Trouble with Kitchens

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The biggest problem I have with diets is staying in the kitchen long enough to cook something. Especially if I want to make anything worth having that requires meal preparation such as chopping, heating, stirring,etc.

My kitchen is enclosed except for an opening on the side and for some reason I cannot stay in there long without becoming nervous, nauseated. I have some fear of using knives because I am so clumsy. I even thought of taking a chef class to lessen my issues with cooking.

I end up eating out a lot or eating frozen dinners. I have managed extended periods but after an illness or whatever, it all goes down the drain, and I end up regaining the weight. I would like to move to a better arranged home, but my husband currently says it isn't possible for various reasons, mostly financial.

So I need to cope with the situation I am in, which I am not.

Any suggestions or comments?

Since I've started cooking more healthily, I've found that the most satisfying recipes are generally the easiest to put together as well. A piece of baked salmon with steamed asparagus and a light salad is much tastier than anything with a fancy sauce. This has been almost a disappointment for me, because, unlike you, I enjoy the chopping and stirring and so forth.

You could try cooking simple foods in larger batches to minimize kitchen time. The red beans and brown rice I made last night makes four to six servings, meaning I have at least two lunches and another dinner from that one pan of food. Maybe your husband would be willing to help out, too. Some couples find it very enjoyable to split the work of cooking. You could also try taking part of the prep work out of the kitchen. There's no rule that says the cutting board has to be on the kitchen counter; if the dining room table works better for you, then do it there. That way you're dealing with only one stressor at a time. My dad used to sort beans or pare potatoes in the middle of the living room while watching television, and I sometimes sit on the back porch to do the same.

Is there anything you can do to make the kitchen more bearable? Maybe paint it a lighter color, or put in better lighting? Some mirrors under the cabinets or on one wall might make the room feel more open and less claustrophobic. My mom did that for the little alcove above her kitchen sink and it made an amazing difference. As for the problem with chopping, why not visit a local kitchen supply store and see what they've got. I know there are these little chopping containers that you just put the food in and then work the blades up and down inside the container to chop food. Your fingers never come near the blades. You might also try a food processor. They're nice, but a bit fiddly for my tastes. I never can find all the bits when I need them.

You pretty much have to throw caution to the wind and just get a lot of time doing it under your belt. It's just food, if you mess up, you just waste a few dollars and throw it out. You'll get cut occasionally, but I've gotten cut less cooking and more doing Gundam models. If you're afraid of the knives, one piece of advice, sharpen them. For real, sharper knives are much much safer. With a sharp knife, it'll cut nice and clean, with a dull knife, that's where you get the knife slipping into your fingers. The cuts on you will be worse, too, with a sharp knife, you're not gonna be applying as much force to whatever you're cutting, so if the knife slips and cuts you (pretty much the only way you'll get cut bar you purposely cutting yourself) it'll cut you worse, since you'll have less control to back off on the knife when you feel it slip. So buy sharper knives, or sharpen them yourself. The easiest sharpeners are the ones with 2 carbide teeth, that you slide the knife between.

For cutting, be sure to cut away from yourself, sounds cliche, but yeah. ? is your hand, = is the object. Cut like ?= >>>>>>> that direction. Also, for the chopping, you pretty much only HAVE to use knives on meat. On veggies, you can use a dicer, food processor, slapchop (don't know if the nonknockoff ones work, my knockoff doesnt) etc. Meat you more or less have to use a knife, though.

As far as it being enclosed, I got no idea. That sounds like my dream kitchen, as nobody has to watch me do stuff, mine is an open kitchen to the living room and dining room and my family complains all the time about my cooking. I hate it so much, they even put a "window" to the living room, silly NTs wanting to entertain guests. Lame. Can't help you or feel sympathetic there. Maybe put on music? Me, the time cooking will pass like nothing if I have music on, I a lot of times, again if my family isn't downstairs making noise and causing a nuisance to me, will play a whole album from my computer (my mp3 player broke) and I'd zone out and listen to music while cooking, so the time will pass like nothing. It really is a good time to listen to whole albums, usually most stuff you cook will take an album in time to complete from prep to finish. You can also, too, if you wanna shorten time, spend time prepping certain things, ie, having a bunch of prechopped onions around in the fridge, for you to just throw in a pan when you wanna cook.

Heat, well, try to cook, you know, sauteing and whatnot on lower heat, medium. Like start at 4-5/10 on your stove, and go from there. Deep frying is the only thing that needs high heat, that and obviously boiling.

But really, the only way to alleviate anxiety about stuff is to do it. Unfortunately, you gotta risk failure, but with cooking, there's not too much to worry about as consequences if you fail.

OH YOU GOT A MAINE COON?! I LOVE MAINE COONS!! !! I got a Maine coon and love her to death, she's the coolest cat ever.

LOL Main Coon Cats are cool, but this is a mini-Main Coon. I used to have a big one probably pure bred but this one was feral kitten found at age 6 months. Big, big feet though, tiger paws.