Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Wednesday I saw the electrophysiologist my cardiologist had referred me to, the one who's something like head of the entire department at Johns Hopkins, and yes, he did manage to convince me that I should go ahead and get another defibrillator/pacemaker. If they can't get the third lead in, he promises that they won't spend a couple extra hours poking around; instead, they'll close it up as is, and then in December, after all my holiday concert obligations are over, I'll go back in for a separate procedure for a mini-thoracotomy, where they sorta stretch the ribs apart and go plunk the lead down on the outside surface of the heart. But maybe, just maybe, they'll get the third lead in when they put the device in. We'll see. That surgery is September 11. They'll keep me overnight just for observation, although pacemakers can be outpatient surgery; just my history and stuff. So, more news on that as it happens.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Surprising variety of low-sodium foods at Trader Joe's
I'm lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's about 5 miles away. If you are near one and haven't checked it out, try it. There are quite a few items that are low-so! For example, over in frozen entrees, there's two I particularly like: the Chicken Vindaloo (340 mg sodium for the entire 11-oz meal, and only 4 grams of fat), and the Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken & Seasoned Rice (105 mg sodium!!, but 10 grams of fat.) In frozen veggies, there's Thai Style Soy Ginger Carrots with Toasted Almonds, 70 mg per 1/2 cup serving, about 7 servings per package - so if you're like me, and you're more likely to eat a larger serving, that would be 123 mg of sodium per 1/4 of a bag, or 163 mg per 1/3 of a bag (that last is the size serving I usually eat.)
They have a huge selection of unsalted nuts,and even some of their seasoned nuts aren't too high in sodium: the lime & chili cashews are 85 mg sodium per 1/4 cup. The Savory Thin Mini Crackers are 125 mg per serving, which sounds like it's edging on the high side until you read that a serving is 37 crackers!! (1/3 of the bag) - that's quite a big snack. And they have lots and lots of unsulphered, unsweetened dried fruit, no sodium at all and tons of fiber, and a terrific summer snack.
They also have quite a few varieties of potato chips and other chips that are much lower in sodium than the big-name chip brands. The Toasted Sesame & Ginger Potato Chips are only 85 mg per serving, while Roasted Garlic & Three Cheese Chips are 115 mg. And the Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips are only 50 mg sodium per serving! Pair that up with some of the salsas that are lo-so (almost any of the fruit salsas, like the ones with mango or peach in them, are lo-so even in the big name brands) and you can really party.
And, I can't find a bottle right now, no idea where I put them away, one of their regular spaghetti sauces, not even designated as no salt added, is nonetheless under 200 mg of sodium per serving, which is quite low compared to most commercial brands on the regular shelves.
Of course, there are lots of similar items you can get from Healthy Heart Market (link over on the right) if you don't live near a TJ. But if you are near one, then you can save yourself both the shipping costs and the risk of shipping fragile items such as glass jars of spaghetti sauce or fragile potato chips, and save your HHM orders for the stuff that nobody carries locally, like the low-sodium olives and pickles.
Today's recipe: Chick-Pea Salad
2 cans no-salt-added chickpeas (garbanzos)
1 small onion, diced small
1/4 of a bunch of parsley, stems removed, cut into small pieces
6 low-sodium black olives, diced small
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup red vinegar (red wine, apple cider, whatever vinegar you like)
2 Tbsp olive oil
Rinse the chickpeas, and remove any of the little translucent outer skins that are sliding off - just to make the salad more attractive. (It'll taste the same, but look a little odd, if the bits of outer skin are loose in there.) Then mix all ingredients in a bowl, toss thoroughly, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, shaking the bowl occasionally to redistribute the vinegar and oil.
I'm lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's about 5 miles away. If you are near one and haven't checked it out, try it. There are quite a few items that are low-so! For example, over in frozen entrees, there's two I particularly like: the Chicken Vindaloo (340 mg sodium for the entire 11-oz meal, and only 4 grams of fat), and the Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken & Seasoned Rice (105 mg sodium!!, but 10 grams of fat.) In frozen veggies, there's Thai Style Soy Ginger Carrots with Toasted Almonds, 70 mg per 1/2 cup serving, about 7 servings per package - so if you're like me, and you're more likely to eat a larger serving, that would be 123 mg of sodium per 1/4 of a bag, or 163 mg per 1/3 of a bag (that last is the size serving I usually eat.)
They have a huge selection of unsalted nuts,and even some of their seasoned nuts aren't too high in sodium: the lime & chili cashews are 85 mg sodium per 1/4 cup. The Savory Thin Mini Crackers are 125 mg per serving, which sounds like it's edging on the high side until you read that a serving is 37 crackers!! (1/3 of the bag) - that's quite a big snack. And they have lots and lots of unsulphered, unsweetened dried fruit, no sodium at all and tons of fiber, and a terrific summer snack.
They also have quite a few varieties of potato chips and other chips that are much lower in sodium than the big-name chip brands. The Toasted Sesame & Ginger Potato Chips are only 85 mg per serving, while Roasted Garlic & Three Cheese Chips are 115 mg. And the Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips are only 50 mg sodium per serving! Pair that up with some of the salsas that are lo-so (almost any of the fruit salsas, like the ones with mango or peach in them, are lo-so even in the big name brands) and you can really party.
And, I can't find a bottle right now, no idea where I put them away, one of their regular spaghetti sauces, not even designated as no salt added, is nonetheless under 200 mg of sodium per serving, which is quite low compared to most commercial brands on the regular shelves.
Of course, there are lots of similar items you can get from Healthy Heart Market (link over on the right) if you don't live near a TJ. But if you are near one, then you can save yourself both the shipping costs and the risk of shipping fragile items such as glass jars of spaghetti sauce or fragile potato chips, and save your HHM orders for the stuff that nobody carries locally, like the low-sodium olives and pickles.
Today's recipe: Chick-Pea Salad
2 cans no-salt-added chickpeas (garbanzos)
1 small onion, diced small
1/4 of a bunch of parsley, stems removed, cut into small pieces
6 low-sodium black olives, diced small
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup red vinegar (red wine, apple cider, whatever vinegar you like)
2 Tbsp olive oil
Rinse the chickpeas, and remove any of the little translucent outer skins that are sliding off - just to make the salad more attractive. (It'll taste the same, but look a little odd, if the bits of outer skin are loose in there.) Then mix all ingredients in a bowl, toss thoroughly, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, shaking the bowl occasionally to redistribute the vinegar and oil.
