Adventures in Low Sodium/Low Potassium Cooking. Chicken Alfredo Pizza

It's been almost 2 weeks since one of our kids was diagnosed with stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD).  One of the main guidelines for treatment (not cure - there isn't one), is to follow a strict low sodium/ low potassium diet. His doctor isn't worried about tracking phosphorus yet, but that may come also...adding yet another challenge...

Cooking with low sodium isn't a particular challenge...it's the potassium that is really sneaky.  Nearly all foods have at least some potassium...some quite a bit.  For example, one medium size potato has about 1,000mg of potassium. When you're restricted to 2,000mg a day, well, you can see the problem. Milk products can be high in potassium, tomatoes, chocolate, legumes, whole grains, bananas, cantaloupe, avocados, etc., etc., etc...Add in high sodium food items such as, well, pretty much any processed food (ham, deli meats, packaged foods, etc.), and you can see that eating just anything that sounds good is going to be a challenge.

My first recipe pretty much had to be pizza...since that's one of his favorite foods...and regular pizza has some issues...high sodium in most of the meat choices, and high potassium in tomatoes and milk products.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

We made these "personal size" so as to be able to have better portion control.

This Post Brought to you By HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus...and me.

Steve and I finally broke down and bought a new printer on Saturday...after shilly-shallying about it for a couple of months.

I am beyond thrilled to be able to scan a document and have it sent wirelessly to my computer! As proof I offer this exhibit - a partial plan of our outdoor/yard projects for the coming season:

Absolutely accurate and to scale....er...not.

Which brings me to my next subject.

Spring.

I am cautiously optimistic that it may have arrived.  After a false start (snow on Friday!), I think we can get out and do some actual work in the yard.  And by we, I mean me...because Steve has already gotten a head start by mowing (and bagging) the yard on Friday.

After the snow melted.

March 22nd.  Snow. Yeah. Snow.

Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I've made this recipe twice in the past couple of weeks! I found it on Pinterest (here is the link to the original site).

Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 whole spaghetti squash

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 cups broccoli florets (I add a bit more)

1 cup frozen peas

2 whole chicken breasts, cooked and diced (rotisserie works fine)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Cut squash in half, remove seeds, then cook in a 375' oven for about 45 minutes. Scrape the inside of the squash with a fork to remove the strands.

In a large deep skillet, saute garlic in olive oil for 1 minute. add 1/4 cup chicken broth, then tomatoes and broccoli.  Saute for about 5 minutes.

Add peas, chicken, and remaining 3/4 cup chicken broth.  Add Parmesan cheese.  Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Stir in spaghetti squash.

Blueberry Coconut Bran Muffins

I'm not a big fan of Greek yogurt, but after these muffins are baked, I really can't taste it.

Blueberry Coconut Bran Muffins

(shhh....they're low fat too)

1/2 cup no sugar added applesauce

2 egg whites

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup Bran Buds

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup coconut

Mix together, then bake for about 15 minutes at 425'. Makes 24.  For ease of eating, I sprayed each cupcake liner very lightly with Pam - otherwise they have a tendency to stick to the paper.

According to myfitnesspal.com these muffins have about 80 calories each with 1 gram of fat (from the coconut), 2 grams of protein and 18 grams of carbs.

New Year's Motto

I was reading The Fortunes of Francesca last week, when I came upon this little gem:

"She walked as though she intended to conquer the world."

I knew as soon as I read it that this was going to be my motto for 2013.

You're welcome.

H.N. & N.H.

Nathan Hunter holding Henry Nathan.

I haven't done much blogging this past year...(and I may not do much this coming year) - I wanted to get at least one picture of two of my favorite guys.

Henry was born on November 30th, Nathan graduated from BYU-I two weeks later.  Good job guys!

Rather Dashingly...

Dear Family,

Congrats on the new addition to the family!

Today was our temple P-Day. It was quite interesting. We went to the LA Temple for the 5:30 am session, and it was packed. Of the portion of the mission that goes to the LA Temple, I think that over half were in attendance (and on time). There were a lot of familiar faces in the celestial room. It was great.

James came back from China and we were able to talk with him last night. He really enjoyed his trip, and even with all the work he's having to do to catch up with all of his AP classes, he still finds time to read from the Book of Mormon and such (while also trying to get the world record high score in Abadox (a random NES game)). Quite impressive.

We're still working with Dawn and Nancy and that whole family. For Elder Perry's birthday this week they gave him a few random presents. On the more spiritual side, it seems they're doing better. Nancy was the only one of them who came to church this week though, which is weird because out of all of them she got the least sleep the previous night (ie none).

On Friday I was on exchanges with an Elder Greene, who (believe it or not) is a greenie (though unfortunately his name is just pronounced green). For somebody so quiet, he's quite good.

All the news I'm hearing about changes resulting from the influx of missionaries is weird. For instance, apparently the time in the MTC for all these incoming missionaries has been cut by a third (2 weeks instead of 3 for English, and 6 instead of 9 for Spanish). Also, I've heard (a rumor) that because of all of this they're cutting off the extra week from the next transfer, thus shortening everybody's missions by a week. Interesting happenings are about...

Rather Dashingly,

Elder West