Annie,
Is there a service in L.A similar to what I have here? It is a service that delivers meals to people who need it (elderly, handicapped, homebound, etc.) for a very small monthly stipend. They bring one prepared meal, (meat & veggie) and have in a bag enough snacks, fruit, etc for the whole day. On the weekends, (Friday) they leave enough snacks and sandwiches to get one through the weekend. (I know, doesn't sound terrific, but at least you would have some food that has been prepared without causing injury, or fire) ((I live in Lexington, KY, so if we have a service like this here, I am almost positive a place as progressive as L.A would have even better services))

Crock Pot sounds great, although be careful of burns if you happen to seize while pouring or moving the pot. You could even freeze any extras and pop into microwave for re-heat.

Do you have any weekly group meetings that you attend? You may be able to work out a plan, such as Dave suggested, on preparing meals with someone else, and splitting cost while sharing great recipes and hopefully great time with someone else.

I wish you the very best. You have gotten alot of very good advice from others here, Dodi