Oh my lord, I love my salt. As a matter of fact, for some years, my sodium levels were low, so eating salt was not big deal for me. But I guess as we get older...ahem....things can change. As I have mentioned previously, when I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago my blood pressure was somewhat elevated and I was given a prescription. I was told if I loose some weight I would be able to get off the medication.
So I am currently watching what I eat and having my blood pressure taken everyday, I haven't started on the meds yet. Well, for the last week my b/p flucuated from 143/98, 160/90, 150/89 and so and so on and I was determined to find an additional solution along with loosing weight.
People are always getting on me about the amount of salt that I eat on my food, so much so that it really gets on my nerves. I always had my b/p taken everytime I went in for a checkup and it was always just fine so I didn't even think about it. I don't put much salt in food when I am cooking it because I know most people don't like the amount of salt that I do. I don't eat processed meat (lunchmeat or hotdogs) except maybe a ham sandwich on rare occassions. I do eat bacon about once a week. I don't very often eat frozen dinners which are loaded with sodium, I eat store bought cookies and cakes very seldom, I usually make mine homemade. I very rarely eat "boxed foods" (mac and cheese, flavored rice or potatoes). All these foods are loaded with sodium and I make a lot of my food homemade. So how could it be sodium that is raising my b/p?
Well.......I am a "chip-a-holic". I love me some plain, Lays potato chips. Oh and pretzels, good, salty pretzels. I even look for the bag with the most salt on them. Oh, and maybe it could be that when I eat I salt my food like most folks, but then I always have the salt shaker at hand and I pretty much salt every bite that I put in my mouth again...and...again. But surely that can't be it. It's never been a problem before......sigh.
So last Friday I decided I would watch my salt intake, not so much with the foods that I was eating, but the amount of salt that I would normally add to anything that I ate. So all weekend I ate extra fruit, extra veggies and when I had my food on my plate, I "gently" salted it like a normal person would and then I put the salt shaker away, out of reach and didn't add anymore salt during the meal. Jeez, it was hard. To me the food had no flavor, it was less enticing and almost inedible. I even bought different flavors of Mrs. Dash to add spice and flavor, but it didn't help. This may be my ticket to loosing weight, nothing tastes good so I won't eat it.....aha!! I didn't even eat a single chip or pretzel all weekend in order to test my theory. What a boring weekend, food wise.
So I got my b/p taken again today. I was already feeling nervous and defeated and had already made up my mind that it was going to be high. I figured I would just take the medicine and then just eat whatever I wanted. Surprise...Surprise....my b/p was down to 130/80. I couldn't believe it. And I still had not started on the meds. Was it just coincidence, maybe, or could it be that I watched my "extra" intake of salt when I am eating. Or could it be that I didn't eat any salty chips all weekend? Hmmm.....or is it a combination of all these? I felt energized, I felt like maybe the sacrifice was worth it, and believe me, it was a sacrifice for me. It made me feel like I could keep on trying to eat less salt. I will continue checking my pressure and hopefully it will keep staying low and maybe go lower.
I know there is sodium in lots of food, and I will watch that, but I am concentrating more on not adding all the extra salt that I have always done. Will I never eat chips again, of course not, but it will be an occasional treat and a small portion. Will I sometimes eat more salt than I should, probably, but hopefully it will be less and less often and as a treat not a habit. So I am holding off on the meds for now and see how it goes. Today I only added a slight bit of salt to my meals and they tasted a little....little better.
This whole salt thing is really making my UNcomfortable!!!!
RECIPE OF THE DAY BASIC PIZZA DOUGH (Lucinda Scala Quinn)
Makes 6 individual 6"pizzas
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 tsp. sugar
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (plus more for kneading)
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 tsps of coarse salt
Heat water and milk in a pan over low heat until lukewarm. Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over liquid and stir. Let sit until yeast is dissolved up to 5 min.
Stir in the olive oil, flour and salt. Once the dough is combined, knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic. 10 to 15 minutes.
Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough and lightly brush the top with olive oil. Cover and let stand in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 3 hours. Or place in the refrigerator overnight to rise slowly.
Punch the dough down and divide into the appropriate number of portions. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and cover until ready to roll out.
I separated my dough into 5 or six pieces, wrapped in plastic wrap, and put in a freezer bag. I just pull one or two out and put in fridge that morning to use that evening. After I stretch out my dough and add my sauce and toppings, I put it in a 500degree oven for 10 minutes or so. Just keep a watch on it, it cooks fast. You can tell it is ready when the edges start getting browned and crispy.
It is really good.
Kathy
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