To crowd source a list of ADHD friendly meals/recipes

[Nemorth]

I’m popping this in AIBU for reach. People with ADHD often forget to eat and then when they need to eat they don’t have time to make food so often snack. Instant gratification food.

My DD jokes that we live in an “ingredients” house. When we go out and leave her at home (she’s plenty old enough to be left alone) we often plate up meals for her to make sure she eats.

She’s getting much better. Today she made herself a really pretty looking salad with chicken goujons, followed by apple and peanut butter for pudding.

I’d love to make a list of easy meals so that she can develop her skills with a view to her moving out for Uni in a couple of years.

She’ll make herself toast and baked beans. Or soup.

She’ll happily eat the same meal for days on end and then suddenly will have a sensory ick reaction to it and it will be months before she can eat it again.

The sensory ick thing can affect her making food too.

Meals should have a minimum number of steps, be easy to make and hopefully avoid ick moments. She eats little and often. Probably 5 or 6 small meals a day.

What say you Mumsnet? What meals should I include in her ADHD friendly recipe book?

Thank you.

Oooo I'm following. Myself and my son are adhd and this is something i really struggle with

This is me. I live off the same basic things. Jacket potatoes, pasta, baguette and picky bits, packet rice, ready cooked chicken and broccoli. Too many things give me the ick or are too overcomplicated.

I was just going to say eat the same thing several days in a row. But you’ve already covered that one!

E.g. I’ll cook a bunch of chicken with peppers and onions in the oven, then add a few cubes to a curry sauce one day, then sprinkle some fajita seasoning on some and pan fry with salad and wraps the next etc. Saves me lots of food waste and makes life easier knowing half the chopping and cooking is already done.

Same with batch cooking bolognese or chilli, then freezing in single portions in freezer bags.

@Nemorth

these recipes may be of interest

I recognise this struggle.

Individual frozen portions of batch cooked meals are the solution to those times for us. We send dd back to uni with a fully stocked freezer prior to her exams so that she doesn't have to think much about what she's going to eat or how to eat healthily.

I have ADHD. I have literally never forgotten to eat. OK sometimes dinner is coco pops or a ham sandwich but it's still food. Let your adult daughter figure this out for herself. She doesn't need a recipe book.

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBackI fully anticipate doing something similar in future. Or perhaps even those meal services that you’d normally associate with an older person needing!

Pasta bake with cheese on

poke bowl (pack of microwave sticky rice, smoked salmon and cucumber on top,
soy sauce) takes minutes

slow cooker is v adhd friendly. Eg chuck diced chicken, tinned tomatoes, pack of curry mix in and it’s ready later without having to think about timings.

If my DD is focused on something she will forget to eat. I understand because I do the same. Thank goodness for DH. He keeps us well fed! He knows too, that if we’ve both been concentrating on something, that we won’t have eaten.

I also have the sensory ick thing. I have to cut up raw chicken using a knife and fork. I can’t touch it. Bleurgh.

Would she eat a mushroom omlet, scrambled egg and a slice of toast, or porridge with frozen berries, I will quite often make these in minutes when I realise I have forgotten to eat.

I batch cook and freeze chilli or chicken casserole that can be made quickly with rice for the other two ND people here. I am the same with raw chicken and fish I can't bare to touch it.

not exactly gourmet but tins of sardines make for a satisfying and reasonably healthy snack

teach her how to make a simple vinaigrette. Then she can improvise salads made from tinned chickpeas, hard boiled egg, tuna, whatever fresh veg she has to hand…

Couscous worked really well for me cos you could just add hot water and leave it. I always got distracted and forgot stuff on the stove like rice. Also quick meals like minute steak with fried mushrooms and green beans, keeping it simple.

other things I default to cooking: carbonara, sausage sandwiches, those frozen bao bun things and frozen edamame. Gousto boxes also work well as food is portioned and ready to go and takes away the need to think.

I have adhd. I don’t forget to eat. I am always thinking about food.
Today when I had very little mental energy lefts I had 2 pikelets, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for dinner. With some bagged salad.
But it could easily have been biscuits.
Fajihtas are fun.
Omelette
Cereal is ok as a dinner sometimes
protein pancakes with raspberries and Greek yoghurt if Skyr.
m
M&S ready meals - I try to pick a healthy one.

I forget to eat and I do think it's related to ADHD though obviously I recognise not every single person with ADHD has the same issue! For me it's a combination of time blindness and I just don't get very hungry. I couldn't be doing with eating 5-6 meals though, I would eat half a cow once a week if I could. It's all the faff around food that I don't like.

Air fryers are great for quickly doing things like sausages or chicken nuggets/goujons to go with things.

Bacon, mushroom and fried egg sandwich is my go to.

Instant noodles like the ramen packets can be jazzed up with some tinned sweetcorn, frozen peas, ripped up ham, small-chopped vegetables like spring onion, peppers, mushrooms etc - put them all under the noodles when you put the hot water into the bowl. DS1 also cooks his in a saucepan and stirs a raw egg in as it's cooking so it sort of scrambles or poaches into the noodles, which is a nice way to make them more filling. Or add the air fryer nuggets and some sweet chilli sauce.

Very millennial of me but half an avocado squished onto a bit of toast or nice fancy bread, with some bacon or egg on top if I feel like adding more.

Museli in a bowl with yoghurt stirred through and topped with fresh fruit. Add some milk if it's still too dry.

Porridge with frozen berries, made in microwave. Equal amounts oats and milk, throw some berries in, microwave for ~2 mins (if there are big chunky strawberries, microwave separately first), stir, back in microwave for a min or two, add more cold milk to cool it down, stir in some honey or sugar. My sister says porridge is magic because if it's too thin then you can either microwave it more or just leave it to stand and if it's too thick you can add more milk.

Stir fries are easy and quick. With microwave rice, or a rice cooker is amazing or instant noodles. "Minute" steaks cook through really quickly. Kitchen scissors are a way to cut meat without handling it too much.

Tuna pasta salad. Pesto pasta with or without air fried sausage or veg. Marmite pasta. Buttered pasta with a bit of salt and pepper! Actually there are loads of simple pasta dishes which barely take any time to make. I used to have a huge pinterest board with so many of them. Ready made pasta sauces can also be time saving.

Microwave jacket potato, finish off in oven or air fryer ~20 mins. Fill with beans or tuna or leftovers or whatever you like.

Some great ideas here thanks all. My DD won’t eat cous cous, rice or jacket potatoes and she isn’t great with dairy so no yoghurt/milk but will eat cheese?

Any and all ideas welcome though as other people might spy something for them.

It’s the prep and there being too many steps. Her brain just freezes and she’ll default to grabbing some cucumber and dip (or similar). Which is ok as a snack but isn’t a meal!

She’s desperately trying to train herself to like mushrooms because she thinks they look yummy but isn’t there yet.

Her favourite meals made by DH are:
pizza
spicy pasta
sausage, mash and veg
chicken fajitas
chicken enchiladas
bolognaise but only with linguine
a chicken curry but only the meat (no rice)

out of that list she’d probably only make herself the pizza and pasta. Wouldn’t attempt anything else.

She loves snacking on frozen petit pois but won’t eat them cooked!

ADHD can be very all or nothing - some forget to eat, some struggle with overeating. It's like that with a lot of things. Some people are late for everything, others are obsessively early. Some people don't see mess, others have to have everything regimented or they fall apart. Some are thrill seekers and can't sit still while others struggle to get up off the sofa.

I am a sofa-bound, messy, always late, forget to eat kind of ADHDer.

Oh she might like quesadilla, those are dead easy to make. They are more of a snack but I sometimes do them as a toddler meal.

This book is great, nothing in here is complicated: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Useful-Ultimate-Student-Cookbook/dp/1760634212/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

How about taco style mince? Fry mince with paprika or fajita spice mix, serve with avocado, tomatoes, cheese. Maybe add some sweet potato.

I have adhd and an air fryer has been a godsend.

Could she add some pitta strips with her cucumber and dip, and some babybel? Makes it more like a picnic style meal?

Will she eat eggs? How about some scrambled egg with cheese melted in, whack it in a wrap or flatbread?

Get some protein powder, add some oat or soya milk and fruit and maybe peanut butter? Makes a nutritious filling smoothie.

I find if I stick to the same meals I don't have to think too much. Too many steps and I freeze.

I have ADHD, but don't forget to eat as I have to cook for the kids, so I'll eat at the same time. Pasta is always my go to:
Tomato and basil - heat olive oil in pan, gently fry some garlic, add a tin of tomatoes, half a vegetable stock cube, some dried basil, sugar if wanted, salt and pepper.
Sausage and paprika - cut up sausages, brown in a pan, add onions and garlic, teaspoon of paprika, salt and pepper.
Bacon - fry some diced bacon, add onions and garlic, tin of tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper.

I also recommend stir fry - Tesco have a £5 deal where you get: noodles, sauce, veg, and protein.

I recommend using an Alexa during cooking for reminders, otherwise I will forget and wander off.

Also using an air fryer as it warms up quickly, and turns off when it's done. Very handy as stuff doesn't get burned if I forget I'm cooking.

Ooh, and I also use a lot of frozen diced onion, frozen garlic etc to save cutting stuff up.

My kids love pan fried dumplings from the freezer as a snack/meal.
I always cut raw chicken using disposable gloves so I don’t have to touch it, and freeze it in bags ready to use

I actually found these plates really helpful when I first started trying to get a handle on my ADHD eating…..

I love to cook but am quite chaotic so never used to bother if it was just for me and would just live off bread and houmous and cheese and crackers but seeing it laid out made it much easier to balance meals.

Do you have an air fryer? They can be easier than having to cook a whole meal, but she can still have cooked food. Things my (NT) tern DD likes are:

Falafel balls in air fryer, with a microwave rice pouch or in a wrap with cherry tomatoes and cucumber
Crumbed chicken with rice pouch or wrap as above

For those two, all she has to do is pop the protein ingredient in the air fryer and assemble the wrap/microwave the pouch

If she can get past the sensory ick with chicken, this is so easy, healthy and yum. She doesn’t have to touch the chicken! I just use thighs https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken/tender-and-crisp-chicken-legs-with-sweet-tomatoes/

Does she have to eat meat? I have a good recipe for Cannelini bean stew that even my super picky ND child eats, and my 7 year old can make it. If yes, I’ll type it out

I have ADHD and severe hyper focus and live for food - it’s a good thing you are doing for her

I have ADHD and often get overwhelmed by preparing meals when I’m having a bad day.

Things I find help are:

• Having things prepped in advance so there are fewer steps to do in one go. I have bags of things like soffrito, chopped peppers and onions, veg for minestrone soup, chopped garlic/ginger/herbs in the freezer (I chop it when I’m having a good day and feeling motivated, but Tesco, Waitrose and M&S all sell premade bags in their freezer section).
• I will have ‘meals’ that are basically just assembly. Fruits/salad veg, cheese, hummus, crackers, quorn picnic sausages, yoghurt, nuts. As long as it’s fairly nutritionally balanced and it fills me up then it’s a meal.
• I have to make a meal 5-10 times before it becomes effortless. I crave novelty so sometimes this is hard. But I’m much more likely to cook something I don’t have to think about and don’t need a recipe for. Could you or your partner cook her favourite meals with her a few times until she’s comfortable with them (for me it’s also the same with basic skills, my parents paid for me to do a cookery course as a teenager and being taught the basic principles of cooking has made a massive difference to my confidence).
• I make a list of meals that I like, can make easily, and don’t require too many ingredients. It takes away a lot of the mental effort if I don’t have to think about what I’m going to make every time.
• Use short cuts and pre-made things. On bad days I use jarred sauce and just add my own pasta, veg and precooked chicken. Microwave rice sachets are great. Frozen pre-chopped fruit and veg. Packets of precooked meat, salmon or tofu that I can just add to salads or meals to increase the protein.
• Make one big batch of something and eat for several days. I usually do soup, stews, tagine, curry, chilli etc (anything that doesn’t change flavour or texture if it’s in the fridge for a few days).

Some of my go to meals include:

• French toast with a bowl of Greek yogurt and fruit.
• Quesadillas
• Soup (I buy chicken bone broth for protein and just add veggies/beans/lentils etc)
• Jacket potatoes
• Chilli/chicken or sausage casserole/tagine (I can send you links to my favourite recipes if you like).
• Traybakes (halloumi and roasted vegetables, chicken or salmon and vegetables etc). Try the ‘roasting tin’ recipe books, you just put everything in the tin and let it cook, you could buy the veg pre-prepared if that helps.
• Salads. I marinate and cook a batch of chicken/salmon/tofu at the beginning of the week and then just assemble it when I want to eat (I’ll also prepare things like roasted sweet potatoes, edamame or lentils to add to make it more filling). Using different dressings and vegetables/fruits keeps it interesting.
• Pasta with sauce
• Fajitas (you could buy pre-cooked chicken pieces to add at the last minute. I use frozen peppers and onions so I just have to fry them in the spices and chuck in the precooked chicken). I have a bag of grated cheese for Quesadillas, pasta and fajitas.
• Finding fairly healthy ‘oven food’. You can get oven chips that are just potatoes and oil, I put them in with a piece of meat/fish/veggie option that cooks at roughly the same temperature and time so it can all go in on the same tray with the same timer. I either chop up cucumber and tomatoes to go with it or microwave some frozen vegetables (peas, sweetcorn, edamame)

Eggs in any form, boiled, omelette, scrambled or fried with some bread or toast.
French toast with whatever topping she wants.
Avocado toast.
Filled pitta with humus, haloumi, falafel, ham, cheese and salad.
Toasted sandwich or wrap.
grated carrot with or without a dressing as a side.
Cold pasta salads like pesto, pine nuts and parmesan, tuna and sweetcorn or tomato with torn up mozzarella. They keep in the fridge for a few days so can make a big batch and eat it for several meals.
Snack on cheese, oatcakes with a cut up apple on the side.

Thank you so much for posting this OP. My daughter is undergoing assessment, is underweight and completely forgets to eat. I have the same worries about her going to university too.

She also has no dairy bar a little cheese (or ice cream...), and only tiny amounts of meat. I often add extra olive oil to her meals just to get calories into her - on the advice of the dietician.

She makes noodles- sweet and sour is what she currently likes, fried egg on toast, stuffed pasta with pesto takes 3 minutes- with garlic bread if remembered. Last night she had frozen pizza with mashed avocado on the side...

I make a lentil Bolognese, a chicken and veg curry (she has one piece of meat but eats the veg), but DD would never make those.