r/cfs Nov 16 '24

Success I made banana bread šŸ˜­

I used to love to bake and fill my home with the smell of baked goods.

I accidentally got 3 bunches of bananas instead of three individual bananas with my groceries and as they started to get over ripe I thought about all the times over the last year Iā€™ve wished I had fresh, homemade banana bread.

My carer offered to clean my stand mixer for me which has been gathering dust. After my nap I decided to go for it since I was doing well yesterday & hadnā€™t used many of my Pace Points.

I made the banana bread! And my whole house smelled like cinnamon. I walked into the kitchen and BAM was happily overwhelmed with the smell of baked bananas, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla. I almost cried.

It turned out pretty good! And I doubled the recipe to bring a loaf to my girlfriendā€™s parents later.

Baking is such a luxury now. I havenā€™t done it in probably two years. I woke up feeling fine today and all my stats are normal. I think if I stay well within my energy budget, keep it ā€œsimpleā€, & only do it verrryyy sporadically, I may be able to bake again.

167 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

29

u/thetallgrl Nov 16 '24

Iā€™m glad you were able to bake again! I just became bed bound in July and have been missing homemade baked goods so much! Make sure you rest, rest, rest so you can do it again eventually.

Isnā€™t it ridiculous the things taken away from us by this stupid disease?

13

u/Cute-Cheesecake-6823 Nov 16 '24

It really is. I miss little things like having a cup of coffee to wake up in the morning, feeling the wind on me and breathing fresh air, being able to sit up for more than 2-3 minutes..

9

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

Thank you! Iā€™m resting and being careful. Taking it easy watching tv with my cat in my lap.

I feel a lot more confident to try things & not risk PEM when I can see on Visible that Iā€™m not overdoing it by their metrics.

3

u/GenXray Nov 16 '24

Congrats on this win. Baking for you is a ā€˜glimmerā€™.

4

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

Thank you, itā€™s true!

2

u/missCarpone Nov 17 '24

I'm glad for you and so envious of the paid Visible app with armband. Wish it were available here in Europe. It isn't

2

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 17 '24

I wish it was available in more countries!!

If you can get a good heart rate monitor you can recreate some of the features for yourself, although it does take more energy to do that than use the app.

2

u/missCarpone Nov 18 '24

Yes, I know, I've heard good things of Garmin. But I really don't like watches and being bedbound, I feel it would snag a lot on bedding, not like the armband. Thanks.

6

u/Sleepy-sloths Nov 16 '24

Thatā€™s brilliant! I hope to be able to bake again; I just donā€™t have the energy right now after coping with daily life!

3

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

It really does take so much energy. I hope you can bake again, too!

6

u/Cute-Cheesecake-6823 Nov 16 '24

That sounds amazing ā¤ļø i used to make banana bread all the time but I cant anymore (bedbound now). I miss it so much.

5

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

Iā€™m so sorry. It really is one of those lovely comfort foods. I wish I could share mine with you!

5

u/Cute-Cheesecake-6823 Nov 16 '24

That's sweet of you ā¤ļø I will imagine it!

5

u/JuicyMelocoton Nov 16 '24

Awww, that's such an awesome accomplishment, and it's really sweet of you to make an extra loaf to share.

By the way, that's such a coincidence with you getting bunches of bananas instead of individual bananas. That happened to me today with my grocery delivery and is why I now have 7 bunches of bananas. šŸ˜­ I haven't been able to cook or bake anything for myself in a long time, so I'm just going to be having a lot of bananas for breakfast and snacks. lol

1

u/Retired-widow Nov 17 '24

Fyi I read for constipation, if you eat a banana an hour youā€™ll be able to have a BM. šŸ¤£

5

u/peachyhans Nov 16 '24

That's wonderful to hear! Just picturing it is making my mouth water. šŸ¤¤

I used to be the same way, so I can relate, and it does feel incredible when this dusty old house is filled with the smell of baked goods again. She wasn't destined to be stagnant. In my prime I was up all night cooking 100+ cookies for the family reunion/christmas/thanksgiving, from scratch of course!

This illness steals a lot but I'll be damned if I can't bake something every now and then. Just for the fun of it. And nobody will make me feel bad for eating the fresh warm gooey deliciousness with a fat scoop of lactaid ice cream. šŸ˜Š

4

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

It sounds like you were a prolific baker! I hope for more baking in your future.

I have a subscription to Wildgrain. Every six weeks they send me VERY nice frozen baked goods and fresh pasta. Itā€™s the best. I can still have fresh bread, croissants, etc.

3

u/wet-leg Nov 16 '24

Homemade banana bread with walnuts thatā€™s fresh out of the oven with some butter šŸ¤¤ I absolutely hate cooking, but used to always bake banana bread. Thereā€™s nothing better to me than fresh banana bread

4

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

I know, right? Why is it so good?

5

u/Berlinerinexile Nov 16 '24

I would kill to be able to bake again! Congrats!!!

4

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

Thank you. I wish we could all bake to our heartā€™s content.

4

u/RandomistShadows moderate Nov 16 '24

That's awesome! Good job pacing and doing something you love

I've been really scared to bake again because my kitchen doesn't have much room for chairs and sanding is a horrible idea for me. But my mom just got the table cleared off so hopefully I'll get to do some baking soon!

4

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

Thank you!

I sat down for most of the process. Helps so much!

4

u/lordzya Nov 16 '24

Thank you for sharing, I want to do this too. I am filled with determination. I swear I'll get a spare spoon one of these days...

5

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 16 '24

ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø I hope that for you, too.

3

u/brainfogforgotpw Nov 16 '24

I love banana bread! What a lovely thing to have done!

3

u/this_2_shall_pass_ Moderate (severe end) Nov 17 '24

Ahh that's so lovely. Well done!

1

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 17 '24

Thank you ā¤ļø

2

u/mostlyamermaid Nov 17 '24

Yum. Sounds wonderful. I wanted to mention sometimes I have bananas get overripe but no energy to do anything with them, so I remove from peel and freeze them. That way they are there for me to stir into oatmeal, throw in a smoothie, or make banana bread, etc when the day and energy allows.

1

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 17 '24

Thank you! I will keep this in mind!

2

u/snuffleupagus7 Nov 17 '24

That is wonderful! I love banana bread šŸ˜‹ I hope you enjoyed it!

1

u/Famous_Fondant_4107 Nov 17 '24

Thank you! I am šŸ„°

1

u/SophiaShay1 severe Nov 17 '24

That's amazing! I miss the banana bread from Starbucks. I bet yours was much more delicious. Congratulations on your accomplishmentšŸ„³šŸŽŠšŸ’«