Hurray for cooling trends... Though I have to say, even 20 years ago, I'd be curled up under as many ice packs as I could find on a day like today. Anything above 80 is too hot, 70 -80 is too warm 60 -70 is comfortable, under 60- zero is chilly but nice and below zero is cold

Why on earth am I in SE GA??? That's something I can't figure out for the life of me, other than I love my hubby very much, and thankfully he can fix my a/c or rather better keep it running

Arrgh I can so relate! I don't ever add salt to anything but do eat a lot of frozen dinners, canned soups, cereal etc. everything with a ton of salt.

I have made halfhearted attempts to try and cut back by cooking more for example making breakfast instead of eating the frozen Jimmy Dean Delights which I love but homemade really wasn't all that much lower in salt. I have even bought cook books but haven't been inspired.

If anyone has any easy tips of things to snack on or recipes, please share.

It only takes a few minutes to slice up a little onion, mushroom, tomato. Use a little olive oil and saute them and add a couple of scrambled eggs...you have breakfast. I am gluten-free (Celiac) and have many food allergies. My total cholesterol was 137 in February. I try to stick to a Mediterranean-style diet. I do like the flavor of salt and it is one habit that I am trying to break. But, whole foods (nothing added, nothing taken away) and not processed foods is usually recommended and much lower in sodium.

I'm not much of a pre-made food eater to begin with, I just add salt to everything, and never stopped to consider how much was already in the food. Breads are about the biggest intake of ready to eat food for me. So it's more the shell-shock of learning a single raw carrot has 60 mg of sodium.

That and my favorite style of cooking is Asian with soy sauce at 980mg teriyaki at 600 something.... Still experimenting with cutting those out and maintaining taste and appearance... I've almost got the taste but the looks have much to be desired .

Now I have found that sour cream makes a good sub for miracle whip on sandwich wraps, at least paired with roast beef. If you don't feel like making your own roast, reduced sodium roast beef is available and not half bad. A couple of slices, with some (lots) lettuce maybe some sliced onions, bell peppers... A dollop of sour cream and rolled up in a low sodium wrap. It's not a half bad lunch. And comes in around 200 mg of sodium leaving some wiggle room for a few chips either regular or reduced salt.

Tamagoyaki and rice with some quick fried veggies is another good lunch or breakfast. 65 mg for the eggs, usually use 2, 55 for the mirin in a tbsp but I only add about a tsp so third that. Whip eggs, Mirin and a dash of sugar apply, apply a thin coat to a hot pan as it sets roll it like a log add more to the existing and roll, repeat till done adding green onions or sesame seeds in between like you're making a Swiss roll.

Julienne vegetables (pick one or many in different colors) into a hot pan with just enough sesame seed oil to coat the bottom, toss them around till brightened in color add a tsp of honey, toss till coated, remove from heat and sprinkle with toasted black sesame seeds... Mmmmm tasty!

I have a really low attention span which is why I do mostly Asian style cooking, it's all pretty much the same, bite size pieces, high heat done in minutes and looks so tasty and pretty. But those are about the only ones I got for now that aren't laden with soy sauce. I'll let you know how my experiments go though.

Ack... Forgot I have the pan for tamagoyaki, that I don't think many would have... It can be done in a regular frying pan though it losses a bit of its look, but instead of rolling it up and adding mixture a little at a time, put the whole kit and kaboodle in the heated/oiled pan and after eggs have just 'set' fold rounded ends inward like an envelope then roll into the 'log' form. Try not to brown the egg though it needs to be done quick.

If the egg isn't quite fully set or wants to unroll, wrap in a bit of plastic wrap and let it finish cooking under its own steam. And because the eggs are sweetened it still tastes really good (better IMO) when cold as well and keeps wrapped in the fridge for about two days.

I avoid most Asian cooking unless I put my own twist on it. Asian food ended badly for me 17 yrs ago with an emergency trip to the E.R. (an anaphylactic reaction). I was advised to avoid Asian and Asian-American cuisine at all costs.

I make my own stir-fry and such. Since I am Celiac, I have to avoid most wraps and breads. The wraps I can have are either just nasty or very expensive. I make my own bread on special occasions, I have a decent bread maker recipe. If I decide to use soy sauce, I have to locate and purchase a much higher cost, gluten-free soy sauce. Most often, I will just use Hormel Herbox Sodium Free, Gluten Free Beef Broth for sauce bases. I also use Jasmine rice instead of white rice, it is naturally gluten free.

I eat a lot of salads and local veggies. I am trying to cut out salt, but it is the most difficult addiction. I don't drink alcohol. I don't do any drugs and even resist any pain medications. I quit smoking 5 years ago. Now, it is time to tackle the hardest addiction in my life...I would love to know that I could survive with only the naturally occurring sodium in foods.

I don't think it is impossible, just very difficult.

So happy!!! I found salt! Real salt! With only 80mg of sodium per tsp!!! Granted it is mixed with toasted sesame seeds, so it's a bit of a nuttyish? But still it's salt and salty!

But yeah I do need to be careful with Asian foods as well when not home-made, allergies to shellfish which they use in nearly everything. But since I have issues with iron, Japanese foods are AWESOME since they have probably the most iron deficient diet of any developed country in the world

Now if only they didn't use soooo much sodium and shellfish I'd have a great country to run away too, and I do still want to run there for a bit, though I'll be living on mochi, rice and castella cakes, while I'm there at this point... But I can live with that

I'll be the Marie Antoinette of Japan... "Let me eat cake" ha ha..,

OK, now you have me curious...where did you find salt and toasted sesame seeds? I have to know...locally?

Not locally unfortunately. Amazon has it, but found it looking at another specialty store online. But I am heading down to Jax tomorrow to check out Circle Japan, not only hoping to find more of the salt but seeing what other sodium/soy swaps they might have. I'm also hoping to ask them if they have any ideas (secret recipies) that they could share.

Okay started a blog, first one in my life for all I'm on the computer but figured I could put the recipes up there to remind myself there's still food I can eat and to share with anyone whose interested....

It's starznight88.blogspot.com I think....