It’s a Wednesday evening, and you are just getting home. You had a long day at work then had to deal with traffic during your evening commute. All you want to do is shower, put on some comfortable pajamas, and eat a nice meal.
Sounds cozy and easy right?
Well, if you’re anything like me, after a long day at work, this sounds ideal except for one thing.
Having to cook the meal.
Don’t get me wrong, I love experimenting with new recipes, filling my kitchen with different aromas, and trying my masterpiece when it’s finished. But after a long day and many thoughts running through my mind, it can be hard to manage the kitchen sometimes.
To bring some ease to my kitchen routine, I’ve compiled a list of 10 executive functioning-friendly strategies to help!
What role do executive functioning skills play in the kitchen?
Executive functioning skills are cognitive skills that help us control and coordinate our thoughts so we can set and achieve our goals. They include the ability to plan, organize, focus, manage time, initiate tasks, problem solve, remember, have self-control, and practice flexibility.
For a complete review of EF skills, check out the LSA blog post: “What is Executive Functioning?” and the LSA Real-Life Executive Functioning Workbook (coupon code LSA20 for 20% off at checkout).
Executive functions are critical because they are the process that allows us to get things done. In this case, manage a kitchen.
By having the ability to plan, we can purchase ingredients beforehand for recipes. We organize these ingredients within our homes to store them in easy-to-access places. We then use our working memory to recall and follow old multi-step recipes. We have to be sure to manage our time wisely to avoid overcooking any dishes. Things may go wrong in the kitchen, and that’s ok, as long as we have good self-control and can problem-solve to come up with solutions.
As you can see, these cognitive processes all play an integral role in our ability to get things done and can be assisted using the strategies below.
1. Use Those Gadgets
Step 1: preheat the oven to 425.
Step 2: Season your chicken.
Step 3: Place chicken into the oven.
Step 4: Boil chicken broth and chop ingredients.
Step 5: Don’t burn the chicken but don’t forget the soup you’re making either!
Cooking is a fun process, but involves multiple steps. Whether it’s purchasing the items, preparing the ingredients, and actually putting it all together to cook or bake, it’s a lot to keep track of.
Make cooking easier by using kitchen gadgets to assist you. If you’re busy baking a roasted chicken, steaming vegetables, and cooking a pasta dish, it’s going to be hard to remember when everything will be ready.
Use kitchen timers for each dish you cook to track when things are ready.
It is estimated that Salmonella bacteria causes 1.35 million infections in the United States each year, with food being the primary source for most of the infections (Salmonella Homepage | CDC, 2022). Don’t risk over or undercooking dishes, and prevent this mishap from occurring by using a kitchen thermometer. This essential gadget is important for monitoring the temperature of your food to ensure it has reached a safe internal temperature before serving.
2. Save Time With Those Ingredients
As the saying goes, “Eat the rainbow” to ensure a well-balanced and nutritious meal. Sounds easy enough, but where are you going to get the time to chop all of those colorful ingredients for your recipe?
Markets now provide fresh pre-cut vegetables in produce sections already chopped and portioned for your convenience. Sometimes they even come pre-seasoned and ready to cook to speed up the process for you further. These can typically be found in the produce aisle, packaged in containers near the fresh vegetables.
These options are not only for produce but also meats and poultry.
Whether it’s a lemon zest salmon or cumin roasted chicken, you can find pre-seasoned proteins in your local market typically in the meats/deli section, conveniently waiting for you to purchase and pop into the oven when you get home.
Not sure what to cook? Check out our free downloadable “Real-Life Executive Functioning Meal Plan” to help you brainstorm ideas and create a shopping list for a full week of meals.
3. Maintain a Clean Refrigerator
Our refrigerators and pantries are our safe keepers for our food and so, we want to ensure they are clean and well kept. In a survey conducted in the United States, it was discovered that 1 in 4 participants have not cleaned their refrigerator in six or more months.
Maintain an organized refrigerator by creating a maintenance schedule where you declutter and disinfect on a weekly basis. A sample cleaning list can look like the ones below.
4. Tuck Away Those Take-Out Menus
If you like take-out, you may be guilty of saving all those take-out menus. You don’t dispose of them because sometimes they have coupons for next time. Or maybe you just want to have the reference available for your next meal at home.
Rather than having a pile of take menus on your living room coffee table, create a Take-Out Menu Binder.
By organizing all menus you can not only prioritize which places you will realistically order from again, but also declutter your living space.
Use a hole puncher to punch menus and store in a three-ring binder or a take out binder. If you want to get crafty, you can even create sections within the binder based on location of restaurant, pricing, and cuisine.
5. Identify Easy-to-Cook Recipes
If you live a busy lifestyle where you’re always on the go, then cooking large, extravagant meals may not come easy. However, just because the recipe doesn’t call for 5 hours or 25 ingredients does not reduce its quality.
LSA has released a Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbook full of recipes that are healthy, easy to prepare, and written with step-by-step instructions.
In addition to the previously mentioned pre-cut vegetables and pre-seasoned meats, markets have already made meals available for your convenience. You can often find these in the form of salad bars, rotisserie chickens, and pay-per-pound side dishes in the deli section at your local market.
6. Clean as You Go
It’s easy to create a mess when cooking, whether it’s a bunch of dishes, seasonings, or ingredients spread along the counters. Rather than cooking away and allowing the pile-up of dishes and ingredients, clean as you go.
Get in the habit of putting dishes and kitchen utensils into the sink once they have been used to reduce countertop clutter.
During downtime, when your stews and rice are cooking, use your time wisely and clean some dishes. Even if it’s just two dishes that get done, two fewer have to be done after cooking.
Wipe down and clean counters as soon as you are finished preparing your ingredients.
Throw away all unused ingredients and take out the trash before you leave the kitchen.
Put away seasonings into their storage place when you are done seasoning.
7. Crystal Clear Organizational Cubbies
Do you ever look into your refrigerator and notice tons of plastic produce bags? Does your pantry look like a bunch of half-empty cereal boxes?
Create a more organized and easy-to-see organizational system by utilizing clear kitchen containers. These types of storage bins help with keeping food fresh and reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination.
Using clear bins allows for easier access and visibility of food items. They also take up less space than those large cereal boxes that just sit within our pantries.
8. Create a Kitchen Communication Board
When you have multiple family members and different schedules, it can be hard to keep track of whose appointment is on Tuesday and what ingredients we need for tonight’s dinner.
Rather than missing important dates and forgetting to pick up items from the market, use a note system to communicate with your family.
This can look like a whiteboard or blackboard located in the kitchen in an easy-to-see and accessible location for all family members. Use this communication board to keep track of things by creating to-do lists, supplies needed, or even important dates to remember. Family members can use different color markers to help distinguish which message is from each person.
By having visual reminders in heavy traffic areas within your home, you’ll ensure communication is met among all family members.
9. Reduce Countertop Clutter
There’s a quote by an unknown poet that goes, “Clean your space, clear your mind”. I’ve come to realize that the current state of my kitchen often reflects my current state of mind.
On days when the kitchen is orderly and tidy, I often notice feeling more balanced and level-headed. On days when the kitchen is in disarray, I notice my thoughts are scattered and I am feeling uncertain.
To reduce some of the clutter in my mind, I find it helpful to reduce the clutter on my countertops. By organizing food items into clear bins, spices into jars and containers, and appliances tucked away, I create a much more visually appealing countertop.
This leaves more room for actual meal preparation without hassle and space to create a more conducive cooking environment. By reducing extra clutter on my countertops and instead replacing it with more functional items such as kitchenware, I am able to create the optimal kitchen for my needs.
Plus, it leaves some extra room for my houseplants and honestly, you can never go wrong with an extra plant!
10. Create a Dishwashing System
Do you ever walk past the kitchen and see piles of plates and dishes in your sink?
Do you go to pour yourself a glass of orange juice and realize there are no clean cups?
If this sounds like you then you may need to develop a dishwashing system.
It is so easy for cups and plates to pile up and next thing you know, you have mountains of dishes in your kitchen. Rather than getting to this point, develop a habit of washing dishes as you go. For every dish you use, make it a habit to wash at least one dish in your sink.
If you have a dishwasher, place all dirty dishes into the dishwasher after use, and run a cycle every evening before going to bed. That way, when you awaken in the morning, you’ll have a fresh load of just cleaned dishes waiting for you.
Final Thoughts
Managing work, family, life, and now the kitchen is not an easy task to do. It’s easy to get carried away with life and forget something from time to time. However, managing the kitchen does not have to be one of those things.
Make the kitchen a safe space where you can happily retreat to by:
For more ideas on how to make cooking EF-friendly, check out this follow-up article: 10 Ways to Make Cooking Executive Functioning Friendly.
Further Reading
- Life Skills Advocate – 10 Ways to Make Cooking Executive Functioning Friendly
- Life Skills Advocate – What Is Executive Functioning?
- Life Skills Advocate – The Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbook (coupon code LSA20 for 20% off at checkout)
- Life Skills Advocate – The Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook (coupon code LSA20 for 20% off at checkout)
- Wall Street Journal: Survey Finds 1 In 4 People In U.S. Haven’t Cleaned Their Fridge In 6+ Months.