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CONTENTS 10
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Summer 2016 Vol. 19 No. 247
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Contents Heartbeat — 3 Working In The Kitchen — 4 Options-Choices —6 Top Two Bestsellers—8 Summer Veggies/Fruits— 9 Making No-Salt Bread — 10 100% Whole Wheat Bread — 12 Recipes — 13 Poppy Seed Scones — 15 Healthy Summer Snacks — 19 Still More Recipes— 20 Soup & Sauce — 22
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Summer Snacks Keep salt out and lower your sodium with great summer snacks of fresh fruit. Mega 2 News
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HEARTBEAT
oday, just before sitting down to write this note, I read an article that stated that Americans undersalted their steaks while cooking them. The writer went on to say that salt is what drew out the flavor of steaks. How wrong he was. We have scientific evidence that salt damages the human palate. We also have the same scientific evidence that stopping all salt intake will help cure the palate in about ninety days. With a cured palate we taste things as they should taste. Consequently, many of us have discovered what we’ve been missing for much of our lives. Great flavors, incredible spices and a healthy dietary pattern. What the writer’s palate is seeking from his food is more salt for his damaged palate so that he can taste “something.” Salt does not draw flavors out of food, it merely masks them and creates its own addictive need for yet more. The article is an indication, however, that too many food editors of too many publications are still locked into the very high sodium levels of recipes they promote in magazines, newspapers and other media. No wonder the average level of sodium intake ranges around 3,400 to 6,000 mg a day. (The range differs from various government and private organizations.) I believe the higher number is near accurate for far too many people, especially those who eat out a lot. The 2006 AMA recommendation for sodium intake per day was and remains 1300 mg to 1800 mg per day for healthy people and much lower for those who need to restrict sodium intake. With science as our guide, we know that the human body can operate efficiently with just 8 to 10 mmol a day. (144 mg to 180 mg). But that’s a bit impossible without starving. A few carrots and a stalk of celery will deliver that much sodium. Megaheart was the first to establish 500 mg a day for those with CHF, hypertension, Meniere’s Syndrome and a few other ailments. We continue to promote that as a goal. I have been on a 500 mg or fewer a day since 1997. It’s not difficult, although at first it may seem so. We just have to avoid processed foods, “junk food,” fast foods, restaurant food unless they guarantee fresh foods and no processed foods, and guarantee they will not add salt or salted spice mixes to the meal. Not many restaurants are willing to do that, but there are more of them today than there were in 1997. Gluten Free We’ve all seen the Gluten Free labels on many foods today. It’s sort of like a marketing fad right now but an important one for many. Those with gluten sensitivity need gluten-free, but be careful of all the claims. If you are gluten sensitive or have Celiac disease, you’ll want to read all the ingredients when buying processed foods claiming to be glute-free. Also, check for the sodium levels. In our next quarterly newsletter we hope to have a collection of gluten free breads, biscuits, muffins, cookies, etc., fully tested for low sodium and free of gluten. We have been experimenting lately and it’s been interesting, somewhat challenging and definitely requires multiple tests for each recipe. We will stick exclusively with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free products to produce these recipes, but only because we want to have a national product that is consistently the same and easily obtainable either locally or via the Net. Until then, enjoy the upcoming summer months. Around here it’s going to get hot. J Don
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Working In The Kitchen The No-Salt Way When we are diagnosed with a disease that requires we change our eating lifestyle, things in the kitchen change, things like the food we eat and how we prepare our meals. If you don’t classify yourself as a cook or chef or kitchen type, then here is a list of what to look out for and what not to do as well as what to do. We are concerned mostly with food prep and with baking, frying, barbecuing, stovetop cooking. Our ovens are often our friend and the microwave has specific uses. We often make mistakes in the kitchen and that often causes a bit of kitchen-chaos. Let’s take some of the points one at a time. 6 Preheating an oven is not always necessary but it is important for a few baked goods like cakes, muffins, pies and some breads and of course all oven cooked meats. Note: We have changed the rules here with some of our bread recipes, but the general rule is to preheat adequately. When we place our bread into a 100o F oven to rise, we leave it there to bake. Changing the temp to recipe recommendation. The bread will then rise a bit more but bake evenly and usually be done by the time the oven temp gets to the baking level. To get an oven fully to 350o Fahrenheit we need about 20 minutes. Remember ovens don’t really stay stable at a set temperature. They rise and drop and rise and drop above and below that target heat in order to maintain the set temp. That’ s another reason we do not want to open the door while baking. Remember our saying: If you’re looking, it’s not cooking. ' Food temperatures are critical if we don’t want to contribute to food poisoning for ourselves or family and friends. The U.S.A. government provides a helpful temperature chart at: foodsafety.gov/keep/ charts/mintemp.html. There are many thermometers for baking and cooking. You can find them from $6.99 (not very good) up to $165 (Thermapen). In the lower price ranges we found a Lavatool that works well. You can see this at Lava tool at Amazon if you want to take a look. We use it for meats and bread baking.
' Preheat fry pans. You’ll find amazing results when you do. Omelets will cook neatly, French toast quickly and just like they’re supposed to, pancakes will cook all the way through just as quickly and evenly. If using oil, place the oil in first, then preheat. If nonstick you’ll be amazed how nothing sticks if you preheat the pan. I like cast iron pans, but generally for camping and outdoor cooking. They take too long to heat evenly over a stovetop, but sometimes I break my own rules and use it indoors. ' Prep food before cooking. When watching TV cooking shows you’ll note that they have all of their ingredients arranged neatly at their work space. Same goes for us and for you. Whether building a salad, baking bread or prepping for a full meal, it’s best to place all ingredients or prep foods like chopped or peeled vegetables, etc., before putting the recipe together. Unfortunately too many try to do it all at the same time and that often creates a chaotic meal or kitchen. It’s so much more enjoyable to prep and cook. Easy, relaxing and can be a lot of fun since fewer recipe mistakes are made. Believe it or not, it also saves time. 6 Read your recipes from beginning to end. Read them before prepping. Understanding our recipes is the best way to make a great meal and a great loaf of bread. It is especially necessary with tasty, complex no-salt recipes. Reading all the way
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through and understanding them actually makes them a lot easier to prepare. 6 Regarding the above: preparing recipes including prep and cooking require timing so that a complete meal can be served “fresh off the grill.” For instance, when I barbecue, Maureen wants to know when the BBQ food will be ready. She then times the balance of the meal in the kitchen and when we serve, all is “fresh off the grill.” 6 For meats we allow about ten to fifteen minutes. For bread I let loaves rest for up to a halfhour before slicing into them and buns rest for at least ten minutes. Remember, the meat stays hot for a while and continues to cook if you don’t stick a fork or knife into it. If using a thermometer while cooking a roast or bird let it stay until the meat has rested for ten minutes. For steaks of the grill, you can let them rest under an aluminum tent for about five to ten minutes. 6 Knives become dull quickly unless they are high quality steel. Knives that are not sharp are nearly as dangerous to us than those that are honed to their best sharpness. Dull knives can slip off of the food we are trying to slice or they can cause tender meat like that of a chicken or turkey to shred. I hone our filet knives with a sharpening stick before each use and then wipe the blade to rid it of the residue of metal from the knife. Honed knives work a little better, but once a month I sharpen them with a professional sharpening tool or wet stone. If you have a quality sharpener then we suggest sharpening knives after a dozen or so uses or maybe set a monthly schedule. Working with a sharp knife makes prepping food much easier. By the way, don’t slice, dice, chop or mince using your countertop. That will dull your knives more quickly than anything. Plastic and glass cutting boards are also bad for knives. Use a wooden cutting board. Bacteria will not be trapped on the board. That myth fits right in with a lot of salt myths. Simply keep your cutting board clean and occasionally oil it with mineral oil.
you don’t want them picking up a chicken and then handling red meat. Not a good idea at all, but we’ve seen it happen. 6 When freezing foods, label and date them. Many foods will not take long periods of freezing. Mostly use three months as your longest period. 6 Follow the recipe the first few times. If a recipe fails, it’s usually “pilot error.” However, sometimes it involves product quality, altitude, the oven or breadmaker or other cooking device. If you follow the recipe exactly as written you’ll pretty much be able to tell what changes you might want to make in the future. We understand that cooking can be fun when making changes. That’s easy to do with soups, meats and other dishes but it’s not easy with baked goods. Precision is needed with baking. So, make sure to measure carefully and be consistent. Once you figure out what you like you might make slight alterations . . . basically with flavors. 6 One of the more important kitchen tools we have is our scale. It’s a small scale that accepts up to one pound but measures in ounces and grams. Many recipes today call for ounces of ingredients, or some ingredients and food products list serving sizes in ounces or grams. A small scale then becomes necessary. 6 We have an iron fry pan. It has its place when cooking outdoors and maybe once or twice a year indoors. I love it on the barbecue. Here’s another myth: If we wash it the seasoning will go away. Not true. Cook with the pan. Wash it and dry it and rub with a thin coat of cooking oil, heat for a minute over flame, cool it and store it. That’s how you take care of a cast iron pan. 6 Nearly all of our baking recipes call for parchment paper. Amazon has a good deal of parchment paper and it is necessary for successful oven cooked loaves, buns, cookies, etc.
6 Clean, separate and chill is the theme for food safety from the FDA/USDA. Don’t intermix for instance fish, chicken and red meats. As a matter of fact, we will not buy meats from a butcher or grocer who displays chicken/fish/beef/pork in the same case. Watch your butcher, too. Even with gloves on, Mega 5 News
OPTIONS & Choices FOR OUR LIFESTYLE
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e choose from multiple options every single day. Turn right or left, eat this or eat that, dress up or dress down, everything we do has an option to it. Now, with health challenges, the options become a bit limited, although they are there. Synonymous with the word options is, in our case, choices. My options for a choice nearly twenty years ago was, “do I take control or do I leave it up to doctors and prescriptions and do I continue to eat what I enjoy?”
If you’ve read any of our cookbooks then you know the options I chose: a balance of doctors, prescriptions, exercise and cut the salt out of my life forever. I have stuck to all four of the above and made it this far, which is about nineteen years longer than my first diagnosis. Was it just cutting salt out? Was it the stack of prescriptions? The doctors along the way? Exercise? It’s not been a controlled experiment or test, meaning that if just one or two of the above were all I needed I could cut out the others. I don’t believe for instance that simply cutting salt out would have done the full work. Neither do I believe that just prescriptions or exercise alone would have done the trick. I also believe that were I to go back to my old salt intake days that the other three alone would not have produced the same results. After all, I did have a good lifestyle before. I exercised profusely with rowing and caring for acreage and walking. We ate healthy foods, not junk foods. I was not a smoker nor a drinker and never “did drugs.” I concluded in 1997 therefore, that the high sodium diets we all had, played a huge role in raising my
blood pressure and bringing about my congestive heart failure. Note too, I never added salt to my plate nor did I cook with it. The salt I ingested came from processed foods, bread and salt added by others such as restaurants or when a guest at a friend’s home. In my opinion, it took all four of the above choices in unison to make this healthy lifestyle survival effort work. So I’m sticking with the full program. A good choice. We all make a bad choice now and then, but when things get serious, we need to ensure that our choices are good for us. Since Megaheart first went online, we’ve responded to more than 100,000 different people via email and sometimes USPS mail. At the very early stages we received a note from a woman who had lost her husband to CHF. He refused to cut salt and insisted that he love Big Macs too much to stop eating them. Unfortunately he didn’t make it with that lifestyle. Fortunately, most who wrote us sought guidance and were sincere about helping themselves to improve. We hope that we’ve helped all who have written. Mega 6 News
So How Do We Know How Much To Cut Back? Bottom line is that cutting salt out altogether, rather than just a little here and a little there, is important for a multiple reasons. The major reason of course is that it actually does a better job of making sure your body doesn’t retain fluids, an event that helps to cause high blood pressure. Cutting salt out entirely meant that I have not hand to take diuretic now for 17-years. There are two other important reasons: First, your palate will heel and you’ll finally start tasting foods and wonderful spices as they were meant to be tasted. Yes, all foods have their own distinct flavors, many of which are blocked when salt is added. Salt does not draw flavors out, it masks them. Second: there is no single way of understanding how much salt you are eating when eating at restaurants, eating canned, packaged or frozen foods. Yes, the FDA has labels to guide us with processed foods and some restaurants are listing nutrients. No, they aren’t 100% accurate. The FDA label numbers are averages.
They are close, but not on the money. And they are registered for the serving sizes printed on the same label. Be watchful for that. Restaurants use the same general numbers and not all are accurate. When the cook or chef pulls together your meal he/she does not measure the salt or sodium levels per serving. They may come close, but odds are you’re getting more than they show in their nutrient tables. Honestly, that’s often true at home, too. How many of us really follow recipes to a “T”? Also, salt contains a great deal of sodium when we consider a teaspoon of it. 2,350 mg per teaspoon for table, sea and kosher1 salt. One teaspoon weighs 6 grams or 6,000 milligrams. So salt is about 45% of that teaspoon and chloride is the balance. My “option” in early 1997 was either cut all salt out or manage levels that are much higher than those with which I have succeeded. 500 mg a day was my target and I doubt I’ve ever gone over that. Sometimes I’ve been down around 300 mg of sodium a day. But then, I had the option to boost that figure and chose not to. Controlling our lives with 500 mg a day of sodium is easy at home. It’s not easy if you’re still working and it’s not a simple task if you’re traveling. In 2005, Maureen and I traveled from our home in California to a Marine Corps reunion in Washington, D.C. We traveled the northern route on the way there and crossed middle America on the way home. We were gone for two weeks. I collected restaurant menus, brochures and more while trying to figure out who would and who wouldn’t serve meals without salt. The reunion itself presented challenges, yet I didn’t want to
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bring attention to me concerning my sodium intake. Although it was difficult, we succeeded and not for any of those days did I exceed 500 mg. I had many options as you can guess. But the truth is, we must have looked like the Beverly Hill Billys right out of TV land. We drove my pickup truck. The back was stuffed with coolers, boxes, nearly all my meal ingredients. At motels we checked into rooms with hot plates or microwaves and small refrigerators. You guessed it. We prepared our own dinners in the rooms using no-salt-added ingredients or fresh veggies we’d buy locally. Breakfast was easy with dry Shredded Wheat Spoon Size, milk and some fruit. Lunch was a challenge because we’d be on the road, but I made enough fresh bread for a sandwich every day. I do confess that some of that bread got a bit “hard” by the time we returned home. The funny thing was that by the end of the two week trip, we had become so accustomed to “tailgating” it, that it began to seem normal. J I am not suggesting that you Mega 7 News
can’t improve your heart and health unless you get to 500 mg a day. That was simply my target and it worked wonders. If you choose higher, but lower than the recommended 1300 mg per day for healthy people, then go for it. My advice, however, is that once you finally settle on a low level of sodium intake that you can adapt to, stick with it. One thing we have learned: we can’t bounce, that is high sodium one day, low the next. Whatever your choices, we wish you the best with your effort. It is worth it and it may surprise you just how much you improve. 1
Kosher salt is measured by weight here
since most is crystalized and a full teaspoon is not always 6 grams. The only difference between Kosher salt and tables salt is that Kosher salt is blessed by a Rabbi. Nevertheless, Kosher salt at 6 grams still contains 2,350 mg sodium. Artisan salts are the same. Some sea salt packages cut their salt with lycopene and claim the salt is “low sodium.” That’s not true. Their sea salt has the same level of sodium as table salt when measuring the salt alone.
Most Popular Worldwide
Second Best Selling Worldwide LIVING WELL WITHOUT SALT
“This book is a necessity for those who are diagnosed with ailments that require a lower sodium lifestyle. It is obvious to this reviewer that this book was written by the author to help others. “The book contains a meal planning guide that provides for all the daily nutrients we need and for very low-sodium intake. “I’ve known the author for more than thirty years. We worked together in the motion picture business in Los Angeles/Hollywood and I appreciated his straight forward approach to working in our industry and his work here. I have had to use his books myself and tell you up front — they worked for me.”
“This is the latest in a series of 5 cookbooks by this author. I have all 5 and they have been an absolute lifesaver!!! His recipes are wonderful and there’s a very big variety. The first part of this book tells you his story and how he came to needing a very low sodium diet. It also explains the ways that too much sodium can damage our bodies and the overall health benefits of reducing it in our diets. Very informative and very interesting too. Some of his other book have more recipes in them the baking book is wonderful for anyone who loves to bake - but all of the recipes I’ve tried from this book so far are excellent.
NO-SALT, LOWEST-SODIUM COOKBOOK
Review from Tony DiMarco, Screenplay writer, Los Angeles, CA.
Did You Know? The Kindle reader is not the only device that downloads books from Amazon. Kindle readers can be downloaded into any mobile device and to your laptop and desktop at no cost to you. Read books on your phone, iPad or computer.
“One of the best things about these cookbooks is that beside every ingredient in his recipes, he lists the amount of sodium in that ingredient. Talk about a fantastic way to help you get used to remembering how much sodium is in certain food items. When you see it over and over in the recipes, it sticks! It also makes it very easy to recalculate the sodium level in the nutritionals if you decide to substitute any ingredients. And speaking of nutritional information, each and every recipe has a very comprehensive list of the nutritional value that includes calories, fat, sodium, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, Cholesterol, Potassium, etc. “Another great thing is that he’s ALWAYS been available whenever I have a question. If you email him through his website he’s always very quick to respond - usually within a day - and very willing to help in any way he can. Learning to eat low sodium can be daunting but with these cookbooks, and with chef Don’s assistance, it’s been a much easier transition. “I would definitely recommend ALL of chef Don’s cookbooks to anyone that needs to eat a very low sodium diet, or to anyone that just wants to eat healthier. He not only watches the sodium level for each recipe, he’s very attentive to the amount of fat in the recipe and many of the recipes offer notes on how to make it diabetic friendly. His cookbooks have been a lifesaver in learning to live low sodium and I can’t thank him enough!!” Review from R. Winch, Amazon.com Available print and Kindle and at Smashwords.com.
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Spring & Summer Fresh Veggies & Fruit We Can Enjoy Kiwi— Real name is “kiwifruit.” A nutrient dense food that is low in calories and only 2 mg sodium per fruit. Known health benefits include reducing blood pressure and preventing heart disease and stroke. Kiwi fruit, first known as Chinese Gooseberry is also known to help maintain skin tone and texture. Great snack food. Blueberries— One cup of blueberries contain 1 mg sodium. Studies show blueberries can help the nervous system (neuropathy and other ailments) and that eating blueberries every day can help with cognitive issues including memory. Studies of elderly people (76 average age) have shown great memory recovery.
Asparagus — is rock-bottom low in sodium and calories and full of essential nutrients. It is a good food for heart and diabetic patients who might like the trace of chromium, a mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. Asparagus is 93% water. Lightly boil in fry pan for just a minute or two. Grapes — Studies have shown that the low GI value of grapes is an indicator of the grape’s blood sugar benefits. Blood sugar balance improves along with better insulin regulation. Increased insulin sensitivity has now been connected with intake of grape juices, grape extracts, and individual phytonutrients found in grapes.
Cantaloupe— A fruit source of vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids). 30 times more beta carotene than an orange serving. That’s lower than carrots, however. Cantaloupe’s nutritional strong suit involves its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Vegetables — Apples help regulate blood sugar. Apple polyphenols can help prevent spikes in blood sugar through a variety of mechanisms. Not especially high in dietary fiber, nevertheless, when apple’s fiber is combined with other apple nutrients researchers have found that apples can ward off heart disease. Mega 9 News
MAKING NO-SALT BREAD — How To Work With Your Bread Machine Some things never change, but you can count on the fact that your bread recipes will. We have to adapt each recipe for air moisture and local heat/cold conditions. We have to adapt to different flour, such as King Arthur’s compared to Stone Buhr or Pillsbury, etc. Our books and Web site have a lot of bread machine recipes, however, each one could be made from scratch or by hand. Many of our bread recipes are baked in our ovens, simply because burger buns, cinnamon buns/rolls and other bread styles can’t be made in the bread machine. So, to understand your bread better, the below listed suggestions are presented with the idea that you may want to work more closely with your bread dough than you thought possible. Number One—The Dough You may open your machine while it is kneading so that you can work with the dough. We do that all the time to make sure the combination of ingredients we’ve used will produce a viable dough. Mostly we want to see if we have too much flour or too much liquid. What we don’t do is play with the dough once the kneading cycle is over. Wait for the first five minutes, then open the lid and check to see if your dough is blending well and that it’s not too wet or too dry. If too dry, add liquid one-tablespoon at a time. If too wet, add flour onetablespoon at a time. Let knead for a few moments, then correct again if necessary.
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— BY MACHINE OR BY HAND Number Two—The Yeast When not using salt we have to use a bit more yeast, but too much yeast and our bread will fail to rise correctly. Actually, it rises beautifully, but then it collapses. If we use too little yeast, it won’t rise well. Our recipes have been tested over and over and the yeast we call for is perfect for most bread flours. Unfortunately, we are not able to test all flours because many local or regional brands exist throughout the world. Therefore, it is important that we keep an eye on our dough while it rises and while it bakes. By doing this, you will know if your dough rose at all and then collapsed (making it appear that it never rose) or if you have a good recipe. (Mark it In your book or on your recipe as good or mark the changes you may need to make.) If you forget to watch and you find a bread that is undercooked and wet or gummy inside then you’ll know that your bread did not rise. Possibly you’ll need more yeast with the next effort. Number Three—No Salt Bread We thought we’d be able to make a formula for fresh white and whole wheat breads that would work well with any salt added bread recipe. Although not by much, we were wrong. For a basic no-salt-added white bread, we established that we needed ascorbic acid, vinegar, added gluten, more yeast and a bit more sugar to work with the additional yeast. We also use the longest cycle on our machines; for a Zojirushi and a few others that would be the dark crust cycle. Other machines have slightly different ways to extend the cycle
but usually it’s concerning the outer crust. What we learned, however, was that each type of bread did indeed require different measurements. Unlike many grocery store bakeries that use one recipe for all their “Danish and donuts,” we found that not all white bread is the same. Cinnamon rolls, egg bread, buttermilk bread, yogurt bread, rye, etc. are all different with their actions and we had to adapt to each one. The alternative of course, is to do what we do a lot of. Take the dough out of the bread machine after it kneads and shape the bread you want and bake it in the oven. Number Four—White, Whole-Wheat or Whole-Wheat & White? We perfected an excellent nosalt whole wheat bread loaf for the bread machine. For our wholewheat bread recipe that works on all machines, visit 100% Whole Wheat Bread on the next page. You may also produce a half whole-wheat and half white bread recipe that is flavorful, nutritious and easy to make. Use a highprotein whole-wheat flour from the great wheat belt of Montana. Two brands are exceptionally worth the effort. One is called “Wheat Montana,” and the other is Stone Buhr. I believe the two are available nationally. Number Five—Bread Collapses Bread that rises, then collapses in the middle while it bakes contains too much liquid. Try reducing the next time by removing a ¼ cup of the liquid and then add to the mixture if it doesn’t ball up within five to ten minutes oneMega 11 News
tablespoon at a time. Your flour, climate, altitude, etc. may require less or more. The basic or standard ration would be 2½ cups of flour to 1¼ cups of liquid. Number Six—Flour Dust Raisins/Nuts It’s best to shake raisins and/ or nuts in a bag with a tablespoon of flour before adding them. This allows the machine to spread them out evenly. If you are too late for that, or if your machine doesn’t work that out, then after kneading is completed, lift lid, remove dough and knead in the fruit or nuts until evenly distributed. Then replace in the center of your machine for the rise. Close lid and leave it closed until bread is baked. . Number Seven—Time Delayed Baking This is important. If using your delayed cycle, such as setting up the bread at night to have a loaf in the morning, never us a recipe with dairy products or other fresh ingredients that might spoil. You could end up with food poisoning should you do so. Bacteria likes to grow in these ingredients if left at room temp for just a few hours. Number Eight—Keeping Your Machine Clean Keep your machine clean. After each use of the bread machine, let it cool, then clean the interior so that bread crumbs or pieces of the baked bread don’t burn into the machine with future efforts. Hand wash the machine’s bread pan. Never place in dishwasher.
100% Whole Wheat Bread Bread Machine Recipe Vegan — 1.5 Carb Choices Sodium Per Recipe: 156.8 mg Sodium Per Slice: 11.2 mg 100% whole wheat bread is difficult to achieve without the use of salt and other ingredients. This recipe succeeds 100% of the time and produces and bread that is terrific for sandwiches, toast and other uses. Each ingredient has been tested for volume amounts and for various whole wheat flours. It will require you to check on it during its kneading process since different brand whole wheat bread flours are “different.” We allow for that in the listing for filtered water. Ingredients 1 cup plain yogurt1 (112.7 mg) 4 to 6 tablespoons iltered water (105o F to 110o F)2 (trace) 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or expeller pressed canola oil (trace) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (2.384 mg) 2½ cups whole wheat flour (red or white) (15 mg) 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (5.365 mg) 2 tablespoons soy flour (2.64 mg) 1/3 teaspoon ascorbic acid (trace) 2 tablespoon granulated soy lecithin (trace) 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar (trace) 2 tablespoons potato flour (11 mg) 1 tablespoon malted barley flour (.75 mg) 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast (6 mg) Place all ingredients into your bread machine. If your machine preheats like the Zojirushi, you will not have to heat the yogurt or water. All other ingredients should be at room temp, but if you store your Bob’s Red Mill in the freezer then let it come to room temp before using. Set machine for whole wheat or “wheat” and set for dark crust. When bread is down, role gently out on rack to cool. Let stand for about 15-minutes before slicing with a bread knife. We use various yogurt products, but this recipe was tested with Straus plain yogurt in with tests of each flour product. Check the machine after a few minutes of kneading. If it needs water then add the warmed filtered water a few tablespoons at a time. Allow to knead for a few moments, then add more if needed. You may raise the bread machine lid during the kneading process for this. Your machine will probably stop until you lower the lid again. 1 2
Nutritional Data Per Slice (16 slices): Calories: 153.6, Protein: 5.479 g, Carbohydrate: 20.6 g, Dietary Fiber: 3.105 g, Total Sugars: 2.984 g, Total Fat: 6.205 g, Saturated Fat: 1.156 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3.981 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .742 g, Cholesterol: 2.275 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .054 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 170.1 mg, Sodium: 11.2 mg, Vitamin K: 3.574 mcg
Mega 12 News
Don’s Best White Bread Lacto Ovo — 1 Carb Choices Per Slice Makes 18 Buns Or Makes 3 Standard Loaves Sodium Per Recipe: 135.4 mg Sodium Per Bun (18): 7.523 mg Sodium Per Slice (Loaves): 3.224 mg This recipe may rise high enough to push on the lid of your bread machine. Read Instructions to learn how to deal with this. This bun/bread will excite your whole family. It’s soft, great texture, perfect for burgers or sandwiches and closer to commercial feel than any we’ve done before. 2 cups filtered water, warmed to (105o F to 110o F) (trace) 1 whole egg (70 mg) 6 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (trace) 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (3.576 mg) 1/3 teaspoon ascorbic acid (trace) 5 cups bread flour (12.5 mg) 2 tablespoons soy flour or granulated soy lecithin (2.54 mg) 2 tablespoons potato flour (11 mg) 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (8.584 mg) 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar (trace) 2 tablespoons malted wheat barley (1.5 mg) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon bread machine yeast (24 mg) Place ingredients in bread machine in order listed or in order suggested by bread machine manufacturer. (Works great in double paddle machines like Zojirushi and Breadman.) Lightly inside the lid. If dough pushes up against lid, no matter what the machine clock says, it’s time to roll it out. Roll dough out on to floured board and press down until about 1/2-inch thick or slightly less. Using an English muffin ring, cut out 18 rings of dough. You may need three jellyroll sheets or use two sheets if you can “crowd” the rings of dough on to it leaving space between so the rising buns don’t bake into each other. Another way I do it is to place 8 rings safely on the jellyroll pans and make two or four mini loaves using a mini-loaf pan set alongside the jelly roll sheets in the oven. Brush warmed nonfat milk on the top of each bun and the mini loaves, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like those, and set in warm spot or an oven preheated to about 80 to 90 degrees F. To do that, turn your oven on to 200o F for one minute, then turn it off. Ten place the buns and loaves into the oven and let rise uncovered for about 45 minutes. If setting in a warm spot in the house, cover with very light cloth or even a paper towel and let rise until doubled. If letting bread rise in oven, when ready turn oven on to 375o F. Bake for about 20 minutes. If placing buns into a hot 375o F oven, then back for about 14 to 15 minutes or in each case, until golden brown. Remove and place on cooling rack. Buns will stay fresh for about five days in a zipper locked bag. They freeze well and will thaw to their original freshness. Nutritional Data Per Bun (18): Calories: 199.3, Protein: 6.727 g, Carbohydrate: 30.9 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.785 g, Total Sugars: 1.775 g, Total Fat: 5.31 g, Saturated Fat: .784 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3.492 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .674 g, Cholesterol: 11.8 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .046 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 125.5 mg, Sodium: 7.523 mg, Vitamin K: 2.852 mcg Nutritional Data Per Slice (3-large loaves, 14 slices each): Calories: 85.4, Protein: 2.883 g, Carbohydrate: 13.3 g, Dietary Fiber: .765 g, Total Sugars: .761 g, Total Fat: 2.276 g, Saturated Fat: .336 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1.496 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .289 g, Cholesterol: 5.036 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .02 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 53.8 mg, Sodium: 3.224 mg, Vitamin K: 1.222 mcg
Mega 13 News
Buttermilk Bread Loaf Vegan — 1 Sliced Bread, 2 Buns Carb Choices Makes Two to Three Loaves1 or 18 Buns Sodium Per Recipe: 320 mg Sodium Per Slice (2 Loaves): 11.7 mg Sodium Per Slice (3 Loaves): 7.767 mg Sodium Per Bun (18): 18.1 mg This recipe is easy to make and will surprise you with its great flavors and texture as well as freshness. It will stay fresh in a zipper lock bag for up to three or four days. Freezes well and thaws well or buns can be microwaved to thaw with a thirty-second timing. 2 cups room temp buttermilk (260 mg) ¼ cup filtered water, 100o F to 110o F (trace) 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (2.384 mg) 2/3 cup expeller pressed canola oil (trace) 5 cups white bread flour (12.5 mg) 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar (trace) 5 vitamin C tablets crushed or ¼ teaspoon ascorbic acid (trace) 3 tablespoons potato flour (17.6 mg) 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (5.365 mg) 2 tablespoons granulated soy lecithin (trace) 1 tablespoon Malted Barley Flour (1.5 mg) 4 teaspoons bread machine yeast (24 mg) Place ingredients in bread machine pan and set for dough cycle. Check five-minutes after paddles begin the kneading process. If dough is coming together nicely, close lid and let machine do the work. If dough appears to be crumbly and not melding, add one-tablespoon room temp water and let knead for another five minutes. If dough is too wet, add flour and follow the same procedure as above. When dough is ready, roll out to lightly floured bread board and either shape for loaves in 9” loaf pans layered with parchment paper or shape for hamburger buns and place on jellyroll pans (cookie sheets) covered with parchment paper. Let rise in warm place for one hour. If using oven(s) to rise, before placing sheets in for the rise, turn oven on at 200o F for one-minute, then turn off. Place dough in oven(s) and let rise for 45-minutes. If rise is happening in the oven (one sheet per oven), then when read, simply turn the heat on to 375o F and bake for about 22 minutes or until golden brown. If the rise is happening outside of the oven, then twenty minutes for the rise is accomplished, preheat the oven for 20 minutes to 375o F. When ready, place one sheet at a time into oven and bake the bread for about 12 to 18 minutes. When golden brown, remove and set sheet on countertop. Place second sheet into oven and bake for same amount of time. If using three baking sheets repeat the above with the third. Once the fresh batch is into the oven, slide the buns on the baked sheet to a cooling rack. Let cool for at least twenty minutes before slicing into one. The bread is still cooking. 1
We have often gotten three loaves out of this recipe.
Nutrient Data Per Slice (14): Calories: 150.7, Protein: 4.253 g, Carbohydrate: 20.7 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.088 g, Total Sugars: 1.696 g, Total Fat: 6.312 g, Saturated Fat: 1.044 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3.866 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .86 g, Cholesterol: 1.786 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .07 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 70.8 mg, Sodium: 11.7 mg, Vitamin K: 4.053 mcg Nutrient Data Per Bun (18 Buns): Calories: 234.5, Protein: 6.615 g, Carbohydrate: 32.2 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.692 g, Total Sugars: 2.638 g, Total Fat: 9.819 g, Saturated Fat: 1.624 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6.014 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.338 g, Cholesterol: 2.778 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .108 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 110.1 mg, Sodium: 18.1 mg, Vitamin K: 6.305 mcg
Mega 14 News
Pecan Yams
Lemon Poppyseed Scones
Lacto Ovo — 2½ Carb Choices Serves 6 Sodium Per Recipe: 65.7 mg Sodium Per Serving: 10.9 mg
Vegan — 2 Carb Choices Makes 8 Sodium Per Recipe: 167.2 mg Sodium Per Scone: 20.9 mg
Ingredients 4 medium yams (54 mg) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (3.124 mg) 1 cup unsalted pecans, chopped (1.1 mg) ¼ cup pure maple syrup (7.245 mg) ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon (.195 mg)
Preheat oven to 400o F Bake yams for 45 minutes to an hour or until tender with a fork. Remove from oven and peel the skin off the yams. In a small bowl mash the yams with the melted butter. Spread the yams evenly in an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish. In the same small bowl you mashed the yams in, combine the pecans, syrup and cinnamon, tossing until evenly combined. Spread this evenly over the top of the yams and bake for another 20 to 30 minute or until the yams are hot and bubbly. We also want the pecans toasted. Nutrient Data Per Serving: Calories: 318.8, Protein: 3.27 g, Carbohydrate: 39.5 g, Dietary Fiber: 6.014 g, Total Sugars: 9.223 g, Total Fat: 17.8 g, Saturated Fat: 3.801 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8.522 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.557 g, Cholesterol: 10.2 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .231 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .103 g, Potassium: 917.8 mg, Sodium: 10.9 mg, Vitamin K: 2.733 mcg
Did You Know? ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORING is found in Soda pop, candy, breakfast cereals, gelatin desserts, and many other foods. Hundreds of chemicals are used to mimic natural flavors; many may be used in a single flavoring, such as for cherry soda pop. Most flavoring chemicals also occur in nature and are probably safe, but they are used almost exclusively in junk foods. Their use indicates that the real thing (often fruit) has been left out. Companies keep the identity of artificial (and natural) flavorings a deep secret. That’s unfortunate, because some people may be sensitive to certain flavoring ingredients, such as MSG or HVP.
2 cups unbleached white flour (5 mg) 1 level tablespoon Ener-G Baking Powder (13.5 mg) 1 heaping tablespoon Ener-G baking soda (13 mg) 4 teaspoons poppy seeds (2.912 mg) 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (trace) 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest (.378 mg) 2 tablespoons lemon juice (trace) 3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (4.686 mg) ½ cup filtered water less 2 tablespoons, room temperature (trace) 2 medium eggs, beaten (140 mg) 1 tablespoon white wine or cider vinegar (.745 mg)
Preheat your oven to 425o F standard or 400o F convection. Set rack in middle. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. In a large bowl, combine & stir with a wooden spoon the flour, Ener-G baking powder, Ener-G baking soda, sugar and zest. In a medium to smaller bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, softened unsalted butter, vinegar and water. When oven is ready, combine wet with dry and stir with a wooden spoon just until dough comes together. (We don’t want to over mix.) We have two ways to make this. 1. With a spoon drop 8 equal size balls of dough parchment paper. These will take an irregular form, which is the sign of a good scone. 2. Using your hands, roll dough into ball, flatten on lightly floured bread board until about a half inch. Make it a circle. Using a very sharp knife slice to get 8 pie shaped scones. Using a pancake turner (spatula), move to cooking sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 425o F for about 15 minutes or in a convection oven set at 400o F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven or store overnight in a refrigerator in zip lock type bag and reheat in microwave for about 15-seconds. May freeze for a few weeks for future use. Nutrient Data Per Scone: Calories: 193.1, Protein: 5.1 g, Carbohydrate: 28.5 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.158 g, Total Sugars: 3.447 g, Total Fat: 6.458 g, Saturated Fat: 3.236 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1.707 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .864 g, Cholesterol: 64.3 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .058 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .115 g, Potassium: 253.1 mg, Sodium: 20.9 mg, Vitamin K: .504 mcg
Mega 15 News
Yogurt Buns Lacto Ovo — 2 Carb Choices Makes 18 Buns Sodium Per Recipe: 182.2 mg Sodium Per Bun: 10.1 mg If you like yogurt, you’ll love these buns. Freshness, soft and great sandwich or burger buns. Also makes an excellent sliced bread for sandwiches or morning toast. If you make loaves, wait for them to come to room temp after baking before slicing. Slice with bread knife. 1 cup filtered water, plus two tablespoons (105o F to 115o F) (trace) 1 cup organic plain yogurt (112.7 mg) 1/3 cup organic or expeller pressed canola oil (trace) 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (3.576 mg) 5 cups bread flour (12.5 mg) 1/3 teaspoon ascorbic acid (trace) 2 tablespoons granulated soy lecithin or soy flour (2.54 mg) 2 tablespoons potato flour (11 mg) 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (12.9 mg) 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar1 (trace) 1 tablespoon Malted Barley Flour (1.5 mg) 4 teaspoons bread machine yeast (24 mg) Bring all ingredients to room temperature2. Place ingredients in bread machine basket and set machine for dough. Preheat oven to 375o F. When dough is ready, roll out onto flour board, divide in half and press each half down enough to cut out 8 to 9 buns using a 3” cutter. We use muffin rings but a food ring such as the HIC Seamless Food Ring, Stainless Steel, 3.5-Inch wonders. Cover baking sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment paper. Set cut out buns on paper apart so that they don’t rise and touch each other. Brush warmed milk on top of buns and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like. Cover with very light cloth or a single layer of paper towels and place in warm area to rise for about an hour or until double or a bit more in size. Place in oven on middle rack and back for about 12 to 14 minutes. If you let buns rise in the oven set at about 100o F and turned off then when ready just turn temp to 375o F and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to rack and let cool before serving or storing. Wait about two to three hours before placing in zipper lock bag and freezing for future use. Or one tablespoon white granulated sugar and one tablespoon granulated Splenda, to help lower carb choices. Yeast needs some sugar.
1
We keep our Bob’s Red Mill ingredients like gluten, malted barley flour, potato flour in the freezer. We store the yeast in the fridge, tightly sealed. It’s a must that we bring those to room temp. Baked goods do not like it when ingredients are cold. We now favor our Zojirushi since it spends a good half-hour bringing the ingredients to the proper temperature before kneading.
2
Nutrient Data Per Bun: Calories: 202.2, Protein: 7.468 g, Carbohydrate: 31.7 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.79 g, Total Sugars: 2.388 g, Total at: 4.987 g, Saturated Fat: .915 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3.141 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .602 g, Cholesterol: 1.769 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .044 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 143.7 mg, Sodium: 10.1 mg, Vitamin K: 2.567
Mega 16 News
Fresh Basil Sandwich With Mozzarella & Tomato Slices Lacto Ovo — 2.5 Carb Choices Makes 1 Sandwich Sodium Per Sandwich: 43 mg One of the pleasures of life is that we can adapt many healthy foods to great tasting combinations. No longer do we need the high sodium fast foods when we have flavors like fresh basil, fresh tomatoes and low sodium mozzarella. Use our new buttermilk bread recipe or go radical and make some French Garlic Bread for this treat that will become a habit. This recipe uses a low sodium mozzarella cheese from Trader Joe’s. This same mozzarella can be used in our Lasagna, instead of the rue. There are other brands of low-sodium mozzarella available, but often are found in specialty stores and not your general supermarket. 1 Buttermilk Bun or French baguette (20 mg) 6 leaves fresh basil (.12 mg) 3 mozzarella balls* cut in half (20 mg) 2 thin slices from large tomato (2.43 mg) 1 tablespoon raspberry or aged balsamic vinegar (.745 mg) 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (trace) In a toaster oven, lightly toast “interior” side of the bread after slicing. Layer the basil, tomato and cheese on one side. Lightly toast the layered section until the cheese just begins to melt. Stir together the olive oil and vinegar and spritz other half of sandwich. (We prefer the aged balsamic, but it’s not always available.) Calories: 369, Protein: 12.2 g, Carbohydrate: 40.5 g, Dietary Fiber: 2.399 g, Total Sugars: 4.079 g, Total Fat: 15.1 g, Saturated Fat: 2.092 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8.603 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.644 g, Cholesterol: 29.8 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .114 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 270 mg, Sodium: 43 mg, Vitamin K: 22.6 mcg
Mega 17 News
Cleaning with Cream of Tartar 1. Clean Aluminum Cookware. If your pots and pans are looking a little worse for the wear, try cleaning them with a paste of cream of tartar and water. Apply on the stains and wash as usual.
Quick & Easy Summer Salad Vegan — 1 Carb Choices Serves 2 Sodium Per Recipe: 36.8 mg Sodium Per Serving: 18.4 mg Refreshing, healthy, full of nutrients, this salad is perfect for a spring day and on through summer, too. 6 small to medium leaves of butter leaf or favorite lettuce1 (2.25 mg) 1 large or two small tomatoes, quartered, then halved (24.6 mg) ¼ medium to large red or Spanish onion, chopped or sliced thinly (1.5 mg) ½ golden or red Delicious apple, halved, sliced thinly (1.115 mg) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or to taste (trace) 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar or to taste (7.36 mg) Wash lettuce, pat or spin dry. Chop into larger than bite size pieces. Leave some a few inches larger than others. Toss with tomato, onion and apple pieces. For dressing, spoon on extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Stir salad. Serve cold. Butter leaf lettuce heads have a range of small, medium and large leaves. If using the outer or large leaves, two leaves per serving would work. For medium range 3 leaves and for the smaller size about 4 leaves should serve one. 1
Nutrient Data Per Serving: Calories: 221.7, Protein: 22.9 g, Carbohydrate: 18.3 g, Dietary Fiber: 7.346 g, Total Sugars: 2.876 g, Total Fat: 5.947 g, Saturated Fat: 1.778 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2.628 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.128 g, Cholesterol: 55.9 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: .034 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .058 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .427 g, Potassium: 708 mg, Sodium: 101.8 mg, Vitamin K: 4.027 mcg
Mega 18 News
2. Clean Your Bathroom. Stained tub, sink or toilet? Don’t reach for harsh commercial cleaners. Instead, make a thick paste of cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide and apply it to the stain. Let the paste dry fully before wiping clean. 3. Clean Stainless Steel and Other Metal Appliances. Polish your stainless steel and small metal appliances with a paste of water and cream of tartar. 4. Baking Powder. If you’ve run out of baking powder, combine 1 part baking soda with 2 parts cream of tartar — it’s pretty much the same thing as baking powder. This is an especially good trick for people on gluten-free diets; many commercial baking powders contain gluten. 5. “Play-Dough.” Do the little ones in your life love sculpting with Play-dough? Make your own with this great no-cook recipe. 6. Remove Clothing Spots. Cream of tartar is a fantastic alternative to harmful bleach. Make a paste out of cream of tartar and lemon juice and apply to the stain. Let it soak for about 20 minutes and then throw it in the wash.
7. Rehab Scratched Dishes. Make your dishes good as new by rubbing a paste of water and cream of tartar onto the scratch marks. Rinse clean. 8. Repel Ants. A paste made of cream of tartar and vinegar works wonders for repelling ants around the house. From Care2.com
Food Additives to Avoid Acesulfame-Potassium Aloe Vera Artificial Colorings: Blue 1, Blue 2, Caramel Coloring, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Azodicarbonamide Butylated Hydroxyanisole (Bha) Caramel Coloring Cyclamate (Not Legal In U.s.) Ginkgo Biloba Mycoprotein/Quorn Olestra (Olean) Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Trans Fat) Potassium Bromate Propyl Gallate Saccharin Sodium Nitrate Sodium Nitrite Sucralose Tbhq (Tert-Butylhydroquinone)
If you are subject to A-Fib, avoidcaffeine and cold (icey) drinks or ice cream, etc..
FRESH TROUT WITH CITRUS Lacto Ovo — 1 Carb Choices Serves 4 Sodium Per Recipe: Sodium Per Serving: 80.7 mg Trout season begins shortly. Time for the rod and reel. A great way to prepare just-caught trout either streamside or in the kitchen. Fillet fish by first placing on a firm surface. Make a knife cut below the head with a sharp fillet knife. Hold onto the head while running the knife blade along the backbone, angling the blade slightly downward, until the side is excised at the tail. Flip the fish over and repeat the process for the other side. 6 medium fresh trout, or 4 large fresh trout, cleaned and filleted, seasoned lightly with freshly ground black pepper or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasonings Salute (295.7 mg) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (trace) 3 garlic cloves, mashed (1.53 mg) ½ cup white wine (11.8 mg) 1 lemon, quartered (3.25 mg) 1 lime, quartered (1.34 mg) 1 orange, quartered (3.18 mg) ½ red onion, cut into rings (3 mg) 2 tablespoons butter, chilled (3.124 mg) Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Place trout, skin side down, in skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Add wine and cook until wine reduces by one-half and meat begins to get firm. Add onion rings. Squeeze citrus fruits into pan and sauté until meat is thoroughly cooked, about 3 minutes more. Remove trout to serving plates. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter until sauce thickens. Pour sauce over fillets and serve immediately. Nutrient Data Per Serving: Calories: 491.1, Protein: 50.3 g, Carbohydrate: 14.8 g, Dietary Fiber: 3.893 g, Total Sugars: 1.669 g, Total Fat: 21.3 g, Saturated Fat: 6.413 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7.578 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.544 g, Cholesterol: 156 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: 2.029 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .154 g, Potassium: 1361 mg, Sodium: 80.7 mg, Vitamin K: 2.416 mcg
Mega 19 News
Chef Don’s Buttermilk Biscuits Lacto Ovo — 1 Carb Choices Makes 10 Sodium Per Recipe: 163.9 mg Sodium Per Biscuit: 16.4 mg A nice flaky, semi-soft biscuit. Easy to make. Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour (5 mg) 4 teaspoons Ener-G baking powder (trace) ¾ teaspoon Ener-G baking soda (trace) 7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter cut into thin slices (10.9 mg) 3/4 cup cold lower sodium buttermilk1 (95.7 mg) 2 tablespoons either whisked egg white (50.4 mg) Preheat oven to 425o F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda together in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or a fork or, in necessary with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in 3/4 cup lower sodium buttermilk and stir until combined with flour mixture. Roll dough on to a lightly floured bread board or your work surface and press into a rectangular shape. Fold the rectangle in thirds. Roll dough over crumbs, picking up all of them. Then flatten back into a rectangular shape. Now, do it again, that is folding in thirds, press to rectangle, flood into thirds one more time for a total of three times and press back into rectangular shape. Using a rolling pin, roll dough on a floured surface to about a half-inch thick. Cut out 10 biscuits using a 2½ -inch round cutter or if you prefer, slice into 10-squares with a sharp knife. Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press a slight indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb. Brush the tops of biscuits with the whisked egg white (add ¼ teaspoon water to egg white before whisking). Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes. Nutrient Data Per Biscuit (egg brushing): Calories: 167.1, Protein: 3.673 g, Carbohydrate: 19.9 g, Dietary Fiber: .675 g, Total Sugars: .77 g, Total Fat: 8.687 g, Saturated Fat: 5.37 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2.111 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: .406 g, Cholesterol: 23.2 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: 0 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .068 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .215 g, Potassium: 34.1 mg, Sodium: 16.4 mg, Vitamin K: .771 mcg
Mega 20 News
HEALTHY LOW-SODIUM SNACKS Multiple Choices The American Chemical Society has published a report that the ultimate healthy snack may be popcorn. Seems that popcorn kernels contain more of the healthy antioxidant substances called polyphenols than fruits and vegetables. That doesn’t mean we have to stop enjoying our favorite fruits and vegetables. They do contain polyphenols, although, the antioxidants can be diluted since most produce is made up of high percentage of water, just as we humans are. Fruits and veggies contain a ton of other nutrients as well, so let’s enjoy all of them for snacks. Because popcorn is only fourpercent water they are packed full of antioxidants, which help us ward off inflammation. A huge benefit from popcorn is that organic kernels are 100% unprocessed whole grain. Slightly more than 50% of popcorn is whole grain. One serving is more than 70% of our daily recommended grain. Since many of us don’t even get 50% of recommended whole grain, popcorn can be an enjoyable way to fill the void. Here’s what the watch out for. Too much popcorn is prepared in an unhealthy way, meaning this snack could easily add on pounds. A few things to remember: Do not buy the microwave variety. No matter what the ads say, those are a no-no. Why? Because microwave popcorn has nearly twice the calories of airpopped and the microwave bags are lined with chemicals that could put your health at risk. Most people don’t prepare popcorn in a healthy way, which means the ultimate snack can be a big diet no-no. Here’s how to make these corny kernels into a nutritious and delicious snack: Air Pop: Organic kernels for air popping are available everywhere. You don’t need to add butter or oil to pop them. After they are popped, lightly spray with olive oil or canola oil to hold a sprinkle of cinnamon or your favorite spicy flavoring.
Click here for the best air popper we’ve found. We have one and it works wonderfully.
On the stove: Use a thick or heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. Rub some expeller pressed canola oil on the bottom. Place a few kernels in and wait for them to pop. When the do pop, you are ready to put the rest of the kernels in. Cover the pot but leave a bit of space open, as though simmering a broth or soup. This will allow the steam to escape. Shake the pot over the heat every minute or so to prevent kernels at the bottom from burning. When popping comes to a stop remove from heat. A stop can be when you hear only one or two kernels popping a longer intervals than when active popping took place. Microwave: You can use the microwave but not with a prepackaged microwave bag: Put Mega 21 News
1/4 cup of popcorn kernels into a clean brown paper bag (no metal fringes nor attachments), fold the top over a few times, and stand it up in the center of the microwave. This will work in a microwave safe bowl loosely covered. (Never use metal in your microwave.) Set microwave to high and for about five to seven minutes. If popping slows to just a few, open microwave. Don’t wait for the full time. If your microwave has a corn popping button, so much the better. Use only organic kernels. The reason? Corn is a leading commonly among genetically modified foods on the market today. Eighty five percent of US corn is genetically altered. A growing number of health officials are concerned that genetically engineered foods have dire consequences on the environment—and our health.
Italian Marinara Sauce Flexitarian — 1 Carb Choices Makes 4 cups Sodium Per Recipe: 440.7 mg Sodium Per Cup: 110.2 mg Sodium Per Half-Cup: 55.1 mg Sodium Per Tablespoon: 6.886 mg Different marinara sauces are found throughout Italy and Sicily. Some are complex in flavor while others simple. This recipe, put together by Maureen after her trip to Italy (searching for great recipes), is one of the best I’ve ever eaten. You can put this on polenta, pasta or use it on your low-sodium pizza. Note: This recipe appeared in The NoSalt, Lowest-Sodium Internatinoal Cookbook, but has been updated for this newsletter. Maureen’s adjustments to this recipe have made it even better than it already was. Ingredients 8 ounces turkey burger, sautéed in nonstick pan (213.2 mg) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil(trace) 1 cup chopped onion (6.4 mg) 6 large garlic cloves, chopped (3.05 mg) 8-ounces (1 cup) sliced mushrooms (.96 mg) 2 teaspoons dried oregano (.54 mg) 1 tablespoon dried basil (.952 mg) 1/8 teaspoon white pepper (.015 mg) 1 14.5-ounce can of no-salt tomatoes, pureed (105 mg)1 1 can no-salt-added tomato paste (100 mg)2 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar (7.36 mg) 12 ounces filtered water (trace) Optional: ½ cup dry red wine (4.704 mg) Sauté turkey burger in nonstick pan and set aside. Sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until transparent, about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Sprinkle with pepper and add oregano and basil and stir for additional minute. Add tomatoes and no salt added tomato sauce and water. Simmer for one hour uncovered stirring occasionally. Add balsamic vinegar, cooked turkey and the optional dry red wine. Simmer an additional hour or until it thickens. This sauce may be made ahead of time and stored in lid-tight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Will freeze. 1 2
USDA Ratings range from 54 mg per can to 100+. In this recipe we tested with S&W No-Salt-Added Tomatoes. Based on Kirkland (Costco) Tomato paste. The same level of sodium is also found in Contadina tomato paste.
Nutrient Data Per Cup: Calories: 115.8, Protein: 6.459 g, Carbohydrate: 10 g, Dietary Fiber: 1.601 g, Total Sugars: 5.378 g, Total Fat: 4.138 g, Saturated Fat: .901 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1.724 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.162 g, Cholesterol: 22.4 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: .078 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .045 g, Total Omega-6 FA: 0 g, Potassium: 209.5 mg, Sodium: 55.1 mg, Vitamin K: 6.715 mcg
Mega 22 News
Easy Beef Barley Soup Flexitarian — 1 Carb Choices Serves 8 Sodium Per Recipe: 891.7 mg Sodium Per Serving: 111.5 According to the Agricultural Research Service at the Diet and Human Performance Laboratory in Beltsville, MD , barley may be an even better breakfast choice than oats for Type 2 diabetics. Barley proved more effective in reducing both glucose and insulin responses than did oats. Barley has high levels of fiber, which means we can subtract the fiber number from the number of carbohydrates to obtain a lower Carb Choice. A bowl of this soup comes out be only 1-Carb Choices. Barley’s flavor is also excellent. Aside from that, it is a terrific source of molybdenum, manganese, dietary fiber, and selenium, and a good source of copper, vitamin B1, chromium, phosphorus, magnesium, and niacin, which is a B vitamin that provides numerous protective actions against cardiovascular risk factors. Ingredients 1 cup pearl barley1 (18 mg) 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (trace) 6 garlic cloves (3.06 mg) 1 pound lean round steak (229.5 mg) 1 carton Swanson’s beef broth (300 mg) 1 14½ oz. can diced tomatoes (105 mg) 1 small onion (2.8 mg) 2 medium raw stalks celery (64 mg) 4 medium raw carrots (168.4 mg) 1 teaspoon dried basil (.476 mg) ½ tsp. pepper (white or coarse black)
You’ll want to “prep chef” this recipe. 1. First, cook the one-cup of raw barley according to package directions. One cup of raw barley will give you 3-cups of cooked barley. You will use two of the three cups. The third cup can be used for other recipes. The nutritional value of barley is such that it’s a good food to have available. . 2. While that’s cooking, chop or mince the garlic, set aside. 3. Chop or cut the steak into bite-size pieces. Set aside. 4. Chop celery, carrots, onion into smaller than bite-size pieces. We want them smaller but not minced. Set aside. 5. Puree the tomatoes. Set aside. 6. Heat extra virgin olive oil in Dutch Oven or other heavy soup. 7. Add garlic to the oil first until it turns golden brown, and then add meat to olive oil to brown on all sides, stirring occasionally. 8. Add carton of beef broth, pureed tomatoes and chopped vegetables to meat. Cover, setting lid just a bit ajar to allow steam to escape and simmer for an hour. 9. Add 2 cups cooked barley. Stir well, simmer for another 30-minutes. Serve hot. Nutrient Data Per Serving: Calories: 240.6, Protein: 20 g, Carbohydrate: 26.7 g, Dietary Fiber: 5.653 g, Total Sugars: 3.539 g, Total Fat: 5.608 g, Saturated Fat: 1.471 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2.499 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.223 g, Cholesterol: 42.5 mg, Trans Fatty Acids: .089 g, Total Omega-3 FA: .036 g, Total Omega-6 FA: .111 g, Potassium: 487 mg, Sodium: 111.5 mg, Vitamin K: 11.3 mcg
Mega 23 News
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Mega 24 News