Basic cooking after illness.

[Worryabouteverything]

Unfortunately I've been in hospital for nearly 10 months. I came home at the beginning of December.
It's taken me a few weeks to get back on my feet. DH has been very good but I want to do it for me.
I'd like to start cooking again but need advice on everything.
We do have an oven, microwave and air fryer. But I don't think I can stand for a long time that's why I'm
asking for basic recipes.
No mushrooms or pasta please.

Welcome home, a 10 month hospital stay must have been quite an ordeal for you and your family.

I hope your recovery is smooth and steady.

I'd go for things that can be cooked very quickly (in the microwave) or things that take a while in the oven (one pot dishes or jacket potatoes - things that take a while to cook but need minimal attention and standing up time!)

I just quickly Googled "one pot meals" and there are loads out there. This is just one website and you can filter to get rid of any pasta / mushroom recipes.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/one-pot-recipes

Do you have the energy / stamina to batch cook at all? Then you can portion and freeze your own stew, bolognese, chilli etc and these can be done quickly in the microwave. You can serve with noodles / potatoes / rice etc. Which can also be done in microwave.

Noodle salad or potato salads may not work this time of year but they always make a decent meal.

I also like making a big Greek salad and I serve it with falafel, hummus and pitta. Again its more of a summer dish but it's one of my fastest easiest meals (I buy the falafels)

What sort of things do you like OP, is it that you're wanting recipes to recover, build up strength or do you mean you want recipes that are easy to cook while you're still a bit weak and wobbly?

My advice is get pre prepped stuff as much as you can. Work out what flavour combos you like and use herbs and spices to chuck over veg and meat and then put it in the air fryer for a dry 'fried' dish or put it in with liquid in a slow cooker or dish in the oven if you can lift it and let it do its own thing

You need things that are virtually going to cook themselves.

I find bulgar wheat very nutritious and filling and satisfying but easier than rice, just put the water in and leave it for half hour until its well absorbed. I dont put the heat on. Put tons of seasoning in when its dry before you add the water

@Crunchymumthank you. These are just what I need. Batch cooking might be too much at the moment.
DH and DD can get me some ingredients when I decide what I want.
DD is off on Wednesday so will be there while I try.

Don't push yourself too much, I am sure your DH and DD are just thrilled to have you home!

Best of luck with it all.

@soupyspoonyes things I can cook that are easy until I get my strength back.

For some reason my confidence has taken a hit.

I think then you need simple pimple, low effort, which is lucky as this is what I cook all the time

Lightweight casserole dish, the aluminium ones, Ive got some from Habitat

Throw in pre prepped chopped onions, chopped peppers, some herbs and spices of your preference, maybe a bit of wine if you have some hanging around, tin of toms and just cook, very very low heat for about an hour. I would personally faff about doing different stages but you dont need that right now and you'll get just as nice a dish

I use the frozen garlic and ginger blocks from Taj, just throw them in when you're cooking

Stir it every now and then but only to make sure its not drying out.

Then you have more or less a base to add anything you like to. You can make a bean chilli out of that just by adding beans and chilli powder
Or some chickpeas
Or chuck in some bits of pre chopped chicken breast or prawns at the end
Add a dollop of full fat yoghurt or creme fraiche to make a creamy sauce
Add curry powder and spices to make a curry sauce

Really flavourful dish, no effort, cant really go wrong, just add more water if it looks like its drying out
Serve with rice or bulgar

Get pre chopped cauliflower, chuck it in the airfryer with some oil and spices on, roastsed cauliflower. Put some cheese on top,at the end in a dish with another few minutes in the airfryer roasted cauliflower cheese

A slow cooker is going to be your friend though if you want to cook down meat without needing to watch over it and get it in and out of the oven every now and then

Nigella does a tray bake of peas and chicken thigh, a bag of frozen peas, put on a baking tray, olive oil and salt and pepepr and herbs etc, put the thighs on top of that, roast in the oven. She says they all wrinkle up but its supposed to. You could add some chunked potatoes to that to cook with it I think. No effort, put it in, take it out.

I've got the Jamie Oliver 5 Ingredients cook book. Most of the recipes are really straightforward as there are so few ingredients. Just skip the pasta chapter...

Soup is a complete meal in this house. Lots of simple soup recipes here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/easy_soup

In time, once you're stronger, could you look at getting a high bar stool or perch stool to let you be at the cooker /worktop for a little longer without fully standing? Supermarkets have a wide range of frozen veg already chopped. Easy to only use what you need and save the rest for the next recipe.

I would suggest a few cheats to cut down the work load. Frozen sofrito mix is a great short cut and the perfect base for so many dishes. I also use frozen chopped onions and casserole veg. They aren’t ultra processed, literally the raw veg chopped and frozen.
A few ideas;
A crustless quiche?
Tray bakes are good, chicken, sausages, salmon all work well
Oven baked, no stir, risotto
Soups

Salmon fillets in air fryer

Takes ten minutes, really yummy

It’s the wrong time of year, but whatever you choose for salad, you can switch up your oil & vinegar dressing game by switching out red wine vinegar for balsamic vinegar for rice vinegar or any other vinegar you fancy.
I love a good “summer salad” - hothouse cucumbers (the ones wrapped in plastic) and tomatoes and sweet onions all cut up and tossed in some variation of the above oil & vinegar and kept chilled in the fridge until dinner.

Or maybe cook some bangers and make gravy and scones and that can make for a nice, easy meal.
Which reminds me - breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites. Bacon and eggs or pancakes and bacon - whatever you like or are in the mood for.

Can I suggest a half way idea? Gousto deliver boxes of meals to cook. You can choose from lots of recipes and also how long they take to cook. There are lent that take between 10 mins and 30 mins.

Is your air fryer also a slow cooker? This may help with the batch cooking/splitting the day into manageable chunks. I use taming twins a lot - she also uses soffrito mix/prepped frozen veg to cut down waste/faffing time, usually says in the notes. There's lots of 1 pot/quick meals to chose from too. Welcome home!

I second the idea of mixing in prepared veg like frozen chopped onion etc.

Meals that are good and also quick to reduce standing and/ or chopping time that I would consider would be:

Chicken tray bakes - few minutes to prepare then oven does the work.

Omelets

Fried lamb chops or steak with new potatoes (boiled) and perhaps those easy cook veggies you toss in the microwave.

Burgers - chicken or beef

Air fried salmon fillets served on microwave pouch rice with a quick stir fry (again, buy pre chopped veg and use garlic and ginger pastes, and dried chilli. I dont use stir fry sauces but they are a good choice, or just miz soy sauce and lime juice.

Do you do gnocchi? I havr a few quick and easy sauces that can be used with either pasta or gnocchi.

It would help to get a food processor or manual chopper so that slicing or chopping veg is easy. You can do it quickly, then spend 5-20 minutes assembling the rest.

Look up taming twins slow cooker recipes. Might be good because you just have to chop ingredients and chuck them in x