Sorry about your CFS. I suffer from SAD and know something of what it feels
like to be exhausted much of the time. These are some things that I do:
1. Oven soups and stews.
Split Pea Soup - Into a large ovenproof dutch oven, chop an onion, a
couple ribs of celery, add a garlic clove, 1 teaspoon ground black
pepper, and a single clove. Add a cube of vegetarian Knorr bouillon, 10
cups of water, a bag of rinsed and sorted dry split peas. Stir it up, put
it in the oven at about 250 and let it cook several hours. Stir once
or twice to size up how well done it is. Serve with store bought whole
wheat rolls.
Bean Soup - Same as above, but you can vary the type of bean you use -
navy beans, black beans, whatever.
Stews - any stew recipe can be made in the oven. Sometimes I even do
these at 200 degrees overnight or on the timer so I don't have to wait for
them to pack
for our lunches.
2. Make double or triple batches of everything when you do cook, and freeze
them in the deep freezer. This might be difficult for the day when you
devote much time to cooking, but you can later always resort to the
"freezer food" when you aren't up to any effort. I often make speedy
spinach lasagne (2 large pans) and freeze it in individual servings.
Let me know if you want this recipe - it is not fat free, but very low in
fat and you don't have to pre-cook the noodles. This also makes a quick
to pack lunch for my husband on occasion.
3. Spaghetti squash with canned pasta sauce. Newman has a great garlic
tomato sauce that is fat-free. Just put a spaghetti squash in the microwave
until done (poke some holes in it and cook for 15-30 minutes, depending on
the size).
Hope these ideas help,
Ruth in Chicago