Revolutionize Your Cooking Philosophy: That's the way to teach your child with additional needs how to?cook

Many of us dream that one day our child with additional needs will prepare all their own meals. But when it comes to the practicalities of teaching them to do that, we can end up choosing the wrong options to get them there.

What do I mean by this? Well, we often stick to traditional methods of cooking, using the oven and stovetop with a few minor adjustments. Why? When we know this way isn’t particularly safe, not very easy, and the results are variable, to say the least.

Given all this, I believe it’s time to change the way we cook, making the cooking methods work for our children not the other way around

Philosophy

Let’s embrace a new philosophy, one that takes advantage of technology while sticking to our number one priority: safety. Let’s simplify the process because cooking can be simple if we design it to be so. And let’s turn cooking into a system, one tailored to them so they become confident in the kitchen.

The guiding principles of this new philosophy: Safe, Simple, System.

Safe

The biggest dangers in the kitchen are hot ovens, boiling liquids, and sharp knives. So let’s get rid of them.

Instead of an oven, use an air fryer. While it’s still a hot appliance, it’s smaller and easier to handle. Some might argue you can’t cook everything in an air fryer, and I agree. If something can’t be cooked, don’t cook it! The goal is not to become a gourmet chef, but for our children to be able to cook enough meals to feed themselves. That is success!

Slow cookers (especially small 2-liter or 1-quart models) are great. While they can’t replace a saucepan on the stove, they can cook many meals just as well. And for dishes that can’t be made in a slow cooker? Eat them when you eat out, and cook something else at home instead.

If we spend enough time in the kitchen, one day we’ll cut ourselves with a sharp knife. But if we don’t want to cut ourselves, we don’t use a sharp knife. There are alternatives: readymade sauces, pre-chopped frozen vegetables, and pre-diced meats.

Simple

To make cooking easier, let’s stick to a few basic utensils, limit heat settings, and use no more than five ingredients in each recipe.

It’s easy to accumulate a mountain of gadgets in the kitchen, and each one requires learning and practice. Instead, stick to a few essential tools and use them constantly. For instance, always use the same ladle to serve from the slow cooker or the same tongs and a spatula with the air fryer. Use measuring cups instead of weighing out ingredients.

When it comes to cooking temperatures, stick to just two heat settings: high and low. Whether using the air fryer (400°F/200°C for high, 320°F/160°C for low) or the slow cooker (just “low”), reducing the number of heat settings simplifies cooking by getting rid of unnecessary variables. Less complexity means fewer chances for mistakes, which means better-tasting food.

Let’s keep the ingredient list to 5 ingredients only. That’s enough to make delicious and nutritious meals. Fewer ingredients mean it’s easier to stay focused. Using readymade sauces, pre-chopped frozen vegetables, and pre-diced meats helps with this too.

System

For success, we need a system?—?a repeatable process that makes cooking feel manageable and becomes an easy-to-repeat habit.

When cooking follows a predictable method, it’s easier to remember. For example, in the air fryer my daughter cooks chicken the same way as she cooks fish. The only difference is the cooking time, but the process remains the same. Once she’s learned one method, she can apply it to a variety of dishes.

Most of us can only remember a few recipes so we go back to a cookbook or look online for recipes. Recipes are usually in a written format with some images of what we should end up with. This is not always accessible for our children so having visual recipe cards is key. These cards should show the entire cooking process, from what equipment to get ready and what ingredients are needed to prompts for personal hygiene and cleaning up after cooking. The goal is complete kitchen independence.

Like any new skill, in the beginning, the food might not turn out perfect. But that’s okay. It’s about learning from our mistakes, and then with time skills build and confidence grows. The key is to guide them at first, give support as needed, and then step back as they do more independently.

Why This Philosophy Works

The foundation of this philosophy is safety. By limiting appliances and avoiding sharp knives, we create a safer method of cooking.

Making cooking simple increases the likelihood of success. Fewer variables mean increased focus on all the things that need to be done.

And having a system helps reinforce the process. When in doubt, your child can fall back on a familiar method, whatever they are cooking.

I know from experience this approach works. My daughter cooks for herself 3 or 4 times each week and often she cooks without referring to a recipe. In fact, when we were filming the course Independent Cooking Made Easy, she sometimes went quicker than I wanted for demonstration purposes, because following this cooking philosophy has become second nature to her.

This course sets out everything you need to do to support anyone who finds cooking with traditional methods a challenge and turn them into someone who can cook their meals independently. The videos in the program feature my daughter showing how to make each meal so your child can picture themselves doing the same thing. The 16 visual recipe cards are pictorial reminders so they can see all the steps to follow.

The biggest satisfaction in going through this process, for me, has been watching my daughter’s independence grow. She thinks of herself as someone who can cook and has taken ownership of her cookbook, which is made up of the visual recipe cards. The confidence she now has in the kitchen is great to watch. So if you would like to get someone you know cooking independently, sign up for Independent Cooking Made Easy.

?About Graham Caldow

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One of the things I want for my daughter is to be safe, secure, and live a fulfilling life. Part of this is her living independently with as little assistance as possible, having community and purpose in her day, and being financial security.

?With my daughter we’ve created a cooking program called Independent Cooking Made Easy. It’s a Safe, Simple, System that shows you how to teach someone with additional needs how to cook for themselves without supervision or support.

?As the father of a daughter with additional needs, I understand how the journey can be tough, frustrating, and lonely the journey can be. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a future where our children are secure, have self-dignity, have purpose in their lives, and have a community around them. From my experiences, I’ve written a book,?What’s Possible? Plan a better future for your young adult with additional needs.?

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Based on this book and other personal experiences I speak to parents at school workshops about the transition from full time education to whatever’s next in their young person’s life, and some of the things I wished I’d known back then and what I would’ve done differently. If this is something your organisation might be interested in, please DM me.

One of my other roles is as the Production Manager of The Red Giraffe Solutions/Expanding Worlds Podcast.

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