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Food Infrastructure

This page is about Nutrition.

🍎Food Infrastructure

The brain is the conductor. The symphony runs from waking to sleeping. Every system in this section exists to keep the orchestra playing — not at peak performance, not in ideal conditions, but playing. Stabilisation first. Fine tuning second. Perfection is not the goal thriving is.

Easy food reduces friction. Friction reduction is harm reduction. When the alternative to a bowl of rice with soy and sesame oil is no food at all, the rice is not a compromise — it is the bridge that gets you to the next meal, the next decision, the next capacity window. Bridge foods are better than no food. The goal of this system is not to perform wellness. The goal is to stay fed enough to remain functional, regulated, and recognisably yourself.

For someone managing AuDHD, a spinal injury, alexithymia, and variable executive function, feeding oneself involves navigating executive function, pain, mobility, interoception, sensory regulation, and decision fatigue — often simultaneously, and often under conditions of significant cognitive depletion. The kitchen has therefore evolved not into a meal-prep station, but into a practical adaptive support system with multiple redundant layers.

"Visible food is memory support. Freezer components are stored capacity. Flavour boosters are sensory access. Easy food is harm reduction. And the goal is not to perform wellness. The goal is to stay fed enough to remain myself."

🥱The Morning Protocol: Staging the Digestive System

My morning no longer begins with coffee😭💔. It begins with herbal tea and soup or broth — a gentle, low-stimulant start that wakes the digestive system gradually rather than demanding it perform immediately. This is not a wellness ritual. It is a physiological staging sequence.

The protocol runs in order:

1 Herbal tea and soup or broth — no caffeine, warm, easy on the gut. Digestive system comes online.

2 First breakfast — yoghurt and berries. Light, protein and probiotic, low preparation cost.

3 Second breakfast — bacon and/or eggs, or something more substantial. Vector Keel confirms whether the fuel tank is adequate before clearing for coffee.

4 First coffee — only after the above😭. One cup🤯. My body thanks me for this every day🙂‍↕️.

The practical outcome: docking at Bristol harbour (the morning bathroom routine, previously the beginning and end of the day with much of the in-between spent rushing back and forth) is now a pleasant, predictable part of the day rather than an ordeal. The digestive system, when treated as infrastructure rather than an afterthought, functions accordingly.

Sometimes caffeine is skipped entirely. Coffee is still made and enjoyed — the ritual has value independent of the stimulant. The pour-over and hand grinder are for mindful moments: the process is slow, deliberate, and sensory. The Krups burr grinder is for sore or tired days: same result, lower physical cost.

For context on how significant this shift is: the previous pattern was coffee by the jug all morning — not a mug, a jug — followed by cola from lunch until bedtime. Crates of cola delivered weekly. The current system replaced that with one mindful cup of coffee per day, no cola, and a staged morning protocol that works with the digestive system rather than against it. Despite the spinal cord injury, this is the healthiest and happiest this body has been. Reducing caffeine and processed sugar is not a restriction. It is the thing that made the difference.

🤤The Tiered Food System

Food availability is structured across seven tiers, each calibrated to a different level of available capacity. The goal is to reduce the number of decisions between "I need fuel" and "I am eating" to the absolute minimum for the current state.

Food Infrastructure slide

🍱The Flavour & Texture Profile: High-Contrast Regulation

My sensory relationship with food is highly specific, structured as a sensory-informed regulation tool rather than a passive preference:

Ree "How would I describe my palate to a foodie? I’ll try most things, but I don’t like anything squiffy, chemical tasting, cherry flavoured, avocados or fish that smell too fishy.”

🤖VC “You would say I prefer food with clear sensory structure: bright acidity, enough salt, fresh herbs, savoury depth, and contrasting textures. I like meals that combine creamy, crisp, chewy, fresh, and warm elements. Bland or textureless food does not regulate me well; I function better with food that feels layered, hearty, and alerting without being overly heavy."

Ree “🤔Pretty sure I wouldn't say all that.”

Salt as Regulation: Salt is an active regulator of blood pressure, temperature control, and interoception. The daily salt ration, co-located at the hydration station, along with bacon, salty crisps, and Caesar dressings, are functional inputs to manage high metabolic burn and autonomic stability.

Texture as Attention Steering: Crunch, chew, crisp edges, and cold shards act as a steering wheel for attention. Monotonous textures (beige stodge) fail to register, whereas textural contrast (creamy hummus under crunchy flatbread, cold sorbet crystals, soft warm potato with sharp chive) provides the proprioceptive and tactile feedback required to keep the nervous system engaged.

The Smell-Risk Protocol — Sensory Protection, Not Avoidance: Suspect dairy, eggs, or other high-risk items are never sniffed directly. This is a firm, non-negotiable sensory protection rule. The neurological cost of smelling sour milk or a rotten egg is not proportional to the financial cost of the item. A bad smell can turn the nervous system off that food — and potentially everything near it in the fridge — for months. For an unmasked AuDHD nervous system, this is not an overreaction; it is an accurate prediction of a real outcome. The £3 dairy is not worth the weeks of food aversion that follow.

The correct protocol for suspect dairy or eggs is: delegate or bin. Call a friend with less sensitive sensory processing (ideally one with "questionable hygiene standards" who will not judge three-week-old milk), ask a family member, or simply pay the neurospicy tax and bin it. The sniff test is reserved for clothes — specifically, the 👃👕wear-again assessment (can this be worn without a full laundry cycle? Would Febreze help?).

🥛The Schrödinger's Milk Incident (Illustrative Case Study):

The milk on the top shelf appeared to be a solid block. The back wall of the fridge had ice extending down in blobs to the second shelf. Other items showed signs of freezing.

🕵️ The deductive chain: door not closed properly → produce frozen → milk moved to the door shelf to defrost overnight → eggs noted with concern → decision deferred to future self → bed.

👀 Day two: future self looked worriedly at both items but did not dare check.

🚮 Day three: critically low on protein. Executive decision made. A visitor in transit was asked to pick up milk, eggs, and Greek yoghurt on the way. The visitor was also asked to help carry the unusually heavy bin bag to the bins. The suspect items were disposed of without being opened or sniffed.

🙏The visitor brought replacements. Breakfast was bacon, eggs, plantain, and mushrooms with a doorstep sized slice of bread and butter and a well earned, freshly brewed coffee.

✋The nervous system was never at risk at any point in this sequence. The problem was resolved by environmental design (delegation, replacement procurement) rather than by direct sensory investigation.

🥔Batch Cooking: Stored Capacity for Future Self

Three batch cooking habits are standard practice, the first two are:

🥔New potatoes: The whole bag is steamed on the day of purchase. A standard 750g bag yields approximately 5–6 portions.

Half go into the fridge (ready to eat within the next few days), half go into the freezer (portions for future self).

This converts a perishable item with a decision and prep cost at every use into a ready-to-eat component that requires no further preparation. Applications include warm potato salads, side dishes, and easy carb additions to any meal. Grab, eat, done.

🍚Rice: One cup is cooked at a time using a pressure cooker with convenient RICE, SOUP, CHILLI etc. buttons

The portion needed is used immediately; the remainder is portioned into 150–200ml containers and frozen.

This typically produces four small containers for the freezer. Brown rice with soy sauce and sesame oil is a specific bridge food combination — enough flavour to be satisfying, enough carbohydrate to sustain function, low enough activation energy to be accessible when capacity is low. White rice is used for sides and fried rice.

Both systems follow the same principle: work done at high capacity creates options at low capacity. Past self steams the rice or potatoes. Future self eats them.

This third bath cook system is:

🥕Reducing waste by batch cooking or prepping

When items on the eat me shelf combine a base on a high capacity day Ree uses them to batch cook adding elements from the fridge, freezer and pantry, these yield 4 to 6 portions of a base that can be fine tuned by Future Ree based on her needs.

They are frozen in 200ml and 400ml containers and clearly labelled with orange band (cooked portion) label. Unlike rice and potatoes the contents are not easily visible/identifiable through the sides.

On medium capacity days, Ree does minimal prep to create frozen raw bases for stir-fry, soups, ratatouille (because it’s a fun word to write and say, very happy) and other flexible bases based on what needs using and makes a good combination.

These are labelled with Blue and Green band labels usually, but medium capacity Ree sometimes forgets, and leaves Future Ree to figure it out. 💚Future Ree appreciates that Past Ree saved the food and left an extra option. Future Ree doesn’t even mind if Past lower capacity Ree left the kitchen like a disaster zone, even if there isn't a sorbet made with leftover berries in the freezer somewhere🍧.

Labels are colour coded, Orange band contains cooked portions. Green are raw veg or fruit components, Blue are raw protein components – fish, meat etc, Red are cooked meals to reheat. Only items that can’t be easily identified through the transparent sides are labelled to reduce friction when preparing them. Labelling white and brown rice would be redundant use of time and brain power.

😋Flavour Boosters as Sensory Access

Pesto, miso & ramen pastes, herbs, spices, mayonnaise, soy, cheese, sauces, salts, honeys, vinegars, rice wine, lemons, limes, crunchy toppings, and creamy additions are maintained as a standing inventory. These are not condiments. They are sensory access tools.

For a neurodivergent nervous system, "technically edible" and "my nervous system recognises this as food" are not the same state.

A meal that is nutritionally adequate but sensorially flat may not register as satisfying or safe, leading to continued dysregulation despite having eaten.

Flavour boosters reduce the gap between what can be quickly assembled and what the nervous system will actually accept as fuel.

Condensed and Evaporated Milk: Instant Desserts and Baking Supplies

Both condensed milk and evaporated milk are stocked as shelf-stable dairy with multiple functions:

Evaporated milk: richer than fresh milk, used in hot drinks, soups, sauces, and as a cooking dairy that does not require refrigeration until opened.

Condensed milk: sweetened and thick, used for instant no-churn ice cream bases, fudge, caramel sauce, and as a banoffee pie dessert shortcut that requires no cooking skill, just a tin and a bowl.

Neither requires a trip to the fridge. Both extend the range of desserts and drinks available without adding fresh dairy spoilage risk.

The Cooking Station

The kitchen is built around three separate zones visible in the photos: the appliance tower the main worktop/table and the batch cook station.

Appliance Tower (black metal shelf rack on an office cabinet unit):

Utensil hooks are mounted on the left side of the rack frame and the herb scissors are stored here by the back door, within sight of the herbs. The crutch lives against the wall to the left with wellies — at the transition point between kitchen and the garden.

Level Contents

Top shelf Large nesting mixing bowl set, Toast Rack, Least Used items

Middle shelf M-Cuisine Steamer (bad days), lidded pyrex and soup bowls to microwave, bread bin with cutting board

Microwave level Samsung microwave, Cuisinart toaster (right), butter dish

Cabinet Top shelf Glasses and mugs (left bay), teapot and cups (right bay)

Cabinet Bottom shelf Japanese and French soup bowls, light weight tableware, Crockery and vessels of varying sizes

Main Worktop (Oak dining table):

Sandwell Council Housing Officers, Janet Millet and Claire Mackowski don’t appear to understand how wheelchairs work, or why they are incompatible with garden steps, narrow side alleys, high entry and exit thresholds, pedestal basins, standard kitchen units, narrow hallways with radiators opposite doorways, and tiny wetrooms. They claim the property is a wheelchair accessible dwelling and have been gaslighting Marie since she moved to the bungalow in November 2020. SMBC have twice disconnected Marie's cooker, in November 2021 and October 2022 when they left Ree with a tabletop cooker that was supposed to be a two week emergency stop gap. An MDT called by Cllr Jackie Taylor in March 2023 failed to resolve the safety issues.

Ree lived in a caravan for over 18 months between September 2023 and February 2025 to allow SMBC time to make the legally required adaptations. Sarah Ager, SMBC Assistant Director for Housing wrote to Marie to apologise for "unforseen delays" in December 2024. Records show SMBC ordered the kitchen AFTER Ree was made redundant in Novembr 2024 and had to return to Sandwell in February 2025, because she still can’t access UC Housing payments or reasonable adjustments to resolve historic issues. Ree had to squat in an uninhabitable bungalow that still has garden steps, paving stones that injure her spine in her wheelchair and cause trip hazard when she walks.

A meeting with James McLaughlin the Assistant CEO in February 2025 failed to resolve the issues. Escalations to Kerry Carmichael, MP Sarah Coombes and The Labour Party have been ignored, deflected.

As a result Ree got tired of waiting for chimps to take action and has been adapting the place herself 😉 She has purchased two worktops, one with a sink integrated, and needs to purchase a tap. She will then ask for help to clear and dismantle the dining table to install an L shaped counter in the corner. The sink will be beneath the boiler, the other countertop will be for prep and cooking. Marie can’t see out of the kitchen window because it’s too high🧑‍🦽, so it really doesn’t matter where the sink is as long as the waste pipe reaches.

The spice rack tower keeps the entire flavour toolkit visible and at point of use. There is no cupboard or drawer to open, no searching. Everything needed to correct, season, or build a dish is in direct line of sight from the hob.

Position Item

Left Breville Halo Flex Air Fryer, bamboo Steamer (good days)

Centre Induction hob (portable)

Centre-right Bamboo spice rack tower (4 tiers:

top stock pots, dashii sachets, knife rack, blue kitchen scissors;
upper — herbs jars, Old Bay type seasonings, spice jars;
lower — oils, condiments, colour coded Olive Oil and Rapeseed oil spray/pourers, white ceramic salt dog

Right Utensil caddy (whisk, spatulas, ladle), red binder (recipes/reference) Wok, Griddle and pans

The Batch Cook Station

High sided pots are awkward for wheelchair users to safely use on standard-height countertops. Ree is temporarily repurposing a rolling tool drawer with self close mechanism, and uses the pressure cooker, slow cooker and ice cream maker on a surface that is approximately 40cm from the floor. The function buttons on the pressure cooker make it easier to use for carbs with words like RICE, SOUP, CHILLI. Simple press reduces need to watch pans and adjust heat. If Ree forgets about it the pressure cooker simply beeps once and then keeps food warm, counting how many minutes Ree forgot about it on the visual display, without judgement.

Ree once had to throw out a relatively new, reasonably expensive sauce pan, because she opened a new SIMS game and decided to create a character while she waited for the rice to boil and protein to cook. Mere moments later Ree traced a curious smell to the kitchen and discovered a lump of carbon fossilised onto the pan. Ree tried soaking, laundry detergent, picture hammer and chisels...

Full disclosure – Ree found the protein for that meal a few days later, again it was the smell that began the search.

The missing pan from the set was a source of friction Ree hasn’t forgotten, she still sets 2 independent timers for rice. Ree is grateful for buttons that say RICE.

Tableware Weight and Volume Specifications

The physics of kitchen tools are critical for individuals with spinal injuries or upper limb weakness.

💪The Arm's Length Load Test: The true weight of a plate is its dry weight plus the weight of a full meal, held at arm's extension. The user selects lightweight, durable tableware that can be easily lifted one-handed when fully loaded, preventing pain flares and spills.

🍜Japanese Soup Bowls: Small, inexpensive, unfashionable Japanese soup bowls are used for portion and weight control. Half a can of soup fills the bowl exactly, automating the portion decision. The small volume reduces the total weight of the loaded dish, while the full appearance provides visual satisfaction (a full small bowl reads as a complete meal, whereas the same volume looks insufficient on a large plate).

☕Cups selected to match drink volume: 200ml tea cup, 2 cup coffee mug, 450 to 500ml soup mugs (repurposed coffee cups from the good old days)

Kitchen Automation and Interface Design

• Cuisinart Touchscreen Toaster (£45 on sale): Ree specifies the bread type, slice count, and selects darkness level from a list of photos (best toaster ever – little dopamine bump every morning it’s so easy to change breads, bagels, flatbread etc); the machine calculates the timing. This eliminates the decision-making, monitoring, and food waste associated with manual toasting, reducing breakfast friction to near zero.

• Flavourmaster Pressure Cooker (Gift-Exchange): Features a labelled interface with dedicated buttons (RICE, SOUP, CHILLI, SLOW COOK, SAUTÉ). This converts a complex cooking process into a simple recognition task, removing the need to hold cooking times or pressure levels in working memory.

• Breville Halo Air Fryer Cooker): A dual-drawer air fryer with two small shelves and two small baskets. Operates in three configurations: dual zone (each drawer independent), matched zone (both drawers running the same programme), or full oven mode (centre partition removed to create a larger single cooking space — sufficient for a whole chicken). Correctly scaled for a single person or couple. Weight caveat: when the drawers are fully loaded, they are heavy. This is a known physical constraint and the drawers may not be reliably usable at full load. The shelves and baskets are the primary interface.

• Samsung Sensor Microwave: The sensor function is theoretically capable of detecting food and adjusting cooking automatically. In practice, the interface has never been fully mastered and the sensor function remains unexplored. The 30-second button is the primary and near-exclusive interface. It has been pressed so many times that the markings have worn away entirely. This is not the first microwave to suffer this fate. Previous units had the button relabelled with stickers. The current unit has not been relabelled, partly because the worn button is now a source of mild entertainment: visitors attempting to operate the microwave look as bemused as the user, which is fair. Ree can spec and build a PC or website from scratch but has never mastered the microwave.

• M-Cuisine Microwave Steamer: Used on low-energy days when the full stove, pot, and bamboo steamer sequence carries a high risk of being forgotten, which would lead to scorched bamboo and ruined food. The microwave steamer provides a lower-activation-energy path to the same outcome.

• Itty Bitty slow cooker: For easy batch cook/soup on grumpy but hungry days. Dump veggies, can of tomatoes in first thing, attempt to remember some herbs, start taking an interest mid morning as the smell wafts around. Taste, add seasoning, get inspired and raid freezer and pantry, eat something hot and fresh at lunch, same for dinner if really tasty, save some for Future Ree and feel like a winner even on a bad day.

The Eat Me Shelf

The most critical piece of the food infrastructure is the Eat Me shelf: a designated, highly visible area in the fridge (bottom shelf, at eye level when the door is open from a seated position) where food that needs using first is placed. This is not a labelling preference. It is a direct response to the ADHD "fridge fog" problem — the phenomenon whereby food that is not immediately visible ceases to exist in working memory. If an item is not in the peripheral visual field when the fridge is opened, it may as well not be there. The Eat Me shelf externalises the "what needs using?" decision, converting a working-memory task into a visual recognition task.

The Oil Station by the Hob

To minimize physical and executive friction during cooking, the user maintains a dedicated oil station directly co-located with the active cooking surface:

• The Spray/Pour Bottles: Rapeseed oil is kept in a black spray/pour bottle; olive oil is kept in a green spray/pour bottle. This eliminates the need to unscrew caps, lift heavy bottles, or measure quantities—the primary oils are one motion away from the pan.

• The Flavour Oils: Ghee, coconut oil, sesame oil, walnut oil, and Shiraz wine are co-located behind the hob. Having these aromatic fats immediately accessible ensures they are used to elevate simple components (e.g., adding a dash of sesame oil to canned soup) without requiring a search of the pantry.

The Freezer as a Time Machine and Loot Box

The freezer is not used for long-term storage. It is used as stored capacity — a way for a higher-functioning past self to provide for a lower-functioning future self. Cooked chicken, batch-cooked portions, bread, fruit, and vegetables are frozen when capacity is available, and drawn on when it is not. The framing matters: the freezer is not a backup. It is a planned resource transfer across time.

The secondary framing is the loot box: the freezer is full of little gifts of love from past Ree to future Ree. On a bad day, opening the freezer and finding a portion of chocolate concrete, a batch of sorbet, or a container of something past-self cooked at full capacity is not just convenient — it is an act of self-care that was completed before the bad day arrived, when it was easy, so that it would be there when it was needed.

This framing has spread. Many of the ADHD community members who have encountered it have started to think in the same way, and the shift is visible: they smile when reminded to thank past them. The gratitude is not performative. It is real, and they see that it is real, and it matters. <3

The Container Procurement Journey

The active freezer storage system is the result of progressive, iterative prototyping to find containers that reduce food waste and executive overwhelm:

1 Cheap Container Sets (Failed): Failed the freezer test, cracked easily, and led to wasted food and high executive friction. Reassigned to dry pantry storage.

2 Aldi £4 Set (Failed Freezer, Passed Fridge): Poor freezer durability, but the long, thin shape was perfect for storing bacon and large blocks of cheese in the fridge. Reassigned to active fridge duty.

3 Aldi £10 Set (Too Large): Durable, but the containers were too large, leading to portion overwhelm or excessive food repetition. Reassigned to general fridge storage.

4 Sistema & Addis Click-Lock (Sourced on Offer): The optimal solution. High-rated, freezer-safe, durable click-locks. Sourced by adding to the Amazon basket and waiting for sales, purchasing packs at £3.50–£4.50.

The Portion Size Architecture

Portions are frozen in highly specific volumes to accommodate fluctuating appetite states and eliminate food waste:

• Up to 200ml (Components): Holds single-ingredient building blocks (onions, rice, berries, nuts). These are thawed and combined dynamically.

• 200ml (Low Appetite / Bad Day): Bounded portions designed to be non-threatening. Prevents the executive overwhelm of facing a massive plate when under-resourced.

• 400ml (High Appetite / Good Day): Full-meal portions for high-capacity days.

Chocolate Concrete: The Baking-Accessible Dessert

Baking is science. Sponges are mean. The chemistry of leavening, the precision of creaming, the structural demands of a risen cake — these are not compatible with variable executive function, limited kitchen equipment, or a nervous system that does not enjoy being told it has failed by a sunken Victoria sponge.

Chocolate concrete is the exception. It is the dessert that works regardless, and it is actively taught to children and foreign friends as an introduction to baking precisely because it requires no specialist knowledge, one specifically purchased baking tin, greased and lined, and no anxiety about whether it will rise.

The method:

1 Put ingredients in bowl. Check.

2 Mix them. Check.

3 Dump mixture into the pre-greased and lined baking tin. Push into corners.

4 Fling a bit of water and sugar on top.

5 Put it in the oven AND SET TIMER.

6 Remove from oven and avoid burned tongue, fingers and oesophagus by waiting until it’s cooled.

7 Cut into chunks and enjoy, after freezing at least one for Future Ree – she’ll need it at some point <3

The ADHD protocol is built into the instructions:

Set a timer. Remember what the timer is for. Remember to and get the chocolate concrete from the oven after congratulating yourself for remembering what the timer was for.

No tears, no sunken centres, no structural failure. The concrete sets as it cools. It is dense, rich, and deeply chocolatey. It is also a transferable skill — anyone who has been told they cannot bake can make chocolate concrete, which makes it a useful entry point for other baking-adjacent people who have been put off by more demanding recipes or mean sponges.

Chocolate concrete freezes well in airtight containers, making it a natural candidate for the future self provision system. Portions can be hidden around the freezer, and kept in the emergency box. This still leaves plenty for guests. Past Ree makes it; future Ree finds it. The discovery is a loot drop.

The Toaster Acquisition: A Procurement Case Study

The Cuisinart toaster was purchased because it has a bagel function. Not because it has a shiny shiny screen. This is not a minor preference. Bagels require one-sided toasting (cut side toasted, outer crust warmed but not crisped). A toaster without a bagel function either burns the crust or undercooks the cut face. The bagel function is a hard requirement.

The market research finding: bagel-function toasters start at approximately £40. The space age looking Cuisinart model with touchscreen, multiple bread settings, and darkness control dropped on sale to £5 above the cheapest basic bagel-only model. At that price differential, the upgrade was a straightforward decision. The touchscreen interface eliminates the manual monitoring and guesswork of dial-based toasters — bread type, slice count, and darkness level are specified, and the machine handles the rest.

The result: toast and bagels are now a near-zero-friction breakfast option. The peanut butter and nut butter and bread consumption increase since acquisition is direct evidence of friction elimination.

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