Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Hating food and cooking...any ideas on how to enjoy it again?

I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be, because I'm only generally familiar with your religious dietary restrictions and even less familiar with the gluten-free restrictions, but here are some thoughts:

I went looking for the Twice Baked Sweet Potato recipes in the Recipe Index and got LOTS of hits on Sweet Potato recipes; maybe you could use or adapt some of them. For example, MCV's Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes are just potatoes, pineapple, brown sugar, and a little oil and I don't think you'd miss the brown sugar if you left it out.

You posted a chicken recipe a while back (my herb garden is flourishing, so I'm going to try it as soon as it gets a little cooler here) so I'm hoping you can eat chicken; I love Kree's Crockpot Chicken Stew. If you can let your appliances work for you for Shabbos on a timer, maybe that would be a help there.

If you're good at roasting meat, you could make a roast chicken. You and/or your husband can eat off that for a while. With the leftover skin and bones, you can make your own chicken broth. There are some recipes/hints for that on the Recipe Board. How about roast turkey or just a roast turkey breast?

For yourself for Shabbos, can you stockpile some safe snacks? Even if it's not the healthiest stuff to eat on a regular basis, it would get some food down you for those 24 hours and reduce your stress level a little.

As for not reading the label carefully enough on the broth, oh, boy, I've been there. I'll see that a product says "Dairy Free", buy it, get it home, and discover it's got MSG. Or vice versa. What I finally did with chicken broth was just go to the grocery store and do nothing but read chicken broth labels. I found one that was safe and now that's what I buy. (I do recheck the label from time to time as Little Minnie recently suggested.) I have a grocery list on the computer with all the standard stuff I buy and I put brand names in it. That way, I don't have to think or remember (both of which are sometimes problematic for me, especially in the grocery store).

Last, but not least, there's no law that says you have to enjoy cooking. You might have to do it for a variety of reasons, but you're not required to enjoy it. I, personally, consider the Food Channel a variety of fantasy entertainment, like "Star Wars" or "Lord of the Rings". You might see if you can find a copy of "The I Hate To Cook Book" by Peg Bracken. It's out of print and I don't know how many of her recipes you or your husband could eat, but it's worth looking at just for her attitude - heck, just for her chapter titles. For example:

Day-by-Day Entrees (or The Rock Pile)
Company's Coming (or Your Back's To The Wall)
Potluck Suppers (or How To Bring The Water For The Lemonade)

Peg Bracken is also the author of one of my favorite quotes: "You don't get over hating to cook, any more than you get over having big feet."

BTW, I keep meaning to post a thank-you to you, but never quite knew where, so I'll slip it in here. In on of your posts a while back, you mentioned FlyLady.net. I checked it out and it's great. I haven't signed up (yet), but I find it really helpful just to read her approach and her hints. So, thanks a lot.

I hope some of my thoughts help you in return. Please take care.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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