Living with a chronic illness has forced me to become creative and strategic with how I use my time and energy each day (especially during the holiday season.) With four kids, cooking is something I cannot entirely avoid (although I wouldn’t mind if I had a personal chef;). I am always on the lookout for kitchen hacks that make cooking easier with chronic illness.
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✅ Everyday kitchen hacks that will make your life easier
🎁 1. When you want to juice a lemon, put it in the microwave for 15 seconds. It will be super easy to squeeze and get more juice out of the lemon.
🎁 2. When you are boiling eggs, put salt in the water because it makes it easier to peel the eggs after they are cooked.
🎁 3. Buy pre-chopped foods like onions and bell peppers from either the produce section or from the frozen food section. This not only saves you
🎁 4. You can now buy prepped vegetables already cut and peeled in the fresh produce section of most major grocery stores.
🎁 5. I line all of the pans I use when cooking with aluminum foil super easy and simple cleanup.
🎁 6. Use disposable dishes. Sometimes it is more important to “save yourself” than “save the planet.”
🎁 7. Every kitchen should have an automatic can opener. This kitchen tool is a must if you have hands affected by arthritis.
🎁 8. Use crockpots or Instant Pots for cooking meals.
🎁 9. Put a damp cloth or paper towel under your cutting board to prevent it from slipping when in use.
🎁 10. Use a straw to core strawberries.
🎁 11. A Kitchen Aid mixer makes it a snap to shred chicken quickly.
🎁 12. To warm up a piece of leftover garlic bread, biscuit, or other baked goods, wrap it in a damp paper towel and microwave for 10-15 seconds.
🎁 13. Easily remove the annoying silk fibers from a corn husk by microwaving it, cut off the bottom, wrap a towel around husk and gently pull husk (and silk) off of the corn.
🎁 14. Microwave fresh herbs for 2 minutes to “dry” them.
🎁 15. Coat measuring cups with a vegetable spray or oil to make sure all of the
🎁 16. Spray Pam on a cheese grater before grating the cheese so it doesn’t stick.
🎁 17. Wrap aluminum foil around the stems of bananas to keep them fresher longer. (Also, don’t store bananas right next to apples as it makes them ripen quicker.)
🎁 18. Store natural butter upside down (like almond, peanut, etc.) to keep it from separating while sitting in the pantry.
🎁 19. When making hamburger patties, make a hole in the center so that the burger cooks evenly.
🎁 20. Store greens in the fridge with a paper towel. The paper towel absorbs extra moisture and increases the shelf-life.
🎁 21. Keep raw peeled potatoes white by putting in a bowl of ice water. I use this when making French fries where I prep them beforehand for cooking.
🎁 22. To keep brown sugar from hardening add a few marshmallows to it.
🎁 23. Peel sweet potatoes (and regular ones) the easy way. Boil them with the skin on, then run cold water over them when done. The peelings will fall right off.
🎁 24. When you are roasting vegetables or potatoes eliminate the need to turn over half-way through cooking by preheating the cookie sheet.
🎁 25. Put a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water. Since wood is not a good conductor of heat the water stays away from the spoon and doesn’t boil over.
🎁 26. Use an empty ketchup bottle to pour pancake batter into and squeeze on to the griddle.
🎁 27. Cut a watermelon this way.
🎁 28. Use slow-cooker liners to make cleanup easy. Super genius kitchen product!
🎁 29. When you first get home from the grocery store, take apart a pack of chicken breasts, season them individually, and freeze separately so you just have to pull out how many you need to cook at a time. Did you know that you can cook meat from the frozen state right in an Instant Pot?
🎁 30. If you need to get a piece of eggshell out of your mixture, just wet your finger and when you touch the shard it will automatically stick to your finger!
Unfortunately, most of us can’t afford a personal chef. So, you have to be smart about the time you spend cooking in the kitchen. If chronic fatigue is a big part of your life, then these tips for everyday cooking will be a game-changer for you.
With the chronic pain I feel in my lower back, standing in front of the stove is nearly impossible for more than a few minutes. And even though I try to do as much meal prep as I can while sitting, cooking still requires quite a bit of movement and standing. I literally have these kitchen hacks that make cooking easier with a chronic illness memorized!
Read more everyday life tips . . .
- Daily Tips for Managing Life with Chronic Pain
- 17 Marvelously Useful Kitchen Gadgets That Will Make Your Life Easier
- How to Keep Medications Straight When You Live with a Chronic Illness
- 15 Seriously Genius Chronic IllnessCleaning Hacks
- How to Make Grocery Shopping Easier When You Have a Chronic Illness
P.S. Would you do me a favor and pin 30 Chronic Illness Kitchen Hacks That Make Cooking Easier? I really appreciate it!
