Taste Test Tuesday: Quest Pizza!

March 22, 2022 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Hello, and welcome back my awesome readers to one of my topics that readers seem to love, Taste Test Tuesday. With my new job and all that goes with that, I had forgotten I wanted to repeat this series every week. But, if you read my Extreme Grocery Budget Challenge post yesterday, then you knew I was going to talk about this today. I will tell you at the end of the post why I ultimately chose Quest Pizza.

This Quest pizza and this is the link to the item with the ingredient and nutrition info, is quite expensive. For 2 servings it was $7.48. With that said if your family loves pizza, and maybe you are on a weight loss journey, this could be a good option for you. I didn’t even know Quest made pizzas, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw them at Walmart Sunday. I like the Quest tortilla chips, and some of their protein bars, but not all. I am fussy about protein bars, anyway, so it isn’t a flaw in the Quest product. I was looking for a healthier option pizza, for both CKD and weight loss. I could not find any WW pizzas, so I opted for one of these. Before I get to the nutrition of this Quest pizza, and no I did not look at it first, except for the fiber and carb count, I want to talk about texture and taste. I am a huge texture eater. If the texture is odd, chances are I am not going to like it, or even eat it. I chose a thin crust Quest pizza, and I fully expected the crust to come out crispy. Not only is this crust not very thin, but it also does not come out crispy after baking. So, I threw it into the air fryer for 5 more minutes. The only thing that got crispy was the toppings. I was a little disappointed by the crust, but not enough not to eat it. The cheese I am not so sure about either, but it didn’t taste bad or have a strange texture. As far as taste goes, it was overall fairly bland. I am funny about pizza sauce and this one was OK. I think if I buy it again, and actually I still have half of it left, I will sprinkle on some garlic powder. Would I buy this again? Maybe.

Now as far as nutrition goes, and now I am speaking in relation to my CKD, this is probably not a great choice. Why? I threw away my box, and I can’t really make out the ingredients on the box online, but the list is fairly long. That means it probably has additives I would normally opt to avoid. Remember, there are only 4 slices to this pizza, and 2 slices are a serving size. It is very high in fat, sodium, calcium, and protein. In this regard, this is not a healthy option for CKD as most pre-packaged foods are not. Plus, I can not account for how much phosphorus is in it, but I can assume it is pretty high. It is high in fiber, and low in carbs, and I was not hungry after I ate 2 slices. This was definitely a spur-of-the-moment buy for me. I would have been much better off using one of my Wellness wraps, a little marinara sauce, low-fat mozzarella cheese, and making my own little pizza.

So, why did I choose this particular pizza? I have not discussed weight loss at all much this year, and that is on purpose. But, I recently started following Itrackbites. It has a different name now, but I am finally coming off of my plateau and seeing results. It is similar to WW in that you get assigned a set number of points and each food item has a point value, and some are zero points, but not like WW. Anyway, I knew we would have pizza on Sunday for a quick and easy dinner. I also knew the pizza my family likes is like 13 points per slice, so I was hoping for an alternative. For the 2 slices of the Quest pizza, it was 10 points and was a much better fit for that day. That is why I chose the Quest pizza, and because I was intrigued by how it would taste.

This is not a paid post, as none of my posts are. This is my thoughts and my journey. If you would like help in your health journey email me for a free consultation.

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i am doing a zero point food challenge!

June 5, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 1 Comment

Hello, and Happy Saturday! If you are on my Mailchimp mailing list then you already knew that I was going to do a Zero Point Food Challenge. It will begin on this coming Tuesday, and go for two weeks, but I thought I would just give a preview of what a day of eating might look like. I have been researching, reading, and watching Youtube videos of other people who have done this challenge. It is obviously based off of WW Zero Point Food List. I won’t go into all of the details now, but there are specific reasons as to why I chose this challenge, and I have some thoughts on the concept. But, that is all for Tuesday. I can tell you my challenge will not look exactly like WW. First of all I am not a member of WW so I can not speak to how their program really works. I can only go by information I have found online, my research, and what my nutritional needs are. So, this will be a Melissa Zero Point Food Challenge! Come back Tuesday! For now, this is what I will eat for today, Saturday 6/5/2021. It is a lot of images, and I will explain each meal. The pictures will show the nutrition info also. I do not count drinks, and I will explain why on Tuesday.

Breakfast: 10 green grapes, 1/2 of a medium banana, cinnamon sugar small sprinkle, and 1 tbsp. Cool Whip, not fat free. It isn’t necessary and I will explain why on Tuesday. By my calculation these are all zero point foods.

Lunch: 3.3 oz of Pork Tenderloin with Paprika, Pepper, and Basil Herbed Salt baked at 350 for 35 minutes. This is the leanest pork you can buy with only 3 grams of fat per serving, which is actually 4 ounces, and I only am eating 3.3 ounces. I sprayed the bottom of the pan with spray Olive Oil. On the side I cut up 6 cherry tomatoes and sprinkled with salt.

Dinner: Since this is a work day it will be a thermos meal, either cold or hot. I decided to do hot today. For dinner I will have 2 ounces of the Pork Tenderloin left over from lunch, a 1/2 cup of the mashed potatoes shown below, and 1/2 cup of the Happy Harvest creamed corn. I mix it all together and since I am using creamed corn there is no need for butter or gravy. If you look at the labels you will see the fat content per serving definitely makes them a free food. Some of these are packaged so the ingredient list may not be great. But, I am using what I have in the house, leftovers, or whatever is affordable. Since no one else in my house is doing the challenge I have to work around them as well.

According to my food tracking app this is the Nutrition data for the whole day.

Calories: 583

Total Fat: 10 grams or 26% of RDA this is very low fat

Saturated Fat: 3.5 grams or 29% of RDA

Sodium: 914 mg this is a very low sodium day

Total Carbs: 74 grams. I typically allow 100 grams per day in food

Net Carbs: 65.6 grams because of 8.4 grams of Fiber

Protein: 50 grams that is my limit for the day with CKD.

Phosphorus: 486 mg

Potassium: 1658 mg

I also take a 1/2 tablet of a multi vitamin, but I do not include that in the nutrition app until the end of the day, because it skews my thoughts on what I am actually eating. I know this seams like not enough calories, and it isn’t, so I will have to figure out a snack that is low fat, and I don’t want anymore large amounts of protein or salt. I would also rather my carbs did not go over a 100 for the day. I will let you know tomorrow what I chose to add as right now I don’t know. You also have to consider that I do not track drinks. Times that I have tracked drinks, I may get an extra 100 to 150 calories from my daily drinks. Zero Point foods are not meant to be a whole diet on WW. They are meant to build your meals around. OK, so that is all I am going to say for now. Come back on Tuesday to read the full reasoning, and how I will do it, and track it, plus what I eat in a day, and results at the end.

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14 days of gratitude: Day 8 and my 50 dollar food budget

November 20, 2020November 12, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Updated 11/12/2021: In January of 2021 we sat down and figured out our budget the Dave Ramsey way. Our budget is $528 dollars per month for groceries using that method. Some months it doesn’t go so well. Still working at it, lol. I have to say the easiest way to save money on groceries is to use the pickup option. I order online and then pick it up. There is no impulse buying and teenagers picking up things we don’t need. Now, sometimes I actually have to go inside a store.

Yay, Friday! I am happy you are here. Before I get to the two things annoying me today I will write what I am grateful for, LOL. I truly am a grateful person and do not like to complain, but I may not always show my gratefulness which I assume would apply to most people. Today’s prompt is, name one thing I learned from my mother that I am grateful for. I hate these one thing prompts. There are so many things I have learned from my mom. But, since I have to pick one it would be how to be frugal. Now, that does not mean I have always listened very well, lol. As you will see below going back to a strict budget is proving not so easy for me and my family. We have always lived on a budget, but when you have more money you spend more money, and we are no exception to that rule. But, I grew up fairly poor, and my mom was excellent at being frugal, finding deals, stretching a dollar, and saving even with meager amounts of money. I am so grateful all of that information is stored in my brain and I truly want to teach my daughter how to be more frugal and buy what you need and save for what you want. It is so hard, especially for a teenager.

So, my 50 dollar for a week of groceries did not go well for this next week, and I can blame Thanksgiving for that. Now, with that said a lot of the stuff I bought can be carried over into the second week of the budget, as we get paid every two weeks, mainly because there will be a ton of leftovers from Thanksgiving. So, I am hoping it will even out.

I have a few gripes today in reference to things that were supposed to save me money. First Amazon Prime Pantry. We signed up for this and pay for a reason, two day shipping. I made my list the other day and this morning went to place the order. My items, a lot that I needed for Thanksgiving were not going to arrive until probably the day after Thanksgiving. Even if they came on Wednesday that is 5 days to delivery, not 2. I do not appreciate paying for a service and then I don’t get to receive the benefits of the service I am paying for. So, I had to take all of those items out of my cart, and left only the items for the second week of my budget. Amazon is in my not happy bucket today. Now, I could see if it was a true emergency, but Thanksgiving is the same day every year, and Covid has been here for 9 months, so I am not accepting those lame excuses. My second complaint today is for Ibotta. They were offering a free refund on Thanksgiving items that I intended to purchase and donate. But, of course, Ibotta would not load yesterday, or today, so I didn’t get to take advantage of that either. I have stopped using Ibotta before due to it not working properly and well that may happen again. There, now I am done complaining.

My first week menu starts tomorrow, 11/21, and goes until 11/27. I also purchased my two Dollar Tree items for my challenge next week. For this first week, I spent 83.68, and yes that is obviously over 50 dollars, but like I said a lot of the items will roll over into the second week in leftovers. For the second week, I have already spent 17.71 Save A Lot had the better deals, but not by a whole lot over Walmart. Just a few cents difference for most items and Save A Lot does not always have everything I need. Remember, my 50 dollar a week food budget is for food items only. It does not include non-food items. After Christmas, I hope to be able to sit down and make a budget for non-food items we use.

I wanted to share a recipe I made yesterday that was very affordable and will feed me and my husband for several meals. I had leftover pork ribs from Wednesday’s meal. You guys that was such a bargain, We have already had the ribs for 2 meals and lunch, and I was able to freeze 3 of the ribs for the next time I make this bean recipe. So, while the ribs were 10 dollars when you get several meals and then some out of the meat it really was a steal. In my crockpot, I put a can of black beans rinsed, and a can of Cannellini beans rinsed. Now, you don’t have to rinse them, but it gets rid of some of the sodium and I don’t generally like the sauce. Then I added about a 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce and a 1/2 cup of Italian dressing. I also threw in some pearl onions because I needed to use them up. Plus, one of the ribs that were leftover, bone and all. Then I put it on low for 8 hours. You guys this was so delicious. My husband loved it and had it again for lunch. If you have CKD like me be sure and not to eat the sauce, or as little as possible. Slow cooking your food helps decrease the phosphorus in the foods and releases it into the juices. I only eat a 1/4 cup at a time, and I put it over a 1/2 cup of masked potatoes. I had a simple side salad of lettuce, green onions, and some sunflower seeds. Try this delicious, simple, affordable recipe. The cans of beans were less than 80 cents apiece and I already had the other ingredients on hand. Eating beans is a great way to reduce your meat budget and still get protein.

Below you will see everything I bought for this weeks menu plan. I could have saved at least 10 dollars by using the stuffing I had already purchased, but my husband wanted me to make his mother’s homemade stuffing. So, I had to buy all of those ingredients. Plus, the pure maple syrup for the turkey was 7 dollars. So, that is actually 17 dollars I could have saved. But, my husband likes to make his turkey that way. I thought we still had some but did not. Sorry, my clean dishes are in a part of the shot. I wanted to get everything in one shot and my teen still hadn’t put dishes away.

Menu for 11/21-11/27/2020:

Saturday: Leftover homemade pizza for lunch and Hillbilly Casserole for dinner. Come back Monday and I will tell you how we liked both of those.

Sunday: Cheeseburgers and a side, probably Mac n cheese, fruit, or a veggie.

Monday: Chicken and broccoli. I think I have a jar of Alfredo sauce so we could have that over pasta. Or, it could be a completely low carb meal.

Tuesday: Tuesday is our busiest day of the week, every week. So, I like something fast and simple. I am sure there will still be the homemade pork and beans, or we could have grilled cheese and tomato soup, or breakfast for dinner.

Wednesday: Cheese ravioli, bread and butter and a side salad

Thursday: Thanksgiving, yay gobble til you wobble.

Friday: Leftovers of course

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14 Days of Gratitude: Day 6 and My Dollar Tree Food Challenge

November 18, 2020October 28, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Updated 10/28/2021

Before I begin I want to explain my Dollar Tree Food Challenge. I have been watching different food challenges on Youtube. It is obvious you can eat at Dollar Tree. For my challenge, I wanted to compare two different foods and the nutritional value, as well as taste and overall value. I am unsure of how many places actually only offer Dollar Tree food options as a choice to eat. The two Dollar Trees that I frequent are within feet or a mile of other grocery stores where prices are very affordable and have healthier options. So, I simply don’t understand why someone would choose to eat Dollar Tree foods if you don’t need to. I find their serving sizes for a dollar to be higher than you could get the same at another store, or make your own. See my results below.

Today is day 6 of my 14 Days of Gratitude Challenge. Today’s prompt is, something I am grateful for today. Today, and probably every day I am very grateful for the internet and my smartphone. While our internet provider is not as fast as my son’s who lives in a bigger college city, it is faster than my mom’s in the sticks. Most of the time she can’t even get a signal on her phone to access the internet and her computer is slow. I can’t believe in 2020 in the USA that people still don’t have access to affordable good internet service. It just baffles me. Without the internet, it would be very difficult to find good information, and studies on CKD and other topics for this blog. Of course, this blog probably wouldn’t even exist. Having good information, quickly, right at the tips of my fingers is something I am extremely grateful for.

Now for the Dollar Tree Food Challenge. I compared Celeste pizza for one, to a can of peas. What I was looking for was comparable protein per serving size, and then all of the other nutritional info especially in relation to CKD.

First, the pizza. I am not a fan of frozen pizza to begin with but I picked it because per serving of one pizza there are 9 grams of protein. That is actually a pretty small amount of protein for a food item with sausage and cheese on it. I only ate half of this small pizza and gave the other half to my husband. So, I ate 4.5 grams of protein. The whole pizza which is about the size of 2 normal size pieces of pizza, there is 360 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams saturated fat, a whopping 730 mg of Sodium, 47 grams of Carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugars, Calcium 8% of DV, Iron 15% of DV, and Potassium 2% DV. The ingredient list is so long it is ridiculous. The cheese is not real, and it has added Phosphorus as most processed foods do. So, from a CKD perspective, this is a horrible food choice. The sodium alone is 32% of DV, and the added phosphorus in this meal would be 100% absorbed by the body. While I could not locate this particular pizza on Eat This Much, similar pizzas have 22% of the DV of phosphorus per serving. On top of all that, it had a very chemical taste to it to me, and was not even enjoyable or filling. This is not something I personally would choose to consume again.

Now, compare the can of peas. First of all, it has only 4 ingredients, peas, water, sugar, and salt. That right there already makes this a better food option. Comparing the protein to the pizza, the peas per 1/2 cup serving size have 4 grams of protein. That is almost exactly half of the Celeste pizza. Plus peas are loaded with other nutritional items and is real food, not fake manufactured food. Per 1/2 cup the peas are 50 calories, 5 grams of fat, sodium is 290 mg, Carbs 11 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Sugars 4 grams, Vitamin A 6% DV, Vitamin C 10%, Calcium 2%, Iron 6%, Phosphorus 8% DV. You can’t change the sodium content of the pizza, but by rinsing the peas twice, you can greatly reduce the amount of sodium in the peas. Add butter, margarine, or other seasonings to flavor your peas and this is a much healthier food option from Dollar Tree. I will eat the peas with my dinner meal tonight. If they taste gross I will let you know, but I am doubting canned peas are going to taste like anything other than canned peas.

You can see the images below with the ingredients and nutrition labels. I am not picking on Dollar Tree or Celeste pizza. My only goal is to inform. There is obviously a market for these foods or they wouldn’t offer them. But, I do think it should raise concerns if people really only have a Dollar Tree to purchase food items from, and some of their items I could have purchased cheaper elsewhere.

Learning to read nutrition and ingredients on labels can help you eat smarter and healthier, especially if you have CKD or any other Chronic Disease. If you would like to learn about me and my Health Coaching services, use the contact form after all of the images to message me for a free email meet and greet.

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Compare radishes to tomatoes for ckd and Thanksgiving meal

November 10, 2020August 13, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Below I will share a link to a delicious roasted rosemary radish recipe. I have tried this recipe and it is delicious. It fits perfectly into my Rosemary Challenge for the month of November. But, the main point of this post is for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. While I think it is going to be a much different holiday this year, due to Covid, it doesn’t mean you can’t still have a lovely meal with recipes that fit a CKD diet.

I love tomatoes, and while I don’t have a potassium restriction lots of people with CKD do. I find radishes to be somewhat bitter when eaten raw. In small amounts it is ok, like in a salad. But, when I roasted the radishes they were absolutely delicious. You could technically mash them to replace mashed potatoes. I did mine with carrots and onions too, but that is not part of the recipe below.

Nutrition for radishes in relation to CKD:

1 cup of raw radishes has: 19 calories, basically 0 fat, 4 grams of carbs, 45 mg of sodium, 270 mg of potassium, 2 grams of fiber, about 1 gram of protein, 17 mg of vitamin C, 29 mg of calcium, 0.4 mg of Iron, and 23 mg of phosphorus. The amount of potassium in 1 cup of radishes can be considered high, so you could half it.

1 cup of raw tomatoes has: 32 calories, basically 0 fat, 7 grams of carbs, 2.2 grams of fiber, 9 mg of sodium, 427 mg of potassium, 1.6 grams of protein, 25 mg of Vitamin C, 18 mg of calcium, 0.5 mg of Iron, and 43 mg of phosphorus.

I use the website Eat This Much for nutrition info. Radishes would also be a good replacement for mashed potatoes which are also very high in potassium. Check out this recipe for roasted rosemary radishes, https://eatthegains.com/rosemary-roasted-radishes/

Update 8/13/2021: I love tomatoes. and I do eat them. I do not have issues with Potassium, however. I also really liked the roasted radishes above.

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Halloween and Kidney Disease!

October 27, 2020September 15, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

First let me state, for new readers, I have CKD stage 3. I do not have Diabetes or HTN. I have dedicated my Health Coaching to bringing awareness to Kidney Disease and the complications that come with it. If you would like to learn more about my Health Coaching service, use the contact form at the end of the post to message me. Holidays are especially hard for people with CKD, due to limitations in foods they can eat.

I have been a nurse for 33 years. Over those years I have had friends and patients with chronic diseases that they just never seem to manage very well. I always wondered why? Then, I was diagnosed with CKD in 2017. It is hard, very hard, that’s why. But, with determination, communication with your doctor, support services, family and friends it can be done. You can still live a full and happy life.

I follow a lot of social media groups, organizations with recipes tips, etc, I have purchased kidney cook books, and yet one thing I am always disappointed with is that they often are very high in Phosphorus. Phosphorus is not on food labels so tracking it can be very difficult. I have mentioned before that I use Eat This Much and My Healthy Kidney to help me judge the amount of phosphorus in foods.

Halloween candy can be very high in Phosphorus. The peanut butter cups I mentioned yesterday, have 78 mg of Phosphorus per serving. While that is considered low, a serving was two little pieces.. So, you can see how quickly that could add up. With the high limit of 900 mg per day of Phosphorus, or less, for most kidney patients, candy can be dangerous.

Below, I have put together some of my previous posts that cover Halloween, candy, or holiday foods. Maybe you are taking your kids trick or treating, or want to have a Halloween party. Covid can be very dangerous to those of us who have CKD. But, it doesn’t mean we should have to hide away and have no life as politicians have suggested. I am not advocating anyone to be dangerous, risky, or spread the virus. If you are sick you should stay away from people, even for the regular flu virus. I am just saying we deserve a life as much as anyone else, and safety is of utmost importance. I do not put recipe amount facts because I don’t know them for sure. If you want to use any of them for the upcoming holidays, do a little research on the ingredients to be sure they fit your diet needs. I find a lot of kidney patients complain that families don’t even attempt to honor their diet needs at holidays. Now, that is their perspective and may or may not be the whole story, however from personal experience I can say it is accurate. People are so caught up in their own wants and needs that they exclude anyone who may be different than theirs. Some other things I have noticed. People who are recovering alcoholics and people drink in front of them. People who have quit smoking and they have to sit in a room full of smokers at family events. People who have sensitivities or allergies to foods and not one meal item has been created with them in mind. These are things that alienate people and add to their loneliness or isolation. Most people will not ask what will be served or how it will be adapted to meet their needs as not to feel like a burden. These are all things that make me very sad.

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https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2019/10/11/my-top-5-halloween-candy-picks-for-ckd/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/10/26/portion-distortion-halloween-candy/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/10/03/self-care-saturday-halloween-and-covid/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2019/04/05/foodie-friday-healthy-easter-apple-treats/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2019/04/19/foodie-friday-easter-meal-choices/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2019/12/06/foodie-friday-holiday-party-vegetable-casserole-for-ckd/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/02/14/foodie-friday-happy-valentines-day-healthier-banana-strawberry-bread/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/01/31/foodie-friday-superbowl-meatballs/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/05/15/low-fodmap-and-ckd-friendly-hummus/

https://healthbuddymelissa.coach/2020/09/30/how-to-make-sweet-basil-herbed-salt/

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portion distortion: Halloween candy!

October 26, 2020June 21, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 1 Comment

Ah Halloween week! All that candy your kiddos may collect. What is your favorite? Do you know what a portion size is, calories, carbs, fat etc per each serving? You may see affiliate links in this post, or any of my posts.

All this week I will try to stick to Halloween themes. My favorite Halloween candy is Reese’s Peanut Butter pumpkins. The ones in the image are the mini pumpkins. A serving size is two of those mini pumpkins. For those two pumpkins I will be consuming 170 calores, 10g of fat, Sodium 130 mg that is a lot of Sodium for a small amount of food, Carbs 19 grams, total sugars is 17g with 15 of them being added sugars= YIKES, protein 4 grams.

If you have CKD you can see just two pieces of candy has 4 grams of protein and 130 mg of Sodium. That is a high risk food for people with CKD. That doesn’t mean you can’t absolutely have them, but stick to just one portion and not every day.

If you are following a low carb diet, like me, this is a whole meal of carbs, almost.

I didn’t post over the weekend, because I was at work. But, we stuck to our budget menu. We just switched up yesterday, and today to better match our schedules. I did not eat the pizzas they had. Rather I took chicken salad, and 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich for dinner both days.

This week is not a challenge, but below is our menu for the week. The days may not be exact, as sometimes we have to switch them up.

Tuesday: Chicken Cesar Salad. We already have chicken breast in the freezer and the kits were buy one get one free. I won’t have the Cesar dressing in mine as it is way too much fat and carbs for me. I will use Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Wednesday: I will have leftover pork from today’s dinner, so we will have pork fried rice. The pork fried rice will have onions, carrots, and bell peppers.

Thursday: Turkey burgers. Publix had turkey burgers buy one get one free. There are six burgers in the box, so that is two meals right there for 3 of us. That means I can have them for a lunch, or for a meal next week. A vegetable will also be eaten

Friday: Totino’s pizza rolls. My daughter got them this week. Publix had them buy one get one free, the big bag, so they can be for a meal next week as well. I do not eat these. I think they are disgusting. So, I will have to share what I end up eating.

Saturday: Lasagna, meatless with homemade bread possible and side salad. I have a ton of spinach in the freezer and I may do half the lasagna with spinach and half without.

Sunday: Leftover Lasagna

Monday: Pizza rolls. Again, I will not be eating these. Friday and Monday are both work days for me, so they are an easy meal when I am not home. I will share what I end up eating.

So, after subtracting the non food items we spent 140 dollars at Publix today, and 25 dollars at Save A Lot last week. 165 dollars, that is with tax, for an average of 80 dollars per week of 3 meals a day for 3 people. Not bad!

After I do inventory next week I will decide what the next challenge will be. As we get closer to Thanksgiving I would like to start looking at turkey deals. Publix didn’t really have any today, at least not good ones.

At the beginning of November I will share the next herb/spice challenge for that month. I have already picked it, but not sharing yet. If you have been doing the Turmeric challenge be sure to check back for the new one.

If you would like to learn how to count carbs, keep a food journal, track your CKD food items, learn to meal plan, learn to cook, make a budget, menu planning, or any other food topic use the contact form at the end of this post to message me for a free meet and greet.

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Metabolism Part 2

June 3, 2020 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Well, it has been an interesting week already. Monday, I didn’t get to do my planned post because my daughter needed my laptop for school, as hers was having issues. Tuesday, I sat down to write out my planned post and the internet went out and stayed out until this morning. Those 2 planned posts will be done next week.

An update on my Soy What post. I tried Tofu, and oh my gosh, it is a definite no. While I was able to tolerate eating it, I didn’t even notice it in the food, the effects it had on my Gastrointestinal system were absolutely disastrous. So, no more Soy for me. I will just live with hot flashes.

One of the most important things I have learned about Metabolism, in my Sports Medicine class is that increasing your Metabolism may be more of a myth concept and marketing gimmick. The effects these items have on Metabolism are minimal at best. As someone who suffers from a slow Metabolism this is sad. I also learned that the body can only consume 500 grams per day in Carbohydrates, and the rest is converted to fat stores. That totally explains how a lower carb diet can help people lose weight. However, very low carb diet can be dangerous. The body needs carbs to function, and fat. You can watch the part 1 video on Metabolism, here.

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Foodie Friday: How To Make A Family Meal Plan CKD Friendly

March 6, 2020 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

This week has been an interesting week. We did not follow the menu exactly due to some food preferences, and dislike of some of the choices I made. At any rate, I will go over each meal and how I made them more CKD friendly. Some of these we have not eaten yet, as the week ends on Saturday.

Sunday the 1st- Breakfast for dinner. This is pretty self-explanatory. I had two eggs, whole-wheat toast, and fruit. If you have issues with phosphorus eat white bread only. If you need to control potassium levels choose low potassium fruits such as apples or berries. I have only been buying fruit in season, except apples. No one seems interested in apples.

Monday- Miracle Pasta. No one wanted this recipe. Instead, I just made plain pasta with butter and garlic salt. Use low salt butter and salt-free garlic for CKD friendly pasta. I also made baked pork ribs with no-salt seasoning. A side salad and fruit rounded out the dinner. Skip tomatoes in your salad if potassium is an issue. Also, skip the cheese in your salad. Cheese is high in sodium and phosphorus. The darker green lettuce is the more potassium it has. I use Iceberg.

Tuesday: No cream Italian pasta was on the menu. We actually had a ton of leftovers, so that is what we had. I added a side salad for more veggies. The Italian pasta recipe will be moved to next week.

Wednesday: Menu not followed today either, my son treated to take out.

Thursday: Mac n Cheese, steamed cauliflower, fruit, and chicken. My kids like Kraft so that is what I made. I don’t generally eat this. It has a lot of sodium and phosphorus. I did not have any last night. I did have cauliflower with butter and garlic. Pan-fried chicken cooked in olive oil and spices, mixed in with the cauliflower was delicious. I also sauteed onions in with the chicken added tons of flavor. I also had a banana. If you have high potassium skip the banana and have berries or an apple instead.

Friday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup. If you can tolerate it have low sodium soup option. If not have just a serving and avoid adding saltine crackers. Add a side salad or fruit to round out the meal. If you have issues with potassium have chicken noodle soup instead of tomato.

Saturday: Tomorrow we will be having ground orange chicken with brown rice and broccoli. Making your own orange chicken will keep sodium and phosphorus levels lower than take out or store-bought prepared. I buy the whole grain brown rice and put it in the instant pot. Brown rice is higher in phosphorus than white rice, so use with caution. Broccoli is high in potassium, so if this is an issue for you, choose cauliflower instead.

That’s it for this week. Take care of yourself and watch your diet to help keep your kidneys as healthy as possible. A note about the protein above. I parboil chicken, and eat only 3 to 4 ounces per meal. If you would like help in learning about how food choices can help keep CKD more stable, use the contact form below to message me.

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Foodie Friday: Making My Weekly Meal Plan Kidney-Friendly

February 21, 2020 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

So, I have decided to make my Foodie Friday posts about how I make my family meal plan more kidney-friendly for me. Sometimes I don’t have to change much, but other meals I modify quite a bit for me. I don’t expect my family to give up all the things they love just because I have kidney disease. However, I also don’t want to cook 2 separate meals, and I also don’t want to waste food or money. Below I will show the modifications I made. Please note I am stage 3. I do not have Diabetes or High Blood Pressure. I do have some weight I would like to lose. I am 50 years old, and post-menopausal. I do not have issues with Potassium.

Monday- Chicken Ala King over biscuits and fruit. This was the meal. Now because we are trying to use up food we already have I used cream of chicken soup to make the gravy base. These soups are very high in sodium. You could always make your own, or just portion a smaller portion which is what I did. I also par-boil the chicken to reduce fat, potassium, and phosphorus. I then pan fry it with some seasonings for flavor before adding it to the gravy. We used canned peas and carrots because again I am trying to use up food on hand. To lower the sodium levels rinse the veggies twice before adding them to the gravy mixture. For biscuits, I have never found a low sodium version. They are also higher in phosphorus. So, I simply just made sure I ate only one biscuit. Make sure you are not taking more than 3 oz of chicken when you plate up your food. I had a side salad to fill me up instead of having two biscuits and more of the gravy mixture.

Tuesday- Fried chicken, mac n cheese with whole tomatoes over it and green beans. This one is obviously hard for several reasons. I again par-boiled the chicken before frying it. For the coating, I found Publix brand bread crumbs the unflavored ones have no phos in the ingredients, so I use them. I dip each piece of chicken in egg then coat with the breadcrumbs. Then fry in just a little bit of oil to make them crispy. My kids like Kraft Mac n Cheese of course. I just limit myself to a 1/4 cup serving. Green beans were canned so again I rinse and drain two times prior to cooking. Always use salt-free butter. A side salad again for me, helps me fill up. For the tomatoes they were stewed canned tomatoes, and I only add like a teaspoon to my mac n cheese.

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and tomato soup, fruit. You can always use Ezekiel bread it is very low in sodium. I used whole grain bread for mine, which is higher in phosphorus, but still better for me. You can use Swiss cheese which is a lower sodium salt. Look at the different brands of cheese that you may like to pick the lowest sodium version. Tomato soup was delicious I cook it with water, not milk, and I do not add crackers. You can make homemade tomato soup very easy and it will have way less sodium, but I had canned on hand. For the fruit, we always have oranges, bananas or apples on hand. I split a banana with one of my kids. If you can not have a banana or orange due to potassium restrictions, choose berries, or apples instead.

Thursday- Chicken Marsala, pasta, fruit or salad. I had a jar of Marsala sauce I bought to try. But, I noticed there was a lot of sodium and other things CKD people should really not have. So, I opted to just not use any for me. I am also not eating carbs past my lunchtime meal, so I skipped the pasta. I par-boiled the chicken before pan-frying in spices, and then I added mine to a salad. Everyone else ate it over pasta and said the sauce was just ok. I will just make it homemade from now on. For fruit, again I split a banana with my daughter.

Friday- This is a workday for me, so I am taking tuna with mayo, an orange and a banana. I do eat a whole can of tuna when I am working. If I don’t eat it all I bring it home for a future lunch. I eat it without bread or carbs. Note on the carbs, I am not talking about fresh fruit. Those carbs I do eat at dinner time. I will let you know how this works for me and my weight loss goal. The rest of my family will have cheese ravioli with cheesy bread. If I was going to be home I would eat this but limit my portions and add a side salad.

Saturday- The menu says smothered frito taco bowls and coleslaw. This is totally not what is going to happen. My daughter picked this meal and when I was looking at the recipe there is no way I can make this healthy enough for me, and honestly, it is not healthy for anyone. I do not par-boil ground beef. You can, of course, but I don’t. This meal will instead be soft tacos, and for me a taco salad. Making your own taco seasoning will save a ton of sodium. I had a packet on hand, so I will be using that. I limit the amount of meat I put on my salad to 3 oz, a small amount of sour cream and a small amount of shredded cheese. The shells are high in sodium, sometimes higher than bread, and have added phosphorus for preservatives. So, I avoid them.

Sunday- BLT, and apples. If I choose not to have bread I will put my bacon, lettuce, and tomato in a salad. I probably will have whole wheat bread. White bread has less phosphorus, but I want the whole grains in whole wheat. You can use Ezekiel bread to have lower sodium bread. If I choose to have bread, then I can have the coleslaw I didn’t make on Saturday. Apples round out this meal. After you make your bacon, be sure and let it rest on a plate of paper towels to get rid of some of the greases. Use low sodium bacon or turkey bacon. My family is not crazy about either of those, so I simply limit my portion size to no more than 3 slices. Note that dairy products are very high in Phosphorus. I do not consume dairy except in very small portions and only with certain meals. I do not drink Milk, except in very hit or miss situations, such as on my cereal.

I am working on next week’s menu as we speak. Be sure to come back and check on Monday. Remember foods that are processed, and not fresh, are going to have more sodium, potassium, and phosphorus than fresh because they act as preservatives for longer shelf life. Be sure you are only consuming the portion size, or cook from fresh if possible. If you would like to learn more about how a Health Coach can help you message me for a free meet and greet. Use the contact form below to message me about learning more about my services, or to sign up for my weekly newsletter.

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