Reinforcing Cooking from Scratch
Shelton's Chicken Chili: 970mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Homemade Lamb and Bean Stew: 109mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Imagine Light in Sodium Creamy Garden Tomato Soup: 300mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Homemade Roasted Beet Soup: 183mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Granted, we go pretty light on the salt here, but that's a real difference. It's been a while since I've had canned chili or heavily processed food of any kind, and it really blew me away with the saltiness. (That's almost a full teaspoon of salt per can.) And this even though I add extra salt to my food, since I have normal blood pressure and don't want to eat low sodium. So yes, I want to prioritize main meals. Getting the soups to a more homemade state would also be good, though it's not as pressing if I stick to the low-sodium brands. This is not even mentioning the other benefits -- more fiber, more vitamins, better omega-3 to omega-6 balance, supporting local farmers, etc.
Westside Farmers Market report:
The parking lot wasn't open, which is a little off-putting; it messes up the traffic flow and it's actually kind of a showstopper for me to carry stuff really far, as this was my drive-to market on the day of the week that I have very few spoons. Brad went with me because I was too tired to drive, actually, and he'll keep going with me until we know if that's just a one-time thing.
The market itself was pretty well populated for winter, and it was a nice day. Fruit selection is limited in winter: satsumas, pomelo (which I didn't get, though I eyed it), lemons, and apples. Plenty of veggies, though, and I was able to stock up on salad greens and fennel, onions, elephant garlic, etc. for the lamb and bean stew. We also made it to the market to get kohlrabi (not at the farmers market that day) and scarlet runner beans and for me to peer around for new things; it's been wayyy too long since I've been there. I want to go to the Cabrillo market again sometime (I've only been once!) but I'm waiting until I've cooked out more of the pantry and freezer, because I know that I'll get excited about all the new-to-me goodies and want to buy some of everything and then be even farther behind on cooking. However, if they don't resolve the parking situation at Westside I might end up going there more regularly; it really does add a spoon or two, which was about how much the difference was for going to the Cabrillo market due to the longer distance and more annoying parking.
Santa Cruz Local Foods update:
I did another pickup today; I'd restricted myself to hard-to-find items. The star of the show so far is the smoke-dried tomatoes. I cracked open their olive oil and tasted it (as advertised, rich and buttery, with a pleasant mild peppery finish) and then infused some of the tomatoes in a jar. In a few days that will make smoky oil that I can add to things as a flavoring in its own right. Say... drizzled over a soup, or in a spinach salad dressing. I think the tomatoes themselves would be fabulous on pizza.
I also got some Scream sorbet (mandarin) as they had been so very forlorn last week, cippolini onions as they are usually quite hard to find this time of year and will be great with all those avocados we're still working on, grass-fed beef jerky, and Hain walnuts. Indulgence week! Speaking of indulgence, when I went to look up the smoke-dried tomatoes I found that they have chanterelles up for $12/lb. I REALLY doubt that I will have the spoons next week to make cream of chanterelle soup. For one thing, I'm out of frozen stock and this is a recipe that should only be made with real stock. But oh how I am tempted.
Here are the Meyer lemons and Bearss limes I picked up last week. I've been putting lemon and lime in everything, so the bowl is depleted, but it's now getting about time to zest, juice, and freeze them. If I don't have the energy right away I can hit snooze by tossing them in the fridge for a few days.
Homemade Lamb and Bean Stew: 109mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Imagine Light in Sodium Creamy Garden Tomato Soup: 300mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Homemade Roasted Beet Soup: 183mg sodium in a 1-cup serving
Granted, we go pretty light on the salt here, but that's a real difference. It's been a while since I've had canned chili or heavily processed food of any kind, and it really blew me away with the saltiness. (That's almost a full teaspoon of salt per can.) And this even though I add extra salt to my food, since I have normal blood pressure and don't want to eat low sodium. So yes, I want to prioritize main meals. Getting the soups to a more homemade state would also be good, though it's not as pressing if I stick to the low-sodium brands. This is not even mentioning the other benefits -- more fiber, more vitamins, better omega-3 to omega-6 balance, supporting local farmers, etc.
Westside Farmers Market report:
The parking lot wasn't open, which is a little off-putting; it messes up the traffic flow and it's actually kind of a showstopper for me to carry stuff really far, as this was my drive-to market on the day of the week that I have very few spoons. Brad went with me because I was too tired to drive, actually, and he'll keep going with me until we know if that's just a one-time thing.
The market itself was pretty well populated for winter, and it was a nice day. Fruit selection is limited in winter: satsumas, pomelo (which I didn't get, though I eyed it), lemons, and apples. Plenty of veggies, though, and I was able to stock up on salad greens and fennel, onions, elephant garlic, etc. for the lamb and bean stew. We also made it to the market to get kohlrabi (not at the farmers market that day) and scarlet runner beans and for me to peer around for new things; it's been wayyy too long since I've been there. I want to go to the Cabrillo market again sometime (I've only been once!) but I'm waiting until I've cooked out more of the pantry and freezer, because I know that I'll get excited about all the new-to-me goodies and want to buy some of everything and then be even farther behind on cooking. However, if they don't resolve the parking situation at Westside I might end up going there more regularly; it really does add a spoon or two, which was about how much the difference was for going to the Cabrillo market due to the longer distance and more annoying parking.
Santa Cruz Local Foods update:
I did another pickup today; I'd restricted myself to hard-to-find items. The star of the show so far is the smoke-dried tomatoes. I cracked open their olive oil and tasted it (as advertised, rich and buttery, with a pleasant mild peppery finish) and then infused some of the tomatoes in a jar. In a few days that will make smoky oil that I can add to things as a flavoring in its own right. Say... drizzled over a soup, or in a spinach salad dressing. I think the tomatoes themselves would be fabulous on pizza.
I also got some Scream sorbet (mandarin) as they had been so very forlorn last week, cippolini onions as they are usually quite hard to find this time of year and will be great with all those avocados we're still working on, grass-fed beef jerky, and Hain walnuts. Indulgence week! Speaking of indulgence, when I went to look up the smoke-dried tomatoes I found that they have chanterelles up for $12/lb. I REALLY doubt that I will have the spoons next week to make cream of chanterelle soup. For one thing, I'm out of frozen stock and this is a recipe that should only be made with real stock. But oh how I am tempted.
Here are the Meyer lemons and Bearss limes I picked up last week. I've been putting lemon and lime in everything, so the bowl is depleted, but it's now getting about time to zest, juice, and freeze them. If I don't have the energy right away I can hit snooze by tossing them in the fridge for a few days.