Low Sodium Ham & Bean Soup

Another dish that I love that Ed doesn't... at least I can make it for myself when he's not home.

INGREDIENTS
1lb turkey ham (Jennie-O has pretty low sodium, plus it is lower fat)
1 pkg of dry beans for bean soup (I used the 15 bean soup)
1 15oz can low sodium diced tomatoes
2 cups sliced celery
1.5 cups onion, chopped
2 cups sliced carrots
1/4 teas pepper
1 teas thyme
2 bay leaves
Water to fill crockpot

DIRECTIONS
Follow package directions for how to prepare the dry beans (normally you soak overnight in water, then drain)
Put all ingredients into the crockpot, cook on low for 8-10hrs.

Low-Sodium Chili

I love chili, but Ed doesn't.  So this recipe is mostly for me, but I kept it low sodium out of principle.

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 lb ground beef (low fat)
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 beer
2 14.5oz can low sodium diced tomatoes
1 8oz can low sodium tomato sauce
1/8 teas cayenne
1/8 teas paprika
1 teas oregano
1 teas all-purpose salt free seasoning
2 Tbl chili powder
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (to remove some of the sodium)
1 cup corn, fresh/frozen

DIRECTIONS
Stove: Saute the onion, red pepper, meat, and garlic.  Add remaining ingrediants, heat to boiling, and simmer for 1 hr.

Crockpot: Saute the onion, red pepper, meat, and garlic. Add remaining ingrediants, cook on low 8-10hrs or on high 4hrs

NUTRIENTS
haven't figured out yet

Low Sodium Apple Chicken Stew

This is now one of Ed's favorite meals.

INGREDIANTS
4 parsnips, cut into 1/4-inch slices or 4 medium potatoes, cubed
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced
2 celery ribs (including leaves), thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 tablespoons olive
1 large tart apple, peeled and cubed
2 1/4 cups apple cider or apple juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 bay leaf

DIRECTIONS
1.In a slow cooker, layer parsnips/potatoes, carrots, onion and celery. Combine thyme, pepper and caraway; sprinkle half over vegetables. In a skillet, saute chicken in oil until browned; transfer to slow cooker. Top with apple. Combine apple cider and vinegar; pour over chicken and apple. Sprinkle with remaining spices. Top with bay leaves.


2.Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours or until vegetables are tender and chicken juices run clear. Discard bay leaves. Stir before serving.

Adapted from:  Carol Mathias

Beef Guinness Stew

Although I don't like drinking Guinness, it makes a very yummy stew

INGREDIANTS

• 2 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 T all-purpose flour

1 t McCormick Salt-free all-purpose seasoning

• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 t olive oil
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 T minced garlic
• 3 T water
• 1 1/2 T tomato paste (preferably no salt added)
• 1 cup water or low sodium beef broth
• 1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout
• 1 T homemade Worcestershire sauce
• 2 t drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped (rinse throughly to remove excess brine) or dried green peppercorns (rehydrate in water for approx 1 hour)
• 2 t dried thyme
• 
  

STOVE/OVEN DIRECTIONS

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, all-purpose seasoning, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a plate. Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a bowl.

Add onion, garlic, and 3 T water to pot and cook, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, water/broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns, and thyme and bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven. Braise until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

CROCKPOT DIRECTIONS

Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, all-purpose seasoning, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a plate. Heat oil in large skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to crockpot. Add 3T of water and scrap any brown bits from bottom of skillet and transfer to crockpot.

Add remaining ingredients to crockpot. Cook on low 8-10hrs or on high 4hrs.

Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings (or Low Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup)

A very delicious comfort food. If you cut back a bit on the veggies (but not the carrots or celery, they add essential flavor for the broth), omit the dumplings, and add some noodles, the recipe easily converts to chicken noodle soup.

INGREDIENTS

For soup:

1 (4 lb) whole chicken (or 4lbs of chicken pieces with the bone)

6 cups water

1 t poultry seasoning

1 t dried thyme

1 t dried sage

1/2 t rosemary

1/4 t black pepper

1 T minced garlic

1 onion chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped green beans (or other veggie of your choice)

1 cup broccoli (or other veggie of your choice)

For dumplings:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

3 T shortening or unsalted butter

3/4 cup milk

for extra flavor: add 3T fresh chopped parsley or chives; or 1/2 t dried herbs (sage, celery seed, or thyme)

STOVE DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, combine the chicken (with the bones in), water, seasonings, onion, celery, and carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 1 to 3 hours (the longer it boils the more flavor will come out of the chicken bones and hence the more flavor your broth will have)

2. After the soup has cooked for the desired time. Remove chicken, take off skin, and debone. Chop the chicken meat and return to pot

3. Add the green beans and broccoli (if you substitute other vegetables add them at the correct time based on how long they take to cook)

4. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and herbs (if desired). Cut in shortening thouroughly, until the mixture looks like meal (using a fork or a pastry tool). Stir in milk.

5. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the simmering soup.

6. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover; cook about 10 minutes longer or until dumplings are fluffy.

CROCKPOT DIRECTIONS

1. Put all the ingredients for the soup into your crockpot.

2. Cook on low for 8 or more hours, or on high for 4 or more hours

3. Turn crock pot on high

4. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and herbs (if desired). Cut in shortening thouroughly, until the mixture looks like meal (using a fork or a pastry tool). Stir in milk.

5. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the soup.

6. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Cover; cook about 15 minutes longer or until dumplings are fluffy.

NUTRITION

haven't figured it out yet

Low Sodium and Potassium Beef Stew

Stew is one of my favorite meals, but because of the high amount of potassium in potatoes I decided to substitute turnips. Turnips have a slight cabbage like taste, and so work very well in stew. If you don't have to watch potassium, you can use 1.25lbs of potatoes instead.


INGREDIENTS
2.5lbs stewing beef 1 vidalia onion, cut into 8ths
2T minced garlic
1T tomato paste
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 celery heart (or 6 sprigs parsley, or 1t dried parsley)
1t dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 turnips, cut into 1-inch pieces (can be soaked overnight to remove more potassium)
4 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 large cans of whole/diced tomatoes
5 cups water or low-sodium broth
3 t red wine vinegar or 1/4 cup red wine

CROCKPOT DIRECTIONS
Brown beef in a large non-stick skillet (may be done in batches), transfer to crockpot.
Deglaze the pan using enough water or red wine to cover the bottom of the skillet, approx 1/4 cup; transfer into the crockpot along with as much of the brown crumbles as you can
Add remaining ingredients (except for vinegar)
Cook on low for 6-10 hours (may be cooked longer if needed)
Remove bay leaves
Add red wine vinegar (if you deglazed the pan using red wine, you don't need to add vinegar)
Serve!


STOVE DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Brown beef in a large non-stick skillet (may be done in batches);
Deglaze the pan using enough water or red wine to cover the bottom of the skillet, approx 1/4 cup; transfer this into the dutch oven with the water/broth, make sure you get as many of the brown crumbles as you can
In Dutch Oven, saute onion until lightly browned in olive oil (about 5 minutes)
Add garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1 minute)
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring until lightly browned (about 1 minute)
Add beef and scatter flour over the mixture, and cook stirring until lightly toasted
Add water/broth and bring to simmer
Add celery heart/parsley, thyme, and bay leaves
Cover and transfer to oven
Cook until meat is tender (about 1.5hours); can also be done on the stove at a low simmer


Remove pot from oven, skim fat from top.
Add potatoes, carrots, celery, and tomatoes, bring to simmer on stove top
Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens and the vegetables are tender (about 1 hour)
Remove bay leaves
Add vinegar (if you used red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan you don't need to add the vinegar), and season with pepper to taste
Serve!


NUTRITION

Servings per recipe: 8

Amount per serving (need to figure it out)