Zucchini spaghetti – also known as Zoodles. They are quick and easy to prepare. Delicious and nutritious. And low calorie too!
Pictured: A series of 5 shapshots that change every 8 seconds. The first shows a spiralizer, bowl, and 2 zucchini. The second shows a zucchini inserted into the spiralizer held over a bowl. The third shows the zoodles spread out on a cutting board, and a knife. The fourth shows a bowl of cooked zoodles. The fifth shows a plate of crab cakes and a bowl of zoodles – ready to eat.
Ingredients
2 Zucchini
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Directions
Wash zucchini. Do not peel. Cut off ends.
Insert zucchini into one end of the spiralizer and hold over bowl or cutting board.
Twist zucchini until there is nothing left to twist.
Generously salt zucchini noodles and blot dry with paper towels or tea towel.
Cut zucchini into smaller strips with kitchen shears or knife.
Add zoodles, oil, and spices to pot or pan and saute for about 2 minutes. (A pot will keep any spatter away from you and will keep contents from spilling out.)
Ordinary things do extraordinary things! In this video, we talk about how to slice fruits and vegetables easily and uniformly. With today’s simple tip, people who are blind or visually impaired can master this kitchen task safely and easily, and with a very simple and inexpensive tool.
Pictured: DIY Shower Cleaner, bottle of Dawn dish detergent, and DIY All Purpose Cleaner.
Original blue Dawn has so many uses. It has been tried and tested and proven to be safe and effective. For people who are blind or visually impaired, it is best to minimize the toxic cleaners we think we need in order to keep our homes clean and manageable. Of course, this is best for everyone, not just the VIP community. Instead of a shelf full of assorted bottles and jars that can be harmful and confusing, try paring down your cleaning supplies with a few very effective nontoxic cleaners.
Remember to label all of your bottles containing homemade cleaning products. Use a bold indelible (permanent) marker and/or a braille label maker.
Be safe and save money!
1. All Purpose Cleaner
Keep a bottle of all purpose cleaner handy. Wipe fingerprints from walls and dirt and spills from tile floors. It is great for removing grease and scum from kitchen cabinet doors and hardware, and cooktops too.
Spray all purpose cleaner in pots and pans after cooking and let stand while you enjoy your dinner. Then wash pots and pans as usual, but with amazing ease.
Ingredients – Fill a spray bottle with 1/3 Dawn, 1/3 distilled vinegar, and 1/3 water. For more difficult jobs, spray and let stand for 10 minutes, then wipe clean. Note: Vinegar does not behave on stone (porous) countertops including marble, granite, etc., so use Dawn without vinegar on such surfaces.
2. Carpet spot cleaner
Apply a few drops of dish detergent to the soiled carpet area. Scrub with brush, even an old toothbrush. Let stand for 5 minutes or so. Rinse with just a little clear water. Blot dry.
3. Shower and bath cleaner
Prepare all purpose cleaner as above. Spray down shower walls, bathtub surfaces, and especially faucets. Let stand for a few minutes. Then rinse and wipe clean. I leave a filled spray bottle in the shower and spray faucets and known problem spots at the beginning of the shower. At shower’s end, I just wipe clean. The shower practically cleans itself.
4. Ice Pack
Fill a good quality zippered sandwich bag ¾ full with Dawn. Remove excess air. Place in freezer. This DIY ice pack will be soft and malleable and will remain cold longer.
5. Clean your eyeglasses
Just place one drop of Dawn on each eyeglass lens, rub with fingertips over both sides of the lenses, and rinse clean. Dry with a microfiber cloth.
And my favorite…
6. Unclog the toilet
Pour about a cup of Dawn dish detergent into the clogged toilet bowl. Let stand for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then flush. Repeat if necessary, but it probably won’t be necessary.
BONUS:
7. Bug spray
Fill a spray bottle with water and add just about 2 teaspoons of Dawn. Shake. Spray directly on targeted insect. Bugs do not die instantly, but still quickly.
1. Good lighting. Everything starts with good lighting. Use room lighting, spot lighting, and even motion sensor lighting in dark areas, like inside cabinets.
Pictured: Motion sensor LED light. The light comes on when the door is opened and stays lit for about 60 seconds, longer if more motion is detected. Rechargeable, and requires charging about once a month with average use.
2. Food Prep Tray. Place cutting board, utensils, and foods on a food prep tray, a tray with a lip around it. You will spend less time searching the floor for things that bounced, rolled, or fell.
Pictured: Orange plastic tray with lip around edges sits on countertop. On the tray are knife and fork, spices including salt, garlic, and paprika, 3 whole eggs and a stainless steel mixing bowl.
3. Stainless steel drinking cups. Instead of glasses that are easily tipped over and too often shatter, use stainless steel drinking cups. They are just a little more expensive up front but last and last without needing replacement, so quite cost effective in the long run. As an added bonus, they keep cold drinks naturally colder.
4. Two-sided cutting board. A cutting board with a black side and a white side provides contrast. Use the side that has the most contrast with the food you are cutting or chopping or dicing or slicing.
Pictured: An admittedly difficult-to-see 2-sided cutting board. The white side is shown. The black side is face down.
5. Sauce pans. Sauce pans contain food and spatter better than fry pans. The end result will be the same, but less food will slip, slide, or spatter over the sides.
Pictured: Sauce pan on stovetop containing a large slotted spoon for stirring, and the ingredients for “Thunder & Lightning.”
6. Oven-cooked bacon. Lay strips of bacon in a single layer on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place in a 400-degree oven for 22 minutes. Perfect bacon every time – and without the hot grease spatter. Google will suggest you use a cookie sheet. No! That hot grease will splash about when you remove the tray from the oven. Use a roasting pan. It is deeper and will contain the grease better. Trust me on this one!
Pictured: Cooked bacon on baking sheet fresh out of the oven.
7. Mandoline. Keep your fingers safe from sharp blades by slicing with a mandoline. Not only will your fingers and fingernails stay protected, but you will end up with uniform slices of fruits and vegetables, and more.
Pictured: A mandoline for safe and uniform slicing and its food holder. The food holder has a large knob for holding the food firmly in place for slicing.
8. Spice jar labels. Index cards (cut to fit) with spice names written with bold markers can be wrapped around spice jars and secured with a rubber band. See blog post “Spice Things Up” for details.
Pictured: 3 spice jars boldly labeled for curry, cinnamon, and cumin. Rubber bands hold the labels in place.
9. Bump dots. Place bump dots on microwave and oven and other appliance buttons to easily identify the location of buttons you use frequently. This ensures that you will consistently press the desired button, and you will also do so in less time. Bump dots are available in many sizes, shapes, and colors. If you know any people who are blind or visually impaired, odds are they have bump dots to spare. You only need a few.
Pictured: Assorted bump dots including flat felt dots, round cork dots, raised round orange dots, raised black round and square dots, and clear round raised dots. Many other sizes, shapes and colors are also available.
10. Spice ladles. Spice ladles can be dipped easily into spice jars and other condiments for removal of just the right amount. Avoid spills and waste. See blog post “4-Inch Ladles” for details.
Pictured: A jar of paprika with 3 spice ladles, a soup ladle, and a teaspoon.
11. Double spatula. A double spatula makes turning pancakes, french toast, hamburgers, and more, an easy task.
Pictured: A double spatula – 2 spatulas with a nonstick finish that are connected in order to work together as tongs or flippers.
12. Silicone trivets. Multi-purpose silicone trivets, typically 8-inches in diameter, can be used as hot pads, potholders, coasters, and more. They can easily be trimmed, if desired. Because of their nonslip properties, I find them most beneficial as nonslip pads for mixing bowls, hot pots, serving bowls, cups, etc.
Pictured: An 8-inch diameter silicon trivet that has been trimmed to 5 inches. The cutaway ring can be used under mixing bowls, etc., to prevent slippage.
Bonus
Your personal assistant – Alexa, Cortana, Siri, etc. Ask your personal assistant to set a timer for you, read a recipe, or suggest substitute ingredients.
Pictured: An iPhone. Siri ha set the timer and it is displayed.
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Links of products and information related to the above blog post. Note that the links showing items for purchase are for information only and are not specifically endorsed.
They look like they belong in a doll’s house! They are so cute, so tiny. They are miniature stainless steel ladles, only about four inches long. They are spice ladles, made for real cooks in full size kitchens.
Pictured: Three spice ladles against a jar of paprika. Also shown are a regular size soup label and a typical teaspoon. The smallness of the spice ladles is demonstrated.
My spice ladles! Tiny fit into most spice jars from typical grocery store brands as well as those from gourmet shops. I have a set of three of these ladles. One measures a full teaspoon, one measures a half teaspoon, and the third measures a quarter teaspoon. They function like ordinary measuring spoons except these specialty measuring spoons are designed like ladles. The bowl is at the bottom and the stem rises vertically.
Pictured: A teaspoon ladle is shown filled with paprika. The jar of paprika is in the background.
These ladles make measuring spices and seasonings so easy, so neat. There is no spilling, no waste. It is just so easy to dip the ladle into the spice jar, fill it up, and raise the ladle out of the jar to empty into the food preparation bowl or plate.
Spice ladles are not marketed as specialty items. They are not priced high like specialty items. But they sure make cooking special. So easy and neat you could work with your spices blindfolded.
By the way, did you know three teaspoons equals one tablespoon?
I am adding more spices and seasonings to my cooking these days. Thank you, spice ladles!
Pictured: 3 large filled spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin – all labeled with bold black marker.
So for anyone who likes to cook and for those of us who do not cook at all, spices are essential to making things taste great. And spices are expensive, too, so we do want to use them with some care. We want to be able to use them with some inkling of knowing what we are doing, and without any waste.
Pictured: There are four spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin and paprika has joined the others. The paprika is being prepared to be labeled. The label for the paprika is on the table, ready to be applied to the jar.
I prefer a labeling system. I take 3 by 5-inch index cards and cut them in half horizontally so that I then have two 1-1/2 by 5-inch strips from each card. With a bold marker, I write the name of the spice across the strip and then wrap it around its spice jar. I secure it in place with a rubber band. With that system, I can keep my spices on the shelf above my food prep area and I can usually make out what each bottle contains. Braille can be added to each card, either alone or in addition to the big bold writing. The label can easily be removed when the jar is empty and that label can be placed on the new jar.
When you are working in the kitchen, add some pizzazz- with spices, and be comfortable with what you are doing and how you are doing it. And enjoy!
Legally Blind 