Asperger Syndrome, and problems with cooking?

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Cooking is a special interest of mine. I find it very calming. I love inventing delicious new meals and have a good sense of what goes together. I never use a recipe or plan too carefully. I use whatever needs to be used and rely on instinct to combine it all well. Lately I have been doing big casserole dish vegetable and bean stews in the oven as I can prepare them when no one else is around. I hate being interrupted. It completely ruins the calming effect and destroys the creative flow.

I like eating too:) But I won't eat anything anyone else cooks. I have to make it myself.

I'm not too bad with a precise recipe. Directions which are vague or assume some pre-existing knowledge ("whisk until done" etc) are more or less useless to me.

I do have to watch myself when there's a lull in the process. I easily get bored and wander off, and things overcook or burn. I have to take a timer with me before I can allow myself out of the kitchen, and even then it's not impossible for me to ignore the timer when it goes off because I'm focusing on something else.

Are you interested in eating food that is not canned or is this something that you have gotten use to and no longer want to change it?

I started a thread yesterday and it didn’t get any responses. I’m going to delete it, but I started out cooking pretty early on in life. They’re pretty basic food, but can be really delicious especially when you’re cooking food that gets to sit in its own flavors.

My basic must haves for cooking are (like most people):
1. Garlic
2. Onion
3. Salt / Black Pepper
4. Protein of choice
5. Vegetable(s)

My mom made this relatively easy dish. It is steamed chicken, you could probably replace this with whatever protein Or vegetable you want.

I’m going to list it here:
1. Large Pot with Lid
2. Ceramic Bowl
3. Add Ingredients to ceramic bowl
[*swap out, add, or leave out when desired]
-carrots
-celery
-mushrooms
-potatoes
-cabbage
-garlic(one bunch at the most)
-onion(one and a half bunch at the most)
4. Add Protein (chicken/beef/pork/etc.)
5. Add water at the bottom pot, but don’t add it in the ceramic bowl where the food products are.
6. Place ceramic bowl with food into large pot.
7. Close lid.
8. Check every 10 minutes or so to make sure water does not run out.
9. Poke with toothpick/fork to check for blood, if the fluid runs clear, it is edible.

*if you notice the lid shaking, lower the heat, and I might suggest starting the heat on low, but you are going to want it to steam.

I don’t know if anybody wants to try it, but it’s relatively easy and if you don’t want to chop anything, you don’t have to, but it would add to an evenly distributed flavor throughout the pot.

The last steam dish I had has:
Chicken, mushroom, potatoes, and squash.

You can probably mix and match this dish with products of your choice. Let me know if anyone has decided to try it.
I really like this dish because the steam cooks with the product juices and also creates a great broth. =]

If you guys need a timer to keep track of the water then you can get one, but it also depends on how much water you put in the pot. I’m pretty sure there’s probably a tutorial on YouTube for steamed dishes too.

I have problems cooking cuz of bad fine motor-skills & some colorblindness. I'm also a very picky eater thou not nearly as picky as I used to be. I usually eat cereal for breakfast & a sandwich for supper. I love eating fast-food & my girlfriend does most all the cooking for us. I also sometimes skip lunch or just pig out on snacks.

I've never had problems cooking till my health went. Now my bad knees and bad back make it very painful to stand by the stove or oven to cook stuff, and then I have the same problem standing by the sink afterward to clean up the cooking mess.

I have occasionally burned stuff, but usually managed to scrape off enough of the carbon to eat the stuff anyway. One of the things I was most likely to burn was grilled cheese sandwiches. I now do them in the microwave without butter or oil of any kind, but I cut the sandwich in half before putting it in the microwave, because it's too hot to handle for cutting after it's been nuked. Although hot cheese sandwiches taste better with some butter or oil, they still taste good without it, and are less fattening that way, too.

I also have a tendency to burn the bottom of the rice when cooking it on the stove, so I now cook it in the crock pot instead, and it comes out better that way.

Pasta was hard for me to make at the stove because of my bad knees, so I can't stand there stirring it frequently while it's cooking. Then I found out you can cook it in the microwave, so I do it that way now. I only have to take it out once or twice to stir it, then put it back for some more cooking, and then it's done. While it nukes in the microwave I work on other stuff in the kitchen. I just made up a big batch yesterday, so I'll be enjoying that for a few days.

I've injured my wrists a few times over the years, so using a manual can opener has gotten to be painful for me, so last week I ordered an electric one, and I've already used it a few times. When I lived with relatives there was always an electric can opener. Don't know why it took me so many years on my own before I finally bought my own.

I was an older kid, maybe preteen when I started doing my own cooking for some meals. Most meals were eaten as a family, but there were still plenty of times when we all shifted for ourselves. Cold sandwiches or a bowl of cold cereal are good some of the time, but there were times when my kid self wanted cooked food, so I started cooking on my own, and based my methods on what I'd seen my Mom do to make hot food. My early efforts often came out a little scorched, and sometimes a lot scorched, but I knew the basic concepts, and was eventually able to shift for myself in the kitchen. I even graduated to occasionally making sponge cake, and chocolate chip cookies. Both were popular at our house. My younger brother is the same way, quite willing to shift for himself in the kitchen, and when he was old enough he also started making the occasional sponge cake and chocolate cookies, along with some of his own meals. Neither of us turned into a gourmet cook, but both of us like to make our own meals. I just wish my knees and back were still up to the work involved. I'm now a senior citizen, and he's in his 50s, and now he helps me out some with my cooking. My older brother does some of my grocery shopping for me, and often picks up a big turkey for me, and then my younger brother will cook it up for me. They keep part of the bird, and bring the rest to my place for me.

I still remember using our Revereware pots and pans, and one small cast iron fry pan in my early cooking efforts. Cast iron is too heavy for my battered wrists now, and I have a mix of steel, and coated pots and pans, but I'll eventually switch to all uncoated pots and pans, but I don't think I'll get a pasta pot, as those are very heavy when full. I already have a very heavy crock pot to deal with--a 5 qt model, and I'm thinking of getting a smaller one, because it will weigh less, so it'll be easier to handle. Since I live alone, I really don't need to cook a huge amount of food in a crock pot, so a smaller one would work better for me at this time in my life. I used to get small turkey breasts of 6 to 7 pounds, and manage to cram them into my round 5 qt crock pot, but that's too heavy for me to handle now. I'm thinking a 3 qt model would probably allow for a good sized batch of food while not weighing too much for me to handle.

Anyway, sorry to digress, but the topic of cooking does bring back a lot of memories. I'm glad I and my relatives can handle ourselves in the kitchen, and I wish everyone could be able to shift for themselves in the kitchen.

Have you tried getting a rice cooker? My mom made rice and chicken in it the other day which was pretty good. Pot cookers make things a lot easier too.

I'm bad at cooking since i have executive dysfunction. I still try my best to Cook for myself and eat healthy since other wise i would spend too much money.

Cooking is my special interest, although it started pretty late, in my 30s. First I burnt the food. Then I managed to make something but bland taste. Then the taste was good but it looked like a pile of poo. This is when I turned to my life long special interest: Japan and Japanese cooking, because they are artworks. Now I'm very good at cooking and baking, but I still prefer to use recipes, hate when someone is around, I need total silence and solitude otherwise I mess it up. Oh and I make a really big chaos in the kitchen

Sometimes I find out challenges, for example use random country generator, research that country's cuisine and make a menu for my mom. Or watch a movie and cook what they ate in it. I like to combine my hobbies

Polish cuisine is not extremely difficult (I'm Hungarian, so hello brother @pawelk1986 !), if you want to cook try the easier ones like pancake (naleśniki or placki Ziemniaczane) or some cream soups. Leave pierogi for later, when you are more experienced.

I'm actually scared of my stove, to be honest. It's a gas stove, and I keep thinking that I'm going to burn myself even if I use oven gloves, or that I'm going to undercook something and get sick, even if I follow the instructions properly and check that it's piping hot. So I usually end up burning things just to reassure me that it's overcooked. Also if something is frying or boiling on the hob, I get afraid of tiny little droplets spitting out of the pan and on to my skin. Believe me, it feels like a needle pricking! And then I tend to do things in the wrong order, like forgetting to get the plates out first ready to serve the food on to, or putting a spoon into the sink each time I need one to stir, so I end up using about 5 or 6 spoons. And the kitchen in our apartment is rather small so there's hardly any room.

I use two digital thermometers. One is an IR thermometer that doesn't have to touch what I'm measuring. I use it to make sure the pan or hot oil is up to temperature. The other is a digital probe that I use to make sure meat is done.

Due to my many health issues, standing at the counter to prepare food, or to clean up after the meal is now very difficult and painful for me, so I rarely cook now, unless the food can go in the microwave, or the crockpot. Most of the time I just have simple cold meals, like cold sandwiches, or other foods that can be eaten cold. I will often use paper plates, and paper bowls, so that I can throw them away after using them, instead of having to stand at the counter to clean them.