Recipes for Down Syndrome lad

[Chrisnstar]

Hey looking for recipes here for a cookbook I'm doing for a Down Syndrome lad

He's 22, can do a lot of things, but does have limitations.

Here's what I need:

must be able to tell how to do it in pictures

few ingredients, keep it simple

no chopping.. he's not good with knives! must use prechopped or tinned ingredients

can be made in microwave, crockpot, stovetop or oven, but preferably microwave or crockpot. or recipes I can adapt to be nuked. for example, I'm not sure he can handle a pot full of boiling water and drain pasta without hurting himself.

I need anything, breakfast foods, sandwiches, soups, dinners, snacks, meats, vegetables,

things that can be made up with boxed or packaged foods. For example, I just found a book 101 things to make with boxed macaroni and cheese. LOL... it's perfect but I have to translate it to pictures for him.

I'm going to write up a picture cookbook for him for Christmas. Our goal is to get him as independent as he can possibly be and fixing his own meals is imporrant.

He can use a stove top and cook simple things like scrambled eggs. He can fix a sandwich, or a bowl of cereal. He's helped me make cookies and dinner. I handle the oven though.

My goal is to have a picture book of recipes and he can pick out what he wants to make, we go to the store so he can learn to buy what he needs for that recipe. Or go to the cupboard and pull out the items he needs.

He is a quick study, most of time, LOL..Anyway, his parents have asked me to teach him how to cook, so, I'll do my best!

if this goes over well, I may have stumbled upon something that is needed out there in the world!

[ride4fun]

No pudge brownie mix. I don't have the box but they have directions to make 1 brownie in the microwave. Actually any brownie mix works, stir in some dried fruit or choc. chips. yummy. I was making theim with 1 tablespoon of bran mixed in to more filling and healthy but thats optional. Actually I don't even bother with yogurt like the mix recommended, I just grease a glass dish, and use water to mix this up and have done it with many brownie mixes, even the ones that are supposed to have added oil, I just skip the oil.

[ride4fun]

grape nuts hot. put in 1/4 cup of cereal into a glass bowl, add water to just cover the cereal, microwave for 55-60 seconds. Add syrup and milk or cream. --I'm sure its not a good sign that the most complicated thing I make regularly is scrambled/omelety eggs.

[Chrisnstar]

good ideas, thanks! keep em comin

[linda]

See if you can find the crockpot recipe book that limits the recipes to 5 ingredients at the bookstore and see if there are some good ideas there. It is a "Fix it and Forget It" cookbook. I don't have it, or I would copy some recipes for you.

Your crockpot spagetti recipe would be appropriate. The crockpot sounds like your real friend here----he could make good stuff very easily.

Here is a link to a similiar cookbook with a couple of sample pages. I found the strawberry shortcake directions very confusing, though. I could handle the peanut butter sandwich, though....

picturecookbook.com/

Check out all the links on the site. There is a lot of information on how the cookbook developed and different challenges that they faced--as well as some good solutions (like removing the burners from the stove for safety.)

[janepain]

Chris - you have a PM.

[linda]

Hopefully the link will work for the 5-Item Fix it and Forget it Cookbook.

www.amazon.com/Forget-5-ingredient-Favorites-Phyllis-Pellman/dp/1561485292/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227476169&sr=8-3

[Trailpal]

Quesadillas

Taco-sized tortillas
shredded cheese in a bag
soft butter or margarine

Heat non-stick pan on med-hi on cooktop
put butter on one side of tortilla
put tortilla butter-side down in pan
sprinkle with shredded cheese

When cheese starts to melt, use spatula (pancake flipper) to fold tortilla in half and flatten it with the spatula.

Remove from pan and let cool. He could cut it with a pizza cutter since knives are not so good for him.

Serve with salsa from a jar or guacamole

---

Guacamole
1 avocado
3-4 shakes green tobasco
sprinkle salt
2 good squirts lime
2 teaspoons olive oil
3-4 shakes cumin

Use a butter knife to cut the avocado in half. Throw away pit. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and put in a flat bottom bowl or glass pie pan. Add all the other ingredients and use a potato masher to mash and stir. Serve immediately with corn chips or quesadillas.

---

Crockpot Chili
1 pound ground beef
1 can red kidney beans
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon chili powder
(the cans are all the "normal" cans, not the giant ones or the single serving ones)

Brown the beef, drain off the fat, put beef in crock pot.
Add everything else and stir.
Cook on Hi for 2-3 hours or Lo for 5 hours.
Serve over rice

---

Rice cookers are not expensive and really simplify cooking rice. Generally you put in twice as much water (or broth) as rice, flip the switch and check in about half an hour. When the rice is cooked, the unit flips into "keep warm" mode. Usually it takes 20 minutes to cook (depends a little on the kind and amount of rice) and is ready to eat in half an hour.

Most cookers come with an insert so you can put (frozen) veggies in and they will steam cook while the rice is cooking.

---

Chicken Patty Sandwich
1 Frozen chicken patty -( I get a sleeve of them from Tyson.)
2 slices bread or a hamburger bun
Condiments - I like mayo and sliced pickles, he might like something else.

Tear of a piece of foil wide enough to put the patty on - then double the foil. Cook in toaster oven per directions - 400 degrees 10 minutes, turn the patty over and cook another 10 minutes. Make into sandwich. Goes good with cooked rice and veggies!

These are some of my "everyday" things, hopefully he will like some of them.

[linda]

Tasty Salad

1 8 oz container of Cool Whip (has to be the original, not low-fat)
1 small package of orange jello
1 container of cottage cheese
1 can of Mandarin oranges


Put the Cool Whip into a bowl. Open the orange jello package and pour it over the Cool Whip. Stir until you have a uniform color. Open the cottage cheese. Stir it into the orange mixture. Open the can of Mandarin oranges. Drain the juice into the sink. Now stir in the oranges.

If you want to get fancy, you can reserve 3-5 of the orange segments. Put the "salad" into a clean bowl, and decorate the top with the remaining orange segments.

For storage, this will actually fit back into the Cool Whip and Cottage Cheese containers.

Keep refrigerated until eaten.

[linda]

Crockpot Mexican Soup

1 can of kidney beans
1 can of gabanzo beans
1 can of corn
2 cans of tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning

(you also can add a pound of cooked hamburger, but it is great without it--and more simple.)

when ready to serve, crush some tortilla chips over the top in the bowls and add a little grated cheese.

[linda]

Black Bean Soup

2 cans of black beans

Heat until the beans soften

Use a potato masher to smooth out the soup

Put into bowls and put a spoonful of sour cream on top

Enjoy

(I like to add about one clove of chopped garlic for each can of black beans, but I know you wanted to stay away from knives and keep it simple.)

[Deleted]

You guys have listed some GREAT easy recipes! Making my mouth water.

I can't imagine that this young man wouldn't very much enjoy these recipes.

ETA: Garlic comes pre-chopped or crushed, so he could get a jar (if he likes garlic) and spoon it as needed for recipes that would do well with garlic.

[hunterseat]

Um.... I like to sprinkle pecans on bread, top with cheese and nuke it..... How primative.
Your ideas have made me hungry.

[Deleted]

dang, hunterseat... that sounds... weird!

But then again, I like peanut butter and sweet pickles so who am I to judge!

[Newfygirl]

I make realy easy quesadillas for lunch many times...Just take two tortillas, top one with cheese, put the other tortilla on top. Microwave for about 35 seconds. Voila! Quesadillas!

I also make a lazy grilled cheese...just toast two pieces of bread...stick cheese in between and microwave for about 15 seconds. I do this when I don't feel like getting a pan dirty - plus, no added butter calories.