Guacamole!

A batch of guacamole for our Cinco de Mayo feast:

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 c canned diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained
2 T cilantro, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, finely diced
1 shallot, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 limes, juiced
pinch salt
dash pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl, then mash/stir with a fork until blended and still slightly chunky. Serve immediately with low-sodium tortilla chips.


Serves 4, 90mg sodium per serving (not including chips)

Snacking 101

Getting hungry between meals is common, at least in my experience on the low sodium diet. The problem is that a lot of snacks are too salty for me to eat now. I really miss the days of eating pretzels and popcorn. I am still learning the ropes (and over relying on nuts to tide me over), but as I find good quick snack ideas I will post them here. Aside from the obvious things - fruits, raw veggies and unsalted nuts, I am finding a few other things that fit the bill.

Low sodium snack idea #1 - no sugar added applesauce with powdered cinnamon mixed in. Sodium count = 0mg and it tastes great. Takes no time to prepare. Easy!

Low sodium snack idea #2 (and this also makes a great breakfast) - yogurt with granola and your favorite fruit. Sodium count approximately 130 mg (mostly from the yogurt), assuming 1 cup of yogurt and 1/2 cup granola. Read your labels and choose wisely.

Low sodium snack #3 - Terra sweet potato chips. 10 mg sodium per ounce of chips (about 17). Add some Mrs Dash to taste and they really hit the spot. You could eat the whole bag and not blow your sodium budget.

Low sodium snack #4 - Trader Joe's trail mixes. TJs has a very large variety of trail mixes, and many of them are suitable for low sodium eating. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of my favorites are still OK for me to consume, within reasonable limits. Even the spicy ones!

Low sodium snack #5 - dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater) is generally sodium free, or so low as to be negligible. And one of my favorite things ever. :-)

Happy snacking!

Nuts!

If you are what you eat, then I am more than a little bit nuts these days. I wasn't eating tons of nuts until the low sodium diet kicked in and made it very difficult to find neat, portable foods that I can snack on. The vending machine certainly isn't an option now. I'm eating a lot of fruit, but fruits don't always satisfy and they don't travel well. Raw unsalted nuts seems like an easy target, so I've been consuming them daily. In fact, I am eating so many nuts every day I got a little concerned that this was perhaps a bad idea, and started poking around on the internet to see what I could learn.

The good news is that nuts are healthy foods that are OK for daily consumption, especially if you are eating them in place of unhealthy snacks. Even though nuts are high in fat, they are also high in protein, fiber and vitamins. Best of all they help lower cholesterol.

The bad news (and it is only minor bad news) is that some of my favorite nuts are not the best ones for you to eat, although they still convey some of the same health benefits as the better nuts. Cashews are my favorite, and macadamias are a nice treat. Both of these varieties are fattier than almonds, walnuts and peanuts.

The bottom line is that any kind of raw unsalted nut makes a fine snack that doesn't add sodium to your diet. And as long as you are not eating truckloads of them, they are more likely to help you than to harm you. As for me, I plan to continue my nutty snack habit.