Cooking for Diabetic Visitors

[Dejah]

We have visitors from Texas this weekend. JIm is diabetic and cannot eat "anything high in sugar".

 

I have NO experience cooking with this diet restriction. Rather than googling and trying out recipes, I am hoping to get some simple guidelines from egulleteers.

 

They will be here for 2 days, so Sat night, I'd like to serve roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

 

Sunday, I'm thinking chicken marinated in oranges and lemons (2 whole chickens cut up and marinated in 4 lemons and 2 oranges). Might be safer roast chickens in my Big Easy?

 

How about desserts?

 

What about breads for breakfast?

 

 

[sparrowgrass]

Diabetics need to watch carbs, so don't serve a big bowl of pasta as your only dinner choice. Roast beef is good, but if he is really watching his diet, he will probably skip the pudding.  Chicken sounds lovely, add a big salad and/or roasted veggies, light on the potatoes.  Bacon and eggs or sausage is good for breakfast.  

 

Desserts are problematic.  Sugar free products just don't taste good.  Fresh fruit with Greek yogurt maybe?

[takadi]

Avoid carbs in general and large portions. Pastas, particularly dried extruded pastas are okay for diabetics but avoid fresh pastas and things like raviolis and lasagna. Make up for the missing carbs by using more fats, particularly monosaturated fats like olive oil.

[ahpadt]

Be careful with things naturally high in sugar (fructose). I have a neighbour who's diabetic and when I've asked him about eating fruit he's said that he wanted to avoid that.

Edited August 20, 2014 by ahpadt (log)

[liuzhou]

Ask them?

[paulraphael]

What really matters is the glycemic index of the meal. Which isn't the same thing as the glycemic index of individual ingredients. French bread has just about the highest glycemic index of any food, but if you slather it with butter, which slows your body's digestion of the starches, the glycemic index drops way down. 

 

Do a google search for a glycemic index chart. Don't automatically avoid foods that are high; just make sure you balance them with a fair amount of fat and/or protein that will be consumed at the same time. 

[jayt90]

We have visitors from Texas this weekend. JIm is diabetic and cannot eat "anything high in sugar".

 

I have NO experience cooking with this diet restriction. Rather than googling and trying out recipes, I am hoping to get some simple guidelines from egulleteers.

 

They will be here for 2 days, so Sat night, I'd like to serve roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

 

Sunday, I'm thinking chicken marinated in oranges and lemons (2 whole chickens cut up and marinated in 4 lemons and 2 oranges). Might be safer roast chickens in my Big Easy?

 

How about desserts?

 

What about breads for breakfast?, with nuts, fruit, and a pat of butter is good for breakfast.

Your chicken will be fine, but discard the marinade rather than use it in a sauce.

Portions should be small, and a wide variation on the plate.

Avoid white flour and sugar completely. That means whole wheat or multigrain bread (breakfast and Yorkies).

Steel cut oatmeal is great for breakfast, with nuts, a small amount of cut fruit, and a pat of butter. No sugar, but a splash of milk is good.

Desserts are a minefield, so offer a selection of cheese with whole grain crackers.

[tcamp]

I second the "ask them" advice. Insulin or medications your visitor takes may alter what foods he can eat. Generally, avoid added sugars, carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, rice, corn, breads), too much fruit. The beef and chicken dishes, along with salad, sounds great. Know any great zucchini recipes sans bread crumbs? Zuke is good choice, nuts too.

 

Fresh versus dried pasta makes no difference (both bad), at least for this diabetic.

 

But ask.

[Porthos]

Diabetics need to watch carbs, ...

 

Diabetics do eat carbs but in carefully controlled amounts. As some have already stated don't make carbs the major part of the meal, but don't fear to have a side containing carbs. Potatoes are not necessarily off-limits. Your diabetic friend can then easily choose how much carb-based food he/she wants to include in the meal. I have a type 1 diabetic friend that regularly has Kix cereal for breakfast. She knows how much she can handle.

 

And, yes, asking for input from your friends will hopefully give you more specific guidance.

[Dejah]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Saw a recipe for zucchini chips - topped with Parmesan cheese...will look into it more closely.

 

I will ask him when they arrive but I wanted to have lots of ingredients / options available. They are only here for 2 days.

 

Have never made Yorkies with whole wheat flour...Guess I'll make some along side of my regular ones.

 

His wife is allergic to nuts...

[CatPoet]

Ask them! Because it all up to  how good they are on   keeping on top of it and how well they do on the meds.  

[CatPoet]

Oh and rye bread  is better then  white bread. 

[Lisa Shock]

You should ask about this, but, I have had good luck serving flourless chocolate cake to diabetics. I use a very rich recipe that is fairly low in sugar, if you use the bittersweet chocolate. That said, they have to like dark chocolate. This stuff is so intense, I often get 16 servings per cake.

 

Small serving size + lots of fat + egg protein = physically tolerable dessert that's really satisfying.

[Kerry Beal]

Oh and rye bread  is better then  white bread. 

Most rye bread in this country contains only a small percentage of rye flour - most of it is white flour.  If I were determined to feed rye bread to a diabetic I'd probably stick with something like rye kernel bread.  But for 2 days I'd probably not bother.  

[Franci]

With your proteins you can serve also  cauliflower mash/or celeriac, also a gratin (I love this one). Green saute' vegetables.

 

For dessert, correct me if I'm wrong, but panna cotta seems to me also a good choice, it's basically cream and milk with very little sugar. I do use only 50 grams of sugar for 500 ml liquid and it's good for 4 portions.

 

I also would think of berries with very, very lightly sweetened whipped cream. 

 

Also, for breakfast, I'd go with eggs and bacon, sausages, smoked salmon. Cold cuts platter with cheese and pickles.

[CatPoet]

Well I know you find Wasa crispbread  hearty  in the USA.  That is the "bread" favoured by my friends  who are diabetics.

[Allura]

I am a type 2 diabetic, and the easiest thing is just to keep things separate. Keep whatever starch to the side because at most they'll eat a very small portion (I can eat 2/3 cup brown rice or potatoes generally). I grew up without bread on the table, so it's not something I expect. For dessert, I prefer things that are better in small doses rather than mess with artificial sweeteners. Perhaps do something flavored with cinnamon, as that's a spice that actually lowers blood sugar (not an extract, only the bark works, apparently).

 

Your suggestions of roast beef or chicken sound fine to me. I might or might not eat the Yorkshire pudding with it. If I did, I might ask that we ate dessert later in the evening.

 

Breakfast breads are a challenge. Generally breakfast needs to be my lowest carb meal of the day, so I stick with eggs and just a single slice of toast or small English muffin. Something along those lines. If you want to do something with yogurt, please get plain not vanilla (parfaits are a decent breakfast, esp if you just lay everything out and everyone does their own). And coffee.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Allura (log)

[Dejah]

Thanks for all the replies. I am feeling much more at ease about food for our visitors

 

I haven't asked for more information from our visitors as they informed us just as they were leaving for their road trip from Texas. I didn't want to stress THEM out after I found out Jim's dietary restrictions. They are more acquaintances than close friends, so we don't know much about them other than belong to the same interest group - All thing Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan, John Carter, etc

 

 

I have most of what's been suggested on hand, even cinnamon bark and WASA crispbreads, but keep the suggestions coming. Thanks again!

 

 

[liuzhou]

Please let us know how it goes.

[Dejah]

What about wild rice pilaf?

Roasted brussel sprouts with dijon mustard and bacon (gotta leave out the pecans if someone is allergic to peanuts?)

[CatPoet]

My diabetc friend  said rye porridge made out of rye flakes is his favourite breakfast. In Sweden we eat a lot of rye. So it is easy to get hold of.

[Smithy]

Pecans and peanuts aren't related, so I don't know that the peanut allergy is a concern. Are you thinking pecans in the wild rice pilaf, or with the brussels sprouts?  Either sounds pretty good to me.  As for wild rice, it's a low-glycemic-index seed, so it should be fine.

[ruthcooks]

If you serve a dinner with meat, starch, veg and salad, the diabetic only has to limit the starch to comply, assuming little or no sugar is added and the veg is not carrots.  As a Type 2 diabetic for over 20 years, I think the worst thing is when people serve a bunch of weird stuff which nobody will enjoy.  We are used to policing our own food and it is tiresome to have attention drawn to it!

[jayt90]

Barley risotto.  Use pot barley rather than pearl barley. 

[Martin Fisher]

You need to talk to JIm.

Some diabetics follow a MUCH more restrictive plan than others.

I'm diabetic and try to limit net carbs (total carbohydrate minus fiber) to 30 grams per day....that means minimal amounts of starches and sugars.