One-handed meals | Imamother

thanks

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:09 am

The only thing you can do with one hand is call in an order! Seriously, please don't cook with your newborn in one hand, it's not safe! If your looking for simple meals, make chicken, rice and some vegetable in a pan in the oven. You'll have a hot, healthy yummy meal.

1 cup rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 pkg chicken
1/2 cup frozen broccoli or any veggie
1 can mushrooms (optional)
diced celery, carrots, zuccini (optional)

Bake at 350 for about 2 hours. (It's probably ready after 1 1/2 hours. Depends how you like it, or with a newborn it depends when you will find the time to eat!)

amother

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:12 am

That's a difficult one. Is the reason you want using only one hand because the newborn is in the other? Surely you could put him down for 5 minutes while you pour some pasta and water into a pot? Anything involving heat or sharp objects would make me nervous if you were holding a baby...

I guess using frozen veg, packets of things, and opening cans are the best options - so you don't need to leave your baby for too long. Remember, a little bit of crying does more harm to the mommy's emotions than the baby!

zaq

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:16 am

PLEASE do not attempt to cook while holding an infant unless dinner consists of an ice cream sandwich. Don't drink a hot beverage while holding your baby, either. Seriously. It's a tragedy waiting to happen. Put the kid down. The umbilical cord is cut for a reason--your baby no longer needs to be attached to your body 24/7. If it makes you feel more secure, get one of those monitoring devices that sound an alarm if the baby stops breathing, or a sound-activated monitor that lets you hear what the baby is doing when you're in another room.

If your one-handedness has nothing to do with the baby but has to do with an injury to your hand, check out the Smith and Nephew catalog, or any other catalog that carries equipment for the handicapped. There are devices like one-handed cutting boards that will allow you to prepare food with one hand. But do NOT, I repeat NOT, use these devices while holding your baby. A knife is still a knife.

For quick meals with minimal cooking:
Choose one or more from each category:

Protein: Salmon or tuna from a can, sliced hard cheese, hummus, hard boiled egg, cottage cheese, canned baked beans, canned sardines, peanut butter

Starch: Toast, cereal, baked potato or sweet potato (5 minutes in the microwave), spaghetti or other pasta, rice, tabbouli or other grain, canned or frozen corn, rice cakes.

Veggie: Tomato, cuke, bell pepper, cut up into chunks or slices; baby carrots; cauliflower steamed or raw with a dipping sauce like dilled yogurt; canned mushrooms, pickles (not too often), sliced onions if nobody minds, prepared bagged salads if the hechsher says they don't have to be checked for bugs.

Fruit: Sky's the limit. Easiest is fruit that can be eaten raw with the peel and as a unit, e.g. apples, pears, grapes, plums, peaches, apricots.

Add a glass of milk and you're done.

amother

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:47 am

Aw, give me some credit, people! I wasn't going to stir fry while holding my baby in one hand. In fact, that's the whole issue.

I have no problem putting my baby down for a minute in order to put dinner in the oven or take it out. I do have a problem standing over the stove for ten minutes (or longer) while my baby screams to be picked up, or spending five full minutes or more cleaning chicken or forming meatballs while my baby cries. That doesn't mean I'll never make chicken again, but that I was hoping that there would sometimes be some recipes I could make while holding my baby to lower my stress levels. For example, pita pizza can be fully prepped (except for slicing a few peppers or something for the top) while holding a baby. Doesn't take two hands to smear sauce and sprinkle cheese.

Any other ideas like that?

I'm sorry I was so brief, but I was...nursing! So I could only type with one hand Wink

amother

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:48 am

Inspired wrote:

Learn to wrap the baby on your back. Then you'll have two hands available.

I've tried that. It hurts my back. I have a bad back in general, and carriers just don't do it for me. I"m not talking Baby Bjorn, I"m talking Ergo and mei tei and things like that. I've really tried, but then I have a sore back for a day or two afterwards...

I wish I could use them -- would make life with baby and older kids so much easier!

MaBelleVie

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 9:57 am

Do you have one of those alligator choppers? It can make meal prep go much more quickly. Although I have chopped an onion one handed, I don't recommend it. I also like meals that I can prep when the baby is sleeping, even if its early in the day, stick in the fridge and pop in the oven so its fresh for dinner.

Chicken and rice in one pan, with diced veggies in the rice. I have definitely formed meatballs with one hand. Meat stew in the crock pot. Marinate chicken cutlets in olive oil and crushed garlic, then Dip in seasoned bread crumbs and bake. Ww pasta baked ziti- no boil version.

ra_mom

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 1:54 pm

where do you live? can you get already cleaned chicken? there are places that clean bone-in chicken so well that all you have to do is rinse. same with the packages of thin and trimmed chicken cutlets.

no boil baked ziti (uses raw pasta (I hear it's good with brown rice pasta), and the whole pan in shoved in the oven)

lasagna

baked salmon

spare ribs

brown, white, or wild rice

sweet potato or potato

roasted bag of frozen veggies

all in the oven

egg and avocado salad with whole wheat baguette

amother

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 2:49 pm

amother wrote:

Dairy: Microwave mac and cheese, pizza toast, sandwich maker grilled cheese.

Meat: Basically anything made with ground beef. Sloppy joe, taco, etc.

Pareve: Baked potatoe, baked fish.

If you have a veggie chopper, use it for soup, salad, etc.

OP here. These last few posts are so helpful! What else can you use a veggie chopper for besides soup and salad? I'm not planning on making soup, but it woud be great if it could be used for some mains...