Ann_T

Most of our meals are made by me, and I don't use a lot of commercial products. We did like to go out for Dim Sum and other Asian foods when we went into Victoria, but haven't done that since we started watching the sodium. I think that most people would be very surprised at how much salt they use and how little it takes to reach what is recommended. Daily recommendation for even those without an issue is 2300mg of sodium. Averaging/rounding it out, 5g or 1 teaspoon of salt is equal to about 2000mg sodium. 1 gram is just under 400g. I purchased a small scale from one of the local Cannabis shops that measures in mgs up to 100grams. This is what 1g of salt, approximately 400 mg of sodium looks like. And 5g of salt, approximately 2000mg of sodium , which is basically the daily recommendation. That bowl is tiny. Small lime for comparison. Same as a teaspoon. It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it was going to be to reduce the sodium in our meals without having to give up eating meals that we enjoy. For the most part, salt substitutes have not worked for me. I did find a few salt free seasonings from Hot Mamas that I use to season when I grill or roast. They also make a low sodium line of mustards. I bought two of them and Moe really likes one with dill , which also tastes like horseradish with a little heat, and when mixed into a small amount of mayonnaise made a very nice topping on a roast beef sandwich. But the recommendation to use lemon, and other seasonings and herbs in place of salt doesn't work for me because I don't want everything to taste like the salt substitute if that wasn't the original flavour I was going for in the first place. I think we have been doing really good at greatly reducing the sodium in our diet and Moe doesn't seem to be missing it at all. We were at Costco yesterday and I bought their 50% less sodium bacon. Regular bacon had 400mg in two slices and the reduced sodium bacon was 180mg in 2 slices. So he had butter basted fried eggs and four slices of the bacon for breakfast this morning and the bacon was surprising good. Just pepper on his eggs and I've reduced the salt by half of what I use to put into a batch of bread dough. All the swelling he had in his ankles and feet has disappeared. It actually disappeared within a few days of reducing the sodium.

Thanks Patrick, I emailed them and are waiting for a response.

Moe's breakfast. Chili and toasted baguette.

Picked Halibut and lobster tails up on my way to work yesterday and for dinner last night made pan seared Halibut, finished in the oven served with a butter poached lobster tail with spinach and rice

Made a 1000g batch last night at 64% hydration and reduced salt by half, from 30g to 15g. Left out on the counter over night until 4:00 AM and baked four larger baguettes instead of 8 small. Sliced for breakfast.

Last night's dinner. Pork tenderloin medallions in a mushroom cream sauce. Prepared it before leaving for work yesterday so all I had to do was cook the noodles and warm up the pork.

Look at that beautiful crumb!!!!

@OlyveOyl, beautiful colour on your loaf. @PatrickT, that looks like the perfect sandwich loaf. Last night's bake. Started the dough Tuesday night and left it out on the counter to bake early yesterday morning. Unfortunately we had strong winds, rain and snow and the power was out in a number of areas on the Island including ours. Power went off around midnight and didn't come back on until yesterday afternoon. And we had about 2 inches of snow. Can't remember snow in October here. Dough went into the fridge, but came out again after the power resumed. Baked eight baguettes.

I'm sure you could find something similar locally. Do you have any German or European style delis?

They are longer and thiner than regular hot dog wieners and these are made from pork. Years ago, like over 40, I use to get them from a vendor at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto that were made from veal. Those were the best. These are made in BC......European Wieners - Freybe

Although last night's dinner would not be called a low sodium meal by any stretch of the imagination, it was substantially lower in sodium than what it would have been in the past. Moe had been wanting a hot dog so I decided to make him one. I grilled a European wiener which is what we would normally have when we have hot dogs. I'm not big on hot dogs so when we have them it has to be European wieners. The only ones that I will eat. And they are 300mg lower in sodium than regular wieners. I bought smaller panni buns and rather than buy sodium reduced potato chips I made homemade potato chips in order to control the amount of salt. He used a reduced salt mustard from Hot Mama's which is the company I ordered the salt free spice/herb rubs from. And he had sliced onions and tomatoes on top. I have a very happy husband who loved his dinner.

Been craving a Green peppercorn steak, so that is what I made for dinner tonight. Got the potato wedges in the oven shortly after getting home from work. The potatoes were seasoned with no salt Steak rub from Hot Mamas. Next I reconstituted the dried green peppercorns in salt free beef broth. Seasoned the steak with black pepper and just a tiny bit of Himalayan sea salt. When the potatoes were almost done, I seared the steaks in a little olive oil and butter. Removed from the pan and set a side to make the sauce. Added a minced shallot to the pan and sautéed for a minute or two and then added a minced garlic clove. Added the beef broth with the green peppercorns and simmered to reduce. While the sauce was reducing cooked the broccoli. Added a pinch of salt to the sauce along with heavy cream and simmered until the sauce thickened. Finished the sauce with a little Armagnac. This dinner took less than an hour to make.

Since we ate early yesterday, we had dessert for dinner last night. Bread and Butter Pudding with caramel sauce. I also had it for breakfast.

Very early dinner or a late lunch, depending on how you look at it. Pizza with homemade Italian sausage with mushrooms. Dough was made Thursday morning and was in the fridge until 6 AM this morning. I made the sausage this morning. Baked in the Ooni.

I don't think you misspoke, someone on a facebook group share this link to another version of a Marengo recipe. This one has an egg and shrimp. And it is tomato based. Not at all similar to the one from https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ez0-483h0rra1uTe&fbclid=IwAR2ALS_JVdQgAUrDL-WVb1k1kwa5lCkEkBokQKFeP9Bv3vRVAiiWRXe4Hlo&v=yf6VL1YEEUE&feature=youtu.be&themeRefresh=1

Steak dinner for two. My intentions had been to make a wine sauce to go with Steak and Frites for dinner. But by the time I got home from work I had changed my mind. I wasn't overly hungry so I just grilled the17oz Sterling Silver NY Strip steak and baked four mini russet potatoes to go with.

This is the only recipe I have for Chicken Marengo. It is apparently a very old recipe. What I like about it is that it isn't tomato based.

The recipes in this cookbook are basically descriptions rather than specifics. You can find it here: Pollo Alla Marengo

Pollo Alla Marengo on the menu tonight. This is a simple recipe that I've been making for years. It is from The Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi 1820 - 1911, Italy's Most Treasured Cookbook, Translated by Kyle M. Phillips III.

Roasted two small chicken breasts after I got home from work. Made hot chicken sandwiches for dinner.

Made Moe a tuna sandwich for breakfast. Rolls came out of the oven last night.

Dough was made Thursday morning before I left for work. Went into the fridge until yesterday afternoon and baked last night. This batch was started with a sourdough Pate Fermentee (200g) that had been in the fridge for a few days. Added to 1000g of flour and 1g of yeast at 65% hydration. And sticking to lower sodium, I reduced the salt by half. Baked 12 small rolls. Sliced one this morning. Lots of shine on the crumb. Made Moe a tuna sandwich for breakfast.

I made my favourite soup for dinner last night. Caldo Tlalpeno – Mexican Chicken Soup.

Chili and toast. Moe's breakfast.

I put a pot of Bolognese sauce on to simmer on Tuesday. We had Tagliatelle alla Bolognese for dinner last night. I realize why I don't make this very often. It is my least favourite pasta sauce.