Just as it takes years of practice for a limbo dancer to get his body under a flaming pole without injury, it will take a long time for anyone trying to reduce sodium to get themselves to a consistently low intake. But it IS possible, with a little discipline, planning, and knowledge. It's all about the decisions we make every meal, every day.
Here's a little exercise I like to call "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!"
Let's look at an average day's worth of meals- breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack in the morning and the afternoon. Snacks are important because they help prevent us from overeating at mealtime!
This exercise shows that on a normal day, you can eat the foods you like and still stay under 1,500 mg of sodium. A breakfast sandwich, soup and salad for lunch, and a spaghetti dinner. It's all in how you get there!
It all starts with a good breakfast, right? So our "Good" breakfast is a sandwich made with egg whites and a whole wheat roll, and some easy to prepare frozen hash browns. Our "Bad" breakfast would probably be okay for people without hypertension, but it has too much sodium and fat for us. And the "Ugly" breakfast is just not healthy for anyone, although we've all done it from time to time!
In our Good breakfast, even though the potatoes are prepared in oil, it's controlled to 2 teaspoons because they are pan-fried, not deep fried. And the sodium content of McDonald's breakfast is off the charts.
For lunch, we're having soup and salad. The Low Sodium Queen keeps homemade soup in her freezer and pantry, so she can throw a container in her lunch bag each morning as she heads out to work. She makes her own broth to have a "Good" lunch with no sodium in the soup, but even the "Bad" lunch is not so bad with commercially available low-sodium broth! The Campbells Soup in the "Ugly" lunch has a whopping 1780 mg of sodium, and that blows our daily goal in the "suggested" one cup serving. But who opens a can of soup and eats only half! If you eat the whole can, as most people would, it comes in at 4,450 mg of sodium!
A healthy dinner could start with a "Lean Cuisine" from the freezer, right? Check the label! Those frozen dinners are almost as bad as canned soup! 690 mg of sodium is too salty for any single food, and is over one third of our goal! Making our own spaghetti with Ragu jarred sauce is even worse! Our best best is to make our own spaghetti sauce, which can be done in large batches and canned in jars or frozen in containers for convenience! By using low fat ground meat and eliminating salt, we can create a homemade sauce with only 49 mg of sodium!
We even get a frozen dessert, if we choose it wisely! Would you have expected to find sodium in ice cream? It's there, although some flavors have more than others! Check the labels if you have to have the real deal! A smarter choice overall is frozen yogurt, as long as you choose the fat free kind. And smarter still is frozen sorbet, which is the best choice among commercially available desserts. It's even possible to make your own sorbet from frozen fruit using a blender or food processor, so you could reduce the sodium content even further!
Here's the full day, with snacks:
And, here are our totals:
Our "Good" meal plan comes in at 886 mg of sodium, well under our goal of 1,500 mg. And, at only 1,293 calories, it's perfect for someone who is trying to shed a few extra pounds!
The "Bad" meal plan would probably be okay for most healthy people, although it's too high in sodium for most high blood pressure patients. 1,843 calories would be sufficient for most people to maintain their current weight.
The "Ugly" plan is just plain ugly! Even though the menu is the same, poor food choices make the sodium intake rise to a staggering 5,527 mg!! 2,400 calories is about the limit of a healthy caloric intake for most people, but 111 grams of fat is a lot of fat for our bodies to process. Anyone with a family history of heart disease would be well advised to adjust that fat intake at least to the "Good" range!
DISCLAIMER: The Low Sodium Queen is not a professional dietitian,nor a medical professional, although she did once portray "Nurse Goodbody" in a Mardi Gras ball, but that's another blog!
So, use your own judgement, do your own research, and take her advice with a grain of salt substitute!
This steaming bowl of Chicken Vegetable Soup has less than 100 mg of sodium and virtually no fat per generous 16 oz jar!
How did the Low Sodium Queen deliver such delicious soup realness? By controlling the sodium that went in, she controls the sodium in each portion! It's simple math!
So here's how she did it:
She started with 3 quarts of the chicken stock she made the day before, along with the chicken meat she had saved from the process. Thigh meat works great for soup as is has a bit more flavor than the white meat. She made the stock with no salt, so it is sodium free.
She brought the broth and meat to a boil, and to it she added about a cup of baby carrots (the kind you buy at the grocery to snack on for lunch), 3 fresh tomatoes, peeled and quartered, 2 large zucchini squash, sliced lengthwise and then chopped into 1/4 thick "half moons", and about 5 yellow squash, cut the same way. That's it! You can add additional seasoning if you need it! TLSQ added 1/4 teaspoon salt.
The chicken is already cooked, and the vegetables cook quickly, so before she put the soup on, she cleaned her jars and put them on to boil so she could can this soup for later!
Once the soup was cooked and simmering, and the jars had boiled 10 minutes, the rest it easy! Each jar is lifted from the boiling water and drained, and filled about 1/2 full of vegetables and meat, using a slotted spoon. Then, a ladle is used to fill the jar with liquid, leaving 1" of headspace at the top of each jar. Once the jars are properly filled, wipe the rims with a clean, damp paper towel, apply the lids and rings, and they are ready to process!
Fill the canner with about 3" of water and allow it to come to a boil while you fill the jars. (Be sure to follow the instructions for your canner if they are different!) Place the jars on the rack in the bottom of the canner, attach the lid, and let the canner heat for 10 minutes while a stready stream of steam escapes the vent pipe. This ensures there are no air bubbles in the canner that would prevent it from pressurizing evenly.
After the canner has vented 10 minutes, place the pressure regulator onto the vent pipe. If your canner has variable pressure settings (indicated by 3 different holes with numbers) use the 10 pound setting at normal altitudes. If you are more than 2,000 ft above sea level, see the USDA guidelines for proper pressure settings and times. Once the weight is in place, the canner will begin to pressurize.
The regulator does it job of maintaining pressure in the vessel by closing off the vent pipe when the pressure is below the set point, and rising on the column of steam when the pressure rises above the set point to allow steam to escape and reduce the pressure. The gauge does nothing to control the pressure (some canners don't even have a gauge) but simply confirms that the unit is pressurized.
Once the canner has reach the set pressure level with the stove set on high, the regulator will rise slightly, and "rattle" or "dance" steadily. While the regulator weight will keep the pot safely within the desired pressure range, the constant escape of steam can cause it to boil dry prematurely. So, when the pressure reaches the desired level and the regulator begins to rise, lower the temperature gradually until the regulator "dances" about every 15 seconds- 4 times a minute. This video clip shows what it sounds like.
You may also freeze this recipe in plastic freezer containers.
Oh, and here's the math:
From 3 quarts of stock + vegetables and meat, we yielded 4 quarts of soup = 8 pint jars.
1/4 teaspoon salt= 800 mg sodium / 8 jars = 100 mg per jar!
Most soup cans give nutritional values in 1 cup servings, so if you used that convention for comparison, this soup would have 50mg sodium per 8oz serving!!
It's only broth! But what delicious broth it is!
Broth, or stock, is a basic ingredient that forms the base for most soups, and is used in many other recipes as well. A good broth is not difficult to make, and the time spent is well worth the effort! It's easy to make large batches, and there are several way to preserve it to have on hand to use whenever your recipe calls for it!
Most commercially available broths and stocks are full of sodium. In fact, they typically get most of their flavor from salt, and tend to be very clear and otherwise flavorless. Even the "lower sodium" versions still have more sodium than they should! Making your own broth with fresh meats and vegetables allows you to control the salt, flavors and strength to suit your tastes and needs.
Today, the Low Sodium Queen made 3 batches, all at once. She made a light chicken broth to use in vegetable soup, and saved the white meat from the breasts to make low sodium chicken salad for her lunches this week. She used the rest of the chicken to make a darker stock to store for use in recipes as needed. And she made a batch of beef stock that she's planning to use for vegetable beef soup. Here's how the day went:
She started with 2 whole chickens, and about 6 pounds of beef soup bones. If your local grocer doesn't have packaged soup bones in the meat case, ask the butcher. While not all grocers break down meat in-store, the Queen has found that most ethnic grocers sell beef bones right in the meat case.
If you want to keep the white meat separate from the rest of the chicken, use a cleaver or large knife to separate the breasts from the rest of the bird. You don't really have to be neat and exacting in your butchering, you just want to get them apart so they can be used separately.
For the light chicken stock, put the breasts into a large pot and cover with about 6 quarts of cold water. Add 2 onions, cubed, and about 2 cups each of celery and carrots, cubed to about an inch or so. Add about 1/4 cup each of dried rosemary and dried oregano, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. After about an hour, check the breast meat for doneness. Once it's cooked, remove the breasts, allow them to cool slightly, and remove the meat from the bones. Save the meat for another use and return the bones to the pot. Continue to simmer for 6-8 hours for flavors to fully develop.
To make a more flavorful chicken stock, and always for beef stock, the bones should be roasted for about an hour at 400 degrees to let their flavors develop. This is a pan of about 6 pounds of beef bones, plus another pan with the remains of the 2 whole chickens after the breasts were removed.
After roasting for about an hour or so, the 2 pans of bones are transferred to stockpots, and covered with water. Deglaze the pans and add the rich gravy to the broth. Add onions, celery, and seasoning as above, then bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook 6-8 hours, until flavors are fully developed.
Once the stock is fully cooked and flavored to your liking, pour the stock through a collander into a large bowl or refrigerator container. Allow the bone mixture to cool slightly, and pick away any large pieces of meat for soups, salads, etc. Discard the rest.
Strain the broth again through a chinois lined with cheescloth. Skim a much fat from the top of the broth as possible. Cool the broth, then refrigerate the remainder until all remaining fat congeals at the top of the container. Remove the congealed fat and you will have 100% fat free, sodium free broth! At refrigerator temperature, your protein-rich broth may congeal into consomme, but once it's reheated it will return to it's liquid state.
Broth may be refrigerated for 3-4 days, or frozen for about 6 months. You can also can your broth in jars so it is shelf stable following the instructions for steam-pressure canning.
Is anyone else old enough to remember that Lipton commercial where the little girl keeps asking her mother: "is it soup yet?" No? Well, Queen Ginger is! The Queen Mum wasn't big on Lipton soup packets- she gave us Campbells, in a can. But that was only for quick lunches. This Queen can't eat any of that stuff now- packaged and canned soups are some of the saltiest foods on the market! Check the labels!
At least once a year in the fall, Momma G made a big pot of homemade Vegetable Beef soup, and froze the the leftovers for later. She wasn't big on Chicken Soup- as a matter of fact, I never remember her making it. Of course, in South Louisiana there was always gumbo. But that's a different blog!
ANYWAY, as this Low Salt Queen moves forward with this reduced sodium lifestyle, she is learning to use her weekends to make large batches of sodium-controlled foods to help her keep as many days healthy as possible. By starting with simple recipes that make large batches, anyone can reduce their overall sodium intake by preparing and packaging their own "make ahead" meals that are healthy, nutritious, and delicious! Notice the use of the phrase "sodium controlled"; even folks without heart disease would be well served to reduce their sodium intake below what a diet of packaged soups, frozen dinners, restaurant meals, and fast food can provide. By preparing foods at home, you are in complete control of the amount of salt and seasonings that go into each dish!
Got a big pot and a freezer? Then you have all the tools you need to make delicious, healthful soups at home? Just pick up some plastic freezer containers at the grocery and you're ready to go!
Tight on freezer space? With readily available home canning jars and their special lids and seals, it is possible to shelf-stable soup recipes at home. Because soups and stocks are low acid foods, safe canning requires the use of a pressure canner, but lets face it, we are stuck with the low-sodium lifestyle for the rest of our lives, so the investment may be reasonable if intend to stick with this!
Right now, there are 3 big pots of stock simmering on the Queens burners. Once the stock is ready, she'll show you how she created it, how she'll save it, and what she'll make with it!
Those of you who are reading this blog for advice on low-salt cooking may not know what we mean by "turnabout"!
A "turnabout" show is a show, typically a fund raiser, hosted by a club or organization, and features the staff or members , who are not typically performers, onstage dressed in the opposite gender. So now you know!
But today, the Low Salt Queen discovered a situation in which "turnabout" is not appropriate!
This is all getting really confusing, so let's backtrack a bit!
In her quest for low sodium options for her favorite foods, the Low Sodium Queen has discovered a few of alarming voids in the commercial offerings!
First of all, one of her favorite grocery products on Earth, Ro-tel Tomatoes, does not come in a No Salt Added variety. Sacre bleu! How will we add that spicy acidic goodness to our low-salt recipes?
Additionally, after extensive research, there does not seem to be a commercially available low salt pickle, at least not in Houston, Texas! If anyone knows of a source, please leave a comment and let me know!!
Finally, even though Whole Paycheck offers a selection of law salt or no salt tortilla chips, there does not seem to be a source for NSA salsa, for The Queens beloved chips and salsa. So, here are 3 common items that are a Godsend to people on low fat diets, as they are all essentially fat free foods. Still, the commercial varieties are LOADED with sodium and are therefore off limits to coronary patients who are struggling to lower their blood pressure! Quelle dommage!
This led The Queen into an extensive research and shopping frenzy, to determine if it was even feasible to create these products for herself.
As it turns out, the tomato products are simple to create at home. Tomatoes, fruits, and other highly acidic foods may be safely and successfully canned in a boiling water bath, which heats the food to 212 degrees and kills any "critters" the acid won't keep in check. There are many recipes for salsa and tomatoes that may be canned in a water bath, which only requires a pot large enough to submerge the jars below 2" or simmering water. A large pot will do, and specialty "water bath canners" are available with a fancy jar rack for less than 50 bucks!
So, back to the whole "turnabout" angle. As it turns out, there is no such "turnabout" when it comes to pressure cooking equipment.
The LSQ already owns a pressure cooker, but, as it turns out, a pressure cooker cannot be used for canning. Because pressure cookers have no gauge to reveal the internal temperature, there is no way to ensure that canned foods are held at a high enough temp for a long enough time to render them sanitary.
However, a pressure canner can be safely used as a pressure cooker, since the accuracy of temperature, time, and pressure are not as critical to fresh cooked foods that are to be served immediately.
So, once the canner arrives, the LSQ will put it through rigorous testing to determine its quality, usefulness, and productivity. The quality and taste of the home made pickles will be the determining factor of whether a pressure canner is a worthwhile investment!
