Engineered staple foods, such as Jimmy Joy, yfood, Huel, … are a big help. They take the pressure off by providing a somewhat healthy full-meal fallback alternative, thus freeing time and nerves for real cooking. I can then do it in a relaxed, optional manner. Also great when going somewhere, because we don’t tend to have all ingredients for even a sandwich available, which can spoil a whole trip. E. g. you have lettuce, butter, ham, but the remaining 3 slices of bread are moldy. What now?

Also, focus on quick and healthy meals. Have 1 “special” appliance, like hot air fryer or rice cooker. Example: Frozen salmon from the hot air fryer plus frozen vegetables in butter or cream. That is surprisingly healthy, fast, tasty and classy, when well made. Again, these options, always ready in the freezer, free time and nerves for more complex meals. Freezer is essential to compensate for poor planning.

Simple slow cooker recipes are sweet because you just dump the ingredients into the slow cooker and turn it on. Same thing with the rice cooker and a steam basket, rice cooks underneath and then some veggies / protein above bam little meal right there. Marinate your proteins by just putting them in a Ziploc bag with some stuff the day before.

Nothing others haven’t said but if it works for you and your life, cooking once a week works might be much better than trying to cook every day.

I usually make a slop of some kind centred around beans/tofu/tvp and keep that in the fridge. That gets made in the instant pot so there is no waiting around. That’s what I hate most about cooking. I don’t want to have to keep an eye on the stove.

I use dry beans and soak them rather than cooking the beans first or cooking from dry in the final dish. It’s not technically one step but it’s less time sensitive or prone to burn/disgusting texture than the other options.

The slop gets eaten with rice which I do cook throughout the week in the rice cooker. This is more about the volume of rice we eat than anything else.

Frozen veggies or salads get added which helps add some customization and ensure I am getting enough fibre and variety of veggies.

I worked in a catering kitchen in uni and I can’t tell how much of my comfort with this comes from that experience or that it’s just not rocket science 😅

• “Mis en place”. Prep all of your ingredients in advance. You can even do it a couple days in advance and keep them in the fridge. Then when it comes to the actual cooking part, you’ll find it’s a lot less stressful and requires much less changing gears and switching tasks. There’s a reason pro kitchens do this, it makes cooking a lot easier and less error-prone.

• Cook a big pot of something and eat it over a few days. A big pot of chili or spaghetti sauce can be lunch and dinner for multiple days. A good rice cooker, like a Zojirushi or whatever, can keep rice warm and tasty for a couple days. Likewise, a slow cooker can do the same with a stew or curry. No need to cook every day!

• Get a roommate or family member to help you if possible. Cooking is hard work whether we enjoy it or not, so it helps to have someone to delegate tasks to. If other people are eating, they should be helping to cook and clean.

Figure out what specifically you don’t like. Is there a texture thing when handling certain foods? Are you too focused on perfect measurements? Is there a planning issue with getting overwhelmed before you can even start?

From there just focus on ways to mitigate the problems.

I always listen to podcasts while cooking. Without that, cooking feels like I’m wasting time

Same trick that works for most ADHD problems: grease a groove. Make a few select meals over and over until they become effortless, then expand your pool over time once you’re ready.

Simple pasta dish is a good place to start. Then an oven roast maybe, or a breakfast meal.

Once you know a few staples and can execute them with your eyes closed, the whole process is much less daunting.

I have fatigue condition as well, so honestly I just gave up on “cooking”. Try to aim for “arrangements” instead. Much easier and takes less focus/time/energy.

• Toast with toppings
• Greek yoghurt fruit bowl
• Smoothie
• Canned bean burritos with cheese
• Other healthy snacks
• Etc

Obviously it depends highly on your dietary needs. I’m vegetarian with very complex health so I built my diet around that, but you might have more flexibility. Try not to buy “ready to eat” stuff every day though because they’re usually pretty bad health wise. Also the freezer is your friend; it will forgive you when you forget leftovers for 3 months.

Spaghetti, rice, potatoes, all are pretty much “boil water and set a timer.” I also enjoy the preseasoned chicken and pork from the grocery store. Turns out better than when I season it myself and the only step is to heat it up.

I love cooking but I don’t have the energy fo rmuch thanks to my health issues. I also do have severe ADHD.

For me, it’s looking for simpler recipes.

Look for shortcuts. Find things that are easy but are tasty. Don’t fall for the bullshit that you have to make everything from scratch.

A slow cooker and a rice pot probably would serve you well. It’s so very easy to get a pot of rice going. For my rice, I use:

• 2⅔ C rice (basmati or long grain)
• 3 C / 32oz tetra pack of stock (whichever makes sense with the meal)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon MSG
• stick of butter

(yes, that’s a whole stick! You should get more than 8 servings of rice out of it, and it’s just tastier. But you do you)

Beef stew like my mom made and I still make:

• Cut up a beef roast or just buy precut stew meat (should be around the same price and worth the saved effort)
• Cut up 2-3 large potatoees (after scrubbing). If you have the energy, peel them first, otherwise scrub REALLY well
• Peel (or scrub well) a pound of carrots (or maybe closer to 2 - I like carrots a lot) and cut into 1 inch chunks or so
• Peel a couple of onions and slice in half, the halves in halves, then each quarter in half - or slice each half in thirds
• Add it all into a slow cooker with a tetra pak of beef stock or broth. May have to add water to cover. Add a couple tablespoons of Better than Bouillon beef and stir it in, then cook for 2-4 hours, checking for doneness and tenderness of the beef

Serve stew over rice

If you get some dry roux, take a couple of pounds of stew meat, dust with a quarter cup of dry roux and a couple tablespoons of better than bouillon and mix in your slow cooker and cook until tender. The juices from the beef should be enough to make a gravy, but if you want to add a little beef stock or water if it needs it, go for it. Serve over rice.

Learn how to make 2 meals. Make massive portions of said meals.

Instapot and a few recipes that essentially are, “Put everything in the pot, close lid, turn on, wait”.

I’m the opposite of most here. Cooking can hold my attention on quick but medium complexity recipes. Add X, wait a few minutes mixing in high fire until it starts to water; add Y, keep mixing for another couple minutes until it starts to change color, etc. No period of just waiting, you’re always engaged. I find it relaxing, my mind focuses on just that one thing.

That depends. You have to identify what your particular hang up(s) are. Is it the actual cooking, not knowing what you’re doing, textures of things, prep, clean up, having multiple tasks going at once etc.?

Once you identify the hangup you can work with it. For me personally it’s mostly time and cleanup. I don’t enjoy cooking so it feels like I’m wasting time I could be using for anything else. Then I have to clean up after? Fuck that!

So I try to stick to easy, short, less dishes involved meals. The Instant pot is nice because it speeds a lot of things up, I can set it and walk away. Air fryer is great too. I line mine with tin foil so I have to clean it less.

I also work with my ADHD. I’ll buy frozen veggies and stuff because 90% of the time the extra step to prep/cut things is the step that prevents me from doing anything.

for me, it’s always been about reducing steps. possibilities can be mixed and matched:

• starting from grocery shopping stage, choose more items that are partially or fully cooked. can be main protein/carbs like frozen chicken patties, sliced bread, or it can be side dishes like pickled vegetables.
• also for raw ingredients, choose items that are pre-chopped or pre-sliced. Asian supermarkets have thin sliced meat intended for hotpot but they’re also great sautéed or stir fried and Cook thoroughly in SECONDS. same goes for hotpot veggies.
• many saucy dishes have condensed base version in jars. Japanese curry(non-spicy available) is sold in dry blocks that only require water and heat to become a rich comforting stew-like sauce. i also recommend Japanese blocks of “hayashi” sauce (beef & mushroom flavored thick sauce) and “cream stew”(can be used as a white gravy). these can even be used as pasta sauce. Italian style pasta sauce is also great. don’t have to use with pasta. Cook it with protein and/or veggies then just add any carb when serving.
• traditional processed foods are great! not ultra processed foods, think sausage, meatballs, tofu, cheese, dumplings (gyoza, pot stickers, dim sum), pickled veggies, etc. these examples usually only need minimal cooking/reheating if any. if there is a Korean market within range, they often sell giant jars of kimchi (even non-spicy) which may be enough to serve as main veggies for several meals (pickled, so just open jar and serve).
• use appliances to take over steps. i.e. electric slicer, stand/hand mixer, slow cooker, air fryer, instant pot, or “as seen on tv” style or aliexpress/daiso style kitchen gadgets like choppers, salad spinners, etc. don’t feel bound by using tools for only their original purpose! for example, instant pot is great at baking things while keeping them moist. that plus a quick broiler session in the oven makes for juicy roast meats!

these are just some tips based on how i cook and eat. i know not all the foods or techniques are applicable to everyone but hopefully this can help you abstractify and extrapolate to the foods that fit you and your environment.

some may not accept plating/serving these as true “cooking” but ultimately what’s the importance of “cooking” other than making sure your loved ones have food?