Hi! My name is Mel.
Like approximately 15-20% of the population, I’m neurodivergent. I also love to cook! I have always loved to cook, but I recognize that cooking is immensely difficult for a lot of neurodivergent people. This is due to our particular needs around attention, sensory experience, and planning that mainstream cooking resources often don’t accommodate.
A few years ago, I began to collect and document my favorite recipes. The ones that I could cook even when I was completely burnt out or throw together even if I hadn’t thought about dinner until that very moment. At first, it was just for me – I wanted to have a central resource where I could always find something to cook, sorted by the typical criteria I used to select recipes. Over time, though, it developed into something more.
NDFrndly is for you if you…
- Are too tired to spend thirty minutes standing over the stove after work
- Have strong preferences about food texture
- Sometimes forget to turn off the stove
- Often have questions for recipe writers and/or feel that their instructions are too vague
- Share meals with anyone who might be described as a “picky eater”
- Feel overwhelmed by meal planning
- Try to avoid fussy recipes or specialty ingredients
- Just want eating to feel easier
Which is to say that NDFrndly is for everyone! Welcome, friend 🙂
Guiding Principles*
- All food is morally neutral; there are no “good” or “bad” foods
- Eating is better than not eating
- It is better to do something halfway than not at all (harm reduction model!)
Accommodations
This site accommodates neurodivergent needs in its organization, recipe selection, and structure. At the same time, the site acknowledges that the point of neurodiversity is accepting the infinite number of ways that different brains approach food.
You can filter recipes using tags (in the sidebar) for particular sensory preferences and cooking techniques. Each recipe is written with both summary instructions and more detailed instructions, which can be expanded or collapsed using the arrows at left. Below each recipe, you will find notes and recommendations about how to build easier systems around that recipe (clean-up, leftovers, et cetera). Cooking times are best estimates based on my own testing, but may vary based on your comfort and ease with various cooking tasks.
You will also note that recipe posts do not contain headnotes. Headnotes are the extended personal reflections of the recipe writer that typically accompany recipe blogs. I have done this in order to keep recipe pages clear, simple, and straightforward. However, if you would like to know more of the context or personal meaning of the recipe, I have included links to optional headnotes on some recipes.
Love you! Stay fed!
Neurodivergent & Disabled Perspectives
- “Cooking with ADHD was impossible. These 5 techniques helped me find joy in the kitchen” by Linda Yi for Today, 2022
- “How I (as an autistic & chronically ill person) make cooking + baking more accessible and more enjoyable” by Dani Shapira for RDs for Neurodiversity.
- “How Cooking Made Me See My ADHD as a Talent Instead of a Shame” by Isabelle O’Carroll in Bon Appetit, 2019.
- “In Defence of Garlic in a Jar: How Food Snobs Almost Ruined My Love of Cooking” by Gabrielle Drolet in The Walrus, 2023
- The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserando
- Research reference list
*I am not a medical professional or registered dietician and none of the content on this site constitutes nutritional or medical advice. Consult your doctor if you have specific nutrition, eating, or feeding questions, or if you plan to make any changes to your dietary regime.