5 Ways To Make Cooking With Arthritis Easier

Hello and happy Wednesday! While there is no specific diet that can help with your symptoms of arthritis, a healthy and balanced diet is important for everyone.

A healthy diet will ensure you are getting the vitamins and nutrients your body needs which can help with medication side effects, keeping your heart and blood healthy (which can be affected by complications of some forms of arthritis) and keeping you at a healthy weight (being overweight can put further strain on your joints). I and I am sure many others also really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and foods!

Over the years I have come up with a variety of hacks that make cooking easier and today I am sharing my top 5 tips that will mean you don’t have to always rely on others or ready meals.

1 – Ready prepped foods

While sometimes a little more expensive, I rely a lot on ready prepped fruit and vegetables and things like bags of pre-grated cheese. I often find chopping and grating quite difficult and this eliminates all that for me, which is a huge help.

2 – A steamer

Aside from much preferring the taste of steamed veggies, this is another helpful hack. A pan of boiling water can be very heavy so I struggle to lift it and drain the cooked veg/rice. So I use the steamer to cook these things and it is so much easier – and tastier!

3 – Adapted gadgets

There are more and more handy gadgets around nowadays to help you in all areas of your life, including in the kitchen. I have always used an electric tin opener as I really struggle to open tinned foods with a manual one. I also have a silicone jar opener, a mini chopper that I can use to chop onions and herbs up for coking and my vegetable peeler is like the one below as I find this style easier to use than the alternative.

4 – Leftovers

I am often only cooking for myself and invariably make far too much, but I don’t like waste! I always box up my leftovers and pop them in the freezer. These are perfect for days that I don’t feel like cooking and means I still get a tasty, home cooked meal.

5 – Perching stool

Perching stools are great for a number of things. I normally keep mine in the bathroom as I can use it when I am brushing my teeth and washing my face in there. They are also really good for when you are ironing, washing up or cooking and need to have a rest from standing for too long. The stool is slightly tipped forward making the things you are doing easier, and they are higher than a normal chair so you are at a better level for cooking, ironing or other jobs.

I hope these hacks are helpful and I would love to know if you give any a try. I’d also love to hear your hacks, pop them in the comments below and I might make a follow up to this post with some more helpful hints from the readers!

I hope you are all well, take care,