I USED TO COOK

OK...anyone who knows me knows that I used to love cooking. My Mum is a very good cook as are all my Maltese family, and I guess somewhere along the line it brushed off. It used to give me great pleasure to produce something  from scratch, for a number of reasons. One, I wanted to taste REAL food not processed rubbish. And two with all my food intolerances; eating pre-packaged, processed food is a no no and bound to end up in a head- to -toe rash on my body, or me lying on a bed clutching my stomach in pain. 

Interestingly, the more people with Cowdens syndrome I encounter, the more I realise that it is quite common for these people to have food intolerances or food allergies. Not sure about the physiology here but does it matter? 

Eat fresh food...eat unprocessed food...cook!

This mantra is easy to follow when in my own home and in my own kitchen. But I find it so hard to follow when we are in the city going through a medical drama. And remember, my daughter has had thirteen major procedures in the last 14 months so I have been away from my home a lot.

When life's a drama, I'm not as organised with my food. I'm not in my own kitchen and I don't have time or inclination to shop for food. My head is understandably occupied with other things. Eventually, my couldn't care less attitude arrives and I find myself staring at some pre-packaged muffin and asking myself if  "surely one won't hurt?" The answer is always " no, of course not". In seconds, I forget the wheat which my body doesn't like. I forget the artificial colouring and preservatives which my body loathes and reacts to and I forget the unecessary packaging which I usually avoid. And I always end up kicking myself later and telling myself "its OK because your child is going through worse." What a cop out!

On top of all this, we've eaten in the hospital cafeteria so much this year that I have forgotten HOW to cook. Like any skill it requires practice and because I have had little practice in the last year or so, where once I loved cooking, I now have started to dread it.

Hello pots and pans - remember me?

Its hilarious really because I'm an ex- home economics teacher! But, in the last year while trying to get back into using those pots and pans, everything has gone wrong from burnt steak to overcooked chicken.I even had a sandwich fall apart!

Seeing it as a step back towards " normality", I have in this trip home made a concerted effort to revert back to my old cooking ways. And...it all started with a meal the husband and I ate in the city before we came home. He discovered "Thai green curry" and fell in love.

Now I always have a little chuckle when the husband discovers something the rest of the world has known about for ages. (Chuckle, Chuckle). But because I love him I decided that this week I would make him a "Thai green curry", even though I was sure I would probably wreck it. For the record, I've never made one before.

Armed with a recipe from taste.com.au which is posted below, I went hunting for ingredients in the supermarket. Because I live in a country town the ability to get fresh produce varies from day to day. Today wasn't a good day and  I was a little concerned when nine out of eleven ingredients were only available in a processed form. Rashes, tummy pains...here I come...groan.

(By the way please don't message me with comments about how you make your own green curry paste. I am quite pleased with the fact that I'm cooking again and yes, my curry paste came out of a jar!)

Apart from a borderline asthma attack when I stir fried the curry paste, the recipe was a hit and the husband was in foodie heaven for the second time in one week. I did eat some and it was yummy. The side effects on my strange body were not as bad as I expected, but its all about thresholds and I wouldn't tempt fate with another serve in the near future.

So, its another step in reclaiming my life. Starting to cook again and slowly re-introducing all the foods into my diet which make me feel better. eg Porridge for breakfast with berries and chia seeds. Hospital breakfast was just a coffee!!

I don't know what the secret is to eating properly while supporting someone in hospital. Maybe I'm over thinking this. Any suggestions before the next round of doctors would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway...feeling great about my cooking success so am off to make a "one bowl apple cake", which I pinched from my aunt's Facebook wall. Its easy and quick so it gets my seal of approval in this starting to cook again phase. If anyone's interested, I'll post the link. Meanwhile, maybe try the curry.It really is good.

Till next time...xxx



 http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19756/thai+green+chicken+curry