Take it with a Grain of SALT

I consider myself a bit of a foodie. I love cooking, trying new recipies and coming up with my own and certainly one of the most important ingredients..for sweet and savory dishes is SALT.

Salt has gotten quite a bad wrap for the health concerns that an over abundance of this mineral can have on the body. Too much salt in your system doesnt allow your body to absorb calcium. Your kidneys work overtime to process it all and your body retains water to help dilute the amount of sodium in your system which puts more pressure on veins and cells and blood vessels. Heart issues, cardiovascular problems, ↑ blood pressure, strokes, heart attack as well as cancers, swelling, hormone inbalance, dehydration, and many other diseases can be greatly affected by decreasing your sodium intake.

The average adult consumes about 3500mg of sodium per day. The recommended amount is between 1500-2300mg depending on activity levels, weight and age.

We consume sodium without even realizing it! The amount you shake on your food at supper really is miniscule to the amount consumed in processed foods such as cereal, canned veges, canned soup (anything in a can really), premade dinners,  take out food, baking mixes etc etc.

For example:
1T unsalted butter 2mg sodium
1T butter - 116mg sodium
1T Margarine - 145mg sodium ****PLEASE.DONT EAT MARGARINE for many other reasons then just sodium

Apple - 2mg
Applesauce 1cup - 8mg
Apple pie small slice 26-2708mg

When you consistently eat premade, pre packaged foods you are consuming huge amount of sodium but it is also the MOST refined, MOST chemically treated, and LEAST expensive/LOWEST grade available. 

Lets quickly take a look at the most commons forms of salt so you can make the best decisions when it comes to adding salt to your diet.

Table salt - totally stripped of minerals, bleached, refined, synthetic iodine additive, plus anti caking agents make it pour nicely but hinders the dissolving into you blood.

Kosher salt - tablesalt in flake form but with no caking agents and no iodine

Sea salt - retains some mineral such as potassium, iron and zinc. It is less processed, typically unbleached though is getting quite processed.  Pollution on our oceans is concerning.

Himalyan Pink salt - contains the most minerals (some all 84 trace minerals elements found in the body), less.refined, less sodium per serving and hasn't been touched by pollutants.

I have all types of salt in the house but use the pink salts as much as possible. We eat very little processed foods and get our fair share of potassium (bananas, fish, dairy, eggs, seaweed) which does the complete opposite Im in the body that salt does. Salt is necessary but an overabundance can be harmful.   Eat at home, keep food simple, homemade and natural and in the end remember that SALT has one main job... to add flavour .. not nutrition.

Make wise, educated choices!
Xo
Kara

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt

Last supper

I had the good fortune of picking up an incredible book ($3-score!!) About some high-profile chefs and what their last supper would be. Like any good book, this of course got me thinking :) ...what would I pick?

This entire blog is about wellness, eating clean wholesome delicious food, and putting you and your family's health as a priority and I realize that my last supper would still fit into this criteria.

Would anyone really pick a Big Mac, fry and watery coke for their last meal on earth???? And yet tonight could very well be/have been that last meal. Seems wierd right..we dont often think this way. I have said from post #1 that food is one of the greatest joys in life ~ and it often goes under appreciated and rushed through. It can be the most powerful and delicious form of Medicine or the strongest form of Poison.. your choice.

A common thread through the book is that all of these chefs focus on simple, fresh foods shared with loved ones..and many are based on memories of wonderful times.  Really lnowledgable, high end, experienced chefs (Joel Robuchon, Tom Colicchio, Heston Blumenthal (♥), Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, Morimoto, David Chang, Susur Lee, Michael Symon (♥♥) to name just a few!) Choosing aged cheeses,  fresh oysters, wild game, fresh tomato sauce and homemade pasta,  roasted root vegetables.... really beautiful ingredients prepared in the most simple ways - roasting, pan fried, steamed... all of their answers fitting into the clean eating game plan.. it is not only best for you..it also tastes incredible!

So... what would be your last supper? Who would be at the table? Music? Location? What would you drink?

Could you make it happen? Why wait?

Want to know mine? I would take the liberty of stretching my last meal out from lunch to late into the night :D .

~A long table on a white sandy beach, big bonfire so we could swim and dance and eat all through the afternoon, watch the sun set, and drink and dance and eat some more long into the night.

The table would be set with fresh seafood → crab legs & lobster tails with garlic butter, mussels in white wine sauce with whole grain bread for dipping, homemade guacamole with salsa and nacho chips, fresh lusciously ripe pineapple and peaches, roasted garden vegetables, fresh peas still in their pods so we can sit by the fire, shuck and pop them into our mouths, sliced marinated ribeye steak, fire roasted corn on the cob, fresh strawberries, really old white cheddar cheese and tangy green grapes, pomegranate, feta, almond spinach salad, salmon with pecans, and rack of lamb with rosemary breadcrumbs. Fresh caught partridge and pickerel, and baked sweet potato fries. 

It would be set beautifully with a hundred different white candles, fresh flowers and picture frames of wonderful memories and for dessert would be dark chocolate and espresso.

To drink → hard Cider, deep rich red wine, local beers, and a maple flavoured whiskey as well as a lot of iced water and excellent quality strong brewed coffee.

Company → this is where thinking about your last supper gets REALLY hard... :( but to spend the day with anyone who has brought love, fun, life and passion would be welcome around the fire. I am a very lucky lady who has the most incredible people in my life ● past & present ● and if my last day could be spent dancing, talking, laughing and loving you all back, there would be nothing better. Kids with sparklers, friends with guitars, a little old school rock and some dance music too... it would not be a quiet night but a party to end all parties. ☆★☆★☆★☆★