Need help with a diabetic menu and recipes..

[C.Ann]

My adult stepdaughter called today to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and to tell me that she's planning on coming up here to the lake one day next weekend to spend the day "hanging out" with me..

Since her dad passed away, she has developed adult onset diabetes..

I need to know what I can offer her to eat.. She's not into "fancy" foods/recipes - so I'm looking for something simple, easy, and tasty..

The suggestions I need are:

Beverage(s)
Lunch options
Dinner options
And an acceptable dessert..

Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

 

[MJMouse]

For drinks...

Water
Diet Soda
Unsweetened Tea (OR sweeten with artificial sweetener)
Crystal Lite

For meals I would just serve what would be healthy for anyone to eat...

Salads with vinaigrette dressing
Lean proteins (chicken breast would be perfect)
whole grain breads/pastas
lots of veggies

fruit makes a great dessert... i love to serve it with fruit dip... a favorite in my family (we have a few with type 2 diabetes... and my bf is type 1) is...

1 box sf/ff white chocolate instant pudding mix
skim milk
1 container sf cool whip

make the pudding like it says on the box... when you have it well mixed and it's starting to set up (about 2 minutes of stirring), stir in the cool whip. refrigerate for at least 2 hours. serve with fruit (strawberries are amazing).

this is low carb, low calorie, very simple, and quite yummy!

 

[Meriweather]

low carb, high fiber
Almost any recipe can be adapted.
Desserts....sugar free ice cream, dark chocolate, flourless chocolate cake, fruit
Beverages.....sugar free, high fiber fruit juice
Sweet potatoes better than white, brown rice better than white

 

[C.Ann]

Thanks! Sounds easy enough..

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

C. Ann, just so you know, it's now known as Type 2 diabetes.

The issue with diabetes is carbs, not sugar. You want to look for foods with low carb counts. Rule of thumb is 45g or less per meal.

For drinks, water or unsweetened iced tea or coffee are good options. Skim milk can be good too if she is a milk drinker.

Meals can consist of meat, veggies, etc. Fruit is normally a decent choice, but don't go overboard as fruit has fructose which is a form of carbs. Try to avoid rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. as they tend to be very high carb.

If she likes pasta, you might want to get some Dreamfield's pasta. It has a normal carb content but they do soemthing in the manufacturing process that keeps it from being digestible. I belong to a forum for people with diabetes and they swear by it. I am mkaing some tomorrow night for my family. Sauce can be high carb so I would keep it separate (or use olive oil instead of sauce) so she can measure out her own portion.

Desserts... I havne't figured that out yet myself. I was told a one serving carb snack is fine. One serving is 15 grams. So I might try to have a little bit of something.

One thing you will learn with diabetes is that every body is different. Our unofficial slogan is YMMV or Your Mileage May Very. It's a frustrating disease because what works for one person doesn't work for another, and even the same person can get different results. It's maddening. The best thing you can do is ask your daughter what types of things she likes to eat.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Looking at some of the other replies:

Be careful with whole grains. Whole grains can have even more carbs than the refined version. Being whole grain does not automatically make it ok (although it is normally better). The rule of thumb my endo gave me was 3g of fiber per 100 calories. Anything less than that is a no go.

Also, watch the sugar free stuff. Many of them are made with sugar alcohols which have more carbs than the real thing. You want to look for non nutritive sweeteners such as Splenda, stevia, etc. In the end, it's the carb content that's important, not whether or not it is labelled "sugar free". Unfortunately, a lot of "sugar free" products are worse for diabetics than the real thing, and many people don't take the time to read the labels.

 

[Calliaz]

It really depends on her particular case. I, myself, was diagnosed last year and have worked hard so that I am technically "normal." My diet is not that restricted. Others have to be much more controlled about what they eat and when.

In general, focus on a balance of food with carbohydrates making a small portion of the meal. To get technical, a meal that is around 45 grams of carbs is "safe." Don't cut out all the carbs, because we actually need them!

Lunch

Salad with grilled chicken (make sure you have some non-sweet dressings) with a whole grain breadstick

Sandwiches (any kind of meat, egg salad, tuna salad, but no miracle whip--must be mayo) on a whole grain, high fiber bread (smaller size slices of bread are best) with a broth-based soup that doesn't have a ton of pasta.

Soft tacos made with the small corn tortillas and lots of filling with a salad.


Dinner

Chicken with italian seasoning and grilled onions and peppers with a small side of whole wheat spaghetti and tomato sauce with a non-starch veggie (no peas, corn, carrots - broccoli or grean beans are good).

Steak with a half baked potato and non-starch veggie or salad.

Ribs with a lower sugar bbq sauce or dry rub, homemade cole slaw (to control for extra sugar) and a veggie.

Really, just steer clear of spaghetti or anthing bread-y


Dessert

I will sometimes just eat a very small portion of something "real." There are some good sugar free popcicles. Sugar free jello or pudding with real whipped cream is good. You can bake apples with the splenda brown sugar and cinnamon and serve with whipped cream. How many carbs I eat for dessert depends on what I've eaten for dinner.

Remember that diabetics also often need a snack if there will be long stretches between meals. Nuts with a few apple and cheese slices is a great snack. Another good snack is a Fage (or other brand) Greek yogurt. Most are lower in sugar and high in protein.

Frankly, there are few stiuations where I can't make a meal work for me. I've been to meals where I've just eaten meat sauce with veggies (instead of spaghetti) and it's perfectly fine. I am sure you will make something great!

 

[C.Ann]

Wow! All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not her - or any of you who are having to deal with this.. It's very confusing to me..

I think to be safe, I will just call her mid-week or so and ask her what she wants.. I have no idea how well she has it controlled - or how strict she is about what she eats/drinks - so I think that's the safest route to take..

Thank you so much for your time and well thought-out posts though..

I never realized how much was involved with this!!!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Wow! All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not her - or any of you who are having to deal with this.. It's very confusing to me..

I think to be safe, I will just call her mid-week or so and ask her what she wants.. I have no idea how well she has it controlled - or how strict she is about what she eats/drinks - so I think that's the safest route to take..

Thank you so much for your time and well thought-out posts though..

I never realized how much was involved with this!!!

It's very confusing. The scary thing is most doctors don't even know what the hell they are doing. Most people on the sites I go to are very well controlled and keep control by eating less than 100g of carbs a day. I'm not quite that strict (I try to stick to 45 per meal and a 15g snack). Since every body responds differently, there are a million ways to treat it. I find for me the best thing is for my family to allow me to take the lead.

 

[PatsMom]

Wow! All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not her - or any of you who are having to deal with this.. It's very confusing to me..

I think to be safe, I will just call her mid-week or so and ask her what she wants.. I have no idea how well she has it controlled - or how strict she is about what she eats/drinks - so I think that's the safest route to take..

Thank you so much for your time and well thought-out posts though..

I never realized how much was involved with this!!!

Its really not hard once you're used to it. I never expect anyone to make anything special for me so you are really great to be trying to plan something that will be enjoyable.

Calling her could be a good thing. She knows what she can and can't eat. And that way you avoid what happens to me a lot when I go visiting - I end up picking at stuff that I can't have much of because of the carb counts. Fortunately these days most people are becoming more health conscious.

I know you are at a lake house and you've mentioned campfires so I assume you grill. Grilled chicken is a great entree choice for diabetics. Just be aware that the sides could be a problem - the traditional potato or macaroni salad are tough. If you make those, don't be offended if the diabetic takes only a small portion. That's what I do at picnics or when we have company. I live in a resort area in the mountains so I get lots of guests! Grilled veggies are a great side.

Be aware that many diabetics think that Dreamfields pasta is just nasty. I know a couple who like it and a couple who are like me and would prefer to go without pasta to eating that stuff. That would be a good one to ask her about if you are thinking pasta.

I don't do dessert at all - it isn't worth the carbs. And the sugar free ones tend to have just as many carbs and the sweeteners can really upset your digestive system.

 

[Laura]

One thing you will learn with diabetes is that every body is different. Our unofficial slogan is YMMV or Your Mileage May Very. It's a frustrating disease because what works for one person doesn't work for another, and even the same person can get different results. It's maddening. The best thing you can do is ask your daughter what types of things she likes to eat.

Very true; my husband has type 1, which is of course different from type 2, but they all count their carbs. The foods that spike DH's glucose may not spike another diabetic's all that much. French fries are the worst things for him.

 

[C.Ann]

Thanks so much for all of the time you have taken to reply..

The visit may be delayed - I received a call tonight that her aunt passed away today and due to relatives coming from other parts of the country, the services may not take place until Friday (viewing) and Saturday (funeral)..

I will keep all of your great suggestions in mind though (will add this thread to my "favorites" list) - as well as asking her ahead of time what she might like to have when she does get the chance to come up..

Love the DIS - the best place to get quick answers!

 

[ahutton]

The best recipe index I know is on this site!! On the WISH board there is a link to Eating Healthy and in there is a link to low carb recipes. I had gestational diabetes and it was a life saver. The cheesecake is so good that we still make it and DS is now 4.

 

[bumbershoot]

Since this is new, she might not be chancing desserts at this point. When hubby was diagnosed he was scared spitless of food, any food, for about 1.5 months. Slowly he came out of that and found what was OK for him, but desserts took quite awhile (it was a disneyland AP site recipe for pumpkin muffins with large quantities of cinnamon that helped him realize that he could be OK...he responds to cinnamon VERY well, and that helped him emotionally with desserts). It's especially big for him b/c, although he tried stevia and truvia, he won't try artificial sweeteners, so he has to go strictly with portion control.

"small corn tortillas"

We just recently discovered those! A serving is 2 of them, with fewer carbs than one of the same size flour tortillas, and it doesn't seem to mess with his blood sugar at all.


I would really leave this to her. It's hard enough to figure it all out for yourself, let alone for another person, so follow her lead.

 

[shortbun]

Just have plenty of veggies(beware that peas, beans and corn are high in carbs although a good low fat diet might include them from time to time) on hand and some fruit although fruit has plenty of carbs. Don't serve meals laden with carbs like pasta with garlic bread. Let her make her own choices and serve herself otherwise. Maybe ask her if there's a drink she likes. Not all diet soda tastes good. Have fun!!

 

[claudia]

Very true; my husband has type 1, which is of course different from type 2, but they all count their carbs. The foods that spike DH's glucose may not spike another diabetic's all that much. French fries are the worst things for him.

that is so true....the worst food for my DH is pretzels....sends his numbers skyrocketing!