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Energy saving tips for the moderately severe patient

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
What are favorite easy (& healthy) no prep or low prep (5 min or less) meal/snack ideas?

I am a vegaquarian. Some of my favorites are making a smoothie, humus with pita, egg sandwich made in microwave, PBJ, celery & almond butter, tomato & avacado salad.

What are other peoples favs?

Diced tofu with a tsp of soy sauce, microwaved for two and a half mins; chopped mushrooms, ditto; raw tenderstem broccoli (already cut so all you have to do is rinse) with humus; raw carrot sticks; trout fillet sprinkled with salt & ground black pepper and bottled lemon juice parcelled in greaseproof paper and microwaved for 2 mins; chicken breasts tossed in olive oil then herbs & season, baked in tinfoil in the oven; lamb chops sprinkled with dried rosemary, in foil, in the oven (the latter two for carnivores, of course!). Most are two mins prep - even five mins is too much cooking and standing in the kitchen for me!
 
Messages
39
I've had to get creative with easy snacks because of going gluten-free/dairy-free. Corn tortilla chips with guacamole is one favorite. Also, I keep a mix of nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews) and dried cherries and/or raisins on hand.

I love guac! Yesterday I made homemade salsa in the Vita Mix (so easy) and then mixed half of that with a fork smashed avocado & added some hot sauce & ate with baked corn chips (store bought). Yumalicious! Today I just heated up Chinese left overs--eggplant in garlic sauce. :Retro tongue:

I like a handful of raw nuts for a protein snack. Oh, and another fave: Chocolate Goodness! Mix a scoop of raw almond butter with some agave to taste, raw cacao & a little sea salt. Mix & eat from the bowl with spoon--over the moon and good for you too! The cacao can be stimulating so best to eat in the afternoon or right after an early dinner. :D
 
Messages
39
Diced tofu with a tsp of soy sauce, microwaved for two and a half mins; chopped mushrooms, ditto; raw tenderstem broccoli (already cut so all you have to do is rinse) with humus; raw carrot sticks; trout fillet sprinkled with salt & ground black pepper and bottled lemon juice parcelled in greaseproof paper and microwaved for 2 mins; chicken breasts tossed in olive oil then herbs & season, baked in tinfoil in the oven; lamb chops sprinkled with dried rosemary, in foil, in the oven (the latter two for carnivores, of course!). Most are two mins prep - even five mins is too much cooking and standing in the kitchen for me!

2 minute meals! Love it!!! :victory:
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
Tloyd, if only on the grocery delivery! my life was sooo much simpler when we had it. but it just wont' catch on here.

Victoria, i just can't give it up! it's my thing!!! i am crying over the loss of high heels, i'd do anything to get back into them!
i'd be a closet organizer & stylist if i could. i love it! anything fashion related, besides my husband & my pets it's literally what i live for. :)
going to see the new Sex & the City with my girlfriends at a plush comfy new theater we have here in town on the 6th of June & i can't wait!!!
my friends can't believe when they see how few clothes i have, because they all know how much i shop.
i have things called clothes swaps where we all get together & swap old clothes we dont' want for other people's & everyone comes away happy with new stuff :)
i also do a bi-annual clean out of my closet & anything that i haven't worn in a year goes - at season change, spring & fall.
it drives me crazy when i see people with packed closets that can't even find what they want!
my clothes are organized by outfit :)
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
my friends can't believe when they see how few clothes i have, because they all know how much i shop.
i have things called clothes swaps where we all get together & swap old clothes we dont' want for other people's & everyone comes away happy with new stuff :)
i also do a bi-annual clean out of my closet & anything that i haven't worn in a year goes - at season change, spring & fall.
it drives me crazy when i see people with packed closets that can't even find what they want!
my clothes are organized by outfit :)

danib,

Your "organizing clothes by outfit" reminds me of some 25 years ago when I used to organize my clothes by colour & outfit.
Housemate & I had a big luncheon one day & a friend had to walk through my walk-in wardrobe to get to my ensuite bathroom.

She came out & said in a very loud voice, hey everyone you've got to see Vicki's wardrobe it's organised by colour & looks like a rainbow!. I was embarrassed at the time, but I suspect your current wardrobe looks like mine used to look (when I was your age). LOL

But it did save alot of time when I was getting ready for work in the morning.

It's only when I retired from office work a couple of months ago, that I stopped sorting my small array of clothes. I cleaned or drycleaned my better clothes & put them away (I normally have all my clothes hanging up).

As to quick food snacks, I don't really have any, I generally eat only 2 meals a day most days (in order to cut down my high cost food budget). I usually eat "brunch" about 10.30am (instead of breakfast & lunch). I might snack on mixed nuts/Goji berries occasionally, but as these organic mixtures are very expensive in my health food shop, I've had to cut them out (mostly). Usually a snack is an apple or banana.
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
mine aren't by color but a complete outfit hangs next to a complete outfit - accessories & all !
if one thing can be worn with another thing then the next outfit is on the other side of it - if that makes sense.
:)
i love it, i rarely have trouble gettin dressed. i always have something that is lined up to be worn for the next occasion
& if it fails i have a back up ready to go.
:)
of course this is not everyday, most days i dont' leave the house & wear jammies.
on casual days of course i go out in jeans & a tshirt.
but, whenever the occasion calls for dressy, i'm ready!
& all my friends know that i dress for any occasion, if they are going out to lunch with me or the movies or whatever, it's time to step it up! i always dress if i go out anywhere special :)

as far as easy snacks, Zone Bars, Slim Fast, apple & peanut butter, yogurt & peanuts, plain avocado with chips. those are my main faves.
:)
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I think you beat me, Danib,
(I never had accessories with the outfit) LOL.

I can see that you are a great organiser though. I think being organised & tidy in any situation makes for great energy saving.

I get very troubled when I'm with my girfriend who is totally disorganised (although she is improving a wee bit in old age).
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
yes agreed, i am so organized i drive people nuts. but i need things in their place. it is energy saving. like the others here i take thing to a room if i am going there, & i always call ahead when i go places. growing up my mom never called, for directions or to see if a place was open or anything. it was a disaster most of the time, she would just go. i think i naturally learned that i feel better when things are in their place & i do things as easily as possible.
ooh, Vic, i have a girlfriend who's closet is packed - i mean you can't get a hanger in there or out. it's awful! i am dying to get in there & clean it out & she wont' let me! she has things from the 80's in there. & she has a friend who runs a women's shelter, she has no excuse for not gettin rid of those clothes! makes me crazy!!! haha! ;)
also, i am on time. i always RSVP promptly. it bugs me others don't care about these things.
i guess they have the energy to deal with the mess it causes to be running late or to not let someone know if you will be going to an event, but not me. i need things set, & everything in it's place!
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I'm always on time too - in fact usually 20-30 minutes early. I find it very calming to arrive early & relax (for an appointment). I vowed I was going to be late a couple of times (with the friend who is often 1-2 hours late), but I couldn't do it - I guess I am just one of those people who always has to been in control of their lives.

Danib, I suspect you would be very good as a Feng Shui consultant - arranging furniture & possessions in the Chinese way (to ensure good energy & Qi is flowing into your life).
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
i have no interest in home stuff. we are doing a kitchen remodel right now & it's driving me nuts. i hate for things to be out of place. but my passion is fashion. it sounds like we both had very interesting careers in our former lives - i did PR for rock bands in the 80's. but now, if i could have a second career, i'd chose closet organizer or stylist.
:)
i love making women feel better about themselves when they see how beautiful they can look :)
 

Andrew

Senior Member
Messages
2,513
Location
Los Angeles, USA
I've never seen a Roomba in action before. It has a very interesting pattern for vacuuming a floor. Do they eventually get everything clean?
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I've never seen a Roomba in action before. It has a very interesting pattern for vacuuming a floor. Do they eventually get everything clean?

Andrew,
I've never seen the Roomba in action before either. I'm thinking..... it only vacuums the bits that show OR, only does big circles of clean floor (leaving the other bits dirty)!
 

camas

Senior Member
Messages
702
Location
Oregon
I've never seen a Roomba in action before. It has a very interesting pattern for vacuuming a floor. Do they eventually get everything clean?

They do, but it takes awhile. Mine makes such a racket that I only use it in the kitchen. You can also run them using a remote -- good for giving kitty rides apparently!
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
they do eventually, it's not best way to clean a floor but it's better than trying to vacuum & being down for 2 days after!

& finally i have found grocery delivery! it's a place i ignored before because they dont' sell "real" food or any household items. but, since i have gone dairy free & am working on gluten free this place actually has the type of food i now eat. the husband still has to go to the store for other items, but i can get the hippie stuff from the hippie store & they dont' even charge a delivery fee!
:)
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
Combination cane/seat (lightweight, too)

I only skimmed this thread so I probably missed a few things but I love all the tips that people have posted!

I saw one message that mentioned a combination cane/seat. So I thought I would post a photo of the one that I have:

WA222_lg.jpg


I got it at Magellan's Travel store. I've had it for more than 10 years now. I had to replace the little white rubber feet (they wore out) with the larger black rubber cane tips (available at any pharmacy) but other than that it is still as good as new.

I highly recommend it for anyone with orthostatic intolerance. A real chair or bench with a back support is much better for actual resting, of course! But for those time when I'm feeling well enough to do a few errands - grocery shopping, for example - but I can't stand in line at the checkout, then this is a great little device. I hook the handle on the shopping cart so it is handy for me while I'm doing the shopping (leaning on the cart works most of the time but sometimes I need to take a break and sit down) and then I use it at the checkout line.

And it wasn't all that expensive (it's a bit more now, current price is just under $30 plus whatever they charge for shipping). FYI, I have no connection with Magellan's. Check out other stores - they probably sell something that is very similar to this model. I even saw an online place (years ago) that made custom sized cane/seats so that the seat height would work for someone who was shorter or taller than average. I'm about 5 ' 7 " and this works fine for me.

It's very lightweight so it can go with me when travelling. I take it on airplane trips - it goes in the overhead compartment on top of luggage (husband puts it up there for me).

I hope this tip is okay in this thread. The first item in this thread said "for the moderately severe patient." This item is for those patients who can get out and about, not the severely ill. I'm too sick to work but I am able to get out to do errands once in a while.

I hope this was helpful. People ask me about this cane/seat all the time while I'm out (e.g., someone says "my sister has MS/bad back/whatever and she could use that!") so I thought I'd pass this on to the folks on this forum.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
Re: moving smilies (animation) and other accessibility issues

I also have problems with moving images. I have animation turned off in my browser plus flashblock and adblock (firefox browser add-ons).

If you have a computer literate friend or family member you could have them help you with those settings or add-ons for your browser/computer system and then the animation would be disabled, not just for these forums but for all web sites.

Oh, another great site is readability. There are times when there is just too much clutter for me to read the screen properly. Readability is usually able to find the main article and screen out all the rest. Go to this web site and it will help you with the settings - http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ Once it is set up you should be able to just click on an item in your browser's toolbar and it will display the main article without all the clutter and in whatever font size you have pre-selected - also useful for printing things.

I've learned these tips from reading a few blogs about disability issues such as the one at http://disabledfeminists.com/ (I'm a long time feminist)
 

camas

Senior Member
Messages
702
Location
Oregon
Thanks for those ideas, ahimsa. I hadn't heard of the flashblock add-on. Will have to check that out! I use Firefox too and really like the NoSquint add-on because it remembers the font setting you give each website.

There have been so many great tips on this thread. I finally got a headset for my phone and a wheeled laundry sorter so that I'm no longer sitting and sorting on the cold concrete floor of the basement. Duh!
 

ixchelkali

Senior Member
Messages
1,107
Location
Long Beach, CA
Brown-eyed Girl, thanks for starting this thread. Good tips.

Camas, thats the Cadillac of pillboxes! Never thought Id have pillbox envy, but I do. And SpinDrift, theyre back in stock.

Serenity, I got a Roomba for Christmas last year, and I agree, its great (as long as Im well enough to clear the clutter out of its way). Andrew, I havent had a problem with wires. But I do have a couple of Barcelona chairs and it will try to climb the legs and get up. It sits there plaintively saying Uh-oh, uh-oh until I rescue it. Now I put empty egg cartons over the legs before I turn Roomba loose. And sometimes I dont have enough energy to do that. BTW, I have wood and tile floors.

Bee33, I had to chose between using a wheeled walker and staying home. I chose the walker because it allowed me to do more, but I dont think I suffer from the sort of shyness you do. I only had to overcome vanity. Now I wish I were still well enough to get out and about with my walker. When I was well enough to do shopping, I only shopped at places that had the electric ride-on carts. They were a godsend.

People talking about walking a mile, riding a bike, etc. Yall have a different concept of moderately severe than I do. Maybe Im actually severe. But I figure that as long as I can move around the house, get myself dressed and fed and bathed, as long as Im not completely bedridden, Im not severe.

Victoria, your preparations sound like what Ive done when my husband had surgery. Since hes usually the caregiver, we had to prepare for me to be able to care for him, and not have him available to help with shopping, unloading the dryer, etc. My friends commented on how organized I am, but for me it was necessity, not temperament.

Yall have cover most of the tips I can think of, but Ill try to pay attention and see if any more occur to me. Ive been doing this so long there may be some that have become automatic for me.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. :thumbsup:
 

Andrew

Senior Member
Messages
2,513
Location
Los Angeles, USA
I have a cane chair. At first I was too embarrassed to use it, but after one try I always took it with me. Being able to sit down no matter where I am makes all the difference in the world. I only wish there was one with padding.
 
Messages
26
www.sportseat.com

I ve had one of these for years now, someone gave it to me and i use it all the time in the kitchen as well as going out. Unfortunately you can only get them in the U.S I think, but there are many other similar brands around.