Using salt in cooking

Debt_Free_Chick

We salt food as we cook and again at the table. But we don't eat any processed foods of any description. In particular, no sweets, chocs, crisps, nuts, biscuits etc ....

I think much of the "reduce your salt intake" is aimed at those who eat processed foods, where salt is routinely added. And then people add more at the table, out of habit. If you eat no (or very minimal) processed foods, then you need to add some salt, IMHO

AussieLass

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

But we don't eat any processed foods of any description. In particular, no sweets, chocs, crisps, nuts, biscuits etc

You are so good. :A I don't eat much processed food but I do eat some. I only buy plain biscuits, no cream. I do quite a bit of home baking & I try and cook heathly. Although I do have a sweet tooth.:D Very rarely eat crisps. I'm with the opinion that everything in moderation is fine. A few treats aren't going to kill you.

Debt_Free_Chick

Gosh I do sound like a goody-two-shoes :eek:

I should have mentioned that we simply don't like them. I find most taste chemical or artificial in some way and I guess a lot of them are. Like you, we prefer home baking, simply for taste and because we can be sure exactly what goes into the stuff we make. Now I think about it, we tend to monitor our intake of "bad stuff" more closely as we're the only ones adding it to our diet.

I've got home-made damson jam to spread on my home-made bread this morning

Magentasue

I think this puts it all in proportion:

http://www.foodcomm.org.uk/salt_may_03.htm

Ted_Hutchinson

Magentasue wrote:

I think this puts it all in proportion:

http://www.foodcomm.org.uk/salt_may_03.htm

But it does show that it is manufactured foods which are the main danger. If you take responsibility yourself for what your children consume then you can decide to add salt or not. Replacing high salt snacks with fruit is a start. Ensuring your children don't have special (high salt) manufactured food but eat the same home made meals you eat solves the problem.

When I was a child "Childrens food" wasn't an option. When I was a parent we lived in the country and didn't have access to supermarkets so our children had to eat what we ate. I'm pleased to see that my grandchildren also eat home prepared adult food at the same time and place as their parents. This solves the problem of how to avoid highly salted unhealthy manufactured food.

The salt is needed to give flavour to crap ingredients. If the flavour was in the food in the first place they wouldn't need to add so much salt.

Curry_Queen

That's certainly true what you say Ted and I see the difference immediately with two of my children. Youngest turns his nose up at much of the shop bought products these days in favour of HM stuff, and will munch on fruit and veg instead of crisps etc ... but one of my other boys, who has lived with his dad the last couple of years, and invariably eats junk food and processed rubbish complains my food doesn't contain enough salt and piles it on at the table

chloejane_2

i dont like salt so never use it in cooking even if i make cakes and bread i dont use salt and have not noticed the difference, we have had a tub of salt for years it only gets used when treating the fish tank etc, i do use lots of garlic and herbs which i grow in the garden but over the last year have had to pot them up as we aquired a dog who started to urinate up them, then four weeks ago aquired a puppy who now eats them out of the pots, hmmmm what to do with them now!!

Curry_Queen

How about growing them in hanging baskets?

Chipps

Magentasue wrote:

I think this puts it all in proportion:

http://www.foodcomm.org.uk/salt_may_03.htm

I think this really does put it all in proportion. I couldn't believe the rubbish that was listed on that site as "food" for children! :mad:
It seems to me that adding a pinch of salt into the cooking of a wholesome meal is nothing compared to some of the stuff that was mentioned. One pinch of so of salt put into a casserole or whatever, to be shared between the whole family is not going to have such an effect as feeding an unfortunate child on these packaged chemical concoctions mentioned on that website.
If people are pumping their kids full of such garbage, its not surprising that there are so many kids hyped up and out of control in school.

okay, rant over

calleyw

I don't add salt for cooking as I use a steamer to cook all my veg. My mother does add salt when cooking her veg.

But then I do smother my veg often with gravy. Which is made from a packet. Will need to source low salt gravy powder now. I only add salt chips and we have them about twice a month.

The other day we tried to work out how much salt my husband had eaten and it was about 14 grams of the stuff. And that included half a packet of biscuits (not eaten everday I might add) a whole tin of baked beans and a packet of mini cheddars and a cup a soup.

I was god smacked :eek: . Aslo to get the salt content in foods it is 2.5 times the sodium content.

yours

Calley