I Eat Alone
I want to use this page as a running blog about how to cook and eat healthy even if your circumstances are not ideal. I was recently divorced after 31 years of marriage due to circumstances that had much to do with undiagnosed ADHD and my inability to deal with past trauma. In my marriage, my wife was a fabulous cook, so I mostly did dishes and grilled occasionally. When tasked with providing a full meal it was always a frantic experience. Of course the home we shared had a full kitchen with all of the modern kitchen conveniences. Post divorce I lived for a while with an acquaintance who was so poor at kitchen hygine that I cooked outdoors with a grill and camp-stove almost exclusively. That set up was not the best for generating regular meals so I ate out of the microwave quite frequently. Next, I lived for a short while in a trailer that had a nice stove and oven. I cooked regular meals there, but it was not a permanent residence by any means. Now, I live in a wonderful basement apartment where I have full use of the backyard for my charming little dog Mila. The problem with the place is that there is no kitchen! Not to fear, necessity is indeed the mother of invention and I have been able to put together a cooking area that meets almost all of my needs. Here is how I did it.
The first thing is you don’t want to mess up the carpet in your cooking area, so I laid out a few of those plastic desk chair protectors you can get at Office Max. I also have a water resistant table with plenty of surface area and room underneath I use as a counter. Under that lives a 3 drawer wooden cabinet that houses spices, pasta, rice, can goods etc. On top is an induction stove top with two burners I do most of my cooking with. I considered a hot plate, but the landlord would have none of that. Induction stovetops are great since they stop transmitting heat if there is nothing metal on top of them so they are safe if knocked over. I also have a crappy three drawer plastic cabinet that houses various food items, and of course my coffee maker. To the immediate right is a wire rack that I retrofitted with a large cutting board on top. I keep my onions, potatoes, and garlic there. Then comes a large bakers rack that is home to a insta-pot, microwave, an industrial strength black and decker toaster oven, an espresso machine, and storage for various food items. I heat shielded each shelf in the bakers rack to handle the heat from the appliance below it.
This set up works great for most meals with a couple of exceptions. For one, you cannot roast a large meat item like a chicken or a roast. For that I use my trusty weber charcoal grill that resides in a covered area under the deck and can be used rain or shine. So that leaves only one real hole, I cannot bake. The toaster oven will burn the top of any baked goods since the burner is much closer than a conventional oven. Other than that I can cook almost anything.
A word about pans. My main weapons of choice are two cast iron frying pans. A 10.5 inch that was the last gift I received from my ex-wife. She was excellent with cast iron and had cleaned, restored, and seasoned the pan meticulously. It is a good pan, but it is an asian import of some unknowable make and does not distribute heat evenly. You have to be right on the hot spot of the stove top to get good heat. Plus it is a little small for many single pot dishes. So I bought a Wagner 12 inch (Made in USA circa 1965) online. That thing distributes heat very well and I am very happy to have it.
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