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Tips for Low Sodium Diet Plan

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:04:02 +0000

Fresh Grilled Vegetables

Vegetables – eat fresh, frozen and canned with “no added salt” or with no added sauces. Meats – cook fresh lean meat, poultry and fish, avoid canned or processed meat such as corned beef, sausages, and deli meats.
Cook and eat rice, pasta, cereals in their plain form without added salt. The instant varieties with flavorings most of the time have high sodium. Buy unprocessed grains when available.
When using canned goods – you can drain the liquids and rinse or soak canned vegetables in cold water to reduce sodium content.
Seasonings – Substitute for salt- free spices, spice blends, fresh herbs during cooking. Don’t keep the salt shaker handy at the eating area. Try different salt substitutes from the supermarkets and inform your doctor and pharmacist first. Salt substitutes are not appropriate for everyone.
Be careful what you drink - Softened water, vegetable juices, sports drinks can have high sodium.
Eat low sodium snacks – Avoid or limit high salt snacks such as nuts, seeds, pretzels, chips, crackers and other snacks. Buy the unsalted kind. Opt for fresh fruits and cut up vegetables for healthy snacks.
Always read nutrition label for sodium content of all foods, drinks and over the counter medicines you take. Buy low sodium foods labeled no-salt-added, low- or reduced-sodium for canned, packaged and bottled foods.
Keep a food record and add up your sodium intake when you first get started on your low sodium diet. It will give you an idea of you’re your over all eating habits and where your high sodium food sources are. You will be surprised how fast that sodium number goes up.
When eating out – choose plain foods without sauces or gravy on top, plain vegetables, fresh salads without salad dressing. Avoid ordering foods that are pickled, marinated, smoked, or barbequed. Flavor your food with a dash of pepper, fresh lemon juice, cut up fresh parsley or chives. Bring your own salt free seasonings!
Home cooked meals are the best. You know how much salt is added by the ingredients used. After you have been on a low salt diet for a while you will find that many foods eaten outside your home will taste too salty.

Resources:

Easy Low Sodium Recipes 156 pages

Low Sodium Diet – Food List

Zero milligrams of sodium per serving!

Seasonings for Low Salt Diets

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:36:48 +0000

Salt Free Seasonings

Your doctor just put you on a low sodium diet for medical reason. I usually see a 1,500 – 2,000 mg sodium daily restriction. Low sodium meals do not mean no flavor or no taste. Sure you would have to get rid of that salt shaker at the table and be very aware of type of seasonings you use in cooking.

Start with low sodium recipes when possible. There are plenty on the internet. By using herbs and spices to enhance and add flavor you would not need to season with salt. Remember that most ingredients you use already have some sodium. Use no added salt or very low sodium canned vegetables and soups in your recipes.

Fresh is always best
Fresh lemon, peppers, garlic, onions are standard ways to add flavor. Container gardening is a good way to provide fresh herbs and cut cost. One good way to save fresh cut herbs is to cut up and freeze them in ice cube container with water. You will have perfectly portioned amount for next time. I have just frozen herbs between two dampened paper towels and have not noticed any altered flavor.

Dried spices in flakes, granulated or powdered
There are many brands salt-free seasonings available at the supermarket. Why not make your own and save money. Keep in mind to keep all your spices in air-tight containers and store away from light or heat for longer storage life. I even hear somewhere that keeping a bay leaf in the container helps keep the bugs away. If properly stored ground up spices keep well for about 6 months and whole spices up to a year.

I buy my spices by the weight at the local health food store. That way I only buy what I need. It seems more time and energy efficient to make at least one cup batch at a time. Buy a spice that comes in a shaker with a tight lid (like dried onion flakes at the Dollar Store) and use the content in the mix or for something else. Try adding uncooked rice to your shaker to prevent caking. To keep your spice mix fresh longer you can also keep it in the freezer door.

Here are some recipes for spice mix:

SALT FREE SEASONING RECIPES

Spice-Herb- Chart

Recipe Reduction Tips

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:41:44 +0000

Recipe Reduction for Smaller Meals

Try these tips to reduce your recipes when cooking for one or two people:

Use recipes that are easy to reduce. Eggs are hard to judge use 1 medium egg instead of 2 small ones. You can also take out 1-2 tablespoons of the recipe liquids if the recipes call for it. I like to use Eggbeater when baking it’s easy to divide and better for your heart.
Canned goods are easily deviled into portions. Drain liquids but save it so you can better eyeball the product. Freeze the unused portion for another dish. Be sure to stir up canned soups, canned chopped tomatoes, or canned sauces before dividing out their content.
Sneak up with your seasonings. You can always add more but cannot take back out! Nothing more sad then ruining your dish with too much of a spice. Do use measuring spoons if for nothing else you can repeat the recipe later if you like it.
Reduce your estimated cooking time by about 5-10 minutes. Watch for brownness closely when baking cakes, breads, cookies. I like to divide up the cake batter into 2 smaller pans cook until just start to brown take one out to cool and freeze for heating up later. You can always add more time for casserole or stove top dishes. Using a good toaster oven to bake is great for saving energy and prevent heating up your whole house!

Like all experiments, notes are an important tool to let you know which one worked! If your recipe is a success the first try, you might want to do that again.
You can find recipe software that can do the calculations for you but unless you cook a lot it may not be cost effective or worth the trouble.

Conversion Table

For the Person Cooking for One

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:04:29 +0000

Serving for One

Change in circumstances such as your youngest child leaving for college, a death of a significant other, or a divorce may lead you to start cooking for one. There are challenges in adjusting ingredients for single serving dishes. The aim in Cooking healthy for one is lower fat, sodium, and sugar when possible without sacrificing tastes. Salads are always a good option, but watch the fat loaded dressings. Most recipes are for 2-4 people, you can save money by cooking and freezing meals for later.

Free cooking for one recipes cam be found on the internet, cookbooks from public libraries. If you have access to a freezer cooking your regular recipes and portion out servings for later can save much time, energy and, money. The tendency is to only fix and eat one single item because of the “it’s only for me” mentality. Casseroles are great for that purpose. Buy frozen meats already cut for single servings such as chicken breast, fish. Do garnish with fresh herbs, slices of tomatoes or other fresh vegetables to make a big difference in presentation, taste and nutrition.

There are healthier options for meals from take out service. Be sure to get a menu from your favorite places, mark the healthier choices, and plan ahead of time. Store their phone numbers in your cell phone. Try not to shop when you are hungry, you may not make healthy choices. When your favorite take out places have specials such as baked or grilled chicken, buy double and freeze. You can later eat as is or break it up for sandwiches, add to salads or soups.

Sharing meals with others can enhance your eating enjoyment and improve your digestion. I can’t remember the study, but it said people who eat alone either eat too little of overeat. Split up the chore of cooking a meal with a friend once or twice a week. Join a singles club, no, not just for meeting other men, or women although that can be a good idea. These clubs often have scheduled a bring a dish to share events. Your church groups for example can be a good place to share a good meal and company. Many times you can take leftovers home for future meals. Read the paper for fund raiser events that serve meals. It’s for a good cause and you can new friends or meet up with old ones.

Lower The Fat While Cooking Bacon

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:35:30 +0000

Less fat bacon?

During a nutrition consultation today a client told me that he cannot and will not give up his bacon. Are there ways to cook bacon so it is less fat he asked?

What? A dietitian blogging about cooking bacon? My viewpoint for improving your eating habits: start where you are; make small and gradual changes to get to your health goals. Drastic and quick changes often do not result in permanent changes then you are back to square one.

For those who must have their bacon once in a while, here are my suggestions:

Pan fry- the messiest but most often used

Dry pan fry your bacon without any grease. If you start at low heat and work up to medium heat much of the bacon fat will render out. Turn bacon to cook evenly on both sides. If you cut the bacon strips in half, they won’t curl up as much.
When bacon is done to your liking, turn the heat off, take the pan off heating element. Tilt your pan to one side to drain bacon fat. You can prop up the pan to one side with a pot holder. Place cooked bacon on paper towel to drain, and get rid of more excess bacon fat.
You then have to do something with the left over bacon fat. Don’t pour it down your kitchen drain! I have used an old coffee can or jar to store the bacon grease for garbage pick up.

Cooking bacon in oven -

If you don’t want to watch the bacon too closely or don’t want to take a chance of grease spatter on yourself, bake them.
Single layer bacon strips over a broiling pan (pan with holes fitting inside of a separate grease catching pan) bake 10-15 minutes (depends on thickness of bacon) at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Drain bacon slices again on paper towels. Discard bacon grease as suggested above. You can use the smaller toaster oven pan, and then into dishwasher for clean up.

Microwave -

This is my favorite way to cook bacon. I use several layers of paper towels over paper plates (You can also use a microwave pan). Cover with a sheet of paper towel to prevent splatter.
Microwave 3-5 minutes depending on your oven and the amount of bacon. Turn your container if you do not have a rotating tray for even cooking. Drain grease again on more clean paper towels.
You can always pat with paper towels and napkins to get rid of more fat. Throw away your paper goods, very little clean up required.

Seems like a lot trouble and paper towels for a few pieces of bacon huh? No matter how you cook your bacon, minimize the remaining fat content is the main idea and moderation is the key. Eat just a slice or two and just once in a while.

Other breakfast meat ideas: limit your portions to only 1-2 oz

Lean cooked ham
Canadian bacon
Turkey bacon
Turkey patties/ Sausage
Veggie patties
Chicken Sausage

During a nutrition consultation today a client told me that he cannot and will not give up his bacon. Are there ways to cook bacon so it is less fat he asked?

For those who must have their bacon once in a while, here are my suggestions:

Pan fry- the messiest but most often used
Dry pan fry your bacon without any grease. If you start at low heat and work up to medium heat much of the bacon fat will render out. Turn bacon to cook evenly on both sides. If you cut the bacon strips in half, they won’t curl up as much.

When bacon is done to your liking, turn the heat off, take the pan off heating element. Tilt your pan to one side to drain bacon fat. You can prop up the pan to one side with a pot holder. Place cooked bacon on paper towel to drain, and get rid of more excess bacon fat.

You then have to do something with the left over bacon fat. Don’t pour it down your kitchen drain! I have used an old coffee can or jar to store the bacon grease for garbage pick up.

Cooking bacon in oven -
If you don’t want to watch the bacon too closely or don’t want to take a chance of grease spatter on yourself, bake them.

Single layer bacon strips over a broiling pan (pan with holes fitting inside of a separate grease catching pan) bake 10-15 minutes (depends on thickness of bacon) at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drain bacon slices again on paper towels. Discard bacon grease as suggested above. You can use the smaller toaster oven pan, and then into dishwasher for clean up.

Microwave -
This is my favorite way to cook bacon. I use several layers of paper towels over paper plates (You can also use a microwave pan). Cover with a sheet of paper towel to prevent splatter.

Microwave 3-5 minutes depending on your oven and the amount of bacon. Turn your container if you do not have a rotating tray for even cooking. Drain grease again on more clean paper towels.

You can always pat with paper towels and napkins to get rid of more fat. Throw away your paper goods, very little clean up required.

Other breakfast meat ideas: try to limit to only 1-2 oz

Lean cooked ham
Canadian bacon
Turkey bacon
Turkey patties/ Sausage
Veggie patties
Chicken Sausage