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Sodium Savvy Living – Southwest Tuna Salad

Southwest Tuna Salad
 

Sodium-savvy living does not mean you have to eat bland foods. I certainly am not a gourmet cook, but I had to rethink my preparation of foods for my beloved and me. As you may remember, Mark was in the hospital for a week last year, and we had to switch to a low-sodium diet. Believe me, I have learned so much about sodium in foods and drinks. I call myself now the sodium-savvy lady. And I love to share what I have learned. So, here is the quick recipe of my Southwest Tuna Salad.

What you need:
2 cans of very low sodium tuna (StarKist), Green Onions, couple of Sweet Mini Peppers (by Wilson Produce), ¼ cup of No-Salt Sweet Corn, ¼ of Organic Black Beans (Fry’s/Kroeger Brand), Mango Tequila Jalapeno Sauce (by Earth & Vine), Extra Virgin Olive Oil (light – your favorite brand), Pepper (4-Corn Pepper Blend by Penzeys is my personal favorite), Red Chili Pepper Flakes, and Low Sodium Tortilla Chips (I get On-The-Border)

Mango Sauce_edited-1Preparation:
Drain the water of the tuna and flake it so you do not have big chunks. Chop the green onions, sweet peppers and add to the tuna. Rinse the corn and the organic black beans, add as well to tuna. In a small bowl, combine the Mango Tequila Jalapeno Sauce with the extra virgin olive oil. Use a ratio of two parts of the sauce and one part of the EVOO. Rub the Red Chili Pepper flakes in the palm of your hands to release the oils (don’t touch your eyes after this process – wash your hands first – trust me on this). Add the pepper flakes to your sauce/EVOO mixture. Pour the mixture over your tuna salad and mix well. Chill at least for 2 hours. Serve with your favorite kind of Tortilla Chips (check the sodium content on the back of the package)

The recipe is for two people and two lunches. You may need to adjust the quantity of tuna, and the rest of the ingredients. And from my experience: the salad tastes better the second day.

Honestly, you don’t know how much sodium we consume each day until you have to change your diet. If you want to reduce your sodium intake, please read the labels of the products you are buying. You will be surprised how much sodium is in the products we purchase every day.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to share more recipes in future.’

Love & peace,

Iris

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Thankful Thursday ~ Family

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
(Psalm 9:1 ESV)

So, the holidays are all over for 2012. I have to say that this year Christmas was double special for me. Not only was I able to chat with my sweet sister and niece in Germany via Skype, but also our one and only son celebrated with us yesterday. It really is a long story and the past is in the past.

German DinnerI made one of our son’s favorite meals: rouladen, red cabbage and dumplings 🙂 …I hadn’t made it in such a long time (the picture is from February 2011) that I wasn’t sure I can get it all together. But yeah, I did!!! Not only was the food good, but also the company.

It was so great to eat, talk, and laugh as a family once again. We even went for a walk together (after the apple pie of course). All I could do this morning was thanking God for the time we had as a family yesterday.

Sometimes we have differences in our families, but Christmas is the best time to put those differences aside and allow God to work in our hearts.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving a link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: through God’s love differences can be overcome.

Love & peace,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. One Thing I Never Want To Forget
2. Bethany
3. Heather@Living In The Moment
4. Stewards		 5. 2013-My list of 10
6. Hope, I Can if I Will
7. LaughingLady
8. Pamela @ the Songs on the Way		 9. Highly Favored
10. The How to Blog
11. The End of a Momentous Year

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Marriage Monday ~ Overcoming Boredom and Apathy

This week’s Marriage Monday, we are to share about how we get rid of boredom and apathy in our marriage. I totally love her idea about making a list of things to do. I need to incorporate that in our marriage 🙂 …

My hubby and I have been married for some time (29 years in May). It has not been always smooth sailing, but for the most part, it has been a very happy marriage. For me the hardest part was leaving my family in Germany 21 years ago to follow my husband to the United States.

I still do not like living here, far away from my family, but I am committed to the marriage. I was a little afraid when our son moved out in 2007, but we soon found something that we both enjoy greatly; photography.

My Best Friend

Although we both have very different styles and what to photograph, we still make it work. We take turns on where to go to take photographs. You see, my husband loves architecture, lines, etc – I am more a nature girl 🙂 …

Beauty in Dark Pink

We also like to go out to eat once in a while; trying new restaurants is a great thing. I also like to try out new recipes at home. There is nothing better for me when I can put a smile on husband’s face with some great food that is home-cooked 🙂 …

I think that if we love someone (more than just the physical part), we find new and exiting ways to keep our marriages fresh.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: making a marriage work takes 3 (God, your spouse and you).

Love & peace,
Iris

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Why “Made In America” is important to me

Made in America

Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
(Proverbs 31:8-9 ESV)

For years I wanted to approach this subject, but every year I ‘chickened out’. You know why? Because I don’t want to come of as harsh or as Miss-Know-It-All on this subject. Believe me, a lot of prayers went into this project.

My series is not political motivated; nor do I write out of patriotism (I am just as passionate about German made merchandise). Why is “Made in America” so important to a German gal living in America? Two words: Child Hunger.

You see, for me “Made in America” and eradicating child hunger go hand in hand. If people living in America do not have work, how can they supply food for their families/children? If you read the statistics (unfortunately only 2010 numbers are available that this time), it is very disheartening to see 20% of children are hungry in this rich country. And that is not counting children that live in insecure food-environments. I am thankful for local and national food banks that assist families, but I don’t think that will solve the issue at hand.

At the end of 2004, our then 19-year-old son pointed us to a documentary. I believe that the company highlighted in this documentary is highly responsible for the vanishing manufacturing jobs in the United States. I haven’t set food in their stores since I watched the documentary.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that many have to shop there, because of the budget they have for the basic necessities like food. I am blessed that I live in a large city that has different options to shop for groceries (like our Arizona based grocery chain – Bashas and AJ’s). Actually Target started to have bigger grocery sections in our area. Like I said, I have more options in a big city than people living in rural areas.

But I digress. The biggest issue is that America imports more than it exports. The most current foreign trade data is from November of 2011. The gap between exports and imports is scary to me. Trade is good, but it needs to be more balanced.

So, what can I (personally) do to turn things around in America? Maybe it is just a drop of water in a large bucket?!? But if we all look at what we buy (one product at a time), we maybe can do this together and help Americans put food on their family’s table. I want to support American families and not necessarily American companies (not the same in all cases which I will show you).

Over the next several months, I will link to products that are made in America. Not only will I link to the products, but will also purchase them (some are already in my possession :wink:). And you, my dear readers, will be able to ‘cash-in’ as well on some of the products that are made in America (sorry, can’t give away a Viking kitchen appliance).

Thank you so much for reading my blog today and hopefully you will join me on a journey to buy more American made products to lower the child hunger in this country.

She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
(Proverbs 31:20 ESV)

Love & peace,
Iris