This post brought to you by Sunkist S’alternative. All opinions are 100% mine.
It’s open enrollment time for health insurance and our employer sponsored health insurance is making my husband & I both jump through hoops in order to keep from paying a $50 per month surcharge on our monthly premiums Mostly we are having to provide evidence that we do preventative measures to ensure we remain healthy, things like annual check ups, and all the tests that come with those.
This past Saturday, my husband & I both went and had our blood pressure checked and blood drawn so our cholesterol amongst other things could be checked. Well, I’m happy to report that we both checked out and have earned our discount on our health insurance. What makes me happy about this is that I was diagnosed with hereditary cholesterol (changes in diet did nothing to bring it down) a few years ago and, with the help of a daily pill, I’ve been able to keep my cholesterol in check Being diagnosed with high cholesterol also resulted in me becoming a healthier eater. I watch things like salt intake and I am now a label reader. I prefer whole grains over white processed flour products. I think that’s why I did so well on the Sunkist Sodium Quiz on Facebook this morning! As you can see, I’m a Mover, Not a Salt Shaker!
As someone who watches my salt intake, I also try to miniimize salt in my families food. This can be difficult when I am responsible for cooking meal almost every night for our family.. I do use a light salt product, but I really like to find other ingredients to flavor my food besides salt. Sunkist S’alternative suggests using lemons as an alternative to salt. I’ve used lemons on chicken and fish filets, but can’t really think of anything else I’ve used it on.. Here is a Sunkist recipe that is a great example of using lemon instead of salt to flavor a dish
Sunkist® Lemon Seafood Paella -
Ingredients: (Makes 8 servings)
*1- 32 oz can low sodium vegetable broth
*1 cup dry white wine
*1 teaspoon saffron threads
*1lb. of firm, fresh pieces of whitefish such as tilapia, bass, halibut and swordfish, cut into 16-21 pieces
*1lb. or 16-21 mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
*1lb. or 16-21 medium sized clams, rinsed
*cup chopped fresh parsley
*3 Sunkist® lemons, zest and juice
*3 Tbsp. olive oil
*1 _ cups minced onion
*3 cloves garlic, minced
*teaspoon crushed red pepper
*3 cups uncooked short-grain rice such as Valencian, Arborio, or Calrose
*1 cup frozen green peas
*1- 8oz jar of sliced, roasted red peppers
Instructions:
• To prepare broth, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
• To prepare paella, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish pieces to pan and sauté 1 minute. Remove fish from pan, reserve and keep warm. Add onion to pan and sauté 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add rice and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, bring to a low boil and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Stir in the peas and red pepper slices. Add mussels and clams to pan, nestling them into rice mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until shells open; discard any unopened shells. Stir in the reserved fish and chopped parsley and cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in lemon juice and check for seasoning. Cover with a towel and let stand 10 minutes before stirring
I will continue to look for ways to reduce the sodium in our meals we cook at home and I am definitely going to give this recipe a try! What do you do to help your family eat healthy?
