In the series "so that's an autism thing too": difficulties in cooking. I have hard time coming up with the shopping list outside of the routine things which I always check against a list on my phone. It's especially difficult to plan what particular dishes should be cooked in the following days.
Once I got hang of cooking -- which happened after I had turned 30, almost 35 -- I learned to like cooking when there's no rush and the recipe is clear. I even can improvise, albeit on quite restricted range. However, when my spouse isn't around, I default to microwaving things or eating frozen pizzas.
@LehtoriTuomo
Same for me. We also keep a list of meals around. Planning ahead is hard though, because some days I just lack the energy after work, so a small set of simple meals works better.
What has helped enormously is having a rice cooker and pre-cut veggies in the freezer. It helps me to default to a decent meal for everyone during the work week. Add some safe-for-everyone protein (which on most days is smoked fish), and we're good. @actuallyautistic
The cooking method I've come up with over the years so as to provide reasonably good nutrition and save money is to learn to cook meals that can be done in batches. Sometimes one batch is a meal in itself, sometimes there might be two or three different batches that get heated up in a microwave to provide a meal.
Sometimes I enjoy cooking and trying out ideas to combine flavors. Sometimes when low spoons it's more that I just want do things I feel I know
My mum created a standard pantry/fridge list & a set of recipes for when she & dad went on their overseas trip when I was 16, years ago. (Nan came to stay, but us kids had to help out. Reckon mum was AuADHD like me.)
When I was a single mum/part-time student/part time retail worker, I used to plan the week’s menus & a shopping list on a Sunday. It was the only way I could cope. Certain meals were cooked often. The planning was the hardest part. Kids were each supposed to cook once a week when they got older. Tuna casserole & sausages, mash & peas were frequently served up.
My partner can walk into the kitchen at 6 with no idea what he’s going to cook, look at what’s in the fridge, & have a lovely meal cooked in 30-45 mins. Simpler meals more quickly. I’m envious but appreciative.
@LehtoriTuomo@actuallyautistic We've been struggling with similar things in our household. We started making a list of dishes for inspo, which helps with deciding& planning of groceries.
I also go for easy meals when I am alone as it simply saves bandwidth. The expectation that we need "proper dinner" sometimes leads me to masking that I'd be perfectly fine with alternative food. Some days I could be content eating 1 kg of strawberries for dinner but it feels unacceptable in company.
I likewise have a hard time coming up with dishes outside a restricted set in my head. I don't find it difficult to plan meals in general, but I do find it difficult to add variety to my diet. We wind up rotating through a list of 20 or so dishes.
I've also come to enjoy cooking in very much the same way as you - when I'm not tired, not feeling rushed, and have a clear plan.
I can't just look in the fridge and come up with a dish on the spot from what I have.
Also can totally relate to default behaviours when my wife isn't around. For me, I fall back on comfort foods that are also low effort: chicken fingers and plain pasta, mostly.
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