But with convenience comes salt, one thing that few people need more of.

The American Heart Association recommends 1,500 milligrams of sodium (salt) per day. But the average American’s salt intake is more than twice that: 3,436 mg sodium daily.

A single teaspoon of salt contains approximately 2,000 mg of sodium. If you think that this doesn’t apply to you since you don’t salt your food (or add just a slight shake of salt), it’s the processed food—canned, prepared and frozen meals or components—that make us consume more salt than deer at a salt lick.

Just look at the sodium content on the nutrition labels of big-sodium canned foods, which include such seemingly innocent products such as condiments, mixes, soups, tomato sauce and any prepared foods or meals.

If you’re using canned vegetables for
convenience (or preference), look for No
Salt Added and Low Sodium varieties.
Photo courtesy Del Monte Foods.

Single items sold by fast food restaurants can typically have 2,000 mg of sodium. And many other restaurant meals are also packed with hidden salt.

No matter how young and healthy you feel now, control your salt now and you won’t have to pay the piper later—in the form of hypertension (high blood pressure) and other conditions.

Del Monte Foods and Green Giant both have reduce-salt and no-salt-added options, as do many healthy and organic brands. If you can’t find enough reduced-salt options in your supermarket, check out the nearest natural foods store.

Here are sodium-level definitions from the American Heart Association:

 
Instead of salt, add flavor to foods with your favorite herbs or spices. The line of Mrs. Dash herb and spice blends makes it easy.

Here’s more useful sodium information from the American Heart Association.
  

The Twisted Swan, a layered cocktail from
Maestro Dobel Tequila.

Today, for your consideration, we present The Twisted Swan: a sinister and sexy layered cocktail from Maestro Dobel Tequila that evokes The Black Swan.

THE TWISTED SWAN

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 ounces black raspberry liqueur*
• 1 ounce premium blanco/silver tequila
• 1/2 ounce amaretto liqueur
• Chocolate drink rimmer (or pulverize chips or a semisweet chocolate bar in a spice grinder)

*Raspberry liqueur is also delicious with white wine and sparkling wine. Pour a bit in the bottom of the glass or flute before you add the wine.

2. Shake tequila and amaretto with ice. Strain into glass.

3. Shake vodka with ice and layer into glass. Serve.

We’ll have more cocktails that honor your favorite films in time for your Oscar party (February 27th—plan ahead).

How should you store lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits and other citrus fruits?

Since fruits typically keep better in the fridge, many people toss a lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit into the produce bin as soon as they bring it home.

But that’s not the best way to store your citrus.

Citrus is warm weather fruit. In the cold, the juices and the peel both dry up.

It won’t happen in a day or two, but it can happen if you store them for two or three weeks.

For maximum juiciness and flavor, keep that lemon, lime, orange or other citrus at room temperature for up to a week.

They look great in baskets on the counter or the dining table.
 
 

If we haven’t used a lemon or lime by then (rare in our kitchen!), we quarter or halve the fruit and freeze the pieces in bags.

Then, when we need some juice—whether for a quick cup of tea or a recipe—we microwave a frozen wedge for 10 seconds. The juice tastes fresh as new.

If we’ve used half a lemon, lime or orange, we’ll keep the other on the counter overnight. It will be just fine the next day.

We keep our citrus in basket on the kitchen counter. When we get a lot of it—a gift carton of grapefruit, for example—we pile the fruit in a basket or bowl that doubles as a centerpiece on the kitchen or dining room table.

There’s a related reason not to refrigerate citrus: There’s less juice when you squeeze or eat cold citrus.

Which brings us to more citrus tips:

 
Citrus is good for you: full of the antioxidant vitamin C. Don’t be a stranger to fresh citrus.

[1] Even after you cut a lemon, lime or orange, keep it on the counter, not in the fridge (photo of Key limes © Baldor Food).

[2] If you’ve squeezed half a lemon, cover the surface of the other half and leave it out (photo © Caroline Attwood | Unsplash).

[3] Ditto with grapefruit. If you prefer, you can put it in the fridge to chill it 20 minutes before you’re ready to eat it (photo © Texas Citrus).

A memorable cup of sage tea: healthy,
organic and kosher. Photo by River Soma |
THE NIBBLE.

It was splendid, but we lost her card and never ordered any.

Good karma brought a tin of Rishi Tea’s organic Bergamot Sage Tea, a blend of sage, peppermint, bergamot and lemon thyme. It may be even more splendid!

Rishi organic teas are also certified kosher.

While the expert tea blenders at Rishi have worked long and hard to come up with a stellar blend, it’s easy to make your own simple sage tea and sage iced tea:

Hot Sage Tea Recipe
1. Per cup, steep 1 tablespoon dried sage in 8 ounces of boiling water.
2. Enjoy plain or add a bit of agave nectar or honey.
3. If you have fresh sage in the garden or left over from another recipe, by all means use it (but use twice as much fresh sage as dried sage).

Sage has long been an herbal remedy for sore throat and mild gastrointestinal upset, but we now drink Rishi’s Bergamont Sage tea daily because it’s soooo refreshing.

In general, milk is known for abetting strong teeth and bones, good skin, immune system support and the prevention of dental decay, hypertension, respiratory problems, some forms of cancer and other illnesses.

And now, it helps to reduce heart disease. A study published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that three glasses of milk per day may lead to an 18% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

While some people steer clear of milk because of the saturated fat, the researchers, from Harvard University and Wageningen University in The Netherlands, found no link between the consumption of regular or low-fat dairy and any increased risk of heart disease, stroke or total mortality.

That doesn’t mean you should embrace the calories and fat of whole milk. Switch whole milk for 2% lowfat milk and wean your way down to 1% and 0% fat.

Three glasses a day keep the doctor away.
Photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

• Try Superpremium Milk. We love the “superpremium” fat free milk that removes some of the natural water content. It concentrates the milk flavor so that 0% tastes like 2%. It’s well worth the extra money.
• Go Lactose-Free. There are plenty of lactose-free milk options for sensitive people. THE NIBBLE office has only lactose-free milk and soymilk in our office. Lactose-free milk tastes exactly like conventional milk and is available in lowfat and nonfat versions.
• Consider Organic Milk. One of the best-selling organic products is milk, since conventional herds can be injected with the growth hormone rBGH/rBST. You can even find milk that’s organic and lactose-free. Organic Valley makes certified organic Fat Free/Skim Lactose Free Milk and 1% Lactose Free Milk. There’s a $1.00 coupon on the website.

You don’t have to drink milk by the glass. Add it to tea (chai with a hefty pour of milk is a natural). Switch regular coffee for latte. And try this comfort food, one of our diet tricks:

• Fill a mug with nonfat milk and heat it in the microwave. Time will vary based on milk temperature, so start with 60 seconds for cold milk and see what works best in your microwave.
• Remove mug from microwave and stir in a packet of noncaloric sweetener or a bit of agave nectar.
• You can play around with spices (cinnamon and nutmeg work well) or extracts (a bit of vanilla or banana, for example; or stir in a piece of mashed banana).

Milk it for all it’s worth.