Winter time means it’s time to nest and make some comfort food. My mom used to refer to this hearty food as “sticking to your bones”. I guess she meant that it has substance and really fills you up (unlike some of the lighter meals we tend to eat more often in summer).

Homemade mac & cheese is always a winner and now that I have my new little “Slow cooker recipes” book, I’ll try a new mac & cheese recipe, using my crock pot.

If you have a crock pot somewhere in your cabinet (or stored away in the basement. maybe?), I recommend taking it out and using it. Most crocks come with their own recipe books. Mine includes a recipe for roasted chicken and veggies, pot roast and beef stew that are delicious. It’s great to throw the ingredients in the pot in the morning and smell the aromas of food cooking all day long, until it’s time for dinner. You get your food  preparation out of the way before facing the rest of the day.

My new little recipe book: Gooseberry Patch: Favorite Slow-cooker Recipes, includes a recipe for cranberry tea and overnight oatmeal with walnuts and raisins. I’ll bet the tea is yummy after brewing for so long in the crock pot and love the idea of waking up to a warm breakfast in the morning after it’s cooked all night long.

This week, I plan to make the barbequed chicken and taco soup from my new little book.

I also got out my bread maker and plan to make some homemade bread this winter. This is another kitchen appliance that I highly recommend buying and using. There’s nothing like the smell of homemade bread baking, it tastes fresh and delicious, and bread makers are super easy to use—they knead the dough and do all the hard work for you! The bread maker will pay for itself if you really use it. The cost of store-bought bread seems to have tripled lately.

The recipe book which came with my bread maker also has recipes for desserts, something I’ve never tried, but plan to.

What are some of your winter-time favorites from the kitchen?

The campaigning group, Consensus Action on Salt and Health, have recently released research which says that some processed food contains the entire recommended daily intake for a six year old in just one portion. There are indications that salt can not only increase heart attacks and strokes but can also have a negative effect on stomach cancer, osteoporosis, asthma and other conditions.

According to World Action on Salt and Health the following shows the maximum amount of salt that children should have in their diet.

On the positive side, research by Consensus Action on Salt and Health has shown that salt content in ready meals has dropped by nearly half in the last four years. However, this is still considered not nearly enough. Most processed food contains some salt, even some of those products that advertise themselves as healthy can have well above a healthy amount. Apparently many ready made sandwiches have over 2 grams of salt.

I have just had a quick trip down to the local supermarket. An average slice of bread contains half a gram of salt and a tin of soup contains 2 grams. It doesn?t take much to go over the recommended level, especially if you have one of those teenagers who never seem to stop eating. It seems that the only reliable way of keeping below the limits is to make your food from scratch.

Apparently Rochdale Council, in north west England have recently given salt shakers to the local chip shops, which have fewer holes, to reduce the quantity of salt customers add to their food.

On the strength of reading about this yesterday, I decided to take a stand and tell my children that there would be no more salt on the table. I was expecting a big fuss, but there was none. I told them that after a couple of days they would get used to the change in the taste of their food and they ate all their dinner without any more fuss than usual.

This article is not meant to provide any medical advice. Please consult your doctor for further information.

Further Information

World Action on Salt and Health

Consensus Action on Salt and Health

Sandwiches Rival Crisps on Salt

Parents, take note: The Campbell Soup Co. has announced that its kid-oriented soups, which feature popular characters such as Batman, Jimmy Neutron and Dora the Explorer on the labels, are getting their second sodium reduction in three years. This time, the company?s 12 varieties of soups for kids, including the classic favorites of Tomato, Chicken & Stars, Chicken Noodle, and Double Noodle, will have 480 milligrams per serving. This means that the company can for the first time legally label the soups as healthy foods.

For Campbell’s, high sodium levels have been a big health concern for decades for products that are otherwise generally healthy. Two years ago, the company began to use sea salt in its recipes to reduce sodium in a number of products. The sea salt (whose origins are confidential) is being used in a growing number of soups, as well as in V-8 vegetable juice and SpaghettiO’s pasta.

As the health consciousness of consumers increases, lower-salt soups have become big business for the world’s largest soup maker. In 2003, the company reportedly sold $100 million worth of reduced sodium soups.

The sodium levels in Campbell?s kids’ soups were first brought down about 25%. With this announcement, this year, they will be reduced by another 20%.

In all, 48 of Campbell’s soups are getting makeovers this year, bring the total number of soup varieties that have had their sodium reduced since 2006 to 85. The reformulated soups are scheduled to be widely available by fall of this year, according to the company. Be sure to stock up on soups to get you and your kids through the cold days of winter ? nothing?s better after a long day of outdoor fun than a steaming bowl of soup. They?re also great for when your kids have the sniffles ? studies have proven that chicken soup can be as effective as medications for treating colds.

Sodium is an essential mineral that, along with potassium, helps to regulate the human body’s fluid balance. Unlike other minerals, sodium (also known as sodium chloride, or salt) has a recognizable and popular taste, and is commonly added to snack foods and other processed foods. Specific government dietary recommendations regarding sodium intake do not exist for infants, children and adolescents. However, the Mayo Clinic reports that boys and girls ages 4 through 8 should have a sodium intake of fewer than 1,200 milligrams per day.