|
Post by labbypaws on Sept 23, 2023 11:39:21 GMT
We are in the midst of a tropical storm today and tomorrow. Rain and wind. Luckily we are inland as the NJ/Md area along the coast are getting hit.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Sept 23, 2023 14:38:10 GMT
Ugh Labby-keep it over there! It is 59 degrees, cloudy and windy. I am not ready for this kind of weather, although the oncoming rain will help my gardens.
OTOH, I haven't had to run my A/C for 2 weeks, which should help my electric bill.
|
|
|
Post by staytuned on Sept 23, 2023 15:31:19 GMT
I'm so glad we went to MB last week when it was still hot and mostly dry. Weather was less than optimal this week, especially for the beach, with rain and cooler temps alone and strong wind gusts are real deterrents. We also would have wound up driving through the rain from Ophelia practically all the way home. Amazing how large those storms are to still get at least rain and/or wind from it.
Every time I see the name Ophelia, I think of Morticia Addams' sister:
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,791
|
Post by val2525 on Sept 23, 2023 19:53:48 GMT
I made the mistake of visiting the Saratoga Olive Oil Co website and discovered they have some new flavors of balsamic vinegar. The teriyaki balsamic sounds very promising - I might actually be able to have teriyaki flavored food again without all the salt (even the "reduced sodium" teriyaki sauces are fairly high in salt). I'm also getting the bourbon maple balsamic, and of course I have to get the bacon olive oil And some pesto olive oil - I might be able to make pesto pasta with it, add a bit of grated parm, and significantly cut the sodium. I love cooking in the fall & winter. For anyone trying to reduce sodium or HAS to reduce it - try the flavored balsamic vinegars. Balsamic adds a nice flavor with no salt to most foods and the flavored balsamics taste even better. I use the espresso and maple balsamics the most, with blueberry balsamic in a very close 3rd place. I often use balsamic vinegar when a recipe calls for wine - same depth of flavor and I don't have to keep a partially opened bottle of wine around that won't get used. Supposedly you can also add a flavored balsamic to sparkling water but I haven't tried that yet.
|
|
|
Post by staytuned on Sept 23, 2023 20:22:12 GMT
Val, you're making me hungry. They all sound good. Bacon flavor is a "given".
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Sept 23, 2023 22:48:08 GMT
We are in a lull right now. Got my walk in at the end of the day. Winds are whipping but it was ok - about 60 degrees. Cleaned my treadmill today so it is ready to go. All kinds of dust on and under it. Luckily the deck raises so I cleaned the underneath and the mat.
Supposed to rain tomorrow too.
Have been getting the gang out in between the rain.
Been thinking of grabbing some clothes out of my totes for the change in season and my change in size. I had gained all my weight back after I lost it 6 years ago. Down 55 pounds now. Not sure how much more I want to lose, if any.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Sept 24, 2023 0:10:13 GMT
It rained all day here and my water buckets are almost full from my leaky gutter. My house has been 68 all day but it has to go a lot lower for me to turn on my furnace. It was 54 outside the last time I was out to check my buckets..
My grandson plays football tomorrow and I sure hope that isn't raining at 3.
Good for you, Labby to lose weight! I am down 35 pounds but would still like to lose more. I am glad that I kept clothing from many years ago when I was this size. Of course, Chico's Travelers items are very forgiving.
I keep renewing my treadmill warranty, but I am afraid to use it since I have been unsteady lately.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Sept 24, 2023 6:22:54 GMT
I'll try those balsamic vinegar options - it might wake up my appetite as the lack of salt on my low sodium diet is really doing a number on my appetite as everything tastes bland - I'm a real salt hound, though my tastes are changing as I knew they would - it's just taking a while. I love regular balsamic.
The rain has arrived here, thank GAWD. Most of us here had gotten way too weirded out by the dry summer we had - we do get these about every 12 years (almost exactly, strangely enough), but more than two weeks without rain makes some of us twitchy. We want happy trees and fish!
I'm mostly over my little flu bug, and my running friend is finally coming back from Europe where he ended up staying longer than he wanted - he's totally burned out on traveling. So we'll be able to do some running again. I'm way behind on training for that marathon - I'm going to start masking up everywhere so I don't get sick again.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,791
|
Post by val2525 on Sept 24, 2023 18:15:34 GMT
I'll try those balsamic vinegar options - it might wake up my appetite as the lack of salt on my low sodium diet is really doing a number on my appetite as everything tastes bland - I'm a real salt hound, though my tastes are changing as I knew they would - it's just taking a while. I love regular balsamic.
It takes a good 8 weeks or so for taste buds to get used to less salt. Once you do get used to it though, it's not so bad. If you're following a recipe, triple the spices/herbs (OK maybe not the habanero LOL) and either omit the salt or cut it by 75% (example, recipes that call for 1 tsp salt still taste pretty good with 1/4 or 1/8 tsp and you've cut the sodium significantly). The balsamic vinegars really help. Also, adding a bit of brown sugar to tomato dishes helps too. It doesn't take much - I might add 1 tbsp to my 6 and 8 qt slow cookers full of sauce. The sugar enhances the tomato flavor and you don't notice the lack of salt as much. You do still need to add some salt to beef though, I learned that the hard way. Again, though, it doesn't take much with beef - a small sprinkle or literal pinch will work (or it does for the slow cooker anyway). Lays adds salt to the top of their low sodium chips (which are pretty good BTW). Their reasoning is if the minimal salt is on the top of the chip, it hits your taste buds first and convinces the buds the item is salty. I think there might be something to that. I've tried it with my meals - no salt when cooking, then add a pinch on the top when I serve it. Seems to work. And by pinch, that's all - I use the pink himalayan salt in the grinder, put some in the palm of my hand, and sprinkle it. That way I can see exactly how much salt I'm "sprinking" on my food. Saratoga Olive Oil Co has the best selection of balsamic vinegars IMO. I have almost every flavor and it's soooooo fun to cook with them I use their flavored olive oils too. Montova also makes good flavored olive oils, although I think Saratoga's are a bit more intense in flavor. Montova has flavored spray olive oils that are VERY handy for cooking food in the air fryer. You can get both on AMZ. It's cheaper to buy directly from Saratoga as you can get free shipping with $100 or more order and the per bottle prices are less. This stuff has a nice long shelf life so I stock up annually, which makes it easy to hit the free shipping mark. The Mantova spray oil is a better deal on AMZ but their bottled oil is cheaper on their direct website. However, if you're just wanting to try a few items and don't want to put in a big order, AMZ's higher per bottle price with free shipping might be your better deal until you decide how stocked you want your kitchen. I was skeptical of using balsamic vinegar (much less flavored!) and infused olive oils at first. Now I'm hooked and can't imagine why I didn't discover this stuff sooner. I'm going to try making some blondies with the flavored olive oils and vinegars (they make fruit infused olive oils). /PSA and sales pitch. Disclaimer: I do NOT receive affiliate commissions for my reviews LOL Sunny, hot, 100 degrees with heat advisory on tap for here today. I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature it's FALL
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Sept 24, 2023 18:27:09 GMT
Uncle...I just turned on my furnace since my house has been 65 all day.
Cold and rainy. ugh. Trying to decide if I should go to watch my grandson play football this afternoon. In the rain, no less.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Sept 24, 2023 18:45:00 GMT
Thanks for all of those great tips, Val! I've been reducing my sodium for months now. I've had to make a few dietary changes down through the years, and it's always been pretty easy - I do it in a stepwise, mindful fashion. This is the only change that has been tough and I'm surprised at how tough it is! Probably because I've lived on a heavily Japanese diet for years and salt is a huge deal. It *is* working, just slowly. The DH is fully on board with this as he had to lower his sodium years ago as he has had high BP for a lot of his life (runs in his family) so he's helpful, but his eating habits are a lot different - to the point where we just cook our own stuff. He likes an elaborate dinner that spans three courses and takes up the entire kitchen to cook. I just want some slop on a plate. With lots of salt lol.
At any rate, I have no intention of giving up, but can use a few more tools. A side note is that I have no idea how much salt I'm cutting out - I just stopped using soy sauce to cook and read labels now, and agree that adding a bit of whatever salty stuff over the food is better than cooking it in the food.
Having a quiet day today - just doing some product photo'ing, practice some music, read, etc. With a bit of yoga and tai chi for relaxation. The DH is dashing out for a bike ride before it starts raining again. I have a bunch of long kimono I want to get listed which I've been airing out for the last week (we had sun and breezy days last week so it was perfect to roll them out on one of the racks to sit in front of the house to air out.
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Sept 24, 2023 22:25:49 GMT
Denise, I hope you stayed home in the warmth. Terrible weather here today. Been raining all day without letup. Some heavy rains. Just yucky out.
Got on the treadmill today. Now that it has been cleaned off and lubricated I may use it when the weather is crappy.
Wet dog kind of day for sure.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Sept 24, 2023 22:46:01 GMT
I did go to my Grandson's football game. He is the QB and is so good. We sat under a tent since there are several tents in the stands. So cool and rainy though. Basketball will start up soon but at least that will be inside. I'm so glad that his father no longer has him for part time custody since he would never take him to the practices. So Jaxson lost 2 years of sports.
|
|
|
Post by frakinfashion on Sept 25, 2023 0:09:12 GMT
/PSA and sales pitch. Disclaimer: I do NOT receive affiliate commissions for my reviews LOL But you should! You should!!! I have been using Alessi red balsamic on my cold mixed bean salads. Delish!
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Sept 25, 2023 0:22:51 GMT
I looked up pesto olive oil to see if it was high in folic and an ad popped up. $25 a bottle! But now I am craving pesto. Maybe if I use just a little.
|
|