From the article: Cooking With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
When you have pain, fatigue and brain fog, cooking can be really difficult. See what helps other people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and share your own tips to help us all! Share Your Tips & Ideas!
Where can u find the fold up stool?
- It hurts to stand and stir too long. remember there is still BPA in canned food. not just in baby bottles. so buy frozen which is healthier anyway.
- —Guest B
Rice Cooker, my timer and Crockpot
- Three of my best friends are my rice cooker, my timer and my crockpot (as well as slow cooker liners). I would never be able to live without them. They have a permanent place on my counters.
- —Guest Wendy
Ask for help
- My husband often cooks, but when I'm cooking, he waits for me to ask for help if needed. I try to do as much as I can, but I'm not afraid to ask for help chopping, or watching a simmering pot if I need to sit down. I listen to my body, and respect my limits. Others don't know when your body is screaming or giving out; you have to reach out for help.
- —Guest Konoctilady
Good idea
- where can u get the padded folable stool and what brand name does it have? Told my husband I wish they had one years ago and now they do. great! yellow post its for certain pans r great idea too. he insists certain ones r for certain things like, this is the hamburger helper pan, this is the one for soup....
- —Guest B
Tips for cooking
- I'm very fortunate - I think ? My husband has taken over the cooking and is so proud of himself, we have to praise his meal each time or he gets very upset . Talk about moody chefs- he takesthe cake ! lol ......
- —Guest Claire Bear
cooking
- My nice husband bought me thouse expensive gel floor mats that chefs use. It makes a GIGANTIC difference..worth every penny. I also have a cushioned barstool- height chair to put in front of stove or sink as needed. Of course during a big flare up frozen meals save the day. Trader Joes has healthier ones.
- —Guest Gailze
Tips for cooking
- I don't cook. I pretty much eat the same things everyday: Deli-bought rotisserie chicken or healthy TV dinners (fish, shrimp or chicken (unskinned), with rice and vegies; 100% whole-wheat bread with humus or honey; 3 fresh, raw veggies with veggie dip; 2 servings of fruit; skim milk; maybe 1 can diet, decaf soda.
- —Guest edwards29
Make a lot of food at the same time
- I don't eat meals. It's just me. I eat healthy, small amounts of food. So when making a sandwich...make 3 or 4 and wrap them. Saves taking out all the ingredients again. Can grab a sandwich when hungry. Can add to a prepared sandwich for variety. Freeze small amounts of prepared food like tomato meat sauce. Thaw and add different spices or ingredients when you reheat. Cook up a large batch of scrambled eggs. Eat cold with hot sauce or reheat in a microwave adding cheese, spices, herbs, nuts, etc. Carry food with you at all times. Carry little containers of nuts, dried fruits, yogurt, carrot sticks, etc. in your purse. You don't always have to eat hot meals.
- —Guest Susanja
The Right Kitchen Tools Make A Differenc
- Find cooking gadgets that are ergonomically correct. The idea is to lessen the pain that goes to the shoulder, neck and back. Oxo has a number of products that don't cost a fortune, but work for me. The single-handed most wonderful tool I have is the Oxo 6 1/2 inch santoku knife! I use it everyday and what a great difference it has made. I can chop vegetables again!
- —Guest Jillian Barclay
tools and cookware
- i find that using glass mixing bowls is a no no now, and also for those countertop appliances that arent used every day, but are to difficult to put away and get out(ie: food processer, blender, slow cooker), i put them on placemats so they will easily slide forward to work with, and then back when I am done with them. These tools are great since they do alot of the work for you and lessens repetitive strain
- —Guest ninalynn
Cut on cooking, if you have to
- If your energy limit doesn't include much, cooking - just as cleaning laundry - must be reduced drastically. With no processed food, this leaves not too much of a choice: vegetables that do not require peeling and long cooking, gluten free grains (less work and you don't have to go to buy them every week), rice cakes for making sandwiches, meat, eggs and cheese for not-vegans. No longer complicated recipes, just get the job done and make it eatable. Species and dried herbs help to make them palatable. Caffeine free teas and just plain water. Oat bran with flaxseed and psyllium husks to get it all move down, if you can stand this. About natural gas stove: if you still can afford cook with electricity, you can use electric stove top, slow cooker or other small electrical appliances. I also would like to get deep freezer to cut on shopping, but space and money for it are objection, what is common.
- —Guest Helen
cooking tips
- I found Rubbermaid food storage containers for vegetables. They have a plastic grate inside to keep veggies out of moisture and small vent holes in lid. I use them for storing cleaned greens and green beans and other fragile items. They stay fresh a very long time. These plastic containers come in a size for a head of lettuce and in 1 cup size. I use a timer clipped to my shirt to remember when I need to check something cooking on the stove so I don't forget. I keep a note paper in each cookbook with lists of favorite recipes in that book plus a composition notebook with recipes and cooking tips. I number each page and make an index inside the front cover.
- —Virginia010637
Cook big and all at once
- I tend to cook a large quantity of something and then freeze it in single-meal-size portions. I like to wrap the individual portions and then put several of them in one freezer bag that I label with what it is, the date I made it, and reheating instructions. This works wonderfully with casseroles, pasta sauce, chili, lasagne, etc. When I cook something like chicken breasts, I'll cook several at once so that I can use them for different things during the week: hot dinners (then all I have to do is make a couple quick sides dishes), salads (bagged kind, then add extras, like feta cheese and kalamata olives for Greek; parmesan and packaged croutons for Caesar, etc.), or sandwiches. Same with burger patties, baked potatoes, and scrambled eggs -- all are easy to microwave to reheat. And once you've done the cook-in-quantity thing a few times, you've got a nice selection already in the freezer, so it gets easier to have something different every day. Plus, it's cheaper than eating out! :
- —Guest Rani
Trouble w/ Heat/Cold
- All these tips are great -- but what keeps me out of the kitchen with FMS is the heat from the stove/oven and the cold from the fridge. The back/forth flux of temperature is awful for me. A hot stove makes me dizzy, sick to my stomach and tired. And the oven...I KNOW when the oven is on, from any room in the house. I get a roaring headache, dizzy, confused. ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES? From Adrienne: Do you have a natural gas oven? If so, I wonder if you're sensitive to it and that's why it'll bother you from anywhere. As for the hot-to-cold flux, maybe it would help to get everything you need out of the fridge at once so you're not constantly going from hot stove to a blast of cold air. Other ideas: use the microwave and slow cooker as much as possible because they generate less heat. Hope this helps! ~Adrienne
- —Guest Rebecca
Cooking Tip for Pacing Yourself
- I don't work outside the home, so I find that beginning dinner at 10 a.m. helps me. This means getting things like chopping veggies and chicken for stir-fry, for instance, then storing in the refrigerator. If you don't have the luxury of doing that, try doing it at a table before bed or at another down time. Any thing you can do prior to actually cooking dinner gives you shorter prep time and less need for breaks while fixing a meal.
- —Portiahardesty
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