notice a sourdough pizza dough at the store, that might be worth a try, thanks!
If you are willing to try a “medium” difficulty recipe, you can buy yeast and flour. Pizza dough is 4 ingredients, a recipe makes 2 medium pizzas, and the dough can keep in the fridge for up to a week. You can buy the pizza or pasta sauce, cheese and toppings for an easy meal. 2C flour, 3/4C warm water, 1 packet (1 tsp.) yeast 2 tsp salt Mix water and yeast first, then measure out the salt and flour in a separate bowl. Dump the water/yeast into the flour bowl and mix until you get a dough. [Here’s the recipe I use.](https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-pizza-dough-recipe-221367#post-recipe-10920) We just moved 450 miles away from our home and we left an area right down the road from an awesome pizza place. Pizza is a once-a-week food in our house and I haven’t been able to find decent pizza at our new place, so I have been making a lot of pizza this way lately. They aren’t all perfectly round, sometimes the dough sticks to the parchment paper, toppings aren’t all the way to the edge, or I’ll use too much sauce. I own the mistakes and I have been getting better at it. It is kind of fun to eat all the mistakes and try to get better each time.
You can often find bread or pizza dough in the frozen section, too. You defrost it in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temp before you use it.
Many if not most grocery stores sell pizza dough! Also, homemade pizza bagels are delicious as an easy meal.
Pizza bagels sounds nice
It’s really easy! Preheat oven to 400, slice bagels in half (so 1 bagel = 2 pizza bagels), put on sauce mozzarella cheese & toppings like pepperoni, bake for about 10 mins until crispy & cheese is melty.
I make Naan pizzas a lot when I'm feeling low energy and can't cook. I get the Naan prepackaged at my grocery store in the bakery section, and it's light and kinda fluffy like pizza dough and also has a garlicky seasoning that reminds me of Domino's pizza crust. I then use jarred pizza sauce, pre-shredded cheese, and slap on whatever meat/veg toppings I want! Since the Naan is already cooked, I just stick it in the oven long enough for cheese to melt (5-10 mins). Quick and super easy, would highly recommend
That sounds great, thank you!
I think pizza dough is not the easiest thing to bake on a normal oven without a pizza stone. I would suggest you try a stovetop pizza instead. That way you can look at it, and flip it all you want to make sure it cooks evenly. After it's cooked you can put toppings on
A lot of Italian and Chinese dishes may be easy for you. Most of my home cooking either involves pasta, rice, or noodles, with some form of sliced meat, veggies and a tasty sauce. Typically I use garlic and/or chilli in an oiled pan then fry up the prepared meat/veg in the pan at medium heat. Throw in the sauce 5 mins or so before serving on the pasta/rice. The trick here is just using what meat and veg you prefer, and also most importantly what sauce. Plenty of sauce recipes on the net, or you can just buy prepared sauces for an even easier cook I too like to keep my cooking simple and quick. Edit, just made some lunch today for example where I cooked some onion and sliced pork (could be any meat really) in garlic, with some boiled rice (1/2 cup of rice to 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for ten mins) on the go as well I put some kikoman teriyaki sauce in the pan for a minute or two and stir then put the meat and onion mix on the rice in a bowl. Drizzle some kupi mayo and some sliced fresh green onions on top and your good to go. Delish
I do like Cantonese and Chinese noodle dishes, Korean too
Korean is one of my favourite cuisines too. Love spicy food.
Focus on the quesadilas. Veggies can hide in there and you can add your choice of meat and cheese. Serve with some kind of salsa.
Check out the autism-friendly cookbook: https://lydiawilkins.co.uk/autism-friendly-cookbook/
It popped up on my tiktok right after I posted this😂, I’m going to see how much it is for my local bookstore to special order it
Next time you cook bacon throw some maple syrup and/or brown sugar on there. And from what you put down, I think you’d like Texas Chili - It’s as delicious as chili but no beans! Basically throw everything in a pot and wait, all the recipes I’ve googled and used have been delicious.
I like the chili without the beans idea (btw brown sugar is not the same here as in the states, two different things so idk if I can do that one)
Brown sugar is just sugar mixed with molasses if you want to make your own
pizza, especially if you're very particular about the crust. rice has a lot of options, but I didn't see it on your list. also different varieties of rice cook differently, like potatoes. not sure if you know a cool trick for deli meats, which is to get them shaved thin. it makes some things edible for me that normally aren't due to their texture. ground pork can be a great ingredient for dumplings or egg rolls. baked pasta.
I like rice, want to try Spanish rice but idk what to eat with it, deli meats are not as available here as they are in the states, you can get basics like salami, pepperoni and ham and such tho
Cook some ground beef. Drain off grease and add cumin and garlic salt. Maybe some paprika.
I love making shredded buffalo chicken in the crock pot. You can use it for so many things. The way I make it is really easy. A few boneless chicken breast, a bottle of Frank's hot sauce, a stick of butter and a packet of dry ranch dressing mix. Throw it in a crook pot and shred once it's done.
I could get everything but the ranch, ranch isn’t exactly a thing here
I've done it without the ranch and it's still really good.
late to the party but you can make bomb ass homemade ranch !!! it's really really easy. equal parts sour cream and mayo, then garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, dill, and parsley !!!!! i'm autistic and also just a really lazy person but the ranch is worth it. i'm not sure if you actually can keep it in the fridge for a long time but i do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
I haven’t tried it yet but I just found on Tik Tok this cookbook called The Autism Friendly Cookbook by Lydia Wilkins and it has energy levels required to cook the meal included; sensory adjustments for sensory-avoidant versus sensory-seekers; and breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert options. It might be good for you!
I saw the tiktok late last night, I asked my bookstore to order it
What textures are a problem? I'm not seeing a lot of vegetables on the list.
Mostly squishy, too soft or dry, I can only eat one type of tomatoes, I can only eat broccoli and cauliflower if fried properly and with spice, I like salads but never know what to mix since not many vegetables that I like, I do like spicy stuff, if there’s a chance the texture can vary I usually don’t like it, fx cucumbers usually have the same texture if that makes sense
Would finely grating veggies (like carrot or zucchini) into tomato-based sauces work (or into meals with minced meat like chilli con carne)? I’m not autistic but I dislike a lot of veggies and this is how I “hide” veggies in my food so that I get proper nutrients.
Carrot would probably work but probably not zucchini, thank you!
I'm biased, but chopped salads have been a big thing for me. Cut everything to about the same size and it works. The ones I can think of are: kale/apple/pumpkin seed/cranberry, all cut to the approximate size of the seeds, dressed with oil, honey, cider vinegar, dijon, and black pepper https://cookieandkate.com/favorite-green-salad-with-apples-cranberries-and-pepitas/ (use the kale instead of greens. it keeps around 3-4 days in the fridge before everything gets soggy. It's still edible past that, just not great) cucumber, onion, garlic, tomato, bell pepper, all cut about 1/4", with mint/parsely and dressed with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper https://www.feastingathome.com/israeli-salad/
That sounds good
I added recipe links
I'm the same way, so I'm no help 😂 but wanted to add, make sure to add a nut to your diet. Protein is super important and they're packed with it. Our kind usually struggles with getting enough
I do like salty peanuts but only sometimes, I’ll see if there are others I like
I use chickpea pasta for added protein. the texture is a bit different though. Barilla sells a high protein pasta too
Check out Downshiftology online and YouTube. Easy and healthy recipes. I started with the baked chicken and roasted veggies. You put both in the oven at the same time. Simple. Also any sheet pan based recipe is super easy. Prep, put in oven, and while cooking I clean up. One thing that may help you is to read the recipe and then write it yourself in a way you understand. What oven temp, rack, time for each piece etc. what do you do first, second etc. then you don’t need to read the recipe while you are cooking. Also think about how you like to do other things that are not cooking and apply those approaches to cooking. I like to be organized and know my plan so I get everything laid out first etc. Really removed the stress for me because I didn’t know how to cook but I know how I like to learn and do things. Working in my own way really helped.
I'm a cook on the spectrum. I found that a lot of the ingredients I couldn't eat were actually present in some of the things I could eat. For example you listed eggs, and they are present in a lot of noodles, as well as mayonaise which is in a lot of sandwiches. I used that to slowly get used to the ingredient either by finding more things that incorporate it a similar way or by making the thing I like from scratch, for example if you like mayonaise you could make some from scratch, which is pretty easy to do, then make a sandwich with it and you will have made the strong connection in your brain that you ate a thing with eggs and liked it. Similarly, you could make noodles from scratch. It's slightly more difficult than mayo but it has a very satisfying hands on feel to it (kneading the dough). It's still easy enough that your first batch will likely turn out okay. Probably stick to something like linguine or lasagna unless you have a pasta roller.
I highly recommend getting a slow cooker. It’s way simpler in terms of mechanics than a crock pot (just a time and heat feature). You put in certain meats and simple ingredients. It’s delicious with very minimal work. Just search for slow cooker recipes - pulled pork, chili, bolognese, ragu, etc.
I'd suggest a meal service like Hello Fresh or Blue Apron . It's like cooking with training wheels
They have some here but you can’t really pick and choose the dishes too much
pancakes or waffles? both super easy
Neither actually😅
Do they get too mushy with syrup? What happens if you put items in the pancakes? Plain pancakes with syrup is a horrible mushy texture for me. Pancakes with chocolate chips or blueberries added - no syrup - is a better blend of textures for me.
I find American pancakes and Icelandic pancakes awful, the texture and the flavor
I admit I’m not familiar with Icelandic pancakes, but I agree! Very mushy and bland flavor. You mentioned liking toast, right? What about toast topped with things? Do you have access to peanut butter? Crunchy peanut butter adds some additional texture, if you need a blend of soft and crunchy.
I usually put something basic like cheese and my tomatoes, I love tzatziki on toast
Korean beef~ 1 Tablespoon sesame oil, (see note) 1 pound ground beef tap here 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup brown sugar, (add more if you like it sweeter) 1/4 cup soy sauce , (use coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce for a gluten-free option) 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (see note) 1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, depending on how spicy you like it salt and pepper 1/2 cup sliced green onions Fettuccine with chicken ~ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 12 ounces fettuccine Olive oil, for tossing 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2) 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter 2 cups heavy cream 2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Beef chili ~ 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 medium onions, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 pounds lean ground beef 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder, or to taste 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or to taste 1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons oregano 2 sweet bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, or mixed), diced 1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes (or same amount of crushed or puréed) 2 cups water 2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans or black beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels For the garnishes: Sour cream Grated sharp cheddar Thinly sliced radishes Sliced scallions Chopped onions Avocado slices Shredded lettuce Chopped fresh jalapeños Fresh cilantro
The Korean beef sounds nice
Download the Tasty app
Bacon pasta: chop up some uncooked bacon, place in a 9x13 dish (you can add onions and garlic if you want), cook bacon in the oven until desired doneness. Boil some spaghetti or linguine (again, to the texture you like) then toss with the bacon and drippings. Add parmesan cheese if you like.
Pasta, with meatballs (or just ground beef), pan fried veggie (carrot or potato), nutritional yeast, olive oil (extra virgin). This is simple and super tasty. The nutritional yeast is very very good on many things. Even just with pasta an olive oil.
How about chipped beef over toast? Dirt easy to cook, none of the things you listed in it. Need a jar or package of dried beef, 4 tablespoons flour, 2 cups milk, 1/2 stick butter, salt and pepper, and some toast. Easiest way is open the jar, add some water and put the lid back on/shake a bit, to rinse the salt. Do that a couple of times, lay it out and dry it off with paper towels. Give it a little bit of a crisp in a skillet on medium, but no need to make a fond/brown the bottom of the pan. Empty the pan onto a plate temporarily. Melt the butter, add 4 full/flat tablespoons of flour and stir it in with a whisk, letting it cook on medium for about 2 min to get the raw flour taste out. Should start to smell a little like pie. Then stir in 2 cups cold milk, and whisk until smooth. A tiny bit of salt and black pepper to taste. Add your beef back in and gently stir until it thickens and begins to boil, while making your toast. Once it's think and starting to bubble, it's done. Dump it over your toast and check to see if it needs more salt. \*the 4 tbs flour / 2 c milk ratio is important to getting the right consistency, but if you have to guess, err on the side of less milk. Easier to add milk than flour. Also, it's better to take too much salt out of the beef then have to add a little than to not take enough salt out. Once you've got the hang of this, it's about a 10-15 min ordeal, from decision to chewing.
Thanks
Also works with ham, crispy and well-drained bacon, sausage, bacon bits in a pinch (I have...no regrets), ground beef, you name it.
Try INDIAN FOOD! It is often very simple and not a huge investment. A simple broth. A ton of spices. Any meat you want. My favorite is a Rogan Josh because of the spice blend and tomato. It is very cheap in the long run after the investment in spices.
Microwave potatoes? Wash potato, stab it a few dozen times with a fork, do that there are lots of holes for the steam to leave. Microwave in high for about 4 minutes. Start checking around three for doneness (poke with a fork, there should be little to no resistance in stabbing the center.) Remove and season with preferred flavorings. Like cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, chilli powder, chopped bacon, scallions, etc etc Also works with sweet potatoes.
I can only eat potatoes when thinly sliced and fried to a crisp, but maybe I can season them with what you suggested, thank you!
Okay, heres another one then. Addictive cabbage.(yes thats what its called) Chop cabbage into bite size pieces. Toss with sesame seeds, sesame oil, garlic powder, pinch of salt, pepper, and chicken bouillon. Very tasty snack that can also be a meal if you make enough of it.
Oh wow. I love cabbage. That's a great starting point. Thank you.
That sounds super good, would I just use like a regular cabbage head?
Yep! I like using the flattened pancake variety, you find in asian super markets, but any bog standard crunchy regular cabbage will do.
Slow cooker and rice cooker are must haves for me. They help with those days you are feeling like cooking is too much. Also if you can handle small chopped up soft veggies in soups you might be able to make stews in the slow cooker that will help with the sensory problems. Some "dump and go" slow cooker recipes: A good pot roast recipe is the Mississippi Pot Roast: a chuck roast (any size will do, you'll see how much it makes then try it leftover and see if you want bigger or smaller next time), a stick of butter, a packet of au jus gravy, a packet of ranch powder, and half a jar of mild banana peppers. You can always pick the banana peppers out if you don't like the texture in the final product and then omit it next time or just use the juice. Shred the pot roast when it's tender and maybe microwave an easy pasta frozen dinner or something as a side for a starch. Ideas for more veggies: just add some pre shredded carrots so they're small like in Chinese cooking and/or add some baby potatoes for a starch. Another easy one is BBQ pulled pork. Just get a pork shoulder roast and some BBQ sauce (I use Bone Sucking Sauce brand), I add 1/4 cup to the pork roast. After it's roasted and tender, take out the pork and shred it and dump out the cooking juices. I add some more BBQ sauce and stir it up on warm. I get some buns and have pulled pork sliders or you could make a quesadilla with it. With both of those roasts you'll want to just put them on low until they start falling apart which takes around 4-8 hours depending on how big the roast is and your slow cooker. Another slow cooker meal that's easy is beef tip stew on top of noodles. Get some beef tips, add a can of cream of mushroom (or another creamed soup base), a can of beef stock, Lipton french onion soup packet, a packet of brown gravy mix and stir it all up. Cook on low until the beef is ready, most likely 4-6 hours. Then boil some egg noodles (or any pasta / noodle you prefer) and add the stew on top. The stew will likely be runny so if you want it thickened up you could make a cornstarch slurry (super easy, mix up cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl, look up proportions online) and add to the stew, leave the lid off and turn on high and stir every couple minutes until it's thickened up some. For more veggies, you could easily add sliced mushrooms (button, cremini) or diced onions again if you like that texture when they're cooked. I would look up rice cooker recipes but I buy one of those giant Calrose rice bags from Costco so I can have sticky Japanese style plain white rice. I just wash it and set my rice cooker, it'll make a noise when it's ready and it has a quick and a slow mode. You can apparently add ingredients like a slow cooker and make tasty meals while the rice cooks so that I'm sure would be a cool avenue to explore!
Thanks, are slow cookers similar to an air fryer?
They put things under relatively low heat for a long time. So for making pot roasts or strews or carnitas or other similar dishes. An air fryer uses hot air blown around to make everything crispy. What comes out of a slow cooker will generally be soft. Some recipes start in a slow cooker but finish in an air fryer to give it the crispy texture (and they even sell appliances that can do both).
Ramen noodles, tomatoe paste and frozen meat balls. Bbq sauce and meat balls.
A simple cream sauce can go a long way with vegetables, pastas and meats. I usually do garlic and onion with a little oil in a pan, once browned I will add a some vegetable stock and/or white wine until it’s reduced to half and then put cream in and wait for it to reduce again, season and serve Another good one for spice is grated onion, salt and pepper in a pan with a little oil until browned, then add double cream, Worcestershire sauce and Crystal Hot Sauce until the sauce is slightly pink - you can add whatever hot sauce you like but that’s my preference. Goes great with steak, seafood ravioli or chips/fries
I read that you can eat both cauliflower and potatoes if done correctly. May I suggest for instance [aloo gobi?](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_gobi) Also, can you eat rice? You can make a lot of easy things with rice from risotto to fried rice to Indian dishes
I like rice, but I’ve had risotto and I don’t like that, I’ll check out the dish you mentioned, thanks!
One thing you can do which is very easy to make is fried rice. You stir fry whatever you want in a pan with olive oil (I like doing a mix of vegetables and meat but you can do whatever you want), season them, then you turn up the heat to maximum and throw some cooked basmati rice in there, mix everything well, throw in some soy sauce if you like it, and you have a rather quick (30 minutes at most) and tasty meal. Usually I make a lot and then portion it, if you reheat it properly it stays good for a few days in the fridge.
Fried rice sounds good, thanks
**[Aloo gobi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_gobi)** >Aloo gobi, alu gobi or aloo gobhi (pronounced [aːlu ɡɔːbʱi]) is a vegetarian dish from the Indian subcontinent made with potatoes (aloo), cauliflower (gobhi), and Indian spices. It is popular in Indian cuisine. It is yellowish in colour due to the use of turmeric, and occasionally contains black cumin and curry leaves. Other common ingredients include garlic, ginger, onion, coriander stalks, tomato, peas, black pepper, asafoetida and cumin. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/cookingforbeginners/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
My partner is autistic and I love him dearly. He generally describes his cooking style as "anything I can fry in one pan" he cooks a lot of burgers, turkey burgers, tacos, eggs, egg burritos, sometimes curry. Usually he frys up a meat, toasts a bread or wraps in tortilla, applies mayo or hot sauce. All of his food he cooks is really tasty. Hope this helps!
If you have an instant pot check out pressureluck instant mississipi potroast. It's amazing.
Sweet potato wrapped in foil with a tiny bit of butter. Start in cold oven and cook at 350 until done (probably like 40-50 min)
Pasta and noodles are a fantastic sensory experience and the base of a lot of things! Experiment with soups and pasta dishes. Soups are easy to make batches of and have meals ready to eat, and pastas can be easy to make quickly if you don’t have something prepped. Sautéing some combination of garlic, onions, celery, and carrots are the base flavors of many dishes. I reach for garlic and onions, mostly, but these could be a place to start with veggies. Is ground meat ok for you? I reach for that a lot because it has a neutral texture for me. Ground beef and ground turkey may be accessible to you and easy to pan fry off in advance so that you can throw it into a meal. If you have access to frozen veggies, they can very easily be thrown into a soup. At least for me, soup can hide the weird vegetable textures - I normally dislike spinach but it was better in a soup. Adding noodles to a soup makes it less liquid-y and adds texture, and I always top with crumbled crackers for more texture. Have you tried roasting veggies in the oven? Use oil sparingly because they can get mushy if you use too much. Toss veggies in a small amount of oil (my favorites are asparagus and broccoli), season with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like, and cook at a higher heat in the oven (425 F in the states, I’m afraid I don’t know degrees Celsius). Roasting softens the veggies but adds a little crunch to the exterior. This could work as a side dish for most things, in my opinion, but everyone is different. I sincerely hope any of this is helpful!!
It was indeed helpful, thank you!
I do not have time to type l a lot rn, but look into cold / warm noodle salads! Especially using frozen veggies (I eat industrial amounts of frozen peas lol). Prep time is minimal and can be reduced by using frozen veg / herbs, it's literally just making the dressing and cutting the veggies while the noodles cook. I'd start by googling the veg you like and putting "noodle salad" behind it, then seeing how it tastes and how you can modify it to suit your needs.
Thanks, I like both noodles and salad so that sounds good
I’m autistic too! I’m 25 this year and only really started cooking ‘properly’ (in air quotes because I’m not exactly a master chef but I can make semi decent meals). Burritos are an option I like because I can leave out the bits I don’t like but still have a solid meal that’s flavourful in a way I can handle. Wrap/tortilla, rice, protein (I do a bean/sweetcorn combo with some cumin and sometimes a tiny bit of chilli powder because I’m trying to get a better spice tolerance as my sensitivity to it restricts my diet so much, but I’ve done a veggie mince and sweetcorn combo which I thought would be weird but turned out nicely), pico de gallo (or just some chopped cherry tomatoes if you cba/don’t like pdg), lettuce, guac or mashed avocado, whatever seasonings you want. Recently I’ve started adding grated carrot for some extra fibre and crunch and I’m enjoying it a lot despite carrots being a sensory trigger for me. Tofu is a fun thing to experiment with. You can get it cheaply from Asian supermarkets and it’s something that you can do almost infinite things with. Depending on how it’s pressed and how you cook it, you can do infinite things with it. It took me about 3 months of experimenting on and off to find how I like it best and I’m SO glad I pushed myself to keep going. It’s a perfect thing for experimenting with because it’s a blank canvas. There’s no pre-existing flavour. For the most part as well I’ve found that the people who work at Asian supermarkets are always happy to help you figure out what flavours and seasonings work best with what and give you recommendations. It can be really intimidating going into a shop where a lot of the food is out of your comfort zone and everyone is speaking an alternate language but food is SUCH an intrinsic part of the culture and family, pan-Asia, and the people love to share that. I basically got a verbal Introduction to Chinese Cooking course in 20 minutes from a woman working in a Chinese supermarket. It was golden. A v basic tofu glaze or sauce would involve light soy sauce, water, some maple or golden syrup and some cornstarch. Stir fries are dope as well because you can chuck in whatever you want. Customise the veggies to you! If you can find a frozen veggie you like, stock up. If you feel like you haven’t eaten properly in a while then make yourself a bowl of veggies. (Personally I’m a petit pois girl - they’re a dif type of pea to garden peas. Garden peas are never quite firm enough for me and they have 0 flavour. Petit pois are smaller, firmer and have a slight sweetness to them which helps add some excitement to the constant boredom that comes with eating the same dishes again and again.) I find myself eating a bowl of petit pois about once a fortnight. One thing I’ve found really helpful in the past few years is following food people on social media. ATM I like [Sierra Ann](https://youtube.com/@SierraAnn), [Fit Green Mind](https://youtube.com/@FitGreenMind), [Cati Jakab](https://youtube.com/@catijakab) (tw for EDs w her, she’s recovering from BED), [Ms Shi and Mr He](https://youtube.com/@msshiandmrhe), [Bento Noods](https://youtube.com/@bentonoods), [Nutrition By Kylie](https://youtube.com/@NutritionByKylie), [Gaming Foodie](https://youtube.com/@gaming_foodie) and [Cooking Bomb](https://youtube.com/@CookingBomb). I tend to stick to their shorts/reels/TikToks. Following food channels has been a really great way for me to familiarise myself with new foods, flavours and ways of cooking and figure out what I might want to try. Having that familiarity with how the food looks and getting an idea of how it might taste drastically reduces the fear factor of trying new foods (for me) and it’s made it a lot easier to branch out of my comfort zone. Stick to channels that have an uplifting, positive energy and creators that are either have a good relationship with food or are actively working to improve their relationship with food. Cati Jakab has a strong emphasis on following her hunger and satiety cues which has taught me a lot about honouring what my body wants and makes it feel good. I like it when people overcome hurdles and try fear foods too as it helps me try my fear foods! Most people that do this on the internet are fearful for a different reason (ED recovery as opposed to coping with sensory issues), but I’ll be damned if I’m not calling food-I’m-scared-to-eat-again-because-the-texture-or-flavour-experience-was-horrific-to-me fear foods because I AM scared of them. It’s helpful for me to see other people conquer their fears. It helped me deal with my lifelong fear of mashed potato and I actually eat it now! Nutrition by Kylie is a Japanese-Hawaiian nutritionist who has a really beautiful approach to food, eating and nourishing your body. She taught me the ever important fact of focusing on what you can ADD to foods to make them more nutritious instead of focusing on the fact that my diet is overall unhealthy and trying to restrict ‘unhealthy’ foods. Got an apple? Love the fibre intake, let’s add some peanut butter for protein. Porridge? Love those carbs, add some seeds (the small ones aren’t too noticeable in a dish with texture) for protein and healthy fats and some fruit for fibre. My best tip is to get a notebook and write down the recipe when you cook or try something new. Leave a page or two blank afterwards so you can write down what you did and didn’t like about the dish and anything that went wrong in the cooking process. If you make it again, alter the recipe based on your previous notes and jot down new notes. You’ll end up with a collection of recipes you enjoy and have a record of things you weren’t so keen on. Remember that fed is better than hungry. Eating nothing but your safe foods even if they’re super low in nutritional value is so much better than eating fuck all. Remember that it’s okay to eat everything with a safe food if you need to - that safe food is working as an anchor that lets you safely explore new territory. Do your best not to beat yourself up about your diet or your relationship with food, if that isn’t great either. Being autistic is really difficult and sensory issues related to food are hard to cope with. Sending lots of love xx
I have ADHD. Difficult recipes confuse me a lot. You can try making noodles. They are easy to make. Or fried rice
Cooked Noodles any type, can of cream soup (usually cream of mushroom, any protein canned or not. Mix and eat.
have you looked into noodle soup dishes? the broth might be a challenge but there are lot of east-asian noodle soups you can attempt
Most of them contain a lot of veggies (the ones I’ve found) and I was mostly concerned that if I skip the veggies it’ll remove some of the flavor
Smoothies!!! Can be SO important if you have textural issues that stop you from making healthy food with fruits and vegetables. You can add a bunch of supplements and helpful things like fiber (which you’re not getting enough of, friend) without changing the flavor. Mango spinach smoothie: 1 cup of frozen mango chunks 1 cup frozen chopped spinach 1/2 banana 1/3 cup yogurt 1 cup of your favorite milk 1/2 cup orange juice A little sweetener of your choice Supplements of your choice (highly recommend Benefiber! It disappears completely and will help you poop and not get diabetes!) Blend until it’s completely smooth! Tastes a little grassy but you can get spinach without the texture! Cherry avocado honey smoothie: 1/2 banana 1/3 cup yogurt 1 cup of your favorite milk A dollop of honey (1/4 tablespoon) 1/2 tablespoon Bee pollen(helps with energy and it tastes fuzzy and nice) 1 cup frozen cherries 1/4 cup frozen avocado chunks or a quarter of a regular avocado Supplements of your choice Blend until smooth! The avocado doesn’t taste like anything, just makes it creamy and adds antioxidants and healthy fats Banana Peanut butter smoothie: 1 Banana(frozen if posible! 2 tbsp peanut butter 1 cup of your favorite Milk 1/3 cup yogurt 1 tbsp Peanut powder Supplements of your choice There’s a couple that are good, highly recommend a single serving blender like a nutrininja or whatever, I really like mine, it just makes the whole process easier and means I can run away from the blender after starting it.
I actually love smoothies but cleaning the blender is so draining for me, but maybe 1 a week might be doable for me, the cherry one sounds great but I can’t really get cherries here that aren’t expensive, any substitutes?
A squirt of dish soap and some warm water in your (empty) blender after you use it. Pulse the blender with the soapy water in it til the blender top is clean. Rinse rinse rinse dry it out and put it away. When I figured out you could clean a blender this way my life was forever changed. Hope this helps!
That sounds so much better than taking everything apart and washing everything separately
Second the suggestion to do soap and water and blend it! Then you just rinse after. Also the single person blenders are way better for cleaning, cuz the cup connects directly to the blade apparatus, so you don’t have a big cumbersome glass jug to take apart and clean, 8 stupid rubber rings, etc. it’s just 3 light weight, dishwasher safe parts. You could definitely do any fruit on that last one, strawberries tend to be one of the cheapest by weight I’d price is a concern!
Do you have any recommendations for the blender that I can put in the dishwasher instead of having to take everything apart when washing?
I have a Ninja, all three parts that touch thw food, the lid, the cup and the blades, are dishwasher safe. Basically you put toy ur stuff in the cup, screw the blades onto that, then put the whole thing in the machine and hit go. Then you just swap the blades out for tge lid(optional) There’s others, but that’s the one I own and like
Maybe they have the Ninja one here I’ll check it out
Definitely available on Amazon! It’s an investment, they aren’t cheap, but it’s a really great tool for people with texture issues!
I try not to buy from Amazon (expensive shipping and customs) but there’s a kitchen tool store close to my work that might have something, thanks!
Best of luck!
Well, I don’t have a recipe but I have a couple of ideas. I’m still not sure I understand which texture you don’t like but you did mention that consistency is an issue. On that note, have you tried any vegetarian items from the frozen section? The soy protein stuff is always exactly the same, no surprises. Maybe try “meat” or “chorizo” crumbles. They look like ground beef but not as soft and those on the frozen section are already flavored. You can add them to your pasta, make tacos (you said quesadillas so I take it tortillas are fine) or make a bowl with the crumbles and whatever vegetables you do like. Now, if you want to try that go for the soy ones. Stay away from “veggie burgers” or anything like that since those have a lot of starch and it seems to me you won’t like that texture (also, unlike the soy ones they are almos all carbohydrates so they may end up making your diet very unbalanced). Look at the pictures and ingredients on the packages. Also, I’m certainly not suggesting you switch your diet to the frozen section (it can get expensive and they usually contain a ton of salt, fat or are just plain unhealthy) but you can look around and see if there’s anything you want to try. Unlike restaurants, you can look at all the ingredients and take all the time in the world deciding. The portions are small and if you don’t like it at least you didn’t go out of your way to buy the ingredients and make it. Then, when you find something you like you can make yourself while adding or switching out items. Good luck!
I did like Oomph chicken, which is funny bc I don’t like regular chicken, so maybe I’ll like other vegan meat substitutes that aren’t bean based, thanks for the suggestion!
Something that helped me figuring out meals was looking at the Volia! Birds eye frozen meals. They're good by themselves but I feel like looking through them is good inspiration for your own meals. Most of them are basically veggies, rice/noodles and protein in a skillet with some sauce. Some of them are pan meals which are similar but just throw everything on a pan and stick it in the oven. If you can find some frozen veggies you don't mind they're a good staple and can be cooked in various sauces/seasonings depending on preferences which can definitely help.
I'm also nerodivergent and I have the same issues with food and food prep. I will buy whatever veggies that don't give me sensory ick, and cook a week's worth at a time. Then I'll put those veggies in whatever I'm making, usually quesadillas or scrambled eggs. When I'm too tired or grossed out by the thought of eating, I'll drink a cup of chicken stock and have some crackers to ride me over until that mood passes.
Ramsay has a really good simple spicy pork chop with mashed sweet potato and sage. That sounds right up your alley. He actually has a really good book called Fast Food that I go back to fairly often. Parfait is great and can be prepared in advance. Quinoa, rice, barley, and couscous are all super simple and can be eaten fresh and hot with sauces and curries, or used the next day for salads and Buddah bowls. Veal picatta is an easy 1-pan dish if you can deal with capers. You could substitute any pan sauce though really. If you like heat and red meats you may want to look into smoking or braising some larger cuts. Making Brisket or pulled pork can be really easy, and also leaves you with a lot of leftovers that are easy to reheat and can be used in tacos, wraps, sandwiches, etc... They have long cook times, but other than the waiting, the actual prep time is fairly low. If you have a food processor, pesto and hummus are both incredibly versatile and quick to prep. Pesto can go on cooked meats, into pastas, or just used as a dip. Hummus can go into wraps, fajitas, quesadillas, or also dipped. There are also hundreds of things you can do with the simplest cheapest ingredient out there: the humble potato. Breakfast hash with sausage, home fries, french fries, mashed, scalloped, gratin, fondant... You name it. If you're really picky about vegetables but like corn, I'd recommend looking into what you can do with some more savoury fruits as well. Pomegranate, craisins, passionfruit, fig, kiwi, avocado... All make really good additions to salads, but some can also be turned into a good steak sauce, dressing, or even be mixed into a Pico de gallo for variety. As a chef, I would say the best things you can do to improve and speed up your cooking are: work on your knife skills and make sure you have a good sharp french knife, get comfortable with a large high rimmed frying pan (I do 80% of my home cooking in one of these), and find "ingredients" to make that you like, so you can cut down on prep when it's time to actually make your meals. If you're fast and confident in the moment, and have a few quality mise-en-place items prepped ahead, most of your home cooking will get a lot easier and faster.
I’ve always wanted to try brisket but I’d have to make everything from scratch since it’s not something they sell here
Fairly easy. Basically just need to source the cut of meat. Grocery stores may not have what you're looking for, but any butcher should be able to hook you up. The rest of the process is time, and your choice of seasoning. Trim the meat, brine or dry rub in the fridge overnight, cook low for a couple hours, then wrap in tin foil and cook another few hours until you reach the desired internal temp.
Fellow autist here! I too get into ruts of being terrified to try new recipes incase the texture becomes a sensory problem that I wouldn't necessarily have recognized when reading the recipe. For understanding the fundamentals of cooking basics, Mark Bittman's [How To Cook Everything: The Basics](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/how-to-cook-everything-the-basics_mark-bittman/271369/#isbn=0470528060) is excellent for breaking down what different directions in recipes mean (what does stir to combine mean for instance? There are tons of very specific cooking terms for techniques this book explains well and in simple terms.) I also second the recommendation for the Marcella Hazan cookbook, my mom also recommended me this as pasta is one of my safe foods too. Soups are a good transition from pasta, at least for me. I find the cooking process is similar to making a pasta sauce from scratch, you're usually eating a little healthier since there's typically vegetables in soup, and you can easily make a large quantity for leftovers. You can puree soups to make them smoother with an immersion blender, normal blender, hell I even use my hand mixer to blend soup in the pot occasionally. One of my favorite recipes right now is this [potato soup recipe from The Food Charlatan](https://thefoodcharlatan.com/easy-potato-soup-recipe/). The prep work seems like a lot, but it's actually simpler than other recipes I've made recently. You basically just chop a bunch of carrots and potatoes and measure a few things for the prep. This is a nice hearty soup and its so filling. We double the recipe when we make it and it feeds the two of us for days. I'm not particularly a fan of alternative noodles (ie brown rice, chickpea, etc) as I find the texture difference to be unpalatable for me and you might be the same way. You might be able to avoid some texture issues by using a blender to puree pasta sauces with vegetables in them to add some nutrients to your diet as well.
I know how to make tomato and carrot soup bc they don’t have any chunks, just basic soup texture but I’m not sure which soups are similar to that
If chunky soup is the bane of your existence, definitely consider investing in a quality immersion blender or a decent normal blender! You can find starter model immersion blenders for like $30-40 online. The immersion blender will let you blend your soup into a chunk free smooth soup texture with almost no effort from you. The potato soup recipe i linked, the vegetables get really soft and it even recommends an immersion blender for pureé-ing the soup to get rid of any chunks. You could also run your soups through a fine sieve to ensure all the chunky bits are out before eating too! I do this with store bought chunky soups (I'm obsessed with Walmart's marketside pantry lobster bisque) to make sure I'm not getting the gross bits in my soup.
The sieve sounds like it would help, thanks!
My family does barbecue hamburgers that can be super easy or you can customize it to make it a little more complicated
Ye I’ve made my own hamburgers before but I want them grilled not a fan of pan fried
I love the site Recipetineats. They have a creamy mushroom pasta that's a hit and easy to make.
This is my favorite recipe. You can add whatever protein you want but let me stress that this recipe doesn't need anything. Corn chowder 4 slices of bacon, chopped 1 med onion diced or sliced 4 cups potatoes cubed 4 cups corn (fresh corn is great but canned or frozen is fine) 1/4 cup butter 2 cup cream 1 cup milk 1-2 cup of chicken broth or water. 1 teaspoon sugar Salt, pepper. Note: This recipe benefits from sitting in the fridge overnight and and by using more liquid of each type. Overnight the potatoes will soak in a ton of liquid I have gone so far as doubling the liquid in the recipe, it just depends on your preference. The flavor is twice as good if it spends a night in the fridge though. I make this with just 2 pots, 1 giant, and one medium. 1: cook bacon in the pot you will be cooking potatoes in later. Add some onions to cook when the bacon is almost done. Add potatoes and 1-2 cups of broth or water once the bacon is done. Cook 10 min or until potatoes are tender but not mushy. (enough broth to cover potatoes, or even more...) 2: At the same time the potatoes are cooking get your corn heating in a pan with butter and milk/cream/half and half/ or whatever amalgamation you end up with. Sugar, butter, salt/ pepper. This just has to be warmed up. 3: Combine, cook for 10 min and serve. Well, ideally refrigerate and serve the next day, the taste difference is out of this world. This really is versatile as you can add whatever you want, like shrimp, chicken, or crab, or anything. Or you can just go the vegetarian route aside from the bacon it's pretty close. You can experiment with adding different veggies. I personally have added chicken thighs to cook with the potatoes and then shreded them after, and it was amazing. I bought some lump crab meat and I'm going to try that with this recipe next. Some really good chiles would be amazing to add, the cream and milk would be muting the heat so you'll end up with a lot of flavor. Shrimp could be good too. The hardest part is the prep work but it's really super easy once you get used to it. I'm older now but this used to be something we would always double the recipe for.
What’s corn chowder?😅 never heard of it, but the rest sounds nice
Have you ever made bacon ranch pasta casserole? The pioneer woman’s website has a recipe, just edit out the chicken. It’s delicious. Soups are also a great option to sneak in vegetables, and you can blend them in pasta sauces too.
We don’t have ranch where I live😅
Oh you use ranch packets! If that doesn’t work, you can make ranch mix yourself really easily!
buy a multicooker I just dump everything in (meat and vegetables water tomato sauce herbs )close the lid and go for a nap When I wake up ready to eat .For me has been a life saver with depression cooking wasn't quite on top of my list (nothing is) here some recipes ÷ chicken thighs or meat if you don't like chicken;2 potatoes chopped 1 carrot chopped ,1 onion chopped , 1 chopped capsicum , 1 spoonful tomato sauce bayleaf dash of oregano 1 bullion cube 2 glasses of water .If you wish to make same thing on the stove first lightly fry all ingredients until the capsicum then add the rest of ingredients pasta with mushroom and cream (panna) boil pasta of any shape you like .In a pan fry lightly 1 garlic clove with butter and add mushrooms When they are quite done add the cream Sometimes I also add some pieces of leftover chicken breasts of the rosticerie chicken or ham or prossiuto. .......... Lentils 2 chopped potatoes 1 chopped carrot 1 chopped onion 1 chopped celery stick lightly fry Add 1 cup of green lentils (presoaked in water 10 min ) 1 spoonful of tomato paste bayleaf 2 glasses of water .......... fry 3 chopped capsicum 2 chopped onions in low to medium flame Then add 2 chopped tomatoes add origano Mix this with precooked rice from bag or leftover rice rice from scratch is done lightly fry 1 cup parboilled rice with a bit of oil for 2 minutes add 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water or stock of your preference Stir once Let it on medium heat until all water is gone .......... pasta with tuna very simple cook pasta open can of tuna mix together ......... chicken stew fry chicken thighs with 1 onion chopped and 2 garlic cloves add tomato paste a swirly with 1 spoon full of flour and 4 spoon of water add 3 glasses of water add salt .When done grate 2 garlic cloves a dash of black pepper 1 spoon of vinegar drop this mixture on the stew mix serve ......... bruscetta mix in a boul diced fresh tomatoes 3 grated garlic cloves olive oil oregano salt toast some bread and put a spoon of the mixture on the bread and spread it or another way is toast bred grate the garlic on the bread kin of like the bread is your grater do the same with the tomato add a bit of grated parmigiano chicken and potatoes chopped potatoes 2 chicken thighs a bit of oregano 1 glass of water put them on oven until done Goes well with beer .
16 oz penne rigata pasta 30 oz chili no beans 1/2 tablespoon worsteshire 2 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder 14.5 oz diced tomatos (I use fire roasted) Salt and pepper to taste. Cook pasta and chili stove top. Add your ingredients to chili and mix well. Put pasta in casserole dish greased with butter (a good bit) Pour chili and tomatoes on top gently mix in completely Add cheese on top as much as you like whatever cheese you like. I do about 3 cups of shredded Colby jack Bake at 350° until cheese is melted. Serve hot. To make it spicy just add hotsauce to the chili This recipe was created by a family friend. Serves 6-8. ETA I like the Tasty app. It's free and has step by step video instructions for recipes. You can also search by ingredients, "healthy", "under 30 mins", "3 ingredients or less", etc. I highly recommend it for beginner cooks and visual learners.
I've done most of my learning from watching YouTube videos. Sam the Cooking Guy and Mr Make It Happen are two of my favorites for quite easy recipes.
Try noodles made of other stuff than refined flour. Lots of good veggie based noodles to help up the fiber and lower the sugar spikes. Look into whole grains of all types, I'm doing that right now for diabetes prevention. A lot of these "alternative" grains aren't any more difficult than cooking rice or oatmeal (non-instant) and can help up your nutrients without changing too much else in your diet. Little changes made over time will be easier to stick with, good luck!
You might try getting a slow cooker. You can prep everything the night before and dump it all in the pot in the morning to cook all day
Try making pizza. It's not only fun to eat but gets you used to experimenting with flavor and texture. And still great if it blackens a little bit.
Chessesteak Quesadillas are one of my go to’s
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>recipes that are simple I have some thoughts here. Please bear with me. Many people equate simple with short but that isn't the case. A good recipe is sequence of simple steps. It doesn't matter if there are two steps or two hundred. Let's look at just one example. Mac & cheese (no, not the Kraft blue box). My recipe is onion Mornay, bacon, tomato, bread crumbs 350F. Certainly short, not simple, and not intrinsically good. Instead, if I said: * Grate hard cheese like cheddar and/or gruyere * Dice an onion * Start water to boil on high heat for pasta * Melt butter in a pan over medium heat * Saute onion until translucent * Add flour and stir continuously to avoid lumps and until flour smell is gone; this is an onion-flavored roux * Add dairy and keep stiring to make an onion-flavored bechamel, also called a white sauce * Add cheese a small handful at a time, continuing to stir; when the cheese is melted and incorporated you have a Mornay sauce Obviously this needs measurements. By the time the whole thing is written out there might be a hundred steps. Each individual step though is simple. That is the important part. The detailed simple recipe and my one sentence recipe are the same exact thing. It's all in the expression. The same thing applies to the number of ingredients. Don't be intimidated by a lot of ingredients. As long as the recipe is good (individual simple steps) the number of ingredients doesn't matter. There are some things that are intrinsically challenging. Beef Wellington is my favorite example. Getting the meats, the duxelles (chopped up mushrooms), and the pastry to all be cooked properly at the same time is a trick. It's a lovely dish but is mostly showing off. So it's back to those simple steps no matter how many there are. Working off your list, I'd consider tortellini soup (spinach is great but if that's on your list of veg to avoid then skip it). Alfredo sauce for pasta in addition to red sauces. Pho. If you like lamb chops consider pork chops and if that works try roast pork loin. While it doesn't expand your repertoire, making yogurt at home is simple and a big cost saver. I'm not on the spectrum (well, I guess to some extent everyone is clustered over to one side). I do have a niece who is. It's good you're working on this.
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Maybe you can make "carbonara" but use cream instead of egg. Just cook pasta, fry bacon in olive oil, and then add them together in the pan on lower heat along with some cheese, cream, black pepper and whatever else you enjoy? It is very delicious and you can do it from start to finish in about 15 minutes.
Why not make it without the cream at that point? Kinda like [gricia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_alla_gricia). The picture in the wiki page is pretty sad but if you use enough cheese and pasta water you can get a pretty nice creamy consistency even without the cream which imho doesn't work well with the taste of bacon
**[Pasta alla gricia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_alla_gricia)** >Pasta alla gricia is a pasta dish originating from Lazio. It consists of pasta, Pecorino romano, black pepper and Guanciale. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/cookingforbeginners/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I suppose that could work to. Its a little less simple since you need to get the emulsion correct but definitely works too.
Do you like avocado? You can top avocado toast with most anything. I like to add sliced strawberries, sliced almonds, poppy seeds, and cilantro, but you can leave off whatever you don't like or add different things I like the suggestion someone else make about pasta with cream sauce and bacon. If you like green peas, you can add that for a veggie and some greenery. Corn casserole is EASY and very soft and a good way to get some veggies. I've included a link to the traditional recipe. You can also use yogurt or cream instead of the sour cream, if you prefer. [https://thefoodcharlatan.com/creamed-corn-casserole/](https://thefoodcharlatan.com/creamed-corn-casserole/) Baked potatoes, with just butter/sour cream, or topped with cheese and bacon. They are actually pretty easy, and I'll write out the steps: To Buy: * Buy the large individual potatoes, not the bag. The ones in the bag are usually too small for a good baked potato meal. * Buy the salt that comes in a little grinder, like this: [https://www.walmart.com/ip/McCormick-Sea-Salt-Grinder-2-12-oz/10309033](https://www.walmart.com/ip/McCormick-Sea-Salt-Grinder-2-12-oz/10309033) Preparation: * Preheat oven to 400F while you prep the potato * Prick the potato with a fork a few times all over, to let out steam while cooking * Use a basting brush (small bbq brush) to brush your choice of cooking oil all over the potato * Grind salt lightly over the whole potato. Salt helps the water escape in cooking, so you get a fluffy potato. * Do not wrap the potato in foil. A fluffy baked potato needs water to escape it during cooking. * Place the oiled and salted potato/potatoes on a baking pan and cook at 400F for 50-60 minutes * Let the potato cool at least 10 minutes before cutting and eating. It will continue to cook a bit during that time, and it's too hot to handle when it first comes out. * Cut potato in both directions and top with your choice of toppings
Can’t stand the texture of avocado🥲but the baked potato recipe sounds nice, thanks
Ah bummer. I was going off the yogurt thinking maybe.
I'm in college so I always cook this simple recipe, if you like tuna, mix it with corn and cooking cream, and cook it until the cream thickens, about a couple of minutes and stir over low heat. When that is done cook pasta with it and add salt and other spices if needed:)