Who is TheChronicIllnessChef?

Hi, I’m Kit, TheChronicIllnessChef, and I’m the other half of the team at Mind Body and Spoons. I handle all the pots, pans, and content wrangling on the site, along with food and travel writing/photography when time permits.

My Background:

I’m an Australian chef, I completed my formal culinary training in the late 90s, and worked in many different restaurants/cafes/hotels before ‘retiring’ to teach. Since then, I’ve taught in Community Centres, Neighbourhood Houses, commercial enterprises and private parties, and since the Covid-19 Pandemic, online to a broad range of clients.

When I’m not in the kitchen, I can usually be found in either the garden or the office, in both cases preparing or nurturing something for later digestion. Like many chefs, I have a keen interest in producing my own foods; vegetables, fruits, and sources of protein. I’m also a keen food and travel writer and photographer, spending many hours planning and researching ‘the next trip’, which may or may not ever happen, but it’s all grist for my culinary-thinking-mill, so to speak.

In terms of Chronic Illness, I have Long Covid. As a first-wave recipient of the virus in early 2020, my life was irrevocably changed by its effects. Amongst Covid’s many gifts, my energy levels are significantly reduced, I’ve endured reduced breathing capacity and function, persistent transient neuropathy, along with the usual chest pains, palpitations, memory loss, etc. I’m definitely not the person I used to be.

However, an all too familiar saying with many Aussies is ‘it could be worse’, and I’m all too aware of this truth. So, for me, I’m choosing to offer to others the knowledge and skills I possess to improve their lives; food, nutrition, and professional chef skills that will save you time and energy. They’ll also, hopefully, spare your tastebuds from some potential culinary disasters.

How I can help:

What goes on your plate should encourage you to look forward to meal times. Your food should be nourishing and rewarding, it should fuel your body for the next activity and it should support your body to recover from illness and exertion. What we eat, and where it came from, plays a huge factor in managing our chronic illness response. Eat the right things, and we feel good, have more energy, and hopefully fewer or lessened symptoms. Consume the wrong foods, and our bodies feel horrendous, they can quite seemingly unleash hell upon us.

One of the most often heard remark is “I really miss eating X…”, and this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Whilst those on severely restricted diets, like MCAS, cannot eat certain foods, some treats can be adapted to fill the void. For instance, if you’re following a Low Histamine diet, then chocolate is a major No-No. So, can you still enjoy a brownie? Definitely not! But, I’ve created an adapted recipe using carob as the substitute and it’s every bit as decadent as any gooey chocolate brownie. Check it out here and try it for yourself.

Through the MBaS site I’ll be sharing many of my chef-based tips and tricks to help make meal prep easier and quicker. I’ll also be providing quick videos on cooking techniques, and offering advice on equipment I personally use and recommend to make your cooking life less battery-draining. I will never recommend a product I don’t believe in 100%.

What I’ll be offering:

Through the Mind, Body and Spoons website I’ll be sharing my recipes (and on Instagram for an extra visual kick) on how to make great tasting, easy to make, filling and nutritious meals, snacks, kitchen staples, and of course, sweet treats. I’ll also be creating video tutorials which will be shared on YouTube, and in time, I’ll be offering online virtual cooking classes for our growing community.