My sweet hubby occasionally has to endure terrible headaches. Though the frequency has been greatly reduced since his retirement in January, one decided to rear its ugly head last night.
Gary's go-to medication is an over-the-counter migraine-formula pain reliever. As usual, when he gets a headache this severe, it lasts a minimum of 24 hours.
This morning, I decided to do a bit of research for home remedies to try to help Gary feel better, sooner rather than later.
First, I offered him a cup of coffee and a piece of dark chocolate, as I read that caffeine along with magnesium (which chocolate is super high in) has been proven to be helpful for headaches.
Next, I started on a batch of Headache Cookies. They're really just a chocolate cookie to which I added headache-beneficial ingredients (ginger and cinnamon).
I found the original recipe on Allrecipes.com, https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10281/chewy-chocolate-cookies-ii/?utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-recipe&utm_content=20200525&utm_term=10281 Chewy Chocolate Cookies II, halved it, and made a few tweaks. This is a fast, easy, and yummy recipe (even if you don't have a headache)!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 - 1 tsp minced ginger
Directions:
Cream together butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla, mix. Then, add all of the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes. The baked cookies are chewy, soft, and thin. You might be able to get a bit more height to the cookies by freezing the dough before baking, but who has time for that?
While the cookies were baking, I put together a quick breakfast salad for Gary to munch on that included headache-fighting ingredients: spinach, cherries, cucumber, cashews, and a red-wine vinegar and olive oil dressing.
Question- What made it a breakfast salad?
Answer- The fact that he ate it at 8:00 AM!
After finishing his salad, Gary tried out the Headache Cookies with a cup of Ginger and Peppermint Tea (both ingredients can be helpful in lessening the intensity of headaches). Then I sent him back to the dark, cool bedroom to relax and catnap.
I made sure he stayed hydrated with several more cups of the Ginger and Peppermint Tea.
For lunch, I made a quick and simple Shrimp Scampi Pasta dish.
Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti (cooked)
1 pound shrimp
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
3 cloves minced garlic
splash of white wine
1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp fresh basil
3-4 cups baby spinach
dash of red pepper flakes
Directions:
While the spaghetti is cooking, saute the garlic in butter and olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add the spices, wine, and the shrimp. Cook the shrimp for a few minutes on each side, and add the spinach. It only takes a minute or two for the spinach to wilt. Plate and serve immediately, with a bit more red pepper flakes on top if you like extra spice.
For dessert, I made Zero-Point Yogurt Fruit Pops, another fast and easy creation.
Ingredients:
2 cups of frozen fruit (I used cherries and blueberries)
3 heaping tsp of Splenda
2 cups Fage fat-free Greek yogurt (our favorite)
3/4 cup almond milk
16 3-oz paper cups
16 wooden craft sticks
Directions:
Heat frozen fruit in microwave for 1 minutes. Mix all ingredients together in blender until smooth. Fill 3 oz. paper cups with mixture and insert wooden craft stick. Freeze for 1 hour, and then transfer to gallon-size baggie to prevent pops from absorbing any freezer smells.
While I can't say with any certainty that today's diet truly helped Gary's headache, I'm quite sure it didn't make it any worse. And, sometimes just knowing that someone loves you enough to try to ease your pain is a help in and of itself.
Wishing you a beautiful day free from headaches, and remember that kindness has the power to change the world!