Diabetic meals

[kristilane]

Im curious as to meals that diabetics can have. My grandmother has recently been hospitalized for 5 days and now is non-ambulatory. Family (myself and my mother) are responsible for making her meals. I've ran out of ideas. Im not comfortable with the idea of her eating a grilled cheese for supper!!!! My grandfather is barely able to cook for them both, so it's up to me. My idea is I can have a calendar of meals for the week for them to decide on and then have them ready to heat up for them (kinda like the hospital by giving options for the menu). I'm sure this idea may not work but I've got to start somewhere. Thanks!!!!!

 

[Percheron chick]

There are a bunch of websites that address your very issue with great meal plans.

It really isn't a complicated diet goal, just a lot of common sense. Things we should all be doing. Eliminate sugars and processed foods and restrict starches and salt. Incorporate low fat dairy (no hard cheese), fruits and vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish, whole grains, nuts, beans. Drink only unsweetened beverages (no regular soda and juice only as a treat), tea, coffee, water, diet soda (if she can't live without soda but work on replacing it with something else). Getting the elderly to eat a balanced diet is not easy. Preparing the meal becomes a chore, cleaning up after the meal is work, their taste change, meds can interact with foods, the cost, they forget... Start by creating a list of meals and foods. Have your grandparents go through the list. What do they like, dislike, allergic to...Loves Chinese, hates fish, so-so on broccoli... Even if you prepare the best meals, if they don't like it, they won't eat it. Snacks are important for a diabetic to maintain glucose levels. Prepare and portion out snacks in bags like nuts, granola, tortilla chips, sliced apple and carrots... Soups are usually well received. You can make a pot of soup, portion it out in heat and serve containers (anything that goes straight from the freezer to the microwave to the table will help them. Go buy some new if you have to). A bowl of hardy bean soup, a handful of crackers and 1/2 an apple would be a good winter dinner. If you still have some leftover turkey, makes some TV dinners and pop them in the freezer. Turkey, 1/2 baked sweet potato, green vegetables done. Pay attention to portion sizes. You will be surprised just how little they eat. You can plan your home meals around grandma and grandpa too. Say you make a potroast for dinner. Portion up 2 meals for gm and gf. Pop them in the freezer. Do this all week with your dinners making a little extra and changing things up like the vegetable choice based on what they like. If they love green beans, keep a bag of frozen beans in the freezer and just plate their meals up with them if you are having something they don't like. At the end of the week, you have all their meals prepared for the following week and it took you just minutes to do it.

If you are doing the grocery shopping for them, you are in the driver's seat. You will keep foods out of the house that they shouldn't be eating.

I think you are doing an amazing thing. There is a huge need for this type of service and you could easily expand it as a community service or even a business.

 

[kristilane]

Thank you so much for your AMAZING response and encouraging words!!!! It seems like it's so much of a task to undertake when they are completely satisfied with cereal or grilled cheese every night but that is not what they need to eat. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!

 

[Percheron chick]

You're welcome. I'm in this exact same situation with my mom. She has a few more medical issues plus she no longer enjoys cooking. We made turkey TV dinners and a pot of soup out of Thanksgiving leftovers. Our goal is to have backup meals for the times she just won't cook for herself. She's experimented with store bought soups and TV dinners and they don't agree with her. Too high in salt, fat and just not to her standards.

Your goal for the week should be a pot of soup. Don't even bother portioning it out. They can just leave it in the fridge and work out of it. They might eat soup 3 days in a row but that's good. Make it a hearty soup like a mixed bean, split pea, minestrone... something with lots of vegetables and beans. Deliver it with a loaf of bread. Don't buy canned soup. They have a ton of salt and sugar in them. A pot of soup is also something that comes from the heart.

Breakfast is just as important for them. You can make breakfast burritos. Just eggs, a little meat and cheese rolled up in a tortilla. Wrap them up individually. They will make a good lunch as well. Hot cereal and grits are better options than cold cereal but the problem is they take too long to cook. Solve that problem by cooking up a big batch. It can sit in the fridge and they just take a big spoonful and heat it up or you can cook it, let it cool than put it on some plastic wrap and squeeze it out into a log like you would for refrigerator cookies. Slice it into 2-3 inch portions, freeze them on a cookie sheet and place them in a ziplock bag. They will pull out a portion, put it in a bowl with a little milk or water toss in some dried fruit (another good snack choice) and heat it up. You would rather see them eat a bowl of hot cereal as an emergency dinner than a bowl of Cherrios.

I'm dead serious about this being a great business idea. A step up from meals on wheels. More geared to address individual dietary restrictions. It would make even a nice school project (is there such a thing as cooking in HS anymore?) and raise the awareness of what other's grandparents are dealing with. Bounce your ideas off of me. Grandpa is trying but anything you can do is 1000X better for them what they are eating.

 

[lazy gardener]

You might check with your mother's MD or the hospital and see if there are any Diabetes Education courses that you can take. Most hospitals offer them, even if a once/month support group with a nutritional focus. As PP have stated, common sense, low fat, low sugar, controlled portions. But, it would be wise for you to have some guidance from a nutritionist if you are solely responsible for your grandparent's meals. Their calorie intake will need to be balanced with insulin needs or blood sugar readings.

 

[kristilane]

Awesome ideas!!! Thank each of you!!! I'm working on meals and a business venture!!! Husband thought it would be a good thing to look into...yay!!!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hope it works out for you - it's a service badly needed.

 

[kristilane]

So far the options I have for next week are
Sliced Turkey with carrots, Brussel sprouts
Baked Chicken Breast with sweet potatoes, tomatoe slices
Minestrone Soup
Tilapia with broccoli, brown rice
BBQ pork chops with side garden salad



Sweet endings:
Sugar free Jello with fruit
Chilled Strawberry Soup

Suggestions??????

 

[wyoDreamer]

I had a friend who made up dinner plates for her son who was in college. He also worked over 30 hours a week to help pay for his education, so he didn't have much time for cooking. She bought sectioned plastic plates so parts of the meals wouldn't all mix together into a blob. Then she would put the entire plate into a bag, vacuum sealed it and popped it into the freezer. He would come home for a visit and leave with enough meals for a month. She would make double batches of most things she cooked for immediate eating and used the leftovers for his meals.

It takes time to pre-prepare meals for them, and I am sure that grandpa is gratefull for the help.

I hope your business is a huge success! best of luck.