Guest Blog post by Shirley (member of KidneyConnect.ca)

This is a guest post by Shirley MacNutt, Kidney Connect member, who kindly allowed us to share her post here.

Disclaimer – This blog was not written by a healthcare professional but represents the experiences of an individual patient.  There is no standard renal diet so if you have questions about your own diet check with your renal dietitian prior to making changes.

I was diagnosed at age 22. I’m now 64. When my function got to 50% I was sent to the kidney clinic to get information on lifestyle. It was a struggle at first to try to figure out what I could and couldn’t eat. Now it’s about 15 years later and I am grasping what is and isn’t okay. I cheated for a lot of years, until my GFR dropped to 32%. Then I got scared and started to take things more seriously. Then it dropped more and now I allow myself absolutely no cheating, unless I’m in a restaurant and am unaware of ingredients that might be in the meal. But I seldom go to restaurants and when I do I make choices such as Fish and Salad instead of Fish and Chips.

I know we are allowed potatoes that are triple boiled. Have you ever tasted a triple boiled potato? Mush with no taste so now I don’t eat potatoes and even though I go to many women’s meetings with goodies I stay away from anything chocolate and have no chocolate in the house. You get used to it and used to finding alternatives.

Anyway, I guess the best way to start this is to tell you what I ate for dinner last night. I’m not a big eater so will give you the main course.

Stir Fry

This is one of my favourite meals. I’ve never liked to cook and this is so fast and easy.

I can’t give you exact measurements because I’m not sure but I can tell you what I make serves 3.

The easiest way to start is to assemble and chop your vegetables first. You can use any low potassium vegetable you like. Last night we used cauliflower, broccoli florets, red pepper- diced, – carrots- sliced, snow peas, you could  also use green beans. Most people would put diced onion in as well but neither my daughter nor I can digest onion so we leave it out. You can put all the vegetables into a bowl for easier use later.

I usually put the rice on first because it takes about 25 minutes to make so will be ready when the stir fry is. I use plain white rice. I use 1 c rice to 1 1/2c water. I’m sure the box says that makes 2 servings but we get 3 out of it.

I get beef already cut into stir fry strips. Otherwise you can use a high quality steak and cut it into strips. I’d say maybe 1 to 1 1/2 cups of strips. You can also use skinless chicken breast. I find that one medium breast is about the right amount. Again cut the chicken into strips.

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil in a wok – or in a frypan if you don’t have a wok. Heat the oil before putting in the meat. I use moderate/high temp to brown the meat. This usually takes 5-8 minutes, you’ll be able to tell when it’s cooked.

I then dump in the vegetables to cook at a medium heat. I keep fiddling with the heat so the vegetables don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. I have at times put a little more oil in to avoid that. I find I need to do that more often with chicken as the beef seems to make it’s own juices. I sprinkle Low Sodium Soya Sauce over the meat/vegetable mixture and cook until the vegetables are done, keeping an eye on it and stirring fairly constantly. Again the vegetables take 8-10 minutes. Again I have no idea how much Soya Sauce I use. I probably use 1 Tbsp or so. There is 24% sodium of salt in 1 Tbsp which is high but if you are keeping an awareness of your sodium intake it shouldn’t be a problem.

Use 1/3 of the cooked rice and top with the stir-fry mixture. For your other family members they can use additional soya sauce or a stir fry sauce at the table.

I have never gone out of range for sodium or potassium. I’m at the top, which is the warn range, but I’m never over the minimum.

If you would like to share your story about following a renal diet, please email us kitchen@kidney.ca