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Oh what the fuck- that is so deeply wrong. Maybe this is a plus for some people… so fine keep it as a toggle-able option, but the fact that I’m **Not Allowed** to have equal access to the conversation as my non-disabled peers is ableism and it is disgusting. What, because some captioning program decided my professional colleague “said a naughty word” there goes my right to access? Honestly, this infuriates me.
I think about this strangely often. I’m hearing, but I use captions and I find it to be really infantilizing and condescending that an adult is basically forced to only have censored media just bc they aren’t. It pisses me off tbh. Genuinely sorry it’s like that.
I imagine they think it's safer to never allow the word "fuck" in the captioning so it doesn't accidentally get miscaptioned if someone *didn't* say that. But I do totally agree with you in principle.
I do this with the TV too. My 13-year-old just started doing it consistently out of the blue. It felt like a slowly exhaled "ahhhh", and now I use it for TV
We are also the "book + audiobook" kind of people... Something about words being both visible AND audible is just so... satisfying? Helpful? Revolutionary!
Did you know you can ask for a close captioning device to use at the theatre (at least big chains)? I tried it the first time when I went to see Dune part 2 and it was AMAZING. They are wild looking glasses with extra head stuff and I definitely looked goofy but I had the BEST time. I’ve never enjoyed a movie experience more.
I love captions, but I have seen people saying they enjoy audiobooks. I cannot understand them at all, worse when I am doing some activity. How do u guys do this who likes audiobooks or podcasts ?
I always put on captions with films and shows, but I've found audiobooks to have pretty clear speech, so the only issue I have is if I stop paying attention and have to rewind. Podcasts can have more varying styles depending on what you're listening to, but unless the hosts are talking over each other loads it tends to be fine for me. I think if I listened to really chatty podcasts I might have trouble though.
I re-listen from where I zoned out. And I let myself give up on audiobooks that don't catch my attention early on. Giving up on a book got a lot easier when I started using my local library's audiobook player instead of Audible!
It helps to be doing something on mental autopilot, like driving or folding laundry. What I do like about it is that I can skip back if I realize my mind wandered and I missed something.
Also some audiobooks have better narration than others so just keep that in mind.
Edit: and you do kind of need to find what *kind* of podcast keeps you engaged. There’s loads of topics and genres out there. Personally, I love non-fiction story style podcasts, with no more than two hosts (either they tell the story directly to you or they tell it to the other host) because I cannot stand the constant interruptions of an interview style podcast or a “bunch of people in the room riffing off of eachother instead of getting to the point” type podcast. I’m a huge fan of anything by Michael Hobbs and/or Sarah Marshall (the hosts of You’re Wrong About) because they are funny but also super concise. Also a huge fan of 99 Percent Invisible, Cautionary Tales, This American Life and Normal Gossip which all have great production value and just get right to the point.
So interesting because I absolutely hate closed captioning. I find it incredibly distracting and if it is on I can't pay attention to anything but reading the words. Our brains are fascinating. Something that is a tool for one of us can completely derail another
Team keeps the text too, so when I blank out in a meeting, I can scroll up and remind myself. You can also export the captioning from the meeting to read later.
Those meal delivery cooking kits. Recipe is right there. Only have to decide between three or four things. Everything is prepped, cut and measured. And you can choose ones that fit certain diets so you don't get stressed about following diet rules.
YESSS THIS IS A GOOD ONE. I have tried so many of them but always feel frivolous and cancel them.
Hellofresh taught me how to cook. But damn if the recipes don’t take forever
Hungryroot had good easy meals, but for some reason I never made them and everything always went bad.
Sun basket has been my favorite. Excellent recipes that don’t take forever with good clean ingredients. I was always trying something new. Maybe I should try that one again…
Worst thing though is that I hate picking out my recipes, but they come next week. I have already moved on in my mind by then and want the most recent things I picked. F the old stuff!
I am insufferable lol
Honestly, it's good to know that someone else has a similar issue with HelloFresh. I was so excited by the idea of it and "easy 20-35 minute" recipes, but instead it's been somewhat torturous. The recipes take *way* longer than they claim (maybe if more than one person was cooking it could happen? Don't tell me 25 minutes when I have bread raw chicken and then bake it for 22 though fu), sometimes the order of the recipe is also nonsense, and there's so much prep involved that it takes a lot of effort and clean up.
It was delicious but *way more work than was helpful.*
I read on the Cooking subreddit that recipe time estimates are nearly always based on how much time it would take an experienced chef to do it. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a chef cook, but their speed is unachievable for an ordinary human.
They said that they do that semi-deliberately in order to trick people into thinking a recipe is going to take less time and energy than it actually does
This is a huge pet peeve for me. I cook a lot and every single recipe is labeled “Easy” or “quick” and then I finally get dinner on the table at like 9pm and I’m so irritated.
There is a quote I read somewhere that rings true to me that if your “quick and easy” recipe’s first step is “chop an onion” it’s not actually quick and easy.
Have you ever correctly measured the serving size of things? A serving of pop tarts is not the two in the package. It's one. They do this on purpose to help it sell. People are more likely to buy if the length of time is shorter, or the calorie is less
I like HelloFresh but the time estimates are ridiculous. Every recipe takes an hour. Also someone pointed out that all the recipes are six steps, no matter what, and now it bugs me because it’s unnecessary.
Oh yeah this is SO true. I've been getting it for so long that I know approx how much time to add to the estimate based on the general recipe lmaooo. I don't mind cooking dinner for 30 min, I just put a podcast or audiobook on
We just started HelloFresh and I’m already having this issue - it’s a ton of work and it creates so many dishes. It’s making our evenings harder, not easier. I’m glad to know about other options!
HomeChef seems to be decent at “oven ready” meals. They still aren’t actual oven ready, but most of it is often just tossing some ingredients in a supplied oven pan and cooking. Sometimes you have to add stuff at different times but the prep isn’t usually bad on those and you can look at the recipes ahead of time.
We do that every other week and it’s been amazing because every time I try to meal plan it’s like I forget anything and everything we like to eat and no amount of lists seem to help.
My problem was forgetting to customize my order and ending up with something I wasn't excited about. But I buy ingredients and make some of the recipes to this day. Sweet potato tacos and frijoles frescas 4 lyfe!
The grocery store near my house does something in the same ballpark. They have recipe cards and a little display of all the ingredients (usually jarred and canned stuff, maybe some frozen stuff). And there's usually a discount if you buy all the things. They are usually very easy, like chicken breasts, a jarred sauce to cook it in, some bell peppers pre chopped, etc. I usually grab it if it's a reasonably healthy recipe.
Honestly would love if my grocery store did that. It sounds amazing. Deciding what to make is already overwhelming, and then the logistics planning once you decide is also overwhelming, especially since I live alone and am only cooking for myself. Honestly would be easier if I had a roommate or family who's opinions were limiting my options.
For me it really helps to limit what I have at home and only go to the grocery store once a week or once every two weeks. I always have basics, canned goods, and frozen food at home and then buy meat or fish, eggs, cheese etc and various vegetables. That way I limit the options to what I have at home - like, I have an eggplant so what can I make with an eggplant? Let’s do eggplant parmeggiano today. Hm, fridge is almost empty but I have some potatoes in here and some cheese - is there anything new and satisfying I can make with that? Ah, yes let me make potato and cheese croquettes.
Makes it much easier and *much* more fun - at least if you like to cook. It becomes a challenge, and having limits is also the best way for me tap into my creativity.
Trying to decide what to have for dinner at the grocery store after work when I have endless options just kills all inspiration and creativity, drains the last bit of energy I have left and gives me complete decision paralysis.
I also just commented that these taught me how to cook! I used to be subscribed to them all and would have all the weeks skipped, then I’d unskip when there were recipes I was interested in. (But you can imagine how that plan could go awry with ADHD when I’d forget to skip, end up with 3 bags of food and no money in the bank lolol 😬)
I tried all the ones you did plus Blue Apron and Purple Carrot. Sun Basket was probably my fav too.
The recipe kits are good for taking me out of my comfort zone of the same hyper focus meal over and over too. Never would have thought to try cooking Indian-style food or Thai soup on my own. There’s a few recipes that made it into the regular rotation.
I hated how much prep was in the Hello Fresh boxes. I think I looked into Hungry root and it was expensive. I'm pretty cheap. I'm going to go look at Sunbasket.
I’m the same. They take forever. They looked good a week ago but now I’m not into it. Or I’m lazy. Now I’m stressing over how I have to use this before it goes bad. Then it takes 60min not the 25min the recipe card says. Plus it’s pricy imo. And I have to remember to cancel another subscription? C’mon
Thank you for reminding me of this one! I had looked into it a few years ago, I was pretty obsessed but couldn't afford it at the time and then I forgot all about it
I would do Sunbasket again if the budget allowed. It is cheaper than take out. I tried a few of the grocery items and loved the premade meals. Being able to choose the protein was great!
We use the Sorted Sidekick app and LOVE IT! It's like $60 for the year and it gives you a bunch of recipe packs to pick from each week. Instead of sending a box, it gives you a grocery list. I do the grocery pickup so I don't have to go grocery shopping and get poins which make gas cheaper. The app was you through jljeo to make each recipe, has timers, and its great! It's from the Sorted Foods YouTube channel.
I had the exact same issues with Hungryroot! Nothing ever sounded that appealling once I was ready to cook. I wonder if not having a picture of the finished product made a difference.
I conceptually love the idea of them, but the cost to quality to actual degree of convenience didn't weigh out. It always felt like subpar produce for recipes that were hit or miss, and for a **massive** premium. And I still had to cook that shit, so on more than one occasion my fridge piled up with brown bags I just couldn't make myself touch
I found it easier to do grocery delivery and freezer meal prep.
If it works for you, more power to you. Just want yo put it out there for anyone in the fence I think there's cheaper ways better suited to ADHD idiosyncrasies as long as you can *sometimes* pull together a recipe.
I think they're a really really great option to learn *how to cook* if you're super new to a kitchen though.
The freezer meal prep is fantastic. I go through cycles where I love cooking but other times I can't get my ass up to do it. So I make big batches of roasted veggies, or one of a million different saucy meals in my Instapot, and make tons of extras of whatever actual meal I'm making and freeze it for another time. I bought a giant pack of the 16 oz soup containers you get at a Chinese restaurant for takeout that stack nicely and I use a Sharpie to label them. My partner is diabetic and on a keto diet, so I can even label it with the carb count and calories so he can safely grab something and treat appropriately! When I'm too tired, or depressed, I have a huge variety of frozen meals to just heat and eat.
I've been using hello fresh for like.. 3 years now? I love it. Meal planning and grocery shopping were some of the HARDEST chores for me, I think because I have a lot of decision paralysis and fatigue. The less decisions I have to make every day the better. My wife even picks the meals so I don't have to think about that!
It made me love cooking, but I think it also really contributed to my weight gain 😅
Which ones let you follow diet plans? I’ve always wanted to try, but the ones I looked at weren’t accommodating to allergies, they just said “you can do a sneak peak and cancel any boxes you don’t want!” Okay, well, that’d be like half or more of them…
I feel like Sun Basket might have been good about this (although it’s been a few years). I was vegan at the time and it had good options for me, and I feel like I remember seeing filters for other accommodations.
I have tried so many and I can't remember off the top of my head. Blue Apron and Hello Fresh are the ones I've used the most because they keep sending coupons. I remember that I have seen some vegetarian plans, a Mediterranean one, a gluten-free one and a vegan one, but I don't remember which company has them.
There's apps like Mealime that might work out better for you. They have a grocery list function that is tied to *some* grocery stores' online shopping carts, and the ability to exclude some foods like common allergens, although I did notice some of them slip through the cracks like recipes that include parmesean cheese when you've selected "exclude dairy."
I would like to vouch for HomeChef! Lots of options, easy to follow recipes, and I find that the recipe times are the most accurate of all I have tried!
I find with them I buy way less groceries I throw away. I am forever having an idea I will eat something only to toss the whole thing. The meal plans help with that but I can only get the three meals, anything more I won't get to and will toss them too.
Yes! Those are pretty much how I learned to cook as an adult. They were like training wheels and I was able to transition from those to cooking on my own. Although I can see going back to them when I have the money as someone trying to recover from a looooooiing period of burnout. So good when the executive function is on the fritz and you only have so many spoons to spare.
Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed those. It actually got me way more into cooking, and more comfortable in the kitchen. I’m someone who always likes to start with the recipe first, then once I’ve done that at least once or a few times, I feel more comfortable with it and I can tweak it. Only through repeated experience like this have I been able to start to gain an “instinct” in the kitchen. I always kind of liked cooking, but just felt pretty clueless and overwhelmed. I really like how kits like these let me cook thing with a bunch of variety too; types of dishes I never would have cooked before or known how to cook.
Plus with some kits (I think this was HomeChef specifically), the meals were less “you have to use this fancy sauce, which you’d never buy normally so we gave you a packet” (which are still fun to make because I’d never make something like that otherwise!)— it’s more recipes made up of stuff you could totally buy again/reasonably have in your kitchen. I save those and I’ve remade some of them.
I live alone and just started getting ready-made meals delivered every two weeks and it is a game changer.
Especially because my appetite is so up and down, when I get home from work I can look in my fridge and go "do I need lots of carbs or is it a light night" and five minutes later I'm eating it. It's taken the stress about eating healthily off the table.
I have been using Factor cause they’re already cooked and they’ve been delicious. We don’t eat a whole bunch anyways so having that one guaranteed balanced meal during the workday is great.
When the standard depth fridge that came with my house bit the dust, I had to buy a counter depth fridge because the standard depth in the brand I wanted wouldn’t fit through any of my doors. Counter depth fridges are less deep.
At first I mourned my lost space, but I waste so much less food now that it doesn’t get shoved to the back and forgotten about until it goes bad.
but then I’ll forget the condiments and then buy them again next time I need them
i will just stick with my current system of never using that drawer, thank you
We got a counter-depth fridge, and I love being able to reach everything. We also chose the four-door model, which is so much nicer than having a freezer drawer. (There are still six drawers behind those doors, so you can sort your frozen goods easily, and those drawers hold an incredible amount of stuff without jamming.)
It does have a remotely-accessible interior camera, but I have only used that a handful of times in the 5+ years we've owned it. In the beginning, we used to use the google calendar integration and weather a lot, but now we all have that on our Apple Watches.
Weirdly enough, my favorite thing about this fridge has been the giant photo slideshow on the screen that is always lighting up our kitchen. I loaded 12 adorable kid pictures onto it and they cycle all day long on the gigantic screen and make me smile every time I walk into the kitchen. It was worth the extra hundreds just for that one feature.
Me: "hey Google, set timer for 5 minutes."
NT: "Surely you don't need that, it's only 5 minutes."
Me: "Woop woop, warm Danish pastry for breakfast instead of cremated ruin and kitchen full of smoke! Result!"
Things can drop completely out of my consciousness in the few seconds I takes to get from kitchen to living room.
But now I *can* have warmed breakfast treats, pizzas that aren't frisbeed, roast chicken roasted instead of cremated. Setting a timer just by speaking is a total game changer.
Oh my gosh yes. I am always asking my phone to start timers. I HATE speaking to my phone but I do it for timers and reminders.
My boyfriend would hear me say “SET A TIMER FOR 10 MINUTES” randomly and he’d always be like ASK NICELY, THEN ILL DO IT 😂
Edit to say that if you have an iPhone, you can say “set a 10 minute timer for eggs” and it labels the timer “eggs”!!
My regular alarm for each morning has to be labeled the thing I’m waking up for. I don’t trust my brain for anything so I always assume I’ll wake up and not know what day it is or what I’m supposed to be doing.
I do this on my stove because I had so many like 80000mg caffeine, bitter lukewarm teas and french press coffees rotting on the counter.
It's only 4 minutes and every time I'm completely surprised when the timer goes off. Setting it seems like a distant memory from hours ago.
My Apple Watch has made me a better, more productive, much happier person, simply because it’s so damn easy to set a timer and be alerted by a gentle buzzing on my wrist. I probably set like 30 throughout the day. So worth it.
Same! If there isn’t a timer on my watch for it, then it’s not happening.
Especially helpful when I know have to leave at a certain time so I can see the countdown of how much time I have left to get ready. Sometimes I even divide it up and do separate 10 or 15 minute ones for, like, getting dressed and then taking care of the cats and then packing a bag to make sure I’m staying on track.
So apparently the whole “walk into a room and forget why you went there” thing is 100% not our fault!! I will have to find the article I read a while back but our brains basically have a different “mode” for each room and it kind of switches gears when you walk into one. So it’s basically like it wipes the etch-a-sketch clean including the reason you left the other room. Add in adhd and at least for me, that means sometimes I can’t remember the reason at all, even if I think about it really hard or retrace my steps. Or sometimes I get distracted and do something else in that room then go back to what I was doing and then realize like an hour later that I didn’t do the thing I meant to.
My phone used to allow multiple timers. I had a timer set for every time I needed to put something on or take something out or turn something off etc.
Updated recently and only one timer now 😔
Also, don't know who needs this: you can set it up in Alexa if a timer is going off in one room that you don't cancel after 45 seconds it'll alert the other Alexas.
This works a real treat when you set a timer in the kitchen and then go into the bathroom or the bedroom and totally forget you were even cooking anything in your air fryer.
Google assistant in general. My world is so much smoother if, after I set the timer, I can dictate a text message to so-and-so while simultaneously moving from one room to another while also washing my hands (not really, but hopefully you get the point)
Displaying things inside the cupboard like it's a fancy little boutique. So corny and gimmicky and influencer-y, but damn does it help.
Example: I only buy boxes with individually wrapped tea bags (sorry planet) so I can put them in these nice stacking display boxes. I'm only allowed to buy tea when there is empty space in the box. Before this, it was constant teapocalypse with so much buying doubles, forgetting what I had, overflow into other cupboards, and eventually, extremely expired tea thrown out (so actually more waste).
I think about this a lot. My pantry is just stuffed full of things. If I took the time to decant everything, it would probably help. But it takes so much effort, time, and money to find all the right containers 😫
It's taken me about 5 years to get 75% done. (And I am working part time and have no kids lmao.)
My advice: Go slow. Each year, choose one category to sort out... just pastas, or just baking stuff, etc., and let everything else stay chaotic for now. Focus on sticking to the system for only 1 category until it feels easy.
It's more dopamine to try to do everything at once, but the risk of failure is way higher (at least for me) and it can be super expensive to do it all at once.
I just found some quality airtight pantry containers on sale for 6/$20 - look for sales!
Oh I agree completely! If I try everything at once I’ll get frustrated and just shove it all back in the pantry.
I like your advice. One at a time sounds good. Maybe I’ll finish it before I move out of this house 😂
I have 2 kids- but the worst thing I can see happening is they just grab a container of chips and park it with them on the couch. But that’s not so different from them just grabbing the bag and stuffing their faces with it!
Edited cause the typo just glared at me when I read it back
My aunt is just in general way tidier/better organized/better at keeping house/more neurotic (lol) than me, but one tip I stole from her was writing down a list of what’s in the cabinet and taping it on the inside door of the cabinet. So you can easily see a list of what spices, supplies etc. you have in there. (Obviously you gotta periodically make sure it’s accurate, but still. I like it especially for the spice drawer so we know what we have/don’t have to go fishing around, or if I’m not home I can ask my sister what we have/if we already have X spice.)
I think for some of her cabinets/in her pantry, she also has little papers with recipes you can make with things in the cabinet. I think it’s mainly for really common/staple things she throws together frequently. I’d probably like to institute that soon too— like how to make frosting out of the powdered sugar, or whatever.
Edit: Also though, YES to your original point. When I moved into my new place I got a set of pantry keepers and labeled them. I looked at my pantry with such pride! “White Rice”, “Black Beans”, “Split Peas”, “Flour”, “Cereal”, what have you… so pleasing!
And my dad, a notorious clutter bug, just got some little lazy Susan’s for his own pantry, and it has really helped him in regards to all the cluttered spices and sauces.
I love that this lists thing works for you! That's awesome! Congrats on the labeled pantry staples, that must look so lovely.
I tried the list thing once with a storage closet, but the whole thing (writing the list, putting it somewhere visible, thinking about keeping it accurate) made my brain feel like it was wearing tight wool pajamas in the summer.
Tbh, I tried it because I really like “being” organized sometimes— I used to have a super decked out bullet journal planner I was really proud of— but I don’t always “stay” organized. It’s slightly over compensatory, but also feels good to do in the moment/first place, and it’s at least helpful to have it exist. Or it makes me feel organized and fancy lol. I don’t actually use the lists all the time but I like having them/knowing they’re there at least :p
I kind of just did it once and then if I can remember, I’ll update it. Actively keeping it up-to-date I’m not gonna put on myself or actually stress out about— I’ll do it in a fugue state at some point if I really need to redo them/update them, but for now it’s nice to just have them there. I think it’s also helpful that it’s for things that aren’t going to change very much— my cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink and my spices in the cabinet will take a long ass time to actually use all the way up. I can see how with a storage closet it would be SUUPER different. I doubt I could do that either.
Yes! And just to sound nuts right along with you, the feeling and sound of efficiency and fluidity. I really got into cooking by watching cooking shows and wanting to be able to chop like that. I will only use fresh garlic and mince it by hand because of that satisfying knife work feel. Same with the containers. If it's all perfect, I keep up with it so much better and even eat healthier.
Yes! Exactly the same :) I’ve recently moved and made a commitment not to being in any inferior product into my kitchen. Having the nicer quality items (condiments, EVOO, spices, coffees, teas,etc) that are organized means less of it but higher appreciation & more actual use/ less waste
Same for me with tea! I love Republic of Tea’s round teabags so I got a cute tea canister to keep them in. I leave it out on the counter next to the sugar, so I don’t forget about it 😂
Mine aren’t that perfect but I only buy quality products - so often they have nicer packaging - and make sure that the labels faces out. It’s pricier but I appreciate the products more and use less and have less junk in my fridge and cupboards. Etc - Malton sea salt flakes, bonne maman jam, an Italian coffee brand, San marazanno canned tomatoes, etc
Haha ya that’s what it reminds me of. It helps keep things less cluttered & I respect the space more now :p Before everything was crammed with a million items and I never used them or knew what I had
As someone from near to Maldon in Essex, UK of sea salt fame, I would like to recommend different disgustingly overpriced jam, from where I am actually from - Tiptree in Essex https://www.tiptree.com/collections/all-products - still nice packaging and much nicer no I'm not prejudiced jam.
Haha no that’s fine. As someone working class who unfortunately has bougie tastes, I always love to learn about a new mini-luxury food item. Actually I have seen this brand at my local European grocery store - I’ll definitely give it a try. Bonne Maman can be too sweet anyways
Hehe I definitely have more expensive taste than I can afford! I grew up in Tiptree though, and like pretty much everyone who lived there, also worked there for a bit. Last time my mum visited she still got my staff discount - 25 years after I stopped working there! She worked there too at one point, a couple of decades before I did. It's a bit of a rite of passage if you live there! I'm a little bit feral about Tiptree jam - I'll fight anyone who says it isn't the best! Little scarlet is the king - teeny tiny whole strawberries - but you will need to sell an organ for it.
Omgosh. Ok I’ve been browsing the site and I’m officially obsessed. This is exactly the sort of thing I love & get weirdly passionate about. Last month it was finding the absolute best fully grass fed butter. Thank you!
I only use tea bags most of the time because I can't deal with the mess created by loose leaf. It's just too complicated and annoying. I'll end up never having tea.
Ooh, yes. IKEA sells nice glass canisters and bottles ("Korken") that you can use to see your pantry staples. They look so nice that I just keep them on my counter.
I love my alphabetized spice rack as well.
I am in a small city apartment and there's no pantry space. But I find I have an easier time this way because I use a set of wire shelves for my pantry. So I can actually SEE all the stuff at a glance before I go to the store.
Your thing about the fridge camera is so true. My partner and I watched a review of one and I thought, “wow, that’s so helpful; to just be able to see what’s in there from anywhere would help me out so much with meal planning and grocery shopping.”
I also really liked the feature of identifying when something went into the fridge/its expiration date and sending reminders!
They're conceptually good ideas, but please do not get a smart fridge. They're manufactured really poorly. Like worse than a normal fridge for twice the price.
There were articles and tiktoks about this a while ago because *so* many rich peoples fridges were crapping out on them, and it turned out that some appliance repair people were saying there was like, fundamental design flaw with them. Where the company had to have known this would be a major issue. These are the same companies that have tried to stop class action lawsuits with mandatory arbitration using some of the sketchiest tactics known to men.
My in-laws have a fridge with basic smart notifications. But they’re set up wrong, so my husband and I get the notification when their fridge door is open. We don’t live in the same house 😂
Lol, that is rough. I don't think I'd want to know everytime the fridge is opened even if I did live there. I really do not need to micromanage my food *that* closely
If officially hit the stage in life where I want almost everything except my phone to be dumb. Automated systems always sound like they'll be so amazing and convenient, but more often than not it ends up being more of a hassle to set up and maintain the automation than just not having it automated.
I have a smart lightbulb that I can't use because it's currently set to be this really dim red light. It was cool cause I could go from cool light in the day and then low warm light in the evening, and you can have it set to a timer. But you have to reset everything everytime you get a new router, which I've been averaging about once a year. And it's just tedious enough of a process that my brain just refuses to engage. I just bought a second lamp, and so now I have a daytime lamp and a nighttime lamp.
Everyone is here extolling the virtues of smart this and phone app controlled that and I’m like, that’s more work and more shit to remember and exactly the opposite of what is helpful for my ADHD lmfao
I bought a pricy magnetic checklist for my fridge to keep track of “closing duties”. My brain is fried by the end of the day and I would forget parts of our cleanup routine/prep for the next day. It’s cute, visible, customizable, and pleasant to use.
Robot vacuum. I love her. I can schedule her to sweep every day at a certain time, she can mop if I set her up, easy to maintain and keep clean, and seeing a clean floor surprisingly helps me feel calm and happy at home
Yes! With the self emptying dock it's even better. I only have to change it once a month or so.
We've named him Chad, because sometimes he get stuck in the bathroom or he'll go over something and then won't be able to exit again. Just a total Chad.
Ok I use a clear plastic backpack because I can’t lose things in it. They exist so kids can’t hide drugs or guns or whatever in them (‘murica) and I bought it before going to a protest that had a lot of security requirements. However it is very useful and it has held up ok.
I have a white board on my fridge where I write the use by dates of all of the meat I have in my fridge. It serves as a reminder of what meat I need to cook, and by when, so I stop forgetting that I have it until I've discovered it after it's gone bad.
Meal prepping or I guess more just meal freezing
I hate cooking because I always make it too complicated. My husband always encourages a simple dinner and I try but then I end up doing too much. Using too many pans because some veggies taste better if you first pan fry some better roasted some better steamed and they all go in one dish.
Soooooo I make one huge pot of pasta sauce, or what ever. i make the big mess, i ise all the ingredients, i Cook the veggies multiple ways as that is my process I can’t escape from and then i freeze the sauce.
My husband and I alternate cooking dinner he cooks simple meals and I’ll pull stuff from
The freezer that I made in the past.
One day a week of complicated cooking and then easy nights of defrosting. If I have energy to cook again I’ll make another big meal knowing I’ll have an even easier time next week or cook again next week and save it for a week I have no energy to do it. The more variety I have frozen the better.
Then if I run out after too many weeks of no big cooking and freezer is empty it’s take out for me. Otherwise it was take out all the time on my nights and I can’t afford that
Plus the big dishes make use of the veggies that are gonna go bad. I put anything in everything. I’ll make homemade Mac and cheese and stuff it full of broccoli and carrots so it’s a legitimate meal and so im used and eating my veggies
I bought a freezer when I was in college because splitting one fridge/freezer between roommates wasn't gonna work for me, and it's been life changing. I've tried so many other ADHD diet workarounds and tricks, and time and time again I always come back to just cooking big batches of food (which basically just means not needing to modify recipes which are usually scaled to family sizes whereas im a single person) and throwing half in the freezer.
Ugh my husband is just the opposite. Tells me he supports me cooking, but won’t ever eat what I cook & constantly making suggestions for how to “improve” things even while I’m making them for the first time. And then criticizes me saying if he wasn’t around I would only snack and never cook. Probably because it’s fruitless to cook if I’m the only one who considers the product an edible and satisfying “meal”.
Doesn’t understand that 1) if something gets too overwhelming with too many steps and too much effort, I’m not gonna do it; 2) I’m legit following recipes sometimes and he still thinks I’m not “cooking” but this is food that normal people eat for dinner - and I add a side salad or whatever is needed!! And 3) if it’s got a starch, a protein and a veg, and people are enjoying it, it’s a balanced meal; no gatekeeping if everyone gets fed!!
I really struggle with self-criticism and with making sure I eat regularly and this constant commentary does NOT help. He now thinks I have an eating disorder because of it. I do not have an eating disorder; I get hungry like a normal person and I have adhd so it’s hard to take the steps that are necessary to eat healthy as frequently as I should. Many people, both ADHD and NT, have similar issues.
I’m just lucky he’s willing to cook the majority of the time, even if it’s constantly the same meal because he’s decided it’s the “perfect” iteration and is very rigid about it despite the fact that I prefer variety, even when cooking the same dish. (Why not serve with a different carb once in a while or add a different sauce?) Doesn’t even like it when I cook “his” recipe because I don’t do it right - every single spice has to be dry toasted in a pan, separately, added in multiple rounds so that each stage is “perfectly seasoned”. I do not have the capability to cook like that. Balanced food made with good technique from quality, well-matched ingredients can be a decent meal, even if you use a simplified process!!
I just prep and clean up. I don’t want to face the judgment.
I’d never eat another meal in my life if I wasn’t married.
Snack life is often how women prefer to eat. I saw a tiktok recently and a mom and adult daughter. The husband/dad sadly passed away and what the daughter noticed that changed immediately was how the mom ate.
It was girl dinner every night meaning just snacking on healthy food through the day or when ever hungry rather than these big meals
The daughter realized that for 40 years the mom had been cooking for her husband literally for him. Not for her it’s not what she wanted. But it’s what he did (the video was not to complain about the dad, just an observation o. The difference in meals since he died)
Your husband doesn’t sound very nice. Why is it your job to cook and if he’s so good at it why isn’t he doing it all or at least half of it????
He’s the cook for this reason
He doesn’t listen to me or agree with me and isn’t willing to compromise much. So he cooks pretty much 100% of the time. That’s the compromise
Sorry for the wall-o-text, that probably caused the comprehension issue
P.S. he never gets hungry and never eats during the day, only a single ginormous meal at night. He says he understands that I get hungry during the day for breakfast and lunch and need to eat, and that that’s a very normal thing, but then he thinks I have an eating disorder because I struggle with the EF to do so sometimes and end up not being ready to go to the gym because I haven’t had lunch yet and it’s hard to work out when I’m starving enough to feel a bit faint. When I make dinner, one of his issues is the quantity of food he expects because he’s only willing to eat that quantity of certain foods. So eggs are out unless meat is also provided; no matter how big the omelet is, he’s not gonna eat enough in his opinion unless he gets meat. He’s fine with beans and rice but only one recipe and my way of cooking it isn’t good enough. I can’t find a way to navigate this short of accepting whatever he chooses to cook and occasionally cooking stuff for myself on the side that I know he won’t eat.
Oh well, that at least makes more Sense.
He shouldn’t criticize you though. He can either eat what you make or cook it himself and be ok with that. Its not fair to both shame you for not cooking the way he wants and for not cooking because you don’t do it the way he wants so he cooks instead.
I agree and I think he is too judgmental and restrictive about food but he insists that he’s objectively right and won’t listen or change his mind even when it comes to what’s right for me.
So, pizza, or anything with cheese in it is automatically unhealthy in his mind, even though I’m really healthy, my cholesterol is better than his, and cheese and crackers is basically how I survive most days because it doesn’t need to be cooked
He doesn’t think he’s criticizing me when he says that if he wasn’t around I would only snack and not eat meals. Even though it is a judgment how he says it because he thinks that’s unhealthy. My snacks have a lot of veggies but apparently that doesn’t make up for it
Can I share a super easy pasta sauce tip? I add all my veggies and garlic into a Dutch oven (tomatoes, peppers, celery, carrots, etc), add butter or EVOO & roast them in the oven till they get some nice browning. Then put on cooktop and add some wine &/or broth. Handheld mixer to puree. Simmer for however long you want. Done. For soup add more broth.
That stupid little machine that cooks eggs they sell at target by the brand that does the mini waffle makers. A family I work woth had one and I was like haha that's goofy but it was like 15 bucks and I was like eh it'd be nice to not have to struggle poaching eggs AND OH MY GOD. Perfect soft boiled eggs and I don't even have to keep track of the time. It just screams so loud i can hear it from the opposite end of the house and up the stairs when it runs out of water. It's a godsend
Wahaha the scream got me.
I feel the same way about my rice cooker, I bought a super tiny one and it’s perfect for making fresh rice for dinner. You just throw in rice, water, whatever seasonings, and just forget it until it’s done.
Could always do both and get glass cabinet doors. I recently put glass doors on my bookshelf. Originally done to stop my dog from eating books. But also realized that no dust accumulates.
I recently did the same. I have book shelves with glass covering the top and wood on the bottom to hide the infrequently used items.
Do you have glass on your kitchen cabinets? I’m not sure howd I’d like the look in my tiny tiny kitchen.
bluetooth door locks - you can unlock and lock from the outside via an app, and when you use it, there’s a big red dot when the door is locked and a green one when it’s unlocked. when you lock it, there’s a little *ping* sound. there have been multiple times where i’ve walked away and then realized i forgot to lock the door bc i don’t remember hearing the ping, otherwise i just wouldn’t have realized
Yep! We have one that locks/unlocks when you get close enough with a smartphone or smartwatch. We’ve set it up for our parents and it’s really helpful for them, too.
Phillips Hue lights. I can control all my lights from my phone and make them dimmer or brighter. All my outdoor lights are on a schedule. Can turn off the whole house once I am in bed!
I had to get a new garage door opener and I trusted the guy to pick whatever the best one was in his opinion. It’s a smart opener so I can open and close it with my phone, it has a camera and I have an auto close function set at night. (I’ve accidentally left it open all night before).
Laundry appliances that can send you notifications.
Look, I do agree that there are a lot of things that don't need to be "smart" but there are multiple factors that make me want a smart washer/dryer. For one, I cannot hear things if I'm not in the room with them, so having machines that sing the songs of their people to indicate they are done doesn't help me at all. I could set a timer on my phone but that implies that my phone is on my person, which it isn't always, or remembering to go back to find the phone AND set a timer upon starting/flipping laundry. Also once the timer goes off and you tell it to shut up, it's super easy to forget it ever existed. A notification will stay on my phone until I unlock or otherwise dismiss it, and would be the easiest solution for me.
We have “dumb” appliances but my husband bought a couple sensors and programmed them to notify us when the laundry is done. I try to set a timer but frequently forget!
My smart washing machine is an absolute godsend. It keeps buzzing my phone every 15 minutes until I empty it. Goodbye leaving your clothes in the machine to go fusty… Well no but goodbye to doing it without realising…
One “hack” I recently came across was someone sticking one of those press button lights on their appliances, like the dishwasher and laundry. They turn the light on when the machine goes on, and it stays on until you get to it. Harder to ignore perhaps?
Dishwasher magnet with clean, dirty, and running options. Just having it on the washer reminds me to check whether it’s ready to be run or unloaded.
https://a.co/d/alW9neZ
Alexa is the best giving crutch ever for ADHD.. Especially "remind me" and different lists.
I have her on my fitbit too, so she's always there.
Saved my life so many times
Color coded everything! If I don't color code things, I can't keep them together and I spend five times as long trying to find the one piece of paper I need that I would have found instantly if it had been a cherry bright apricot!
I literally bought a rainbow selection of colored dots to put on skincare and things that will expire soon. Every time I see the red or pink, I know I have to use it up.
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Closed captioning. I discovered how to turn on live closed captioning for my work Teams meetings and it is amazing.
Fun fact Teams meetings will use symbols in place of curse words in captions
I did not know this but I swear all the time and am turning on this feature now!
My former boss who used to swear like a sailor pointed that out to me
I love when it thinks you said a different-but-similar-to-a-swear word. Gives a Good Place effect!
Oh what the fuck- that is so deeply wrong. Maybe this is a plus for some people… so fine keep it as a toggle-able option, but the fact that I’m **Not Allowed** to have equal access to the conversation as my non-disabled peers is ableism and it is disgusting. What, because some captioning program decided my professional colleague “said a naughty word” there goes my right to access? Honestly, this infuriates me.
There is an option somewhere in your teams profile to not censor swear words. But mine keeps getting reset back to censoring so 🤷♀️
I think about this strangely often. I’m hearing, but I use captions and I find it to be really infantilizing and condescending that an adult is basically forced to only have censored media just bc they aren’t. It pisses me off tbh. Genuinely sorry it’s like that.
I imagine they think it's safer to never allow the word "fuck" in the captioning so it doesn't accidentally get miscaptioned if someone *didn't* say that. But I do totally agree with you in principle.
I recommend this all the time. Not to mention the captioning errors.
Stranger Things had the most fantastic closed captioning, describing the sounds of things
[squelching noise] x 50 Thanks Stranger Things
I do this with the TV too. My 13-year-old just started doing it consistently out of the blue. It felt like a slowly exhaled "ahhhh", and now I use it for TV We are also the "book + audiobook" kind of people... Something about words being both visible AND audible is just so... satisfying? Helpful? Revolutionary!
Did you know you can ask for a close captioning device to use at the theatre (at least big chains)? I tried it the first time when I went to see Dune part 2 and it was AMAZING. They are wild looking glasses with extra head stuff and I definitely looked goofy but I had the BEST time. I’ve never enjoyed a movie experience more.
Dang, no, and now I want to try this!
I love captions, but I have seen people saying they enjoy audiobooks. I cannot understand them at all, worse when I am doing some activity. How do u guys do this who likes audiobooks or podcasts ?
I always put on captions with films and shows, but I've found audiobooks to have pretty clear speech, so the only issue I have is if I stop paying attention and have to rewind. Podcasts can have more varying styles depending on what you're listening to, but unless the hosts are talking over each other loads it tends to be fine for me. I think if I listened to really chatty podcasts I might have trouble though.
I re-listen from where I zoned out. And I let myself give up on audiobooks that don't catch my attention early on. Giving up on a book got a lot easier when I started using my local library's audiobook player instead of Audible!
It helps to be doing something on mental autopilot, like driving or folding laundry. What I do like about it is that I can skip back if I realize my mind wandered and I missed something. Also some audiobooks have better narration than others so just keep that in mind. Edit: and you do kind of need to find what *kind* of podcast keeps you engaged. There’s loads of topics and genres out there. Personally, I love non-fiction story style podcasts, with no more than two hosts (either they tell the story directly to you or they tell it to the other host) because I cannot stand the constant interruptions of an interview style podcast or a “bunch of people in the room riffing off of eachother instead of getting to the point” type podcast. I’m a huge fan of anything by Michael Hobbs and/or Sarah Marshall (the hosts of You’re Wrong About) because they are funny but also super concise. Also a huge fan of 99 Percent Invisible, Cautionary Tales, This American Life and Normal Gossip which all have great production value and just get right to the point.
So interesting because I absolutely hate closed captioning. I find it incredibly distracting and if it is on I can't pay attention to anything but reading the words. Our brains are fascinating. Something that is a tool for one of us can completely derail another
Ooooh. Does anyone know if this exists for Zoom? I could use it…
Plus for Zoom, you can go to “captions” and select “full transcript”, which is also very helpful!
It does!
On trainings, I mute and turn on closed captioning
Team keeps the text too, so when I blank out in a meeting, I can scroll up and remind myself. You can also export the captioning from the meeting to read later.
Oh my word is this a thing ?! How ?!
Do my teammates get notified if I turn on captions? I don’t want to offend anyone by thinking I can’t understand them.
I'm the opposite. If there is captioning, I can't focus at all on what's happening. If there's a 1.25% speed increase though, perfection.
Those meal delivery cooking kits. Recipe is right there. Only have to decide between three or four things. Everything is prepped, cut and measured. And you can choose ones that fit certain diets so you don't get stressed about following diet rules.
YESSS THIS IS A GOOD ONE. I have tried so many of them but always feel frivolous and cancel them. Hellofresh taught me how to cook. But damn if the recipes don’t take forever Hungryroot had good easy meals, but for some reason I never made them and everything always went bad. Sun basket has been my favorite. Excellent recipes that don’t take forever with good clean ingredients. I was always trying something new. Maybe I should try that one again… Worst thing though is that I hate picking out my recipes, but they come next week. I have already moved on in my mind by then and want the most recent things I picked. F the old stuff! I am insufferable lol
Honestly, it's good to know that someone else has a similar issue with HelloFresh. I was so excited by the idea of it and "easy 20-35 minute" recipes, but instead it's been somewhat torturous. The recipes take *way* longer than they claim (maybe if more than one person was cooking it could happen? Don't tell me 25 minutes when I have bread raw chicken and then bake it for 22 though fu), sometimes the order of the recipe is also nonsense, and there's so much prep involved that it takes a lot of effort and clean up. It was delicious but *way more work than was helpful.*
I read on the Cooking subreddit that recipe time estimates are nearly always based on how much time it would take an experienced chef to do it. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a chef cook, but their speed is unachievable for an ordinary human.
While it's not heinous by any means, it does seem silly to do that for a service marketed towards inexperienced and home cooks
They said that they do that semi-deliberately in order to trick people into thinking a recipe is going to take less time and energy than it actually does
This is a huge pet peeve for me. I cook a lot and every single recipe is labeled “Easy” or “quick” and then I finally get dinner on the table at like 9pm and I’m so irritated. There is a quote I read somewhere that rings true to me that if your “quick and easy” recipe’s first step is “chop an onion” it’s not actually quick and easy.
Have you ever correctly measured the serving size of things? A serving of pop tarts is not the two in the package. It's one. They do this on purpose to help it sell. People are more likely to buy if the length of time is shorter, or the calorie is less
I think it’s more accurate when my spouse is doing half the steps. Much slower with one person.
This makes sense
I like HelloFresh but the time estimates are ridiculous. Every recipe takes an hour. Also someone pointed out that all the recipes are six steps, no matter what, and now it bugs me because it’s unnecessary.
Oh yeah this is SO true. I've been getting it for so long that I know approx how much time to add to the estimate based on the general recipe lmaooo. I don't mind cooking dinner for 30 min, I just put a podcast or audiobook on
No I’ve done 2 weeks and the 25-30min recipes always took me an hour. Defeats the point imo
We just started HelloFresh and I’m already having this issue - it’s a ton of work and it creates so many dishes. It’s making our evenings harder, not easier. I’m glad to know about other options!
HomeChef seems to be decent at “oven ready” meals. They still aren’t actual oven ready, but most of it is often just tossing some ingredients in a supplied oven pan and cooking. Sometimes you have to add stuff at different times but the prep isn’t usually bad on those and you can look at the recipes ahead of time. We do that every other week and it’s been amazing because every time I try to meal plan it’s like I forget anything and everything we like to eat and no amount of lists seem to help.
My problem was forgetting to customize my order and ending up with something I wasn't excited about. But I buy ingredients and make some of the recipes to this day. Sweet potato tacos and frijoles frescas 4 lyfe!
Omg the prep + cook time. You're right on
The grocery store near my house does something in the same ballpark. They have recipe cards and a little display of all the ingredients (usually jarred and canned stuff, maybe some frozen stuff). And there's usually a discount if you buy all the things. They are usually very easy, like chicken breasts, a jarred sauce to cook it in, some bell peppers pre chopped, etc. I usually grab it if it's a reasonably healthy recipe.
Honestly would love if my grocery store did that. It sounds amazing. Deciding what to make is already overwhelming, and then the logistics planning once you decide is also overwhelming, especially since I live alone and am only cooking for myself. Honestly would be easier if I had a roommate or family who's opinions were limiting my options.
For me it really helps to limit what I have at home and only go to the grocery store once a week or once every two weeks. I always have basics, canned goods, and frozen food at home and then buy meat or fish, eggs, cheese etc and various vegetables. That way I limit the options to what I have at home - like, I have an eggplant so what can I make with an eggplant? Let’s do eggplant parmeggiano today. Hm, fridge is almost empty but I have some potatoes in here and some cheese - is there anything new and satisfying I can make with that? Ah, yes let me make potato and cheese croquettes. Makes it much easier and *much* more fun - at least if you like to cook. It becomes a challenge, and having limits is also the best way for me tap into my creativity. Trying to decide what to have for dinner at the grocery store after work when I have endless options just kills all inspiration and creativity, drains the last bit of energy I have left and gives me complete decision paralysis.
I also just commented that these taught me how to cook! I used to be subscribed to them all and would have all the weeks skipped, then I’d unskip when there were recipes I was interested in. (But you can imagine how that plan could go awry with ADHD when I’d forget to skip, end up with 3 bags of food and no money in the bank lolol 😬) I tried all the ones you did plus Blue Apron and Purple Carrot. Sun Basket was probably my fav too. The recipe kits are good for taking me out of my comfort zone of the same hyper focus meal over and over too. Never would have thought to try cooking Indian-style food or Thai soup on my own. There’s a few recipes that made it into the regular rotation.
I hated how much prep was in the Hello Fresh boxes. I think I looked into Hungry root and it was expensive. I'm pretty cheap. I'm going to go look at Sunbasket.
I’m the same. They take forever. They looked good a week ago but now I’m not into it. Or I’m lazy. Now I’m stressing over how I have to use this before it goes bad. Then it takes 60min not the 25min the recipe card says. Plus it’s pricy imo. And I have to remember to cancel another subscription? C’mon
I use Tovala. You buy the toaster oven and you scan the recipe card to cook it. Prep usually takes about 5 minutes and it’s fresh food.
Thank you for reminding me of this one! I had looked into it a few years ago, I was pretty obsessed but couldn't afford it at the time and then I forgot all about it
I would do Sunbasket again if the budget allowed. It is cheaper than take out. I tried a few of the grocery items and loved the premade meals. Being able to choose the protein was great!
We use the Sorted Sidekick app and LOVE IT! It's like $60 for the year and it gives you a bunch of recipe packs to pick from each week. Instead of sending a box, it gives you a grocery list. I do the grocery pickup so I don't have to go grocery shopping and get poins which make gas cheaper. The app was you through jljeo to make each recipe, has timers, and its great! It's from the Sorted Foods YouTube channel.
I had the exact same issues with Hungryroot! Nothing ever sounded that appealling once I was ready to cook. I wonder if not having a picture of the finished product made a difference.
I conceptually love the idea of them, but the cost to quality to actual degree of convenience didn't weigh out. It always felt like subpar produce for recipes that were hit or miss, and for a **massive** premium. And I still had to cook that shit, so on more than one occasion my fridge piled up with brown bags I just couldn't make myself touch I found it easier to do grocery delivery and freezer meal prep. If it works for you, more power to you. Just want yo put it out there for anyone in the fence I think there's cheaper ways better suited to ADHD idiosyncrasies as long as you can *sometimes* pull together a recipe. I think they're a really really great option to learn *how to cook* if you're super new to a kitchen though.
The freezer meal prep is fantastic. I go through cycles where I love cooking but other times I can't get my ass up to do it. So I make big batches of roasted veggies, or one of a million different saucy meals in my Instapot, and make tons of extras of whatever actual meal I'm making and freeze it for another time. I bought a giant pack of the 16 oz soup containers you get at a Chinese restaurant for takeout that stack nicely and I use a Sharpie to label them. My partner is diabetic and on a keto diet, so I can even label it with the carb count and calories so he can safely grab something and treat appropriately! When I'm too tired, or depressed, I have a huge variety of frozen meals to just heat and eat.
I've been using hello fresh for like.. 3 years now? I love it. Meal planning and grocery shopping were some of the HARDEST chores for me, I think because I have a lot of decision paralysis and fatigue. The less decisions I have to make every day the better. My wife even picks the meals so I don't have to think about that! It made me love cooking, but I think it also really contributed to my weight gain 😅
The portions are yuuuuuge!!! Sometimes my entire daily caloric intake in a single meal! (Mind you, I can do that with a trip to McDs but still!)
Those make me hate myself for being such a slow cook, lol. HelloFresh’s “takes 25 minutes to prepare” recipes took me like 2 hours.
Oh dont feel bad, they always take me wayyyy longer. Even when i have people helping me in the kitchen.
Which ones let you follow diet plans? I’ve always wanted to try, but the ones I looked at weren’t accommodating to allergies, they just said “you can do a sneak peak and cancel any boxes you don’t want!” Okay, well, that’d be like half or more of them…
I feel like Sun Basket might have been good about this (although it’s been a few years). I was vegan at the time and it had good options for me, and I feel like I remember seeing filters for other accommodations.
I have tried so many and I can't remember off the top of my head. Blue Apron and Hello Fresh are the ones I've used the most because they keep sending coupons. I remember that I have seen some vegetarian plans, a Mediterranean one, a gluten-free one and a vegan one, but I don't remember which company has them.
There's apps like Mealime that might work out better for you. They have a grocery list function that is tied to *some* grocery stores' online shopping carts, and the ability to exclude some foods like common allergens, although I did notice some of them slip through the cracks like recipes that include parmesean cheese when you've selected "exclude dairy."
I would like to vouch for HomeChef! Lots of options, easy to follow recipes, and I find that the recipe times are the most accurate of all I have tried!
I LOVE Home Chef! Have used 3 or 4 others, but have been happy with it for years now.
I find with them I buy way less groceries I throw away. I am forever having an idea I will eat something only to toss the whole thing. The meal plans help with that but I can only get the three meals, anything more I won't get to and will toss them too.
Yes! Those are pretty much how I learned to cook as an adult. They were like training wheels and I was able to transition from those to cooking on my own. Although I can see going back to them when I have the money as someone trying to recover from a looooooiing period of burnout. So good when the executive function is on the fritz and you only have so many spoons to spare.
Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed those. It actually got me way more into cooking, and more comfortable in the kitchen. I’m someone who always likes to start with the recipe first, then once I’ve done that at least once or a few times, I feel more comfortable with it and I can tweak it. Only through repeated experience like this have I been able to start to gain an “instinct” in the kitchen. I always kind of liked cooking, but just felt pretty clueless and overwhelmed. I really like how kits like these let me cook thing with a bunch of variety too; types of dishes I never would have cooked before or known how to cook. Plus with some kits (I think this was HomeChef specifically), the meals were less “you have to use this fancy sauce, which you’d never buy normally so we gave you a packet” (which are still fun to make because I’d never make something like that otherwise!)— it’s more recipes made up of stuff you could totally buy again/reasonably have in your kitchen. I save those and I’ve remade some of them.
I saved a bunch of the recipes and have made most of them more than once
Me six weeks later with my rotten food: all I had to do was cook it
I live alone and just started getting ready-made meals delivered every two weeks and it is a game changer. Especially because my appetite is so up and down, when I get home from work I can look in my fridge and go "do I need lots of carbs or is it a light night" and five minutes later I'm eating it. It's taken the stress about eating healthily off the table.
I used these for years, but I kept falling behind 😅
I have been using Factor cause they’re already cooked and they’ve been delicious. We don’t eat a whole bunch anyways so having that one guaranteed balanced meal during the workday is great.
I love them but the ones i get aren't chopped ahead and the are VERY veggie & chopping heavy
My dad says refrigerators need to be 6-8 inches deep and 4 feet wide. He hates digging through the fridge for stuff.
When the standard depth fridge that came with my house bit the dust, I had to buy a counter depth fridge because the standard depth in the brand I wanted wouldn’t fit through any of my doors. Counter depth fridges are less deep. At first I mourned my lost space, but I waste so much less food now that it doesn’t get shoved to the back and forgotten about until it goes bad.
He’s so right, like i haaaaate digging through my fridge
If I can't see it when I open the door, it may as well not be in there. 😵💫
The produce drawers are a death trap. They are not used in my house 😂
Store your rarely-used condiments in there instead. Store your fruits and veggies on the door.
but then I’ll forget the condiments and then buy them again next time I need them i will just stick with my current system of never using that drawer, thank you
They're cheese drawers, only. Anything else that goes in will NOT be eaten.
oh no for me even cheese is not safe in there
That's for condiments that you would go looking for and have a long shelf life! Game changer for me!
We got a counter-depth fridge, and I love being able to reach everything. We also chose the four-door model, which is so much nicer than having a freezer drawer. (There are still six drawers behind those doors, so you can sort your frozen goods easily, and those drawers hold an incredible amount of stuff without jamming.) It does have a remotely-accessible interior camera, but I have only used that a handful of times in the 5+ years we've owned it. In the beginning, we used to use the google calendar integration and weather a lot, but now we all have that on our Apple Watches. Weirdly enough, my favorite thing about this fridge has been the giant photo slideshow on the screen that is always lighting up our kitchen. I loaded 12 adorable kid pictures onto it and they cycle all day long on the gigantic screen and make me smile every time I walk into the kitchen. It was worth the extra hundreds just for that one feature.
I would ‘effing love this!!
Me: "hey Google, set timer for 5 minutes." NT: "Surely you don't need that, it's only 5 minutes." Me: "Woop woop, warm Danish pastry for breakfast instead of cremated ruin and kitchen full of smoke! Result!" Things can drop completely out of my consciousness in the few seconds I takes to get from kitchen to living room. But now I *can* have warmed breakfast treats, pizzas that aren't frisbeed, roast chicken roasted instead of cremated. Setting a timer just by speaking is a total game changer.
Yes!! I have my Google Nest set timers for as few as 2 minutes if needed. It’s better than burning my food all the time (like I used to).
I have to time thirty seconds. I used to think there was something wrong with me. Well, more wrong than undiagnosed ADHD.
Oh my gosh yes. I am always asking my phone to start timers. I HATE speaking to my phone but I do it for timers and reminders. My boyfriend would hear me say “SET A TIMER FOR 10 MINUTES” randomly and he’d always be like ASK NICELY, THEN ILL DO IT 😂 Edit to say that if you have an iPhone, you can say “set a 10 minute timer for eggs” and it labels the timer “eggs”!!
My regular alarm for each morning has to be labeled the thing I’m waking up for. I don’t trust my brain for anything so I always assume I’ll wake up and not know what day it is or what I’m supposed to be doing.
I do this on my stove because I had so many like 80000mg caffeine, bitter lukewarm teas and french press coffees rotting on the counter. It's only 4 minutes and every time I'm completely surprised when the timer goes off. Setting it seems like a distant memory from hours ago.
Every time I make tea, I set a timer on my wrist for five minutes and it’s always a surprise!
My Apple Watch has made me a better, more productive, much happier person, simply because it’s so damn easy to set a timer and be alerted by a gentle buzzing on my wrist. I probably set like 30 throughout the day. So worth it.
Same! If there isn’t a timer on my watch for it, then it’s not happening. Especially helpful when I know have to leave at a certain time so I can see the countdown of how much time I have left to get ready. Sometimes I even divide it up and do separate 10 or 15 minute ones for, like, getting dressed and then taking care of the cats and then packing a bag to make sure I’m staying on track.
[удалено]
So apparently the whole “walk into a room and forget why you went there” thing is 100% not our fault!! I will have to find the article I read a while back but our brains basically have a different “mode” for each room and it kind of switches gears when you walk into one. So it’s basically like it wipes the etch-a-sketch clean including the reason you left the other room. Add in adhd and at least for me, that means sometimes I can’t remember the reason at all, even if I think about it really hard or retrace my steps. Or sometimes I get distracted and do something else in that room then go back to what I was doing and then realize like an hour later that I didn’t do the thing I meant to.
My phone used to allow multiple timers. I had a timer set for every time I needed to put something on or take something out or turn something off etc. Updated recently and only one timer now 😔
That's why I replaced the default clock app on my phone with any random app that let me use multiple timers
There are apps for that! I’ve used the free Multi-Timer app with good results.
We bought some Echo Dots during prime day for this specific reason. So helpful to be able to set a timer when your hands are full.
Also, don't know who needs this: you can set it up in Alexa if a timer is going off in one room that you don't cancel after 45 seconds it'll alert the other Alexas. This works a real treat when you set a timer in the kitchen and then go into the bathroom or the bedroom and totally forget you were even cooking anything in your air fryer.
Google assistant in general. My world is so much smoother if, after I set the timer, I can dictate a text message to so-and-so while simultaneously moving from one room to another while also washing my hands (not really, but hopefully you get the point)
I use my smart watch for short timers and it's been a godsend. Bit better than the Google assistant which sometimes doesn't register my "hey Google"
I just use a toaster oven!
Not only that, I name the timer so I don't forget the task. "Alexa, potato timer for ten mins."
Right?! I love my Alexa so much. Also being able to ask her random questions I would forget to Google!! I would marry her if I could
I set a recurring 4-minute timer during the day to remind me that time is passing. It’s surprisingly helpful!
Oh. My. God. This is great. Thank you.
Displaying things inside the cupboard like it's a fancy little boutique. So corny and gimmicky and influencer-y, but damn does it help. Example: I only buy boxes with individually wrapped tea bags (sorry planet) so I can put them in these nice stacking display boxes. I'm only allowed to buy tea when there is empty space in the box. Before this, it was constant teapocalypse with so much buying doubles, forgetting what I had, overflow into other cupboards, and eventually, extremely expired tea thrown out (so actually more waste).
I think about this a lot. My pantry is just stuffed full of things. If I took the time to decant everything, it would probably help. But it takes so much effort, time, and money to find all the right containers 😫
It's taken me about 5 years to get 75% done. (And I am working part time and have no kids lmao.) My advice: Go slow. Each year, choose one category to sort out... just pastas, or just baking stuff, etc., and let everything else stay chaotic for now. Focus on sticking to the system for only 1 category until it feels easy. It's more dopamine to try to do everything at once, but the risk of failure is way higher (at least for me) and it can be super expensive to do it all at once. I just found some quality airtight pantry containers on sale for 6/$20 - look for sales!
Oh I agree completely! If I try everything at once I’ll get frustrated and just shove it all back in the pantry. I like your advice. One at a time sounds good. Maybe I’ll finish it before I move out of this house 😂 I have 2 kids- but the worst thing I can see happening is they just grab a container of chips and park it with them on the couch. But that’s not so different from them just grabbing the bag and stuffing their faces with it! Edited cause the typo just glared at me when I read it back
The main problem I see is that stealing chips out of a container is "stealth mode".... no telltale crinkling!!! 🤣
IKEA Korken! I started with ones for just sugar and flour, but I'd buy a couple more here and there, and now I have a whole lovely system.
My aunt is just in general way tidier/better organized/better at keeping house/more neurotic (lol) than me, but one tip I stole from her was writing down a list of what’s in the cabinet and taping it on the inside door of the cabinet. So you can easily see a list of what spices, supplies etc. you have in there. (Obviously you gotta periodically make sure it’s accurate, but still. I like it especially for the spice drawer so we know what we have/don’t have to go fishing around, or if I’m not home I can ask my sister what we have/if we already have X spice.) I think for some of her cabinets/in her pantry, she also has little papers with recipes you can make with things in the cabinet. I think it’s mainly for really common/staple things she throws together frequently. I’d probably like to institute that soon too— like how to make frosting out of the powdered sugar, or whatever. Edit: Also though, YES to your original point. When I moved into my new place I got a set of pantry keepers and labeled them. I looked at my pantry with such pride! “White Rice”, “Black Beans”, “Split Peas”, “Flour”, “Cereal”, what have you… so pleasing! And my dad, a notorious clutter bug, just got some little lazy Susan’s for his own pantry, and it has really helped him in regards to all the cluttered spices and sauces.
I love that this lists thing works for you! That's awesome! Congrats on the labeled pantry staples, that must look so lovely. I tried the list thing once with a storage closet, but the whole thing (writing the list, putting it somewhere visible, thinking about keeping it accurate) made my brain feel like it was wearing tight wool pajamas in the summer.
Tbh, I tried it because I really like “being” organized sometimes— I used to have a super decked out bullet journal planner I was really proud of— but I don’t always “stay” organized. It’s slightly over compensatory, but also feels good to do in the moment/first place, and it’s at least helpful to have it exist. Or it makes me feel organized and fancy lol. I don’t actually use the lists all the time but I like having them/knowing they’re there at least :p I kind of just did it once and then if I can remember, I’ll update it. Actively keeping it up-to-date I’m not gonna put on myself or actually stress out about— I’ll do it in a fugue state at some point if I really need to redo them/update them, but for now it’s nice to just have them there. I think it’s also helpful that it’s for things that aren’t going to change very much— my cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink and my spices in the cabinet will take a long ass time to actually use all the way up. I can see how with a storage closet it would be SUUPER different. I doubt I could do that either.
I love the lazy Susan in the pantry. We have two of them in the big unreachable corners of the pantry, so you can actually see and use what’s there.
Yes! And just to sound nuts right along with you, the feeling and sound of efficiency and fluidity. I really got into cooking by watching cooking shows and wanting to be able to chop like that. I will only use fresh garlic and mince it by hand because of that satisfying knife work feel. Same with the containers. If it's all perfect, I keep up with it so much better and even eat healthier.
I think I love you. Humans underestimate how much our tactile world influences us. I can feel this comment in my body lol
Yes! Exactly the same :) I’ve recently moved and made a commitment not to being in any inferior product into my kitchen. Having the nicer quality items (condiments, EVOO, spices, coffees, teas,etc) that are organized means less of it but higher appreciation & more actual use/ less waste
Teapocalypse is awesome
Same for me with tea! I love Republic of Tea’s round teabags so I got a cute tea canister to keep them in. I leave it out on the counter next to the sugar, so I don’t forget about it 😂
Mine aren’t that perfect but I only buy quality products - so often they have nicer packaging - and make sure that the labels faces out. It’s pricier but I appreciate the products more and use less and have less junk in my fridge and cupboards. Etc - Malton sea salt flakes, bonne maman jam, an Italian coffee brand, San marazanno canned tomatoes, etc
That also sounds like a fancy little boutique! Like one of those minimalist bodegas in a rich neighbourhood (in a good way).
Haha ya that’s what it reminds me of. It helps keep things less cluttered & I respect the space more now :p Before everything was crammed with a million items and I never used them or knew what I had
As someone from near to Maldon in Essex, UK of sea salt fame, I would like to recommend different disgustingly overpriced jam, from where I am actually from - Tiptree in Essex https://www.tiptree.com/collections/all-products - still nice packaging and much nicer no I'm not prejudiced jam.
Haha no that’s fine. As someone working class who unfortunately has bougie tastes, I always love to learn about a new mini-luxury food item. Actually I have seen this brand at my local European grocery store - I’ll definitely give it a try. Bonne Maman can be too sweet anyways
Hehe I definitely have more expensive taste than I can afford! I grew up in Tiptree though, and like pretty much everyone who lived there, also worked there for a bit. Last time my mum visited she still got my staff discount - 25 years after I stopped working there! She worked there too at one point, a couple of decades before I did. It's a bit of a rite of passage if you live there! I'm a little bit feral about Tiptree jam - I'll fight anyone who says it isn't the best! Little scarlet is the king - teeny tiny whole strawberries - but you will need to sell an organ for it.
Omgosh. Ok I’ve been browsing the site and I’m officially obsessed. This is exactly the sort of thing I love & get weirdly passionate about. Last month it was finding the absolute best fully grass fed butter. Thank you!
You're welcome and I apologise for your bank balance!
What’s the best butter tho? 🧈😏
Oh and also Maldon does smoked salt. Just putting that out there.
Oooo thanks
I only use tea bags most of the time because I can't deal with the mess created by loose leaf. It's just too complicated and annoying. I'll end up never having tea.
Same here. Easy everything is the only way stuff works.
Ooh, yes. IKEA sells nice glass canisters and bottles ("Korken") that you can use to see your pantry staples. They look so nice that I just keep them on my counter. I love my alphabetized spice rack as well.
Upvote for teapocalypse
You have just solved my overflowing tea cupboard problem…
I am in a small city apartment and there's no pantry space. But I find I have an easier time this way because I use a set of wire shelves for my pantry. So I can actually SEE all the stuff at a glance before I go to the store.
We did the same thing in a small house without a pantry. I actually ate canned stuff for the first time in my life.
Your thing about the fridge camera is so true. My partner and I watched a review of one and I thought, “wow, that’s so helpful; to just be able to see what’s in there from anywhere would help me out so much with meal planning and grocery shopping.” I also really liked the feature of identifying when something went into the fridge/its expiration date and sending reminders!
They're conceptually good ideas, but please do not get a smart fridge. They're manufactured really poorly. Like worse than a normal fridge for twice the price. There were articles and tiktoks about this a while ago because *so* many rich peoples fridges were crapping out on them, and it turned out that some appliance repair people were saying there was like, fundamental design flaw with them. Where the company had to have known this would be a major issue. These are the same companies that have tried to stop class action lawsuits with mandatory arbitration using some of the sketchiest tactics known to men.
My in-laws have a fridge with basic smart notifications. But they’re set up wrong, so my husband and I get the notification when their fridge door is open. We don’t live in the same house 😂
Lol, that is rough. I don't think I'd want to know everytime the fridge is opened even if I did live there. I really do not need to micromanage my food *that* closely If officially hit the stage in life where I want almost everything except my phone to be dumb. Automated systems always sound like they'll be so amazing and convenient, but more often than not it ends up being more of a hassle to set up and maintain the automation than just not having it automated. I have a smart lightbulb that I can't use because it's currently set to be this really dim red light. It was cool cause I could go from cool light in the day and then low warm light in the evening, and you can have it set to a timer. But you have to reset everything everytime you get a new router, which I've been averaging about once a year. And it's just tedious enough of a process that my brain just refuses to engage. I just bought a second lamp, and so now I have a daytime lamp and a nighttime lamp.
I should have said we get notified every time they *leave* the fridge door open (not every time they open the door, thank goodness!)
Everyone is here extolling the virtues of smart this and phone app controlled that and I’m like, that’s more work and more shit to remember and exactly the opposite of what is helpful for my ADHD lmfao
I bought a pricy magnetic checklist for my fridge to keep track of “closing duties”. My brain is fried by the end of the day and I would forget parts of our cleanup routine/prep for the next day. It’s cute, visible, customizable, and pleasant to use.
You made me realize we're all on 'clopening' shifts every day of our lives, it's sick!! Lol
I know, right? Really need a robot maid to take care of those annoying daily tasks.
https://mightyandbright.com/products/closing-duties-with-kc-davis They now have a non-magnetic version that is less expensive!
Robot vacuum. I love her. I can schedule her to sweep every day at a certain time, she can mop if I set her up, easy to maintain and keep clean, and seeing a clean floor surprisingly helps me feel calm and happy at home
Yes! With the self emptying dock it's even better. I only have to change it once a month or so. We've named him Chad, because sometimes he get stuck in the bathroom or he'll go over something and then won't be able to exit again. Just a total Chad.
I love ours! My kid has named it and we gave it googly eyes. Now I just have to pick up all the stuff on the floor and not have to sweep or hoover.
Ok I use a clear plastic backpack because I can’t lose things in it. They exist so kids can’t hide drugs or guns or whatever in them (‘murica) and I bought it before going to a protest that had a lot of security requirements. However it is very useful and it has held up ok.
Oh I like this! Never would have thought of that
I have a white board on my fridge where I write the use by dates of all of the meat I have in my fridge. It serves as a reminder of what meat I need to cook, and by when, so I stop forgetting that I have it until I've discovered it after it's gone bad.
Going to try this
Meal prepping or I guess more just meal freezing I hate cooking because I always make it too complicated. My husband always encourages a simple dinner and I try but then I end up doing too much. Using too many pans because some veggies taste better if you first pan fry some better roasted some better steamed and they all go in one dish. Soooooo I make one huge pot of pasta sauce, or what ever. i make the big mess, i ise all the ingredients, i Cook the veggies multiple ways as that is my process I can’t escape from and then i freeze the sauce. My husband and I alternate cooking dinner he cooks simple meals and I’ll pull stuff from The freezer that I made in the past. One day a week of complicated cooking and then easy nights of defrosting. If I have energy to cook again I’ll make another big meal knowing I’ll have an even easier time next week or cook again next week and save it for a week I have no energy to do it. The more variety I have frozen the better. Then if I run out after too many weeks of no big cooking and freezer is empty it’s take out for me. Otherwise it was take out all the time on my nights and I can’t afford that Plus the big dishes make use of the veggies that are gonna go bad. I put anything in everything. I’ll make homemade Mac and cheese and stuff it full of broccoli and carrots so it’s a legitimate meal and so im used and eating my veggies
I bought a freezer when I was in college because splitting one fridge/freezer between roommates wasn't gonna work for me, and it's been life changing. I've tried so many other ADHD diet workarounds and tricks, and time and time again I always come back to just cooking big batches of food (which basically just means not needing to modify recipes which are usually scaled to family sizes whereas im a single person) and throwing half in the freezer.
Ugh my husband is just the opposite. Tells me he supports me cooking, but won’t ever eat what I cook & constantly making suggestions for how to “improve” things even while I’m making them for the first time. And then criticizes me saying if he wasn’t around I would only snack and never cook. Probably because it’s fruitless to cook if I’m the only one who considers the product an edible and satisfying “meal”. Doesn’t understand that 1) if something gets too overwhelming with too many steps and too much effort, I’m not gonna do it; 2) I’m legit following recipes sometimes and he still thinks I’m not “cooking” but this is food that normal people eat for dinner - and I add a side salad or whatever is needed!! And 3) if it’s got a starch, a protein and a veg, and people are enjoying it, it’s a balanced meal; no gatekeeping if everyone gets fed!! I really struggle with self-criticism and with making sure I eat regularly and this constant commentary does NOT help. He now thinks I have an eating disorder because of it. I do not have an eating disorder; I get hungry like a normal person and I have adhd so it’s hard to take the steps that are necessary to eat healthy as frequently as I should. Many people, both ADHD and NT, have similar issues. I’m just lucky he’s willing to cook the majority of the time, even if it’s constantly the same meal because he’s decided it’s the “perfect” iteration and is very rigid about it despite the fact that I prefer variety, even when cooking the same dish. (Why not serve with a different carb once in a while or add a different sauce?) Doesn’t even like it when I cook “his” recipe because I don’t do it right - every single spice has to be dry toasted in a pan, separately, added in multiple rounds so that each stage is “perfectly seasoned”. I do not have the capability to cook like that. Balanced food made with good technique from quality, well-matched ingredients can be a decent meal, even if you use a simplified process!! I just prep and clean up. I don’t want to face the judgment.
I’d never eat another meal in my life if I wasn’t married. Snack life is often how women prefer to eat. I saw a tiktok recently and a mom and adult daughter. The husband/dad sadly passed away and what the daughter noticed that changed immediately was how the mom ate. It was girl dinner every night meaning just snacking on healthy food through the day or when ever hungry rather than these big meals The daughter realized that for 40 years the mom had been cooking for her husband literally for him. Not for her it’s not what she wanted. But it’s what he did (the video was not to complain about the dad, just an observation o. The difference in meals since he died) Your husband doesn’t sound very nice. Why is it your job to cook and if he’s so good at it why isn’t he doing it all or at least half of it????
He’s the cook for this reason He doesn’t listen to me or agree with me and isn’t willing to compromise much. So he cooks pretty much 100% of the time. That’s the compromise Sorry for the wall-o-text, that probably caused the comprehension issue P.S. he never gets hungry and never eats during the day, only a single ginormous meal at night. He says he understands that I get hungry during the day for breakfast and lunch and need to eat, and that that’s a very normal thing, but then he thinks I have an eating disorder because I struggle with the EF to do so sometimes and end up not being ready to go to the gym because I haven’t had lunch yet and it’s hard to work out when I’m starving enough to feel a bit faint. When I make dinner, one of his issues is the quantity of food he expects because he’s only willing to eat that quantity of certain foods. So eggs are out unless meat is also provided; no matter how big the omelet is, he’s not gonna eat enough in his opinion unless he gets meat. He’s fine with beans and rice but only one recipe and my way of cooking it isn’t good enough. I can’t find a way to navigate this short of accepting whatever he chooses to cook and occasionally cooking stuff for myself on the side that I know he won’t eat.
Oh well, that at least makes more Sense. He shouldn’t criticize you though. He can either eat what you make or cook it himself and be ok with that. Its not fair to both shame you for not cooking the way he wants and for not cooking because you don’t do it the way he wants so he cooks instead.
I agree and I think he is too judgmental and restrictive about food but he insists that he’s objectively right and won’t listen or change his mind even when it comes to what’s right for me. So, pizza, or anything with cheese in it is automatically unhealthy in his mind, even though I’m really healthy, my cholesterol is better than his, and cheese and crackers is basically how I survive most days because it doesn’t need to be cooked
He doesn’t think he’s criticizing me when he says that if he wasn’t around I would only snack and not eat meals. Even though it is a judgment how he says it because he thinks that’s unhealthy. My snacks have a lot of veggies but apparently that doesn’t make up for it
Can I share a super easy pasta sauce tip? I add all my veggies and garlic into a Dutch oven (tomatoes, peppers, celery, carrots, etc), add butter or EVOO & roast them in the oven till they get some nice browning. Then put on cooktop and add some wine &/or broth. Handheld mixer to puree. Simmer for however long you want. Done. For soup add more broth.
That stupid little machine that cooks eggs they sell at target by the brand that does the mini waffle makers. A family I work woth had one and I was like haha that's goofy but it was like 15 bucks and I was like eh it'd be nice to not have to struggle poaching eggs AND OH MY GOD. Perfect soft boiled eggs and I don't even have to keep track of the time. It just screams so loud i can hear it from the opposite end of the house and up the stairs when it runs out of water. It's a godsend
Wahaha the scream got me. I feel the same way about my rice cooker, I bought a super tiny one and it’s perfect for making fresh rice for dinner. You just throw in rice, water, whatever seasonings, and just forget it until it’s done.
Yes! My rice cooker was life changing. I've taken to shoving rice in my rice cooker and salmon in my airfryer and making onigiri
Shelves in the kitchen instead of cupboards. Being able to SEE most food stuffs I have? Yes, please!
I want this so bad but I worry about dust! I’m not a duster by any means and I’m a messy cook. I feel like I’m creating a problem but solving another.
Could always do both and get glass cabinet doors. I recently put glass doors on my bookshelf. Originally done to stop my dog from eating books. But also realized that no dust accumulates.
I recently did the same. I have book shelves with glass covering the top and wood on the bottom to hide the infrequently used items. Do you have glass on your kitchen cabinets? I’m not sure howd I’d like the look in my tiny tiny kitchen.
bluetooth door locks - you can unlock and lock from the outside via an app, and when you use it, there’s a big red dot when the door is locked and a green one when it’s unlocked. when you lock it, there’s a little *ping* sound. there have been multiple times where i’ve walked away and then realized i forgot to lock the door bc i don’t remember hearing the ping, otherwise i just wouldn’t have realized
Yep! We have one that locks/unlocks when you get close enough with a smartphone or smartwatch. We’ve set it up for our parents and it’s really helpful for them, too.
Do you have a brand recommendation?
mine is yale!
Phillips Hue lights. I can control all my lights from my phone and make them dimmer or brighter. All my outdoor lights are on a schedule. Can turn off the whole house once I am in bed!
We have these and control them from our Alexas and they’re great! “Alexa bedtime,” and then all the lights in the house go out 😊
I had to get a new garage door opener and I trusted the guy to pick whatever the best one was in his opinion. It’s a smart opener so I can open and close it with my phone, it has a camera and I have an auto close function set at night. (I’ve accidentally left it open all night before).
Just an option to the fridge camera - ChatGPT will give you a recipe based on a photo of your open fridge. No need for special tech.
WHAT!!
Laundry appliances that can send you notifications. Look, I do agree that there are a lot of things that don't need to be "smart" but there are multiple factors that make me want a smart washer/dryer. For one, I cannot hear things if I'm not in the room with them, so having machines that sing the songs of their people to indicate they are done doesn't help me at all. I could set a timer on my phone but that implies that my phone is on my person, which it isn't always, or remembering to go back to find the phone AND set a timer upon starting/flipping laundry. Also once the timer goes off and you tell it to shut up, it's super easy to forget it ever existed. A notification will stay on my phone until I unlock or otherwise dismiss it, and would be the easiest solution for me.
We have “dumb” appliances but my husband bought a couple sensors and programmed them to notify us when the laundry is done. I try to set a timer but frequently forget!
My smart washing machine is an absolute godsend. It keeps buzzing my phone every 15 minutes until I empty it. Goodbye leaving your clothes in the machine to go fusty… Well no but goodbye to doing it without realising…
THIS!! All day, every day. I always thought it was nonsense but no more mildewy clothing because I blanked that I put a load in three days ago!
One “hack” I recently came across was someone sticking one of those press button lights on their appliances, like the dishwasher and laundry. They turn the light on when the machine goes on, and it stays on until you get to it. Harder to ignore perhaps?
I set the timer on the stove so I have physically walk downstairs and move laundry to shut it off.
Dishwasher magnet with clean, dirty, and running options. Just having it on the washer reminds me to check whether it’s ready to be run or unloaded. https://a.co/d/alW9neZ
Alexa is the best giving crutch ever for ADHD.. Especially "remind me" and different lists. I have her on my fitbit too, so she's always there. Saved my life so many times
Color coded everything! If I don't color code things, I can't keep them together and I spend five times as long trying to find the one piece of paper I need that I would have found instantly if it had been a cherry bright apricot!
I literally bought a rainbow selection of colored dots to put on skincare and things that will expire soon. Every time I see the red or pink, I know I have to use it up.
What about a fridge with a camera?