Low(er) sodium prepared foods

[Aceon6]

Does anyone have suggestions for some lower sodium prepared foods that I can stock in my freezer? I keep thinking I've found something relatively healthy, only to have the sodium levels knock me off my feet. For example, Boston Market Turkey has nearly a full day's sodium. Stouffer's Green Peppers don't work unless I remove 90% of the sauce.

I'm in the northeast US and have access to Shaw's/Star, Stop&Shop, Hannaford, Demoulas/Market Basket, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.

 

[gkelly]

Tabachnick has some low-sodium frozen soups that are pretty decent.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

These aren't freezer foods but they are low sodium and delicious: http://www.leonardmountain.com/soups

I buy the box soups and sometimes add chicken, meatballs, or other vegetables. Two years ago, I served the 4 Amigos Tortilla soup at our Native American flute festival. I bought 15 boxes and made two big batches, one with chicken and the other without, to satisfy all the carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free people. Everybody loved it. Even my mother who was very picky in her last two years would eat it and ask for more. I get mine at Sugarloaf Craft Festivals in my area.

 

[Spareoom]

Well, anything preserved is probably going to have sodium because it's a preservative...it's hard to find things without. If you're unsatisfied with the variety of low-sodium things that you CAN find, maybe you can meet halfway by preparing your own freezer food components.

Of course now that I mentioned that I'm trying to think how that would work, haha. The one thing that I thought of was, you mentioned you can eat the Stouffers's bell peppers if you get rid of the sauce, so you could do that and then substitute your own low-sodium sauce. Not the most efficient or waste-option but it's an idea.

 

[Allskate]

I just checked my freezer and the only frozen meal I have (other than the chili and stew I made myself) is this eggplant parmesan meal from Cedar Lane:

http://www.cedarlanefoods.com/products/eggplant-parmesan/

I don't usually even like eggplant, but I like this particularly meal. However, that may be because it has too much sugar in it. I bought it at Grocery Outlet, but I think I've also seen it at Whole Foods. It has 590 mg of sodium, which is 25% of the purported RDA. So, it's significantly better than what you've mentioned, but not really low. I have lentil soup from Trader Joe's in my fridge (from the refrigerated section, not frozen), and it has about the same amount of sodium per serving. I just heat it up and add some chunks of avocado or a little cheese or greek yogurt on top. I do think that the cartons of low sodium stocks are an easy way to go this time of year. Bring it to a simmer and drop in some veggies and some beans or chicken a little egg for egg drop soup

I've seen some Amy's frozen dinners that were labeled "low sodium" and there probably are others. I sometimes eat the Amy's gluten free meals. They're not bad, but often swimming in grease/fat.

 

[KCC]

We occasionally do a Pappa Murphy's thin crust, fresh veggie pizza and lighter cheese, assuming we have a low sodium breakfast and lunch.

 

[ballettmaus]

Do you cook? If so, would preparing twice the amount and freezing the leftovers be an option? That's how I keep my freezer stocked. I usually have pumpkin soup, chicken noddle soup, lentil soup and green bean-lamb soup (I think that's a German thing, so I don't know a translation for it) in my freezer and a couple of casseroles and/or sauces for noodles. I find it's the easiest way to control the ingredients

 

[Rock2]

"low sodium" and "prepared foods" don't really go together. Sodium is a key ingredient to preserve prepared foods. So your chance of finding stuff is pretty low, unfortunately.

Even 'low sodium' foods only cut sodium by, say 25%, which as a former boss says, is like throwing a deck chair off the titanic to prevent it from sinking

I get that cooking is a pain in the butt if that's what you're trying to avoid. Also, thinking up ideas for meals all the time is rough, too. I get it. I'm mostly paleo but not strict. Just not a huge starch guy. I have different salads I make ahead for the week (lentil and cranberries, 3 bean, beets, carrot, etc) and then each day I cook some meat and I'm done.

I also make great chilis and stews that last the week as well. I can handle the repetition for the sake of simplification. Might be a route worth pursuing.

 

[WildRose]

The first thing a dietician will tell you if you are on a low sodium diet is to avoid the middle aisles in the grocery store because that's where they keep the prepared foods. They are full of salt and so are restaurant meals so you really do need to make your own. As others have said, there are some excellent dried soup & chili type mixes that are low sodium, and it's not a lot of work to make them using no-salt-added broth. I make big batches and freeze them and I try to keep a variety in the freezer so I don't get bored. If you make your own low sodium pasta sauce it's also easy to freeze for quick dinners. Grow your own herbs or buy fresh if you can - it makes a huge difference to the flavour when you are cooking low sodium. No salt added canned tomatoes & all types of beans are easy to find in grocery stores. Low sodium soup mixes etc I buy online or at local markets. I found some fake soy sauce without salt the other day at a health food store & its excellent.

 

[Aceon6]

Thanks, everyone. I know about cooking and freezing. I hoped that the collective wisdom of FSU would be able to point me towards a few things that I might not have seen.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

Amy's has a series of "light in sodium" frozen foods. I haven't seen them at my local market, though.

 

[moebius]

I guess you can dilute the prepared soups with water, but then it would taste almost like water. Once I had low sodium canned soup (400 mg/salt per cup) and it tasted almost like water. And 400mg sodium is still a lot of sodium. If the almost prepared foods come with seasonings, you can use less of it.

eta:Eat a small portion of the high sodium prepared foods and fill up the rest of the meal with low sodium foods like fruits and veggies, etc.

 

[Allskate]

When I was at the store this afternoon, I checked the sodium content for Amy's lighter in sodium meals. It looked like it was between 200 and 400 mg per meal.

 

[Allskate]

Oops. Wrong thread.

 

[Aceon6]

When I was at the store this afternoon, I checked the sodium content for Amy's lighter in sodium meals. It looked like it was between 200 and 400 mg per meal.

Thanks, Amy's would work, so I'll check those out.

 

[BigB08822]

I understand your struggle. I often need something to have for lunches at work and as a teacher I can't always leave campus to go get something. If I don't have something in the fridge or freezer then I am just out of luck. I will often go down the frozen aisle at the store to find something to bring to work and the sodium is just too much. My blood pressure is high enough without all of that!

 

[snoopy]

Does there have to be protein in it? Sometimes I microwave a bag of peas and call it a day.

 

[Allskate]

It's tempting to go out and spend money on something not very healthy when I need a quick lunch and haven't brought something good to eat. I keep a jar of almond butter in the fridge as well as some apples, baby carrots, and crackers, so I can eat that.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

My fall back for lunches is no salt turkey breast from the deli counter at the grocery store. If they cut it on the thicker side, it makes a nice addition to a salad. As for prepared frozen food, some frozen thin crust pizzas woth no meat toppings are much less sodium that ones with meat toppings.