New Low Sodium Recipes

Here's the latest batch of low sodium recipes from Dick Logue. I think I'll try the cranberry orange relish first but I'll use stevia or splenda instead of sugar.

The word is getting out

I just read this article (via Instapundit) from the New York Times about people re-discovering home cooking to accommodate leaner budgets. We've been singing that song here at the Feedin' Mama blog from the beginning although not due to budget restraints but rather to encourage people to eat real food that isn't loaded up with sodium. I hope people will begin to realize that cooking at home with real ingredients is not hard, doesn't have to take a lot of time, is better for you, less expensive and just flat-out tastes better. Maybe it will catch on.

A chicken in every pot

The budget at the Feedin' Mama household is mighty tight these days as it is in many homes and I have gotten pretty good at stretching a chicken into many meals. Today I made another one of Mama's favorites, chicken and rice using Italian Arborio rice which has a creamier texture and is used for risotto. We had eaten several meals already from a baked chicken so I put the whole carcass with the remaining chicken on it into a pot with some onions, celery seed, sage, pepper and a couple of packets of Herb Ox sodium free chicken boullion and water and let that simmer for a couple of hours. Then I took the chicken out and set it aside to cool off a little bit so I could pick the meat off to put back in the pot. I added some more water to make about 3 cups total in the pot and added a cup of rice. After that boiled I put the lid on and turned the heat down to low for about 20 minutes. Then I picked the chicken, put the meat back in the pot and cooked the extra liquid down for a few more minutes. It was delicious along with some frozen corn and green beans and that little chicken can rest assured that it was used to the full extent of its potential.

Another great product for cooking

In case you didn't know it, you can find a lot of spices and such in the ethnic food aisle at the grocery store and they are almost always a lot cheaper than the ones in the spice aisle. You can find some interesting and exotic items there as well. You know I'm always on the lookout for ways to make Mama's low-sodium diet taste better and I found a winner while poking around in the ethnic cooking area at Publix. It's from Goya and it's called Sofrito - Tomato Cooking Base. I'm using it tonight in a pot of black bean soup and it smells delicious. It has 45 mgs of sodium in a teaspoon full but I only used about 2 tablespoons for the entire pot of soup. I used my favorite Pomi tomatoes in a box that are practically sodium free and I actually found some organic canned black beans with a very low sodium content at Target so along with some onions, shredded carrots, water and Herb Ox sodium free beef boullion I have a pot of black bean soup that Mama can eat without worrying about the salt content. Oh, I sprinkled in some cumin and black pepper for good measure as well.

You know, it just takes a little extra time to explore alternative products and you can avoid the bland and boring side of a low sodium diet. It's well worth the time.

Pickles!

Well TS Fay, the tropical trollop, has finally left town although we do still have a bit of rain here and there and the wind kicks up periodically. Feedin' Mama Central was very fortunate especially compared to some folks we know who have been without power for days or have had property damage. And I've located or spoken to most of the older folks from church and everyone is good so that's a relief.

I got some new low-sodium recipes in my inbox and wanted to share them with you. I love pickles. A lot. But they're a no no for Mama so I don't buy them very often. I'm thinking that a trip to the farmer's market is in order so I can test some of these recipes. Thanks to Dick Logue and his Low Sodium Cooking Newsletter! He has even been so kind as to make it available as a Word document here. I think I'll try to make the Bread & Butter Onions first... if you try any let us know how it works at feedinmama@gmail.com.

More adventures in cooking

Not all of my trials and efforts in the kitchen produce stellar results but the latest one sure turned out well. I was again cruising through the Manolo blogs (- not the one who makes the shoes but the one who really loves them) and found an intriguing recipe from Mr. Henry on the Manolo Food link for what turned out to be a very tasty potato salad. Mama and I love balsamic vinegar and I learned about white balsamic vinegar on that blog. White balsamic is sweeter and less acid than the regular kind and I am in love with the stuff. Following Mr. Henry's directions I chopped some onion (sweet vidalia for us, naturally) and poured a liberal amount of the vinegar on them and set that aside to let those onions soak it in. Then I peeled and sliced some red bliss potatoes and put them in a pot of water to boil. When they were done I drained them and put them in the bowl with the soaking onions while the potatoes were still hot. I added some chopped celery, dijon mustard and low-fat sour cream and a few shakes of black pepper. I mixed it all together and the result was one fine dish of very good potato salad that was very low in fat and sodium. We loved it.

Inspiration

Everybody has days when they just can't figure out what to cook (unless you're Paula Deen or Martha Stewart) and need some extra inspiration. This is especially true when you have to provide low sodium meals but our good friend, Mrs. Dash has over 170 recipes from Appetizer Meatballs to Zucchini casserole. God bless her. Some of them look really good and I'm sure I'll be adding more than a few of them to my culinary bag of tricks. Follow the link above and get some inspiration of your own.

More great information on low-sodium cooking

I ran across this site for congestive heart failure patients when I was looking for new recipes. This one has some good ones and a whole lot more in the way of information. Check out the link to the basic tips page, it has very useful tips and things to stir your creative cooking thoughts.