Hi, Sheila. My mother of almost 80 years has Type 2, and with my Dad
being a near invalid, they have trouble staying on track to keep her
diabetes in check.

Of course, the things Nick said have been the most important to her in
controlling the beast: exercise and diet. I don't know which has
proven more effective as she is doing them as a combo.

Since my Mom hates to cook and loves prepared foods, and my Dad cannot
(physically) cook, I try to help them when I can. I make up a lot of
meals for them, sometimes 30 or so at a time and put them in a
foodsaver bag to be frozen and delivered to their door. I season
meats and meat dishes and use the vacuum system as a marinade machine
as well as a preserver. Try this:

If you like pork chops, the FS machine is a wonder. I buy whole
loins, cut them into small chops, season them, then freeze them. I
like the loins for the folks as they are naturally lean and have
little fat. And the loins are great for portion control as they are
easy to slice. I have a small scale that I used to practice with to
get the Dr. recommended portion size right (no more than 6 oz.) so I
can slice up the loins very quickly. With an extra set of hands, I
can cut and season, and SO can label and bag, so that part goes really
fast as well.

I slice as many as I can get on a baking sheet, then take my dry
spices and apply them as I want. I have some of the really large
containers that I buy at Sam's, so I have some of those mixes, like
"Italian Spice", or "Southwestern Grill", "Citrus Grill" and my folks
love them. They thaw them then fry them up (no breading) in a little
olive oil.

I buy larger loins, so I usually get a ton of chops for them, and I
save the last 8-10 inches or so of the tail end to use as a roast. I
take a knife and stick it straight into the large end and push it
lengthwise almost to the end of the remaining loin. Then I pour a
little thick mixture of fat free Italian with additional herbs
(parsley, sage, garlic, etc.) added to it into the hole. A little
goes a long way, and it is important not to put more than three or
four tablespoons in the hole. Everything that falls of the hole (it
will) when pouring and pushing goes onto the outside of the roast.
Put the hole side in the bag first and seal.

They love that seasoned roast as their "Sunday dinner" as they can put
that in with some celery, carrots, etc. in their crockpot and have a
good pork roast. With enough of the spices being in and out of the
meat, it is enough that they just lightly salt and pepper the added
vegetables. I mix it up a little when making them with Greek
seasoning, Southwestern style seasonings, etc., but they like the
Italian the best.

Since the vacuum sealer is not only a speedy marinading machine, but a
great way to contol portions, I have also spiced and saved fresh fish,
chicken (cooked and uncooked) and all all kinds of vegetable dishes.

Remember, if you cook something and use the vacuum bags, you can use
them as boiling bags. I also make the folks Chinese stir fry (they
LOVE that) and put about 10 linguine noodles in the mix - the noodles
make them feel like they aren't on a restricted diet. Throw them in a
vacuum bag, and you are done. Mom puts them in really hot (NOT
boiling) water and heats them up.

It's a little more elbow grease for me to get it to them, but since I
do the same way of cooking and preserving for me and mine, I just put
their name in the hat and do their stuff right next to mine. When we
have a freezer full of seasoned/cooked meats ready to go, or even have
some prepared dishes in the bags ready to boil, it makes it a lot
harder to think about going out or getting fast food.

Hope this helps.

Robert