> > mentioned, that element and my body are not the greatest
> > of friends, so taking the supplements isn't first on my
> > list, chocolate is.
> Chocolate would work well for me, as well :)  I'm quite a big fan of
chocolate.
> When I don't have any around for baking things like chocolate cake or
brownies,
> I mix up 3 Tablespoons of good cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon butter or oil.
> That makes 1 ounce of unsweentened chocolate.  For Brownies, I use 4 oz. mixed
> that way.  With oil, you don't have to melt the unsweentened chocolate so for
> me that is a plus as well, being the lazy thing I am (vbg).

Take that mixture, mix it with 50% its volume of light
brown sugar, and stir it into hot vanilla almond mylk (or 
full milk or half and half if you want to have indigestion 
and guilt for the rest of the day). Sip at your leisure.
Don't have to bother with the brownies at all.
 
> King Arthur flour, where I usually order from sells 5 different types of cocoa
> poweders:
> http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2014/01/10/the-a-b-cs-of-cocoa/

Very informative, thank you. I have always been partial
to Bensdorp, which comes in a whole array, not just the
one KA sells. Also have used Saco with success; truth
be told, Ghirardelli and Scharffen Berger are all-natural
and quite nice. On the other hand, I've been fine even
with Hershey and Nestle, though I will admit that I've
never been a baking expert, and all the stuff in that
article about crumb went way over my head. For me cocoa
has been for sauces and puddings, that sort of thing.

Not exactly true on the Bensdorp. It's rather that 
friends of mine have been partial to Bensdorp, which 
means that I got to cook often with it, but not 
exactly by my own choice. Saco was my choice, 
because it was cheap.

> All very good.. I usually purchase black cocoa or double dutch, but they are
> all very good.

I wasn't familiar with the rouge style. Have you
used it?
 
> > Once in a while the onset is so
> > sudden and precipitous that I have a hard time getting
> > from my desk to the drawer that has the chocolate (and
> > also the pills), 10 feet away. Yeah, and once in a while
> > screaming from the pain seems to be the thing to do. It's
> > amazing how fragile we actually are. I suppose that in
> > the olden days I would have fallen over in the forest
> > from this and been eaten by the rats and ants on the spot.
> One would hope some kind forest animal would drag you to safety and not
eat you
> up :)

I'm not sure about kind forest animals. Though the last
time I lost a tooth, the tooth fairy did come and put
two Singapore dollars in a red envelope under my pillow
(true).

> > For a cheapskate like me the salt substitute route is the
> > most cost effective - 1/7 of a teaspoon of No-Salt has as
> > much as a prescription supplement, so even at supermarket
> > retail, I pay 20-30% as much for the shaker stuff as I
> > would for the supplement. When of course the white powder
> > isn't leaking all over my luggage.
> You know your body better than anyone else afterall so I see your point. For
> me, I'd be wary of overdoing the water retension thing here because with the
> MS, I've always got that going on with my feet.

In my case, instant absorption is important when that kind 
of pain happens. K pills are formulated for a different 
purpose, to provide timed release.
 
> I can coast for bit generally... Sometimes my feet are fine, there's no
> figuring it really.  When it gets bad and I can't put on a pair of sandals, I
> know I've got to get back on the baclofen for while.  I try to make it short,
> just a few days.. the thing with baclofen is the more you take it, the
more you
> need it. Sick..

Can't eat just one ... .

Black pepper potato chips
categories: snack
servings: 12

6 Yukon gold potatoes
oil for frying
s, p

Wash the potatoes in cold running water. Using a mandoline
or vegetable peeler, finely slice the potatoes into chips. 
Drop the chips into a bowl of ice water as you work to 
prevent them from going brown. This will also remove any 
excess starch.

In a heavy Dutch oven, heat oil to 400F. Lay the potatoes 
on baking sheet lined with paper towels, and blot them 
with more paper towels to dry.

Lower batches of potatoes into the oil using a spatula. 
They will fry very quickly; stir with a heavy metal spoon 
as they fry to get them to be the "kettle" style. Remove 
with a slotted spoon when they're nice and golden and 
crisp, about 5 min. Immediately sprinkle on salt and lots 
of black pepper. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes. 

Serve immediately.

Ree Drummond, foodnetwork.com