Comfort food it's not

When I was a kid I remember getting to eat pot pies that were bought at the grocery store. You know the ones I'm talking about. Lots of gravy, some mystery meat (I'm only calling it a mystery because it didn't matter if you got the beef, chicken, or turkey pot pie because the meat always looked the same) and vegetables, and surrounded by a flaky pie crust.

Recently, two things happened. First, I saw a friend "cooking" a pot pie in the microwave (who knew?). Second, I read a blog written by a favorite author of mine about being a "half-assed vegan." The first made me think fondly of the pot pies of my youth. The second made me think about my health.

If you want to read the blog post first, go here. You can read from my comment that I love food that isn't necessarily good for me. Bacon, sausage, ham, etc. You can add pizza, cheeseburgers, and more to that list. But I made the mistake of buying a couple pot pies (let's be honest, one pot pie isn't very much), and what I found was really kind of disturbing. And it leads to the reason for blogging today.

We all know that sodium in excessive amounts isn't good for us. But as I was reading the ingredients list AFTER eating the pot pies, I found that salt or sodium is mentioned SEVEN DIFFERENT TIMES -- three times as salt (sodium chloride); three times as sodium tripolyphosphate, a chemical that has many uses in industry, ranging from an ingredient in cleaning products to a food preservative; and once as sodium stearoyl-lactylate, a versatile, FDA approved food additive used to improve the mix tolerance and volume of processed foods. Those seven incidents of sodium provide 33% of a person's recommended daily allowance of sodium. That isn't all that comforting.

What's bad about telling this story is that I have a friend who gave me a recipe for homemade chicken pot pie that is the ABSOLUTE BEST pot pie I've ever had. I dislike making it, however, because I'm cooking for just me. It would probably freeze well, but, when it tastes as good as this recipe does, why chance it?

Anyway, I'm beginning to think very seriously about making some changes with my eating habits. I'm probably not going to switch to a plant-based diet, though I commend those who can make that change and stick with it, but I would like to see more fruit and vegetables pass through my lips and less German chocolate cake, Coca-Cola and root beer (three of my most favorite things).

 And that may lead to one of the most comforting things of all -- better health!