Knee-ouch (or "cooking in invalid mode")

[figmo]

My right leg has been getting stronger since I started physical therapy, but my knee has been getting bigger and has been hurting a lot during the week. Last Friday I saw my orthopedist, and at the recommendation of my physical therapists, I got cortisone injections into the bad knee.

When injecting, my doctor found that there was very little fluid. Instead, I've got really badly inflamed tissue, or as he put it, "Those must be pretty bad contusions." Unfortunately, it's supposed to take around a week before the injection fully helps. Meanwhile, I am in massive pain. It is sapping my energy. I am doing my physical therapy leg exercises despite this, and I am somehow managing to get work done despite this (being able to work while lying in bed with my knee propped up helps). Still, it's frustrating. I'm told that if I don't show major improvement soon, the next step might be surgery. This scares the heck out of me.

I am at the stage where I'm not only bugged by the pain, but also by my inability to do things that I enjoy doing, such as cooking and sewing. I tried making pancakes a couple of weekends ago, and my knee never recovered from all the standing. I'm trying to come up with creative ways to cook, and my success has been limited. Basically, if I have to do too much prep or too much nonstop cooking, I'm hosed. What I have made, just to give you an idea of my creativity level:

• Collard greens
  Take pre-cut, pre-washed bag of collard greens. Slightly open the bag in which they came, and nuke for 5 minutes. Add around 1/4 cup of bacon bits, a few dashes of sea salt, and a drop or two of Dave's Insanity hot sauce. Mix well, and nuke again for two minutes. Mix again and enjoy.
• Taro in coconut milk
  Take pre-peeled, vacuum-packed taro root. Nuke for around 10 minutes or until softened. Cut into chunks (1/2" to 1"), and mix in a microwave-safe dish with a can of reduced-fat coconut milk and 1/2 cup of Splenda (you could use sugar, but I don't dare). Cover and nuke again for 5-10 minutes. Makes a tasty, nourishing dessert or snack that can be eaten hot or cold. (This would be much better if I cut the taro when raw and boiled it in the coconut milk, but that's more prep than I'm up to doing...sigh.)
• Corn on the cob
  Take fresh, unhusked cob of corn. Put into microwave oven and nuke for around 6 minutes. Peel off husk and silk (it comes off easily), add butter or margarine and salt, and enjoy.
• Peanut butter cup toast
  Toast bread. Top with peanut butter, around 1-2 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1 packet of Splenda. Swirl while still warm.
• English muffin pizzas
  Toast a split/sliced English muffin. Squirt on pizza sauce, and sprinkle on pre-grated mozzarella and parmesan, romano, or asiago. Sprinkle on oregano and some crushed pepper. Nuke till the cheese melts.
• Cannoli/Blintz filling
  To ricotta or cottage cheese, add vanilla bean paste and Splenda. For cannoli filling, add a little milk to the ricotta to make it creamier; to the cottage cheese, add cinnamon.

Coming up when I am able to tolerate straight sitting for longer: Cheater's Cannoli.