One Day

    I looked through my notes from the last few months. We have made our own laundry detergent, deodorant, lip balm and created several new recipes that meet my stringent low sodium diet and we have done several art projects. We have also built our own raised garden beds and planted a lovely crop of vegetables on our tiny city lot.

   Tomorrow, I have a list. We must get through the school lessons, go to the bank and the rest is up to us. I wrote the list of things that I have wanted to do for a while but just have not been able to get to them with all of the recent mayhem. 

    I have two recipes written down for homemade ranch flavored seasoning that I would like to play with. 

    I don't know how it has happened, but I have become quite good at a few things in the kitchen. It would be ridiculous to think that I could appear on a cooking show, but I am really finding my own groove. I would never have guessed that I, who could not boil an egg correctly or make grilled cheese sandwiches without casualties would ever say this.

    I have managed to create quite a list of foods that I have recreated to have plenty of yummy flavor with much less sodium.

    Why don't I just buy the products that say "low sodium" on the packaging?  Well, I say to you that you should read the labels on those packages.  

    Recently, when my husband was in the hospital, one of the pamphlets they gave to him said that the average American consumes 8000 or more mg of sodium each day. WOW! That is a lot of sodium.  The recommendations for average humans is around 2000.  Hmmm.....

    So if you really write down the foods and their value each day, you will be shocked how much sodium is out there; or more correctly, in your food.

    This started because I like to make soups and stews and could not find a prepared stock that I could use without ending up ill. (When I have too much sodium, I get to cough up fluid all night... not fun for me.)

     I thought perhaps I could try to make my own. I began with vegetable stock. I did not add any salt. I was stunned. The flavor was much better than I could have imagined.

     I then began to experiment with spaghetti sauces, taco seasonings, and all sorts of things where sodium is found in large amounts.

    WOW!  I found cheats for everything!

    Now, since I said I found cheats, I will explain that the sodium substitute products on the shelf are not for me. I do not like "fake salt" nor any of the special seasoning blends created for those who are giving up salt. They just do not taste nearly as good to me.

    Okay, so you are skeptical. Tastebuds change. I perhaps had altered mine to accept the taste of cardboard as lovely, right?

     Well, the first meal I cooked after my husbands heart attack was tacos. I know, I know, but I hadn't exactly been to the grocery store while he was in intensive care. I just made the next planned meal. 

     I didn't use salt. I created my own taco seasoning, seasoned the meat well. (Mixed with veggie meat, but don't tell him. ssshhhhh)  I placed plenty of shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and a picante sauce that I had made with no salt. 

       He ate dinner and made a comment that it had to be too high in fats, cholesterol and salt. MMMM  I didn't say a word until he finished his dinner.

    Then he asked me. "Okay, so what do I write down."

     I told him what was in every thing. He was shocked. He said it had tasted better than tacos from his favorite restaurant.

     Now, up until last week, we had regular prepared salad dressings in the refrigerator. He preferred his one particular brand and flavor. 

     The day after he got home from the hospital, I told him to read the labels before he had his salad as he might want to give up either the cheese or the salad dressing so that he could have dinner. 

     He looked at me like I was crazy. Then he read the labels.

     He was not happy.  "That's ridiculous! Am I just supposed to eat lettuce by itself?"

     If you want, you can try our salad dressing and our salad.

     He insists that he does not like squash.. just lettuce, tomato and carrots for him...

      My salad had Romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, sliced squash, sliced carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, chopped celery, roasted soy nuts and a small amount of cheese. 

    I make my own dressing.

     He ate my salad and said how filling and delicious it all was. He said my dressing was amazing.  How much sodium?

      Ahhhhh... I feel like I am reaching him. Finally. After all of these years. He is admitting that healthy foods can taste great and be filling.

     I wrote down the ingredients, their nutrition values and then divided it out to get the serving amounts. He was absolutely astonished!  

     Yes, he is getting it. He is now eating normal portions. He is not craving things as much. He does not tolerate eating more than a single serving well. (He did this once at breakfast and was miserable the entire day.)  He is getting it...

     His body now understands. His body likes this new way. His mind is still playing games with him though. 

     He has many years of bacon jokes and other nonsense in his head about "real men" and "rabbits".  You probably don't need that explained. 

     That is the hardest part. I can hear him saying things, and then he realizes, nope, that is not quite right.

      I am still playing with recipes to create the right flavor without using salt. Salt is my nemesis. I don't eat enough meat to do battle with cholesterol. He is now doing battle with both.

      Each week, we are finding something new to add to our list of yummy recipes... Almost as often, we are finding things that do not quite meet our expectations.

     What can we really do in one day? We can change everything. We can invent something new. We do not have to invent a time machine to be fabulous. Having a taco meat recipe that is enjoyable and filling is a major accomplishment.

     For those of you who have been warned... make a few changes one day. It will be a LOT easier for you to begin now than to have your very life depend on making several drastic changes right after a heart attack.

     Just one day can make a tremendous difference. In the case of my husband versus heart disease, one day of making the right choices may buy him many more days with his children. What you do with one day can be that important.