Has anything caught you off guard?

Has anything caught you off guard on this plan?The main thing that caught me off guard was absolutely the salt. I didn't even know where a salt shaker was in my house, so I thought, "This part will be a piece of cake for me." WRONG. I hadn't figured on the fact that my late husband and I ate out almost every evening meal, and those are loaded with sodium. It actually took me 3 weeks to get over the salt issue, but in the mean time, I learned how to use herbs and spices effectively to counteract the loss of the salt. Also, I was so surprised to learn how tasty some foods were. For example, my opinion of celery was that it was a great filler food which provided crunch in some dishes. Little did I know that it REALLY was a tasty veg. itself. With my taste buds coated with salt, sugars, and oils, they could not discern the slightly salty wonderful flavor of celery. Imagine my surprise when I realized I really liked the way broccoli tasted without anything on it, and baked potatoes, too. I didn't leave them plain to start, but added lemon juice, or one of the Mrs. Dash blends (I do NOT like all of them, so you may have to play around with those) or even balsamic vinaigrette, which I make for my salads. As for cooking, since we can have nothing processed and no preservatives, it is imperative that you cook all your meals, but that does not mean cooking every day. Most of us cook all the meals for a week or even up to a month at a time, so that we may still grab and go. It's just that now our "fast" food is a lot healthier than it has ever been!! I make all my own condiments, about once a month (soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, catsup, etc.) If you would like recipes, write to me at the email address in my signature, and I'll send you my collection of favorites along with some helpful hints and encouraging words. I look forward to hearing about your successes soon, but you're doing the right thing by getting prepared now. Be sure you have a really good non-stick skillet, a blender or food processor would be helpful, and plenty of storage containers or even baggies or both!! I should have taken out stock in snack bags. Here is something I posted for someone else. Maybe it will be helpful to you, too. Liz (First published 5/3/05)