Kitchen-Based Medicine

Instead of letting fibromyalgia force her out of the kitchen, Jennifer Hess revamped her approach, making cooking and eating a medicine that treats her physically and mentally. In her Chronic in the Kitchen series on ChronicBabe, she kindly shares lessons that she’s learned and some delicious recipes.

• Tips to Keep You Cooking
• Fish in a Flash
• Soup IS Good Food
• Eat Your Greens
• Pantry Raid
• A Meal to Make Your Heart Sing

Jennifer broke the recipe-following rules when she developed her
recipes — follow her lead! If an ingredient is a known trigger for
you, make a substitution. Black bean soup made with garbanzo beans?
Chives instead of onions? The first few incarnations may be strange,
but you’ll eventually get a recipe that’s tasty and doesn’t invoke pain.

Avoiding Sausage Headaches
Two of Jennifer’s recipes use sausage, which can spell trouble for people with headache. Because it’s so tasty and easy to use, I’ve searched far and wide for sausage that doesn’t trigger headaches. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Always check the labels and try to avoid varieties with nitrates or any form of MSG. Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Wild Oats all carry brands that fit the criteria or come really close. Many stores in the Safeway family (which includes Von’s, Dominick’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Genuardi’s and Carrs) also carry some varieties.

Brands that taste good and aren’t filled with junk include Applegate Farms, Cantella’s, Gerhard’s and Organic Prairie. Again, check the labels. One variety of one brand might be fine, but another sausage by the same company may contain MSG.

Also, a little bit of a “bad” additive might not cause problems for you. Try it out when you feel brave.