when you feel awful all the time? i normally love cooking. I get so much joy from going to the local farmers market, and cooking up a divine meal. I would spend all day in the kitchen, making sauces, breads, detailed meals and then eat eat eat!
Now I can hardly get out of bed. I feel as though I am carrying a sack of rocks on my back and ten pound weights on my feet. I can manage ONE activity a day, basically. A shower, a short trip to the store (that ends up taking 2 hours for a few essentials), or a small tidy up around the house, or one load of laundry. But if I do more than one of these things, I pay dearly the next couple of days.
I have kids, and one is only 3. I am at my limit. So diet gets sacrificed for all of us. I try to have veggies and fruit in the fridge for the kids ( I know fruit needs to be limited for me). My husband is working ALL the time. We gotta pay for the medications somehow, but we cannot afford to eat out, or pay someone to cook for us.
So I am wondering, how do YOU pull it off?
Posted by mom2kids (Member # 31972) on :
I love to cook also, although I was never as dedicated to it as you! I have days where I can do nothing and days where I can do 2-3 things, little things, not big ones.
When my kids were little I moved all their food (cereals, snacks, etc...) to a low cabinet so they could reach them if they got hungry.
My kids are teens now and there are many nights they eat cereal for dinner or some other "quick" food. There is a book about that actually, it's ok for the kids to eat cereal for dinner, can't remember the actual title right now.
I can't answer your question, I don't know how we do it. We all suffer from my illness. Grilled cheese, pasta, salads, cereal...easy, quick meals I guess. Not all that healthy, but it's food.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Got a George Foreman grill?? That saves a lot of time and is healthy too!
Frozen vegetables, just pop in the microwave.
Baked sweet potato .. and you're good to go.
Posted by lymeinhell (Member # 4622) on :
In the summer, take advantage of the grill - turkey burgers, turkey sausage, side of frozen veggies (they make wonderful ones with light sauces now).
Or steak and corn right on the grill.
I lived off the precooked turkey breasts or roasted chickens they sell in the food store. They are great for leftovers too.
So you get a chicken/turkey, Buy some coleslaw at the deli counter and dinner is done. If kids need a carb, nuke a potato for them.
Or if I had the brain capacity, would roast large trays of chicken parts (with or without Shake and Bake), and that way I always had a protein in fridge, and could take care of several meals with one 'effort'.
Lots of egg dishes - scrambled, hard boiled. Sliced egg and tuna on top of a salad.
And there's lots of great soups out there that always do in a pinch. Tabachnik has been making low sodium, healthy FROZEN soups for 40+ yrs. They come in packets you used to have to put in a pot of boiling water.
Posted by JeniferM (Member # 31996) on :
So... how does one spice up a plain chicken breast? That's one place where my cooking skills are lacking. My significant other is so tired of me just throwing some garlic powder onto everything. hehehehe!
And I can't seem to make a pork chop that doesn't turn out like shoe leather. So, we end up with either chicken or steak due to my lack of cooking ability.
Plus, I'm supposed to be dairy free and gluten free right now as well. The doctors seem to miss that part of the whole plan... they can tell you to be dairy/gluten/whatnot free, but they don't give you any ideas of where to start. I have so many cookbooks, but looking through them all to find that one recipe that I can actually make is very exhausting plus all the other recipes that I can't have just make me go food crazy and eat something I shouldn't.
Then I get tired just thinking about it :-)
Posted by lymeinhell (Member # 4622) on :
Check out Atkins Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Super easy and the best I have ever had! To stick to gluten/dairy free,just eliminate the small amt of bread crumbs in the coating, and use soy cheeses. The coating on the chicken is ground almonds & grated cheese (use soy parm). OMG!! Unbelievable and really easy to make.
This time of year take advantage of the grill. A grilled pork chop with nothing but salt and pepper can be a culinary delight (get center cut bone in).
You can even grill baby backs the same way after giving them a slow cook in water (covered) in the oven for a couple hours. Who needs all that sugary sauce??
Posted by JeniferM (Member # 31996) on :
Ooooh, pork chops on the grill... that sounds good!
Posted by searching4truth (Member # 28481) on :
Thank you all for some wonderful ideas, and for sharing your inabilities to cook they way you really want to. It definitely helps to know I am not the only one to give my kids some easy food. I suppose as long as the snacks I provide are healthy, like fruits and raw veggies, they are goingto be ok.
Posted by philly78 (Member # 31069) on :
We really do need a recipe thread with all the recipes in one place. I may start one and post recipes as I make them and find new ones.
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
I just recently bought an e-cookbook for an anti-yeast diet. It has been the best $17 I've spent in a while.
Tonight we had Chicken Cacciatore. I deboned a chicken I had cooked(I used the carcass to make homemade broth because the store bought has sugar and yeast in it.) I put the chicken in the crockpot, put in a quart of my home-canned tomatoes, a chopped up bell pepper, an onion, and a tbsp of italian seasoning.
I put it on low for about 5 hours, made some quinoa pasta, and a great salad that was leftover from yesterday. It was not much work and we are going to have the leftovers for dinner on Tuesday so I don't have to cook.
I would love a thread to share some of my recipes. It IS possible to eat good, clean food that actually tastes good too. And the crockpot is my best friend.
Posted by searching4truth (Member # 28481) on :
kidsgotlyme, what is the name of that cookbook?
So, does an anti-candida diet fill the requirements those of us with Lyme need?
Posted by Garbagedump (Member # 26546) on :
Heck I'm not even sick and I never cook. Tired of 'other' in the household turning up nose at anything I make. I like the roast chicken from the market, it's easy and makes a few meals. Yep, that's the way to do it! Ha!
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
I love a seasoning blend by Spice Hunter called Pasta Seasoning. It's great sprinkled on chicken breast or whole chicken...and super easy.
Posted by Susie R (Member # 30780) on :
I'm a passionate locovore cook, too. I've been caring for my VERY sick son and now I've just been diagnosed myself, which explains my years-long profound fatigue and joint pain.
Here are my top tips:
1. I do buy vegetables that are easy to serve in summertime: sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, fresh raw salad, easily sauteed zucchini. Plop the veggies on a plate with some grilled grassfed meat or fish, and voila! Dinner!
2. CROCKPOT! I place some potatoes or sweet potatoes wrapped in foil on the bottom of the crockpot. I season a chicken liberally with sea salt and spices and then prop it on top of the potatoes. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9, and you've got a rotisserie chicken with baked potatoes for dinner. I also throw seasoned roasts in there with some broth, carrots and potatoes and call it a meal.
3. Chili: sauteed onions, garlic, peppers, good ground beef, canned organic beans, chili powder, cumin, a touch of cocoa, cinnamon, and rotel mexican tomatoes and you have chili mole! Great over rice or polenta or served in tacos or tortillas. Makes a million meals.
4. Chicken soup: throw a whole chicken into a pot of water with a 1/4 c. of vinegar, simmer for a few hours with an onion and some carrots, celery and salt. Strain the stock, remove all the meat from the bones, save chicken meat for chicken salad, chicken stirfry, or chicken pot pie. Add cut up carrots, onions, greens, whatever you want to the nutritious broth and you have several meals.
Sheesh. I've tired myself out just typing all this! *smile*
Susie
Posted by twicebitten (Member # 5412) on :
great stuff!! I read recipes online that sound good, but SO much work. Since I've been feeling worse the past few months, the energy I do come by, I can't spend it ALL in the kitchen.
My problem is compounded by the fact that my DH and DD are both such picky eaters. They don't like much except hamburgers, tacos, pizza, and all stuff I shouldn't eat. Of course they like fried chicken.
The only veggie besides potatoes that DH likes is corn. So it's very limiting.
I used to make a healthy meal (glycemic index version) for me and then something else for them. But, I cannot do that when I'm feeling bad.
What ends up happening is that I make what they like and just try to eat a small portion of that and eat a salad too.
But, lately I haven't even had all the stuff to make my salads and have just felt like I've done all I can do to put anything on the table. In fact, several times per week DH justs suggests we go get something because he can tell I'm not up to cooking. He can't cook, or won't, not sure which.
His idea of cooking is making a sandwich or going out to pick up something.
Well, speaking of cooking, they are hungry and I'm off to whip up some scrambled eggs, bacon and frozen biscuits. Not the best, but it's food!
I am gonna have to get my crockpot back out!
Posted by twicebitten (Member # 5412) on :
p.s. Jennifer m, I cook pork chops in the oven, just take them out of the package, sprinkle some lemon pepper on both sides and put the oven on broil. If they are really thick ones I bake them for about 20 min. first, then broil. The thinner ones don't need the bake time. broil for 15-25 min. depending on size and thickness. Done! I usually line the pan with foil for easy cleanup, but not necessary. Heat up veggies, and/or salad and done.. You can use different seasoning but lemon pepper seems to satisfy everyone. (it has lots of salt in it, so no need to salt too)