I think you should add a sliced apple or ½ cup applesauce to that sauerkraut to smooth the sharp flavor. For those who like a BBQ-flavored meal: 2 cups dried lentils, well rinsed, stones removed. ½ cup minced fresh onion optional: 1 carrot minced or grated 1 clove garlic, minced or smashed [or 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic] 2 cans [or 1 heaping quart fresh] diced tomatoes, including the juice 2+ cups water ¾ cup [or more] tomato-y BBQ sauce such as BullsEye. 5 chicken boullion cubes dissolved in 1 cup water [or 1 can chicken stock] -- or not: the chicken just adds a bit of flavor to the lentils. My crockpot is extremely slow to heat, so I usually dump everything into a regular pot, adding enough more water to cover the lentil mixture. Over medium heat, bring lentils to a gentle boil while the crockpot heats. As soon as both pot and lentils are hot [20 minutes or so], transfer the lentils into the crockpot. Check every couple hours, if needed, add more water to cover. Cook on high until tender [4 to 6 hours] and then on low until you are ready to eat. If you like a very BBQ-y taste, add more sauce to taste, and then serve mixture over cooked rice. I serve with cornbread on one side and a crisp salad on the other side; chocolate mousse or lime cloud-pie make a good dessert. For a skillet meal, spray large frypan with 1 tablespoon oil, sprinkle heavily with garlic powder plus ½ teaspoon salt. Brown porkchops on both sides. Lift chops out and cover pan bottom with sliced (¼") redskin potatoes, cover with paperthin onion rings, put chops on top, add enough water or chicken broth to be about ¼" deep. Put lid on pan and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 20 mins). Serve with steamed broccoli or a hot wilted spinach salad. A fruit dessert such as peach cobbler or strawberry pie goes well.

There are a number of low-sodium members who have a lot of great information and have freely shared it in the past - as posted above. I always suggest sticking to whole foods and skip the processed foods as the quickest way to avoided added sodium in your food. You can instantly cut sodium by using less of something. You can make a grilled cheese sandwich with half of a slice of cheese. Or better yet, find a low-sodium cheese and use grated cheese - about 1/4-1/2 ounce. You can use a stick of mozzarella string cheese (170 mg. sodium) and grate it for topping a 12-inch homemade pizza. Or, grate 1/4 of a stick of mozzarella string cheese (42.5 mg sodium), and that is enough for a grilled sandwich, or as a topping for any Mexican entrée, Italian entrée, salads, etc. A trip to your local library and you will find any number of low-sodium cookbooks if you need inspiration and some new recipes. I also like to have nutritional information for recipes printed in cookbooks, and can adjust them accordingly to lower the sodium, if necessary. I'm a big fan of Salt-Free Mrs. Dash seasoning blends and use them for all kinds of things. I make potato chips and sweet potato chips in the microwave - no added salt. I dehydrate zucchini slices with Mrs. Dash Salt-Free seasoning blends on them for a chip substitute. I also use a lot of herbs (fresh and dried) out of my garden. I use Coconut Aminos because it is soy-free and less sodium than soy sauce. In order to avoid added sodium in tomato products, I use low-sodium tomato powder (The Spice House and other sources on-line) and make tomato sauce and tomato paste, pizza sauce, pasta sauce, and can even make ketchup and bbq sauce with a few pantry ingredients. Some commercial low-sodium products just have too many questionable ingredients in them - even if they ARE low-sodium. Better off making your own! Make sure you have some Hain Sodium-free Baking Powder, and ENER-G Baking Soda (double the amount to substitute for regular baking soda) for low-sodium baking. Try making your own vegetable, beef, and chicken broth - they are far tastier than store-bought. I use homemade broth I freeze in cubes to make a quick pan sauce. Melt a couple beef or chicken cubes and bring to a simmer. Add a pat of unsalted butter and heat through. The butter will lightly thicken the broth - no additional thickener needed. Add some herbs or spices, but cracked pepper may be all it needs. For a Type II diabetic, the less high-glycemic foods, like flour, the better. Try using almond flour and coconut flour in baked goods, instead of high-glycemic wheat flour. Go wheat-free..... I try to make 3 new recipes each week, so that helps keep me interested in new dishes and new ways to make old favorites. Another thing.... it's a LOW sodium diet, not a NO sodium diet. We all require some sodium in our diet to function properly. I'd just rather have it naturally-occurring in real food (even if it's just a small amount for flavor). I'd suggest skipping the low-sodium salt products, which can cause a whole bunch of other issues. Get creative.... Can't have celery? Use celery seed for lots of celery flavor. Lemon and lime juice are your "friends", OR True Lemon and True Lime crystalized lemon and lime product which has 0-mg of sodium and lots of flavor. Make low-sodium breads and baked goods - especially those made with coconut flour and almond flour. Good luck on your search! -Grainlady

Lars, I was surprised too - but Gina is full of surprises! And I remember the entire day very well. Do open the linked pictures which are just a Google search but there are some astounding views of the Teahouse, it is really beautiful inside and out. There is an amazing story of how Boulder was gifted with this and how it was finally constructed here. It is the only traditional Persian Teahouse in the Western Hemisphere. Boulder and Dushanbe have been sister cities since 1982 and there are fund raising efforts every year. There have been a number of visits between the cities. This is from the home page of the organizations website "We sponsor cultural, educational, medical, and business exchanges between Dushanbe and Boulder. Building an environment of trust and cultural understanding - this is what citizen diplomacy is all about." Of course I would love to see you here. I don't know where your friends are in Utah but Salt Lake City is 500 miles from Boulder, an 8 hour drive or an 90 minute flight for as low as $88. round trip. Annie, I don't remember what we were smelling in the picture, but I do remember smelling all the varieties of cinnamon (before I decided on the Korintje) so it could be cinnamon. The tabletops at the teahouse are all different in the ornamental tile borders and all have chess boards in the centers. Tea and chess could occupy patrons for hours in Asia and the Middle East. Lee

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