A Few Low Sodium Dishes

We still do not have water....it is looking good though and hopefully by the weekend we'll all have our water to use once again to bathe, wash dishes and to cook with.  It has been quite an ordeal for many but I can't complain.  We've had plenty of water thanks to my cousin and aunt for buying it for us the night we got the call to not use the water and also from my uncle and mother for their water.  I have warmed water for baths and to wash dishes with, still been cooking and trying to eat healthy.  It has been work but when I think about how Mammaw had to do things back 50 years ago, I really am blessed!    Here are a few photos of how the kitchen has become cluttered with water, paper plates and plastic utensils to try and save on water use.

We had 25 jugs, you can see we've been using them, lol!   We have 17 left and the other 2 were brought today from Mom in the OJ and milk jugs.  

We've went through 2 cases and the two 7 gallon containers.

The pot on the stove is for warming water to bathe and to wash dishes with.  I keep water on the counter for washing hands or rinsing food ect.  Germ x is at every sink in the house along with a gallon jug of water for washing hands and brushing teeth.  We can still flush our commodes but that's it.

Paper plates and plastic utensils sure do help!  Mike has to have his coffee so he's got his own stash of that precious water we take for granted everyday.

My uncle let us borrow a shower solar bag which has really come in handy to rinse our hair with after washing.  I tried to show how it works...the man in the bottom is a stranger, lol...a photo I found online.   I think everyone should have one of these for emergencies without breaking the bank.  They sell online for around $30 to $40.

By me still cooking and us staying home taking baths here, we have been able to keep from spending excess money like so many other people have done.  This is a hardship alone, nothing else should be toppled on top of that like money problems.  It is such a shame...

Like I said it's a little more work and definitely not easy like running out and buying breakfast lunch and dinner, spending gas money on longer trips to get to an area that hasn't been affected just to take a shower when we can work a little harder to stay right here.  

So enough of that....here's what I've been making today.

Breakfast

For breakfast I made an omelet in the microwave.

2 eggs 140 mg sodium, you can use one

(I've learned that egg beaters are a lot higher in sodium than real eggs.)

1/2 of a piece of swiss cheese  15 mg

1 piece of whole grain gluten free toast 90 mg

1 tsp of cream cheese on the toast 8 mg

(Greek cream cheese is higher than lite cream cheese)

baby spinach 0

green and yellow pepper 0

cherry tomatoes cut into 4's  0

lots of "zesty seasoning" 0

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253 mg's of sodium

Something to think about....the "no salt" has a lot of potassium in it which I've learned is hard for your body to get rid of and can be just as bad for you as salt.  So use it sparingly.

Dinner

Stuffed green peppers

1 large green pepper 0

1/2 tsp of cream cheese 15 mg sodium

diced fresh Mozzarella sprinkled on top 1 oz is 30 mg.  I used half and put on all 4 peppers. So 4 divided equals to 3.75 mg

I used left over spaghetti sauce from my baked lasagna. You can get the recipe HERE.  It equals 140 mg for each pepper.

1 c of white rice 0

Lots of zesty seasoning 0

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159 mg's of sodium

we cut ours in two since they were so big and will have the other half for dinner tomorrow.

They were so good!

Now, everyone wants a little something sweet to eat after a meal right?  Well, we cannot find anything that is low at the store already made that is low enough that we can actually enjoy.  If we only want a nibble, well then maybe...lol!  But I actually want something I can see that isn't a speck!

So I made these tonight.

Peanut Butter and Oats No Bakes with a New Twist

Make sure you use real oats, not the prepackaged instant ones.  They have sodium!  Not the real oats that you have to make on the stove....they have 0 sodium!

Oats (I didn't measure) 0

1 c of low sodium peanut butter 640 mg sodium

1 c sugar 0

1 c of Lite corn syrup 120 mg

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760 divided by 15= 50.66 mg

They are 3 inches....a nice big no bake cluster!!!

This recipe is the same as for Kornflake chews minus the kornflakes since they have lots of sodium.

Here is the difference in normal peanut butter and low sodium peanut butter.

 They're both almost the same except for the sodium which I think is pretty significant!  The taste is the same basically...I kinda think the Jiff low sodium is way better though.

I made macaroni with my own home made sauce yesterday instead of the prepackaged cheese for the hubby and I.  Sara doesn't like it but Hannah loves cheese so I added a little of the prepackaged cheese to her own bowl.  I got a little on my finger so I licked it off....I couldn't believe how salty it was...YUCK!  She said she didn't even like it.  And to think we used to eat that and then add more salt!  I have learned that the Armour for my thyroid has iodine in it so I am thinking that my body was on overload with how we ate before.  I am feeling better and better each day but not back to my normal self.  My blood pressure is doing much better and am taking 25 mg of metoprolol.  I am hoping that with the right diet, I will not have to stay on the blood pressure medicine.  It's worth a shot!

Well, I hope I haven't bored you all to tears with my life but I've had quite a few people wanting to know some food options for lowering their sodium.  Maybe this will help a little....thanks for stopping in!