Restaurant Success

Our neighborhood joint -- Waterloo Ice House -- is just two blocks away, and it's a weekly visit for us on days where we are to tired to cook and need someone else to take care of us, if just for one meal. While it is heavy on the fryer (the Big Girl always gets chicken tenders and fries and the Husband usually gets wings and black beans), they have a number of options that work well for the fat and calorie inclined. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to estimate the amount of sodium in restaurant food (other than "a lot"), so I'd been avoiding it.

After some thought, however, I managed to put together a meal that I think is both "countable" and low sodium: a baked potato.

I asked for it plain, no butter (and was absolutely going to send it back if it had come with butter), with the fixings in the side. What I got was a plain baked potato that I don't think they could have snuck any salt in (you tell me if I'm wrong!), and two ounce cups of sour cream, chives, cheddar cheese, and bacon bits. The cups (which were labeled "2 oz" on the bottom) meant I could estimate how much I was getting. I added all of the sour cream, cheese, and chives. I used the Daily Plate feature at Livestrong.com to figure the nutritional information: 377 mg of sodium.


Boring and not the healthiest meal, but when we go to Waterloo comfort is on the menu, and a nice carb loaded potato with fixings (and a glass of wine, natch) is just what I'm in the mood for. Added bonus? Potatoes are a good, natural source of potassium, which helps balance the sodium in your diet.

image: Potatoes Goodness Unearthed