Our journey began in 2022 when Ronni was hospitalized with congestive heart failure. The doctors advised her to begin a low sodium diet and Ronni and her daughter, AJ, followed her doctor's advice.
We searched through many available resources like cookbooks and other websites and after trying countless methods and recipes, none really worked for us. The food was bland (and this is coming from people who haven't used salt in 3 years). It became a chore for us to eat every day and that's just not how we wanted to live our lives. We went back to the drawing board and tried to cook all the dishes we like at restaurants without salt. There were a a lot of failures. A Lot.
Couple of things helped us get through this period:
1. We are obsessive people. We will grind at a recipe until it feels perfect.
2. Our garden became more productive and so we had ready access to fresh produce and herbs.
3. Our cooking skills and knowledge improved overtime. We used to follow recipes religiously and now we cook more intuitively by understanding substitutions, using sauces on everything, and balancing flavors.
In 2024, Ronni was informed by her doctor that her heart had fully recovered. There is no longer any evidence of heart failure. Ronni and AJ continue to embrace the low sodium lifestyle to promote healthy living.
The journey was pretty rough. We understand how difficult it can be to not use salt. We hope our experience and learned knowledge will help others in through this dietary choice.