General Chat

Re-reading the first part of this thread I am very surprised at the restrictions on your o.h.'s diet, as the info my o.h. was given by the diabetes department at our local hospital says 'eat regular meals, include a starchy food at each meal such as bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or breakfast cereals.' He is Type 2 and takes medication now. The printed list says nothing about avoiding red meats at all just says cut down on fats if you are overweight. O.h. is finding regular cycling to and from work has helped him lose weight and he eats a lot more salad stuff with his pack up for work.
Are the restrictions for other health reasons other than the diabetes?

We have the sausages as they are a good way to eat less meat, but still feel you are having some. They are good quality pork ones in packs of 6 and I cook them in the oven on a baking tray, there is very little fat comes out of them if any, (which I drain off) and we have two each with a stack of vegetables and some potato or pasta, then I keep two in the fridge for next day for a sandwich for me or part of o.h.'s pack up. I am aware they are thought of as red meat but lean pork is not so bad as fatty pork chops and the amount is so small once a week.

Lizx

Liz

OH has Ankylosing Spondylitis which is a type of Arthritis. Unfortunately he is sero negative and has not been in remission for many years. His Arthritis consultant has tried for many years to convince him not to eat red meat.

Last Friday we went to Diabetic clinic for routine checks. They did retina scans, weight, eyesight, blood pressure, feet sensitivity all before going in to see consultant. His consultant was looking at his overall medication list and has reiterated that he too would like OH not to eat red meat, bread, potatoes or pasta. He was pleased with the fact OH had lost 2 stone and has put him on a new drug which will regulate his blood sugar and help him lose weight.

OH has blood test every five to six weeks because of some of the drugs he takes for his ankylosing spondylitis. This consultant checks for everything at each of these tests and all blood test results go to him.

I think consultants have had a chat about his condition and decided a course of action. OH has decided this time he is going to do what diabetic consultant suggests and I am going to support him in anyway I can.

I posted this thread to get ideas for menus because I thought "how many times have I cooked a recipe from a book which sounded good but didn't come up to expectation. I know, I'll ask for any favourite recipes of other members.

Moonbi

Fish can be hidden --

When used to cook for grandson every weekday ---until 5 years old and now for a month - when holiday with me - 6 to 11 years

Grandsons fav meal - sausage mash potatoes and beans

Bake beans - make tomato puree - quarter toms - add water - heat and liquidise - skins and all ---- jar of haricot beans - rinse off very well all brine - add to tomato puree

Mash potato - with white poached fish fillet added - hidden in mash

( the majority of white fish fillets can be hidden in mash potato )

Sausage - spoonful of tomato sauce over mash and

Voila ------Hidden fish in mash pots recipe

He used to tell everyone - he liked Nannies dinner cos I never gave him or made eat veg ---------

No darling -- Clever Nanny liquidized all your veg in to the gravy -- which you loved

As I still do for granddad now --- who hates sprouts - but he has them - hidden !!!

If any one is interested - I have a sausage recipe

Chipolatas are best - place sausage in water and bring to boil - fast simmer for 10 mins - throw away all fatty water - and rinse of sausages -

Chop up loads onions ( I always add garlic and herbs - sage and oregano are good with this - to almost every thing I make - as I never cook with salt - my Mum hated salt so as kids we never had it in our food . and now at my very old age - I have no tolerance for salt whatsoever ) and brown -v slowing in little olive oil
add big cup full of white wine to onions - burn off alcohol - ( I omit for kids ) - and just use veg stock

add sausage and veg stock - and simmer slowly for 15 mins

I used to take out a few sausages for grandson . next
day

Me and granddad - had posh sausage casserole - ( with all the fat - in effect cooked out )

( you can add tomatoes instead of veg stock - but I do not like cooked toms )


Irene

Oh now I see why the different advice, didn't realise about the other problems your o.h. has. I have osteoarthritis so know red meat doesn't help.

Good luck with the recipes, I am sure you will find lots he will enjoy if he only tries them first, no good saying no to something if you haven't tried it. Over the past few years since I have been cooking for o.h. I have got him eating lots more veg and other things he never ate before and now just have to rejig the balance of carbs and protein, he would always eat much more meat than veg before so now has less meat and much more veg. It's easy to add lots of mixed veg to an omelette or a cube or two of frozen spinach to gravies or casseroles. Frozen chopped veg like peppers, onions and mushrooms are very useful to have in stock, quick and easy and cheap too.



Lizx

OH enjoyed his plaice dish this evening as posted by DetEcTive

Will be trying minced chicken tomorrow

Another convert - thank you for reporting back. I've been leafing through the recipe book and real must try some of the others. lol

DET

TF, I've been there and still am. ;) When No.1 was diagnosed with Type II in his mid-40s, well, it turned out he was really Type I, and at one point they decided his blood sugar was so out of whack we had to go on a crash low-carb diet: 45 grams of carbohydrates per meal. That amounts to: no potatoes, pasta, bread ... or teeny bits of it. After a few weeks we were able to go back to a little more normal. That period was a major challenge.

He's not on insulin? So carb counting isn't absolutely necessary. But it's still a good thing, to try to keep the carbohydrate intake at a consistent level. It isn't hard, when you do your own cooking, especially with package labels as detailed as they are these days. I have a well-thumbed list of common carb counts (e.g. how much in a cup of carrots), and when I cook, I just tot up the total carbs and divide by number of portions. That's where cooking ahead in bulk (freeze and label with carb count) is a boon.

Ask whether whole-wheat or high-fibre pasta in small amounts would be okay. And what about small amounts of high-fibre whole-grain bread? Diabetics do have to eat carbohydrates like anyone else, it's just the kind and amount of them that matters. The general rule is: as little white food as possible. ;) Flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, e.g. And you'd be amazed at the carbs in parsnips. I find that butternut squash (easily peeled, cubed, grated, whatever you like) makes a good low-carb potato substitute.

Does he like curries and other Indian foods? I have a gorgeous low-fat Indian cookbook and a few favourite recipes like saag chicken -- skinless chicken, frozen spinach, tinned tomatoes, onions, spices, yogourt, all things that are really good for you. Eaten with some brown rice. Again, that's carbohydrates, but carbohydrates are the fuel of life and some are needed.

If he likes eggs, a spinach mushroom onion red-pepper cheese quiche is another thing we eat a fair bit of, with a low-fat crust (canola oil whisked with skimmed milk instead of lard or shortening) you can make with at least part whole-grain flour.

Mexican foods can also be very useful. Taco shells are not high-carb, and you could make filling out of minced chicken rather than beef. If you read labels, you can also get whole-grain lower carb tortillas, which I also use to make crepes (try asparagus and mushrooms in an easy sauce: tinned mushroom soup; with cheese on top, baked).

And another good thing is pita, provided again you get low-carb versions, and for both tortillas and pitas get small sizes.You can stuff two thin pita halves and get a great sandwich for way less starch than two or four pieces of bread. I get a pita that is extra low-carb and high fibre: 10 grams of carb per pita, as compared to usually about 18 grams for one slice of whole-grain bread. Two pitas each - four halves each - stuffed with Romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, creamy Caesar salad dressing and chunks of chicken breast cooked with a little Jamaican jerk sauce ... heaven. And so low-carb we can have brownie for dessert. ;)

Remember that dried beans (navy, kidney, black, etc.) are quite high carb too, but they're also high fibre and it's especially good fibre -- soluble. (Fibre grams are subtracted from total carb grams, for counting.) But you can't go overboard on beans, or combine them with other carbohydrate-rich food in meals. Chili is a wonderful food to keep frozen in portions. With the onions and peppers and spices and kidney beans, you could use minced chicken there too.

And there's nothing beats a good chicken stew, with all the veggies you can think of in it. Unless you don't like chicken, I guess! A little Barley is good for a bit of filling high-fibre carbohydrate, or some green lentils.

But fish? Nope, there is no way of disguising fish. Unless it's in a lot of batter, with half a bottle of ketchup and a ton of black pepper on it, and a pile of crispy chips. ;) Neither No.1 nor I eats fish otherwise, unfortunately, makes us both gag. If he'll eat tinned salmon, though, like on a salad (or in some of that thin pita), that is really good for you. Even tinned tuna, the only other fish I eat, is better than nothing.

My rule of thumb, that I try to follow, is "one more veg". A cup of frozen green beans has almost zero carbs and goes with almost anything. ;)


edit - was just looking through -- Atkins is the extreme of low-carb diets. You don't want to stick to Atkins, but the principles are the same, in terms of reducing (not eliminating) carbohydrates. It can be a useful tool.

Also note that not all veg are equal. Sweet corn is extremely high in carbohydrates, for instance, and isn't a good regular choice. It's a good idea to do a little reading up on good/bad choices.

I have a printout of this that I use for raw foods; for anything prepared (like bread, pasta, tinned things), I read the labels.

http://www.diabetes.ca/files/Long%20list%20Dec%202005.pdf

Thank you so much Janey for the suggestions and will check out the website. You can never have enough knowledge:-)

OH is not insulin dependent and does like mild curries.

I never knew you could make pastry that way so will give it a try at the weekend. He loves quiche so things are looking up:)

Fantastic list, makes everything so easy. Printing it out and will laminate it,and put on fridge door.

I'll take a shot at the pastry recipe for you -- my mum clipped it from the paper years ago and we both use it religiously. ;) Problem is, my cup in Canada is not your cup in England, so it has to be converted. This recipe makes a largish single crust.

The flour is measured by volume, not by weight. My cup is 8 ounces by volume, yours is 10.


Sift together in pie plate:
12 ounces (1 and 1/5 cup for you) plain flour
3/4 teaspoon salt (I leave that out)

Beat in measuring cup with fork or whisk until creamy:
4 ounces (2/5 cup for you) veg oil (canola is best)
3 tablespoons cold skimmed milk (or any milk)

Pour the liquid all at once over the flour.
Mix with fork until completely dampened.
Push with fingers to form even crust on bottom and sides of pie plate.
Fill and bake as usual!


To make a big quiche, I use six eggs and about 1/4 cup (your cup) cream. Put all the raw chopped veggies in the pie crust, put the grated cheese on top, pour the egg-cream mixture over. I think you're supposed to cook at a high heat, about 400, for the first 10 minutes, then turn it down to 325ish. It's done when it's firm and turning a bit brown on top. Have a salad with it, and it's quite filling.

The whole thing has a total of about 140 grams of carb in it, counting a cup or two of mushrooms, squeezed-dry frozen spinach, etc., so a serving of even half of it is a low-carb meal, in spite of the flour.

I absolutely refuse to make pastry the real way, I just make a huge mess of the entire kitchen, so this is great for me.

Of course, to use energy wisely, I'm always cooking other things (like a pot of chili) in the oven at the same time while it's on. ;)

Does the pastry need to be blind baked before adding filling?

Edit: can't wait to try this pastry. It will be great to serve him up something he recognises.

I found the saag chicken recipe from my book on line.

http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-saag-292376

You can simplify it. For instance, use an undrained package of frozen spinach, just for starters. Don't bother with the pureeing, just throw the spinach and garlic and ginger in with the tomatoes. Don't use the fresh chili pepper if you prefer mild. Or the chili powder (it's what we call cayenne pepper; chili powder is a Mexican thing). And certainly use a 14-oz tin of diced tomatoes rather than chopping your own. I find you want to boil it down before adding the chicken, and I cube raw skinless boneless chicken breasts and they don't take long to cook in the mix.

I think you could happily use chunks of white fish instead!

Serve on brown rice, just not too much. ;) Really good for you, and tasty too.


Another thing you can do with minced chicken that I do with minced pork (I should use chicken too) is my own version of a Chinese dish I've always loved and just throw together my own way: spicy pork and eggplant. You call eggplants "aubergines", of course.

I'd tried to figure out instructions for mine, and then I found a recipe on line that's exactly like I was saying. ;)

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/spicyeggplant.htm

I don't use the bean sauce (I assume it means the black bean sauce in a jar in my fridge), but that would be good too. For veg content, I stirfry a chopped red bell pepper and a chopped small onion after the eggplant, and throw in some sliced green onion (spring onion, scallion?) at the end. Also unsalted peanuts and cubed tofu sometimes, except No.1 picks them out. But I have never messed around with dark and light soy sauce ...

The pasty -- nope, just make it and fill it and bake it. You could blind bake it if you were making a lemon meringue pie, for instance. ;)

I hope the measurements work!

This is absolutely fantastic Janey. And so kind of you to go to all this trouble.

It is very much appreciated, Thank you

I'm a low-carb cooking evangelist, and I actually love to cook! Who'd 'a thunk it? ;) You're most welcome. If you guys like the saag recipe, let me know -- the cookbook has a lot of fish recipes I've never paid attention to, and it would be easy to type a couple out.

I'm back and looking for more favourite recipes of the low carb/low fat variety.

and also was looking for JC's pastry recipe as I've lost mine ;-)

It' is great to re read this again Toots

There were some good recipes given

And good to see Janey and others once gain

Have a good recipe for magic pancakes ...

Using 35g of Porridge Oats .... Eggs and fat free yogurt ...

Great with summer fruits for breakfast or desert ...

A favourite of mine and very tasty.
Get a couple of salmon steaks - they are actually quite cheap.
Take a couple of medium leeks and slice them. Mix a load of greek yoghurt with wholegrain mustard and then mix the leeks in.
Chuck all that in a baking dish and lay the salmon on top.
Takes about 20 mins at 185 degrees and is great served with new potatoes and broccoli or asparagus

yum yum those recipes sound good, I will most definitely give them a try.


Errol: Salmon is my favourite fish.

If it is your favourite and you want something a bit tasty try this...

find a load of smoked salmon scraps at your local supermarket - not the packaged ones - ask the fishmonger or whoever.
Mix loads and loads in with single cream (buy the cheapest) and capons. Make a sauce of cream, ONE small parsnip (has to be very small) a wee bit of garlic and a very small onion and puree it down and add the secret ingredient - vodka(quite a bit).
Serve it with french roll/crusty bread - I reckon it is quite tasty and it is very cheap - gourmet on a shoestring