Easy Cookbook

Cooking can be hard for abuse survivors: PTSD, depression, and/or eating disorders aren't good motivators. And if your parents didn't bother teaching you how to do it, cooking can seem overwhelmingly complicated and time-consuming. It indeed can be, if you're cooking as a hobby. However, if your goal is simply to have food to eat - cooking is pretty simple, and a lot cheaper than takeout. The trick is to toss perfectionism and to use cookbook recipes as an inspiration for creativity rather than absolute rules. For example, if a recipe calls for 16oz of green peas and you only have a 15oz can - in all honesty, some people would prefer 20oz, some - 10oz, and most wouldn't care if you skipped the peas entirely or used broccoli instead. Most of the recipes on this page are healthy, use 5 ingredients or less, don't call for anything rare or expensive, and can either be fixed in less than 15 minutes or make enough food for a few days and store well in the fridge. Some are common and included for those who never cooked anything in their life and need a basic manual on how to make boiled potatoes. Others are exotic ethnic foods, helpful if you've developed food fatigue on all the common foods and are looking for something new and exciting. Feel free to email us your favorite recipes, we might add them here so other survivors can benefit from your expertise.