Deserts!

Ok, most people think because deserts are sweet that they are low in sodium. That is simply not true. Most deserts are very high in sodium. You can have between 250 mg-400 mg in 1 cookie and up to 500-600 mg sodium in a piece of cake! If you are trying to watch your sodium (which everyone should do!), you need to limit the amount of deserts you have or bake using no salt baking soda and no salt baking powder and unsalted butter. You can find these in some grocery stores in the natural food section or you can order from www.healthyheartmarket.com or www.saltwatcher.com
Today I decided to post a recipe for one of my favorite cookies that is much healthier for you due to very low sodium! Here is a snickerdoodle recipe that has about 3 mg sodium per cookie!

Snickerdoodles:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (No not used self rising as this has sodium!)
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
2 teaspoons sodium-free baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream butter until light. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir together four, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Add to beaten mixture. Stir together 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and cool on racks.

Yield 72 servings

Recipe courtesy of 500 Low Sodium recipes by Dick Logue

Cincinnati Chili recipe

Wow...I have not posted in a while. I couldn't get into my blog yesterday either for some weird reason! Well, since it's getting close to fall I thought I would post a chili recipe. This one is great served over spaghetti topped with cheddar cheese, onions and kidney beans (all toppings optional)

Here's what you will need

1 onion chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced ( I use more, add to taste)
1 tablespoon chili powder (I use a no salt added chili powder found in the natural food section at Kroger)
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
15 ounces no salt added tomato sauce
1 tablespoon low sodium worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

In a large frying pan over medium high heat, saute onion, ground beef, garlic and chili powder until ground beef is slightly cooked. Add allspice, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, unsweetened cocoa, tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar and water. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

This recipe yeilds 6 servings with 57 mg sodium per serving.