from what i have read seaweed or kelp meal can not be substituted by anything. the whole purpose is to provide trace nutrients that could be lacking. some of these elements are not even needed by plants such as iodine yet are essential to animal health so it is indirect consumption first getting the nutrients into the plants then eating the plants. arsenic is another essential to animal life yet totally unneccesary to plants as well as we currently know. sea products tend to contain almost every mineral in trace amounts so fish meal or emulsion could possibly contain some or all of the things kelp or seaweed provides. Kelp meal is recomended at 1 cup per 100 square feet annualy in a book gardining for maximum nutrition so it is used in very minute qty. I can't help but wonder why bother with secondary igestion why not just consume minute qty of the meal directly in say stews soups gravies etc. Part of the logic no doubt is that the application to the soil also allows for any trace elements lacking in your local ecosystem and thus not present in localy produced organic debris. Importing components of the compost heap from distant sources may also have some advantagous effects such as using stable cleanings that have sawdust from nonlocal trees and feed comprised of products from several regions. so there is no substitute for seaweed or kelp meal to the best of my knowledge. I have yet to find a reasonable priced source. Anyone living near the coast could simply harvest rinse the salt and add the seaweed or kelp to the compost heap those of us inland must import to obtain it and prices seem to be way to high for what it is. Anyone knowing of low cost commodity co-op type suplies please post them.

I'm with you, Ann. I never liked cold milk & dry cereal when I was a kid. And I didn't like sweet things for breakfast either. Pancakes & waffles never appealed to me. My mom always made something savory for my breakfast on school days. I'm also not a fan of the "just get used to it" club. There's a danger that the sense of deprivation will be so strong that it will eventually undermine any efforts to improve the diet -- all motivation will be lost. I think it's really important, when someone is on a restricted diet of some kind, to find foods that the person really enjoys AND are within the limitations. I think the idea of finding other breakfast foods that your husband can enjoy is a good one. I'm speaking from experience because my husband is on a sodium-restricted diet. Believe me, I work my tail off coming up with tasty low salt versions of the salt laden foods he used to enjoy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stand such a limited diet. Making the switch from half & half to skim milk is probably too drastic. Perhaps just going down one notch to whole milk for a while might be helpful. As others have suggested, a slow & gradual change might be best. Then go down to 2%. That might be a far as you can take it. Once you get below 2% milk, you lose a lot of flavor & texture.

Yes, apple sauce or yogurt Applesauce Applesauce is an accessible and affordable substitute for oil in quick breads. If your recipe calls for a solid fat, like butter or vegetable shortening, use half as much applesauce. Replace liquid oil with three-fourths the amount of applesauce. Opt for an unsweetened, all-natural applesauce as a fat substitute. Applesauce works well in fairly dense, strongly flavored quick breads or muffins, as well as in chocolate baked goods. Yogurt Nonfat yogurt can replace vegetable shortening, butter, oil, or sour cream in quick bread recipes. Yogurt adds moistness and an appealing tang to the finished bread. If you're replacing sour cream, use yogurt to replace all of the sour cream. Try replacing half of the butter with half as much yogurt or half of the oil with three-quarters as much yogurt for low-fat banana, cranberry or zucchini bread that doesn't sacrifice flavor or texture.

I have mixed feelings about picking stone counters quarried from the earth. I am terribly aware of the scar left. OTOH, having just ripped out the laminate that was only 12 years old, I think it's a crying shame that it only managed to look decent for about two years (small countertop area that got hard use due to lots of cooking!). What a waste. I hope that my kitchen will have staying power (form *and* function) for a long time to justify having used natural stone. I am prioritizing the stone counters as a design decision. Other than the hardwood which was already adjacent and got extended into the kitchen, and the stainless appliances already purchased, my stone counters come first as a design element. Unless they are installed I will not pick anything else - not cabinet fronts, or wall colour, or curtains, or anything. I hope that will be some insurance against having regrets. I probably would have picked quartz if I was making the decision on my own. Of course, every option does have environmental consequences.