Diabetic-friendly, lower calorie recipe ideas?

sopranolmu

Hi gang I wonder if any of you have tried and tested recipes you wouldn't mind sharing with me?

I've recently become mainly responsible for shopping in my household, as my mother fell into the 'see what's on offer - Ooh pretty price!' trap that means you have bizarre meals. We once ended up with chopped radish in lemon cous cous. Seriously.

So yes! I always go with a list and a meal plan, but I feel my ideas are a bit limited, as I'm a bit new to cooking. I can do slow cookers, and mince-based, and pasta etc - but I'm not great at getting things to finish cooking at the same time yet.

I have a medical condition that makes me sensitive to a lot of food, so I sometimes like using gluten free/dairy free products depending on how I'm managing. My dad is a diabetic, and also needs to lose some weight. I'd like some recipe ideas to broaden my meal plan a bit, but the sheer amount of recipe books is daunting! I don't have a lot of time to cook, with doing a PhD, but do like it.

I'm also a bit iffy with using meat - I'm okay with diced beef, mince, chicken, sausages etc but don't want to use lamb or venison etc.

I'm just watching Eat Well for Less, and the nutritionist has just made almond milk from scratch - has anyone tried such things and liked them? I sometimes buy Rice Dream as I don't like straight soy milk, but sometimes get Alpro soy desserts etc, Mrs Crimble gluten free biscuits etc.

Any suggestions or advice would be really appreciated :j Hope to get a discussion going! Please be friendly!

Meekie

Dear soprano,

Sounds like you are doing really well already. At the start of the grocery challenge there are links to a lot of recipes which you could browse through. Most are healthy, quick and economical. I suggest you add 1-2 new recipes to your meal plan per week and you'll soon have tried lots of new things. You could also try making things in bulk such as bolognaise/beef chilli or bean chilli which can be frozen in batches to help you out on days where time is particularly tight.

Getting the timing right will come with experience but you could start by writing down the time you want to eat and working backwards. This is especially useful for complicated meals and lots of people do this for their Christmas dinner.

Apologies if you know all this already, but for your family, I would focus on a generally healthy diet, protein at every meal, carbohydrates which are slow release (low glycaemic index) and lots of vegetables which should be suitable for both weight loss and diabetes. For diabetes, you need to avoid all added sugar and sugary foods but also try and have a diet low in saturated fat and with healthy carbohydrates - so swap white bread for wholemeal if possible.

Dessert ideas suitable for diabetics might include fruit, yogurt, sugar free jelly, cheese platter.

Hope that helps.

Meekie.

krlyr

You might want to look up "clean eating" type recipes - they avoid processed foods like breads, pastas, etc. which I guess may well suit with your health needs. I've just started giving it a try myself and have had some really tasty foods I'd never have thought to try - such as enchilada chicken boats - basically shredded chicken in a spicy tomato sauce on a baked courgette. Or black bean chilli, served with spiralised courgette and a paprika greek yoghurt side, again I'd never had thought of it myself but it was delicious (and I'm usually a real carnivore). Being mostly veggies, beans, etc. they're low calorie recipes, yet very filling.

I started off by stumbling across a 2 week challenge, but I've found some recipes of my own to encorporate into it. The bonus of the challenge is that they plan out how to use leftovers so you're not cooking from scratch every meal or wasting half a bag of ingredients. Some of the recipes are a little on the pricy side, but they do suggest swaps to save money.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/clean-eating-2015#.xxvllA1yNE

sopranolmu

Wow, thank you both! Those are really helpful responses! I haven't heard of clean-eating recipes, but am definitely looking them up - the black bean chilli sounds delicious! I hadn't thought of working backwards, actually, to help with times. I had to do a steak and chips type dinner the other week, and by the time my peas and wedges were done together, my steak had gone a bit dry and cardboardy I know it's probably a real rookie question, but are there any tips on knowing when chicken breasts are cooked? I like chicken and we use it in a lot of things, but now i'm doing more of the cooking, I'm a bit scared because of the bacteria issue if it isn't cooked properly!!! (I'm a bit neurotic about such things, because of my medical issues). Are there such things as meat thermometers, like you get for sugar? How long do certain meats take?

Yogurt! Yes, he does like yogurt. We make our own, usually, using Easiyo, as it's really easy and you get tons. Because of my medical issue, I usually gain weight in winter and lose it in summer when you have loads of salads, but because we've been meal planning this summer, I've just kept gaining! So I like the yogurt as a tasty, low fat dessert. I am aware I'll have a flare-up, though, if I keep gaining, so going to keep an eye on that.

VfM4meplse

T2 Diabetes?

It's simple: avoid carbohydrates as far as possible (a bit of complex carb is ok, just not excessive), adequate protein and fat. The rest should be veg.

Money_saving_maniac

sopranolmu wrote: »

Wow, thank you both! Those are really helpful responses! I haven't heard of clean-eating recipes, but am definitely looking them up - the black bean chilli sounds delicious! I hadn't thought of working backwards, actually, to help with times. I had to do a steak and chips type dinner the other week, and by the time my peas and wedges were done together, my steak had gone a bit dry and cardboardy I know it's probably a real rookie question, but are there any tips on knowing when chicken breasts are cooked? I like chicken and we use it in a lot of things, but now i'm doing more of the cooking, I'm a bit scared because of the bacteria issue if it isn't cooked properly!!! (I'm a bit neurotic about such things, because of my medical issues). Are there such things as meat thermometers, like you get for sugar? How long do certain meats take?

Yogurt! Yes, he does like yogurt. We make our own, usually, using Easiyo, as it's really easy and you get tons. Because of my medical issue, I usually gain weight in winter and lose it in summer when you have loads of salads, but because we've been meal planning this summer, I've just kept gaining! So I like the yogurt as a tasty, low fat dessert. I am aware I'll have a flare-up, though, if I keep gaining, so going to keep an eye on that.

Yes you can get a meat thermometer, I use a digital one. But if I'm using chopped breast meat I just pull a bit apart to look.

krlyr

I tend to cook chicken breasts (and any other fillet sized meats) for around the 25-30 minute mark, at 180 degrees. Cutting one in half and checking it's cooked through is my method - but yes, you can get meat thermometers and you'll find guides for the recommended temperatures of each meat.

Meekie

Hi
I'm also quite fussy about chicken and also use the 'cut it in half' method as others do. Chicken strips stir fried take very little time but a whole chicken breast in the oven can be harder to time.

In terms of timing, your steak and chips would work best if your chips were virtually ready before you started cooking the steak. Once the chips are ready you can just turn down the heat or turn the oven off entirely as they will be a whole lot more forgiving than your steak! If you are having a 'time sensitive' meat then make sure your carb and veg options are more flexible. I find this avoids lots of stress!

nanny_beach

Michael Mosley Blood Sugar diet, lots of good low calerie recipes, no carbs, no diary.