Best Salmon So Far

  Originally posted February 18, 2010 at 8:40pm.

Ok, I know I just posted yesterday, but this salmon was soooo freakin' good.

This whole meal was under 30 minutes, and during a lot of that time I was playing on Facebook. And I mean totally from getting stuff out of the fridge to eating in 30 minutes... Rachel Ray style.

"Salmon with Mexican Rub and Chipotle Sour Cream"

(from American Heart Association's Low Salt Cookbook, 3rd edition)

254 mg sodium for 3 oz fish, 2 T Sour Cream

Heat oven to 350.

Put foil on a baking sheet and spray it with Pam. Put salmon on foil.

Mix: chili powder, ground cumin, TINY pinch of salt

Rub this on the salmon. Both sides, even if one side is scaly and gross. Sexy Lawyer Man says it is important that you season that side. Whatever. Put it in the oven. (20 minutes ish)

Mix: light sour cream, lime juice, cumin, and chipotle seasoning (or cayenne, but I used chipotle). Put this in the fridge until you eat.

Boil some water. Don't watch it. Go play on Facebook for about 10 -15 minutes. (Or study....) A little before the timer goes off, throw some frozen ears of corn in the water that is boiling now.

When the fish timer goes off, check it for flakiness and either put it back in or don't.

Put some leftover salad on your plate, and put homemade dressing on it. (Ok, this is only part of the 30 minute meal if you made a big salad earlier in the week.) Plate the fish with the sour cream on the side. Throw an ear of corn in. It doesn't really need any seasoning, but Sexy Lawyer Man adds butter and more chipotle seasoning.

EAT.

Low Sodium Cooking Continued...

(Continued from February 17, 2010 post)

Dinner #2:

I made this dinner for my parents when they came to visit me. I have an ongoing mission to convert my father to a heart-friendly diet, since he has some cardiac and kidney risk factors. He's a good man and I want him to live forever.   

"Fake Southern Comfort Food Dinner"

Oven Fried Chicken:

Mix plain yogurt and minced garlic in one bowl. Mix plain bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano. Dip a boneless skinless chicken breast in the yogurt mix, then the dry mix. Spray top of chicken with Pam. Bake at 400 for 55-60 min. 

**Notes: 1)This was awesome. Really really good. 2) I have absolutely no idea how long it actually cooked. I forgot to set a timer. I know it went more than 30 minutes. My super-scientific way to tell: wonder what smells like burning... look in the oven... see that it's the breadcrumbs that fell off the chicken onto the baking pan... use a meat thermometer to verify that chicken's above 180 degrees. Done. 240 mg sodium.

Green Beans: Simmer a bunch of fresh green beans, half a red onion (chopped) and a bunch of garlic in enough water to cover. Keep it covered and bubbling lightly for about 20 minutes. Then simmer uncovered until the water evaporates (according to Mom's recipe) or until you are impatient and you dump out the rest of the water (what I actually did.) 

***Notes:These would be a more generally appealing with some salt, but if you appreciate the taste of fresh green beans on their own merit (I do) then they are good. Just don't compare them to Gran's "cooked on the stove for hours with butter and tons of salt" Green Beans, which are infinitely superior.

Cheddar Biscuits: Mix 1 c. flour with 1/2 T baking powder. Cut in 2 T unsalted butter. Mix in 1/3 c. milk and 1/4 c. grated lo-fat cheddar. Roll into a ball and flatten onto greased baking pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Melt 2 T unsalted butter in a tiny pan (or bowl) and mix with garlic powder and parsley flakes. Pour over the top of biscuits when they come out of the oven. 

***Notes: These are modeled after the Red Lobster biscuits. Those are better. In fact, they are in a class of their own, called "Best Tasting Stuff On Earth That Will Probably Kill You." However, these are very very tasty, and not in the "will kill you" group. Technically, these have 14 mg sodium if you eat 1/5 of the recipe. I dare you to only eat 1/5 of that recipe. Also, the recipe calls for "Sodium Free Baking Powder" and "Low Sodium Cheddar," neither of which are available in Waco. So take the sodium count up a bit. But still probably won't kill you.  

(Note about these low sodium ingredients: Many companies are jumping on the low sodium bandwagon. I applaud them in this! We should all go out and buy unsalted tortilla chips to celebrate. However, watch these products carefully. Many, including the two ingredients named above, use the salt-substitute potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. This means that while the sodium content is lower, the potassium content is higher. This is a BAD idea if you are a renal patient, since potassium will kill you dead. If you struggle with high potassium levels, as does my very own Granby who has been hospitalized on several occasions with "medically unlikely" levels of potassium, steer clear of any and all salt substitutes.)

Ok, that's what I have today. I'll keep trying recipes and tell you when I find the good stuff. So far we are 5 and 1 with the Heart Assoc. book( lentil soup was not a winner), and 1 and 0 in the 500 Recipes book, so not bad.

Low Sodium Cooking Adventures!

Originally Posted February 17, 2010

So, after being gently but firmly admonished by my nephrologist, as only a nice old man can do, I have decided that this time I might actually try to eat a low sodium diet for reals. (My early phase of "reduced- sodium" was promising not to eat rock salt out of the box anymore.)

My awesome husband, who will from here be referred to as Sexy Lawyer Man, bought me two cookbooks for my birthday. (The American Heart Association's Low Salt Cookbook, and a book called 500 Low Sodium Recipes.) I highly recommend them both, especially the Heart Association one. I knew I was going to be ok when I opened to the first recipe: Potato Skin Nachos complete with cheese, olives (drained and rinsed), sour cream and homemade salsa. Those were cooked by SLM while I was still in my useless, post-biopsy bed rest phase, and they were REALLY tasty.

After doing the (real) low-salt thing for a week, I can say that this is probably the most effective diet I have ever tried. If you really look at diet food, it's all low cal, low fat, low carb... and then 864 mg of sodium per serving. You are never going to lose water weight eating like that. I have lost my semi-recently acquired "puffy" look (thanks, Mom, for that description) from all the water retention from stupid kidney stuff. It's only a few pounds, but that makes a difference when it's all water. Also, if you don't eat salty snacks like Doritos and stuff, it will reduce your calories, too. So I say to you, oh healthy type people: don't wait until your doctor tells you to quit salt. Do it now. It's fun. I promise.

Here, I'll show you. 

Dinner #1:

Mediterranean Fish Fillets:

Take a fish. Drip lemon juice all over it. Then cover it in tomato slices, pepper, green bell pepper pieces, plain bread crumbs, olive oil, and dried basil. Bake 25 minutes at 350. So freakin' easy.

**Notes: My only complaint was that the fish tasted a little like ground. I am a recovering non-fish eater, so I understand that this may have been more my fish prejudice than the tilapia. Still, it was pretty tasty. 176 mg sodium, if you add capers (packed in balsamic vinegar, not salt water) which they do not sell in Waco. Those of you in closer proximity to a Whole Foods might fare better. It was fine without the capers.

Side dishes were Steamed Broccoli with homemade dressing (dijon mustard, lemon juice, sugar, pepper, olive oil) and Wild Rice. This was the boxed wild rice and long grain rice mix. A normal 1/3 cup serving has 1000mg sodium (literally) so when I made this, I fished the solidified chunk of seasonings out of the packet before cooking. This is not a perfect method, so I bet the end result was still pretty salty (tasted good...so yeah...) and next time I will buy the kind of rice that has a separate seasoning packet (Uncle Ben's) and discard almost all of it. Or buy the wild rice separately... but that was actually more expensive.

Magic Chicken Soup

Originally Posted on Facebook November 8, 2009. 

Magic Chicken Soup

I call this "magic" chicken soup because it tastes unbelievably awesome when you are sick, and just "meh" when you are healthy, unless you are just really craving chicken soup. Also, it has real medicinal qualities, or so they say: salty water works on sore throats, garlic and onions have antiseptic properties and reduce your germies, warm liquids are always good for you when you are sick, it is mild enough for upset tummies, and it smells awesome, which warms the heart. I make this any time either or us is sick.

Basic ingredients:

(This is very subjective...as Granby says, "Just throw any old good thing in.")

*Broth (Chicken carcass or any cooked chicken parts, about a quart of water, celery bits, garlic, onions, salt, and spices like oregano, basil and pepper...or if you are using plain boneless skinless chicken, you could buy broth and boil all this stuff in it until the chicken is done, then proceed.)

*Chopped celery

*Chopped carrots

*Egg noodles

*Bulgur wheat

Get your broth going and simmer about 15 minutes if you are using cooked chicken. 35 or longer for fresh. Strain out the big stuff (celery bits, chicken) and throw in the chopped veggies. Add wheat and noodles based on cooking time...check the packages. For my ingredients, the wheat takes about 15 minutes and egg noodles about 8, so time it accordingly. Cover and simmer. Meanwhile, pull the good chicken meat out and toss it back in the pot as you go. (Discard bones, skin, etc.) Serve. Drink lots of fluids and go to bed.

***Notes:

1) I had a leftover half-chicken carcass that I baked and froze last week. It was already seasoned, so I didn't add as much salt and pepper as usual to the broth.

2) There wasn't much meat left on the chicken carcass, so I decided to add the wheat for extra protein. If you are buying chicken specifically for this soup, you don't need the wheat, but it's still tasty. Even Sexy Lawyer Man likes it.

3) A whole chicken (or half) with skin and all will up the fat content of the soup as opposed to chicken breast alone, but heck, if you are sick, you need calories. 

I don't have a picture of this soup. But I do have a handy picture of the stock as it is cooking.

Tomato Wheat Soup and Pasta De Amore

Originally posted on Facebook October 28, 2009. This was the first of many recipes I felt a deep need to share with the world. Mind you, this is from approximately 2 months before I was diagnosed with CKD. At the time, I knew I had high blood pressure, so I was attempting to treat it with exercise and healthy foods, especially a sort-of-reduced sodium diet. I was still using a lot of salt in my cooking. I was inspired to try the soup recipe below by the book  SuperFoods Rx: 14 Foods that will Change Your Life. While this book is certainly not for those on a renal diet, it is a great general health plan.

 Some recipes I thought I'd share.

Tomato/Wheat Soup

Moosewood Collective Low Fat Cookbook. Really good healthy recipes. 

3 c. chicken stock

1 c. finely chopped onions

1 c. peeled and diced carrots

3/4 c. diced celery

2 large cloves minced garlic (but more is always better with garlic)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried dill

1/2 tsp ground fennel

2 cups undrained canned diced tomatoes (16 oz)

1/4 c. bulgur wheat

black pepper to taste

Combine all but last 3 ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to Boil and simmer, covered, 5 min. At wheat and tomatoes w/ juice and stir well. Cover, bring back to boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 min. Add pepper to taste.

**Notes:

1. I made the chicken stock from scratch.

Boil leftover rotisserie chicken carcass, garlic, onion, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, celery leaves/bits. Boil 30 min and strain well. It's free and delicious.

It was easier than I thought it would be, but if you don't have a chicken carcass lurking around in your freezer, you might want to beef up the spices a bit to boost the prepared stock.

2. While the recipe states that you should add dill and fennel, add whatever spices you find appropriate. I didn't have fennel so I used a garlic/onion poultry seasoning and a Mrs. Dash Dill Blend. Do what you like.

3. Bulgur (bulghur, bulgar) wheat is expensive if you buy it packaged, so go to the bulk bins in the hippie food aisle and just buy what you need. It keeps best frozen if you get extra for later use. Honestly, I'd go with more than 1/4 cup next time to add a little more protein to this soup.

4. Re-heats really well. Just add a little water and heat on stovetop. 

Sex Pasta

(from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Christmas Edition Magazine) (She doesn't call it that.)

1 (12-oz) package bow-tie pasta

1.25 c. whole milk

2 c. grated smoked Gouda cheese

1 (15 oz) jar roasted red pepper Alfredo Sauce, Classico brand

1 (3-oz) package real bacon pieces, Ocsar Mayer brand

1/4 c chopped green onion

smoked paprika

Heat over to 350. Cook pasta. Keep warm somewhere else. In the pot, heat the milk over med-low heat until simmering but not boiling. Add cheese, whisking until melted. Add sauce and stir in. Then combine with pasta, onions, and bacon. Pour into a 2 quart covered casserole. Sprinkle with paprika and bake 20 minutes ish. (Until hot and bubbly)

***Notes

1. THIS IS NOT HEALTHY!!! In fact, it is about as far as you can get from healthy. You have been warned.

2. You can substitute Smart Taste pasta if you feel like making it a little less guilt-ridden. It's still tasty. Also, if you can't find bow-tie, any small pasta is fine. We used penne.

3. Couldn't find roasted red pepper sauce so we used Sun Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce.

4. You really do need the smoked gouda. I had never tried it before, since I don't really buy $5 cheeses. But it's cheese that tastes like bacon. I think angels make it.

5. This is actually called Smoky Pasta Bake, but we didn't think that this was an appropriate title to capture how good this is.

I don't have a picture of this one. I was going to, but it got eaten really fast.

Kidney Adventure 2010!

(This is the beginning of my kidney adventure. I got high blood pressure in May of 2009, and it continued to rise after the school year ended. We moved and I started seeing a new physician in December of 2009. On Christmas Eve, I got a call from my doctor with lab results. This was how I found out that my kidneys would take me on a lifelong adventure. The following post was written for Facebook after my first biopsy in February 2009. It contains some information that I now know to be incorrect (I'll include edits in purple), but I left it in to show the progress of my understanding of Chronic Kidney Disease.)

Long and technical description, if you are interested:

Here’s what I know, based on the preliminary results. We’ll have more information later this week.

The biopsy was successful, which is good. Sometimes they hit healthy tissue that doesn’t tell them anything, and you have to do the whole thing over. I have had some bleeding around the kidneys so I’m dizzy and I’m going to have to stay off my feet most of the time for a few more days until it absorbs back in. This may have caused some anemia (it actually didn't...just insanely painful muscle spasms), so we’re keeping an eye on that. My school has been really understanding and they say I can take off as much time as I need to, and make up the days later. That’s a blessing right there.

Results of the biopsy show that I have a kidney disease called mesangial hyperplasia, or mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. (That's more a description of what they saw, it's not really the name of any specific disease. So Glomerulonephritis is what we're calling this for lack of better term.) This is a less common form of kidney disease. (Dad was even stumped as to what it was…mark your calendars!) Fewer than 10% of kidney patients have this type, so it is not as well researched as some of the others. It is aggressive, and I have not had it very long. I have global sclerosis (scarring) on about 45-50% of glomeruli (filtering bits) and this is not reversible. This is some form of auto-immune issue that has my system turning on itself. The most likely treatment will be 3-6 months of immunosuppressant therapy which could stop the progression. (We decided there was not enough reason to try that since we had no way of knowing if it would work. But more on that later.) Best-case scenario, this will go away with treatment and I won’t lose any more kidney function. (Hah!) Worst-case scenario, it will slow down but not stop, which will eventually lead to dialysis and transplant. (Yeah...) My doctor was very clear that at this point, I should definitely not get pregnant (not that we were planning to…) because of the added strain this would cause to my kidneys. Whether or not I will ever be able to carry a pregnancy has yet to be determined, and we have no reason yet to NOT be optimistic on that. (There's a lot more on that.)

This is not kidney failure! It could lead to kidney failure untreated, but luckily we caught it and will get treatment for it quickly. I’m going to get a second opinion in the Houston Medical Center (in addition to the first one from the UT Medical School in Dallas) and we will decide on the best course of treatment in the next few weeks. Until then we are trying to get my blood pressure under control and keeping an eye on my anemia (which didn't actually show up for another year).

There isn’t really a known cause other than random chance, but those of you who are related to me should probably take any change in blood pressure seriously. (I guess that is just a good idea anyway.) I am very thankful that the Waco doctor I randomly chose out of the phonebook was so thorough in doing the tests to catch this right away when I came in for my new patient check-up.

As for me, I’m a reasonable amount of worried, but I think I’m handling it pretty well. I know this will be ok, even if it is a little scary and very inconvenient and expensive in the process. There are many worse things to have. I feel fine (other than the biopsy related stuff) and I am switching to a much healthier diet, which I probably should have done anyway. I appreciate y’all’s concern and prayers and I’ll keep you posted as I get more information.