Kitchen confidence -

Cooking when you have a 

chronic illness

When people talk about not being able to cook, you just assume there not confident in their food knowledge.  When I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I discovered how much having a chronic illness could also affect my ability in the kitchen.

I've had IBS for over 20 years, you never really get used to living with food intolerances.  It gets worse as you get older.  You can develop new symptoms and the food you can safely eat can change.   I've always been lactose intolerant however 2 years ago I had to add gluten to my do not eat food list.

I'm basically a lactose and gluten intolerant pescatarian, who  follows a Low Fodmap diet to manage my IBS symptoms.  It's a bit of a mouthful to say, which means I rarely talk about it.

Low Fodmaps is short for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, which are more commonly known as carbohydrate.  These are the foods that cause bloating and the excess gas, they irritate the digestive system triggering IBS symptoms.

~Fun fact - Gas can travel up and down your intestine ~

I also have  Acid Reflux  and I'm on medication to reduce the amount of acid in my stomach.  Which means there is another whole list of  foods I have to avoid eating.  Limiting what I can eat even more.  The idea of eating has become boring.

I hate the feeling of not being in control of my own body.  It can cause depression and anxiety, which is pretty common among individuals that have IBS.  The main problem is they feed into each other.  The digestive system is often referred to as the second brain.  Our mental health can impact on our physical health, so being anxious or depressed can trigger my IBS stomach spasms.  I practise Mindfulness relaxation techniques to help manage my mental health.  

When I first started my blog I mainly focused on finding dairy free recipes that were both easy to  make and tasty to eat.  I wanted to share my baking triumphs and disasters, so people could avoid making the same mistakes I had.  Since being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I now have a whole new set of problems.

The majority of people who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia have IBS, food intolerance's and mental health problems.  The main symptom is chronic pain with no obvious source.  I can get pain in my joints from doing nothing at all.  Fatigue and muscle spasms are another of my problems.  Creating a whole new problem I've never encountered before in the kitchen.

Fatigue - Sometimes I'm too tired to cook food.  I avoid ready meals as there not good for IBS. It's best to eat food that's as close to it's natural state as possible.  So I need quick healthy meals that are easy to make.  Nutrition is important as those of us with digestive problems have poor/slow absorption of minerals and vitamins.

Muscle Spasms - Along with my hands shaking I can get muscle spasms in the legs and hands.  I can't count the amount of drinks I've knocked over.  Objects can fall out of my hands.  I never thought I would be afraid of using a kitchen knife.  

Fibro Fog - Basically memory problems, I can forget I have food in the oven or a pan cooking on my hob.  It's not the safest symptom to have.  I regularly burn myself when I forget I've just taken a dish out of the oven.

Nausea - It's difficult to eat when you are feeling sick, however I've discovered it's easier to eat cold food than hot when I'm feeling nauseous.  When you have IBS it's important to eat little and often, regardless of how I feel.  Even if it's just a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit.


Helpful kitchen tools

- Anti slip bottle and jar opener

- Anti slip mats

- Anti Burn kitchen gloves, covering hands and wrists

- One handed can opener

- Kitchen scissors  for cutting vegetables

- Food processors

Food processors can be helpful but I keep cutting myself on the blade.  So not great if you have problem with your hands.

Easy Quick Meals

Ready meals might seem easy, but they cost more to buy and never taste as great as the real thing. There also not great for your health as they are often packed with added sugar and salt. 

There are plenty easy and quick meals that can be made, regardless of your health problems. For example Pasta only takes 10 - 12 Min's to cook, I boil the water in the kettle first to speed up the time.  Drain and re-add to the pan and add enough sauce to cover, it won't take long to heat up.

Chop baby potatoes in half or quarters, they only take 10 Min's to boil on the hob.  I like to toss new potatoes with a quick homemade lemon dressing.

Juice of half a lemon, added to 1tbsp of oil. Then season with salt and pepper.

Use the microwave to make quick jacket potatoes.  Prick the spuds and cook for 4 Min's, then turn over for a further 4 Min's to cook through.

Simple meals like beans or scrambled eggs on toast. You can't beat the childhood classics. 

Rice

Rice is a great healthy food that can be quick to cook.  I love frozen rice it steam cooks in the microwave, and is ready to eat in 3 minutes. Personally I think it's better than microwave rice, which is normally coated in oil to keep the grains separate.  Rice normally takes 10 - 15 Min's to cook, frozen rice is just as good and less stressful to make.

I like to add some baked beans into Morrison's Mexican rice.  Other supermarkets have their own brands. Tinned tuna and vegetables are quick and easy to add to bulk out the rice.


Eggs

Microwave Egg Recipes  - I eat Free Range local eggs that have the British Lion Stamp.  Using the microwave cuts down on the chances of burning food by forgetting you have left it cooking.

Pitta 

Pitta Pizza's -  Spread pitta bread with sun dried tomato paste and add your favourite veg on top.  Only takes 12 Min's to bake in the oven. 

Or toast pitta bread and spread with hummus and top with chopped olives. 

Pasta

- Quick pasta dinner Mix sun dried tomato paste and spring onion into your drained pasta. The residual heat in the pasta will warm the tomato paste.

- Lentil style Bolognese Pasta.  Tinned green lentils are a great store cupboard staple to add to a pasta sauce or soups.

- Spaghetti Omelet  My favourite comfort food, great way to use leftover pasta.  It sounds so wrong but tastes great.

Just because something is simple to make doesn't mean it doesn't taste good.  No matter how bad your symptoms or your fatigue, there is always something that you can make to eat.

Be positive

It might just be something assembled cold quickly on a plate, or soup and a slice of bread. It might take some trial and error to discover what is possible for you to do, just learn from any  mistakes that you make.

 The important thing to remember is that you can only do the best you can.  Accept there are restriction on what you can do focus on what you can.

I might not be able to cook the way I used to, and realise my dream of having my own stall at a farmers market I've accepted that.  It doesn't mean I'm a failure, because I can still use my blog to help other people.