As some of you will know, our Health Information team is currently working on an online resource to support people living with and beyond blood cancer. We’re really grateful to everyone who’s helped us with this project so far – and are pleased to say we’re now in the final stages of its development!
We’re now looking for tips/advice on the following, from people WHO HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED with OR ARE IN REMISSION FROM blood cancer:
1. Things that make eating / cooking easier. 2. Ways you can save money / access financial support.
We’re also looking for tips/advice on the following, from people who are SUPPORTING A LOVED ONE with blood cancer:
1. Things that help you cope when a partner/family member/friend is diagnosed with blood cancer. 2. Things you can do to look after yourself / make time for yourself. 3. Things you can do to be there for your partner/family member/friend.
If you have any advice you can share, and are happy to be quoted (by first name) in our online resource, please add your tips to the comment box below!
I would speak about healthy but quick meals. Eg some supermarkets will offer a packet of meat vegetables and the appropriate spices to allow yourself to simply fry the lot and have a ready meal that tastes freshly cooked. I’ve found Aldi is particularly useful for that (as well as being very cheap in general) but I’m sure other supermarkets offer similar ways to “cheat” as well.
Essentially you want meals that don’t take as much effort to cook. Why cut onions if you can buy them frozen and cut? Even little things like that can make cooking seem so much less effort than it otherwise would.
I suffer from fatigue and a proper perching stool that allows me to sit securely whilst cooking is invaluable. It might be advisable not to use a regular stool as the movements to for example stir a pot might make the stool slip. I did end up on my backside on the floor and my smart watch told me that I’d “had a fall” which was a bit embarrassing. Fortunately I didn’t hurt myself and now use a stool with good rubber non slip feet like this one
Yes, I agree with @Adrian. I am a great slow cooker girl and there is nothing better than the smell of the food cooking in the winter months. I find seasonal vegetables can be cheap and I sit down with my feet up, the veg, a tray and the pot and something on TV that I have not got to concentrate on too much and I just peel and chop, I do not worry that I chop everything beautifully. I find the slow cooker is good for chucking left over veg (and some fruits) in and rinsing out sauce bottles into. I always bulk out the meat element with sultanas. I also believe in cooking in bulk and freezing in portions. Unfortunately my continual problem is having space in my freezer and a tip to myself is to label and date everything and not to think that I will remember what is in a container. I am a girl for shopping with an open mind and making the most of special offers to save money. I do a weekly internet shop then I go to my very local supermarket for in store offers and fresh fruit and veg, ensuring the shopping is not too heavy. I keep a store of tinned and frozen provisions for those fatigue days. My foods for when I am not well or have not got an appetite are ice ream and tinned custard.
I’m not a great cook and usually don’t have much time so i tend make quick things such as pasta a lot or by things ready cooked. My unusual working hours make it difficult for me to break out of this pattern but I always try and make there’s something every week to bring a smile to my face. In terms of saving money, buy in bulk or get things on special. I haven’t solved the riddle of financial support but MacMillan were very helpful to me at a point where I had my pay cut by my employers.
Hi Franko, I really agree with you about always having something every week to bring a smile to my face, in my case my favourites are a hot chocolate drink, my special shortbread, ice cream and milk chocolate and luckily I tend to like the cheaper types of these. I do believe in spoiling myself occasionally. Take care.
All v good points above. Which remind me to dog out my slow cooker. Bulk cooking is great if you have space and at v least I like to plan for meals that last more than one sitting and can be bulked out with pulses and beans. That said, whenever we make soup, we always add more veg and less liquid and tend to split it btwn 2 rather 4 irrespective of what recipe says, as that way the soup is gorgeously thick and filling. My favourite are carrot, coconut and ginger soup, or leek and white bean soup. A cheap hand held blender straight into the saucepan Is all u need to whizz up the soup