[K8-EEE]

Re: the beans, I've recently had some success cooking them in the crockpot but they need a LOOONG time. Like 20 hours! Like, I put them on after dinner and deal with them the NEXT dinner. But basically I use a mix of low-sodium veggie broth and water, with a couple of tablespoons of garlic, cumin, an onion cut in half, and a couple of fresh, whole jalapenos. Cook on low for forever then drain and mash, reserve a bit of liquid to fix up the consistency the way you like it. I love love love tostadas! One thing that I've started making about twice a week is my own salsa, it's easy and almost no sodium. Basically the low-so canned tomatoes, fresh cilantro, garlic, onion, jalapeno, salt sub. Give it a whirl in the blender or food processor, I make tacos out of almost everything since corn tortillas are so lo-so, any bits of fish or chicken I have left over become soft tacos with the lo-so salsa and fresh avocado slices.

Originally Posted by JayLei

My go to bean mash "recipe"

pinto or black beans (cooked yourself or canned, rinsed like crazy)
chopped onion
a few tbslp salsa (fresh pico de gallo from the produce dept works great)
big shake of garlic powder
big shake of menudo seasoning (I get mine at the local Carniceria or the plain packet spices next to the chiles) makes it spicy!
a shot of low sodium chicken broth

toss it all in a saucepan with a lid on low and mash with a fork.

My fave way of eating this is on tostadas made with fresh corn tortillas toasted in the oven until crispy and topped with a pile of shaved cabbage and a little chicken boiled in water with the menudo seasoning.
Black bean version leftovers are delicious tossed in with a scrambled egg for breakfast.

[SeaWave]

Basically what Suzanne said upthread - keep control on sodium by cooking your own stuff, avoid processed foods, and keep an eye out on *everything*. I recently had one 10-inch tortilla = 880 mg salt! I aim to keep my salt intake between 500 and 1500 mg/day, and I feel it if I go over that. It can be done, but you might have to re-train your taste buds!

[Sunshine73]

Salt is a huge issue for me. I was nearly paralyzed trying to figure out what to purchase that is low sodium, low calorie, low fat, etc.

I'm not much of a cook and not one to spend a lot of time whipping things up from scratch. I know I should but I also know that I probably won't. So right now I'm concentrating on calories, fat and carbs and trying to keep an eye on sodium but not freaking out about it too much. I'm afraid if I try to make too many sweeping changes all at once I'll just get frustrated with the whole process and give up because it will all seem so hopeless.

Hopefully once I get everything else under control I'll be able to work on lowering my sodium intake.

[nickilaughs]

I think salt is a huge issue for everyone now. Anything that comes prepared has salt added to it. Drinks, snacks, canned anything, etc. I believe once the obesity epidemic starts to decrease that will be the next thing medical professionals will advise people to cut back on. People's BP seems to be just on the rise. Anything in any restaurant is loaded with tons of salt. I am sure I go way overboard, but as others said, one thing at a time. I believe the average person ingests 2-3x the recommended daily salt allowance.

[tinycities]

I'm also really dreadful for eating masses of salt, and your post has inspired me to try to get it under control. I almost never eat processed or pre-prepared foods, but I just add tonnes of salt to my food when I am cooking.

Given the opportunity, I would add salt to things in a way that I was actually really ashamed of. For example, if I was having some toast with (salted) butter, I would actually crumble flakes of sea salt onto the buttered toast, to give it an extra salty flavour. I know this is awful because it's something I do in secret, and if people saw me they would be shocked. Also, anyone else had to do that "it's just coming out really slowly!" thing when you've been eating in public, and trying to pour salt on your food from a salt cellar and people have been looking at you in horror at how much you're adding?!

So yep, I seriously love salt and eat way too much. I do drink a lot of liquid, which to some extent mitigates problems with water retention, but it's still not good at all. I think I might start tracking salt (or at least measuring it out when I add it to things rather than just pouring it in) - I figure that would be a start, just to know the scale of the problem!

[slimslim]

When the USDA revises the food pyramid next year, it is expected to reduce the recommended salt intake to just over HALF a teaspoon per day! You could easily overshoot your daily allowance with a single serving of processed food. Sneaky salt manages to find its way into everything you eat unless you cook it yourself. If you want help cutting down the salt in your diet, there is an article on Truth in Slimming with some very useful tips. Note that sodium can take many forms. Buyer beware!

[VermontMom]

Originally Posted by tinycities

Given the opportunity, I would add salt to things in a way that I was actually really ashamed of. For example, if I was having some toast with (salted) butter, I would actually crumble flakes of sea salt onto the buttered toast, to give it an extra salty flavour. I know this is awful because it's something I do in secret, and if people saw me they would be shocked.

*gasp*!! I have found my secret salt soul sistah!! Yes I have salted my toast.even when I also had salted butter on it! those extra flakes of kosher salt, yum...

[GradPhase]

Oh man. I was JUST thinking about this today. I've been eating any and everything salty lately - and I gained 9+ lbs in ONE week. I was thinking, man - I should seriously up my water intake this week to flush all of this sodium out before the boyfriend gets back from his work trip. My pants don't fit, my rings don't fit. I freaking BALLOONED. And I was SURE it was all the salt. (and TOM, but definitely mostly salt).

Is coming down from so much sodium similar to coming down from a ton of sugar? Are there a lot of bad side affects to brace for? This seems like such an epiphany...

[KenzideRhae]

I've struggled with pre-hypertension for a few years, so salt has always been something I try to be mindful of, but I never realised how much salt was in these until recently either! I stopped adding salt to the things I eat, and use potassium salt or other spices in its place, thinking that would be enough, but pretty much anything not made from scratch is loaded with it. The past few weeks, though, I've been actually paying attention the sodium in things and trying to stay under 1,500, and that is so so so much easier when I prepare most or all of my food myself. It's really been an eye opener, seeing how much sodium is in my favourite "healthy" soups/breads/etc.

tinycities, VermontMom: I totally used to do the same thing with my toast! I'd also individually salt each fry I ate, and mix it into the ketchup I dipped them in or used on my burgers as well. Or just dipped my finger in it and lick it off haha. My mom does things like that because she has really low blood pressure, but they are definitely not habits I wanted to keep up with XD

Eskinomad: It might be different for other people, but "coming down" off salt wasn't too bad for me, other than it takes time to get used to how things taste without it. Gradually using less salt and experimenting with other spices is really great for getting over that, though.

[Krazy]

Lately I’ve been trying to keep my sodium count down, but it’s so hard. There seems to be a lot of sodium (over 500mg) in everything I eat.

[steinanwine]

CRAP (and other swear words).

I am yet another over-salter. I too have been thinking more and more that I need to STOP adding salt to my food. I've gone about two days without adding any extra salt but I have NEVER looked at the amount of salt in my food. Literally NEVER.

I do not even know what a healthy mg of salt per day is! I was googling it and for some reason can't get a straight answer.

People seem to be saying here they are aiming for 1500 mg or less. Is that the recommended daily dose? I have a LOT of work to do to cut out salt.

Does anyone use salt substitutes? Or products like Salt Sense - I guess it has 30% less sodium than regular salt but is not a substitute.

I'm going to be so upset when I start looking at the salt on my nutrition labels!!

[Kitsey]

Oh my....I'm a salt addict. I'm one of those who will salt my plate in the kitchen before bringing it to the table, so no one sees how much I use. I have a salt shaker specifically kept at my computer desk... doesn't matter what it is, ramen noodles, chinese food-salt, salt, salt! I imagine that most of the food I salt would be inedible to normal people. If there is salt left on my plate I'll press it onto my finger so I can have that too O_o