Dash of this and a pinch of that

Salt and Sugar - The two extremes, the culprits to so many health complications, from diabetes to heart disease and everything in between. The best thing to do is limit those as much as possible.
Remember that most of the things you eat already have natural sugar and salt. Therefore adding any extra is just going overboard. It is a matter of re-training your palate. I always instruct parents to add no salt or sugar when making baby food. And their first reaction is: Oh, poor baby, its gonna taste so blend. That is completely untrue! Our palates have been overstimulated with extreme flavors for years, little babies are tasting things for the first time. They are learning what sour, bitter and sweet are and how they differ from each other. To add sugar or salt is to take away the natural flavor of the foods you are feeding them. I invite all of you to re-train your palates.
When you cook do not add any salt to your dishes, there is no need for a salt shaker in your house. But many people will say that it is too hard to do that. Well, here are some tips to make it easier. Think outside the box! Start using spices and herbs you haven't before.
For example, garlic and onion really bring out the salty taste in foods. And cinnamon brings out the sweetness of foods. Try adding cinammon to a banana for example, much sweeter.
Explore all herbs and spices, there are so many that I would need a whole new blog to talk about them. The best thing to do is to go to your grocery store isle and start trying different ones.
And yes, you can do that for the baby's food as well as the kids. Its a family effort.
Of course I would refrain from using spice and herbs on baby's first foods, no need, let them taste the foods first.
It is very important also to read the labels of everything you buy. Canned vegetables and soups should be used at a minimum since they are loaded with sodium. Canned fruits are also usually packed in syrup (even light syrup is still way too much sugar, and the ones packed in the fruits juice, make sure there is no added sugar, read the label).
I am not against sugar or salt, I just like to know what I am eating, and being able to control it.
Restaurants use sugar and salt (and butter) more than anyone else. So eating out is a treat and you should balance the fact that you will be getting extra servings of sodium that day.
Snacks are also a big trap for salt and sugar. It seems like even the healthier alternatives are loaded with salt, take pretzel for example. Much better than potato chips, but they are coated in salt! So an alternative are rice cakes, or buying the unsalted hard pretzels (they have those, usually with a heart symbol on the bag).
Children's snacks are a huge trap for sugar! Take one example: those gummy fruits. They have advertised on the box in big bold letters - made with real fruit! Wow, is that suppose to make me feel better? The first ingredient on those are usually sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Why not go back to basics and give kids the actual fruits for snacks. Most fruits pack just as easily as those packets of gummy. You can slice apples and cover them with a little lemon to keep the from browning, grapes are so easy to carry and banana, the ultimate snack on the go! No excuses there.
Lets just go back to basics and try to eat our foods as they are, without adding too much to it. The recommendations for servings of fruits and vegetables per day are now of 5-10 depending on the resource you use (pyramid to avoid cancer recs), the best way to achieve those will be using fruits and veggies as snacks.
All of these take some getting use to, afterall we've all gotten used to the prepackaged ready to go meals and snacks the industry offers us. So take it one step at a time. I always tell my client/patients, if you try to completely change your routine in one day you will most likely fail. It is too much to do all at once. So start substituting one snack per day for a fruit or veggie, start with one meal a day cooking without salt or sugar. Take baby steps. It doesn't matter if it takes you 3-6 months to change your entire day into a more healthy eating routine. It is better to start and move slow than to continue to do nothing about your health.
Tip - for the summer try freezing grapes for a snack, make your own fruit popsicles for the kids! You can use a bbq stick and pile on the fruits like pineaple, strawberry and grapes, put it in the freezer for an hour or so and you will have a refreshing snack. If you wanna get extra fancy, for dipping use yogurt!