Sunday, October 2, 2011

Herb-a-Licious Dishes Or Save the Salt for the Slugs

No, I don't mean salty slugs. I personally don't eat them although I'm pretty sure they are very high in protein. I mean save the salt to sprinkle on the slugs in your garden, because it kills them. And, guess what--it can kill you too!

My spice rack is where the magic of cooking flavorful salt-free foods begins. My son Ron made it for me, according to my needs and the space available. It's in a most convenient space a few feet from my stove, my counters, my table, and my pantry, and it's alphabetized (so my sister suggested; I used to have it arranged according to whether food is sweet, hot, spicy, meat, vegetables, etc.) so I just step over to it whenever I'm cooking or baking, and choose my spices and  herbs. I grow herbs too. My family is so accustomed to taste-full food that when we eat out they can tell that much of the flavor is just from salt.

I especially appreciate my spices and herbs now that I must stay gluten-free.

Lists are pretty boring, so skip this list unless you REALLY want to know what I flavor my food with. 
Allspice, ground; Allspice, whole; Alum; Anis; Arrowroot; Bacon bits (real);Basil (a dozen varieties in my garden too); Cayenne; Celery salt; Celery seeds; Chili powder; Chive rings(and in my garden); Cilantro (in my garden too); Cinnamon sticks; Cinnamon powder; Cloves ground; Cloves whole; Cumin; Curry (very hot); Dill leaves (and in garden); Dill seeds; Garlic minced; Garlic powdered; Ginger ground; Mace ground; Marjoram; Mustard ground; Mustard whole; Nutmeg ground; Nutmeg whole; Onion chopped (and in my garden); Onion powdered; Oregano (and in garden); Paprika; Parsley (and in a flower pot); Pepper black; Pepper red crushed (and from my garden); Pepper white; Rosemary; Saffron; Sage ground; Savory; Sesame seed; Tartar, cream of; Thyme (and in garden); Turmeric; plus 12 salt-free blends.
This spicy soup is delicious.

Curried Carrot Soup

Sauté in 1 T of oil
5 stalks chopped celery
3 chopped onions
Add
5# of chopped carrots (in a 2-gallon pot)
Water to cover
Enough low-sodium bouillion to flavor (I used 11 tsp)
2 T strong curry
In last moments of cooking, add fresh or dry parsley to taste

This recipe is delicious. It makes two gallons of soup, with only 1335 calories in the entire pot. That’s less than 42 calories per cup. We each had a very large serving bowl of this soup as part of the main course. However, I added turkey sausages in the last 15 minutes of cooking the soup, so we had meat in our main course too. My son ate his on bread. I ate mine with prepared mustard (no gluten I hope).

I HAVE LOST 48 POUNDS. MY OLD CLOTHES GOT SO LOOSE I FINALLY DONATED THEM TO GOODWILL AND I'M PULLING OUT SOME OLDER, SMALLER CLOTHING. SOME OF THAT IS TOO LARGE FOR ME TOO. MY WEIGHT LOSS IS STILL MUCH SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY, BUT I AM HAPPY THAT IT CONTINUES AS I CONTINUE TO KEEP COUNT OF AND AVERAGE MY CALORIE INTAKE. MY AVERAGE AS OF YESTERDAY IS 1550/DAY.






1 comment:

  1. That is amazing! I'm stalled out at 21 pounds right now, but still relish the feeling of fitting into clothes I haven't seen for a long time. I also just went through the closet and donated a bunch of stuff. It's a slow battle (the battle of the bulge?) but we're winning!

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