Need low sodium meal ideas UPDATE

http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Organic-No-Salt-Seasoning/dp/B002W5SDEQ
This seasoning goes very well with any vege or meat.
We use it all the time, though we do add sea salt.
Not sure if you have time to find something like that, but it is an option.
Growing up, we always had Mrs Dash in the cupboard for seasoning.

I also second the carrot idea. You can make gingered carrots for a flavorfull dish.
 
I eat a low sodium diet all the time and don't really miss the salt.

Veggies are usually pretty good with just a little unsalted butter, pepper or other spices, especially Mrs. Dash, or just steamed.

I see many here mentioning mayonaise and if it is store-bought, it actually is quite salty and you need to be careful with that, also with adding bacon to any recipe. You can get by with those things on a LOW sodium diet but you were referring to a NO sodium meal. I don't think that you can actually prepare a NO sodium meal because even things like meats and veggies have a little sodium.

The meal must already be in progress right now, so I hope it went well!

For your husband's diet in the future, you would be surprised how well you can lower the amount of sodium in most every recipe you make from scratch. We routinely cut it to about 1/4 of any recipe. Certain dishes are really tough to make low sodium, especially international dishes such as chinese, japanese, mexican or italian food, but I try to have a small portion of the saltier ingredients when we have those dishes.

I often find that when I take things for potlucks and such and tell folks they might want to add salt, they don't. We just add more of other spices we enjoy. Some dishes need a touch of salt, but many do not.

Also, to some degree your taste buds adjust to less salty flavors. I cannot abide something really salty like popcorn or pizza....
 
Gosh you guys are great! Lots of good and useful info!

So this friend of our went fronting around 5,000 mg of salt with a blood pressure of 156/whatever to 1200 mg and BP of 126/whatever! Pretty good just by watching his salt...although he was eating garbage fast food so getting off of that is huge.

DH doesn't eat much salt aside from his daily lunch which is a chicken skewer and salad at a Greek restaurant, but this friend of ours has eaten with DH and said it was the saltiest salad he has ever had.

Breakfast is no sodium (smoothie) and lunch is probably moderate sodium. I have honestly never paid attention to the soidum in our dinners, but I will now.

So last night I made buffalo salad ( baby romaine, fresh mozzarella (25mg) fresh tomatoes, EVOO and balsamic) as a main course we had salmon and shrimp en pappiollte ( in parchment). I had all the veggies prepped and the shrimpers cleaned and set out in bowls. Everyone took their parchment and laid out the veggies that they wanted, set the fish on top packed in as many shrimp as they could, topped it with shallots, garlic, dill, chives, a pat of unsalted butter and a splash of white wine.

We all agreed it was AWESOME! And no sodium aside from the mozzarella. :woot
 
Salad dressing can be extremely high in salt esp Ceasar.

You might have your husband try vinegar-and-oil type dressings. I admit I don't like them as well as ranch or creamy dressings, but they do not usually add much sodium. I also have a friend who just takes a little shaker of her own salad dressing with her. But men don't usually like to do things like that....have him try to acquire a taste for vinegar and oil as almost every restaurant has it. I save the saltier dressings like Ceasar for times when the salad is the MAIN course and the main amount of sodium in my meal. Then you apply the dressing sparingly.

Keeping your sodium low can be more about portion size and frequency of eating certain things. It doesn't mean he could never have certain things again, but he should have them less.

I do find there are a short list of things which are just too salty to ever eat more than a bite or two. Pepperoni, chips, pizza, pickles, popcorn, olives, pretzels or highly processed meats are all things I just don't eat. If you notice, none of those foods are particularly healthy except perhaps olives or pickles.

It looks like you were on the right track using lemon as a seasoning as well. Vinegar and lemon both taste kind of salty in a weird way without adding any sodium. A little bit of cheese goes a long way too but it packs a whallop of sodium, but for some reason the flavor blends well with non-salty foods and a little cheese can make a low sodium meal yummy where it would have been bland.

I'm supposed to stay under 1500 mg of sodium. So I aim for each meal to be roughly 450 or less. If I go over 450, I know my next meal cannot be a high sodium meal and I might opt for something lower like fruit and yogurt for my next meal instead of anything with salt to balance out my day's sodium.

That way you do not feel "deprived". I've been on this diet for more than 10 years and really, it isn't so bad. After awhile if you taste something really salty (like pepperoni) and you aren't used to it....you have to spit it out! :hide
 
SD...thanks for the great info,

At the restaurant that he goes to, it is Greek...so it is a vinaigrette type dressing, but you are right, he should bring his own as we just do oil & vinegar at home and he likes it just fine!

He does like salami...which he has a few slices, mostly n the weekend. He also likes a fairly salty aged white cheddar....and I add pram to a lot of things, salads...dinners etc. I never thought about the salt content.

Still....cooking from scratch and the fact that he has a sodium free breakfast, it is hard to imagine that he is actually getting too much salt. I am going to have to start tracking the amount of sodium in all of our dinners.

He has also mysteriously gained about 15 pounds in the last 7 mos....I am not sure where it is coming from but we are trying to pinpoint it as he is not happy about it! I have gotten a bit lazier about including more grains/potatoes at dinner....but it is hard for me to believe that is the source of the weight gain.
 
There is hidden salt in a lot of things. Since you do so much cooking from scratch already, at least you don't have to recreate your lifestyle. I find it easiest to keep tabs on things by knowing how many mg I'm supposed to have and then trying to estimate how much I'm getting each day, like a running mental log.

Eating in restaurants just takes some creativity and being pushy sometimes. There are times I order things like a club sandwich, hold the bacon (I know, God forbid!) or order sauces and dressings on the side. Sometimes I order steak and ask them not to salt it. I send things back when they forget. Sometimes you get fresher food ordering things not salted because they have to cook a new batch (like any kind of french fry). If unsalted potatos are too much for him, try it with just a tiny bit of catsup (it is salty too but a little of that flavor goes a long way).

If he eats something like pepperoni occasionally, he will never desensitize against that salty flavor. I think I would "forget" to pick that up at the store and try some other snack. Certain stores will carry more low sodium products (like Trader Joes) and perhaps you can find him some other snack to replace it. Trader Joes even has no sodium tortilla chips. It makes a fine low sodium appetizer with salsa. Salsa has salt added as well, but again, the flavors make the saltiness go farther. And over the summer maybe you could make your own.

When I made that tamale recipe, I cut the sodium to zero in the sauce. And in the bulk of the masa recipe, I cut the sodium to 1/4. When I served this dish, only three people there were on low sodium diets. However, no one else added salt...it tasted fine to them.

I do the same for other things. If I do make something from a prepared mix (such as rice-a-roni, which my family likes), I don't use the whole flavor packet. Same thing if I made ramen soup for myself. I can still have it, but those flavor packets are way too salty. Sometimes being creative really counts. It is hard to add OTHER diet restrictions on the top of a low sodium diet however.

I've been dealing with this for over 20 years! Ya know how Wifezilla is the no carb queen? I should be the low sodium one.
 
Thanks SD :thumbsup

The funny thing is that Hubby doesn't like salt :lau he never ever picks up the salt shaker. While he does like his salami and cheddar, he does not tend to eat too many salty snacks, oh he does like nuts, so I guess that is good.

I have never tracked sodium, as I said, so thank you for all the tips....nice to know that we have our own low sodium queen on SS! I am sure I will be hitting you up with more questions soon :/
 
I naturally don't eat much salt. I crave it sometimes and eat "tons" (almost a normal amount for hoomans) and otherwise I don't think about it.

I think I got in the habit when I a) realized there were other seasonings and b) realized my dad had high blood pressure. Since these both took place around age 10, it's been so long since I've used salt at normal levels I don't even know how LOL.
 
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