Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

OCD Cooking

Cooking can be challenging when you live with an OCD person who has kitchen privileges. While Susan was here she cooked in our old round crock~pot. I haven't used a crock~pot in a very long time. I got the bright idea I'd like a new oblong one. Notice this one matches the coffeemaker I was forced into at Christmas. Eager to begin this new experience I was on Pinterest early this morning looking for recipes.


I added the things I would need to a small list of things we were going to pick up at the store a little later. Bob comes in and takes a look at the list. That's when things went south.

He can only handle one new thing at a time, so until our new recliners arrive tomorrow we will be doing only the minimum around here. Nope, he wasn't going to go for that longer list. That crock~pot was a totally new idea, one we would not deal with today.

There was a time in my life I would have challenged him on that but not these days.


Susan had made quiche while she was here so there was almost enough of everything to make another one, I just needed sausage.  We went to the store and picked up the few things he could deal with. Back at home I told him I was tired and would make the quiche for dinner rather than lunch.

Bob is obsessive about keeping the kitchen clean. You hardly get time to eat before he's taking up your plate to head to the dishwasher. He's not used to preparing food in the afternoon that would call for cleaning the kitchen.

I soon realized I'd set myself up for a problem. I held him off until 2:30 p.m. and finally gave in to cook the quiche so he could get the kitchen cleaned up.

I've decided to leave the new crock~pot in the box while I think about it for a few days. I'm not sure that's going to work for us. I'm afraid he will worry about how long it's going to be before he can wash it and clean up the kitchen. He was okay with Susan here because she cleaned the kitchen but I doubt that's going to be good with just the two of us. 

He does pretty good with things he can prepare quickly and clean up the kitchen but things that have to bake or perhaps a crock~pot are a bigger challenge.

24 comments:

  1. I love my crock pot. After my husband died I bought a mini size and use it often in the winter. They're actually quite easy to clean afterward which is one of the reasons why I love it.

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    1. Cooking is such a challenge right now I'm not sure it's wise to introduce a crock pot. Our daughter has two and uses them all the time.

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  2. Oh my. You do have your issues to deal with. At our house, I cook, we eat, and Tom cleans up. That's for dinner. For lunch and breakfast, nobody cooks and you do your own fixing and cleaning up.
    I know people love their slow cookers, but I have hardly ever used mine.

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    1. Many of these issues have always been part of living with Bob, they're just getting worse. Because of his health situation none of us want to challenge him and consequently he's continuing to screw the vice tighter and tighter. It never stops.

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  3. I don't have that problem, DH doesn't like to clean anything. I love my crock pot. If I feel like cooking, it's before noon when a crock pot comes in real handy.

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    1. I hear many people talk about enjoying their crock pot. Just never was anything I was very successful in using.

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  4. Your right. Sometimes you have to give in to make life smoother. On the other hand, if you had it long enough for him to get used to the idea, he might like it. Hahaha. Life is crazy sometimes.

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    1. These days I'm looking for what's easiest.

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  5. I bought a crock pot at a rummage sale because I saw the neat things people made with them. However, I have not been successful myself with it. The first thing I made was a bust and I'm afraid to try again.

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    1. I've never used a crock pot much. Don't think I'm going to invest a lot of effort in using one.

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  6. More challenges and changes. Sometimes OCD behavior can be a part of the cognitive changes we see. It can be so difficult to work around this. Sometimes I find myself trying to break the pattern of the moment with a distraction. Yesterday when I found myself in a similar situation I said "let's walk down the driveway and check the mail". It worked, at least this time. The short walk provided additional distractions which helped to break the OCD cycle of the moment.

    Hang in there Linda!

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    1. OCD is not new to Bob, it's only growing worse. Over the years we grew accustomed to it. Always I've let things go until I couldn't stand it anymore, then would sit him down for a talk and tell him he had screwed the vice to tight and he was going to have to lighten up. We would go on from there. Now that he's in failing health none of us want to challenge him but the time is getting close for me to have a talk with him.

      He's very hard to distract once he gets something on his mind. We try that a lot. Sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not.

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  7. They also make throwaway inserts to make cleaning even easier. He could clean all the other stuff used for the meal and only have the crockpot for later along with the dishes used. They are good for many meals.

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    1. Had not heard of throwaway inserts. Will look for those if I decide to take on this crock pot.

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  8. You have a lot to deal with...my anxiety level went up just reading about dealing with OCD.

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    1. It's pretty bad some days. However, this has been a problem the 54 years we've been married. The kids and I just learned to live with it. Now that he's in frail health I humor his fixations more. I suppose because I don't want any regrets when he's gone.

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  9. I admire your attitude and patience! I read your post last night and left a long comment and then it just disappeared! I'm on my iPad so I'm hoping this one 'takes!'

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    1. Bob's twin died last year. He and his wife had 59 years of mortal hell together. Now is wife is living with so many regrets. I'm determined not to do that. Some days are challenging but having regrets when he's gone would be much worse.

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  10. The inserts are actually called slow cooker liners...almost like oven bags that you just toss when done

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    1. Thanks for the additional info. I'll certainly keep these in mind.

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  11. I as going to suggest slow cooker liners, but others beat me to it. You'll find them in the plastic bags, aluminum foil aisle. I've used my crock pot for years. I love getting the chore of preparing the evening meal in the morning. Then I can clean up from the preparation, do as I want, and let the crock pot do the rest. On very easy thing to prepare is a broiler chicken. Believe it or not, you simply salt and pepper it and place it in the crock pot, sitting on a wadded up piece of aluminum foil. Add NO liquid. The chicken will create its own liquid as it cooks. If you go to allrecipes.com, search for slow cooker recipes and you'll find a treasure trove.

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    1. I still have this new crockpot sitting here unopened. Now that the chairs have been delivered I'm going to give the cooker some more attention.

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  12. I can see how using a slow cooker would frustrate a super cleaner upper. Good luck.

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    1. Bob doesn't enjoy eating he's in such a hurry to clean up the kitchen.

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