Cooking is often treated as a basic everyday task — something people are simply expected to manage. But when you’re disabled, chronically ill or neurodivergent, cooking can quickly become exhausting, painful, frustrating or even unsafe.
In this episode of 3Spoonies, we talk honestly about the realities of cooking while disabled, from fatigue and mobility issues to sensory overwhelm, memory problems and adapting kitchens to work with your body rather than against it.
The conversation is packed with practical tips, accessible cooking ideas and an important reminder: making things easier for yourself is not “cheating”.
Cooking Takes More Energy Than People Realise
One of the biggest themes throughout the episode is energy.
Cooking isn’t just the act of preparing food. It’s:
- planning meals
- shopping
- carrying groceries
- standing
- chopping
- lifting pans
- timing everything correctly
- cleaning up afterwards
- and remembering what you’re doing in the middle of it all
When you’re dealing with chronic pain, fatigue or mobility issues, those tasks quickly add up.
Claire talks about how even making something relatively simple like a Bolognese can become overwhelming because of the amount of prep involved and the physical effort needed to lift pans and drain hot water safely.
Jo also shares how hand spasms make knives and boiling water dangerous, turning ordinary kitchen tasks into genuine safety risks.
Why Batch Cooking Can Be a Lifesaver
Karen explains how breaking cooking into smaller stages makes a huge difference.
Instead of trying to do everything at once, she preps and freezes food ahead of time so future meals require less energy.
Christmas dinner is a perfect example. Rather than attempting a full meal in one exhausting day, vegetables were prepared weeks in advance, labelled with cooking instructions and frozen.
The result? Less stress, less fatigue and more time actually enjoying the day.
The episode repeatedly comes back to this idea:
making life easier for your future self is a form of self-care.
Slow Cookers, Air Fryers and Adaptive Kitchen Tools
The conversation also explores the kitchen appliances that genuinely help.
Slow cookers, rice cookers and air fryers come up repeatedly because they:
- reduce standing time
- lower the risk of forgetting food
- require less active cooking
- and simplify energy management
Air fryers in particular were praised for accessibility because many models:
- sit at counter height
- automatically turn off
- reduce bending
- and include timers that prevent food being forgotten
The group also discusses smaller adaptations that make kitchens safer, including:
- silicone oven tools
- chopping board grips
- protective gloves for knife safety
- pre-cut ingredients
- foam handles for better grip
- and kitchen seating options
Pre-Chopped and Frozen Food Is NOT “Cheating”
One of the strongest points made in the episode is that convenience food is not a moral failure.
Pre-cut vegetables, frozen ingredients and prepared foods can remove barriers that would otherwise stop someone from eating properly altogether.
Karen explains how difficult vegetables like butternut squash became realistic to use again once she stopped insisting on preparing everything from scratch.
Claire shares how frozen vegetables now help her cook meals she otherwise wouldn’t have the energy to make.
And honestly? That matters more than whether something was hand-chopped.
When Cleaning Is Harder Than Cooking
A surprisingly relatable part of the conversation focused on cleaning.
Many kitchen gadgets seem helpful in theory but become unusable because they are difficult to wash, too heavy or awkward to maintain.
Several examples come up throughout the episode:
- smoothie bottles with impossible-to-clean straws
- complicated coffee machines
- toastie makers that trap food
- protein shakers that never feel clean
- and bulky slow cooker pots that are difficult to lift safely
The discussion highlights something often ignored in accessibility conversations:
a tool isn’t truly accessible if maintaining it creates another barrier.
Sensory Issues and Cooking
Cooking can also create sensory overload.
Noise, heat, steam, smells, textures and visual clutter can all make kitchens overwhelming, especially for neurodivergent people.
Jo explains how noisy kitchen appliances became difficult to tolerate, even when they technically made cooking easier.
Texture issues also come up repeatedly throughout the episode, especially around certain foods becoming physically impossible to eat on bad days.
The group discusses how food accessibility is not just about nutrition — it’s also about sensory comfort and what feels manageable.
Meal Planning Without Shame
One of the most valuable takeaways from the episode is the importance of removing guilt.
If cooking from scratch every night is impossible, that does not make someone lazy or failing.
Shortcuts exist for a reason.
That could mean:
- meal prepping
- using frozen food
- buying pre-chopped vegetables
- relying on safe foods
- eating repetitive meals
- using supplements
- or keeping easy snack options nearby for difficult days
As Karen says during the episode, “You’re not cheating. You’re just taking away the bit you can’t do.”
Final Thoughts
Cooking while disabled often requires creativity, adaptation and a lot of self-compassion.
The episode is a reminder that accessible cooking does not have to look perfect. It just has to work for you.
Because eating something manageable is always better than exhausting yourself trying to meet unrealistic expectations.
Listen to the Episode
Search for “3Spoonies Episode 57 – Cooking While Disabled” on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform. You can find the main ones here.
About 3Spoonies
3Spoonies is a podcast exploring disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, business and everyday life — honest conversations from people navigating the world with not enough spoons.
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