how soon will you go OUT to eat?
bragu_DSM 5
3 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (41)
Lars
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Next round of Junk Train '09 addresss going out soon!
Comments (1)I'm sending them tomorrow. A couple will be going to Tennessee & Texas and one each to Ohio, New York & Pennsylvania. Sylvia...See MoreGoing out to eat while on Low Sodium diet...
Comments (85)Shaun, We try to keep our sodium between 1000 to 1500 mg/day, so I know where you're coming from! It's tough at first, but we found that after about 4-6 weeks your taste buds start to change and the lower salt food starts tasting much better. So if you've just been doing this for a month or so, there's light at the end of the tunnel. You asked about eating out: that's tough but not impossible, even if your budget doesn't run to higher end restaurants that will essentially cook anything you ask for, from scratch. We've had some luck with Macaroni Grill (but you have to be kind of emphatic with your server about your request.) They may sort of think you're just being picky, not that you have a serious medical need. In our case it is literally a matter of life or very serious consequences. My DH is the one with the restriction, but I follow it, too, for solidarity and simplicity. He usually makes the request, then I follow up with clear statement to the server about how important it is that nothing be pre-seasoned. Or if it has been already (vegetables are a big prob here as they are parcooked in salty water during prep) I ask that the food be rinsed very well in running water then briefly reheated. You also can usually expect that you're getting a bit of left-over seasoning from previous food cooked on the same hot top or grill. We just make allowances for that. We never eat restaurant bread as as it is very high in salt - often higher than other commercial breads. This is because most "restaurant-made" breads are actually from commercial mixes where salt has a role in ingredient shelf life and simplified gluten-handling at the restaurant. If we don't know about the bread, we just ask that it not come to the table. Baked potatoes, though naturally low in salt can be high if they are salt-baked, so ask about that. Pizza and pasta sauces ar pretty much out, too. (Except for homemade, of course.) And almost all sauced dishes are too complex to parse and usually loaded with fats, as well. We save those kind of dishes for at-home cooking where we can control the sodium. For instance, I make Pad Thai at home, but would never risk it in a restaurant. However, grilled chicken breast, or steak, or broiled fish are good bets. Plain salads (sans dressing and croutons) are usually do-able. Vegs. that are not parcooked are OK, too. We don't restaurant desserts for other reasons, so that's not an issue for us. If it was, i think we'd ask for it in a take-away container and eat it at home in smaller quantities. For chain restaurants when traveling, we've had excellent success at Ruby Tuesday's. They are invariably pretty accomodating about our needs and their salad bar is vast and allows one to chose. We also make a point of speaking to the manager after the meal to praise their flexibility; it's apparently a corporate policy to meet low-sodium requests with equanimity. And as a rule that works. Are you aware of the several excellent very low sodium cookbooks? I can post some names of ones I've found useful, if you need them. I'm sure you realize by now that what "normal" people consider low sodium is way over the top when you're on a medically necessary low sodium diet. I am on a nagging campaign to get the big cooking mags to lower their recipes' sodium content. Fine Cooking at least posts the sodium content in the back of their mag. Cook's Illustrated still has their head in the sand and some of the recipes are absurd (even for people with no sodium restrictions.) Are you listening, Cook's Illustrated? Get with the program! I noticed that there was mention of Morton's Lite Salt. Be sure your doc OK's that for you. People on medical salt restrictions often can't use that safely because of the higher potassium levels. Sorry! For household salt, I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. It's 290 mg for each quarter teaspoon. About half of what ordinary table or Morton's Kosher is. It's not that it's less salty -salt is salt - it's just that texture makes it fluffier, so less sodium when measured by volume. And the larger volume makes it easier to measure and control. I also use a tiny scooch of Maldon Sea Salt, as a finisher just before serving on some things. Again its crystalline structure makes it different, and I think adds a useful "hit" of saltiness, even at tiny quantities. After endlessly fiddling around with my regular set of measuring spoons trying measure teeny quantities accurately, I found a set of tiny scoops (with silly cute-sy names) that I have calibrated so I can add 25-50 mg of salt accurately. And accuracy is important when you're banging up against a firm limit that isn't just your taste buds. (And as an aside if I know we're planning to eat out in the evening, or while traveling I double down on the salt restriction earlier in the day to make sure we have room for a bit of a splurge later-or restaurant food that isn't what it seems.) Early on I was pretty intensely focused, but after a couple of years, I've relaxed a bit and some very salty things are regularly served here, just in very small quantities and/or well-balanced with other things. Our diet rules are also much more complex than simple salt restriction because of other medical/diet issues, so I have had to learn where to be flexible and where to find ways to make food inviting and tasty. After all you'll starve to death faster than hypertension will kill you if you got so bummed out about your food that you stopped eating it with relish. I was too scared to try this at first and probably too rigid about the rules and not in a good way, according to my DH! As for specific (tasty) prepared products with lower-than-expected salt levels: I can share some that I've found, but maybe we should start a new thread so others trying to find the info can access it easily. I spent so much time in my supermarket peering at label after label that I eventually attracted the manager who thought I was doing something nefarious. And I've found that even on familar products that you're used to using you need to re-check the label when you buy new containrs as the companies often reformulate the products and upping the salt level is a favorite trick. If you find that be sure to call and give 'em a piece of your mind about it! We do use some prepared/convenience foods, but we choose them very carefully and often divide an entree into two portions and add it to a big salad and home-cooked veg. to fill out the meal. Some days you just need the convenience factor. Some, but by no means all, of the Annie's brand of lower sodium products pass muster. A few prepared foods have separate sauces that you can add after cooking in the MW. If they've got the sodium levels broken out by with and without sauce, then you will likely find that adding half or less of the sauce brings you in at a "low-enough" level for use. There's one brand of exceptionally tasty canned tuna with only 25 mg of sodium/serving. (Without exception so far all of the no-salt-added tuna we've tried was ghastly.) The problem with our fave brand of tuna is that it's pricier, but then since we cook mostly from scratch I figure it evens out as scratch cooking is sooo much cheaper. Eden makes no-salt added canned beans in many varieties, which are quite good in a pinch (not as good as home-cooked, though.) Muir Glen has an ever-growing line of canned tomato products with no added salt that are great (love, love love the fire-roasted no-salt-added stuff!) Both Pacific and Imagine aseptic-packed soups have low(er) sodium versions that are quite good (still 300 mg/400mg per 1 cup, though). I keep some on hand, always. Try all your available broth and stock options to find one that you like. The quality of the low-salt versions varies, as does how low is low. Try ethnic chinese and oriental markets for the lowest-sodium soy and nouc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce) versions. They are always labeled in comprehensible ways, even if just in chinese or japanese. Don't get too discouraged by the "you can't make bread without salt" common knowledge. Yes, you can, but it usually takes some fiddling around with each recipe to hit the sweet spot. Sometimes a lot of fiddling, and wasted ingredients. I also find that low-salt cheese is not great, so we reserve some of our salt "allowance" for regular, even high salt cheese when it's called for. As an example I often grate Piave Vechio (a very high salt 560 mg/oz, extremely high flavor) cheese over a plain jane salad or soup or pasta. I use a microplane grater and find that a very small quantity makes a huge cheesy taste, often adding only 50-100 mg to the overall dish, but to great effect. Cottage cheese is problematic: the no salt added stuff is too bland, but the regular stuff too high. I solve that by buying both and mixing by volume. Half no-salt and half regular comes in right on the money. (BTW, Nancy's brand makes a fantastic cultured - very tangy - type of cottage cheese. That also can be added to the commoner no-salt stuff to jazz it up.) You also need to watch simple stuff like ordinary frozen without sauce vegetables. Some have silly amounts of sodium added. For instance one big brand (Birdseye???) has has peas with both 90 mg/serving and 0 mg/serving. The 0 mg version is just fine - not sure why you need the extra salt anyway. Finally, I found that it was always useful to keep a supply of tasty, reliable easy to fix things on hand so that a recipe adjustment that flops, or a long day with no thought to dinner isn't a catastrophe. That's my version of convenience foods. L...See MoreGoing to court soon - how to cope?
Comments (24)"So BM texted DH during the afternoon to say that she wanted to stick with the old arrangement. DH responded that he was going strictly by the court order." lol, when my DH and his ex had concluded their custody trial, we were still in the parking lot of the courthouse, not half an hour after the Judge made his ruling about when BM's weekend would begin... and BM called us & asked to change it. It never ceases to amaze me when people stand in court, ask for an order, and as soon as they get an order, decide they don't like it, it's not the order they wanted or thought they'd get or it's just not convenient for them so they want to do it their way. Good for your DH that he sticks to the order. Sometimes when you budge an inch, they shove you a mile. Good luck & hope your SS has a good weekend. BTW, I used to do the meeting halfway. It works if both parties are cooperative & considerate. It was a pain for me because he would show up late or not at all... not call & I'm sitting there in a parking lot wondering if he's going to show... and if you have a problem, then the law enforcement agency that gets called is one that isn't in either jurisdiction. With SD, I prefer each of us driving all the way but it hasn't kept BM from taking SD over to her BF's parents house & making us wait in her driveway for half an hour or longer while she gets her ready or gets her back home so we can pick her up. I think it's very ballsy to walk into anyone's home uninvited... and maybe they were trying to provoke or intimidate you... especially if they knew your DH wasn't home. Best thing is to not react & next time, don't open the door until SS is ready to walk out. Look out the window & if they are at the door, pleasantly tell them through the locked door or maybe a nearby open window.. "SS will be right out!" Or maybe have him ready & playing in the front yard so there is no need to go in the house. That is very rude & IMO, a violation of your privacy. But, making an issue of it may be what she wants, so just let it go and try to avoid it happening again....See MoreIs decorating with words and quotations going out of style soon?
Comments (71)Auntjen, I have a Victorian (I think?) set of prints and one of them says "Bless this home" even though I don't like the idea of God singling anyone or anything out to bless. I love that type of needlework sampler you posted! Not an instructional sign, but I have this up in my kitchen from my funny great Aunt Alice. My 6 y.o. must have just noticed it the other day because she read it, and then asked, "Mom, are you a half-fast cook?" I told her I was!...See Moreplllog
3 years agomumkin
3 years agoIslay Corbel
3 years agoOlychick
3 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
3 years agoarkansas girl
3 years agoeileenc
3 years agocooper8828
3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agonancyofnc
3 years agoLoneJack Zn 6a, KC
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoannie1992
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoLars
3 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
3 years agochloebud
3 years agoparty_music50
3 years ago2ManyDiversions
3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
3 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
3 years agocaflowerluver
3 years agozinnia
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago2ManyDiversions
3 years agoNana H
3 years agoplllog
3 years agodesertsteph
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agopetalique
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoritaweeda
3 years agojerzeegirl (FL zone 9B)
3 years agoWalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a
3 years agoGooster
3 years agoJohn Liu
3 years agocarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
3 years agoplllog
3 years agoCompumom11
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agobragu_DSM 5
3 years agoFeathers11
3 years agoartemis_ma
3 years agoplllog
3 years ago
Related Stories
HOME TECHHang Out With Friends All Day, Anywhere You Go
Connect with compadres or colleagues using always-on ambient video — consider it a free magic window for the home, the office or on the go
Full StoryLIFEGo Ahead, Eat in Front of the TV
But at least do it stylishly. A favorite guilty pleasure turns sophisticated with seats, tables and screens designed for a mealtime show
Full StoryHOLIDAYSHouzz Call: When Do Your Holiday Decorations Go Up?
Is it ever too soon to start spreading the holiday cheer?
Full StoryDECLUTTERINGCan’t Figure Out What ‘Sparks Joy’? Try This Question Instead
If you can’t decide whether to keep something or let it go, shift your perspective to find the answer
Full StoryREMODELING GUIDES5 (Unofficial) Side Effects of Going Through a Remodel
A remodel can affect your mental and physical health. Here are a few common symptoms to watch out for
Full StoryKITCHEN ISLANDSLet’s Go Island Hopping Again
Check out these 92 kitchens with binge-worthy islands in a variety of shapes, materials and styles
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESEntertaining: Hosts Pull Out the Stops for Kentucky Derby Parties
Walk through the lavishly appointed Malvern House as designer Lee W. Robinson shares tips for gatherings that go the distance
Full StoryTILETile From Around the Globe Adds Out-of-This-World Panache
Go ahead, let color and pattern run wild in your tile. Your walls, floors and countertops will say "thank you" in a whole new language
Full StoryLIFEThis Weekend: Rake Leaves, Go Owling and Get Ready for Halloween
It’s time to pull out the warm throws, tidy those kitchen counters and get the witch’s brew simmering
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNHow Low Can Hedges Go? Discover Unusual Garden Borders
Short enough to step over, high enough to be a stretch ... check out these radically different hedge styles and tell us your opinion
Full Story
lindac92