Healthy Products: DON’T HATE ME FOR BRAGGS-ING

You may not realize it, but salt is addictive. Think back to those unpleasant occasions when you’ve found yourself wracked with guilt, staring at an empty Pringles can, or the oily bottom of a jumbo tub of theatre popcorn. You get the point - the saltier a food, the more you tend to eat.

Unfortunately, this feeding-frenzy phenomenon is exploited by food manufacturers. Almost all the processed foods we buy have a substantial amount of added salt. Even “healthy” items like canned spinach, beans and soup (”low sodium” versions included), are loaded with it.

Don’t kid yourself - food manufacturers don’t give a damn about your waistline - their primary concern is profit. Sure, they label foods like almonds “heart healthy,” because in their unadulterated state almonds are good for you. But when they are smoked and crusted in salt, even almonds can contribute to high blood pressure and cause you to keep eating well past the point of a full stomach.

How come I know so much about salt? Well, I too, overindulge in salted foods. I usually realize the extent of it when I hear my husband’s early morning query, “BABE! What happened to your face?!?!”. How rude.

Because of the nasty side effects salt can have, I do try to keep sodium to a minimum in my diet. For instance, I always rise canned beans and compare labels on things like salsa and mustard to see which brands have less of the salty stuff. Every little bit you can cut out helps.

This is not to say that I don’t still enjoy stir-fry or a big bowl of salty air-popped popcorn.

My solution? All natural Braggs Liquid Aminos. Before I launch into a description of this great product I have to ask an important question: How come healthy products always have such crappy-ass names? I mean, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a sensational product but the name doesn’t exactly get the old salivary glands going. I mean, think about a product like, uh- Krispy Kremes! - Now there is a name! Too bad KK’s are artery bombs. Sigh.

Ok, so Braggs Liquid Aminos is an exceptional, soy sauce alternative (if they’d bothered to ask me I would have suggested “Soysational”) that is extremely versatile. As the boring name suggests, Bragg’s contains 16 amino acids, is made from non-GMO (pure) soybeans and filtered water, has no alcohol, is not fermented, and is remarkably low in sodium.

Compare:
½ tsp serving of Braggs, contains 0 cal, 110mg sodium (5% of your daily value)
A tsp of Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce (which claims to be lowest in sodium of leading low sodium brands) has 3300mg sodium! The really frightening thing is that low sodium Kikkoman has 37% LESS sodium than regular soy sauce!.

The thing about Braggs is that it is extremely potent. A ½ tsp of this stuff gives you a LOT of salty bang for your sodium buck. A plastic bottle of Braggs comes with either a flip top or a spritzer (I recommend the shpritz - it delivers just the right amount).

I cook about a zillion things using Braggs, none of which require channeling Julia Childs.

Here are some ideas:

Use Braggs to:
–Marinate tofu, fish, chicken, pork or beef
–Mix a few teaspoons of Braggs with olive or sesame oil to create salad dressings
–Use for stir fry, making soup and on air popped popcorn.

A Few Recipes:

“Braggadocious Roasted Nuts”:
–Turn oven to 365 degrees
–Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
–Spread raw, unsalted almonds, walnuts, and peanuts on the cookie sheet and lightly spritz with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
–Toss in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned.

If you prefer raw nuts and seeds – just toss your favorite varieties in a bowl and give them a BLA spritz before you pop them in your piehole.

These Braggs-roasted nuts even passed at my Neanderthal’s recent football party. A situation where all other foods in attendance were required to, and in fact did meet, certain toxic waste standards.

Braggs Amino Sexy Stir Fry:
–1 package Japanese buckwheat soba noodles
–1 package organic firm tofu or 1 lb shrimp or chicken
–2 Tbspn cold-pressed sesame oil for marinade
–Plus 1 tbspn for cooking
–2 tspns Braggs Liquid Aminos
–About 4 C chopped veggies of your choice
–½ C unsalted peanuts or chopped almonds

Directions:
–Put tofu, shrimp or chicken in a Ziploc bag.
–Pour 2 tspns Braggs and 2 Tbspn sesame oil in. Seal and shake to coat.
–Refrigerate for at least an hour.
–Chop vegetables (or, take them out of the freezer. No shame in that game. No shame at all). Some veggie suggestions: broccoli florets, green beans, chopped red peppers, snow peas, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, grated carrot, bok choy, scallions, shitake mushrooms . . .
–Boil soba noodles in water as directed on the package (they cook quickly). Drain and set aside
–Oil pan or wok with 1 Tbspn sesame oil
–Turn pan to medium-high heat
–Add meat or tofu. With tofu, you can add veggies at the same time, with meat add when meat is no longer pink. Stir in vegetables and nuts
–Try not to overcook the veggies, just lightly stir fry. They should be crunchy, not mushy, sogg-balls
–Pour stir fry into large bowl and set aside
–Mix cooked soba noodles in with stir-fry

Usually I’ll give the final product another Braggs spritz (or 3 if I am premenstrual. If PMS-ing, I then proceed to scream at my husband to clean up the damn kitchen. God, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?!)
Spoon stir fry into individual bowls and serve.
Approximately 4 servings

Friend, high blood pressure, an expanding waistline and bloat-face are not attractive prospects. You can help avoid all three by curbing the salt in your diet. Start by using fresh ingredients and lots of spices to season food - you’ll be surprised by how little salt you actually need to still get great flavor.

Look, no one is perfect. I still eat out in restaurants that seem to over-salt absolutely everything and to make matters worse I still order the smoked salmon that sends my face into “I sucked on a helium tank” proportions. But making small changes in your kitchen like using Braggs Liquid Aminos, allows you to control what goes into the majority of the food you and your family eat.

And that will keep you beautiful inside and out.
xo,
Health Sundae