A low-salt, low-sugar, low-fat recipe for the 1st day of Christmas

Only three days until Christmas and you’re likely beside yourself with things to do, people to see, tasks to take care of before the big day. Plus, you’re likely cooking for guests, kids home from school, neighbors you went shopping with, the list goes on.

So what to make while staying on your low-fat, low-salt, low-sugar diet? Continue reading “A low-salt, low-sugar, low-fat recipe for the 1st day of Christmas” →

December 22, 2014 0

Meet Tootie & Dotes: Grow Where You Are Planted, a guest post

Blogger’s Note: My son Matt is an environmental designer and has become a major advocate of the local food movement. Here, he’s introducing us to a new site he’s involved with and obviously believes in. Enjoy.
John

Interested in taking control of your health in the New Year? Curious about urban farming, permaculture and the Good Food Movement? Want to learn more about growing your own food and tips for preserving and preparing it? If you answered yes to any of the following, then check out Tootie & Dotes, a blog-based website that highlights healthy eating, craft goods and the people behind the products.

Named after our co-founders grandmothers, two women who gardened and farmed, raised animals and children, and didn’t take shit from anyone, Tootie & Dotes covers three broad topics – GROW, EAT, FARM. Continue reading “Meet Tootie & Dotes: Grow Where You Are Planted, a guest post” →

December 20, 2014 0

Students will continue getting high salt diets

Congress decided this weekend it’s ok to keep American school-children addicted to high-salt foods. Lobbying by the food industry and school boards succeeded in getting a provision put in a final federal budget bill that will prevent the government from requiring less salt in school lunch menu items.

Congress wants to keep American School children addicted to salt. Shame, shame shame on them. — Congress wants to keep American School children addicted to salt. Shame, shame, shame on them.

This is obviously a major loss for America’s health. As someone who suffered from the ill-effects of too much salt in my diet for years and now struggles to find any prepared foods with low levels of salt, I am deeply saddened, although really not surprised, by this decision. Continue reading “Students will continue getting high salt diets” →

December 15, 2014 0

What happened to my elk burger, Happy Gnome?

I enjoyed an elk burger blend last year on a visit to the Twin Cities in Minnesota so was looking forward to returning to the Happy Gnome there for another this year.

But when I ordered the bison/elk blend burger this year without the accompanying cheese and bacon, I was told the bacon was in the burger itself and so could not be excluded.

My Happy Gnome seafood plate, once I removed the mountain of bread that came with it, white bread I can no longer eat.

I would not have gotten it last year if that was the case, so was quite perplexed. Either the recipe has been changed or the server who took my order last year did not know the bacon was in the meat and so thought as I did that it could simply be excluded. The link I had in my last post to the menu no longer works, I found, so it’s possible the menu was changed. Continue reading “What happened to my elk burger, Happy Gnome?” →

December 12, 2014 0

Farm-to-table restaurants don’t often equal low-salt, low-fat options

Farm-to-table restaurants, or local food restaurants, are gaining popularity across the country these days, especially among millennials looking for alternatives to the highly processed foods they grew up with.

My walleye at Heartland made without salt in the crust, hopefully.

My son, who lives in St. Paul, Minn., is a big believer in the local food movement and so while visiting him recently, we tried a place called Heartland that fits into this new school of fresh, local specialties.

But looking over its menu, I was reminded of our visit to Boltwood in our hometown of Evanston, Ill., another local food restaurant — while this movement promotes local and regional specialties, it isn’t doing any more to cut salt from menu items than are more traditional restaurants. Continue reading “Farm-to-table restaurants don’t often equal low-salt, low-fat options” →

December 10, 2014 0

Finding low-sodium, low-fat food at Mall of America

Mall of America outside Minneapolis is truly the mother-ship of all enclosed shopping malls in the United States. Large enough to have an amusement park inside it, it dwarfs any similar structures.

Crave...most of the orders coming up were burgers. — The open kitchen at Crave…most of the orders coming up were burgers.

But finding low-sodium, low-fat lunch foods there is a daunting task, much as was finding healthy foods at Orlando’s Universal or Disney World.

We bypassed the usual fast food options and high-salt locations like Bubba Gump Shrimp to try a restaurant that billed itself as “fresh, vibrant American.”

Crave talks the talk about fresh but getting what I wanted required some rearranging of menu items, and an extra charge. I had hoped to get a salmon salad much like one I recently made at home. Continue reading “Finding low-sodium, low-fat food at Mall of America” →

December 8, 2014 0

Turning leftovers into a treat — a wonderful salmon salad

Leading up to and including Thanksgiving, we had house guests for 10 days straight, which meant a lot of cooking, and a lot of leftovers.

Oddly enough, they left Sunday and then my wife left on a business trip Monday, so I’ve had the house, and the leftovers, to myself all week. I’ve eaten a lot of turkey, as you might guess. But we also had made salmon for some pre-Thanksgiving dinners, and there was a large amount of salad already made as well.

So Monday night, I combined the salad with the left-over salmon for a great salmon salad dinner. I heated the salmon with some added Mrs. Dash salt-free teriyaki sauce for added flavor. Then I topped the salad with it and added olive oil and balsamic vinegar for a great dinner treat.

Don’t give up on your leftovers, find creative combos to get the most out of your cooking efforts.
John

December 5, 2014 4

Low-fat mashed potatoes — here’s how

One traditional Thanksgiving dish I’ve largely given up since my angioplasty is mashed potatoes. The milk and butter in them carry too much fat for my low-fat diet.

This year, though, my wife challenged me to make mashed potatoes that were low-fat. And I did with results that pleased her but left me with mixed feelings about their taste.

My low-fat mashed potatoes after whipping them with a hand mixer. Start by skinning and cutting potatoes into chucks to boil. When soft put them ina bowl and add fat-free milk and Smart Balance to reach the desired creaminess. — My low-fat mashed potatoes after whipping them with a hand mixer. Start by skinning and cutting potatoes into chucks to boil. When soft, put them in a bowl and add fat-free milk and Smart Balance to reach the desired creaminess.

I started by using fat-free milk instead of regular or even 1%. Note that a cup of fat-free milk has 135 mgs of sodium for some reason that escapes me, so even there you have salt to deal with. I doubt I used a cup on five pounds of potatoes though. I don’t measure it in, just keep adding to get to the creaminess I want for the potatoes.

Instead of butter, I used Smart Balance which one nutritionist recommended to me. I actually used a variety called Smart Balance Light which has less sodium, only 80 mgs a tablespoon and 5 grams of fat. I used about four tablespoons, so there was still 20 grams of fat in the five pounds of potatoes. Continue reading “Low-fat mashed potatoes — here’s how” →

December 3, 2014 7

Month: December 2014