Who Needs More than Cooking for exercise?

Ha ha I sort of had the image of cleaning my garlic crusher and how I hate doing it in my mind when I posted.

I always wait fo the steam to go off potatoes too.

Bread machines are just so brilliant.

I feel like that about spiralizers too, I mean why? 

I don't mash enough potatoes to need a press.

Honestly I think some people mostly make people, are just really into gadgets, my ex was like that, he asked me if I wanted a knitting machine to save me doing it by hand? He couldn't get his head around the idea that not only did I not want a knitting machine, but that I enjoyed knitting by hand.

I don't use a garlic crusher either, just chop it up as it is quick and doesn't take long. If it's something like a pizza sauce, I'll crush it with the flat of the blade to release the oils and it's easier to pull it out before spreading. (I also love the bread machine for making the dough, that's it's main function for us.)

I do like our potato ricer, it's really handy and makes a nice fluffy mash! They do need a fair bit of strength though, and easiest to clean if you don't let it dry in (straight into a pan of water). But I also find if I cook the potatoes, drain them and let them steam dry long enough in the aga, I can just use a masher or even beat them with a wooden spoon. 

Marianne72 said:

Anyone else of my years [73] experience this? Or does this happen for younger people too?

I’m in my 60s but I sympathise with you because cooking exhausts me, although it has always been that way.

I cook out of necessity but I don’t cook dishes that require much preparation or those that have multiple stages throughout the cooking process because that sort of organisation exhausts me. From spring through to autumn I eat mostly salads because they are easy to prepare even though they can have lots of different ingredients. I batch cook chicken breast strips in the air fryer for the salads and they last over a few days. Sometimes I have salmon or pasta with a tomato based sauce and a tin of anchovies.

Since beginning resistance based exercises with weights and exercise bands last year I have found my joints are less troublesome and I feel stronger and less likely to tire physically. Adding that into my exercise regime has increased my energy levels so I think the difficulty with cooking complicated dishes is more to do with executive functioning. I’m highly organised in many aspects of my life while things like cooking complicated dishes leave me struggling and exhausted.

Occasionally I buy M&S Nutrient Dense Tandoori Chicken which is fresh, not a processed food and it doesn’t have preservatives or fillers. It’s expensive but not more expensive than a carry out and it just needs three minutes 40 seconds in the microwave to heat it up.

TheCatWoman said:

Ohh go on, disrupt things, I dare you!

OK - men invent things they don't use therefore they often don't clean well. [Wait for fallout]/

TheCatWoman said:

I do like my potato ricer

I haven't got the strength to use one at present but the problem with a standard masher is that you still get large bits. There ought to be some kind of press, like an apple presser. Maybe a female cook will invent one [again, wait for fallout..]

Ohh go on, disrupt things, I dare you!

I can't be doing with garlic crushers either, I always seem to end up with a bit of skin over the holes thats glued itself in.

I do like my potato ricer though, that can be quite a good work out too. Most of my kitchen stuff is quite basic, 4 ordinary saucepans, a big casserole, a chefs pan, a wok and some glass dishes and mixing bowls. I do have a preserving pan, a sugar thermometer and a jam funnel, but then I do a lot of preserving., I have a food processor too. But I hardly use a microwave, I defrost stuff in it and warm plates, I don't know how to cook anything in it, even heating up peas. Nor do I use an airfryer, they don't do the sorts of foods I use one for, like onion bhaji's and pakoras.

A lot of kitchen gadgets take a long time to clean. Invented by those who never use them. I won't say men or it might cause disruption ! 

Being vegetarian, lactose intolerant and with a few other intolerances and dislikes, ready meals aren't an option for me, nor are takeaways or eating out.

I don't like washing up the garlic crusher!

Great information DormouseAtRest_25 but why don’t you use a garlic crusher?

I think I read somewhere that to crush the garlic and leave it a couple of minutes before use releases something that makes it better for us.

Lotus said:

when I retired I'd do more proper cooking as I'd have more energy - think again! 

That's exactly what I thought! But now I find myself creaking in the bones and with far more ambition for home and garden than I have energy for. Now gardening is weather-possible, I too find myself thinking of what I can eat, without too much effort. All hail Messrs Tesco, Lidl and Sainsbury - I might complain about too much choice, but at least it gives you delicious options such as Lotus describes . Among my favourite 'readies' are trifle, tiramisu, meal for 2 Indian or Chines [which is actually my meal for 1...]

I thought that when I retired I'd do more proper cooking as I'd have more energy - think again! 

If I think about cooking something " from scratch" my brain replies "Booriing! Let's get some ready meals and easily cooked stuff, and spend the spare time reading and playing video games!" 

I like a roast, but I buy cooked chicken breasts, frozen parsnips, potatoes & Yorkshire puddings and stick it all in the oven for 30 mins (except the Yorkshire puddings, they go in 5 mins before the end!)

Thats fair. Im not sure i fully understand it myself

I think my asking 'why' is because I'm autistic too, when I don't understand something I just keep asking why?

I assume its because im autistic 

Sorry, but why?

Although I like cooking, my energy and enthusiasm for cooking is not even from one day to the next.

Sometimes more of an "assemble" action - rather than loads of chopping and cooking would be more my level of ambition.

My reliable partner at that point is a small, electric slow cooker, (2 person versions are available e.g. Cookworks £14 from Argos, or Daewoo £13 from Robert Dyas), put everything in, switch it on and come back to a hot, healthy, economical dish (4 hours later - over that time, using electricity similar wattage consumption to having a lightbulb on).

This Yellow Split Pea Dal recipe is the sort of recipe I had in mind (low-impact cooking adapted as below - for both ease of assembly and turning it into "store cupboard cookery").

• If necessary, you can use frozen, pre-chopped, onion. 
• I use tinned chopped tomatoes. 
• If I haven't got fresh root ginger (or I don't fancy grating it on a small-size grater holes panel) - I substitute some ground ginger. 
• I always use ground Cumin (the mortar and pestle can stay on the shelf as kitchen decoration).
• I don't use a garlic crusher and even Chef Ken Hom would tell you not to slice garlic too thinly!
• I don't use freeze-dried Curry Leaves - I substitute with some ground Medium Curry.
• I don't prepare and slice a fresh chilli - I use some dried chilli flakes.
• Lemon wedges to serve - ...no, I just stir in, just before serving, a little long life lemon juice from a bottle in the fridge).

This type of vegetarian recipe cooks in a slow cooker on High for 4 hours:

The below recipe quantities are for 4 servings (it freezes well).

Just the ceramic slow cooker inner pot, serving bowl and spoon to wash up / stack in a dishwasher.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/slow_cooker_split_pea_93320

BeaE said:

meal replacements

That's a good idea some of the time, if you are exhausted. I get that. I love the taste of home cooking though. I'm going to do more batch cooking, like TheCatWoman . I used to do that and it did save time - also, for days when you have zilch energy. I sit watching TV whilst peeling veg or cutting out pastry. The hearth rug is getting a bit manky though!

BeaE said:

Maybe it's the combination of physical effort and concentration that makes these tasks seemingly irrationally tiring.

Yes, that's probably it. Some days everything seems an uphill struggle. It's not depression, more a kind of malaise and lack of will. I'm having some blood tests which might show something up - but perhaps a lot of it is coping with autism, difficult neighbours, and tiredness is the backlash.

I went to the gym in my thirties, to be around people without having to talk too much. I liked some of it - aerobics classes - and the feeling of being fit. If I had a dog, I would walk more no doubt - what you describe about the fresh air and being with Fearn sounds wonderful.