Cooking Help please...

theoldbat

Registered User
May 11, 2008
10
0
West Sussex
:confused: I'm sure that this must a problem other people have encountered... and wonder if anyone has come up with an answer.... In trying to keep life as 'normal' as possible, and to not antagonise Mum - she is in mid stage of VAD... and my Dad has Pulmonary Hypertension,which is a chronic heart condition; Mum thinks and tells us that she is doing all the cooking, when in reality I do meals on wheels every day!, but that's ok.... but to try and keep her involved, we get her to do the vegetables, potato's and so forth... she always Salts everything.... and I mean lots...[last night she tried to add salt 12 times to the potato's in the space of 10 minutes!] 'cos of course she cannot remember whether she's done it!, we are there with her and remind her that she cannot have salt because it's so bad for Dad and for her, which of course causes friction and stress - she gets really angry. I've taken the salt away of course... and she cannot get to the shops without assistance, so cannot replace it, but it really is causing problems. SO my question is this... does anyone out there know of a placebo? a crystallised powder that looks like salt, has no taste... and is in fact nothing of significance. Your help would be most oh so gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
 

gigi

Registered User
Nov 16, 2007
7,788
0
70
East Midlands
Hello!

The only salt substitutes I know are chemical compounds of other things ...I think one is high in Potassium...so that's no good either.

Could you not empty the container but leave it there?

Would mum realise the container was empty?

Hopefully someone else will have a better idea...that's all I can think of for now...

But I'll keep racking my brains.....:eek:

Love gigi xx
 
Last edited:

citybythesea

Registered User
Mar 23, 2008
632
0
57
coast of texas
this may sound weird....but have you talked to the dr. about a different type of salt..(example, iodized table salt is not good for you if you have high bolld pressure, but some of the "real" salts-mediteranean sea salt and sea salt can stil be used by some patients in moderation)..these salts most of the time have to be ground using a mill so the theory by some is that not as mush is used...but at the same time I can see an AD patient grinding forever to get the amount they want....just a thought



Hugs


Nancy
 

lesmisralbles

Account Closed
Nov 23, 2007
5,543
0
Long grain rice

Get some rice put it between kitchen paper, bang the do dah out of it. I fond a hammer is best. It look's like salt. Put in the salt pot, never know the difference. Unless you taste it.:(
Barb
 

suzanne

Registered User
Jul 25, 2006
189
0
wiltshire
salt

I have doctored my salt cellars, one has a grinder with no grind and the other has salt in but I have superglued the holes so no salt comes out, works a treat most of the time...the other way is to tell her that you have already salted the cooking water,I hope you find the right solution, suzy
 

Cate

Registered User
Jul 2, 2006
1,370
0
Newport, Gwent
I found if I constantly took the blame, it worked far better than correcting mum, which used to make her feel very stupid, then angry with all and sundry. So maybe a 'stupid me I forgot to buy more salt' may just do the trick, mum just may forget that you say this every day, sneaky but it might work.
 

Nebiroth

Registered User
Aug 20, 2006
3,510
0
Put some rice into a grinder and replace the salt with it. It is effectively tasteless so won;t make much difference, although the water will go cloudy and might go gluey if she manages to put enough in.

You could also glue or tape over the holes in the salt shakers so that either none comes out, or if she is likely to notice that, just leave one hole so that only tiny amounts come out. I rather suspect that she won;t notice, but just keeps shaking ...

The "salt alternative" is usually for people on restricted salt diets, it is potassium chloride which is chemically close to sodium chloride; it is similar in flavour but isn't retained by the body in the same way.

However, potassium chloride mustn't be used with some medications, so you must seek medical advice first.

Innocuous lookalikes such as coarse flour or ground rice would appear to be the way forward.
 

theoldbat

Registered User
May 11, 2008
10
0
West Sussex
Ground Rice.... now I hadn't thought of that one............
Sadly the salt pot is made of glass... ive tried dropping it, i've thrown it on the floor and still the darned thing won't break! I've taken the heat and told her I forgot to get salt... it's almost as bad tho - she is getting so very angry! .... I have to be so very careful with the salt substitutes because of Dad.... So, i'll give the ground rice a go - if anyone thinks of anything else - I'm at the point where I'll try just about anything!! Thanks.
 

Nebiroth

Registered User
Aug 20, 2006
3,510
0
You could always "buy her a nice present" of a new cruet set, and make sure that the salt shaker is one with very small holes and is made of china rather than glass. :)
 

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