(Sorry if this has come up before, or is completely undoable)

Skyrim changed magic in significant ways, one of which was the assignment of spells to specific hands. It is no longer possible to cast a spell with a hand that is simultaneously wielding a sword, or a shield for that matter. A welcome change, in my opinion.

The next step, IMHO, is to assign the same function to potion drinking and eating. While being able to cast a spell with a hand that is simultaneously holding a weapon might not be completely unthinkable, the way potion drinking and eating can be carried out as of now is ridiculous. Time stands completely still while you select and drink/eat your potion/food, and the benefits are usually applied immideately. Particularly annoying if your enemy is doing it - to you, it seems like your opponent is swinging away at you, but the golden glow around him reveals that he just drank a healing potion. It is as if all characters are equipped with some sort of medieval (yet incredibly advanced) camelbak.

I for one would welcome a new system where clicking on a potion/foodstuff in the inventory did not consume that item, but assigned it to a specific hand, be it left or right. As soon as the item is equipped, you can leave the menu - and drink/eat by pressing the correct button, while time no longer is paused. Drinking a healing potion would be comparable to casting a healing spell - make your selection in the menu, then carry out the action when time is again passing.

This application is not from a roleplaying perspective, it would have very real consequenses. While your opponent is consuming his potion, he can't attack you - at least not with that hand. At the same time, you may attack him - and if you manage to stagger him, the potion might spill, reducing the benefit from drinking it. This would, IMHO, make much more sense than the pretty ludicrous idea that a warrior can consume foodstuff undisturbed in the middle of a swordfight - with beneficial consequences for his health.

Is this doable/has it been done?

To my knowledge, it has not been done. Is it possible to do?

I think I could pull it off with storebought/leveled loot potions. Null out all the potion effects and attach scripts, make spells, give these spells a casting model that's actually a bottle and throw in a cast time. On cast, unequip. I have no idea how to handle alchemically made potions.

If no one else bites, I might take this on when I'm done with Revenge of Colette. Potion usage in this game is pretty atrocious.

Well, not really what you're asking for specifically, but in regards to insta-potions while paused and being able to stack a bunch of healing potions, http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5873 helps with that, so potions don't begin working until after you exit the inventory. Makes potion consumption a little more challenging.

You could use this until you find what your looking for, or AstralFire creates it

is there a mod like that one that allows stacking?