Diets & Weight Maintenance Support Group

I am not picky at all but I use spice and herbs for flavor. I use lots of hot spices, fresh salsa, basil, dill, lemon, lime or zest. I loved salt too but after a few weeks you become salt sensitive and think everything has to much salt when you taste it. A example, I bought some chicken breast and baked it. I guess it was one of those pumped chickens. It was the store brand. It was so salty we could not eat it.

I'm not very picky, either. I second what Cinnamint said about using spice and herbs for flavor. In addition to what she named, I recommend flavoring foods with garlic, both cooked and raw; onions, both cooked and raw; and vinegar. There are a lot of different flavored vinegars that make food taste good.

Learning to cook some ethnic foods can open up worlds of flavor that don't involve salt. If you learn to make dishes like an Indian curry, an Asian stir fry, or Mexican enchiladas, you will find your way to plenty of flavor that does not include salt.

Healthy foods are things like lean protein, such as fish, turkey, or chicken; whole grains, like brown rice or whole wheat pasta; and fresh fruits and vegetables. You can find flavorful ways to prepare all of these that do not involve salt.

Like the others said, spices are the way to go. Also, you can add garlic and hot peppers and any sort of other food you like. You sure don't need the salt! Even lots of pepper would be better than all the salt.
What sort of foods do you like and maybe people can tell you what to add so that you can pass up the salt.

I also use herbs. Garlic, onions, peppers, sundried tomatoes are all good flavor additions.

One of my favorite ways to cook skinless chicken breast is the brown a chicken breast in a skillet sprayed with pam. After it is browned put it on you plate while you deglaze the pan on low with the juice of a lime, 1 tsp of olive oil, one clove of garlic minced and 1 tablespoon of fresh dill. When all the bits and peices are loose pour it over the chicken. It has lots of flavor.

Rosemary is another good herb to use on chicken if you grill it. Use the juice of a orange to marinade the chicken breast.

Gets your flavored vinegars or oils too. You can put garlic or herbs in your olive oil. White Truffle oil toasted sesame oil (only a dash) or fire oil adds lots of flavor. Have you cooked with balsamic vinegar? I love white balsamic vinegar.

This is how I make salsa. Blacken the skins of some chili peppers and lets them steam in a damp paper towel. Then you can remove the skin easy. Chop up them up small. Add diced sweet onions (some green ones to if you like), diced tomatoes, lots of fresh garlic, the juice of a lime and cilantro. I put this on everything. I love it on salads.

Have you tried sea salt? It is not just ok to use but actually that is recommended to use.

See my family is used to eating fried foods or fast food. So I'm pretty much afraid to try new stuff. What do I do about that though?

I can't have any added sodium, even sea salt. I am very sensitive.

I was also raised on fried food. Mostly Mexican food, fried tacos and I even refried my beans in lard. I am not sure how to make someone that is picky not be picky. My daughters both have boyfriends that are picky. I think it is in the genes because my grandson at 2 is also picky. He gags on any new food. They think I cook weird. I am a good cook. I won lots of awards but they are afraid to try stuff. I did get my daughter boyfriend to eat kale. He thought he didn't like anything green and found he likes kale. This is a funny one. My daughter boyfriend loves corn but hates niblets. He kept saying I won't eat niblets. He did not know corn and niblets the same thing. He is 37 years old. Now he loves niblets too.

If they are unwilling to try new things, try making the same stuff...just make it the right way. Hamburgers are not bad. It is the white bread, added salt, and MSG at Mcd's etc, that makes them bad. Buy hamburger that does not have "natural beef flavoring" in it, whole wheat buns (without HFCS, high fructose corn syrup), ketchup etc without HFCS, and sea salt (potassium) instead of table salt.
We don't fry much food, but when we do we use olive oil. I prefer grilling food, even corn on the cob.

Sea salt is Sodium. 40 percent sodium. Most of us get plenty of sodium without adding any. Just a tint bite of sea salt and my blood pressure is out of control and I gain 5 pounds in water weight.

Read http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA...

The only think I wonder about is if picky eater would be getting enough iodine.