How can I feed my kids?

When doing a shop (hopefully an online delivery?) you could buy fresh or frozen chopped veg, eg onions, mushrooms, peppers etc and just throw them in a pot to cook? Wonder if you could get frozen mince as that might not need mashed and broken up the same way fresh mince does? Could be easy enough to make a reasonably healthy spaghetti Bolognese / chilli. Or if not mince, some other protein such as strips of fresh chicken. A slow cooker really does make it easy if you were considering investing.

As people say though, oven prepared food will likely be easier. Maybe things like jacket potatoes and cheese, tuna mayo etc too.

Hope your op and recovery goes well 🌷

Couscous may help as you can pour on boiling water and let it soak... tinned chicken curry . tinned sausage and beans for emergency...you may find u can use yr hand for short time then rest it after a week or so ..good luck ..if its a struggle ask for help ..there will be a time when u can help them ..

Keep things as easy as possible: cooked chicken, microwaveable new potatoes, ready made salad with extra cherry tomatoes.

I can’t help but think an old fashioned toastie maker might be useful.

school lunches for DC.

I broke my left wrist very badly a couple of years ago. Pins and plates. I did as much as possible as quickly as possible to keep my fingers moving. Nevertheless when the plaster came off I couldn’t lift a mug with it alone a kettle.

Changing the topic, you might want to get yourself a couple of over the head bralets (actually easier to step in and pull up). I couldn’t do up a bra for weeks.

good luck

And the instant pot isn't great with only one hand either - the lid has to be pushed open and closed.

For instant pot, read air fryer...

A slow cooker would be really difficult.

So would an instant pot as you need to yank the basket out quite forcefully (at least thats what I have to do with mine).

In your shoes, I'd just keep buying enough easy convenience foods to fill your freezer every few days. Nuggets, chips, fish fingers, frozen peas, potato flakes, precooked sausages and bacon, frozen diced carrots and corn, sliced cheese and deli meats, sliced bread.

If you could afford a big freezer it would be really handy.

You should have an electric tin opener too, that you only need one had to use. You could have tomato soup, baked beans, tinned spaghetti shapes, tinned chili, etc. Tinned tuna for tuna salad or to toss with cooked pasta, tinned sardines...

Big tubs of yogurt that have a snap off lid would be a good idea (the peel off foil ones are hard to manage with one hand).

Buy or make some hard boiled eggs, peel them, and keep in the fridge for egg salad or making sandwiches.

Do you have anyone at all who could help? This will be a very tough recovery period for your little family xxx

Poor you OP! I broke my wrist (well, the ends off the radius and ulna bones where they meet the wrist) in the summer, and I was absolutely horrified how incapable I was with only one hand! It was my right hand, which is dominant, but I am left handed for writing and also for some other things so was not completely useless - but things like cutting with scissors were a total no-no.

I still can't do some of the fine motor skills like peeling potatoes and cutting veg, so I hugely sympathise. I also couldn't put on socks or a bra, or wash my left side - things you just don't think about until you can't do them. I wore one pair of elastic waist trousers for weeks..... Plus housework is mostly impossible!

I agree that feeding family will be hard. I was lucky to have two teenagers and a DH to help, but I was constantly asking them to put on my socks or load/get out/hang out the washing - or even scratch an itch - so felt awful asking for even more support. I couldn't prep food and couldn't put things in and out of the oven, but was fortunate that we could afford a cheap snack out a few times. The rest of the time was mainly basics like jacket potatoes or frozen rubbish. I did make a chilli and a stew in the slow cooker using pre-chopped beef and pre-sliced onions, but I had teenagers to peel and chop carrots, swede, spuds etc.

Years ago we had the kitchen done and had no cooker for a month. I used to buy microwavable vegetables from M&S - which I have never used since but worked for a short time. Might be useful?

I think it really depends how quickly you can use your hand - but if you don't have any other support then I suspect you'll be living on pesto pasta and pre-prepped stir fries for a while. I can only wish you the best of luck, and a swift recovery!

Honestly, I would get some microwave meals, pillow packs of salad and boxes of cherry tomatoes for the first few days. It will be so easy for you to manage. No lifting, no chopping, no trying to manoeuvre saucepans or oven trays single-handed.

Or just treat yourselves to a pizza delivery one night!

Go easy on yourself and let your arm recover at its own pace (as much as you can).

If you don't already have one, get a deepfreezer, batch cook before, add microwave veg/pre washed salad bags, anything to help! X

Baked potato

if you have a slow cooker. just make dump bag meals and freeze them before you go into hospital

Agree with microwave mash you buy chilled in a packet- so easy! Birdseye do those plastic parcels of mixed vegetables that you just whack in the microwave. Also snap-pots of baked beans and sachets of rice that microwave in a minute or two.

(They are terrible value for money but seem like they would be very useful in these circumstances)

You could make extremely easy meals eg sausages in the air fryer with beans and mash from the microwave, fish fingers and waffles in the air fryer with veg parcel in the microwave, chicken nuggets in the air fryer with rice and veg in the microwave. On other days oven pizza with readymade bagged salad or a nice kids ready meal.

Frozen onions, peppers etc are great.

Batxh cook casseroles stews curries chili and freeze and microwave

I saw a tiktok where the pasta was cooked in a submerged sieve which I thought was a good way of doing it

Pasta bake can go in dry with a tin of water and the bake mix

Can you borrow any equipment that can chop for you - so a food processor of the type with slicing and dicing?

Things in wraps are good, diced chicken and veg fried off - use corn or peas or tinned/frozen veg?

If you get mince from the butcher it needs less effort to cook than the vacuum packed ones

Always cook double where you can/when you cook, sounds like you are doing some of this already but i would have chili, bolognaise and savoury mince in the freezer already. I would also either buy grated cheese or grate a load and freeze in portions - great for pizza bases, bolognaise, pasta bakes etc. DOnt be afraid to serve them variations on a these for a few days either.

Pizza bases, with some dolmio sauce and cheese then bits of whatever they like, they at 5 or 6 could prob do this one.

Nothing wrong with beans or scrambled eggs (or both) on toast or bakers and cheese and beans.

Hope it all goes well, perhaps friends etc could have you all to tea in turn as well, maybe payback later etc

That’s all rather expensive
I would as pp suggested do pasta

gets a sieve type label so you can take the pasta out instead of having to drain the water

Slow cooker is a good idea - you can but almost anything chopped and use meat balls or cut chicken etc.

Prepared casserole veg is an excellent option, bought a pack in Asda today, only £1.50 served 4 (3 generous portions) just add chicken or diced stewing beef, couple of stock cubes, dried herbs, couple of spoons dried pearl barley, frozen garlic cube (highly recommended so easy, world food freezer section) and cook for an hour for a hearty healthy meal. Prepared veg in general is your friend

If you did want to do it you can buy pre chopped versions.

It’s good to be prepared OP. I think you need to expect to be more tired so go for really easy and quick? Do you have a microwave? My kids would be happy with scarmbled eggs, beans and toast.

After most surgeries it’s important to eat lots of protein, it speeds up healing so make sure you think of yourself. I’m thinking pre cooked chicken breasts with micro veg packets for lunch.

Frozen mash has been a game changer for me. It is literally just mashed potatoes with some butter and seasoning. So handy when in a hurry just chuck in microwave for a few minutes. I often use it top shepherds pie.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CKSYX6F4/ref=sspa_mb_hqp_detail_mobile_aax_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfcGhvbmVfc2hhcmVk

this kind of thing

If you and your kids like pasta, or you like to boil vegetables, you could get a noodle strainer/pasta basket (or a couple of them). They are like little steel baskets with holes in them that you sit in a saucepan of boiling water or broth - so when you want to take the noodles or pasta, you’re just lifting the weight of the noodles, not the water. You could then leave the hot water on the back burner of the stovetop and empty it once it’s cold and you can use you arm and body to help take some of the weight rather than relying just on your hands and wrists.

If you can afford it, maybe one or two of the nicer ready meals per week?
Tesco do the Charlie Bigham's ones which are fairly decent. Me and my son had one tonight (please don't judge - DH has been unwell and in/out of A&E).

My son is 10 so older than your kids and has a massive appetite. There was plenty for both of us with sweet potato fries and we managed to have a bit left, so one would likely do the three of you with some fries/other bits on the side.

I understand what you mean about being self sufficient but please do let your friends/sister help where they can.

Mock McDonald's wraps

Tortilla wraps
Lettuce
Back bacon (grill)
Cucumber
Tomato
Cheese (if liked)
Breaded chicken strips (air fry)- Iceland do loads of different flavours

Garlic mayo/BBQ/sweet chilli sauce/chilli jam/whatever you like

Cook and prep into bowls and let the kids make their own