Safety is the number one goal. Be sure counters, tables, and floors are germ, clutter, and pet free.
Lighting and a clean workspace are necessary. For poorly lit work spaces, a trail riding headlight pointed down works wonders.
Bleach is the recommended sanitizer to clean counters, stoves, and fridge handles. However, its toxicity is called into question.
Whatever you use, be aware of how salmonella and other bacteria spread on counters and between foods. The science of cooking can be fun. However, adding an unintended component, such as bacteria, can cause your experiment to flop.
Thaw ingredients ahead of time to make cooking easier and quicker. With the exception that some raw thin steaks chop easier while half froze.
One meal preparation trick is to place all needed items such as measuring cups, mixing bowls, and ingredients on one side of the work space, and rotate them to the other side when you are finished, so you don't double one ingredient, and skip another.
Some links for food safety:
Food Safety http://www.foodsafety.gov/ (accessed 04/20/2013).
CDC (Centers for Disease Control) http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ (accessed 04/20/2013).
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=FOOD_SAFETY (accessed 04/20/2013).
Many cooks keep a fully stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer.
Want to know what one looks like?
Or how to prepare for one?
A typical list, usually printed in landscape style, is provided below the Low Vision Accommodations for Cooking. On shopping day, I quickly count everything, and use a new color to write in the number per item that I already have. Shopping lists can be sorted by store aisle, food type, or home storage location.
Also, be sure you are aware of expiration dates on food, and use the closest to expiration date first.
The science of expiration dates: It isn't always the food going bad. Preservatives or packaging may leak into the food after an extended amount of time.
Low Vision Accommodations for Cooking
My vision is declining.
I'm not giving up cooking.
And I'm not giving up eating.
How do I intend to cook with low vision? With simple, cheap, and time saving techniques. Some will require changes that I can do now, though perhaps with less skill later.
Step 1: Electrical Cords
A. A few years ago, someone recommended taking an odd color of fingernail polish, such as neon pink that you can't miss and paint a dot on top of the wide part of the outlets in the kitchen and throughout the house.
B. Paint the tips of the cords you plug in. This way, you connect the odd color on the cord with the matching color on the plug there is no need to guess which is the wide and which is the thin piece of the plugin. You may need to use a white polish on black or brown cords.
Step 2: Safety Precautions
A. Buy cutting boards that contrast with the counters and the foods you most commonly cut.
B. Arrange storage cabinets to reach items without them falling out.
1. Contrast cabinet and drawer handles. Colored electrical tape works.
2. Contrast the outside of the cabinets and drawers with the counters and the floors
3. Be sure all cabinets and drawers are in good, working order and clean.
C. Sew, or buy, contrasting placemats and cloth napkins.
D. Know which colors mean what in your kitchen. For instance:
1. Blue pot holders
2. Red hand drying towel
3. White with blue stripe dish towels
4. Hot pan towels are white towels that sit under hot pans on the table
5. Dark blue placemats
6. Yellow daily use cloth napkins
7. Light blue company cloth napkins
Step 3: Stove
A. Colored raised dots to locate temperature settings
B. Pan handles, either all to the middle, or all pointing out when cooking
Some people say all to the middle. However, when I turn them to the middle, I end up with the food spilled both on the stove and me. Part of that is low dexterity and having my arm in the heat when I reach across the pans. I also don't like reaching across the cooking food, as I don't want hair falling off my arm into the food. If you have low vision with eye and hand coordination problems, your hand could end up in a pan, or grabbing the wrong handle, if they are all tangled in a knot. Do what is safe for you, and others, to prevent spills and burns.
Step 4: Oven Safety
A. Put the food into the oven before turning it on so you can be sure you know where the food is located and not risk being burned.
B. Wear tight wristed, long sleeves. Use potholders when pulling cooked food out of the oven. You could take an old sweatshirt, cut out the sleeves, and connect them with elastic for summer use.
Step 5: The Microwave
A. If you have low vision, puffy numbers can help you find those invisible buttons to set the time. Raised dots could also be used for these and other settings, such as the cook time button. Clear plastic braille numbers also work, and do not affect a sighted person's use of the microwave.
B. Use potholders under food before you heat it so you don't burn your hands on the plate or bowl.
C. You can make cloth napkins to tuck under bowls to prevent food splatter, which is vital in a food allergy household.
Step 6: Table Top Oven Roaster
A. Depending on your height, this may be safest way to cook when used on an eating table, or a sturdy side table. The food goes down into the roaster, and when done, individual servings can be taken directly from it, allowing it, and the food, a chance to cool safely.
B. Puffy paint, or raised dots, can be used for typical temperature settings.
Step 7: Coffee Pot
A. Safely mark water levels and hold it in front of a contrasting wall color while filling with water.
B. Have a towel handy for spills as you pour the water into back of the coffee pot.
Step 8: Can Openers
Electronic can openers are less work on the wrist.
A. Always stop before the lid comes completely off so you know where it is and don't get cut.
B. Always fold the lid back into the can so it safely goes into the trash, and not onto the floor, or slicing the bag, and potentially your leg.
Step 9: Food Chopper
Some people consider this safer than using a knife. While chopping, perhaps. If you have someone to fill, empty, and wash the blade for you. When washing the blades, it is too easy to be severely cut by one, and not know it.
Step 10: Blender
A. Chop food on a clear glass chopping board, with color contrasting plastic underneath. For instance:
1. Chop tomatoes over green plastic.
2. Chop zucchini over red plastic.
B. Be sure the blender lid is on tight before use.
C. Used raised dots or braille symbols to distinguish buttons.
Step 11: Sink (and dirty dish storage)
A. Organize dirty dish pile in a safe pattern on the counter, never in the sink. Sinks rust from wet dishes, and knives are too dangerous in the sink.
B. Knives in the back, pointed away from people.
C. Breakables such as plates, coffee cups, and glass pans, toward the back of the counter.
D. When washing, never place a knife, or blender blade, in the water and let go of it.
E. Always place knives and forks sharp end down in the utensil drainer.
Step 12: Fridge
A. Keep foods organized in a manner that it is easy to recognize a needed item without mixing up two identical containers holding different foods.
B. Use raised dots to indicate where certain items belong.
C. Use brailled cards and rubber bands, or clips, to label food containers. Labels are reusable this way, if not leaked on.
D. Use brightly colored, or special textures to identify either allergen foods, or allergen free foods. For instance, if one member wants a food another is allergic to, use a corduroy tie around it, and the person allergic to the item can easily avoid it.
Step 13: Freezer
A. Keep foods organized in a manner that it is easy to recognize a needed item without mixing up two identical containers holding different foods.
B. Use raised dots to indicate where certain items belong.
C. Use brailled cards and rubber bands, or clips, to label food containers. Labels are reusable this way, if not leaked on.
D. Use brightly colored or special textures to identify either allergen foods, or allergen free foods. For instance, if one member wants a food another is allergic to, use a corduroy tie around it, and the person with allergic to the item can easily avoid it.
Step 14: Identification Ties
A. For the crafty inclined, brightly colored ties can be made for food items. Materials may be brightly colored with or without braille letters. Sometimes, scraps can be bought reasonably and made into ties. Or use strips of old worn out clothes. These are washable and reusable.
Some sample materials:
Corduroy
Fleece
Broadcloth
Silks
Upholstery
Tee shirt
Sweats
If using the above:
1. Cut in a straight line, about 2 inches wide, and different lengths.
2. Sew the long side.
3. Use a safety pin to pull the tube right side out.
4. Sew the ends shut.
Strings of material or yarn can be sewn into the ends of the tubes to further help with identification and attachment of labeled cards.
Another alternative: Braids. Strings may be added as needed.
1. Braids of brightly colored yarn. Certain colors may signify a specific food.
2. Braids of material (any of the above listed materials).
3. A mixed braid of material and yarn.
4. A braid of plastic bags.
5. Plastic bags and a combination of material and/or yarn.
B. Plastic Identification Cards
1. Large marker print. Two holes punched in one end to string a tie through.
2. Braille a plastic card. Punch two holes in one end to string a tie through.
C. Use the above ties with milk jug rings. Wooden craft rings also work.
D. Magnets can be used on cans to distinguish them. Beware: P, may stand for pasta, peas, peaches, pears, or pineapples.
E. Tie miniature jingle bells or cowbells to items that go out of date soon.
F. Add magnets to craft sticks with braille labels to show shelf locations of items. When an item is gone, or almost gone, attach to fridge or freezer for a quick shopping list.
G. Foam craft pieces. Some have stickers. Others can be magnetized. Mostly brightly colored.
H. Pipe cleaners with or without labels.
J. Sometimes in baby shower or birthday sections, there are packs of small items with holes that can be strung like beads and used to identify products.
K. Strings or safety pins of beads. Use combinations, such as wooden beads, and plastic beads of all shapes and sizes. Some come in animal shapes.
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