Over a salty chili dinner last night, we shared our experience from the day. On his way to work, after getting to a gas station, putting air in the tires, hitting the road to the office, Ken realized 'Forgot my lunch!!' He turned around, headed home and packed a few items from the box. Brendine so impressed that he actually went back for lunch instead taking the other road to dining out. Ken noted that at work, he's inspired some co-workers to be more mindful (and thankful) for what they eat.
Both of us are having a hard time with breakfast. Mini muffins, blueberries, peanut butter scoops and 1/2 banana aren't really taking us through the morning. The House of Zen has become pretty good a gluten free eaing over the past year, but being bound to 2 boxes of food is a little tricky. Ken's solution: can of beans in tomato sauce for breakfast tomorrow.
Only 4 days, but we're really inspired to challenge our food habits. Ken suggested taking the whole month of April for vegetarian eating. Brendine suggested May through October as a 100km diet challenge (eating only foods/food ingredients that have been grown and produced with 100km of our home). Bring it on (perhaps with an occasional allowance for a nice ripe avocado)! We're up for the challenge.
On the menu from day 4 ...
Lunch
Brendine: jazzed up tomato soup: 1/3 container V8 Tomato Soup + 1/2 cup milk + spinach (pantry item) and 2 stalks broccoli + 1 slice leftover pizza- Ken: 1 package instant rice noodle soup + 2 rice cakes + leftover ham slices
Supper:
Chili: - Step 1: saute 1 chopped onion + 2 cloves garlic in medium sized sauce pan
- Step 2: add 1/3 can diced tomatoes + 1/3 can tomato sauce + 1 can corn (rinsed) + 1 can mixed beans (rinsed) + 1/2 package taco seasoning + 1 cup water (to dilute the sodium!)
- Potato Wedges
- Step 1: slice 1-2 medium sized potatoes into thin wedges
- Step 2: line a baking sheet with tin foil. Place potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes.
- tomato sauce = 470mg sodium per 1/2 cup
- diced tomatoes = 370mg sodium per 1/2 cup
- sodium recommendations for average joe = 1500mg - 2300mg per day
- roughly = 400-500mg sodium per meal
- translation = yikes! our chili has won the award for more sodium than we needed for the day
Surprises, insights and more from day 4 ...
Preparing our chili dinner brought on a little exploration into the Nutrition Facts table on the canned vegetables used to whip it together. I know ... what a fun thing to explore on a Monday night. Only a 15 minute exploration though - totally fast meal! But, it's pretty outrageous what you find in a can of 'tomato sauce' or 'diced tomatoes.'
The low-down ... what's really in that chili?  |
| tomato sauce |
This morning, with my daily scoop of peanut butter, I began to notice the strange buttery-like consistency of the 'peanut butter.' Hmm... was this really peanut butter? Still in exploration mode, I browsed at the ingredient list:
- roasted peanuts, soybean oil, corn dextrin, sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, salt
There are a lot of stigmas that exist around canned and boxed food items. But, these items play a big role in feeding and nurturing many people and families. We're humbled by our ability to be able to choose fresh foods on a daily basis, and choose lower or no-sodium canned products when we need to. To choose just 'peanuts' peanut butter.
Hopefully others can be mindful that not everyone chooses the foods that they eat. They simply make the best of what they have. Something that can be humbling, happy and heartbreaking at the same time.
No comments:
Post a Comment