Condiments!

page19 · September 28th, 2008, 12:10 PM

Alright, let's talk about condiments
what are some healthy ways to spice up your oftentimes bland, healthy food choices?

We all see the people that take their perfectly healthy salad and cover it in salad dressing, rendering their diet plan helpless...

So what's in and what's out? I find myself wanting to put ketchup on a lot of things... same as when i was 7... but now it's got me wondering if it's just too much processed sugar for my diet now.

What do you use to keep it interesting?

**mooshue** · September 29th, 2008, 11:40 AM

i use extra virgin olive oil on my meats before i grill them. Spice them up with some garlic cloves, parsley, lawrys, old bay for fish, that's about it.
As far as condiments, yellow mustard is pretty much 0 everything, pure sodium so unless you are watching your sodium intake you should be fine with that. I also use some ponzu on my tuna.
Salads, i use couple spoons of evoo with some balsamic vinnegar.

**A1food4U** · September 29th, 2008, 02:35 PM

If you don't mind spicey, frsh salsa' can be a great accent. You don't have to stop at the store bought types which as Moo pointed out are off the scale as far as sodium is concerned.
You can make a great salsa with fresh tomato, lime or lemon, garlic cilantro and a touch of vinegar. A splash of hot sauce is always nice.

Flavored vinegars in general are very calorie light and add lots of punch in just small volumes.

If you have a blender you can make accent sauces with a few simple ingrediants, pickled ginger, pineapple juice and cottage cheese will blend smooth into a great asian flavored dipping sauce. Get Creative!!! Eating healthy doesn't have to mean bland and flavorless,
My Professional Opinion....

**gunshowbabe** · September 29th, 2008, 07:31 PM

I pretty much use lemon pepper on everything

. most condiments will be high in sodium but the ones I really stay away from are mayo, tartar sauce, or any mayo based sauces.

**gYmgIrL** · September 30th, 2008, 07:59 AM

i like to douse everything in garlic!

page19 · September 30th, 2008, 11:43 AM

Hmm, i guess i wasnt thinking too much in a cooking sense... my food situation isn't usually ideal---i'm in the military and have to eat all of my meals in a cafeteria like setting... has it's advantages sometimes (like being able to get lots of food without worrying about cost), but sometimes choices are rough... the bland foods are BLAND and anything moderately healthy isn't that good... i try to keep it interesting... well, as much as i can eating the same junk day after day!

**mooshue** · September 30th, 2008, 01:04 PM

well then, so you aren't looking at it from a cooking or bodybuilding point of view. Healthy is a very broad term, most food is healthy in moderation, its when you start taking in quadrouple servings and thousands of calories per meal. Try not to think of it in terms of healthy or not. Some people have food allergies for example and may not realize that chicken is not being digested properly because they have a mild alergic reaction to it causing fat retention and bloating.

Do they offer you any kind of dipping sauces? When garlic chicken becomes bland for me, i take a few tablespoons of sweet baby ray's barbecue sauce to dip it in. Only about an extra 100 cals.

On a side note, are you a woman? Just curious because you posted this in the womens section. If not perhaps a mod can move it to where it belongs.

page19 · October 1st, 2008, 12:32 PM

Yea i posted this in the wrong section, didn't notice there was a food and a women's food section

**falconfootball** · November 10th, 2008, 10:00 AM

Salsa is great. Mrs Dash is sodium free, and Tony Chatchers is my seasoning of choice when a lil salt is needed. Cilantro always adds some flavor to my eggs, and a packet of stevia in my oatmeal is a good no cal sweetener that wont cause cancer.

BBQ sauce is an old favorite as well, but a lot of sugars causes me to use it sparingly

**wildstang** · November 10th, 2008, 12:37 PM

from a millitary point of view majority of food served in mess hall is rather nutritious but bland tasting at times. they dont add a lot of the crap some fat bodies would to the food at home keeping things fairly nutritious.

**lizzyb** · November 10th, 2008, 08:09 PM

I love salsa on baked potatoes, chicken well...almost everything come to think of it. But since you are talking about a cafeteria, I guess you can't be walking in with your jar of Pace in hand either, lol!! Otherwise.......the easiest most portable option if you like spicy is cayenne pepper! Totally diet friendly, and can store in your pocket as well!

hardgainer · November 10th, 2008, 10:40 PM

Sea salt and hand ground pepper. Vegenaise is also a big fav. My wife's Panamanian, knows how to cook, so everything tastes amazing already.