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[Huntermom]

I am taking my first trip by air this weekend since I got sick a year ago. I am doing well by taking care of myself, meticulously. I am on a low sodium diet and watch my carbs. I eat mostly seafood and occasionally fowl. I do not eat beef and port mostly becuase I do not like it. I am absolutely freaking out about this trip and being able to find places to eat. I have eaten out a few times without a problem but have been looking at menus in St. Louis and cannot find a good place to eat.

I know there are grocery stores at which I could pick up yogurt and salad fixings, a jar of peanut butter and some bread (although much is higher sodium than I prefer). I am packing unsalted and lightly salted nuts and snack mix.

I want to be able to travel again but most commercially prepared food will have over a day's sodium allotment in one meal. I do have a few meals I can make work.

What would you do? I know I could "cheat" but it wouldn't be worth the risk to me.

Thanks, I know I can get good advice here.

[Her Dotness]

Do you need to economize? If you can afford the upscale places, it's easier to get your meals lower in sodium since such don't use as many packaged foodstuffs and are usually very accommodating when it comes to special needs as you may be aware.

Otherwise, your plan to hit supermarkets is unfortunately likely to be your best option. The two most common in STL are Schnucks and Dierbergs. (Target's grocery department is somewhat limited as is Walmart's for your needs.) They're all over the metro area. Personally, I prefer Dierbergs which usually has a better selection of natural foods and better quality produce. Schnucks also had a BIG problem not long ago with hackers getting customer credit/debit card numbers and was insistent for longer than I liked that there wasn't a problem. They're currently trying to work out a settlement, so I haven't shopped there since the story broke unless I use cash. Schnucks has also had some contamination issues with salad bar items. There oddly isn't much for health food stores or restaurants for a city this size, not that I'm aware of anyway. Only two Whole Foods stores, for instance, one pretty easy to get to from downtown.

We're way out in the west end of the metro, but if you don't mind saying where you're staying, I may be able to suggest restaurants or markets within a reasonable distance. Will you have a rental car?

[Her Dotness]

Btw, meant to add that Dierbergs deli will cook seafood if you wish. Since you mentioned that's what you eat most often, perhaps that service would be helpful. I don't know how satisfactory it would be as I've never tried it. I'm picky about my seafood and find that many places grossly overcook it.

[Huntermom]

Thanks, Dot. I took your advice and went on Urbanspoon. That's when I started to get worried. I am happy with grilled seafood and that's my go to item. Price is not really an issue. I think we'll probably just have one or two sit down meals so I can splurge a bot.

I will check out Dierburg's Deli.

I was wishing I had made reservations at a Residence Inn or Homewood Suites. We have always tried to stay in a place with a kitchen aaaand I decided to chance Priceline becuase it was such a short trip.

Are there Whole Foods, Central Markets, or Trader Joe's around. They seem to carry a few more low sodium items. I have also found a salad at Panera I can modify to make it acceptable.

Thanks again.

I wish i cold eat barbecue. That seems to be the big thing.

[Thomhazel]

I don't have a dietary problem but i do tend to be fussy because my body copes very badly with sugar and puts on weight even when my calorie count is low if i have sugar in my blood. I have problems also eating out. I have to say we have over the years got into the habit of looking for places to stay with some cooking facilities so we can buy fresh food and cook our own i find that the easiest way. however, i have found in a lot of restaurants if you ask to speak to the chef and explain your problem they love to be creative. Most chefs love to cook with simple fresh ingredients. You don't need to be going to the top restaurants either to get a helpful chef.

[Her Dotness]

Maybe our experience is limited, but we've found we do need to go to the fancy places here in St. Louis to get simple ingredients plainly cooked but nicely flavored, especially when low-sodium is the concern. There are some great "farmer/comfort food" independents, but the fat and sodium levels in their dishes are out of sight, and canned veggies typical.

Despite being a major city, St. Louis is very oddly regional and down-home in some ways, the barbecue Huntermom mentioned being very big. Most of the restaurants are the chains--Applebees, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, Bob Evans, etc. or fast food. We've found you'll pay at least $35-$40 for one person with no alcohol to get much accommodation for special dietary needs. For instance, O'Charley's (similar to Applebees) has some nice salads (except their grilled chicken is that packaged stuff drenched in salt) and will leave the seasoning off meats if requested, but there's nothing much for veggie sides other than a plain baked potato, broccoli or asparagus. Maybe you could ask for carrots or some other basic veggie; we've never tried. Easier to cook at home where I can easily rev up the flavor with a splash of vinegar or wine and various herbs.

Yes, there are Trader Joe's here and there, but the one nearest us is very small and packages most produce so that I find it's often more than needed for us two. Reasonably from their standpoint, they seem to gauge the amount for at least four people. Not so great if you're attempting to keep foods in the standard hotel mini-fridge. There are some larger Trader Joe's east of us but further than I often care to drive. I find a much better variety of the gluten-free flours and foods that I need at Whole Foods. There's a Whole Foods on Brentwood just a wee bit off I-40/64. It's not much further west past Forest Park, so if you hit the art museum there while your DD is busy at SLU, it's not much further to pop on over to Brentwood from there. Watch VERY carefully on the right after you turn left onto Brentwood as it's in a strip and easy to miss.

No Central Markets, never heard of them.

[Her Dotness]

Oh! What's wrong with me??? One fairly new place just off I-70 that should work well for you is Prasino in St. Charles. It features local and organic foods and should be able to do low-sodium just fine as they feature the fact that they are eager to accommodate any dietary "lifestyle," their term, silly as I think it is. Oddly, their Urbanspoon listing doesn't have the full menu (didn't last time we checked anyway), but here's a link to their site.

prasino - st. charles, mo - menus

Prasino is pretty easy to get to off I-70, but there's probably still an annoying amount of construction at the intersection with the outer road where you turn to get to it. Coming off I-70 overpass, you'll turn left at the light and go around that big building to the far northeast corner to find Prasino.

WELL worth the trek to get there. Silly Dot for not suggesting it! The service can be wonderful to a bit sluggish, but the food is excellent. (The Urbanspoon review by Drew is actually mine. Drew is DH.)

Their roasted beet with goat cheese salad on mixed greens is delectable. I heartily disagree with the Urbanspoon reviewer who hated it. Maybe that person got it on an off day. Great desserts, too.

P.S. Avoid the lobster roll. Tiny dices of lobster with a weird lemony dressing instead of the traditional mayo. A New Englander like yourself would definitely find it strange! And the lobster seemed a bit fishy-tasting to me which suggested not as fresh as it should be.

[Huntermom]

Thanks again. I had a long talk with my therapist (who went to Wash U) and she said the same thing Dot said. Very traditional comfort foods and lots of beef and barbeque. She suggested the hospital cafeteria's as an option or some veggie restaurants around the university.

I am thinking Whole Foods will keep me fed and next time I will be sure to book a place with a kitchen. I also love fruit and nuts so I can bring that with me.

And Dot, as a New Englander, I know lobster rolls really need to be eaten within sight of the Maine coast, but will eat one on the Cape or in New Brunswick. I have actually had a bot of a lobster roll Ds got for his wife at Panera and it was ok-noce fesh lobster, no mayo bath but not on a hot dog roll, Sorry but you have to have a NE style hot dog roll.

Thanks again.

[Her Dotness]

A lobster roll not on a regular hotdog bun? How weird!

I feel gratified that your therapist agrees with me that finding healthy eats in this city can be a challenge. < grin > I didn't think of looking around the U's which makes sense as many students as are vegetarian/vegan these days. We don't often go to that area.

[ChukkerB]

Healthy protein bars,fresh fruit. check out "Shakeology" by beachbody.com

[Huntermom]

Thanks, everybody. I had a very nice trip. The hotel restaurant chef was wonderulf, cooked meals without salt for me and there was a grocery store a couple of blocks away. The hardest part was finding something at the airports. I ended up with yogurt parfaits. Next time I'll pack a sandwich for the trip out. I ewill also stay in a hotel with a kitchen like a Residence Inn so I can make toast or an english muffin for breakfast.