A co-worker of mine, for medical reasons, needs to be on a very low sodium diet – no more than 1000 to 1500 mg a day. Do you have any idea how hard that is? Sodium is everywhere!
Right now I have a loaf of artisan bread, omitting the salt – and last night I tried to make her a baked potato soup using a milk base instead of chicken broth. It kind of tastes like bland baked potatoes 🙁
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to add flavor without salt? Do you have any idea how much sodium you consume each day – for me, yesterday I was at 2300 mg!
I had a taste for a breakfast tostada, only one problem, I didn’t have any tostadas! I decided to see if I put a corn tortilla in the toaster if it would crisp up – and they did! Just keep an eye on them though – they go from just right to burnt in a matter of seconds!
My tostadas: 2 corn tortillas, 1/3 cup refried beans, 1 egg, 1/2 ounce cheese and a drizzle of my green chile sauce.
My c0-workers and I walked yesterday – I decided on taking 4 pound weights with me – after carrying those for 45 minutes, my arms were tired!
But not too tired to eat my lunch! 😀 I had a 5.5 ounce baked potato, topped with a cup of my Cincinnati chili, 3/4 ounce cheese and fresh sliced red jalapenos – holy shit those peppers were hot! I was only able to eat half of them. Oh, and here’s another public service announcement – if you cut fresh hot peppers at lunch without using gloves, and you um, need to use the restroom later, be very careful where you touch! (For the sake of my husband, I will not go into further detail, but I think you know what I mean!)
In one of my many food magazines (which when you have as many as I do, and you don’t cut out the recipe when you see it, becomes impossible to find again!) I saw a recipe for bacon wrapped chicken. I was totally flying by the seat of my pants, but it turned out really good.
Check out the price of my chicken – these were skinless bone-in breasts – 3 came in this package:
I decided to stuff our breasts with a combination of blue cheese and mozzarella cheese – about 3/4 of an ounce in each one. I should have added more cheese. You could barely taste it in the final dish. I decided to add sliced apples to mine:
Then wrapped each breast in 2 pieces of bacon.
I pan fried it until the bacon started to cook – about 10 minutes as I kept rotating the chicken, and then finished them off in the oven at 375 – depending on the size of the breasts, about 20-25 minutes.
It wasn’t until I went to plate that I was like “I didn’t make any vegetables!” So cilantro was my green! 😀
Stats for Wednesday:
- 1362 calories, 110 carbs, 121 protein, 47 fat, 11.8 fiber
- 30.9 % of calories from fat
- 45 minute walk with 4 pound weights
Have you submitted your BSI recipes to Dave yet? This weeks ingredient is leftovers! In looking in my refrigerator, I have half a casserole of leftover macaroni and cheese. . . do you think I can make a soup out of that?!
Man, that chicken looks awesome! Gotta try that recipe for sure.
Leftovers is a great BSI ingredient, I love it!
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. Low sodium is, hands down, the most difficult restriction to follow. I tell my patients that all the time, and I have trouble staying positive with those on a really strict sodium restriction. You’re such a good friend for helping out! Herbs and Mrs. Dash are going to be her best friends. And for things like meat and roasts, fruit is a great way to go. If she’s not a cooker, she should probably start doing that more. Anything from a can, box, or freezer is probably out…it’s just going to be too much in order for her to incorporate any other foods for the day. I mean, an APPLE has sodium, it’s so tough!! 🙁
I work with a lady that hardly has any sodium now due to a heart problem. She said that after eating so little sodium, she has become sensitive to it so a tiny bit is enough for flavor and if she eats regular food, it tastes way too salty. I guess for flavor you’d have to use lots of herbs and stuff like lemon juice and vinegar. I’m hoping to get my leftovers recipe up soon but I have to do one more thing with it b4 I do. Sure you can make a soup out of mac and cheese–why not?
I did Veronica – and it turned out delicious – I am having it for lunch today! 😀
Usually a heart healthy diet is considered 4grams a day. 2grams is a low sodium. I’ve never heard of lower than that unless there is some sort of kidney problem. 1gram a day would be REALLY hard. You probably know WAY more than me about adding flavor to something.
That chicken looks delish!
I agree that following that low of sodium diet will be a challenge. I would turn to herbs and spices. Basil and cilantro can really kick up any dish. I would also recommend doing as much cooking as they can, that way they know exactly what is going into it.
You are such a nice person to try and help your fellow worker with her low sodium diet! I am sorry to say I don’t have much advice other than to Google about it and use lots of herbs and seasonings.
That chicken looks amazing! Bacon makes everything taste better!
LOL about the peppers, oh my, ouch!
Oh I love the idea to put the apple in yours!
I’ve heard for low sodium diets to LOAD UP on the fresh spices and herbs, esp. the stronger ones. Like thyme, rosemary, basil, etc. to give a kick of flavor w/o salt. I have no idea how much salt I consume ea. day, but I should prob. track it at some point.
Also making your own stock could help w/ salt. I make gallons at a time and don’t add any salt. I add a little while cooking or just use tons of garlic or spices. We also never have the salt shaker around the table. I was brought up that salt and pepper were put in DURING cooking, not after. So mine are by the stove, not the table. I know tons of ppl that it’s a habit to just sprinkle salt on everything, b4 they even taste.
My hubster HATES salty foods (whereas I drink pickle juice) so for him I use the Mrs. Dash salt free
esp this one:
http://www.mrsdash.com/products/Tomato-Basil-Garlic/7
Which I add to EVERYTHING!
It’s crazy how much sodium is in most products, isn’t it??
Label reading is a must for low-sodium diets (well, it really is for healthy living in general, too ;)). I like to stay on top of my sodium intake and the best way I found is to cut out all processed foods and buy simple, natural ingredients. No more canned soups (unless they are Amy’s brand or similar, which are very low sodium and can be flavored more with spices on your own), no frozen dinners, etc.
I’ve also found that cooking my own food rather than eating out is the best trick since you can never really trust restaurants’ meal prep, and cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. I often cook up a big skillet of veggies seasoned simply with pepper and garlic powder, then stir in some hummus and serve in a tortilla or with brown rice — quick, easy & yummy!
What a great idea – sounds delicious!
my grandma uses no sodium salt.. i cant remember the name but it tastes so freaking similar to salt! also braggs liquid aminos is another way to reduce sodium but keep the flavor! <3
Thanks Kelsey – I’ve never heard of that before 😀