ENHANCE YOUR LOW-SALT EATING EXPERIENCE WITH OMA'S TIPS

  Tips from Oma’s Kitchen to enjoy eating again!

BREAD: Oh, so hard to enjoy when FULL of sodium!

• Well, try CORN (not flour) tortillas – naturally low in sodium. You can grill them for a hot sandwich, quesadilla style
• Martin’s potato rolls & bread – sweet, low in sodium compared to most other brands. Their buns are ~170 mg, others are often up to 370 mg or more! (Unfortunately, Martin's has decided to leave the Midwest market.  But maybe they're available where you live).
• Alternatively, we have found King's Hawaiian to be relatively low in sodium.  Their hamburger buns have only 120 mg sodium
• Lewis Healthy Life bread - white-125 mg in TWO slices. You can make a sandwich

SALAD DRESSING: standard serving is 2 TB. & most commercial dressings are 200+ mg. And 2 TB. is not much dressing. Let’s be honest, most of us use more than that!

• Go plain vinegar & oil, amped up with garlic paste & some herbs, or tomato paste & sugar.  (Amore offers a rich, double concentrated paste in a tube that is low in sodium).
• Use some of Opa’s Honey Mustard, thinned down with a smidge of apple cider vinegar
• Use some of Opa’s BBQ Sauce, thinned down with some white balsamic vinegar
• If you are dying for creaminess, sour cream is naturally low in sodium. Add dill, sugar & vinegar to thin down.
• Or, add a mess of fresh herbs & some Mrs. Dash garlic & herbs.
• Or, get your favorite high sodium dressing (Thousand Island, Western, Creamy Garlic, Blue Cheese!!) & thin it out considerably with vinegar & oil, so that you still get the taste you are craving, but get more “coverage” of your salad with less tablespoons of actual commercial dressing. That way the 2 TB. Can cover a salad for 2-4 people & still be flavorful.

PIZZA: who doesn’t love and crave pizza?! But most are loaded with sodium. Here are a few tricks that we have learned.

• Use Opa’s pizza sauce. Most commercial sauces are sodium bombs!
• Try the pre-made, shelf stable crusts by Golden Home. Crisp them up for 5 minutes, then add sauce & toppings, bake and enjoy!

For toppings...

• Sargento Swiss cheese slices are pre-portioned and the lowest in sodium. Gives good coverage & melts well.
• Shredded Asiago from Mariano’s Cheese Dept is surprisingly low in sodium and a sprinkle across the top gives a boost of flavor.
• Packaged pepperoni, if portioned carefully, gives great flavor.
• Use plenty of veg – green peppers, onion, mushrooms
• If you are dying for sausage, use fresh ground pork, seasoned with garlic, red pepper flakes & sage; skillet cooked into mini meatballs. Cut in ½ to put on your pizza. (Can be made ahead & frozen, then stored in a baggie in the freezer!)
• Sprinkle a bit of Mrs Dash garlic & herbs across the top. Of course, oregano leaves are very low sodium (0.3 mg per tsp) and basil is zero sodium!

Summertime Picnics and Barbecues can be a bummer when you are watching sodium. But they can still be fun and delicious! Here’s what we have learned.

• Check labels of pre-made side dishes (coleslaw, potato salad). Some are not too high. “Green coleslaw” is usually lower.
• If you can, make your own coleslaw: buy the pre-shredded cabbage mix, add vinegar, oil & Mrs. Dash onion & herbs. Do NOT pre-salt the cabbage, as most recipes suggest.
• Chips & Salsa - of course Opa's salsas are Very Low Sodium. But did you know that you can get Zero Sodium Tortilla Chips?  Donkey brand makes a no salt chip - look for the green bag.
• Hot dogs & other sausages are sodium bombs, often OVER 600 mg in 1 link!
• Except for Oscar Meyer Classic Beef uncured dogs! Only 360!!!! 
• Burgers, best bet when you make your own. Pre-made burgers often have extra salt added.
• Ribs can vary widely when you buy prepackaged. CHECK the label. Can be 370mg for 4 oz serving OR 750!!
• Potato salad - try Country Maid German-only 140mg in ~3/4 cup