That's Salty!!!

preachy post!!!!

i've read from a few semi-reliable sources that the USDA is giving some serious consideration to lowering their recommended daily allowance for sodium.

i'm stoked, if it's actually true, and more so if it actually happens.

currently the allowance is about 2300 milligrams, which is equivalent to a teaspoon. i know, some of you are balking-- ONLY A TEASPOON!?!?! it seems like a small amount. go measure it out and dump it on a plate. it looks like this:

i hope to high heaven that you don't put that much salt on your food throughout the course of a day.

the new amount that they'll be pushing for (per hearsay) is 1500 mg, closer to the recommendations made by other world health organizations.

the problem doesn't lie so much in the salt that you're sprinkling (but don't dismiss your shaker as inconsequential just yet), but in the salt that you don't even know you're consuming from processed products like breads, pastas, sauces, dressings, tv dinners, fast food and a host of other options we've created to help our busy lives seem a bit less frantic. i'm by no means opposed to frozen dinners. we have tons in our house. but i made them all from scratch. and truth be told, i don't have a problem with store bought bread, freezer section mac'n'cheese, a few mcdonald's nuggets or a $5 pizza here and there. as with everything, moderation is key. if all three of your major meals are coming from a vending machine, frozen food section, or restaurant (fast food or not), you're doing some serious injustice to your body, particularly to your heart.

life gets tough. in an economy like this one, sometimes you're too tired from those 2 jobs you're working to come home and make a gourmet meal fresh from the farmer's market you shopped at earlier in the week. so start shopping smarter at your grocery stores.

buy unsalted butter, ALWAYS. chances are that most people already add extra salt to everything, so cutting it out of the butter you use can only help you.

start looking for unsalted frozen and canned veggies.

consider making some of your own dressings, sauces and marinades or look for lower sodium varieties.

experiment with other flavors-- don't downplay the power of black pepper! look at spices used in other cuisines and try for savory instead of salty. nutmeg isn't just for holiday cookies--it can also be used to flavor salad dressings, meats, and marinades! :)

try some substitutes. lemon and lime both lend that great bite to the flavor that we all hope to get from salt. i'm not a proponent of actual salt substitutes like NoSalt or AlsoSalt on the grounds that i don't need more weird chemicals in my body and generally they taste horrible.

here's a recipe for no salt-salt from my husband's barbeque cookbook. we haven't used this recipe yet and it is admittedly more expensive than regular salt, but we're going to be making it soon and using it for all of our grilling/seasoning (not baking) needs!

2 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground celery seed

put all of the ingredients into an airtight, dry container. shake a ton until it's all well combined. it can keep for up to a year!

really, all this comes down to is paying a little closer attention to what you're eating. if you grab a big mac and fries for lunch, make your dinner as salt free as you possibly can. take care of yourself. i want you to be alive as long as possible.

because if you aren't alive, who will i rant to?

Haul Out the Holly!

i want to be the poster child for ann taylor by the time i'm 40. i say that on every shopping trip and closet cleaning expedition. this whole notion began in college with casserole clothes.

i'm hoping to one day copyright that phrase.

when you are older and established as an adult, you get invited to nice holiday parties by friends who have a fireplace, and perhaps a pet, in their cozy, well furnished townhome/home/apartment/loft/etc. everyone is asked to bring a favorite comfort food and a few people always show up with bottles of wine that are worth displaying and cost more than $6 at the local liquor mart.

because it's cold you and your date/partner/husband/fiance/whatever will be wearing military style wool coats casually slipped over a snugly tied scarf and warm leather or suede gloves (there's wiggle room on that one). your partner is wearing an argyle sweater and comfy khakis and you are wearing nice pants/skirt or a dress. and you brought a casserole.

casserole clothes are the kind of things you'd wear to a party that you'd show up to with a nice bottle of wine or a steaming, heavy casserole.

we do not wear casserole clothes quite yet.

what we DO wear are cookie exchange clothes!!! still classy, but not wine and casserole classy.

the cookie exchanges we've attended for the past 2 years have been small-- only a handful of people. that's a by product of moving every 8 months. it's hard to make a lot of friends! but they have also been a blast. this year was no exception.

i made kolaches and my grandmother's soft raisin cookies.

growing up outside of chicago, i was exposed to a fairly significant number of cultures--big cities always have melting pots with a long list of ingredients. because of that, i was also lucky to receive exposure to foods and drinks that would have otherwise been unknown to me.

since our move from illinois in 1999, i have not seen a kolache cookie, which is unfortunate because i loved them the most at cookie exchanges as a child. i hoarded them, let's be honest.

googling them was daunting because i wasn't sure that was their real name and describing them is vague-- a cookie with jelly in the middle.

but land'o'lakes has a recipe right up on their website. i followed, but instead of an egg wash, i sprinkled powdered sugar over top once they cooled.

the first one that i ate took me right back to my childhood, stealing kolaches from everyone's plates and being so disappointed when they were gone within a day of getting to our house.

the second recipe is one i will not share. while the recipe is by no means top secret, passed only to one woman in each generation (i think every woman, blood or nuptially related, in our family has this recipe), i do feel that it was only meant for our family. my grandmother created this recipe herself and it's a classic for everyone on my paternal side, and for quite a few on my maternal side i have recently found out. for many of us, holidays aren't holidays unless we're eating these.

i do love making them for my friends, however. i feel like i'm honoring my grandmother's cooking spirit every time i watch someone marvel at how good and unusual the cookies are. i think she probably gets a kick out of a legacy that came from a simple recipe that was made because my grandfather and most of their kids didn't like the texture of oatmeal.

what kinds of things do you like to do for the holidays, aside from the actual holiday traditions? do you throw or attend any sort of yearly shin-dig? are semi-secret family recipes a part of that?

Living and Learning

lesson learned: when you're about to embark on a 10 day vacation, write some draft blogs before you go so you aren't forced into a giant hiatus from writing when you can't access a single picture of your food or an editing program! ;)

as my son approaches his first birthday, i can say without a doubt that this year has been full of learning curves and growth--not just for him, and not just in height and weight!

year-end nostalgia is ubiquitous, particularly in eventful years (which always seem to be the ones that pass too quickly! isn't that unjust!?). this year i have fallen victim to long periods of laying around and reminiscing, especially about this:

and this:

and who could forget:

this doesn't seem possible. but it is. 12 inches, 15 pounds, mountains of toys, 20 words, hundreds of different foods, thousands of tiny steps, 1 emergency room injury, several colds and 6 clothing sizes and 5 shoe sizes later, we have a toddler! 

we were able to celebrate his first birthday while in chicago, surrounded by family and friends alike. he devoured an awesome cake decorated in honor of the bears (who were giant losers over the weekend) and elmo (who was a giant winner in that same weekend) and got some stellar presents!

more importantly, i had a chance to spend some quality time with the family i was born in to and the family i've chosen throughout my life. it was a beautiful, warm night and i couldn't be more grateful for that addition to my already nostalgic state.

i was asked for a flatbread recipe while in town. here's the one i use:

simple flatbread

1c flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2c hot water

mix everything together and let rest, covered and in a warm spot, for 30 minutes. 

form into whatever shape you need and bake at 350 until golden brown