My 10 Favorite Kitchen Tips for Blind Cooks
I truly love the idea of cooking! I truly love food! When I cook for myself, I feel accomplished. Cooking without sight isn't a limitation, you just have to learn to adapt. Using other senses helps you to remember things about cooking. Learn these skills by practicing every day. Here are 10 different kitchen tips I use in my kitchen that make cooking safer, easier and more enjoyable.
- Braille your food items: Use a braille labeler or pre-made braille stickers to label canned goods, spices, freezer bags and dried goods. If braille isn't your thing, use tactile markers or rubber bands to differentiate items.
- Use consistent pantry organization: Assign a "home" to everything; for example, pasta and marinara can go on the top shelf, snacks can be in the middle and heavy things on the bottom. Having heavy things on the bottom can be a great safety feature. Keep the layout consistent so that you can find things by memory and feel.
- Organize your refrigerator by specific areas: Use bins, shelves or containers for categories like protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables. This will help you stay organized. Use braille to label items and store them in the specific areas.
- Keep cabinets the same: Don't move things around unless you're reorganizing on purpose. Familiarity builds speed and confidence. Having a special section for your pots, pans and dishes will help you be able to move around in the kitchen efficiently.
- Always keep the kitchen supplies in a spot away from your food: Having a dedicated spot away from food keeps a 0 chance of confusing similar bottles by touch or accidentally contaminating ingredients. Separating them also keeps your mental map simple.
- Wear (long) mittens: Wearing mittens while cooking protects your hands and forearms from accidental burns when reaching into the ovens, handling hot pans or draining hot water. They can also give you a better grip on slippery or heavy cookware.
- Label your microwave buttons: Start, stop, power and 30-second buttons with braille or bump dots lets you run it quickly and accurately without guessing. It can also prevent errors like the wrong power level or time. This can help you be more independent.
- Clean, clean, clean: Dump everything in a spot for easy clean-up. Cleaning as you go keeps your counters and tools free of spills, crumbs and clutter.
- Keep a brailled recipe book: This helps you to be be independent
- Feel confident in the kitchen: This will help you to build your cooking skills and stay safe
I enjoy eating a variety of foods and I hope you do, too! As always, Ms. Marri and Travelvisions Aloha want people to know that we're capable of living full and happy lives, so keep reading my blog to find out about more adventures! Kelly and Mrs. Evon
