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Just before the recent winter holidays, my husband had the misfortune to slip on a patch of ice and break his right leg in two places— the ankle and the tibia, while out walking our dog. This event happened to coincide with one of the busiest times of the year. The following week we would be hosting our son’s first birthday party and just a few days later, Christmas dinner.
Our son is a Christmas baby who was born just a couple days before the big holiday. I have a good deal of guilt that Mother Nature saddled him with such a poorly timed date of birth. I had heard too many stories while pregnant from friends with the misfortune of a December birthday and their bittersweet memories of Christmas themed parties or birthday gifts that came wrapped in Santa Claus paper. So of course I planned a big zoo themed party to mark the occasion.
The plans were quickly coming together for the celebration, so when I got the call from the hubby that he had fallen and needed to get to the hospital, I sincerely thought he was just kidding around. He is a big lover of practical jokes, and I am gullible enough to fall for almost every one of them. But this was no joke. Several hours later, after extensive surgery and a cast, it became apparent that not only was the poor guy going to be in a lot of pain, but I would not be able to rely on him to help as he normally does when we entertain.
With some simplifying and a lot of assistance from family and friends we were still able to pull off both Christmas and birthday successfully. A lot of my cooking was done with my son on my hip, so this has served as inspiration to talk about some easy, yet fresh tasting recipes that can be done with just one free hand. Of course, the crockpot is your faithful friend when doing ”one armed” cooking.
You can find loads of fresh vegetables such as butternut squash, already cut into recipe-sized portions, prepackaged in the produce aisle. Soup vegetables— carrots, celery and onion, can be found packaged together, and this makes it so much easier to get started when you are in the mood to make homemade soup.
When looking at meats to throw in the pot, why not let the store do most of the work for you with already cubed stew meat or ground chicken, turkey or beef? And if it doesn’t come that way (such as the recipe for pork stew below), the butcher counter’s staff at most markets are usually happy to cut up meat for you upon request.
If you are going vegetarian, it’s almost as easy to pull out a bag of dried beans (rather than fuss with a can opener) and they’ll taste better too. Likewise rice and pasta are easy things to throw in the crockpot to make a one-dish meal. One of the best timesaver items to be introduced in the grocery stores lately are those easy to open, resealable boxes of broth. Finish off your dish with some fresh or dried herbs, to taste. Sometimes the best cooking comes out of a little dash of this and splash of that - no measuring required!
This latest event got me thinking how fortunate we are. While my husband will one day soon recover full use of both his legs, and I can always put the baby down for a moment, there are many among us who are permanently disabled and still manage to make it around the kitchen. I have the utmost (and newly reinforced) respect for them!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/851-cooking-with-one-arm/
One-Armed Slow Cooking
Just before the recent winter holidays, my husband had the misfortune to slip on a patch of ice and break his right leg in two places— the ankle and the tibia, while out walking our dog. This event happened to coincide with one of the busiest times of the year. The following week we would be hosting our son’s first birthday party and just a few days later, Christmas dinner.
Our son is a Christmas baby who was born just a couple days before the big holiday. I have a good deal of guilt that Mother Nature saddled him with such a poorly timed date of birth. I had heard too many stories while pregnant from friends with the misfortune of a December birthday and their bittersweet memories of Christmas themed parties or birthday gifts that came wrapped in Santa Claus paper. So of course I planned a big zoo themed party to mark the occasion.
The plans were quickly coming together for the celebration, so when I got the call from the hubby that he had fallen and needed to get to the hospital, I sincerely thought he was just kidding around. He is a big lover of practical jokes, and I am gullible enough to fall for almost every one of them. But this was no joke. Several hours later, after extensive surgery and a cast, it became apparent that not only was the poor guy going to be in a lot of pain, but I would not be able to rely on him to help as he normally does when we entertain.
With some simplifying and a lot of assistance from family and friends we were still able to pull off both Christmas and birthday successfully. A lot of my cooking was done with my son on my hip, so this has served as inspiration to talk about some easy, yet fresh tasting recipes that can be done with just one free hand. Of course, the crockpot is your faithful friend when doing ”one armed” cooking.
You can find loads of fresh vegetables such as butternut squash, already cut into recipe-sized portions, prepackaged in the produce aisle. Soup vegetables— carrots, celery and onion, can be found packaged together, and this makes it so much easier to get started when you are in the mood to make homemade soup.
When looking at meats to throw in the pot, why not let the store do most of the work for you with already cubed stew meat or ground chicken, turkey or beef? And if it doesn’t come that way (such as the recipe for pork stew below), the butcher counter’s staff at most markets are usually happy to cut up meat for you upon request.
If you are going vegetarian, it’s almost as easy to pull out a bag of dried beans (rather than fuss with a can opener) and they’ll taste better too. Likewise rice and pasta are easy things to throw in the crockpot to make a one-dish meal. One of the best timesaver items to be introduced in the grocery stores lately are those easy to open, resealable boxes of broth. Finish off your dish with some fresh or dried herbs, to taste. Sometimes the best cooking comes out of a little dash of this and splash of that - no measuring required!
This latest event got me thinking how fortunate we are. While my husband will one day soon recover full use of both his legs, and I can always put the baby down for a moment, there are many among us who are permanently disabled and still manage to make it around the kitchen. I have the utmost (and newly reinforced) respect for them!
Slow Cooker Country Pork Stew
Made with onion, zucchini, pork, diced tomatoes, water, salt, beef bouillon granules, black pepper, paprika, cornstarch
Made with onion, zucchini, pork, diced tomatoes, water, salt, beef bouillon granules, black pepper, paprika, cornstarch
Serves/Makes: 6
- 3 medium potatoes, unpeeled
- 4 carrots
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 1/2 pound pork
- 1 can (16 ounce size) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Scrub the potatoes well then cut into cubes. Peel the carrots and slice into 1/2-inch rounds. Dice the onion and zucchini. Place the vegetables in the bottom of the crock pot.
Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes and place on top of the vegetables.
Combine the tomatoes, water, beef bouillon granules, salt, pepper, and paprika in a small bowl. Pour over the pork and vegetables (do not stir).
Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or until the pork and vegetables are tender.
Increase the heat to high.
Mix together the cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir into the stew and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20-30 minutes.
Serve hot.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/851-cooking-with-one-arm/