Depressed. Want popcorn. Buy a bag of the ready made stuff or at a push the micro stuff. There is no way I would do any dishes. It’s a thankless task at the best of times but how insurmountable does it seem when you are down.
When I’m down it’s about al I can do to make up fish fingers and chips for tea.
Oh totally. I know everyone's experience of depression is different and I know that I am talking about a period of my life when I was in the midst of a full on breakdown that had been 20 years in the making, but still. I managed to make my child food, and it was the bare minimum that I could manage, things that could be shoved in the oven and taken out 20mins later, so I didn't have to smell it cooking or stand over it. I'd eat toast or cereal. And sometimes I'd order a takeaway, as long as it could be done on Just Eat, and by the time it turned up, I was often too fraught at the thought of it to eat it and my part of it would go into the fridge until I could deal with it the next day. I'd go to supermarkets to try and buy food and end up just standing in an aisle, feeling entirely overwhelmed, let alone shopping with an actual recipe in mind. I once had to ring a friend who had to guide me round the supermarket and out of the door. And I know, I know this is at the extreme end of things, but I'm sure plenty of people have similar stories. This book is SO far removed from my experience. I just don't get who it's going to help.
These days, if I have a bad day (and I am not talking anything as bad as I was) I retreat into my well-worn pattern of things I've cooked for 20+ years, or dig something out of the freezer. Stuff that I can do without thinking about, because I know I need to eat properly, but I need to manage what energy I assign to that process. It's not a time to pick up a new book and try and work out a new recipe, however simple it is.
I just don't get who this is aimed at.
Exactly, nothing with a mess. Basic freezer food is my max effort or pasta pesto. Why can’t she just accept most of us fo beans on toast, pasta with pesto and frozen peas is my standby! The whole small boy breakfast actually made me jittery. It reminded me I need to take my “happy pills” this morning. Just toast the roll and put some jam or honey on it? We know she keeps a kilo of butter handy at all times, so no prob there
Yes. The mess thing is so crucial. Even a dirty saucepan felt too much some days.
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