Food help!

[corilannam]

My mother is here visiting me for two weeks, after not having seen me for almost nine years. I have not previously mentioned this because it's been a source of immense stress for quite a while now, and every entry I started about it inevitably devolved into "ICANTDOTHISOMGWTFAAAAAARGH!"

She came on Saturday, and so far it's been okay (other than finding her sitting alone and silent in the dark when I came home from ndannais's graduation last night, because she couldn't figure out how to work the lights or TV. Other issues come and go, as expected.

The one practical issue I'm having is how to feed her. My usual fare is whatever I can make fit on my WW plan, but my mother has blood pressure problems and can't eat very much sodium. She went through my entire kitchen last night, pointing out what had too much sodium in it, and it turns out it was... pretty much everything. I can do low fat, low calorie, low carb, low flavor, but low sodium I'm having a problem with.

So, can anyone recommend any resources for tasty but low sodium foods/recipes? Preferably low fat and calorie as well? That has flavor, if that's not asking too much? I'm googling, but any recommendations for known successes (personal or secondhand) would be greatly appreciated.

Barring that, send valium (that one's for me).

Comments

[semielliptical]

Some Trader Joe's brand food are low-sodium. They have salsa chips and soy chips (almost like corn chips) that have a reasonable sodium level per serving. And some of their salsas and maybe pasta sauces - you have to check the labels.

Baked goods are often high in sodium but it varies - I've seen different brands of tortilas that ranged from around 100mg (not bad) to 400mg (way too high) per tortilla.

It sounds like you're probably not interested in baking - if you are, there is a low-sodium baking powder, Featherweight. But it is *not* equivalent to regular baking powder, I use about twice as much Featherweight, and/or add a small amount (1/4 tsp) of regular for a boost.

There are low-sodium canned beans, I use Eden organic. You could make your own hummus or bean dip to use with chips by blending with garlic, lemon juice, tahini (for hummus), maybe some roasted red peppers.

Or marinate chicken with lime/lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

Good luck with this!

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot! I appreciate all the suggestions!