Tricky combo - low sodium and low carb

chortick

I am not finding a lot of recipes to work with. Aside from grilling lots of veggies and a little meat, I feel kind of stuck. I know from experience that I will look at that slab of grilled chicken in a month or two with exactly zero appetite.

Searching online leads either to the various low-carb sites (always too much salt) or to low-salt sites (too many carbs) and there does not seem to be a sweet spot between them.

Typical breakfast for me: eggs (scrambled or boiled), a few olives, a few grape tomatoes and coffee or water.
Typical lunch for me: yesterday's leftover dinner
Typical dinner for me: grilled veggies (asparagus, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, onions), maybe green beans or broccoli instead, with either chicken or steak as a main.

Am unable to use 95% of commercial sauces (on both salt and sugar). I have found some low-salt bread and it's probably low glycemic index also, although the absolute carb count is too high. Found some no-salt bagels but they blow up the carb budget. Found steak and chicken spices with no salt, they are great for variety, although I usually make my own marinades.

Am not terribly fond of fish, and what I like is inherently salty (crab, calamari...). If I never see another salmon filet, that will be too soon.

In short, I think I have the mechanics in hand, but am looking for additional ideas.

youngamber82

I have a veggie beef soup recipe that is delicious (in my opinion) that seems to b pretty healthy.

68 calories
9 carbs
1 fat
5 protein
157 sodium
1 sugar

I make it in the crock pot and it makes about 8 servings or more so after breaking down the #'s, the above is what it breaks down to. If you would like to have the recipe, I can post it later when I am hoem from work. I freeze my leftovers and can take them easily for lunch on other days. I have the same problem, I do not like to eat meals high in sodium but have trouble finding them. Eating some sodium is fine though, I track my sodium and just try not to go in excess of my goals but if I can find things that are lower in sodium then great! Maybe we can share a few recipe ideas. I also ry up bits of boneless skinless chicken breasts and mix in some green, red, and yellow peppers and some onions and eat that. It is delicious and easy to make.

chortick

Food has always been a big experience thing for me, shopping, prep, cooking, serving and eating. Maybe cleaning up after not so much, but nobody's perfect. I like standing over a barbecue, so I tend to grill my chicken and veggies year-round... I dug out my wok in the depths of winter to avoid going outside, but I prefer the texture and flavour off the grill over stir-fry. I found a line of great salt-free spices (http://davidscondiments.com/products_list/rubs/) and use those on beef and chicken.

Funny, I just made veggie beef soup last week. I got some salt-free beef stock in my last fractional cow order, and used that.

Yesterday was beef back ribs, steak spice, low and slow... about three hours of fussing... and some chicken wings that I finished in a honey-garlic concoction that I whipped together and pretended had no carbs in it. Not that I got more than one, the kids demolished them. Also grilled zucchini, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Veggies marinated in olive oil, garlic, splash of worcester sauce and some black pepper. There may have been a small steak in the mix somewhere, but I blinked and missed it. Steak was plain except garlic rubbed on it before grilling.

Tonight will be grilled chicken breasts, marinating now, some beef sausages (same fractional cow) with fennel and chill flakes in them, some grilled portobello mushrooms with oil/balsamic, split cherry tomatoes and low-salt Cantenaar cheese melted on them. If I get there, broccoli/cheddar bites for the kids. If not, steamed string beans.

Tomorrow will be Uighur-style spicy beef... I have to make 2-3 pounds at a time to even get close to having some myself. All bets are off when that bowl hits the table, and fork injuries are fair play. I had to eliminate the salt on this one (normally very salty) but with ginger, cumin, chill flakes, garlic and nutmeg on it, you can hardly tell. Probably steamed beans as veggies and some rice or corn for the kids.

I can provide details on ingredients and techniques, but you get the idea. My longer term problem is that even this kind of rotation will get stale, and kids in particular are fickle. They're at a "different foods can't touch each other" stage just now that is driving me up the wall.

lizzardsm

Why can't you have carbs or salt?

Do you have celiac disease or high blood pressure?

MysteriousMerlin

Gotta watch out, a lot of stuff that's low carb makes up for it with sodium. I too am lower carb and low sodium.

I don't season meat with salt, before or after cooking, and when I make sauces & gravies, I use unsalted chicken stock (Kitchen Basics brand). There's still sodium, but no where near what is in other brands.

There are quite a few canned or frozen vegetables that are no-salt-added that are tasty. I like Muir Glen no-salt-added fire-roasted canned tomatoes for my chili & taco meat.

I stick with Thomas Light high-fiber multi-grain english muffins for my bread needs, though I occasionally use Healthy Life high-fiber, low carb whole wheat bread, and Ole Xtreme high-fiber whole wheat tortilla wraps (though these are higher in sodium).

imju5tme

Funny, I just made veggie beef soup last week. I got some salt-free beef stock in my last fractional cow order, and used that.

Yesterday was beef back ribs, steak spice, low and slow... about three hours of fussing... and some chicken wings that I finished in a honey-garlic concoction that I whipped together and pretended had no carbs in it. Not that I got more than one, the kids demolished them. Also grilled zucchini, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Veggies marinated in olive oil, garlic, splash of worcester sauce and some black pepper. There may have been a small steak in the mix somewhere, but I blinked and missed it. Steak was plain except garlic rubbed on it before grilling.

Tonight will be grilled chicken breasts, marinating now, some beef sausages (same fractional cow) with fennel and chill flakes in them, some grilled portobello mushrooms with oil/balsamic, split cherry tomatoes and low-salt Cantenaar cheese melted on them. If I get there, broccoli/cheddar bites for the kids. If not, steamed string beans.

Tomorrow will be Uighur-style spicy beef... I have to make 2-3 pounds at a time to even get close to having some myself. All bets are off when that bowl hits the table, and fork injuries are fair play. I had to eliminate the salt on this one (normally very salty) but with ginger, cumin, chill flakes, garlic and nutmeg on it, you can hardly tell. Probably steamed beans as veggies and some rice or corn for the kids.

I know my comment won't be helpful, but... if you don't want your dinners, may I have them? What you have described sounds VERY good. :flowerforyou:

liekewheeless

I like making vegetable omelets. I cook for 3 so I use 6 eggs, half a cup of milk and whatever vegetable I can think of. Spinach broccoli, carrot, onion.

As for sauce, salsa is not as high in sugar or calories as most other sauces and you can make it yourself if you don't like the ones from the store.

also, if you don't mind potassium you can use salt substitute (don't use to much it's very very salty tasting) to give some of your dishes some flavor.

Acg67

Gotta watch out, a lot of stuff that's low carb makes up for it with sodium. I too am lower carb and low sodium.

I don't season meat with salt, before or after cooking, and when I make sauces & gravies, I use unsalted chicken stock (Kitchen Basics brand). There's still sodium, but no where near what is in other brands.

There are quite a few canned or frozen vegetables that are no-salt-added that are tasty. I like Muir Glen no-salt-added fire-roasted canned tomatoes for my chili & taco meat.

I stick with Thomas Light high-fiber multi-grain english muffins for my bread needs, though I occasionally use Healthy Life high-fiber, low carb whole wheat bread, and Ole Xtreme high-fiber whole wheat tortilla wraps (though these are higher in sodium).

You don't season meat with salt at all? Salt is kinda integral to good cooking

jkwolly

Awesome, more salty carbs for me!

acpgee

I'm (formerly) diabetic with high blood pressure so I eat pretty much the same way though I am not as careful with salt as I should be.

For dinner you do have more choices in terms of lean protein. I love grilled shrimp and scallops if you are not eating on a budget. Tuna steaks done rare are also quite meaty.

I do a lot of roasted vegetables (courgette, asparagus, fennel, green beans and sugar snaps, carrots, sweet potato, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli) but also roast pricked cherry tomatoes.

I make my own salad dressings, either oil and vinegar or homemade buttermilk ranch (mostly buttermilk with a little sour cream, mayo, garlic powder and herbs). Also homemade salsa verde, and pesto. You could look into homemade salsa as well.

My breakfasts are usually no fat yoghurt with a little commercial granola stirred in for crunch and sweetness. Lunch is usually 200g of frozen veg with some leftover protein, or a boiled egg.

chortick

Although I will indulge periodically, both shrimp and scallops are inherently too salty for me. Base sodium counts in the raw materials put me over my daily limits.

chortick

>> You don't season meat with salt at all? Salt is kinda integral to good cooking

I used to think I needed salt, too, as part of the chemistry of cooking. I have found that I don't.

chortick

>> Why can't you have carbs or salt? Do you have celiac disease or high blood pressure?

Neither celiac nor high blood pressure. My situation is really too complicated to relay in this forum, but suffice it to say that I had a completely unexplained problem that made me very ill, then went away. Bonus: I dropped from 278 to 172 on a 6'1" frame in about 4 months, although I can hardly recommend hospitalization and multiple invasive procedures as a weight loss technique.

Part of managing the after-effects is low salt. The low carbs are because I am starting to put on some weight around my stomach, and on analysis, I was consuming a lot of sugars.

verptwerp

Bump .... for a later read .....

cpdiminish

How about fulfilling your joy for cooking and utilizing your spice cabinet to bump up the flavors in things you cook for yourself?

I was going to say make your own sauces utilizing ingredients like celery and black olives for flavor, until I realized that both of those can have quite a bit of sodium.

So trying again, how about making use of onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Or you could go in the spicey direction with hot peppers. Or try some indian style dishes that utilize the eastern spices.

I'd also google "no salt spice mix" and see if you can make up a batch of something you could add to any dish that you make, right at the table.

I hope you live in a big city that has organic grocery stores so that you can find meats that don't have nitrates or nitrites added. Those two are way worse when it comes to sodiums that do harm than plain old table salt. But even without the grocery store, it would be worthwhile to track down a butcher from who you can get meat without any additives.

I'd also make sure there was still enough iodine in your diet because iodized salt is the main source for folks who aren't eating a lot of seafood or seaweeds, ie. not living in Japan. There are low sodium salts on the market that are still fortified with iodine, if not available in your grocery store, definitely can be found online. Else a supplement might be your only choice. I'd research my options before buying because some have side effects.

My female instinct is to worry that you could take it too far because sodium is always going to be an essential nutrient.

Mangopickle

I typically use a third to half the salt in any recipe. I use pink salt and kosher salt because they taste saltier in small amounts and I add a pinch 1/8 tsp of MSG. I averaged about 1100 for sodium over the last 90 days according to my MFP report. If you are making your food you shouldn't have much trouble. That said, I use a vast array of herbs and spices. I do not use bottled sauces, too much sugar.

chortick

I was going to say make your own sauces utilizing ingredients like celery and black olives for flavor, until I realized that both of those can have quite a bit of sodium.

So trying again, how about making use of onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Or you could go in the spicey direction with hot peppers. Or try some indian style dishes that utilize the eastern spices.

I'd also google "no salt spice mix" and see if you can make up a batch of something you could add to any dish that you make, right at the table.

I hope you live in a big city that has organic grocery stores so that you can find meats that don't have nitrates or nitrites added. Those two are way worse when it comes to sodiums that do harm than plain old table salt. But even without the grocery store, it would be worthwhile to track down a butcher from who you can get meat without any additives.

I'd also make sure there was still enough iodine in your diet because iodized salt is the main source for folks who aren't eating a lot of seafood or seaweeds, ie. not living in Japan. There are low sodium salts on the market that are still fortified with iodine, if not available in your grocery store, definitely can be found online. Else a supplement might be your only choice. I'd research my options before buying because some have side effects.

My female instinct is to worry that you could take it too far because sodium is always going to be an essential nutrient.

I have found a source of artisinal black olives that are much lower salt than regular ones. I've found 3-4 suppliers of low-salt spices for a range of circumstances, and am not at all shy about constructing my own spicing. I tend towards spicy rather than savoury.

I buy my meat from a fractional cow service... once 20 people or so indicate they are ready, a local organic farmer does his thing and we each get a mixed basket. They also do chicken and pork.

I recognize that sodium is an essential nutrient, but too much will harm me. It's not a random or vanity choice, I have specific instructions that I am following in this matter.

I get my iodine fix in occasional sushi, a conscious huge indulgence. Local place knows my preferences, makes brown rice no salt with notice.

cpdiminish

I buy my meat from a fractional cow service... once 20 people or so indicate they are ready, a local organic farmer does his thing and we each get a mixed basket. They also do chicken and pork.

SUPER jealous on the fractional service!

It actually sounds as if you already have your act together in spades!

antthony14282

bump