Need help with Diabetes Approved EASY Prep meals

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

Hi Guys,

I am now caring for my Father In Law after we were able to get him into a Disability Housing Apartment. Due to his diabetes being mismanaged by his previous Drs he is now in early stage kidney failure and his eyesight is shot. We now have him on all the right meds and seeing the specialists he needs to see, but we can't get into a dietician for a couple of weeks. He is also going to be having further treatments to help with his cataracts and tunnel vision.

In the meantime...I am cooking alot of his meals for him and know what he can have and can't have as my mother was a diabetes educator and alot of our home meals were her testing diabetes approved ones on us. However, we want to help him maintain and improve his independence again so I am looking for EASY meals that he can still make for himself.

Because of his currently poor eyesight he does not feel safe using a griller, fryer (which he shouldn't anyway), and he is hesitant about using the stovetop as it is different to what he has been used to.

He has a Slow Cooker, an electric wok, microwave, sandwich / health grill & toaster. I am buying him a rice cooker tomorrow.

Does anyone have easy recipes or meal ideas for one person (or could be used for two consecutive nights) that he could use to cook for himself...that way he can have a break from my cooking / style.

He loves spicy stuff, curries, chillis and of course all the bad things for him. He has no food allergies.

I have already substituted his rice and pasta with brown varieties.

Thanks for your help guys. I will be in and out over the next couple of days because we are still getting him settled and off to specialists and meeting new people too. Apparently there is a group down here too that have indigenous cooking classes too so Aboriginal Homecare are looking at getting him into those too.

[debra9275]

they say that Basmati rice is good for diabetics OP, so you could make lots of things that go with the rice like curries etc. . It's nice of you to be looking after him

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

We check on him every morning (and make sure he has brekky) and also again in the afternoon /evening. We also call him several times a day.

His blood sugar levels before yesterday were in the 5-7 range, so they are settling nicely. This virus has just sent him for a 6. Mind you today he wanted to go for a bike ride !!!!!!!

He is on blood thinners and a whole array of other drugs. The poor thing bled so much when they were taking blood yesterday.

I am cooking dinner for all of us at his place tonight.

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

Deb, he is a lovely guy. He keeps apologising for being a bother and all the dr appointments etc. He has never had anyone that has actually looked after him properly before. His ex was very selfish (and yes I have heard both sides) and he was suuuuuch a burden etc.

I love having people to fuss over and look after.

[kengillard]

his bsl sound fantastic.  anything under 7 in the fasting morning one is good.  OH goes up to about 12 at lunch time....it's the one before dins and sleep that is important.  if it drops too low, he wont be aware of it...OH has had for the last couple of years a large bowl of cereal before bed.   weetbix high fibre stuff etc.   it seems to have stopped his hypos.

[kengillard]

just be careful about his bike riding.  he needs to eat something before hand...exercise will lower it dramatically.   also alcohol will lower the bsls

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

We don't let him ride the bike without Kieran with him. His eyesight just isn't good enough for him to be traffic aware and he is a danger to himself, let alone others. Hopefully the opthamologist can pick up where his treatment left of at Westmead and his eyesight will improve dramatically again. At this point he is almost legally blind.

We spent the afternoon and evening with him tonight. I cooked Chicken Mignon, Roast Potatoes and Mixed Vegies. He was stoked but couldn't eat much as he still doesn't have his apetite back since being sick.

We made a menu plan for the week with him this afternoon. In no particular order...
Chicken Lasagne (with wholemeal pasta sheets), Grilled Chicken with Tatsiki and salad, Curried Mince, Bolognaise, Pork Belly (yes we saw it on MKR lol) Roast, Dutch Meatballs and he wants a treat night of hotdogs lol. I agreed as long as he agreed to wholemeal rolls (he actually prefers what we can birdseed bread).

I made sure he has a half chicken (skin off) for tomorrow to pick at during the day and have the rest for dinner with vegies. In the morning Kieran is taking over a box of Sultana Bran and Rice Bubbles (he likes his cereal and thankfully doesn't cover it in sugar).

I am going to make up a whole heap of freezable snacks when I bake the kids' school snacks on Sunday. He loves Weetbix Slice and my homemade Muesli Bars. They are better than him reaching for packets of chips and biscuits. He also has a fruit bowl full of grapes and bananas...he's not impressed coz peaches are now out of season.

We are going for a shopping trip on Monday with his healthy eating guide so I can help him find what he needs, or he would just get frustrated and give up.

I really feel for him. His life has been upturned in the past couple of weeks (moving at short notice) and then getting this virus and finding out he was so mismanaged in Sydney. He seems very overwhelmed. I am trying not to put too much pressure on him. My Oma (grandmother) had a great saying. "Your grandfather may be the head of the family, but I am the neck on which the head turns". She made the shots but he fired them. I am trying to be like that for Dad...guide him but let it be his decision kind of thing.

Sorry for waffling again, I am overtired and so many things on my mind.

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

Oh and his BSL before dinner was 7.4. We ate at 8pm (new over didn't want to play properly lol). We left at 10:20pm and his BSL was 6.9. That was after his tablets at dinner and his pen after dinner. Then all he had to do was have his bedtime pen (which should have been 11pm).

[katydidthat]

Everything ... if he likes SPICY and you want EASY check out dukka.  It's a mix of herbs, spices and nuts, usually, but we make ours nut free.  It's quick, cheap and easy to make and you can add it to all sorts of meats, fish, vegetables, breads ... just about everything.  You make it in a blender or food processor and then store it in plastic containers.  All the ingredients are already dried so it doesn't need refrigeration.  I coated a salmon steak with it and cooked it ... awesome.  

You can buy it in the supermarket, but it's so easy to make out of ingredients that you probably already have ... 

It's so yummy that you can have a little container of it and just dip your finger in and lick it.  

[sandypas]

My doctor says to eat grain bread and grapes are full of sugar.  Diabetics are only allowed 6.  I am allowed bananas but a bit on the green side as the riper they are, the more sugar they have.  It might be an idea to make an appointment with the diabetic educator at the Community Health centre to discuss his dietary plan.  Also fats can be worse than sugar so keeps his fats low.

Good on you for looking out for him. 

[2013marfield]

be very careful of bananas ..they play havoc with my levels