The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal
Creating healthier food choices
Easter is almost upon us, so you’re likely looking for some no-salt, no-sugar, no-fat recipes to put on your holiday table. We’ve written about Easter dinner before, simply click here to see that lineup. And here’s another dish we just came across, asparagus with balsamic tomatoes, courtesy of Cooking Light and Myrecipes.com
The ingredient list is fairly basic, leave out the salt though (as usual): Continue reading “A no-salt Easter side dish — asparagus with balsamic tomoatoes”
The Big Game is almost upon us, that day when everyone else is eating fried, greasy, salty, fatty snacks. But if you’re on a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet as I am, my first suggestion would be you host the party so you can control the menu.
If that’s not possible, bring your own food along. Pack up everything from salt-free potato chips to a main dish like swordfish steak.
I’ve written extensively on low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar items you can create for the game, here’s a quick rundown: Continue reading “Low-salt, Low-fat recipes for Super Bowl”
The rush of articles and blog posts about how to eat healthy around the year-end holidays already has begun, I’m getting tons of advice in various feeds I follow. But most of it is not worth the time to read, really. Tips like eat smaller portions make me want to stuff the writer’s face into a bowl of high-salt salsa.
That goofy tip is in this article I found in the Harlan Daily Enterprise, which I discovered is in Kentucky. But there are some others you might find useful, such as:
• Gradually reduce the amount of salt used in cooking.
• Cut the amount of salt in recipes by half.
• Rinse canned vegetables before using or choose low-salt versions.
• Replace solid fats such as butter, lard, stick margarine, and shortening with oils when you are cooking.
• Replace half of the fat or oil in recipes with unsweetened applesauce.
• Use cooking spray in place of oil when cooking.
Continue reading “Holiday eating tips — the rush has begun, read them caerfully”
Fish of all types has become a bigger part of my eating routine since my 2012 angioplasty, so I’m always open to new varieties. Arctic char is a fresh water fish that started making its way here in the 1990s from northern climes in Europe and Iceland.
It’s a bit of a cross between trout and salmon, with less fat than salmon, although it has a resemblance in terms of its somewhat pink color. It reminds me a bit of the steelhead trout I’ve blogged about here in the past. Continue reading “An arctic char recipe for Christmas time, or any time”
I had written a post for Pi Day this year about a non-traditional type of pie, a pizza made with watermelon as the base and covered with berries and other fruits. It looked good enough in a picture a friend posted on Facebook, that I decided to give it a try when we were having guests for dinner recently.
I started with personal-sized watermelons, because they happened to be on sale at my local supermarket. A round cross-slice of one also fit nicely on the dessert plates we have, so it worked out nicely. It I had bought a regular watermelon, I would have needed dinner plates and that large a piece of watermelon might have seemed over-whelming to some after a big dinner.
I also let sales guide my decision on what to top my watermelon with. Strawberries happened to be on sale that week as well, at a different store, as were raspberries and blueberries. It’s rare to find all these on sale at the same time, at least in our area, but I could have easily used other fruits. I thought about pieces of apple but decided they might be too hard compared with the other fruits, so passed them up. I could have sliced bananas to get something white on there to approximate cheese. The original had used shaved white chocolate. Continue reading “Watermelon and berries pizza, a fun dessert”
The Big Game is coming this Sunday but if you’re on a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet, most traditional game-day munchies are out for you. I’ve written before about looking for low-salt potato chips and salt-free taco chips, but even with those you still have to worry about fat content.
But recently I came across these mini puff pastry cups. Two shells have only half a gram of fat and 15 mgs of salt, so you can actually eat a bunch and not consume all that much fat and salt. Fill them with salt-free treats like cut-up tomatoes or pieces of shrimp. Or make something hot (watch for a recipe for my low-salt salsa, tomato, mushroom filling later this week).
The ones I bought at a Safeway are already cooked and sold frozen. Thaw them to eat. If you fill with anything wet, like salsa, eat them the same day or they get a bit soggy in the frig over night.
John
New Year’s Eve during my childhood meant a big family party at my grandmother’s house. Those events stayed with me in such a profound way that I eventually wrote and produced a play about them called New Year’s Eve at Grandma’s House. Food was a major part of those parties but many if not all of those treats are off my eating list since having a angioplasty done in 2012.
If you’re in a similar boat, take some heart, there are low- and no-salt treats you can still munch on this New Year’s Eve. You’ll still have to watch the fat in many of them, but it’s better than sitting home alone waiting for the clock to strike 12 by yourself.
My suggestion would be to host your own party so you can pick the menu and control what’s available. If you go out instead, check ahead. My wife and I plan to have dinner and go dancing at a place with a menu of fish and lean beef, perfect for me to ring in a New Year.
Happy New Year everyone!
John
My 12 days of Christmas low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar recipes have been heavy on Italian accented dishes so far, you can see my heritage at work in those. So here’s a change of pace today, a simple rosemary chicken dish that can be served with a side of green beans or even a peppers and onion mixture to add some additional flavors.
The original recipe comes from the Food Network, but I’ve left out the salt to reduce the sodium content. I made this as a summer outdoor recipe this past year, but you can just as easily make it in the oven inside, or grill the skewers on your stove should you have a grill top there.
Enjoy as we start the second week of the holiday season and our holiday low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar recipes.
John
Easter dinner traditionally means one of two main courses — either ham or lamb. But neither is an acceptable choice if you’re on a low-salt, or a low-fat, or a low-salt, low-fat diet as I am. That can make being a guest at someone else’s Easter feast a problem for you.
So do what I did this year. Invite family and/or friends to your house where you control the menu. Then assemble a low-salt, low-fat meal that everyone will enjoy, even if some guests are missing the ham (they can buy some at their houses).
My days of eating ham or steak or a big rib roast on holidays are over, thanks to the angioplasty I had Aug. 13, 2012. So how can I continue to celebrate important days with food I enjoy? Have you been asking yourself that question too?
The answer for me is to go back to my roots. Italian-Americans at one point traditionally had a meal of seven kinds of fish on Christmas Eve. The tradition goes back to the old country and a time when Catholics could not eat meat on the night before Christmas. It also was a way for poor fishermen to feast with banquets that would have made the rich feel right at home.
Most seafood is allowed on my no-salt, no-sugar, no-fat diet. Cold water varieties like salmon are even encouraged because of the omega-3 fatty acids they contain, although I’ve already seen one study saying those aren’t the superfood some had thought they were.
When my grandmother did the seven fishes, she included clams, eel, an Italian salted cod called baccala, squid, snails and I’m not sure what else, likely crabs and flounder.
I’m going with fish I prefer to some of those and which are available to me here in the Midwest — salmon, tilapia, crab, shrimp, mahi mahi, lobster, and a second salmon variety, coho salmon. I’m also making some squid for me, that’s a delicacy my wife doesn’t eat.
I’m using Mrs. Dash no-salt marinades to flavor some, tomatoes and lemons to flavor others. For side dishes, I’m making a pepper trio salad, portobello mushroom caps, broccoli and some small red potatoes.
When we sit down to that meal, we will have much to be thankful for, including all the new recipes I’ve created since completely changing my diet. I wish you similar success, keep reading and I’ll do my best to keep posting new recipes. Send me yours as well.
Buon Natale!
John
Intimate theater showcasing emerging talent
An honest look at living with bulimia.
This is how I spend my quality free time...
Feeding a hungry family!
Big living from a small space
Balance your body and your life with the alkaline lifestyle.
Italian Home Kitchen Blog
By: Raquel Moreira
Food, foraging, recipes... simple, cheap & stylish... ideal for hipsters or hobos
Creating healthier food choices
Expert dietary advice from a registered dietitian and nutritionist
Food for folks who have yet to figure it all out
Just another WordPress.com site
Sharing My Kitchen
"Home is where the Hearth is"
The greatest WordPress.com site in all the land!
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 