How to Feed Yourself When You Have ADHD! - Executive Function Friendly Recipes

Ahh yes, eating with ADHD 🤪 I swear it’s either air and a glass of water that’s been sitting out for a week, or something that literally takes an entire day to make while procrastinating on something else 😂

One of the best things I’ve learned that is that I don’t have to have a meal; I just need to have 2 produce, a protein, and a carb. It makes it so much easier to eat healthy and not stress if I don’t have to make a big deal of four essential ingredients. Dinner could be any possible combination of those, even if the meal is strawberries, grilled zucchini, meatballs and a bagel

i love this because these recipes not only are ADHD friendly they're also depression friendly and other mental illnesses that just make it hard to get up and do things like cook big meals

Even though I know subconsciously that there are millions of people out there living with ADHD, seeing videos like this remind me I'm not alone in my struggles. I usually end up eating cereal, protein bars, or whatever random food is on the counter, and I've made it a goal to be more mindful of my eating habits. This video has helped immensely, thank you so much :)

I grew up with several pediatricians telling my parents that I may have ADHD and should be tested, but my parents "didn't believe ADHD was a real thing" and refused to "medicate" their children. After a couple decades of bouncing around among doctors that believed that adults do not require ADHD treatment and if I "have gone this long without treatment, then there is no need to treat it now", I finally received an official diagnosis and started treatment at nearly 37 years old. Let me just say that this past week has been an absolute breath of fresh air.

A whole cooking show dedicated to being low-executive function / low ‘spoons’ friendly would be SO HELPFUL

Honestly as someone who’s just learning about my adhd and seeing your mini meltdown really just made me feel human. like a real being. thank you for doing this

I'm a gastronomist with ADHD, and I think I'm going to write a book about it. This video is really helpful, and it's cool to see I'm not the only one with this problems. Cheers from Brasil! :)

I actually felt like crying during this video because cooking is one of those things that make it super hard to live with others. I've had some people I've lived with make fun of me for eating ADHD friendly foods, and when I do cook for people and do something very elaborate I've hyperfocused on they're confused why I don't do that for them more often and feel like I'm neglecting them. My relationship to food is SO COMPLICATED.

The tip that’s helped me the most is “who says you have to stand in the kitchen to prepare vegetables?!” I found standing for a long time in the kitchen got me tired and fed up so easy, so now I take my veggies, chopping board, pan etc and chop my veggies on a lap tray infront of the tv. I can zone out and focus on the tv and now I can have meals with actual fresh vegetables in them!

I love how you are not hiding the problems that occure during you're recording and don't seem ashamed of it. You're just like: "Yeah we tried that but it didn't work so we did it differently" I love that about your videos, it's so real, relatable and inspiring

This video made me cry. This is one of the ways I’ve always thought I was broken. So happy to find out it’s not just me.

THANK YOU for showing the laugh/cry meltdown. I've been an adult for a while now, but I end up doing this very regularly and feel like a toddler with too many big feelings. It's nice to know I'm not the only one and that I'm just having a hard time. <3

The meltdown was so important for me to see. I’ve never seen someone else do that over something small like I do. That was sooo eye opening for me. THANK YOU for keeping that in. 💜

I went undiagnosed for 35 years and what’s crazy is so many of these are my “favorite meals” already because of how “easy” they are. Now I know why

Hi Jess. Thank you for making this. There are a lot of interesting recipes here. :-) So I'm kinda ill and my short term memory is not working well so I compiles notes and ingredients into a list so I can I actually remember what you have said here. I hope that's OK. :-) So here is the list: Toast + peanut butter and honey Smoothies -> juice, frozen fruit, protein powder, ice Salad -> Mozzarella, parsley, red bell pepper, red onion, garbanzo beans, lemon, olive oil Microwave potato -> cook, halve and add butter and cheese, cook Oatmeal -> 1 cup oats, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups vanilla soy milk, cinnamon, cook 4 mins, add raspberries Chicken and salsa -> add salsa, layer chicken, cook, shred chicken, add to tortillas Two pan easy pasta -> pasta, olive oil, red chili flakes, garlic, parmesan cheese Stir fry -> frozen veggies, chicken, teriyaki sauce Macaroni corn casserole -> 1 cup macaroni, 8oz velveeta cheese, 1/2 cup butter(salted), 1 can creamed corn, 1 can corn ramen -> noodles, cooked chicken, egg, corn, green onion (spring onions) tortilla soup -> cooked chicken, black beans, refried beans, tinned tomatoes with chilli, corn, chicken stock, tortilla chips, cilantro(coriander), cheddar cheese pita pockets -> 1lb ground beef, pita pockets, olives, sour cream, cheese charcuterie -> meats, cheese, sundried tomatoes, raw almonds, olives, french baguette, crackers snack plate -> veggies and hummus, pretezels, crackers + cheese protein bars are needed :-) Thank you so much Jessica for all the recipes. :-D

Knowing that blanking out on cooking is an ADHD executive function thing let's me forgive myself. My husband started cooking dinner in 2019 and grocery shopping when I said "I don't have the bandwidth for this". It's helped me so much.

You should totally do a cooking show for ADHD folks. I WOULD WATCH!!!!!!!

I recommend batch cooking and freezing. When I cook rice, I just make as much as possible at once, keep it in the fridge, and use it over several days. Rice also freezes really well. This makes preparing a stir fry dinner much more executive function friendly because you can just focus on what's in your pan (veggies, tofu, etc.) and then add in some rice. It somehow feels a lot easier than boiling rice while also chopping and sauteeing veggies at the same time. Also, cook lots of pasta sauce and use over multiple days - most sauces also freeze well. Then you just worry about boiling the pasta and throwing in a portion of the sauce that you've defrosted. Also, I boil 8-10 eggs at once and keep in the fridge for breakfast, snacks, making deviled eggs, slicing up and putting into a salad, etc. Eggs are very convenient that way. Also, a healthy and convenient snack most people don't eat enough of: nuts!

Cooking is actually one of my favorite things to do as an adhd person. Makes for a really good hyperfocus task