Friday 6 March 2015

Trying to be more diabetic friendly with low carbs and high protein

When DH had his annual blood tests in January it seems his diabetes is not as well controlled as it could be. A lot of the ideas we had about what is healthy has been brought into question, and so we have decided to make some changes. 

We decided to go for low carb, high protein, high fat, and more fibre. A lot of the fat change we are making is a change in dairy products, apparently the butter spreads are not good so we are going back to proper butter, changing from semi skimmed to full fat milk, none of these changes will affect me as I don't do dairy but hopefully they will help DH. This is a hard choice as we need to worry about cholesterol it seems impossible to get one right without the other being off balance. 

I know when he was first diagnosed we were advised to stop using lo salt and we changed to natural sea salt. We have also now been told that wholemeal bread is not good for him and so have changed to seeded bread. Its all a balance to try and stabilise any spikes in his blood sugar. 

One of our favourite foods in mince and mashed tatties, but it seems mashed tatties are one of the bad foods I am feeding him, and so that was our next change. He is not a huge lover of sweet potatoes, which are much lower in carbs and therefore better. 

Chilli con carne shepherds pie

I cooked up mince as I normally would but made it into chilli con carne, personally I am not a lover of kidney beans but I am not starting to make two different meals and so I am having to put up with some foods I am not as keen on just as he is. As per usual I added plenty of carrots. 

While the mince was cooking I boiled not quite enough potatoes for the two of us but added 100g of red lentils in with it when cooking and mashed the two together, Put the mash on top of the mince and brown under the grill. 

The lentils with their low GI help to balance out the mashed potato, as well as adding other nutritional value to the dish. The same can be said for the kidney beans. 



chilli con carne shepherds pie


Fruit omelette

I try to manage my five a day but that has become more difficult over the last few years as I can no longer digest uncooked fruit, it just causes me horrendous pain. So I am always looking for new ways to use it once it is cooked. This keeps in with low card high protein. 

Firstly I cooked up some sliced bananas, apples and plums and placed them in the bottom of a baking tin. I poured over some eggs beaten with some milk and sprinkled with some omega mix, and cooked for approx 12 minutes at 140 oC.

Slices nicely to pop in a tub and take to work for lunch. 



fruit omelette 



Fruity Bulgar wheat.

Another option for using cooked fruit. Soak 2 oz of bulgar wheat and a handful of raisins in 8 oz boiling orange juice. Leave to steep until all the juice is absorbed. Then stir through some cooked fruit. Makes a great snack a breakfast or a pudding.


fruity bulgar wheat




Meatloaf

I used steak mince but you could use your favourite type. Soak 2 oz bulgar wheat in 8 oz boiling water or stock. While the stock is absorbing ( approx 20 mins) very finely chop an onion and grate a peeled carrot. Mix the chopped onion with some seasoning of your choice a generous squirt of tomato puree and an egg.

Mix the soaked bulgar wheat with the mince and grated carrot and bind with the seasoning/egg mix. If you prefer you could use some cooked and cooled red lentils instead.

Place in a loaf tin and cooked for 30 mins at 160 oC. Remove from the oven and top with sliced tomatoes and some grated cheese. Return to the oven for approx 20 mins.

I served this with oven chips but vegetables could also be used

meatloaf




Green Lentils, white fish and veg

Cook some green lentils according to the packet.

Meanwhile peel and slice potatoes and carrots, and parboil for 5 minutes.

Prepare a selection of vegetable, I used onions, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, and parsnips.

Drain the carrots and potatoes and place in a baking tray along with your other vegetables. Season some olive oil with seasoning of your choice and sprinkle over the vegetables.

Cook in the oven for approx 35 minutes at 170 oC, Remove from the oven and place some white fish on top, return to the oven and cooked for approx 15  mins until everything is done. Flake the white fish through the vegetables.

Drain the lentils and mix through, serve.



green lentil bake

2 comments:

  1. Looking good, I'd happily eat all that ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you Cheryl, they were all very tasty in their own way

    ReplyDelete

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