So as anyone who's read this blog knows, I'm currently following a greatly reduced salt diet due to (probable) Meniere's disease. My sweet spot for salt intake seems to be somewhere in the 1200-1500mg range. This is fairly low. It's not unusual for someone eating the standard American diet to be well over 3000mg.
With that background, I give you a phenomenal interview on salt from Scientific American. Mr. Moyer is actually a old friend of my husband and I've been an admirer of Ms. Nestle's work for years. They're both fabulous. Go read it! I have a ton of thoughts.
1. It's the food supply, stupid. Notice how much Ms. Nestle refers to the salt that's added to processed & restaurant foods? That's important. In order to really reduce your salt intake to low levels you either must prepare your own food from scratch or be exceptionally careful of food prepared for you by others.
2. She makes excellent points about how challenging it is for processed food producers and restaurant chefs to reduce the amount of sodium they use in food. Once our taste buds are accustomed to all that excess salt, we have a very hard time adjusting downwards. For me, it really took a health crisis to do it; and it has not been easy. Without some kind of commitment on the part of food suppliers to reduce salt, we go into an upward spiral. Since food with just a little more salt tastes more appealing and there is no commercial downside to adding more salt, food processors add just a little more and just a little more and just a little more. And our palates slowly adjust to expect more and more salt. It's not clear to me that there is ANY biological top limit whatsoever to this palate creep.
3. When it comes to so-called "nanny state" regulations, I think sodium in restaurant food is a different beast from regulations on other dietary factors. As Ms. Nestle points out, a diner can always add more salt at the table. However, a diner can not remove salt once it's been added. Sodium is added to most restaurant foods way up the supply chain, you can't just ask the chef to leave the salt off and expect to enjoy a low sodium dinner. Reduce the sodium in the supply chain and put the power in the hands of the chef, which gives restaurant diners more options.
4. I wish I was part of the population who's blood pressure doesn't adjust in response to changes in sodium intake. I started out with blood pressure on the low side of normal, now I have real issues with postural hypotension. I don't think I could sustain the kind of super low sodium diet needed for people with renal insufficiency like Sodium Girl. The dizzies aren't much fun when you're chasing after a 3 year old. Better than a vertigo attack, by a long shot, but still.
For me personally, this all goes back to the fundamentals. I buy real, unprocessed food and cook it for my family. If I do that most of the time, it really doesn't take much effort to eat a lower sodium diet. But once I choose to join my friends at a nice restaurant for dinner, I step into a minefield. One that I don't always negotiate all that well.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Cowboy Rumaki
Ever heard of rumaki? It was an appetizer back when I was a kid, chicken livers marinated in god-knows-what, wrapped in bacon and deep fried. Doesn't that sound just delicious?
Well, this recipe actually is more delicious than it sounds. Frankly, I've been playing around with beef liver because I know it's nutritious, and it seemed to me that there had to be a more creative approach than the same ol' liver & onions. Then, over the 4th of July weekend, we were grilling bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, it occurred to me. An unholy alliance of liver, jalapenos & bacon. And I'm pleased to report that it's pretty darn good. The beef liver brings a heartiness that's missing from the cream cheese filling, but the jalapenos & bacon are strong flavors that stand up for themselves. Liver ain't pushing them around.
There are copious ingredient notes (and some credits) after the recipe.
Cowboy Rumaki
Jalapeno peppers
Grassfed beef liver
Bacon
Cut the tops off the jalapenos, cut them in half and scrape out the seeds and membrane. If you like things hot, you can leave in a bit more of the membrane, that's where a lot of the spice is. Rinse your liver thoroughly and pat dry. If you're running a very hot BBQ or will be cooking these in the oven, briefly sear the outside of the liver, about 1 minute each side in a cast iron saucepan. If you're going to be cooking the poppers over a slower heat then go ahead and leave the liver raw. Cut the liver into chunks about 1/2" x 1/2" x 2". Cut your bacon in half, so the strips are a manageable size. Put 1 piece of liver in each jalapeno, wrap with a 1/2 strip of bacon, and pin it together with a toothpick. If you're doing them on a grill, put them in an mesh pan intended for grilling vegetables and grill until the bacon is crispy. If you're using the oven, put them on a pan and throw them under the broiler (on low) until the bacon is crispy. Enjoy.
Notes:
If the whole procedure of coring the peppers and wrapping them with bacon is somehow confusing, please see these lovely illustrations from the Pioneer Woman.
GET GRASSFED LIVER! No, I'm not being a snob here. I tried working with normal supermarket liver once and it was DISGUSTING. Sliced super thin and it was slimy, slimy, slimy, like a slab of leech. Grassfed liver is firmer, less slimy and much tastier. It appeared to be actual MEAT rather than a meat by-product intended for pet food. It's also way cheaper than grassfed muscle meat, and you don't need a whole lot. One pound of grassfed liver costs me about $4 and will stuff about 32 jalapenos... that's 64 individual poppers!
As you can see in the picture, I tried a couple with cream cheese and liver. This was a failure (on texture), and didn't add to the flavor. Go ahead and skip the cream cheese. Or make some with just liver and some with just cream cheese. But don't cross the streams.
When I first got this idea, I googled "jalapeno liver" and found a very similar recipe from Kelly the Kitchen Kop. If you're trying to sneak some liver over on unsuspecting family members, you might want to give hers a try. Personally, I don't like the sneaky food approach... Cowboy Rumaki is liver, straight up, no apologies.
Bacon is a high sodium food. Oh yes it is. I continue to eat some bacon, but I restrict myself to small amounts of the lowest sodium nitrite free bacon I can find. 4 poppers have about 240mg of sodium. That's an amount that sometimes works for me, sometimes not, depending on what else I've eaten that day.
Well, this recipe actually is more delicious than it sounds. Frankly, I've been playing around with beef liver because I know it's nutritious, and it seemed to me that there had to be a more creative approach than the same ol' liver & onions. Then, over the 4th of July weekend, we were grilling bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, it occurred to me. An unholy alliance of liver, jalapenos & bacon. And I'm pleased to report that it's pretty darn good. The beef liver brings a heartiness that's missing from the cream cheese filling, but the jalapenos & bacon are strong flavors that stand up for themselves. Liver ain't pushing them around.
There are copious ingredient notes (and some credits) after the recipe.
Cowboy Rumaki
Jalapeno peppers
Grassfed beef liver
Bacon
Cut the tops off the jalapenos, cut them in half and scrape out the seeds and membrane. If you like things hot, you can leave in a bit more of the membrane, that's where a lot of the spice is. Rinse your liver thoroughly and pat dry. If you're running a very hot BBQ or will be cooking these in the oven, briefly sear the outside of the liver, about 1 minute each side in a cast iron saucepan. If you're going to be cooking the poppers over a slower heat then go ahead and leave the liver raw. Cut the liver into chunks about 1/2" x 1/2" x 2". Cut your bacon in half, so the strips are a manageable size. Put 1 piece of liver in each jalapeno, wrap with a 1/2 strip of bacon, and pin it together with a toothpick. If you're doing them on a grill, put them in an mesh pan intended for grilling vegetables and grill until the bacon is crispy. If you're using the oven, put them on a pan and throw them under the broiler (on low) until the bacon is crispy. Enjoy.
Notes:
If the whole procedure of coring the peppers and wrapping them with bacon is somehow confusing, please see these lovely illustrations from the Pioneer Woman.
GET GRASSFED LIVER! No, I'm not being a snob here. I tried working with normal supermarket liver once and it was DISGUSTING. Sliced super thin and it was slimy, slimy, slimy, like a slab of leech. Grassfed liver is firmer, less slimy and much tastier. It appeared to be actual MEAT rather than a meat by-product intended for pet food. It's also way cheaper than grassfed muscle meat, and you don't need a whole lot. One pound of grassfed liver costs me about $4 and will stuff about 32 jalapenos... that's 64 individual poppers!
As you can see in the picture, I tried a couple with cream cheese and liver. This was a failure (on texture), and didn't add to the flavor. Go ahead and skip the cream cheese. Or make some with just liver and some with just cream cheese. But don't cross the streams.
When I first got this idea, I googled "jalapeno liver" and found a very similar recipe from Kelly the Kitchen Kop. If you're trying to sneak some liver over on unsuspecting family members, you might want to give hers a try. Personally, I don't like the sneaky food approach... Cowboy Rumaki is liver, straight up, no apologies.
Bacon is a high sodium food. Oh yes it is. I continue to eat some bacon, but I restrict myself to small amounts of the lowest sodium nitrite free bacon I can find. 4 poppers have about 240mg of sodium. That's an amount that sometimes works for me, sometimes not, depending on what else I've eaten that day.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Leeks & Chicken
Isn't this a lovely leek? Leeks are one of those vegetables that's awesome to grow in a home garden. They're expensive in the grocery store and when you grow them at home, you realize why. They don't actually require a lot of work, they just require time and patience... things in short supply on commercial farms. I think we started these leeks back in January, and only now are we getting some ready to harvest. However, with a little care, they are BEAUTIFUL. Clean, white, fresh and sweet.
Today I did something really simple with our leeks, a luscious dinner that took only 5 main ingredients and a sprinkle of whatever herbs you happen to have on hand.
Slow cooker leeks & chicken
2 Leeks, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 Chicken cut into parts, skin removed
1/2 Cup chicken stock
8 oz Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Butter or your cooking fat of choice
Fill the bottom of your slow cooker with the sliced leeks and add a pinch of whatever dried herbs you happen to have handy (I used sage & dill). Don't use a whole lot of herbs, you don't want to overwhelm the dish. Put the chicken parts over the top of the leeks and pour in the chicken stock. Cook for 1 hour on the high setting and then 4-5 hours on low.
When the chicken is done cooking, saute the mushrooms in the butter, until they are soft. Take the chicken out of the slow cooker and set aside. Pour all the leeks & cooking liquid from the slow cooker, into the saucepan with the mushrooms. Cook down until the leeks are falling apart and the sauce is starting to thicken. Serve the mushroom leek sauce over the chicken.
Today I did something really simple with our leeks, a luscious dinner that took only 5 main ingredients and a sprinkle of whatever herbs you happen to have on hand.
Slow cooker leeks & chicken
2 Leeks, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 Chicken cut into parts, skin removed
1/2 Cup chicken stock
8 oz Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Butter or your cooking fat of choice
Fill the bottom of your slow cooker with the sliced leeks and add a pinch of whatever dried herbs you happen to have handy (I used sage & dill). Don't use a whole lot of herbs, you don't want to overwhelm the dish. Put the chicken parts over the top of the leeks and pour in the chicken stock. Cook for 1 hour on the high setting and then 4-5 hours on low.
When the chicken is done cooking, saute the mushrooms in the butter, until they are soft. Take the chicken out of the slow cooker and set aside. Pour all the leeks & cooking liquid from the slow cooker, into the saucepan with the mushrooms. Cook down until the leeks are falling apart and the sauce is starting to thicken. Serve the mushroom leek sauce over the chicken.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Circus stuff
One thing this blog has really never covered is my fitness shenanigans. It's mostly a food/garden blog and that's OK for me. I know a lot of people have more of a food/fitness blog, but there's one big reason I don't think I can do that.
You see, my main form of fitness is playing circus. Yes, I sometimes go to a normal gym to help build strength and from time to time I go out for a jog or do a yoga DVD. But for the past two years my main form of "exercise" has been climbing up and down 20' of fabric hanging from a warehouse ceiling. Lately I've been also learning hand balancing and partner balancing and I'm planning to get into wire walking. It's awesome. It cured my post-partum depression. I've lost a little weight and gotten a LOT stronger.
And I've met some truly amazing, truly inspiring people of all ages from all walks of life.
But it's not something I talk about much. You see, I find it really hard to talk about circus training. It's not something you talk, it's something you do. There are no rep schemes, no cute abbreviations... in fact the terminology for many of the tricks varies from performer to performer, depending on where they trained. I can sometimes explain it to myself out loud, but it really doesn't make sense to other people who aren't doing the same thing all the time. It's like trying to talk about meditation, only with more bruises and burns to explain.
Anyway... just thought I'd throw that out there. I may actually try the impossible and talk about it from time to time. But for now, here's a video from my school's showcase. Sorry for my dirty feet.
You see, my main form of fitness is playing circus. Yes, I sometimes go to a normal gym to help build strength and from time to time I go out for a jog or do a yoga DVD. But for the past two years my main form of "exercise" has been climbing up and down 20' of fabric hanging from a warehouse ceiling. Lately I've been also learning hand balancing and partner balancing and I'm planning to get into wire walking. It's awesome. It cured my post-partum depression. I've lost a little weight and gotten a LOT stronger.
And I've met some truly amazing, truly inspiring people of all ages from all walks of life.
But it's not something I talk about much. You see, I find it really hard to talk about circus training. It's not something you talk, it's something you do. There are no rep schemes, no cute abbreviations... in fact the terminology for many of the tricks varies from performer to performer, depending on where they trained. I can sometimes explain it to myself out loud, but it really doesn't make sense to other people who aren't doing the same thing all the time. It's like trying to talk about meditation, only with more bruises and burns to explain.
Anyway... just thought I'd throw that out there. I may actually try the impossible and talk about it from time to time. But for now, here's a video from my school's showcase. Sorry for my dirty feet.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Hamsters
News item: I read this and my first thought was "Why on earth are the French growing corn?" Really, I'm trying to figure that out. It seems like a fundamentally bad idea, they're likely hurting not only the endangered hamsters (jeez, how do hamsters ever get endangered, they're little breeding factories), but also their own, highly respected, food culture.
North America may have an unfortunate addiction to corn farming, but at least corn has some fundamental connection to the earth and to food culture here. France? Really???
North America may have an unfortunate addiction to corn farming, but at least corn has some fundamental connection to the earth and to food culture here. France? Really???
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Grapes...
Ah... the garden again. My leafy green love.
So this is what our grapes are looking like about now (well, a week ago), first the Concords:
And then the Flames:
Luscious aren't they? I'm so very much hoping we actually get a crop this year. Last year, by the time it came to harvest them, they looked like this:
Yup, they were DECIMATED by the birds and squirrels. Just gone. I think we ate a handful of individual grapes and that was it. The rest of it fed the urban wildlife. We were sad pandas about the whole thing. This year however, we have high hopes. We have a plastic hawk, we have mylar ribbons, we have plenty of hot pepper to dissuade the squirrels. Fingers crossed that some of those lovely baby grapes will actually become our food for once!
(Nevermind, the fact that we may also have a fungal disease of some sort. I'm trying to ignore that for now and stick with the power of hope. Hope and sulfur.)
And for a secondary harvest from these fruity beauties, we have grape leaves! I culled them from the trimmings this spring, and following the instructions at Mama’s Taverna blanched and froze them for later use. Now I just need to get up the energy to turn them into happy little dolmas.
So this is what our grapes are looking like about now (well, a week ago), first the Concords:
And then the Flames:
Luscious aren't they? I'm so very much hoping we actually get a crop this year. Last year, by the time it came to harvest them, they looked like this:
Yup, they were DECIMATED by the birds and squirrels. Just gone. I think we ate a handful of individual grapes and that was it. The rest of it fed the urban wildlife. We were sad pandas about the whole thing. This year however, we have high hopes. We have a plastic hawk, we have mylar ribbons, we have plenty of hot pepper to dissuade the squirrels. Fingers crossed that some of those lovely baby grapes will actually become our food for once!
(Nevermind, the fact that we may also have a fungal disease of some sort. I'm trying to ignore that for now and stick with the power of hope. Hope and sulfur.)
And for a secondary harvest from these fruity beauties, we have grape leaves! I culled them from the trimmings this spring, and following the instructions at Mama’s Taverna blanched and froze them for later use. Now I just need to get up the energy to turn them into happy little dolmas.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Update and some changes
First... I have been brewing a LONG overdue garden update. Long, long overdue. Things are busy growing and I even have a cache of photos, but just haven't got around to writing things up.
Second, I'm slowly making some other changes to my eating habits to support the low sodium thing. In short, I'm moving towards a Paleo/Primal eating style. Basically, I've found that when I eat any substantial amount of grains (particularly higher salt processed food, like bread or crackers) I find myself really struggling to stick to an appropriate amount of food. When I have bread I want more bread... and "more bread" usually has too much sodium to fit into my day. As a result, I've been ending up with lunches & dinners that look a lot like a friend of mine who's eating Paleo. A moderate portion of unprocessed meat, chicken or fish with a fairly hefty side of veggies, all of it containing some fats to prevent me from being overly hungry. And a piece of fruit, because fruit is yummy.
I'm not terribly into the idea of being all dogmatic about it. If you google Paleo or Primal you'll get many people who are fairly extremist. I'm just working with the idea because it looks like it might be a good way to sort out the sodium thing without dealing with a lot of stress and cravings. As of right now, I'm just focusing on the grains issue, and doing some studying about vegetable oils. At the moment I don't picture a future where I'll be giving up beans or yogurt, just moving the bulk of my eating in that direction.
A couple of articles from bloggers I've found helpful and interesting:
Archevore: Get Started
Hunt Gather Love: Start Here and Paleo Priority Diet
Second, I'm slowly making some other changes to my eating habits to support the low sodium thing. In short, I'm moving towards a Paleo/Primal eating style. Basically, I've found that when I eat any substantial amount of grains (particularly higher salt processed food, like bread or crackers) I find myself really struggling to stick to an appropriate amount of food. When I have bread I want more bread... and "more bread" usually has too much sodium to fit into my day. As a result, I've been ending up with lunches & dinners that look a lot like a friend of mine who's eating Paleo. A moderate portion of unprocessed meat, chicken or fish with a fairly hefty side of veggies, all of it containing some fats to prevent me from being overly hungry. And a piece of fruit, because fruit is yummy.
I'm not terribly into the idea of being all dogmatic about it. If you google Paleo or Primal you'll get many people who are fairly extremist. I'm just working with the idea because it looks like it might be a good way to sort out the sodium thing without dealing with a lot of stress and cravings. As of right now, I'm just focusing on the grains issue, and doing some studying about vegetable oils. At the moment I don't picture a future where I'll be giving up beans or yogurt, just moving the bulk of my eating in that direction.
A couple of articles from bloggers I've found helpful and interesting:
Archevore: Get Started
Hunt Gather Love: Start Here and Paleo Priority Diet
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