Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

Hello. My father is 80 and is now at the point in his diabetes where
he must inject insulin everyday (at least once a day). My mother is
81 and is at a point in her life where she is finding it difficult to
prepare real meals and is also having difficulty understanding what
she can feed my father. I live about 2 hours away from them, but my
brothers and I are looking at trying to ease the food burden from them
a bit by preparing meals ahead of time and freezing them, as well as
trying to put together a list of simple sample menus that my mom can
follow and select from. So...

I'm wondering if there are any suggestions for books or websites that
would provide menu suggestions for meals during the day. We are
hoping to provide my mother with something very simple to put together
that would maybe give 3 menus for breakfast, 3-5 menus for lunch, and
5-7 menus for dinner. The menus need to be very specific (1/2 a cup
of cottage cheese, 1/2 a banana, and one slice of whole wheat toast,
etc) so she has no guesswork.

AND

I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
recipe (or method) suggestions. We are looking at perhaps making
perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
fridge and put them in the oven.

I realize this might be a tall order, but any help or tips would be
appreciated.

Tim

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

"cle63" > wrote in message
...
> Hello. My father is 80 and is now at the point in his diabetes where
> he must inject insulin everyday (at least once a day). My mother is
> 81 and is at a point in her life where she is finding it difficult to
> prepare real meals and is also having difficulty understanding what
> she can feed my father. I live about 2 hours away from them, but my
> brothers and I are looking at trying to ease the food burden from them
> a bit by preparing meals ahead of time and freezing them, as well as
> trying to put together a list of simple sample menus that my mom can
> follow and select from. So...
>
> I'm wondering if there are any suggestions for books or websites that
> would provide menu suggestions for meals during the day. We are
> hoping to provide my mother with something very simple to put together
> that would maybe give 3 menus for breakfast, 3-5 menus for lunch, and
> 5-7 menus for dinner. The menus need to be very specific (1/2 a cup
> of cottage cheese, 1/2 a banana, and one slice of whole wheat toast,
> etc) so she has no guesswork.
>
> AND
>
> I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
> recipe (or method) suggestions. We are looking at perhaps making
> perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
> freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
> freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
> fridge and put them in the oven.
>
> I realize this might be a tall order, but any help or tips would be
> appreciated.

Unfortunately there is no one diet we all follow. And diabetic recipes
usually contain a lot more carbs than a diabetic can safely eat. The people
who write these things haven't got a clue.

I generally use regular recipes, avoiding those with too many carbs. How
many is too many? That really varies from person to person. For dinner I
can safely eat 45 g of carbs. I believe I am one who is on the high end.
Many here can not eat that many.

I also have additional medical problems and food allergies so my diet is
pretty limited. I eat green beans almost every day. They are low in carbs
and easy for me to digest.

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

cle63 > wrote:
: Hello. My father is 80 and is now at the point in his diabetes where
: he must inject insulin everyday (at least once a day). My mother is
: 81 and is at a point in her life where she is finding it difficult to
: prepare real meals and is also having difficulty understanding what
: she can feed my father. I live about 2 hours away from them, but my
: brothers and I are looking at trying to ease the food burden from them
: a bit by preparing meals ahead of time and freezing them, as well as
: trying to put together a list of simple sample menus that my mom can
: follow and select from. So...

: I'm wondering if there are any suggestions for books or websites that
: would provide menu suggestions for meals during the day. We are
: hoping to provide my mother with something very simple to put together
: that would maybe give 3 menus for breakfast, 3-5 menus for lunch, and
: 5-7 menus for dinner. The menus need to be very specific (1/2 a cup
: of cottage cheese, 1/2 a banana, and one slice of whole wheat toast,
: etc) so she has no guesswork.

: AND

: I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
: recipe (or method) suggestions. We are looking at perhaps making
: perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
: freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
: freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
: fridge and put them in the oven.

: I realize this might be a tall order, but any help or tips would be
: appreciated.

: Tim

This is a breakfast htat works for me. I will give it to you a bit more
specifically than I actually make it. 1/3C cotage cheese, 3 srawberries,
cut up, a choic eof 2 of the following:1/2 clementine(very small)
orange,4-6 fresh rasberries, 2 T blueberries, 4-5 large blackberries, 1/2
peach, 1/4 small apple, 4-6 fresh cherries in season. a smile slice(not
thich) of acanteloupe. our fruit will, of course vary by taste and
season. Topthis with 1/4-1/3 C unsweetened plain yogurt. I eat this with
just my black coffee and either water or Crystal Light fake Classic Orange
flavor sugar free drink.

plaian brooiled steak and hamburgers are fine, as well as grilled chicken,
either boneless breasts or just chickenparts with the bones in. You can
balke chicken pieces in the oven too, with simple spices and a whole
chicken will last quite a few days for one or two people. simple fish
dishes also are just fine. He can eat lots of green leafy vegetables adn
string beans, broccoli, cauliflower, etc, but no green peas or winter
squashes or parsnips. Fresh or frozen are jus fine as long as sthey are
not saues with stuff that may be too full of carbohydrates, so stick to
plain rather than drvign you mom crazy with too much for her to keep
checking on. Plain salads with lettuce, cuke, green or red or other
colored peppers, some tomato, etc are all good too. Dressings mus be
sugar free, rather than fat free.

Be careful-no wite strches like white bread, potato, pasta, etc.

This should be enough for a start.

Wendy

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:21:33 -0800 (PST), cle63 >
wrote:

>I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
>recipe (or method) suggestions. We are looking at perhaps making
>perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
>freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
>freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
>fridge and put them in the oven.

When I go to see my father, I take down several pre-portioned servings
of stew, and also some pre-roasted beef with gravy, again in
individual servings. Something like meatloaf, or chicken casserole,
etc would work well here; the trick is to have something with liquid
so the food reheats well in the microwave. He is able to microwave
veggies as a side. This might do your mother for entree?

How about pre-packaged soups for lunch? Could she still do scrambled
eggs or an omelette for breakfast?

Nicky.
T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid
D&E, 150ug thyroxine
Last A1c 5.2% BMI 26

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

On Nov 14, 5:06*pm, Nicky > wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:21:33 -0800 (PST), cle63 >
> wrote:
>
> >I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
> >recipe (or method) suggestions. *We are looking at perhaps making
> >perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
> >freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
> >freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
> >fridge and put them in the oven.
>
> When I go to see my father, I take down several pre-portioned servings
> of stew, and also some pre-roasted beef with gravy, again in
> individual servings. Something like meatloaf, or chicken casserole,
> etc would work well here; the trick is to have something with liquid
> so the food reheats well in the microwave. He is able to microwave
> veggies as a side. This might do your mother for entree?
>
> How about pre-packaged soups for lunch? Could she still do scrambled
> eggs or an omelette for breakfast?
>
> Nicky.
> T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid
> D&E, 150ug thyroxine
> Last A1c 5.2% *BMI 26

Thanks for the replies. I made a large quantity of vegetable soup w/
low sodium/fat chicken stock, various vegetables (spinach, zucchini,
onion, leek), some lentils and some white beans. Put this into some
individual serving containers and froze them. Also baked some salmon
w/ dill and pepper and grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts w/
various dry herb rubs. Your tip about liquid when reheating is a good
one and I think I'll suggest to my mom that she add some soup stock to
the chicken breasts before reheating. She can still do eggs and I
brought her some egg whites and egg substitute. I think in a couple
weeks I'll take up the stew suggestion.

Thanks again,
Tim

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

On Nov 16, 5:40*pm, cle63 > wrote:
> On Nov 14, 5:06*pm, Nicky > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:21:33 -0800 (PST), cle63 >
> > wrote:
>
> > >I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
> > >recipe (or method) suggestions. *We are looking at perhaps making
> > >perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
> > >freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
> > >freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
> > >fridge and put them in the oven.
>
> > When I go to see my father, I take down several pre-portioned servings
> > of stew, and also some pre-roasted beef with gravy, again in
> > individual servings. Something like meatloaf, or chicken casserole,
> > etc would work well here; the trick is to have something with liquid
> > so the food reheats well in the microwave. He is able to microwave
> > veggies as a side. This might do your mother for entree?
>
> > How about pre-packaged soups for lunch? Could she still do scrambled
> > eggs or an omelette for breakfast?
>
> > Nicky.
> > T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid
> > D&E, 150ug thyroxine
> > Last A1c 5.2% *BMI 26
>
> Thanks for the replies. *I made a large quantity of vegetable soup w/
> low sodium/fat chicken stock, various vegetables (spinach, zucchini,
> onion, leek), some lentils and some white beans. *Put this into some
> individual serving containers and froze them. *Also baked some salmon
> w/ dill and pepper and grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts w/
> various dry herb rubs. *Your tip about liquid when reheating is a good
> one and I think I'll suggest to my mom that she add some soup stock to
> the chicken breasts before reheating. *She can still do eggs and I
> brought her some egg whites and egg substitute. *I think in a couple
> weeks I'll take up the stew suggestion.
>
> Thanks again,
> Tim- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Hi,

I freeze a lot of meals and have discovered a few things. Vegetables
which are cooked seem not to fare too well with freezing and
reheating. But meats and gravy do very well. I make meat loaf in
a huge batch, bake it all at once, then portion it out into two or
three portion amounts, with the gravy, and freeze that. The gravy
seems to help it freeze better, since the amount that is exposed to
the air in the freezer is less. I thaw it in a pot slowly over a
low flame when we want to reuse it. It is easy to microwave a
potato and cook some canned or frozen vegetable to complete the
meal.

I will also roast a whole chicken, debone it, and put the meat into
the gravy and freeze that too. So there is another easy entree ready
to go.

Soups are excellent. They freeze well and home made is always better
than store bought.

Spaghetti sauce with meatballs also freeze well. I find that if I
make the meatballs with ground turkey they are better when frozen.

In the summer when stew beef is on sale in my local warehouse club, I
will buy it in a quantity, cook it up and put it with the cooking
liquid into containers. When it is time to serve it, I can just
thicken the liquid and serve it as Goulash or cook a bunch of root
vegetables and add the meat to make it beef stew.

Another goodie is pot roast. I make a pot roast, and when the meat
is tender I will take it out of the liquid and refrigerate the meat
overnight. Slice it the next morning and put it back into the liquid
in serving sized batches, and there is nicely sliced pot roast and
gravy ready to use.

Lasagna freezes very well. Eggplant parmigian freezes very well.

Those are just a few of the things I keep on hand ready to use at a
moments notice when guests show up unexpected, or when we need a meal
right away.

Hope these ideas helped.

Best,
Evelyn

Suggestion for simple menus AND make ahead & freeze sources
 

we do all of these and i agree with all you have written, Lee

--
Have a great day
"Evelyn" > wrote in message
...
On Nov 16, 5:40 pm, cle63 > wrote:
> On Nov 14, 5:06 pm, Nicky > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:21:33 -0800 (PST), cle63 >
> > wrote:
>
> > >I'm wondering if there i a source for make ahead and freeze diabetic
> > >recipe (or method) suggestions. We are looking at perhaps making
> > >perhaps 2-4 weeks of entrees (maybe sides as well) at a time and
> > >freezing them so that all my mom needs to do is take them out of the
> > >freezer and either pop them in the microwave or let them thaw in the
> > >fridge and put them in the oven.
>
> > When I go to see my father, I take down several pre-portioned servings
> > of stew, and also some pre-roasted beef with gravy, again in
> > individual servings. Something like meatloaf, or chicken casserole,
> > etc would work well here; the trick is to have something with liquid
> > so the food reheats well in the microwave. He is able to microwave
> > veggies as a side. This might do your mother for entree?
>
> > How about pre-packaged soups for lunch? Could she still do scrambled
> > eggs or an omelette for breakfast?
>
> > Nicky.
> > T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid
> > D&E, 150ug thyroxine
> > Last A1c 5.2% BMI 26
>
> Thanks for the replies. I made a large quantity of vegetable soup w/
> low sodium/fat chicken stock, various vegetables (spinach, zucchini,
> onion, leek), some lentils and some white beans. Put this into some
> individual serving containers and froze them. Also baked some salmon
> w/ dill and pepper and grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts w/
> various dry herb rubs. Your tip about liquid when reheating is a good
> one and I think I'll suggest to my mom that she add some soup stock to
> the chicken breasts before reheating. She can still do eggs and I
> brought her some egg whites and egg substitute. I think in a couple
> weeks I'll take up the stew suggestion.
>
> Thanks again,
> Tim- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Hi,

I freeze a lot of meals and have discovered a few things. Vegetables
which are cooked seem not to fare too well with freezing and
reheating. But meats and gravy do very well. I make meat loaf in
a huge batch, bake it all at once, then portion it out into two or
three portion amounts, with the gravy, and freeze that. The gravy
seems to help it freeze better, since the amount that is exposed to
the air in the freezer is less. I thaw it in a pot slowly over a
low flame when we want to reuse it. It is easy to microwave a
potato and cook some canned or frozen vegetable to complete the
meal.

I will also roast a whole chicken, debone it, and put the meat into
the gravy and freeze that too. So there is another easy entree ready
to go.

Soups are excellent. They freeze well and home made is always better
than store bought.

Spaghetti sauce with meatballs also freeze well. I find that if I
make the meatballs with ground turkey they are better when frozen.

In the summer when stew beef is on sale in my local warehouse club, I
will buy it in a quantity, cook it up and put it with the cooking
liquid into containers. When it is time to serve it, I can just
thicken the liquid and serve it as Goulash or cook a bunch of root
vegetables and add the meat to make it beef stew.

Another goodie is pot roast. I make a pot roast, and when the meat
is tender I will take it out of the liquid and refrigerate the meat
overnight. Slice it the next morning and put it back into the liquid
in serving sized batches, and there is nicely sliced pot roast and
gravy ready to use.

Lasagna freezes very well. Eggplant parmigian freezes very well.

Those are just a few of the things I keep on hand ready to use at a
moments notice when guests show up unexpected, or when we need a meal
right away.

Hope these ideas helped.

Best,
Evelyn