Recipes, Food Tips, Healthy Eating & More

@hopeful33250 I really know nothing about kidney problems, but my daughter's dog has kidney problems. My son-in-law texted to ask me to get in certain foods, and he told me to buy chicken thighs. I was surprised that he didn't want me to buy chicken breasts but he said the breasts have more phosphate than thighs! I would imagine that the same would hold true for people with kidney problems, but maybe not.
JK

@imallears Much of your post I could have written myself! My husband sometimes wonders why it takes me as long as it does in the supermarket. It does because if I am buying foods in the aisles I read all of the ingredients and nutrients.

Both my son and daughter are very conscious of healthy eating. I don't think my son has eaten fast food in many years, and my daughter is very good but she does eat things that she should not occasionally. I was very heavy for a long time so I hope they will be conscious of their weight always, I know too well the health problems it causes.

I wish I could say my hair was shiny, etc., but it really is no different from my diet. I also wish I could say I have my nightly glass of wine, but when my non-alcoholic cirrhosis was diagnosed I could no longer have any alcohol. I miss my glass of wine with dinner. I do eat my dark chocolate, a piece almost every day.
JK

@harriethodgson1 Good luck with your surgery, when is it? I too cook mostly from scratch to keep sodium low. I made a great beef stew last week with no salt and shared some with a friend. She texted me afterward that it's a tribute to the chef when it tastes as good as it did, with no salt!
I have been successful at losing weight in the past but right now I do not seem to be dropping any pounds despite eating very low calorie/carb. I track my food on myfitnesspal so I know I my calories are low but nothing is happening! Hopefully one day I will weigh myself and have lost at least a couple of pounds.
JK

Your beef stew sounds marvelous. I have a beef stew recipe with lots of veggies and orange zest, which makes up for the lack of salt.

I'm posting my soup recipe again.

Tomato-Basil Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil (I use extra light.)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 carton (32 ounces) unsalted chicken broth
1 can (28 ounces) tomato puree
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt (may be reduced or omitted)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

Pour olive oil into soup pot. Add chopped onion and saute over medium heat for 5 min. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with shaved Parmesan if desired. Makes 8 servings. This recipe is from my book, The Family Caregiver's Cookbook.

Thanks. I'm going to need many positive thoughts before surgery.

@hopeful33250 This is what the lentils look like sprouted. I posted a picture in the gratitude discussion. Yes, they are sprouted in the baking dish. Only takes a couple of days. They will continue growing if placed in soil. This is not my purpose. Once they sprout they are ready to put into soup and cook like the unsprouted.

@harriethodgson1 Thanks for soup recipe you will be her a lot of prayers when is your surgery?

Hi,
Kudos to you for following a healthy diet and reading all those ingredients. I would dearly miss my nightly wine, especially sipping as I cook. Have you tried any of the non alcoholic wines? They seem to be a lot more expensive than regular wine and some add fruit juice. I like a full bodied Cab and my one foray into a non alcoholic wine was a few years back. I remember it tasting like diluted regular wine and a tad sweet. I’m thinking a white might taste better. There’s a lot of brands on the market. Maybe you can find one you like and then keep it under lock and key, lol, just for you. You can get use to anything, I guess.

Regards from one label reader to another....Mary

hI @parus
What I was wondering, is how it looks when you start it up. For example, what do you put in the 13X9 dish, soil or water? What does it look like when you first get it started? I'm somewhat of a visual person and I can't picture how this all gets started. Know what I mean?