busy mom here and need to decrease my sodium intake! Help!

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Sutton002
Sutton002 Posts: 24
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok this is day 10 of my journey and I love the balance of chili the carbs, fiber and protien but it is costing me in sodium in a big way. I like to have some things (ok a lot of things that are fast and easy to get to) i have 8 kids and I fix them a nice dinner but I am always on the go! I want something yummy to eat, low in sodium but well balanced (trying to have less carbs not no carbs but I want an even balance of fiber, protien and carb at nearly every meal. If you have any good ideas please share! Thanks for your support!

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  • FAMILY02184
    FAMILY02184 Posts: 44
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    WOW 8 kids all I can say is I give you SO MUCH CREDIT.... thats awsome.. you are definately busy.. I love salt myself I put less now but love my chips which I have been staying away from but I know its hard. Good luck how old are all your kids? I have 3

    19 girl, 16.5 girl and son 6
  • bunnysone
    bunnysone Posts: 486 Member
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    well done - no wonder you are time poor!

    I would suspect that with little time and high sodium content you are using a lot of premixed products?

    The secret to cutting sodium (unfortunately in your case) is to cook from scratch as much as you can.

    I would suggest organising your meal week perhaps one day on the weekend and precooking batches of food - hopefully your kids are old enough to help, which is good as it will show them responsible handling of food too so they dont grow up taking the easy way out!

    For example, cook up batches of mince with vegetables to use with pies, serve with rice, make mexican wraps etc. It's the hidden additives in packaged foods that hide salt and other nasties - the more foods you can incorporate that DONT come in a box or DONT have a lot of numbers that mean nothing unless you are a food technician the better!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    Have you tried just leaving out the ingredients in your chili that add so much sodium? I know they make no-added sodium tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc. If you're doing the cooking, leave the salt out of your dishes (or replace with low-sodium versions, where possible) and then just sprinkle a bit on when you go to eat it. I've found that when I cut the salt out of some foods that they actually taste better.

    The previous poster is correct about packaged, processed foods. I no longer buy most of them. I once checked out the sodium content on Stove Top Stuffing and almost fainted. It's 510 mg in a 1/2 cup serving. That's about 1/3 of your daily allotment of sodium in an itty bitty half cup! It's much better, and not much more difficult to make your own.
  • Sutton002
    Sutton002 Posts: 24
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    Thanks for asking! That was very sweet! I <3 my family and my kids and I am the only one unhealthy in this entire house! Everyone is very active in sports and my husband is very busy at work. I play taxi running to appts and meetings all day so I am on my FAT butt most of the day! So I am taking a turn in a new direction and every chance I get I am off my butt and trying to walk or exercise! It is very important to me and I want to be health first and look amazing second!

    I don't like salt at all as far as adding it to any food! I love regular pepper though! I just can't find anything fast that is protien that has very low sodium! Everything even smoked salmon is up there! So just need some ideas because I dont want to get sick of eating the same thing over and over!

    I have 2 (18) and graduating this year a boy and a girl. I have a girl almost 16, a 13 yr old boy, a 12 year old girl, 11 year old girl, 10 year old boy and 9 year old boy!

    We love kids and have a passion for (adopting) as well !!! =)
  • Sutton002
    Sutton002 Posts: 24
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    Thanks I will work on that! I like that idea! I will need some recipies so any good place to get some that are well balanced that you might know of?
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    Should have mentioned, if time is an issue, and being Mom the Taxi Driver, I'm sure it is, dust off that crockpot and put it to use. There are a lot of great crockpot recipes out there that you can make the night before, turn on in the morning and serve it at dinner time. Just do a Google search and you'll find tons of them.
  • bunnysone
    bunnysone Posts: 486 Member
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    try making your own pizzas too! Just use lebanese bread or flatbread then add all the ingredients you want that are low salt (pineapple, tomato, mushroom, capiscum (any vegetables really) then low salt options in cheese!

    I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, hardly any salt there.

    Good on you for starting to be an active person - take the challenge of finding more incidental exercise when you can, like climbing stairs, walking instead of driving short distances etc! And get involved in your kids sports! Perhaps you can umpire, volunteer with them in timing and setting up events too

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