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Donate Life Walk Run 2012

April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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If you missed us at the Donate Life event, you can still share in our birthday blog celebration – we’ve got some great low sodium giveaways running on the blog throughout the month.

Grown from and supported by a lot of love, Craig and Kathleen Hostert and the team at Donate Life OC spend a good part of the year planning and organizing this special celebration of life.  After spending nearly two and a half years on dialysis, in June, 1998, Kathleen and Craig underwent a live kidney donation/transplant. Kathleen volunteered her kidney, Craig was the recipient: Craig’s siblings had been tested to be potential donors, but had been ruled out.  Through the donor matching process, they discovered that many husband/wife teams are a feasible organ donation/recipient match.

The Hosterts founded the Fullerton walk the following year. They wanted to give other folks waiting on the transplant list hope; for those in the queue, the process can be a long and tenuous one. They had experienced the emotional roller coaster themselves. They wanted to help get more people inspired to sign up and donate. They wanted to help save lives.

Donate Life Kicking off the Walk. A wonderful event that brings people together; celebrating life and loved ones

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the annual walk, with over 11,000 people onsite. The Donate Life Run/Walk in Fullerton is now one of the largest events in the country, helping to spread the news about organ and tissue donation and transplants.  It has turned into a celebration of life. Many attendees and vendors alike share, or are touched by, the experience of organ transplant: a common bond ties the transplant community together.

Kids next door at the Cedar's hospital booth

For us, helping to support the Donate Life event has a very special meaning. My mom is a kidney transplant recipient – her sister Rosalie was her live kidney donor (it was one of the events that led us to start eating low sodium/blog).  So this year, being our second to participate in and give back to the transplant community, we timed my mom’s visit to coincide with Craig and Kathleen’s Donate Life Run/Walk.

My Mom helping spin the wheel at the Donate Life event

We made some calls and rounded up some sponsors (our friends) to donate low sodium goodies; we spent several days running round like chickens without their heads on, picking up and sorting through an entire living room filled with products, photographing it all, assembling over 400 “spin and win” low-sodium food/product packets and a decent number of gift baskets; and packing our car to the brim.  For several days leading up to the event, we lived on 3 hours of sleep each day; getting up at 4 am yesterday morning to head out to the event.  Our experience was a common one; shared by many of the other hard working volunteers (we heard that there were ~ 700 volunteers in various capacities). We talked to many people who had come out, bright and early at ~ 6am, living on fumes.  For all of us, putting in a little elbow grease was all worth it – seeing so many happy faces celebrating life.

First thing in the morning, bright and early

On a personal note, we want to thank our co-sponsors ; they really pitched in and helped us create a fun booth at the event.  Being that we were placed in the “vendor” category, I think it was a difficult thing for many people to grasp that we weren’t a food market, we weren’t selling anything (except as someone shared with us, we are “selling the message of eating healthy”), we didn’t want anything, the raffle and the spin was free, and we gave away almost everything in our booth (except for the stuff we took home, like the spin wheel).  I can’t tell you what an amazing feeling it is to be left standing at the end of the event, with an entirely “empty” booth and meeting a lot of happy people. Thanks to everyone at Donate Life for putting together a really wonderful event.

Filed Under: Blog, Bytes to Digest

Our Birthday Recipe = Fun Giveaways + Lots of Love

April 28, 2012 By
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Update – 6/1/2012 – Contest now closed.
Sweepstakes results have been posted below.
Thank you for all of your wonderful comments :)
You made our side of the event really fun.  

Celebrate With Us. It’s Our Birthday!  Enter to win one of 25 LOW SODIUM PRIZE PACKS, including a brand new KINDLE FIRE!!!!

Our Grand Prize: Low Sodium Food Products, Snacks, Cooking Ingredients, Recipes, Tools, Kindle, and More!

We tried our best to keep a lid on our birthday (who wants to advertise their age??)… 

Surprise! 

Our friends have been overly generous – they’ve pitched in all sorts of great products and have helped put our low-sodium birthday celebration over the top!  Together we’re marking our blog’s birthday, wrapping up our celebration activities (and our birthday giveaway) at the end of May.  So – as the saying goes, go big or go home.

We kicked off our birthday celebration in Orange County at Donate Life’s 5k Run/Walk and Family Health Festival.  You can read more about the event and why it’s such a special event that’s near and dear to us given that my mom is a kidney transplant recipient (her sister Rosalie volunteered her kidney through a live donation process).

But wait, there’s more online!!  So keep reading…

(Drum roll)

1 Grand Prize: Low Sodium Food Products, Snacks, Cooking Ingredients, Recipes, Tools, Kindle, and More!

Our Grand Prize is packed to the brim with all kinds of fun things, a veritable cornucopia of low sodium foods and goodies from:

Attune Foods: 2 boxes of Erewhon cereal*, 1 box Attune Dark Chocolate Probiotic Bars, 1 Attune Foods/Preserve food container
Davidson’s Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Eggs: 3 dozen Safest Choice™ pasteurized eggs*, 2 Safest Choice™ spatulas, 1 Safest Choice™ Stress Ball, Safest Choice™ recipe card (not pictured here).
Tampico Spice Company: 1 large salt free seasoning and a 4-pack of assorted low-sodium spices.

Check out more great stuff from:

Adams Media: Everything Low Salt Cookbook
COTZ Sunscreen: 1 - 20% Zinc Oxide SPF 35, 3.5 oz
Low Sodium Blog:   1 Kindle Fire (we’re providing a fun way for you to read and follow all of our blogs), 1 large Preserve  colander; 1 small Preserve colander; 2 Low Sodium Blog Finger (oven) Mitts, Low Sodium Blog Stress Star, and some of our really fun mood pencils that turn color when you hold them (these are “non-sponsored” products).

(ARV ~ $450)

** BONUS GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY **   ’

(Another drum roll, please)

If we draw your name, and you’ve entered our giveaway by using each and every “Ways to Enter”  (below), we’ll kick in an extra $50 Kindle gift certificate. We really want you to love your new Kindle as much as we love ours (and we want to send a little love back to our sponsors).

(keep scrolling, there’s more)

Whole Foods 365 Low Sodium Ingredients & Snacks Gift Basket (1)

Whole Foods 365 Low Sodium Ingredients & Snacks Gift Basket (1)

The Whole Foods 365 brand carries a lot of really great low sodium options.  Enter to win their wonderful Low Sodium Ingredients & Snacks Gift Basket — it’s filled with green and black lentils, 2 packages of trail mix, banana chips, agave nectar, couscous, chicken broth, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, almond butter, and garbanzo, pinto and black beans.
(ARV ~ $50)

(yep, there’s more)

Assorted Low Sodium Recipe & Cooking Gift Baskets (3)

Assorted Low Sodium Recipe & Cooking Gift Baskets (3)

These gift baskets contain a “slimmed down” version of our grand prize (i.e., sans kindle and a couple of other things.. also, please note that the “Everything” book you receive may be one of the Juicing, Mediterranean Foods, or Healthy Casserole).
(ARV ~ $125)

(and finally, we wanted to share the love with as many people as we reasonably could, looks like we’ll be busy mailing out prizes…)

Jump Start Your Low Sodium Lifestyle (20)

Jump start your low sodium lifestyle (20)

Launch your low sodium lifestyle with this fun starter kit.  Eggs, cereal, a chocolate probiotic bar, spice packs (paprika &  garlic), oven mitt, stress ball, and COTZ sample.
(ARV ~ $25)

Be sure to keep posted throughout the month as we’re planning more “random” sur-prizes (keeps everyone on our toes)!

*note:  these items are redeemable in-store vouchers, given the nature of the food product.
(please note the contest details/restrictions below)

We’re using Rafflecopter to manage the sweepstakes details (your information won’t be shared as per our privacy policy).  Please follow the instructions in the widget below to enter RSS and email Readers, please click through to the post to see the widget..

Thanks for helping us share in our birthday celebration — Good Luck!!

Sweepstakes Winners
(posted 6/1/2012)

Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to those randomly selected.
Please stay tuned as there are more fun giveaways around the corner!
Our winners were randomly selected using an automated number generator,
the results are as follows:

Prize Description First Name Entry #

Grand Prize: Low Sodium Food Products, Snacks, Cooking Ingredients, Recipes, Tools, Kindle, and More!

 Joseph

1052
Whole Foods 365 Low Sodium Ingredients & Snacks Gift Basket John

757
Assorted Low Sodium Recipe & Cooking Gift Basket Honey

49
Assorted Low Sodium Recipe & Cooking Gift Basket Marcia

128
Assorted Low Sodium Recipe & Cooking Gift Basket Gail

123

Jump Start Your Low Sodium Lifestyle  Prize Pack

1

 Stacy

149

2

 Meredith

681

3

 Lala

648

4

 Jill

759

5

 Tracy

945

6

 Polly

111

7

 Debra

25

8

 Natasha

415

9

 Elena

577

10

 Michele

442

11

 Victoria

548

12

 Kate

215

13

 Jamie

674

14

 Mary

1006

15

 Robin

202

16

 Dan

365

17

 Heather

101

18

 Amber

1025

19

 Janice

53

20

 Leslie

490

Note: we will be contacting the winners shortly via the email address provided via the Rafflecopter entry.  If you haven’t heard from us and you think that you’re one of our lucky winners, please contact us via the contact form here.  (PS – winners – we will need your physical address so that we can  mail out the prizes to you). Thanks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sweepstakes Terms & Conditions

Our Birthday Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PT on Thursday, May 31, 2012. We’ll select the winners at random based on all of the eligible entries received, and post the results shortly thereafter.

If you’re one of the winners, you’ll need to email me your mailing address (no PO boxes) and phone number within three days, otherwise we’ll choose another winner. (Sorry!)

If you include a link in your comment to your own blog or site, we’ll consider that spam and delete your comment. Of course, if you leave a comment on our blog – please do enter your site’s URL in the “website” field on the form.

This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents (excluding residents of Puerto Rico and all U.S. territories or possessions) who are over the age of 18. Although you may enter many times, you may only win once. Odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received. No cash or other substitution may be made.  We’re sorry, but we are unable to accomodate situations that may arise due to delayed posts, technical or typographical errors or glitches, unauthorized human intervention, phone, technical, network, electronic, computer, hardware or software failures, malfunctions or disconnects of any kind, or misdirected, illegible, incomplete, stolen, garbled, fragmented or delayed internet/e-mail computer transmissions or network/ISP/website internet accessibility; or for inaccurate, incorrect or incomplete capture of entry information. Any use of robotic, automatic, programmed or like means to enter the giveaway will void all entries affected by such methods.

Offer void where prohibited by law.

4/29. As people have been leaving comments on our blog, we’ve added this as an additional way to enter. (If you entered prior to this and you did a great job of managing to keep up with all of the other activities, you’ll still qualify for the bonus if your name is drawn). Sorry, this rafflecopter stuff is so new to us!

Filed Under: Blog, Enter To Win!

Food Forward: Changing the Landscape of Urban Hunger, One Orchard at a Time

April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Food Forward harvests locally grown food from private homes and public spaces and then distributes their bounty to organizations that serve those in need.

Southern California is a cornucopia for our nation’s fresh produce.  In the process of keeping up with urban growth, prime agricultural zones were transformed into burgeoning subdivisions – particularly through the 1950′s, 60′s and 70′s. Some of the original orchard trees escaped the brunt of the urban plow.  Today, the lucky survivors continue to bear fresh fruit or vegetables – in many instances, the agricultural resources are under managed and their bounty is overwhelming. For homeowners and public land managers, a large percentage of their annual crop can easily go to waste.

Rick Nahmias had a vision. Prompted by watching his neighborhood fruit fall to the ground, he enlisted volunteers to help him harvest other backyard growers’ (private orchards and public spaces’) bounty. Today, Food Forward touches thousands of lives. It truly is a grassroots organization that has come together to support the community (plus, they pick low sodium goodies like oranges, avocados, lemons, and more).

We were lucky enough to spend Earth Day with Food Forward and CSUN’s Institute for Sustainability, joining more than 250 Food Forward volunteers (Earth Day/CSUN is one of Food Forward’s larger events).  The crowd consisted of solo individuals, families (like us), and various other volunteer groups – all of whom showed up bright and early wearing smiling faces, and they filled the air with energy.  We were inspired that one person’s dream has the ability to create a spark and start a local movement that affects so many other lives. We have since learned that Sunday’s harvest yielded 13,484 lbs of fruit. Way to go!!

Here are some of our Earth Day 2012 photos:

Max Kanter, Volunteer Coordinator - Food Forward

Signing up early in the morning. Look at all the smiling faces!

We chose our tree. Luckily, we were beside the ladies from Starbucks. They helped keep the morning cheery (as well as fed and hydrated) and most definitely kept us entertained! Thanks ladies - you are priceless!

Picking fruit is really tough work. The average "real" picker can harvest 1 tree/hour. Obviously, we weren't that skilled (or quick). The main thing was that we were all having fun while helping to harvest.

Randomly, we heard "I'm Katniss, I'm Katniss" coming from the tree next door. We really appreciated their humor and good nature!

Everyone was working hard

Loading up the truck

We left totally exhausted, showered in orange blossoms and leaves. Thanks Fruit Forward for the best Earth Day ever!

Food Forward’s mission is to reconnect people with people – through food – by bringing together volunteers and neighbors to share in the gleaning and distributing of locally grown food from private homes and public spaces which is then distributed to local food pantries and organizations serving those in need.

They’re a registered 503(c)(3), which makes it really easy to contribute in so many different ways. Contact them at info@foodforward.org

Happy Picking!

Filed Under: Blog, Bytes to Digest, Lifestyle Tagged With: , ,

Curry Oyster Stew (diary free), Thai Inspired.

April 18, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Travel to Southeast Asia with our curry oyster stew.  Hints of lemongrass and vanilla will stir your sense of pleasure (on your DIY vacation).

Non Dairy Curry Oyster Stew

Occasionally with food blogging, as with life, things don’t go as planned. Despite our best efforts to plan, life can go awry. We get busy.  We get hungry. We eat the samples that we earmark for recipe creation…

Last year, (when blogging about a road trip up to Northern California) by the time I had reached home to Los Angeles, I had eaten the oysters that I had (in my mind) designated to use for my Grilled Oyster Recipe & Citrus-Ginger Dipping Sauce Recipe . Thankfully, having bought the oysters and paid for the road trip entirely out of my own pocket, I actually didn’t feel too bad about having eaten my recipe testing ingredients – they were pretty tasty.  My loss was someone else’s gain. And sometimes, we just have to laugh at ourselves.

Enter Whole Foods. We live directly down the street from Whole Foods – literally and geographically, they are situated at our first traffic light.  The Whole Foods folks are great “go to” resources;  their arms held wide open, ready and willing to help out a damsel in distress.  It was in this pinch that we first came across Carlsbad Aquafarms and Luna oysters – it was completely by accident.  We have been eating Carlsbad Aquafarms’ Luna oysters ever since.

Now when we go to Whole Foods, or to the Santa Monica or Hollywood Farmer’s markets and we see the Carlsbad Aquafarm’s booth, we get excited, and we buy more oysters.  Call it an aphrodisiac, call it umami, call it a love affair with a tasty low sodium ingredient – whatever you want to call it, oysters satisfy our craving.

We created this recipe as our way of saying “thank you” to Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc. for giving us a personal tour!  You can read more about our tour here  (they’re not open to the public).

Print
Curry Oyster Stew Recipe (low sodium, dairy free)

Curry Oyster Stew Recipe (low sodium, dairy free)

Ingredients

  • 2 Potatoes, washed, peeled, and cubed
  • 1/6 cup Celery Root/celeriac, shredded (roughly 1/3 cup lightly packed)
  • 1 1/3 cup (roughly 2) Leek, chopped
  • 2" Lemongrass stalk. cleaned and finely grated. Click here for directions on how to clean lemongrass
  • 3 Tablespoons Grape Seed Oil*
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cumin, ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pasilla chile, ground
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Curry powder
  • 2 dozen shucked and cleaned fresh Luna oysters***
  • 1/2 teaspoon (fresh) Ginger, finely grated**
  • 2 Tablespoons Potato Starch
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 cups low-sodium Chicken Stock
  • 2 cups low-sodium Vanilla Rice Milk
  • *note: chicken broth can be used as a substitute when sauteing
  • ** If you use a shelf stable ginger, this may contain citric acid, which may cause the stew to curdle slightly. We suggest using freshly finely grated ginger.
  • Optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, diced tomato, chopped green onion/scallion

Instructions

  1. On medium-high heat, saute cubed potatoes, celery root, chopped leek, finely grated lemon grass stalk in grape seed oil (or extra chicken broth) until the leek becomes tender. Turn down the heat (to medium).
  2. Add cumin, chile, curry, ginger, potato starch and olive oil to the vegetable mix. Stir out the "spice lumps", taking care not to burn the spices.
  3. Add the oysters, chicken stock, and vanilla rice milk. Increase heat, and bring to gentle boil. Once the stew has thickened, remove from heat, garnish and serve.

Notes

***Oysters: if you can't locate Luna oysters, you can use roughly 2, 16 oz cans of packaged, "fresh" oysters.

http://lowsodiumblog.com/2012/04/curry-oyster-stew-recipe/

 

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Recipes, Low Sodium Recipes Tagged With: ,

Oyster Fest – Low Sodium Oyster Recipes

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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To kick off the weekend, we’ve rounded up a few of our recipes to show our low-sodium love for oysters. Here are some tasty “high aphrodisiac”, low-sodium recipes.

Grilled Oyster Recipe & Citrus-Ginger Dipping Sauce

 

Pecan Crusted Cajun Oysters

 

 You can substitute out the white fish for oysters, and make a delicious Cajun Oyster Gumbo

…and here’s a new recipe, one that we specifically created to celebrate the Carlsbad Aquafarm folks,
we call it our Thailand Inspired Curry Oyster Stew.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Low Sodium Recipes Tagged With: ,

Sustainable Aquaculture: Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc.

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Ever wonder where these beautiful oysters actually come from?  We did.

The wonderful thing about food blogging is that it sparks our curiosity and leads us to explore foods and places located outside of our normal realm.  As many of you know, we cook and eat lot of global dishes– we’ve been inspired from our travels, having eaten and cooked our way around the world.  Much like our love for travel, interest spurs impetus – our stomachs act as our compass. Often, we consciously seek out new experiences; periodically, fate plays the role of our fairy godmother and new foods are found within arm’s reach.  Our reality is that once we return to Los Angeles, we source many of our recipe ingredients close to home; many are farmed in sustainable habitats, like Carlsbad Aquafarm’s Luna Oysters (you can read about how we initially discovered Luna oysters in our Thai inspired Curry Oyster Stew Recipe).

More curious, we wondered, what activities go into farming the fresh oysters that we buy?

On a mission, we headed down to Carlsbad Aquafarm for a private tour of their sustainable aquaculture operation – where they farm abalone, clams, mussels, oysters, and seaweed.  Additionally, they cultivate “live-feed”: micro and macro algae, copepods, amphipods, and brine shrimp.  This post is a primarily a photo tour that focuses on mussel and oyster cultivation (with a little narration).

Once onsite, we soon realized that there are a shocking number of  variables, inputs, and considerations when creating, cultivating, maintaining and growing an aquafarm operation. Let’s start with the food (doesn’t it always start with a hungry stomach?) The aquafarm develops and grows their own shellfish food (algae), as they are a fully sustainable operation:

[Oyster] larvae are cultured and replicated via an assisted hatchery process.

Small pieces of shell are later added to the larvae mix.  The larvae attach themselves to the tiny shell fragments; this helps to kick-start the next phase in the oysters’ metamorphosis.

Over time, the oyster larvae develop into baby oysters.

Small mollusks attach themselves to artificial strands; this helps to simulate mollusks growing in a more natural aquatic environment

Special protective netting is wrapped around the mollusks strands, helping to reduce predator attacks.

As seen below, periodically, mollusks are removed from the estuary and undergo simulated “environmental” conditions. Simulating natural environmental stress helps control the overall production yield.

There is a fine art to simulating natural or environmental stress. An activity, such as simulated tumbling, helps to mimic certain environmental conditions that would normally occur in the open water. Controlling or maximizing different growth variables helps to cultivate an optimal oyster meat to shell growth ratio.

The oysters are sorted by size, placed into trays, and returned to the estuary. The aquafarm repeats the environmental simulations a number of times until the oysters reach optimal market size.

Upon reaching maturity, the oysters are removed from the estuary, sorted by size and placed in new trays where they undergo a final filtering process.

As you can see, there are many trays, and harvesting mollusks is a rather involved process.

Oysters soaking —  undergoing the final cleaning/filtering process.

Perfection! These are ready for market.  (It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t bring our oyster knives, or we would have shucked and eaten our way through all of these oyster trays!!)

After spending an afternoon touring the Carlsbad facility and following the oyster lifecycle, we have a huge appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into sustainable aquaculture.  There’s a lot of science, (mussel, and a few oysters) behind these tasty mollusks!  Thanks again Rebecca, Kelly and the team @ Carlsbad Aquafarm!

(P.S. the Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc. facility is not currently open to the public).

In appreciation to Carlsbad Aquafarm, we made a Curry Oyster Stew and gathered some low sodium oyster recipes together to tie together a whole oyster theme! Happy sustainable eating!

Filed Under: Blog, Bytes to Digest, Featured Cooking & Food Tips, Will Travel For Food... Tagged With: , ,

French Toast (Pain Perdu) Recipe

April 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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It’s been a fun Cajun adventure over the past few weeks. We’re wrapping up our Acadiana (Nova Scotia) > Louisiana  > New Orleans trek with an all time favorite – pain perdu.  Translated, pain perdu means “lost bread”; more commonly, it’s referred to as French toast. Regardless of its’ origin or name, the smell of freshly made pain perdu is one of the best things to wake up to – and is one of the easiest breakfast dishes to make.

Having mastered making low sodium French bread and stuffed ourselves on low sodium Cajun po’boy sandwiches, we barely had enough bread on hand to make this classic French/Acadian/New Orleans  dish! Bon appétit!

Print
Low Sodium French Toast (Pain Perdu)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 8-12 slices; ~ serves 4

Serving Size: 2 slices

Low Sodium French Toast (Pain Perdu)

Ingredients

  • 8 slices of low sodium French bread
    • Batter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup low-fat milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • (spray) cooking oil
  • Low sodium French toast topping ideas: fresh fruit, maple syrup, confectioners' sugar, caramelized bananas or apples,
  • Try making a stuffed French toast: Combine a small amount of (lower sodium) Greek yogurt, fresh berries, and/or roasted and chopped nuts, (or more simply, just use pureed bananas) to use as a filling.

Instructions

  1. Slice the French bread on the bias, roughly 1" thick. (Note: if you make this a stuffed French toast, you'll want to cut the bread slightly thicker than noted below. Slice the bread roughly 1 1/2" in thickness). Set aside.
  2. To make the batter: mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup in a shallow bowl.
  3. Preheat the non-stick pan or griddle. Spray a small amount of the cooking oil, just enough to cover the surface of the non-stick pan. (If you're using a regular griddle, you may need to use more oil to cover the surface of the pan)
  4. (If you plan to make stuffed pain perdu, create a small incision in the middle/horizontal plane of the bread, so as to create a "mini-pocket" - similar to slicing the bread by half it's thickness. Place a small amount of the yogurt and fruit filling inside the bread pocket, roughly 1-2 tablespoons)
  5. Quickly dip each bread slice in the batter, ensuring that both sides have been adequately covered. Remove the bread from the batter.
  6. Make sure the pan is hot. Place the battered bread on the [heated] pan and cook until evenly browned/crisped on each side. (I flip mine frequently to avoid accidental burning).

Notes

Tips to help ensure that our French Toast doesn't turn out soggy.

1. We do not allow our French bread to "sit" in the batter longer than necessary. Basically, it's a very "quick dip", just enough to ensure that the (less stale = more fresh) bread has been completely coated with the batter.

2. The liquid: bread consistency (i.e., dryness or # of days the bread has been sitting): bread thickness ratio can vary significantly from home to home. 3. Try not to "water down" the egg: milk ratio. We're going for more of a custard "feel", and less of a watery solution.

4. Ensure your sliced bread is of the appropriate thickness

5. "Stale" bread that has been sitting out on the counter for a couple of days can sit longer in the batter than if you use freshly baked bread. You can try squishing a small corner of a test piece every 15-20 seconds to see how "saturated" the bread has become.

6. If you've been "multitasking" and inadvertently leave the bread soaking longer than necessary, you can try putting baking out some of the moisture after you've cooked it on the griddle/pan. Place the cooked French toast on baking sheets, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes @ 350F.

http://lowsodiumblog.com/2012/04/french-toast-pain-perdu-recipe/

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Recipes, Low Sodium Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Tracing New Orleans’ Origins of the Famous Muffuletta & Po’ Boy Sandwiches / How to Make The Perfect Low Sodium Po’Boy Sandwich

April 13, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Back in the day, before I started eating low sodium/heart healthy, a trip to New Orleans meant that I looked forward to eating two infamous sandwiches: the po’boy and the muffuletta.  Just thinking about these sandwiches used to make my mouth water.  In today’s post, we’re tracing the origins of these two famous New Orleans sandwiches, and we’ll walk you through a healthy version of one of them.

The po’boy is cornerstone of New Orleans cuisine made famous by Benny and Clovis Martin, two Acadian brothers and former street car conductors turned sandwich shop owners.  During a railway workers strike in 1929, the two brothers vowed to feed their former coworkers, gratis (free) – pledging “We are with you ’til h– –l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm”.  Martin Brothers’ Coffee Stand & Restaurant gave out a lot of free sandwiches: the strike and the Martin’s pledge to stand by their former colleagues and feed the striking workers lasted for several months.  The striking railway workers quickly adopted the nickname, “poor boy” and whenever one approached the Martin Brothers’ sandwich shop, a local would holler out, “here comes another poor boy,” – or, po’ boy in New Orleans dialect.  The po’boy nickname quickly became synonymous with the actual (and formerly free) sandwich itself, and the name stuck.

Today, the po’boy is a complex submarine-like sandwich stacked with many different layers of culinary genius. Individually ingredient by ingredient, and in its entirety, biting into a hot po’ boy sandwich is an experience like no other.  The New Orleans po’ boy is notably distinguished by its use of “New Orleans French bread” — a crispy crust and a light, fluffy interior — French bread made most famous by a (Deidesheim) German immigrant, George Leidenheimer.  Leidenheimer founded his New Orleans’ institution, the Leidenheimer Baking Company, in 1896 — and it’s as they say, “good to the last crumb”.  And that’s just the first layer.

Between the bread, the po’ boy can include a plethora of goodies. Typical concoctions include breaded fried shrimp, catfish or oysters. The “combination” includes hot roast beef, ham, gravy and cheese. My favorites are the fried oyster or grilled chicken po’boy, dressed, easy on the mayo.  “Dressed” means added lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  As you can start to see, with all of these ingredients, the po’boy can easily be a heart-stopper – but we’ve found healthier ways to lighten the load (stay tuned).  You can get po’ boys with grilled chicken or fish, and vegetarian sandwiches. They’re made to order, so you can choose  healthier options.

By contrast, the muffulleta (pronounced “moo-foo-LET-ta”) is  just flat out scary.

Created in the early 1900s, Sicilian farmers working at the nearby farmer’s market would stop by the French Quarter’s Central Grocery Store and separately order salami, ham, cheese, olive salad and either Italian bread or a round muffuletta loaf for lunch.  Watching the farmers eat all of these ingredients separately and in a rather clumsy fashion, Salvatore Lupo, the store owner, envisioned a more efficient way to eat: slicing the muffuletta loaf horizontally and piling everything on. Voila — the muffuletta was born! It’s one of the most well known sandwiches in the French Quarter, with people lining up around the block just for a taste.

Here’s why the muffuletta scares me: each sandwich contains approximately 3170 calories, 231g of fat and 9880mg of sodium. Merely looking at one causes my blood pressure to soar. To be fair though, people seem to only eat a half or quarter of a sandwich, but a quarter of a muffuletta is still 2470mg of sodium. All I can say is when you’re in New Orleans, strongly consider resisting this temptation. It’s only a cold cut sandwich.

Having said all of this, just talking about New Orleans and po’ boys got us craving them. Before I knew it, Johanna was preparing her delicious low-sodium French bread and creating the delectable po’ boy sandwich seen in the photo (top).

So now, there’s no need to miss-out on this New Orleans classic!  Here’s how to do it without piling on the sodium:

1.  Bread –   If you feel ambitious (as we did), you can make your own low-sodium French bread.

 

2.  Inside: Pecan Crusted Cajun (Breaded) Oysters

 

3.Dressed. Add tomatoes, Celery Root (Celeriac and Radicchio) Remoulade, and (optionally) low sodium mayo:

4. Then imagine yourself sitting on the veranda at a Louisiana Plantation, eating your po’boy… drinking lemonade, and enjoying the good life. .. (better hop to it and get cooking!)

Laura Plantation

 

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Cooking & Food Tips, Will Travel For Food... Tagged With: , ,

Pecan Crusted Cajun Oysters

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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How can you possibly go wrong with a spicy and delicious  pecan “breading”?

Mix the spices with “breading”, gently roll the oysters, and pan saute.  It’s really that easy!

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Cajun Pecan Breaded Oyster Recipe (Low Sodium)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen oysters

Cajun Pecan Breaded Oyster Recipe (Low Sodium)

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup pecan pieces
  • 1/2 cup [white] flour
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure unsalted mild red chili powder
  • Pinch of cayenne * (optional depending on your heat tolerance)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 dozen oysters - shucked and drained
  • Cooking oil (amount used will depend upon the size of your pan).

Instructions

  1. To make the breading, place the pecans into the food processor. Grind the pecan pieces into a fine [dry] powder. Add the flour and spices, and mix together to create a dry mix and place in a [breading] tray.
  2. Gently roll each [shucked, cleaned, and drained] oyster in the breading. (Oysters are somewhat delicate).
  3. Heat the oil in the pan (use enough oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan).
  4. Place the breaded oyster into the heated oil/pan. Saute on each side of the oyster for approximately 1 to 2 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown. (Note: overcrowding oysters in the pan will make it difficult to saute them properly without affecting the integrity of the breading).
  5. Remove from pan and serve immediately.
http://lowsodiumblog.com/2012/04/pecan-crusted-cajun-oysters-recipe/

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Recipes, Low Sodium Recipes Tagged With: , ,

Celery Root (Celeriac and Radicchio) Remoulade Recipe

April 6, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Traditional céleri rémoulade makes a wonderful stand-alone side salad or a delicious condiment, but if you’re not French or haven’t eaten céleri rémoulade before, you’re probably not the only person scratching your head thinking to yourself, “Uhh…celery, rey-moo-what?  I can’t even pronounce it, let alone eat it.” (uncomfortable pause) “uh..rey-moo-what?”  

Céleri rémoulade: it’s a staple salad or side dish to many, many French meals.  I try to think of céleri rémoulade this way: it looks like coleslaw, it’s much more flavorful (think concentrated celery-parsley mix), and it’s texture is more delicate because it’s made with baby celery root and not cabbage (as with coleslaw).

Inspired by an appreciation for celery root (or celeriac) – we got down to work converting a classic French favorite (ties in with the French Acadians and our current Cajun food theme). Our simple masterpiece is tossed in an olive oil version of “Dijon-aise”, a dash of little lemon juice, white wine (or champagne) vinegar, and viola, céleri rémoulade!

To further reduce the sodium content (and to add an element of color), we’ve added a twist to an otherwise ubiquitous, classic French salad by using radicchio as a complimentary vegetable.  Additionally, we’ve lightened the calorie and sodium load by substituting olive oil (for mayonnaise). In doing so, some might call our “new recipe” a mélange rather than a remoulade; others might think we’ve just committed a crime by veering away from traditional French food.

My céleri rémoulade recipe tips are:

  • Choose your celery root wisely, grasshopper!  (Read our blog post here on celery root selection tips ). Choosing the right celery root affects the taste, texture, and ease in which you will be working with (and not fighting against) this root vegetable. Inadvertently reaching for the wrong celery root may result in an undesirable texture and flavor of the finished product.
  • This dish is best eaten FRESH (same day).   We’ve noted that having made modifications to this recipe (to make it more healthy) shortens its’ overall lifespan just a little.
  • You don’t have to make a ton of céleri rémoulade — often we’ll make just enough (not the full recipe) to use “on demand”; when we scale the size (downwards).  Mix the dressing in a separate container, ad hoc: start with an olive oil base, and then add in each ingredient one at time (moving down the list in sequential order).  Taste as you go along  (in case you have to adjust the flavor balance).  It’s easy to do this when there are only seven or eight ingredients. Even if you end up with more liquid than you want, you don’t have to add it all to the shredded mix.  Add the dressing slowly in small increments, gently tossing the salad mix – until you’ve reached the desired texture.  (It’s okay to discard extra dressing, but it’s not so great if you’ve inadvertently over saturated your small batch of remoulade.)

Bon appétit!

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Celery Root Remoulade Recipe (Céleri Rémoulade/Celeriac - low sodium)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 8 - 10 cups

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Celery Root Remoulade Recipe (Céleri Rémoulade/Celeriac - low sodium)

Ingredients

  • 2 small celeriac (celery root "bulbs", in aggregate, roughly 1 lb)
  • 1/2 small head radicchio, uncooked (it's also good grilled, but you should grill it before slicing it)
  • 6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil based (low sodium) mayonnaise (note: mayo can be substituted for crème fraiche or an egg yolk).
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons (sodium free) grainy or Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar** *(we used Champagne vinegar, it's what we had on hand)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • Dash of finely grated white pepper

Instructions

  1. Wash, peel and shred the celery root (a box grater works wonders if you don't have a food grinder/food processor). Thinly slice the radicchio into ribbons (i.e., cut into a fine chiffonade).
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk olive oil, mayonnaise, mustard, white wine vinegar, pepper, and lemon juice.
  3. Toss together, and refrigerate before serving. The salad should keep for a couple of days in the fridge (remember, there's mayo in this).
http://lowsodiumblog.com/2012/04/celery-root-celeriac-radicchio-remoulade-recipe-celeri/

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Recipes, Low Sodium Recipes Tagged With: , , ,
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