Guest Column: Summer Travel Packing List for Special Diets

by Jessica Goldman Foung

When lupus attacked her kidneys, Jessica Goldman Foung, also known   as “Sodium Girl”, made significant changes to her life, including her diet. It wasn’t long before she began to blog about the adventures of living on a no-sodium diet. This month, Jessica shares with us a summer travel packing list for people with special diets .

With summer months come summer vacations: spontaneous road trips, flights across country, backpacking in the great beyond, and if you're really lucky, an escape abroad. No matter the destination, though, every trip requires preparation. And for those with special diets, the packing list has a few extra items to tend to -- mainly, preparing food for every meal of the day.

But dietary limitations don't have to take the spontaneity or flavor out of adventures. Nor do they have to add stress to your well-deserved R and R. With a little extra effort and the following tips, anyone with any dietary needs can stay full no matter where the journey takes them.

Pack Smart

First and foremost, carry emergency snacks with you at all times -- I'm talking granola bars, tortillas, nuts and seeds, berries, individual nut butter or tahini packets, microwave oats, grains and rice, chia seeds, and anything else non-perishable that fits easily (and lays flat) in a suitcase or day bag. These treats will come in handy during plane rides, breakfasts, and lunches when options are scarce.

Also, don't forget to look in the baby food aisle. Toddler-friendly fare may have more nutritional value than flavor, but the latest lines of purees don't taste half bad. And if you're really hungry with no options in sight, these packets will keep you full and provide a daily fill of vegetables. They're also perfect for backpacking trips and day hikes when you want to keep provisions light.


And if you are willing to check a separate bag outfitted with an ice pack and perishable food, then the options become limitless. Make whatever you want to eat and call the front desk at your first stop to ask for a small refrigerator for when you arrive.

Send Ahead
If you are staying somewhere for a while, don't be bashful; send your pantry favorites ahead of time. Ship all of the non-suitcase-friendly food via mail to your hotel and enjoy the cans of beans, chips, salsas, dressings, and other staples when you arrive. Sometimes you can even ask the concierge to do a little pre-arrival grocery shopping for other items, like fresh vegetables or fruit.

Forget The View, Get a Kitchen
When searching for hotels, look for spaces with small kitchenettes. If your hotel doesn't have those options, remember you can always ask for a refrigerator and even a microwave to be placed in the room for minimal to no cost.

You can also skip the hotel and rent through VRBO or Airbnb, options that usually include access to a kitchen, a small stove, or at the least, simple cooking tools (like microwaves and electric kettles). Which means you can prepare fuller meals if you need to and make snack packs for day trips, all in the comfort of your rented room.

Go Raw
Take a tip from stove-free foodies and stock up on pre-washed, packaged vegetables. Whether you snack on snap peas or chopped kale, softened in a microwave, you can keep eating green while on the go.

Use Friends, Real and Virtual
If you can stay with a friend, you've struck special diet gold. Their kitchen, pantry, and stove is now yours, guaranteeing you safe and satisfying meals when you want. But even when you travel without a friend to visit, that doesn't mean a helpful hand is far. Use social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp! to search for others with similar dietary needs. Post questions to find the best diet-friendly restaurants or grocery stores nearby. And discover places and eats that only locals know about.

Spruce Up Safe Foods
Salads, steamed rice, and scrambled eggs tend to be easy to come by at restaurants and even airport terminals, but without dressings, nuts, or other toppers, they can taste pretty bland. Consider packing add-ons like spice blends and non-leak containers filled with ready-to-eat beans or cooked grains -- items that will add welcome bulk and bite to these "safe" menu options. Or for a sweeter snack, blend chia seeds with yogurt or even jam that you find along the road to make a protein-rich pudding cup on-the-go!

Research
Before looking at the weather for the week, do some research about the food and culture of the city (or country) you plan to visit. Visit travel blogs to explore the cuisine, what's typically on a menu, and how it is traditionally prepared. That way, you can smartly navigate a menu and understand which items will fit within your dietary needs. If there is a language barrier, you can also ask the concierge at your hotel to call ahead to restaurants and ask for special preparations. And get Googling. Map out the nearest grocery stores to figure out where you can stock up on treats as soon as you land.

Share Resources
Sharing is caring, and when you give people links to your favorite blogs and recipes, suddenly they have all the tools they need to make amazing food for you. The more information you can provide the hotel and restaurants ahead of time, the better you will eat.

No English, No Problem
Are you going abroad, beyond the border, where the language sounds a lot different than it does in your hometown? Don't fret. Just use all the same tips suggested here. Do the research. Understand the food. Get to know your hotel's concierge and staff. Find people abroad (whether friends, tour guides, or trusty companions you meet on tour) that can help you navigate restaurants and foreign menus. Find grocery stores before you go that will have food you can eat. Or send products ahead of time. And don't forget to bring a dietary card; it can be easily translated and handed to hotel and kitchen staff. Keeping you from worrying about your next meal. Or trying to perfect a foreign accent.

For more special diet, low-sodium advice, recipes, and adventures, visit www.SodiumGirl.com. And pick up a copy of Sodium Girl’s Limitless Low-Sodium Cookbook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or anywhere books are sold.

Guest Blog: ‘Tis the season to dine at someone else’s table

Today's guest blog comes from Jessica Goldman, aka Sodium Girl. We were thrilled to feature her in the Fall 2011 issue of Lupus Now Magazine and even more excited to hear from Jessica herself for a guest blog. Last holiday season, she shared with us some delicious Thanksgiving recipes and this year, she will guide our readers on getting through the challenges of being a guest with a dietary restriction during the holidays. Enjoy and check out her blog at www.sodiumgirl.com.

Over the next few weeks, family and friends will welcome us into their homes, opening up their refrigerators, ovens, and china cabinets for our entertainment and pleasure. We will be treated to succulent feasts, potlucks, and too many pies to count. And besides the food itself, sharing these treats with those we love is what the holidays are all about.

But as someone with food restrictions, keeping to one’s diet while remaining a gracious guest can feel trickier than trussing a turkey - if you don’t have the right moves!

Without ever having to impose on the host or hostess, it is easy to participate in all the culinary holiday fun while keeping your low-sodium diet. But before we even get to the low-sodium solutions, remember this: people want their guests to be happy and full. So if Aunt Janie or friend Sal found you nibbling on the edible table arrangements to stave off starvation, they would be horrified that they had not provided anything for you to eat. Sharing is caring. So here are some ways to let your host or hostess provide for you, without asking too much of their time, money, or catering bill.

Option 1: Full-Disclosure
Chances are your relatives and besties will already know about your food needs and they’ll most likely want to try their hand at making a few salt-free treats for you. So when you RSVP for the event, ask if you can send a recipe or two for easy, salt-free appetizers--like a bean dip--or if they want to make you a full meal, pass along a list of your needs so that they know exactly what ingredients to use and, of course, those to avoid.

Option 2: Helping Hand
Avoid asking the busy host or hostess to make a special meal for you and offer to bring a few low-sodium treats with you. Easily transportable appetizers --like jicama fries, salt-free bruschettas, or bite-sized beef tenderloin bites--will not only fill you up but will taste equally delicious to others.

Option 3: Edible Gifts
If you don’t know the host or hostess that well, one way to ensure yourself some salt-free food without ever really having to bring up the topic is to bring a salt-free food present. A can of salt-free popcorn, salt-free pickles, or salt-free pasta pretzel sticks will look too good (and perishable) to put in the cupboard. And with these edible gifts as part of the spread, you will be guaranteed something low-sodium to nibble on.

Option 4: Secret Stash
Last but not least, you can always pack a snack pack. Bring a small bag full of individual portions of traditional holiday foods, and that way, if the host or hostess suddenly realizes you have nothing to eat (gasp!), they’ll be happy to know you came prepared. Throw your food on a plate and be served with everyone else.

No matter which tactic you choose to take, remember that these are your family and friends (and maybe coworkers, too). They love you. They love seeing you eat. And the more you share with them about your diet--with enthusiasm, of course--the more they will learn about what you need. And who knows...next year there may be a whole low-sodium cornucopia waiting for you.

For more tips on making sure the Turkey and other traditional holiday dishes stay tasty and salt-free, check out Jessica’s holiday tips from last year!

Guest Blogger Sodium Girl Shares Thanksgiving Recipes

Today's guest blog comes from Jessica, aka Sodium Girl. She wrote a 3-part guest blog back in August and she is back to share some of her favorite salt-free holiday recipes. Click here to learn more about her and enjoy the post!

The holidays; my favorite time of year. Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and Channukah are just a few of family gatherings I look forward to every time the Halloween decorations come down and the radio stations (96.5 for those in the Bay Area) begin to play Christmas carols. Smells of cinnamon and cloves fill the air; twinkling lights fill the streets; parties fill the calendar; and tradition fills our plates, minds, and bellies. But when my kidneys failed in 2004, and I began to keep a strict, low sodium diet, the holidays suddenly looked and tasted a different.

For many, the holidays are all about food; slow-cooked, well-spiced, filled-with-love food that is served in gigantic proportions. Like Pavlovian dogs, the simple utterance of the word “holiday” makes the mouth water for juicy turkey, crunchy pecan pie, and succulent honey baked ham. These dishes, though, are not only full of memories. They’re dripping with sodium too.

Before you toss the recipe for Grandma’s stuffing, though, let me say this: these classic holiday meals may be filled with salt and brine and other high-sodium ingredients. But there is no reason you cannot enjoy them. Or at least enjoy highly impressive approximations of them.

With savvy substitutions, you can make a low sodium holiday meal with all the flavors you remember, and even more exciting, the creativity you are forced to use will not only dazzle you and your guests, but it will put a real personal stamp on your feats. With some tricks and some time, the credit this holiday season will not belong to Chef Emeril, or Julia, or Ina, or anyone else with their name on a cookbook. The magical holiday memories, the dishes, and the culinary genius will belong only to you.

Now isn’t that something to be thankful for.

Turkey:

Let’s start with Turkey because it is a very good place to start.

Here’s the deal: a lot of poultry, especially around the holidays, is already plumped and brined. So when buying your bird, to make sure it is absolutely as low in sodium as possible, you have to do a little research. The best option is to shop at a butcher or at stores like Whole Foods, which tend to provide in-depth information about their meat products and the farms on which they are raised. You can explain your situation to the people behind the counter and make sure you have a bird that works for your dietary needs. If you buy your turkey from a larger grocery retailer, like Safeway, I would suggest contacting the company or looking on the manufacturers website for information about plumping, brining, or any other pre-packaging treatments.

Another option, which I have taken for the last seven years, is to actually not use a turkey at all. Instead, while I bake a nice-sized turkey for guests (actually, this year it is a Turducken), I make a nice little Cornish game hen for myself. It’s juicy, it’s birdy, and it’s all mine. And to be completely honest, if you are hosting a small-sized dinner party, it is actually more fun and less complicated to cook Game hens. You can even take it one step further, channeling your inner Martha Stewart, and serve a feast of personal proportions: everyone gets a game hen, everyone gets mini ramekins of mashed potatoes, everyone gets a muffin tin of stuffing, everyone gets full. I did this a few years ago for my family and it was a blast.

Once you choose what bird you are going to cook, the next question becomes how you will make your meat as juicy as the brined kind, without the salt. There are a few different techniques you can use to help mimic the succulence you would expect, keeping the outside nice and crispy and the inside moist and tender.

First, butter rubs. A good slathering of herbed butter, under the skin and out, will keep the meat moist and will protect it from overcooking. Mix some unsalted butter with herbs, lemon or orange zest, and spices like black pepper, cumin, and smoked paprika. Then, use the opening towards the bottom and neck to loosen the skin from the flesh, expertly maneuvering the butter mixture inside. A spatula will prove quite helpful to push the butter towards the center of the bird. Make sure to rub the bird with butter on the outside as well and then throw it in the oven as you normally would to cook.

If butter, or touching raw meat, is not your thing, another option is to invest in a flavor injector. Yes, that’s right, a flavor injector. By filling this syringe-like utensil with salt-free broth, oil, melted butter, or even white wine, you can inject moisture directly into the bird – much like what brining accomplishes. And finally, don’t be afraid to use dry rubs. This will not help with the juicy-factor of your finished product, but it will add more flavor and texture. Fresh or dried herbs, spices, and zest all work well.

This holiday season, don’t be afraid to mix it up, whether you go with a Game hen or a Turkey and use a combination of the methods mentioned above. In the end, you’ll have a golden entree begging to be gobbled. And if not, couscous cooks up rather quickly.

For more impressive, salt-free holiday favorites, starters, and sides, check out Jessica’s blog at www.sodiumgirl.com

Salt-Free Pickles

Hummus

Sticky Tummy Bread Pudding

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Honey-Braised Ham

Pecan-Like Pie

Happy Holidays!

Sodium Girl Guest Blog - Part 3: Beating Odds and Eggs

Now that you know my story, let me introduce you to my passion – low sodium cooking. What I love most about making low sodium meals (besides eating them of course) is that it constantly reminds me to turn trials into triumphs.

So for those of you, who must take on the task of a restricted diet, here are a few recipes to prove that you can make anything low sodium and you can make it taste really good.

Faux-Miso Marinated Cod:

One of my proudest achievements so far, as a low sodium cook, has been creating a recipe for Faux Miso-Marinated Cod. If you have never experienced the real thing, a two-day, miso bath gives this already fatty fish a sweet and silky flavor that truly melts in your mouth. The problem? Miso contains over 700mg of sodium per tablespoon and the thick, fermented flavor and dark, mahogany color it provides is essential to mastering this meal. But I wasn’t going to let that minor detail stop me from enjoying this dish and I was determined to find a way to mimic the taste of the miso without the salt.

My successful, low sodium substitution is thanks to a moment of olfactory déjà vu. As my cooking partner scooped out the traditional miso paste, I realized it had a familiar aroma – sweet and musky. I gazed back at my collection of sauces and there it was. Molasses. Dark, syrupy, and bitter sweet, it was the perfect stand-in.

To serve, I suggest some steamed brown rice with either sautéed leeks or wild mushrooms and garlic. Anything earthy will pair nicely with the sweetness of the cod. And do invite over friends. They will be forever impressed and you there’s no need to reveal how easy it was.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup molasses (0 mg of sodium)
• 1/2 cup sugar (0 mg of sodium)
• 1/4 cup sake (0 mg of sodium)
• 6 tablespoon mirin cooking wine (0mg of sodium)
• 1 pound boneless black cod or sablefish (46 mg of sodium per 3 oz)

Directions:

1. Heat sake and mirin in a pot over medium flame and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and add the molasses and sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool.

3. Cut black cod into 6 equal pieces and place in a shallow dish, large enough so that all of the pieces of cod can lay flat.

4. Pour half of the cooled miso marinade into the dish, add cod, and then pour remaining marinade on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours to 2 days. Turn the fish every so often so that they get an even coating.

5. Preheat broiler on high.

6. When hot, remove cod from marinade and place on a baking sheet on the bottom rack of oven. Broil until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Turn cod over and broil until fish flakes easily, about 3 minutes more.

7. Seriously. That’s the whole recipe. Amazing, right? Now have a glass of wine and
admire your work. Chow on.

Hope you enjoyed the 3-part post from Jessica. Visit her at http://sodiumgirl.wordpress.com for more delicious recipes. Check below for entries you may have missed within the last week.

Learn more about Jessica
Part 1: The Detour
Part 2: Not in Kansas Anymore

From the Archives of Lupus Now Magazine: So Long, Salt!

Picnics, grilling, and barbecue. Ah, the beloved staples of summertime. Yet with these seasonal traditions come many salty foods. From the ketchup, pickles, and American cheese you pile on your charcoal-grilled burger to the sodium-laden dips and chips served on the side, it's easy to load up on salt during warm-weather months.

Should you be concerned? Unfortunately, yes.

Read more about reducing sodium consumption on our Lupus Now website.