January 15, 2025 • 37 mins
Lizzie Eastham and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view.
On this week’s show
“Serving it up”
We talk to our choir of angels about how they go in the kitchen, some of their greatest successes and most spectacular failures. Lizzie and Sam also offer their own “Guaranteed to Succeed” recipes.
Studio 1 welcomes any input from our listeners. If you have any experience or thoughts about issues covered in this episode or believe there is something we should be talking about.
EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org or leave comment on the station’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VARadioNetwork
Thank you as always to our contributors: Sean; Lily; Stephen; Emma; Carly; Jody and Sammy C.
Vision Australia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:06):
This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.
S2 (00:16):
Hello, I'm Sam and.
S3 (00:17):
I'm Lizzie.
S2 (00:18):
And this is Studio One, your weekly look at life
from a low vision and blind point of view. Here
on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:23):
On this week's show.
S2 (00:25):
What are you like in the kitchen? Are you a
maestro of gastronomy, or do you literally set the place
on fire?
S3 (00:32):
We ask a few friends about their cooking skills and
delve into some recipes of our own. Mm, that could
be dangerous.
S2 (00:40):
It could be indeed. As we always say at this point,
please do get in touch with the show. Whether you
have experiences of any of the issues covered in this
episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something
we should be talking about. You never know. Your story
and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with
something similar.
S3 (00:55):
That's right. You can contact us via email at studio
one at Vision Australia. Org. That's studio number one at
Vision Australia. Dot org. Or of course, perhaps you can
drop us a note on our Facebook. Just go to
facebook.com slash VA Radio network.
S2 (01:11):
And some changes could be coming soon. So keep an
eye out.
S4 (01:15):
In the kitchen now I think I get around all right.
S3 (01:18):
You make good spaghetti.
S4 (01:19):
Yes, yes, yes, you have experienced. My pasta sauce is great. Yeah.
Shameless plug. Uh, I even told Ashley the recipe, my
support worker. And she does a good job of it, too.
I got to tell you, uh, I think I do. Alright.
In the kitchen. Make a bit of a mess when
I make Vegemite sandwiches or honey sandwiches. I drop the
(01:39):
honey on my bloody shirt. It's a bit of a bugger,
but nothing a sponge doesn't fix. Cooking mishap. I made
a curry one time. It was my first time cooking
on my own. Okay, I made a curry, I did.
I burnt the bum out of the pot and boiled
the curry basically down to nothing. It was slop, but
it was. It had to be eaten. So eat it,
(02:01):
I did. Oh no. And, uh, the mistake I made
was not only that, but I bought a tin of
Clive of India curry. I offended that entire tin into
the pot.
S5 (02:14):
Oh, no.
S4 (02:15):
So, yes, you can appreciate that it did not end well.
That was the one and only big cooking mishap that
I had.
S3 (02:32):
Thank you. Sean.
S2 (02:34):
Hello, Lizzie. Happy new year.
S3 (02:35):
Thank you. Sam. And how are you on this glorious day?
S2 (02:39):
I'm hot and I'm bothered. And I'm sweating in places
I'd rather not admit to. Sweating.
S3 (02:43):
I think we all are.
S2 (02:44):
Anyway, um. Yes. So, dear listener, last week's episode was
actually recorded last year. Just because it, um, transpired had
to be done that way for us to actually let
it drop at the right time, as it were. So
this is actually our first show for 2025. Where are
our hoverboards and, um, Jetsons flying cars. That's what I.
S3 (03:05):
That's what I. Yeah. I would love one of those.
S2 (03:08):
This week we are looking at, um, cooking, which is
always an interesting, uh, thing for people like ourselves. Uh,
how are you in the kitchen?
S3 (03:17):
I'm decent. I can make sort of simpler recipes. I
can bake fairly well because I can follow specific instructions. Um,
but as for things that I can cook, it's, you know,
usually like veggie scrambles or, uh, like spaghetti because, you know, uh,
it's kind of easy and straightforward, but I can't cook
(03:37):
steak to save my life. I either overburn it or
undercook it. Uh, and. Yeah. So I'm okay, but my
husband is a way better cook.
S2 (03:49):
So we've already heard from Sean now. Well, I think
it's one of your friends.
S3 (03:55):
Yes. This is Lily, a dear friend of the show.
S5 (03:59):
You know, I grew up in an Italian family. And
hanging up the apron strings of amazing Nana and mum
who could cook like nothing else, right? And so I
learned to cook. And I can cook. Okay. As the
vision started going, you know, I had to start using
a bit of technology to think, um, but just the
other day, I was going to put a sachet of electrolyte,
(04:23):
you know, you know, the stuff we put in our
water and the sachet mixed with a few carbs and stuff.
And normally I'd just snip the top off, put it
into the bottle, shake it up and off I'd go,
and I'd do it without vision. I just grab it
out of the cupboard, you know? I don't even know
what I'm doing. I feel my way around and, uh.
And I put it in and I started shaking it
and I thought, what is going on? And it's getting
(04:45):
heavier and heavier, and, you know, you can hear the shake.
You couldn't hear it anymore. And I actually put a
protein powder sachet in there that someone had given me
from a sample from something, and it was so disgusting
and I didn't realize until I started trying to drink
(05:05):
while I was on the trainer and went, oh my God. Anyway,
I had to stop the workout, get off, spit it
all out, Chuck it all out. Oh, that was just
such a silly thing to do. What else have I done? Just, um. Oh,
I've been known to put wrong ingredients in things just
because I'm in a hurry, and I'm. I'm putting sugar
(05:27):
instead of salt. Um, or vice versa. Um, you know,
I just. Yeah, lots of little things where I just
shake my head at myself and just go, God, pay
more attention, Lil. You know, I'm lucky I've never had
any burns or anything like that. I've been pretty lucky
in that regard. I'm pretty careful. I look, I've learned
(05:49):
all the skills I know how to cut things, and
contrast is a big thing for me. So I just
make sure. Yeah. So that's, um. I've got a very
well organized cupboard and fridge and all that sort of thing, but. yeah,
just sometimes do silly things. Grab the wrong bottle. Yeah.
S3 (06:07):
What sort of technology do you use in the kitchen?
S5 (06:09):
I have a talking scale and a talking jug. They're
the two talking things I have. So all the technology
I have, I just then have, uh, skills that I use. Oh, well,
I have, you know, contrasting chopping boards and plates and
things like that. I use all of that. Otherwise, it's
just more down to how organized I am. Um, I
(06:31):
do get a big fat black texta and write, you know,
the letter of of something that's similar to something else
on the top. And I can usually see that I
used my phone again. I used the magnifier in my
iPhone to read labels. Seeing I will read labels to me,
I voiceover actually when you've got magnified. Found this out
(06:52):
the other day when you've got your magnifier turned on
on your phone. I've got it set up that I tripled.
Triple click the side button turns my magnifier on. If
you've got voiceover on at the same time, it actually
reads what it's saying to you. Um, really? Yeah. I
didn't know that. So it's sort of like saying I.
But it's. Yeah. So that that works. Okay. Yeah. I, I,
(07:13):
you know, my coffee machine, I can't see the gauge
very well. So I use again um, the camera in
my phone. Uh, I'll, I'll zoom in and just make
sure the gauge is going to where it needs to.
So I do use, um, magnification. Um, quite a bit. Um, yeah.
Contrast and a bit of talking stuff.
S2 (07:35):
Thank you. Lily. Um, yeah. When in doubt, always get
Lily to speak because she can fill up our time
quite nicely.
S3 (07:44):
I like Lily. She's a great person, and she's got
a lot to say. But interestingly enough, on one point
that she said, um, right in the beginning of the
piece about having an Italian nonna and mum, my papa
is Indian and knows how to make pretty much everything.
In fact, I don't think there's anything he can't make.
So I always grew up learning how, like what spices
(08:07):
went with what? And, uh, how to cut certain things.
He taught me how to cut fruit and vegetables. And,
you know, he always let me experiment in the kitchen
with him. And my dad also, uh, was really good
at cooking. And of course, I had no t come
out when I was young. And so I learned all
those skills.
S2 (08:25):
I think another thing that was, uh oh, there's a
few interesting things here to unpack here, but the, um,
last year we talked to two ladies who had established
some accessible hair products.
S3 (08:37):
Yes.
S2 (08:38):
And that basically meant that the containers felt different. Yep.
And that things smelled different. Mhm. Now maybe, just maybe
we can develop or someone can develop accessible kitchen products
so that yes, you're not adding sugar to things when
you should be adding salt or vice versa, because the
(09:02):
amount of times I've heard about that happening, or maybe
it's just our own stupidity because we put things in
the same containers. I'm not sure, but, uh, yeah. And
one of the problems I've had, though, and this is
a slightly different thing, is I've got different jars of spices. Yeah.
Now some of them unscrew and they've got a little
sprinkly thing that you can sprinkle. Yeah. Others you pop
(09:25):
the lid open. Yep.
S3 (09:28):
Same. But what I tend to do is just smell them. Um,
and that's how I can sort of tell what it is.
And if I like the smell and think it'll complement
the food, then I'll put it in. But it's funny
you said about, uh, contrasting sort of containers and different
feeling things. I don't think that such a product has
been invented yet. However, we are already doing something like
that in our household. Like we have a specific bowl
(09:51):
for our sugar that is separate to the one for, um,
for salt or the little container that we use for salt.
We also put the coffee and tea in different containers
because we have tea leaves as well. So we already
picked out when we went to Woolworths, we picked out
different containers and then when we got home, we decided,
this one's for this and that one's for that. Because,
(10:12):
you know, Braille labels, we could do them, but they
get dirty and then they peel off. But at least
if you've got different filling containers, it doesn't matter where
the label comes off or not. You already know what's what.
S2 (10:22):
It's all fine and well. But I'm going back to
my problem with the spices because I once forgot which
one of the lids popped off and which one of
the ones screwed off.
S3 (10:31):
Oh no. And oh yeah, I'm thinking, I think I
already know where you're going with this.
S2 (10:36):
And all spice is called all spice because it goes
with everything. Not when you add a half a jar
to something.
S3 (10:41):
All spice is called all spice because it goes all
over the place, I think.
S2 (10:45):
Yes. So that was my. And yes, it tasted very,
very clovey. So we had very, very clovey pasta that night,
but it was different. It is, it was um, yes,
an experience. Anyway, we are talking next to, I believe,
another friend of yours, Steven.
S6 (11:09):
And I'm a pretty good indication that the most interesting thing,
probably David's favorite stories, would be what's cooking carbonara for
me and a couple of our friends and stuff, and
I just got her to serve up dinner, I made carbonara,
I poured the pasta out into the sink and drained
(11:31):
it and stuff, and then mix it all together and
and then got Adele to serve the dinner. And there
was a dish sponge folded into the into the pasta.
And I strained it. So she pulled that out and
put that back at the sink. But, uh, luckily it
was a clean sponge, so, um, that was probably the
funniest one. But, um, when I first started cooking, I
(11:54):
accidentally bought cucumbers instead of zucchini. I didn't know before.
I try to make zucchini slice that there were cucumbers,
but it didn't work very well.
S5 (12:03):
Yes I've done.
S6 (12:03):
I do not substitute there.
S2 (12:07):
Oh, zucchinis and cucumbers.
S3 (12:10):
You know what? I can see why people can't tell
the difference. But generally, my thing is they have a
knobbly thing at the end. Cucumbers don't.
S2 (12:18):
Yes, yes. I came so close to doing that once. Aha!
I bought what I thought was a zucchini, and it
turned out to be a very nice Lebanese cucumber. But
I found out as soon as I chopped the thing
up and it was, I was going to put it
in a pasta dish again. Aha! Chop the thing up
and thought, this is way too crispy to be a zucchini.
(12:42):
So I went and ate a bit and it's like, yep,
that's not zucchini. So that got put into the into
a container and use the following day in a salad.
S3 (12:54):
Yeah. It's funny you should say that because the one
and only time that I've made this one like this mistake.
I went to make my veggie scrambles, and what I
do with that is I grate zucchini up and, um,
I remember grating this thing and thinking, this is just
turning into complete mush. It's way too juicy because cucumber,
like the center isn't as hard as zucchini. And so
(13:18):
this stuff was going everywhere. And in the end I
ended up having like slosh instead of zucchini. And I
didn't put it in because I realized that it was cucumber.
But I thought, oh boy, yeah.
S2 (13:30):
So you had what might end up being a useful
painter or a glue or something like that. I'm expecting.
S3 (13:35):
I gave it to Lacey, actually, and she loved it. Oh,
it was a nice summer because it was summer. It
was a nice summer treat for her.
S2 (13:42):
When in doubt, give it to a dog. Or. Um. Yes. Uh,
I used to have a pet pig and, uh. Yes, uh,
she used to get everything, so. Yes. Yeah. Anyway, I
am going to give you my award winning or can't
go wrong. Pasta recipe. Good. This thing is so simple,
(14:02):
and I do thank my friend Roberto for this because
it is the ultimate cheat's pasta dish. Aha! All you
need is okay, said pasta. Preferably spirelli or something like that.
Because frankly, I think that blind people should be banned
from eating spaghetti in public.
S3 (14:19):
I do agree.
S2 (14:20):
Yes, it's something that the rest of the world should
not be allowed to see. What people do when they're
in the privacy of their own homes is their business,
because no one else can see them. But no, you should,
we should. We should all be banned from ordering spaghetti
bolognese at a restaurant. Anyway, I digress. So pasta? Mhm.
Either half an onion or the equivalent of half an onion.
(14:43):
Now what I found is in all your major supermarkets
now you can get frozen onions. And these things are fantastic.
There's no tears, there's no cutting stuff up. You just
grab a handful of the stuff and fry it and
away you go. A tin of tuna. Now you can either.
You can have it in oil. You can have it
(15:05):
in brine. You can have it in water. Doesn't matter.
It just slightly changes the way that you cook this thing. Okay.
The last essential recipe is tinned tomatoes. Right. And we're
talking either diced or um, or crushed or whatever. Just
as I said, we're aiming for simplicity here right now.
What I also tend to add is capsicum and um, celery. Um,
(15:31):
but those are optional. So first things first, you cook
your pasta. Right. So you normal thing. Um, I will
tend to actually boil the water in a jug first
nowadays because it takes less time and apparently it's more
energy efficient. So I'll put the pasta on first. Cook
your onion. So if you have bought the tuna in
(15:53):
olive oil, drain the olive oil. Use it to cook
the cook the onion up right? Once the onion actually
smells nice and has a smell to it, that's my
indicator as well. So yes, if you're totally blind, you
can do this as well. So once it smells like
cooked onion then you add your tuna and your tinned tomatoes.
(16:15):
Give it all a nice big stir up. So the
only thing you're actually cooking by the way is the onion. Yeah.
Now if you're adding things like capsicum and celery you
add those in before the the tuna and the tomato.
But otherwise it's just simple onions tuna, tinned tomatoes. Once
the pasta is cooked, add it to the mix. Stir
it all up together. Serve it. You have a tuna
(16:38):
pasta dish.
S3 (16:39):
I mean, you do, but where's the flavour?
S2 (16:42):
It comes from the tuna.
S3 (16:44):
Well, I mean, like, you must be getting flavoured tuna then.
S2 (16:47):
Uh, no, I like I like the taste of tuna.
And also, yes, I tend to add a lot of
spices and things like that as well. That's the beauty
of it as well. You can add extra things there,
I do believe, um, Felicity, a friend of mine adds
beetroot of all things in in there for some reason.
S3 (17:02):
I do like beetroot.
S2 (17:03):
So yes, you add whatever you want, you can put
some olives in there or something like that. But that's
my can't go wrong pasta dish. Do you have a
I can't go wrong dish.
S3 (17:12):
I have veggie scrambles. Okay. So before we even start,
my number one tip is have everything prepped before you go.
Like before you introduce any heat source to anything. Because
what I have done before is put some stuff on
the heat and then had to get other stuff ready
and it's burnt. Oh, uh, so veggie scramble again. Simple onion. Capsicum. Um,
(17:37):
you can do so many things. Grated zucchini or, uh,
cut up mushrooms, if that's your thing. Cherry tomatoes cut
in half if that's your thing. But just make sure
that whatever you're putting in, there's not too much, because
otherwise you're going to have a lot of veggie and
not much scramble. So cut up everything. Make sure your
two eggs or three eggs are whisked together. I usually
(17:59):
do three because I'm a pig. Make sure that's all.
Whisk together. Put some salt and pepper in the eggs.
I usually add olive oil, not butter. I know lots
of people scramble eggs in butter, but I don't. So
do the olive oil. Fry up the veg, make sure
that it's got that cooked smell like you said, and
that everything feels soft when you're mixing with the spoon.
Then add the eggs. And now the important thing is
(18:20):
when you put the eggs into the vegetables, stop using
a wooden spoon and start using a fork, preferably the
fork that you use to scramble the eggs with. So
you're making less dishes and you cook it for as
long as you like your texture. I like my eggs
quite firm. And voila, you've got scrambled eggs. Veggie scramble,
very protein rich, delicious. Healthy. It's apart from smoothies. It's
(18:44):
like my go to breakfast.
S2 (18:46):
Okay, but do not use on a non-stick frying pan,
I presume.
S3 (18:49):
I actually use a pot. So I have a few
smaller pots And I find it's a lot safer for
me to use a pot, because then you can sort
of gauge how much vegetables you've got versus how many eggs,
and whether the ratio is going to be good or not.
And also, if you do have grated cheese, you can
(19:09):
add a little bit of that about 30s before you
take it off the heat. And oh it's brilliant.
S2 (19:14):
So dear listener, I'd approach both with extreme care, but
well have fun.
S3 (19:20):
I'm gonna try your tuna pasta. I've been told time
and time again through like coaches and other athletes, like, oh,
you should eat tuna. And I've never, ever been able
to stomach tuna. But this this pasta dish you've given me,
I've got to try it.
S2 (19:36):
It comes across quite meaty as well. Tuna is a
very meaty kind of fish. Yeah. So? So. Yes. Anyway.
But anyway, the next person we are talking to is Emma.
And I don't think her in the kitchen get on
pretty well. No, I don't think so.
S5 (19:52):
Oh my goodness. Cooking. I am terrible at cooking. I clean,
I do washing, but cooking. Oh my goodness, I am shocking.
But what I tend to do is I marked the oven,
got an electric oven. So you put Velcro below the
(20:15):
knobs and I've gotten someone to tell me which knob
is what and the markings for the temperature. And then
I remember it pretty well. So yeah, I can put
a pie in the oven, put, um, kievs or schnitzels
or bacon and stuff like that on the sandwich press.
I think the sandwich press is an amazing invention. Oh yes.
(20:40):
The microwave. When it comes to the stove, I tend
to concentrate with feeling things with the spoon, the wooden
spoon that I'm stirring with to see Thick. The stuff
is on the stove. But one mishap I can seriously
remember is porridge. A very simple meal, right? Porridge. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well,
(21:06):
what I what I did, like three times and the
compost bin, cos I threw it away as compost got
very tight with hard overboiled oats because I turned the
stove up too high. Oh, no. And I was staring
at it and it just kept getting thicker and sticking
(21:28):
to the pan. I'm like, what is going on here?
This isn't right. What's happening? You had sludge. Sludge? Or
I'd say very hard, man. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, the
compost bin was wedged tight with this hard cement over
burnt bone. Oh my goodness.
S7 (21:52):
I know, I know.
S3 (21:59):
So I've actually got a tip regarding oats.
S2 (22:01):
Okay. Yes, I'm listening because porridge is one of my
two worst enemies. Okay.
S3 (22:05):
I love oats. And my tip is this don't use
the stove, use the microwave. But on top of that,
prepare the oats the night before. So what I would
usually tend to do is get, um. I use the
Carman's oats sachets just because. Otherwise I have to weigh
everything out and I can't be bothered these days. So
I use the carman's. Uh, no added sugar ones. And
(22:28):
then I just add some milk or some water or
whatever liquid of choice you want to use. And then like,
just make sure the ratio is fine and that, um,
you don't want it to be too watery because it
will thick up overnight. So you just cover it up,
put it in the fridge overnight, you come out the
next day, you've got a creamy, gelatinous porridge ready to go,
(22:49):
and all you have to do is zap it for
a minute. Don't do what I did and think, oh,
it needs 2 or 3 minutes. No, it only needs
a minute because the minute you put it on for
too long, it turns to sludge again. So just a
minute until it's warm. You just need to warm it
through at this point because it's already softened up. And boom,
there you go.
S2 (23:06):
I've never really been a particular fan of porridge, but
I have tried it a couple of times to cook it,
and it's always turned out, yes, as, um, some form
of putty. Um, so yes, it's, uh. Yeah. Have you
got any foods that are your worst enemy that just
refuse to work with you? I well, I think you
(23:27):
said once bacon was, uh.
S3 (23:29):
Oh, yes. Yes. I can't do bacon. Um, I mean,
I don't do middle bacon or streaky bacon anyway. I
don't eat it. I eat short cut. But even then,
you've got the little bits of fat around the edge
and they curl up, and then I can't turn it.
And the last time I made bacon, which was sort
of like in the middle of last year, I actually
burnt my thumb really bad. It took two weeks to heal,
(23:52):
And I said, I'm never cooking bacon again. If you
want bacon, don't ask me. I will not make it
for you.
S2 (23:58):
Well, my worst enemy as far as savory goes, is fish.
I either undercook it or overcook it, so and I don't. Again,
I don't particularly like it myself, so I don't bother
with it. If people want fish, they can have fish fingers.
That's my philosophy. It can be made frozen. So anything
that like that is it can be done frozen. My
other one is jelly. I can never do jelly.
S3 (24:21):
Jelly.
S2 (24:21):
Yeah, it's such a simple thing. But each time I've
tried to make it or to, you know, follow the
instructions and everything like that, it's turned out to be
some bizarre, viscous cordial.
S3 (24:35):
Yuck. So too much water SIM.
S2 (24:38):
Possibly. I've actually been very specific about how much I've added, so.
So I after a while, after about 3 or 4 attempts,
I've just gone. No. Never again.
S3 (24:47):
Yeah, I don't eat jelly very often, but Steven Stephen makes.
You know what I don't. I will rephrase, I don't
have any food. That's my worst enemy. Because if there's
anything I can't make, I just get Stephen to do it.
And he is an amazing chef. I can't believe how
lucky I got. He's the best cook ever. Sorry, Papa.
S2 (25:09):
You've got to say that anyway. Next up, we are talking.
Let's have a look at my little list of people
who are naughty and nice. And both are. Well, they
both are. In fact, we are talking to Carly. Are we?
S5 (25:22):
Okay. I've been banned from cooking steak. I'm only allowed
to cook steak in open aired areas. Okay. Which is
the barbecue out the back. And I've got it. And
I've got to time it because I do like my,
you know, I do try to do everything myself. Cooking
at the moment. Look, I keep it simple. I use
(25:43):
an air fryer for my son. He's very picky with
his food, so it's usually chicken nuggets. Uh, an easy
steak airfryer, everything. And I'm actually on light and easy
at the moment.
S3 (25:57):
Wow. Okay.
S5 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah. So that for me being work and and
just at this stage, I want to lose a bit
of weight because I've got the event coming up soon
as well. Yeah. Yeah. So just, it's easy for me
to grab a bag and know what I'm getting because
it is just me and my son living here and
we eat totally opposite. So yeah, right here and now,
(26:22):
with the next little loss of vision, I've gone back
to light and easy. And I don't know where I'll
go from here. Maybe summer I'll go back to just,
you know, I love easy things like fish and salad.
I live on that. I think if there was more
people in the house, I would get, you know, the
support worker. She's offered to prep, but I think right
(26:45):
here and now. So I know how much I'm getting.
And like I said, for the event, maybe after the
event I will take her up on that offer and
see what it would look like, because I do love
to cook. But yeah, I've kind of put it in
the too hard basket for now. The things on the
cooktop like especially being able to gauge chicken I won't
touch anymore, um, because that's foul. That was a joke. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Um, yeah. But,
(27:15):
you know, it's just it's. I choose my battles. I
did have my daughter over here the other day, and
I got the, you know, the, um, big fry pan
electric fry pan. And I did successfully under the bright
light bolognese. But that was just make sure that the
meat was cooked for half an hour. Chuck the sauces
(27:36):
in and mix, you know, things like that. I did
a bulk cook then. So, yeah, it's the kitchen's. More
will be revealed as time goes along.
S3 (27:51):
I feel like bulk cooking is the solution to so
many problems too.
S2 (27:56):
Oh yes, but the thing is, it depends who you're
living with. Yeah, because, um, yes, I used to do
that all the time when I was living on my own.
I'd cook up a whole lot of pasta or a
whole lot of stir fry or something like that. Chuck
it all in the freezer or fridge or whatever. But
then all of a sudden, I was living with somebody
else and, well, she was saying, we're not having that again,
(28:20):
are we?
S3 (28:21):
Yeah.
S2 (28:22):
I was like, what's wrong with that?
S3 (28:24):
I completely understand because Stephen and I are the same. Like,
I will happily live on bulk stuff. I mean, when
I was living on my own, Papa used to come
over and, um, every Thursday, we would decide beforehand, like
what we're going to make. They would get the ingredients
on their way up, and we would prep, and then
we would cook. So I'd have, like, stir fry and
(28:47):
curry and but we wouldn't do the rice because frozen
rice doesn't turn out so well. So I'd just get
the Uncle Ben's brown rice. But then, yeah, I live
with Stephen now and he doesn't want to eat the
same thing twice. So, um, if we do one pan
dinner or like, spaghetti bolognese and there's leftovers, which usually
there is, I'll just chuck a couple of containers in
the freezer for me, and usually then I've got something
(29:07):
if I want it. But he doesn't have to eat it.
He can still have his steak every night or whatever
he wants. No problems there.
S2 (29:13):
The other thing as well is when I that I
used to do when I was on my own, especially
when I was in full training, you wouldn't have a
lot of time to do things necessarily. So, um, my
most frequent dinner was a fried meat of some sort
and a eat it as you go salad. Yeah. So
basically what that meant was whether it be lamb chops
(29:35):
or steak or something like that, I would cook the
meat and then munch on a tomato, continue cooking the meat,
eat half a carrot. Basically by the time the meat
is cooked, I've eaten the salad stuff and all I
just do is eat the meat afterwards. That seemed to
do the job.
S3 (29:51):
Yeah, I mean, that's good. That actually works out really well.
But also you can get the packaged salads, you know,
you can get the, um, the couscous or the, the
basil pesto pasta or the Greek salads or the bean
salads or whatever you want to get, like, um, one
of our favorite things to do is get like a
rotisserie chook from the shop and then like those salad
kits that you get in the bag. Crunchy Asian is
(30:13):
our favorite. And like rotisserie chicken and salad it's so easy.
Or rotisserie chicken and rolls. Like there's barely any prep,
barely any mess, barely any time. And Monday evenings when
I have to, um, train later. Uh, it's one of
our go to meals.
S2 (30:30):
Well, herein lies the thing is that, um, when I
was an athlete, I was constantly snacking on stuff.
S3 (30:36):
Oh. Of course.
S2 (30:36):
Yeah. So actually, having vegetables that were easy to get
hold of meant that I would probably be, um, chomping
on a stick of celery and maybe some peanut butter, um,
as opposed to a packet of Tim Tams.
S3 (30:49):
Yeah, well, I mean, one is clearly better than the other.
S2 (30:51):
That's right. Um, the packet of Tim Tams is obviously
the better one. Yeah.
S3 (30:55):
Yeah, that's debatable, but, you know, that's for another day.
S2 (30:59):
Okay. So anyway, talking of athletes we are talking to
next to another former athlete.
S3 (31:05):
Is it Jodie?
S2 (31:06):
It is Jodie.
S3 (31:07):
It's Jodie.
S8 (31:11):
I'm an absolute shite cook. Um, but but I don't
think that's necessarily due to my vision impairment. I mean,
I did cooking at school like everybody else did cooking
at school. I went to a technical school back in
the day, and then I was when I was training mum,
I was still living at home. So, um, with my
training and getting home late and stuff, um, you know, my,
(31:33):
my dinner was sort of already made and ready to go.
So I, when I met Neil and, and, um, started to,
to cook and stuff, uh, you know, I was sort
of behind the eight ball because I never really practised
it or anything when I was at home, so I
can't think of anything off the top of my head
that it would be vision related. Although when we. We
(31:54):
have a barbecue up here. Um, I'm in Queensland, so
we have barbecues reasonably often. We just, uh, if my
hubby's cooking, Neil's totally blind. If he's cooking on the barbecue,
we generally get, uh, steak from a butcher, and they
know the thickness that we like. And, um, he'll generally
just time it, uh, cooks five minutes each side and
(32:14):
job done.
S3 (32:15):
So which one of you is the the better cook
then you'd say with your husband or or.
S9 (32:21):
Um, no.
S8 (32:22):
Probably me. I probably do the majority of the cooking. Um,
Neil pretty much just does anything that's on the barbecue.
And I'll do the sort of the other more involved dishes.
S2 (32:35):
Thank you. Jody.
S3 (32:36):
Apart from Lily, why is everyone a terrible cook?
S2 (32:39):
I think everybody.
S3 (32:39):
Is with that.
S2 (32:40):
I think everybody assumes that they're terrible cooks, but they're
not as bad as they think. All things Considered. We
all have our own specialty dishes that we stick to.
And I don't know about you, but if there's something
I'm not good at, I just don't cook it.
S3 (32:53):
Yeah. I mean, I find cooking to be quite therapeutic,
but obviously because of time constraints and I often train
in the evenings, I don't cook. And Stevens just got
such a je NE sais quoi, you know, like, such
a flair and and pizzazz for the things that he cooks.
So I don't even bother arguing because honestly, his version
(33:14):
or whatever would be better.
S2 (33:15):
I suspect that that's our household as well. Only in reverse. So, um. Yes, that's, uh,
Heidi seems to, uh. Yes. Leave it to me. And
to the point where, uh, Friday is her night to
do stuff. Mhm. So we usually get Uber Eats.
S3 (33:32):
Okay. Yeah.
S2 (33:33):
Um, so that's, uh, that's our household. Anyway, the last
person we are hearing from is Sam Colley with his
only final little piece of wisdom I find.
S10 (33:45):
Chopping.
S2 (33:45):
Quite.
S10 (33:46):
Difficult because of my lack of depth perception. That's always
something that's a bit, um, a bit fraught with danger.
I'm not sort of too confident with that. Never really
have been. But, um, I do love a good, um, airfryer.
I've got a fantastic airfryer at my place that's, um,
really made things. Really, um, can cook up a lot
(34:08):
of tasty quick things in that, but, um. Yeah, chopping
vegetables and, um, that sort of thing. Not fantastic. But
I do have a couple of sort of standbys I
can go to, but yeah, nothing, nothing terribly complicated.
S3 (34:24):
I think the invention or not the invention, but the
introduction of, like, frozen veg salads to go, uh, cut
up fruit. You can even get a Woolworths cut up fruit.
And I love pineapple, but nobody knows how to cut pineapple, apparently.
So how do.
S2 (34:40):
You go cutting things up in general?
S3 (34:42):
I'm really good. I you know, I went to a,
like a specialty school for blind students, blind and low
vision kids. So we learned from day Dot how to
cut using like the knife guards or how to position
your fingers so you don't cut yourself. And I've, you know,
since I was about 5 or 6, I remember cutting
things up and learning how to do that. So I'm
(35:03):
not I'm not bad at it. I actually kind of
like it.
S2 (35:06):
Yeah. So the discovery that you can actually buy an
actual guard to stop yourself from cutting yourself open is,
is pretty neat. Um, I don't use them. No. Well,
I've learned to do without them myself as well.
S3 (35:17):
But but they are useful for those that need them.
S2 (35:20):
And I think that's, uh, that's the big thing. I
think that's what stops a lot of people from cooking
is the fear of sharp objects and and hot surfaces,
which is like, you know what? Throw caution to the wind.
Let's just get out there and have some fun and
make a mess, as it were.
S3 (35:34):
What's life without a bit of risk?
S2 (35:35):
That's exactly right. Anyway, that is a wrap for this week.
Big thank you to Sean. Lilly. Steven. Emma. Kylie, Jodie
and Sammy. See?
S3 (35:47):
And of course, a big thanks to you for listening.
S2 (35:50):
Next week we are joined by an old friend of
the show, Matt Levy talks about his retirement from Paralympic sport,
what he has been doing since then, and the two
guidebooks he has helped to put out at the end
of last year.
S3 (36:03):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show. Whether you have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One,
or whether you think that there's something we should be
talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may
help someone who is dealing with something similar.
S2 (36:19):
You can email us Studio One at Studio number one
at org.
S3 (36:25):
Or perhaps you can look us up on our socials,
whether that be Facebook or Instagram. Just look up VA
Radio Network. We want to hear from you. Bye for now.
S1 (36:36):
Vision Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community
Broadcasting Foundation for Studio One.
This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.
S2 (00:16):
Hello, I'm Sam and.
S3 (00:17):
I'm Lizzie.
S2 (00:18):
And this is Studio One, your weekly look at life
from a low vision and blind point of view. Here
on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:23):
On this week's show.
S2 (00:25):
What are you like in the kitchen? Are you a
maestro of gastronomy, or do you literally set the place
on fire?
S3 (00:32):
We ask a few friends about their cooking skills and
delve into some recipes of our own. Mm, that could
be dangerous.
S2 (00:40):
It could be indeed. As we always say at this point,
please do get in touch with the show. Whether you
have experiences of any of the issues covered in this
episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something
we should be talking about. You never know. Your story
and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with
something similar.
S3 (00:55):
That's right. You can contact us via email at studio
one at Vision Australia. Org. That's studio number one at
Vision Australia. Dot org. Or of course, perhaps you can
drop us a note on our Facebook. Just go to
facebook.com slash VA Radio network.
S2 (01:11):
And some changes could be coming soon. So keep an
eye out.
S4 (01:15):
In the kitchen now I think I get around all right.
S3 (01:18):
You make good spaghetti.
S4 (01:19):
Yes, yes, yes, you have experienced. My pasta sauce is great. Yeah.
Shameless plug. Uh, I even told Ashley the recipe, my
support worker. And she does a good job of it, too.
I got to tell you, uh, I think I do. Alright.
In the kitchen. Make a bit of a mess when
I make Vegemite sandwiches or honey sandwiches. I drop the
(01:39):
honey on my bloody shirt. It's a bit of a bugger,
but nothing a sponge doesn't fix. Cooking mishap. I made
a curry one time. It was my first time cooking
on my own. Okay, I made a curry, I did.
I burnt the bum out of the pot and boiled
the curry basically down to nothing. It was slop, but
it was. It had to be eaten. So eat it,
(02:01):
I did. Oh no. And, uh, the mistake I made
was not only that, but I bought a tin of
Clive of India curry. I offended that entire tin into
the pot.
S5 (02:14):
Oh, no.
S4 (02:15):
So, yes, you can appreciate that it did not end well.
That was the one and only big cooking mishap that
I had.
S3 (02:32):
Thank you. Sean.
S2 (02:34):
Hello, Lizzie. Happy new year.
S3 (02:35):
Thank you. Sam. And how are you on this glorious day?
S2 (02:39):
I'm hot and I'm bothered. And I'm sweating in places
I'd rather not admit to. Sweating.
S3 (02:43):
I think we all are.
S2 (02:44):
Anyway, um. Yes. So, dear listener, last week's episode was
actually recorded last year. Just because it, um, transpired had
to be done that way for us to actually let
it drop at the right time, as it were. So
this is actually our first show for 2025. Where are
our hoverboards and, um, Jetsons flying cars. That's what I.
S3 (03:05):
That's what I. Yeah. I would love one of those.
S2 (03:08):
This week we are looking at, um, cooking, which is
always an interesting, uh, thing for people like ourselves. Uh,
how are you in the kitchen?
S3 (03:17):
I'm decent. I can make sort of simpler recipes. I
can bake fairly well because I can follow specific instructions. Um,
but as for things that I can cook, it's, you know,
usually like veggie scrambles or, uh, like spaghetti because, you know, uh,
it's kind of easy and straightforward, but I can't cook
(03:37):
steak to save my life. I either overburn it or
undercook it. Uh, and. Yeah. So I'm okay, but my
husband is a way better cook.
S2 (03:49):
So we've already heard from Sean now. Well, I think
it's one of your friends.
S3 (03:55):
Yes. This is Lily, a dear friend of the show.
S5 (03:59):
You know, I grew up in an Italian family. And
hanging up the apron strings of amazing Nana and mum
who could cook like nothing else, right? And so I
learned to cook. And I can cook. Okay. As the
vision started going, you know, I had to start using
a bit of technology to think, um, but just the
other day, I was going to put a sachet of electrolyte,
(04:23):
you know, you know, the stuff we put in our
water and the sachet mixed with a few carbs and stuff.
And normally I'd just snip the top off, put it
into the bottle, shake it up and off I'd go,
and I'd do it without vision. I just grab it
out of the cupboard, you know? I don't even know
what I'm doing. I feel my way around and, uh.
And I put it in and I started shaking it
and I thought, what is going on? And it's getting
(04:45):
heavier and heavier, and, you know, you can hear the shake.
You couldn't hear it anymore. And I actually put a
protein powder sachet in there that someone had given me
from a sample from something, and it was so disgusting
and I didn't realize until I started trying to drink
(05:05):
while I was on the trainer and went, oh my God. Anyway,
I had to stop the workout, get off, spit it
all out, Chuck it all out. Oh, that was just
such a silly thing to do. What else have I done? Just, um. Oh,
I've been known to put wrong ingredients in things just
because I'm in a hurry, and I'm. I'm putting sugar
(05:27):
instead of salt. Um, or vice versa. Um, you know,
I just. Yeah, lots of little things where I just
shake my head at myself and just go, God, pay
more attention, Lil. You know, I'm lucky I've never had
any burns or anything like that. I've been pretty lucky
in that regard. I'm pretty careful. I look, I've learned
(05:49):
all the skills I know how to cut things, and
contrast is a big thing for me. So I just
make sure. Yeah. So that's, um. I've got a very
well organized cupboard and fridge and all that sort of thing, but. yeah,
just sometimes do silly things. Grab the wrong bottle. Yeah.
S3 (06:07):
What sort of technology do you use in the kitchen?
S5 (06:09):
I have a talking scale and a talking jug. They're
the two talking things I have. So all the technology
I have, I just then have, uh, skills that I use. Oh, well,
I have, you know, contrasting chopping boards and plates and
things like that. I use all of that. Otherwise, it's
just more down to how organized I am. Um, I
(06:31):
do get a big fat black texta and write, you know,
the letter of of something that's similar to something else
on the top. And I can usually see that I
used my phone again. I used the magnifier in my
iPhone to read labels. Seeing I will read labels to me,
I voiceover actually when you've got magnified. Found this out
(06:52):
the other day when you've got your magnifier turned on
on your phone. I've got it set up that I tripled.
Triple click the side button turns my magnifier on. If
you've got voiceover on at the same time, it actually
reads what it's saying to you. Um, really? Yeah. I
didn't know that. So it's sort of like saying I.
But it's. Yeah. So that that works. Okay. Yeah. I, I,
(07:13):
you know, my coffee machine, I can't see the gauge
very well. So I use again um, the camera in
my phone. Uh, I'll, I'll zoom in and just make
sure the gauge is going to where it needs to.
So I do use, um, magnification. Um, quite a bit. Um, yeah.
Contrast and a bit of talking stuff.
S2 (07:35):
Thank you. Lily. Um, yeah. When in doubt, always get
Lily to speak because she can fill up our time
quite nicely.
S3 (07:44):
I like Lily. She's a great person, and she's got
a lot to say. But interestingly enough, on one point
that she said, um, right in the beginning of the
piece about having an Italian nonna and mum, my papa
is Indian and knows how to make pretty much everything.
In fact, I don't think there's anything he can't make.
So I always grew up learning how, like what spices
(08:07):
went with what? And, uh, how to cut certain things.
He taught me how to cut fruit and vegetables. And,
you know, he always let me experiment in the kitchen
with him. And my dad also, uh, was really good
at cooking. And of course, I had no t come
out when I was young. And so I learned all
those skills.
S2 (08:25):
I think another thing that was, uh oh, there's a
few interesting things here to unpack here, but the, um,
last year we talked to two ladies who had established
some accessible hair products.
S3 (08:37):
Yes.
S2 (08:38):
And that basically meant that the containers felt different. Yep.
And that things smelled different. Mhm. Now maybe, just maybe
we can develop or someone can develop accessible kitchen products
so that yes, you're not adding sugar to things when
you should be adding salt or vice versa, because the
(09:02):
amount of times I've heard about that happening, or maybe
it's just our own stupidity because we put things in
the same containers. I'm not sure, but, uh, yeah. And
one of the problems I've had, though, and this is
a slightly different thing, is I've got different jars of spices. Yeah.
Now some of them unscrew and they've got a little
sprinkly thing that you can sprinkle. Yeah. Others you pop
(09:25):
the lid open. Yep.
S3 (09:28):
Same. But what I tend to do is just smell them. Um,
and that's how I can sort of tell what it is.
And if I like the smell and think it'll complement
the food, then I'll put it in. But it's funny
you said about, uh, contrasting sort of containers and different
feeling things. I don't think that such a product has
been invented yet. However, we are already doing something like
that in our household. Like we have a specific bowl
(09:51):
for our sugar that is separate to the one for, um,
for salt or the little container that we use for salt.
We also put the coffee and tea in different containers
because we have tea leaves as well. So we already
picked out when we went to Woolworths, we picked out
different containers and then when we got home, we decided,
this one's for this and that one's for that. Because,
(10:12):
you know, Braille labels, we could do them, but they
get dirty and then they peel off. But at least
if you've got different filling containers, it doesn't matter where
the label comes off or not. You already know what's what.
S2 (10:22):
It's all fine and well. But I'm going back to
my problem with the spices because I once forgot which
one of the lids popped off and which one of
the ones screwed off.
S3 (10:31):
Oh no. And oh yeah, I'm thinking, I think I
already know where you're going with this.
S2 (10:36):
And all spice is called all spice because it goes
with everything. Not when you add a half a jar
to something.
S3 (10:41):
All spice is called all spice because it goes all
over the place, I think.
S2 (10:45):
Yes. So that was my. And yes, it tasted very,
very clovey. So we had very, very clovey pasta that night,
but it was different. It is, it was um, yes,
an experience. Anyway, we are talking next to, I believe,
another friend of yours, Steven.
S6 (11:09):
And I'm a pretty good indication that the most interesting thing,
probably David's favorite stories, would be what's cooking carbonara for
me and a couple of our friends and stuff, and
I just got her to serve up dinner, I made carbonara,
I poured the pasta out into the sink and drained
(11:31):
it and stuff, and then mix it all together and
and then got Adele to serve the dinner. And there
was a dish sponge folded into the into the pasta.
And I strained it. So she pulled that out and
put that back at the sink. But, uh, luckily it
was a clean sponge, so, um, that was probably the
funniest one. But, um, when I first started cooking, I
(11:54):
accidentally bought cucumbers instead of zucchini. I didn't know before.
I try to make zucchini slice that there were cucumbers,
but it didn't work very well.
S5 (12:03):
Yes I've done.
S6 (12:03):
I do not substitute there.
S2 (12:07):
Oh, zucchinis and cucumbers.
S3 (12:10):
You know what? I can see why people can't tell
the difference. But generally, my thing is they have a
knobbly thing at the end. Cucumbers don't.
S2 (12:18):
Yes, yes. I came so close to doing that once. Aha!
I bought what I thought was a zucchini, and it
turned out to be a very nice Lebanese cucumber. But
I found out as soon as I chopped the thing
up and it was, I was going to put it
in a pasta dish again. Aha! Chop the thing up
and thought, this is way too crispy to be a zucchini.
(12:42):
So I went and ate a bit and it's like, yep,
that's not zucchini. So that got put into the into
a container and use the following day in a salad.
S3 (12:54):
Yeah. It's funny you should say that because the one
and only time that I've made this one like this mistake.
I went to make my veggie scrambles, and what I
do with that is I grate zucchini up and, um,
I remember grating this thing and thinking, this is just
turning into complete mush. It's way too juicy because cucumber,
like the center isn't as hard as zucchini. And so
(13:18):
this stuff was going everywhere. And in the end I
ended up having like slosh instead of zucchini. And I
didn't put it in because I realized that it was cucumber.
But I thought, oh boy, yeah.
S2 (13:30):
So you had what might end up being a useful
painter or a glue or something like that. I'm expecting.
S3 (13:35):
I gave it to Lacey, actually, and she loved it. Oh,
it was a nice summer because it was summer. It
was a nice summer treat for her.
S2 (13:42):
When in doubt, give it to a dog. Or. Um. Yes. Uh,
I used to have a pet pig and, uh. Yes, uh,
she used to get everything, so. Yes. Yeah. Anyway, I
am going to give you my award winning or can't
go wrong. Pasta recipe. Good. This thing is so simple,
(14:02):
and I do thank my friend Roberto for this because
it is the ultimate cheat's pasta dish. Aha! All you
need is okay, said pasta. Preferably spirelli or something like that.
Because frankly, I think that blind people should be banned
from eating spaghetti in public.
S3 (14:19):
I do agree.
S2 (14:20):
Yes, it's something that the rest of the world should
not be allowed to see. What people do when they're
in the privacy of their own homes is their business,
because no one else can see them. But no, you should,
we should. We should all be banned from ordering spaghetti
bolognese at a restaurant. Anyway, I digress. So pasta? Mhm.
Either half an onion or the equivalent of half an onion.
(14:43):
Now what I found is in all your major supermarkets
now you can get frozen onions. And these things are fantastic.
There's no tears, there's no cutting stuff up. You just
grab a handful of the stuff and fry it and
away you go. A tin of tuna. Now you can either.
You can have it in oil. You can have it
(15:05):
in brine. You can have it in water. Doesn't matter.
It just slightly changes the way that you cook this thing. Okay.
The last essential recipe is tinned tomatoes. Right. And we're
talking either diced or um, or crushed or whatever. Just
as I said, we're aiming for simplicity here right now.
What I also tend to add is capsicum and um, celery. Um,
(15:31):
but those are optional. So first things first, you cook
your pasta. Right. So you normal thing. Um, I will
tend to actually boil the water in a jug first
nowadays because it takes less time and apparently it's more
energy efficient. So I'll put the pasta on first. Cook
your onion. So if you have bought the tuna in
(15:53):
olive oil, drain the olive oil. Use it to cook
the cook the onion up right? Once the onion actually
smells nice and has a smell to it, that's my
indicator as well. So yes, if you're totally blind, you
can do this as well. So once it smells like
cooked onion then you add your tuna and your tinned tomatoes.
(16:15):
Give it all a nice big stir up. So the
only thing you're actually cooking by the way is the onion. Yeah.
Now if you're adding things like capsicum and celery you
add those in before the the tuna and the tomato.
But otherwise it's just simple onions tuna, tinned tomatoes. Once
the pasta is cooked, add it to the mix. Stir
it all up together. Serve it. You have a tuna
(16:38):
pasta dish.
S3 (16:39):
I mean, you do, but where's the flavour?
S2 (16:42):
It comes from the tuna.
S3 (16:44):
Well, I mean, like, you must be getting flavoured tuna then.
S2 (16:47):
Uh, no, I like I like the taste of tuna.
And also, yes, I tend to add a lot of
spices and things like that as well. That's the beauty
of it as well. You can add extra things there,
I do believe, um, Felicity, a friend of mine adds
beetroot of all things in in there for some reason.
S3 (17:02):
I do like beetroot.
S2 (17:03):
So yes, you add whatever you want, you can put
some olives in there or something like that. But that's
my can't go wrong pasta dish. Do you have a
I can't go wrong dish.
S3 (17:12):
I have veggie scrambles. Okay. So before we even start,
my number one tip is have everything prepped before you go.
Like before you introduce any heat source to anything. Because
what I have done before is put some stuff on
the heat and then had to get other stuff ready
and it's burnt. Oh, uh, so veggie scramble again. Simple onion. Capsicum. Um,
(17:37):
you can do so many things. Grated zucchini or, uh,
cut up mushrooms, if that's your thing. Cherry tomatoes cut
in half if that's your thing. But just make sure
that whatever you're putting in, there's not too much, because
otherwise you're going to have a lot of veggie and
not much scramble. So cut up everything. Make sure your
two eggs or three eggs are whisked together. I usually
(17:59):
do three because I'm a pig. Make sure that's all.
Whisk together. Put some salt and pepper in the eggs.
I usually add olive oil, not butter. I know lots
of people scramble eggs in butter, but I don't. So
do the olive oil. Fry up the veg, make sure
that it's got that cooked smell like you said, and
that everything feels soft when you're mixing with the spoon.
Then add the eggs. And now the important thing is
(18:20):
when you put the eggs into the vegetables, stop using
a wooden spoon and start using a fork, preferably the
fork that you use to scramble the eggs with. So
you're making less dishes and you cook it for as
long as you like your texture. I like my eggs
quite firm. And voila, you've got scrambled eggs. Veggie scramble,
very protein rich, delicious. Healthy. It's apart from smoothies. It's
(18:44):
like my go to breakfast.
S2 (18:46):
Okay, but do not use on a non-stick frying pan,
I presume.
S3 (18:49):
I actually use a pot. So I have a few
smaller pots And I find it's a lot safer for
me to use a pot, because then you can sort
of gauge how much vegetables you've got versus how many eggs,
and whether the ratio is going to be good or not.
And also, if you do have grated cheese, you can
(19:09):
add a little bit of that about 30s before you
take it off the heat. And oh it's brilliant.
S2 (19:14):
So dear listener, I'd approach both with extreme care, but
well have fun.
S3 (19:20):
I'm gonna try your tuna pasta. I've been told time
and time again through like coaches and other athletes, like, oh,
you should eat tuna. And I've never, ever been able
to stomach tuna. But this this pasta dish you've given me,
I've got to try it.
S2 (19:36):
It comes across quite meaty as well. Tuna is a
very meaty kind of fish. Yeah. So? So. Yes. Anyway.
But anyway, the next person we are talking to is Emma.
And I don't think her in the kitchen get on
pretty well. No, I don't think so.
S5 (19:52):
Oh my goodness. Cooking. I am terrible at cooking. I clean,
I do washing, but cooking. Oh my goodness, I am shocking.
But what I tend to do is I marked the oven,
got an electric oven. So you put Velcro below the
(20:15):
knobs and I've gotten someone to tell me which knob
is what and the markings for the temperature. And then
I remember it pretty well. So yeah, I can put
a pie in the oven, put, um, kievs or schnitzels
or bacon and stuff like that on the sandwich press.
I think the sandwich press is an amazing invention. Oh yes.
(20:40):
The microwave. When it comes to the stove, I tend
to concentrate with feeling things with the spoon, the wooden
spoon that I'm stirring with to see Thick. The stuff
is on the stove. But one mishap I can seriously
remember is porridge. A very simple meal, right? Porridge. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well,
(21:06):
what I what I did, like three times and the
compost bin, cos I threw it away as compost got
very tight with hard overboiled oats because I turned the
stove up too high. Oh, no. And I was staring
at it and it just kept getting thicker and sticking
(21:28):
to the pan. I'm like, what is going on here?
This isn't right. What's happening? You had sludge. Sludge? Or
I'd say very hard, man. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, the
compost bin was wedged tight with this hard cement over
burnt bone. Oh my goodness.
S7 (21:52):
I know, I know.
S3 (21:59):
So I've actually got a tip regarding oats.
S2 (22:01):
Okay. Yes, I'm listening because porridge is one of my
two worst enemies. Okay.
S3 (22:05):
I love oats. And my tip is this don't use
the stove, use the microwave. But on top of that,
prepare the oats the night before. So what I would
usually tend to do is get, um. I use the
Carman's oats sachets just because. Otherwise I have to weigh
everything out and I can't be bothered these days. So
I use the carman's. Uh, no added sugar ones. And
(22:28):
then I just add some milk or some water or
whatever liquid of choice you want to use. And then like,
just make sure the ratio is fine and that, um,
you don't want it to be too watery because it
will thick up overnight. So you just cover it up,
put it in the fridge overnight, you come out the
next day, you've got a creamy, gelatinous porridge ready to go,
(22:49):
and all you have to do is zap it for
a minute. Don't do what I did and think, oh,
it needs 2 or 3 minutes. No, it only needs
a minute because the minute you put it on for
too long, it turns to sludge again. So just a
minute until it's warm. You just need to warm it
through at this point because it's already softened up. And boom,
there you go.
S2 (23:06):
I've never really been a particular fan of porridge, but
I have tried it a couple of times to cook it,
and it's always turned out, yes, as, um, some form
of putty. Um, so yes, it's, uh. Yeah. Have you
got any foods that are your worst enemy that just
refuse to work with you? I well, I think you
(23:27):
said once bacon was, uh.
S3 (23:29):
Oh, yes. Yes. I can't do bacon. Um, I mean,
I don't do middle bacon or streaky bacon anyway. I
don't eat it. I eat short cut. But even then,
you've got the little bits of fat around the edge
and they curl up, and then I can't turn it.
And the last time I made bacon, which was sort
of like in the middle of last year, I actually
burnt my thumb really bad. It took two weeks to heal,
(23:52):
And I said, I'm never cooking bacon again. If you
want bacon, don't ask me. I will not make it
for you.
S2 (23:58):
Well, my worst enemy as far as savory goes, is fish.
I either undercook it or overcook it, so and I don't. Again,
I don't particularly like it myself, so I don't bother
with it. If people want fish, they can have fish fingers.
That's my philosophy. It can be made frozen. So anything
that like that is it can be done frozen. My
other one is jelly. I can never do jelly.
S3 (24:21):
Jelly.
S2 (24:21):
Yeah, it's such a simple thing. But each time I've
tried to make it or to, you know, follow the
instructions and everything like that, it's turned out to be
some bizarre, viscous cordial.
S3 (24:35):
Yuck. So too much water SIM.
S2 (24:38):
Possibly. I've actually been very specific about how much I've added, so.
So I after a while, after about 3 or 4 attempts,
I've just gone. No. Never again.
S3 (24:47):
Yeah, I don't eat jelly very often, but Steven Stephen makes.
You know what I don't. I will rephrase, I don't
have any food. That's my worst enemy. Because if there's
anything I can't make, I just get Stephen to do it.
And he is an amazing chef. I can't believe how
lucky I got. He's the best cook ever. Sorry, Papa.
S2 (25:09):
You've got to say that anyway. Next up, we are talking.
Let's have a look at my little list of people
who are naughty and nice. And both are. Well, they
both are. In fact, we are talking to Carly. Are we?
S5 (25:22):
Okay. I've been banned from cooking steak. I'm only allowed
to cook steak in open aired areas. Okay. Which is
the barbecue out the back. And I've got it. And
I've got to time it because I do like my,
you know, I do try to do everything myself. Cooking
at the moment. Look, I keep it simple. I use
(25:43):
an air fryer for my son. He's very picky with
his food, so it's usually chicken nuggets. Uh, an easy
steak airfryer, everything. And I'm actually on light and easy
at the moment.
S3 (25:57):
Wow. Okay.
S5 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah. So that for me being work and and
just at this stage, I want to lose a bit
of weight because I've got the event coming up soon
as well. Yeah. Yeah. So just, it's easy for me
to grab a bag and know what I'm getting because
it is just me and my son living here and
we eat totally opposite. So yeah, right here and now,
(26:22):
with the next little loss of vision, I've gone back
to light and easy. And I don't know where I'll
go from here. Maybe summer I'll go back to just,
you know, I love easy things like fish and salad.
I live on that. I think if there was more
people in the house, I would get, you know, the
support worker. She's offered to prep, but I think right
(26:45):
here and now. So I know how much I'm getting.
And like I said, for the event, maybe after the
event I will take her up on that offer and
see what it would look like, because I do love
to cook. But yeah, I've kind of put it in
the too hard basket for now. The things on the
cooktop like especially being able to gauge chicken I won't
touch anymore, um, because that's foul. That was a joke. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Um, yeah. But,
(27:15):
you know, it's just it's. I choose my battles. I
did have my daughter over here the other day, and
I got the, you know, the, um, big fry pan
electric fry pan. And I did successfully under the bright
light bolognese. But that was just make sure that the
meat was cooked for half an hour. Chuck the sauces
(27:36):
in and mix, you know, things like that. I did
a bulk cook then. So, yeah, it's the kitchen's. More
will be revealed as time goes along.
S3 (27:51):
I feel like bulk cooking is the solution to so
many problems too.
S2 (27:56):
Oh yes, but the thing is, it depends who you're
living with. Yeah, because, um, yes, I used to do
that all the time when I was living on my own.
I'd cook up a whole lot of pasta or a
whole lot of stir fry or something like that. Chuck
it all in the freezer or fridge or whatever. But
then all of a sudden, I was living with somebody
else and, well, she was saying, we're not having that again,
(28:20):
are we?
S3 (28:21):
Yeah.
S2 (28:22):
I was like, what's wrong with that?
S3 (28:24):
I completely understand because Stephen and I are the same. Like,
I will happily live on bulk stuff. I mean, when
I was living on my own, Papa used to come
over and, um, every Thursday, we would decide beforehand, like
what we're going to make. They would get the ingredients
on their way up, and we would prep, and then
we would cook. So I'd have, like, stir fry and
(28:47):
curry and but we wouldn't do the rice because frozen
rice doesn't turn out so well. So I'd just get
the Uncle Ben's brown rice. But then, yeah, I live
with Stephen now and he doesn't want to eat the
same thing twice. So, um, if we do one pan
dinner or like, spaghetti bolognese and there's leftovers, which usually
there is, I'll just chuck a couple of containers in
the freezer for me, and usually then I've got something
(29:07):
if I want it. But he doesn't have to eat it.
He can still have his steak every night or whatever
he wants. No problems there.
S2 (29:13):
The other thing as well is when I that I
used to do when I was on my own, especially
when I was in full training, you wouldn't have a
lot of time to do things necessarily. So, um, my
most frequent dinner was a fried meat of some sort
and a eat it as you go salad. Yeah. So
basically what that meant was whether it be lamb chops
(29:35):
or steak or something like that, I would cook the
meat and then munch on a tomato, continue cooking the meat,
eat half a carrot. Basically by the time the meat
is cooked, I've eaten the salad stuff and all I
just do is eat the meat afterwards. That seemed to
do the job.
S3 (29:51):
Yeah, I mean, that's good. That actually works out really well.
But also you can get the packaged salads, you know,
you can get the, um, the couscous or the, the
basil pesto pasta or the Greek salads or the bean
salads or whatever you want to get, like, um, one
of our favorite things to do is get like a
rotisserie chook from the shop and then like those salad
kits that you get in the bag. Crunchy Asian is
(30:13):
our favorite. And like rotisserie chicken and salad it's so easy.
Or rotisserie chicken and rolls. Like there's barely any prep,
barely any mess, barely any time. And Monday evenings when
I have to, um, train later. Uh, it's one of
our go to meals.
S2 (30:30):
Well, herein lies the thing is that, um, when I
was an athlete, I was constantly snacking on stuff.
S3 (30:36):
Oh. Of course.
S2 (30:36):
Yeah. So actually, having vegetables that were easy to get
hold of meant that I would probably be, um, chomping
on a stick of celery and maybe some peanut butter, um,
as opposed to a packet of Tim Tams.
S3 (30:49):
Yeah, well, I mean, one is clearly better than the other.
S2 (30:51):
That's right. Um, the packet of Tim Tams is obviously
the better one. Yeah.
S3 (30:55):
Yeah, that's debatable, but, you know, that's for another day.
S2 (30:59):
Okay. So anyway, talking of athletes we are talking to
next to another former athlete.
S3 (31:05):
Is it Jodie?
S2 (31:06):
It is Jodie.
S3 (31:07):
It's Jodie.
S8 (31:11):
I'm an absolute shite cook. Um, but but I don't
think that's necessarily due to my vision impairment. I mean,
I did cooking at school like everybody else did cooking
at school. I went to a technical school back in
the day, and then I was when I was training mum,
I was still living at home. So, um, with my
training and getting home late and stuff, um, you know, my,
(31:33):
my dinner was sort of already made and ready to go.
So I, when I met Neil and, and, um, started to,
to cook and stuff, uh, you know, I was sort
of behind the eight ball because I never really practised
it or anything when I was at home, so I
can't think of anything off the top of my head
that it would be vision related. Although when we. We
(31:54):
have a barbecue up here. Um, I'm in Queensland, so
we have barbecues reasonably often. We just, uh, if my
hubby's cooking, Neil's totally blind. If he's cooking on the barbecue,
we generally get, uh, steak from a butcher, and they
know the thickness that we like. And, um, he'll generally
just time it, uh, cooks five minutes each side and
(32:14):
job done.
S3 (32:15):
So which one of you is the the better cook
then you'd say with your husband or or.
S9 (32:21):
Um, no.
S8 (32:22):
Probably me. I probably do the majority of the cooking. Um,
Neil pretty much just does anything that's on the barbecue.
And I'll do the sort of the other more involved dishes.
S2 (32:35):
Thank you. Jody.
S3 (32:36):
Apart from Lily, why is everyone a terrible cook?
S2 (32:39):
I think everybody.
S3 (32:39):
Is with that.
S2 (32:40):
I think everybody assumes that they're terrible cooks, but they're
not as bad as they think. All things Considered. We
all have our own specialty dishes that we stick to.
And I don't know about you, but if there's something
I'm not good at, I just don't cook it.
S3 (32:53):
Yeah. I mean, I find cooking to be quite therapeutic,
but obviously because of time constraints and I often train
in the evenings, I don't cook. And Stevens just got
such a je NE sais quoi, you know, like, such
a flair and and pizzazz for the things that he cooks.
So I don't even bother arguing because honestly, his version
(33:14):
or whatever would be better.
S2 (33:15):
I suspect that that's our household as well. Only in reverse. So, um. Yes, that's, uh,
Heidi seems to, uh. Yes. Leave it to me. And
to the point where, uh, Friday is her night to
do stuff. Mhm. So we usually get Uber Eats.
S3 (33:32):
Okay. Yeah.
S2 (33:33):
Um, so that's, uh, that's our household. Anyway, the last
person we are hearing from is Sam Colley with his
only final little piece of wisdom I find.
S10 (33:45):
Chopping.
S2 (33:45):
Quite.
S10 (33:46):
Difficult because of my lack of depth perception. That's always
something that's a bit, um, a bit fraught with danger.
I'm not sort of too confident with that. Never really
have been. But, um, I do love a good, um, airfryer.
I've got a fantastic airfryer at my place that's, um,
really made things. Really, um, can cook up a lot
(34:08):
of tasty quick things in that, but, um. Yeah, chopping
vegetables and, um, that sort of thing. Not fantastic. But
I do have a couple of sort of standbys I
can go to, but yeah, nothing, nothing terribly complicated.
S3 (34:24):
I think the invention or not the invention, but the
introduction of, like, frozen veg salads to go, uh, cut
up fruit. You can even get a Woolworths cut up fruit.
And I love pineapple, but nobody knows how to cut pineapple, apparently.
So how do.
S2 (34:40):
You go cutting things up in general?
S3 (34:42):
I'm really good. I you know, I went to a,
like a specialty school for blind students, blind and low
vision kids. So we learned from day Dot how to
cut using like the knife guards or how to position
your fingers so you don't cut yourself. And I've, you know,
since I was about 5 or 6, I remember cutting
things up and learning how to do that. So I'm
(35:03):
not I'm not bad at it. I actually kind of
like it.
S2 (35:06):
Yeah. So the discovery that you can actually buy an
actual guard to stop yourself from cutting yourself open is,
is pretty neat. Um, I don't use them. No. Well,
I've learned to do without them myself as well.
S3 (35:17):
But but they are useful for those that need them.
S2 (35:20):
And I think that's, uh, that's the big thing. I
think that's what stops a lot of people from cooking
is the fear of sharp objects and and hot surfaces,
which is like, you know what? Throw caution to the wind.
Let's just get out there and have some fun and
make a mess, as it were.
S3 (35:34):
What's life without a bit of risk?
S2 (35:35):
That's exactly right. Anyway, that is a wrap for this week.
Big thank you to Sean. Lilly. Steven. Emma. Kylie, Jodie
and Sammy. See?
S3 (35:47):
And of course, a big thanks to you for listening.
S2 (35:50):
Next week we are joined by an old friend of
the show, Matt Levy talks about his retirement from Paralympic sport,
what he has been doing since then, and the two
guidebooks he has helped to put out at the end
of last year.
S3 (36:03):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show. Whether you have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One,
or whether you think that there's something we should be
talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may
help someone who is dealing with something similar.
S2 (36:19):
You can email us Studio One at Studio number one
at org.
S3 (36:25):
Or perhaps you can look us up on our socials,
whether that be Facebook or Instagram. Just look up VA
Radio Network. We want to hear from you. Bye for now.
S1 (36:36):
Vision Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community
Broadcasting Foundation for Studio One.
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