Planning special dinner for diabetic

[legend_018]

ahh don't know where to start. would like to make a special birthday dinner for a diabetic friend. any ideas on something that would make them leave thinking to themselves WOW that meal was great!!!!

 

[babetoo]

i often redo a cake recipe to use splendia instead of sugar. looks good and tastes good as well. you can use it measure for measure.

broiled steak , i like a fillet. now here is the tricky part, carbs. very very small serving of rice. go crazy and have two veggies. no corn or squash corn is very high in carbs. carbs are just as important as sugar. then serve cake with store bought no sugar added. most are tasty

i am a diabetic as well, we can eat most anything, just not so much of carbs.

 

[Claire]

What a lot of people don't know is that diabetes does not mean NO carbs, it means controlling the carbs. I would avoid using corn or peas as the vegetable. For the starch, that is to say potatoes, pasta, or rice, check your serving spoon and you'll be surprised at the content (is it a quarter cup or a half cup?). If your group is a desert loving group, then get into gear and find low sugar deserts. In my case, husband doesn't like deserts anyway, so I get off easy on that. But I make a great, old-fashioned, jello-cake that is delicious and is both low fat and almost sugarless. But for the most part, the diabetics I know need a controlled amount of carbs, and I can say, here, take this much, and it works.

 

[recipedirect]

When my diabetic friend comes in town we usually cook fish or some kind of protein with a couple green vegetables, usually something green like broccoli, spinach or brussel sprouts. Dessert we have a small amount of fresh fruit and some dark chocolate. Our friend is on a very strict diet and follows it to the letter. If you have pasta try the whole wheat version same as rice, try the brown rice.

 

[kadesma]

Pasta,rice be it brown or white are carbs and we need to remember to exchange for them or to weigh and measure them. They will raise blood glucose.
kadesma

 

[LPBeier]

I have been cooking for my Dad for quite awhile now (making him frozen dinners long before he moved in last year) and I do much of what is mentioned above. For desserts I find the Jello "low fat" puddings, which contain no sugar either are very tasty and we can even get no sugar added ice cream. But these are only treats, and I always watch the exchanges with the rest of the meal.

Lean proteins, green veggies and/or salad (watch the dressing) and I usually stick to high fiber bread products for his carbs (within reason of course), though we do have pasta and potatoes in great moderation.

He loves to tell the story of when he went to the dietitian years ago and he was happy to find out that vinegar was safe. The dietitian said "yes, you can have all the vinegar you want....on your one french fry!"

 

[ChefJune]

When you're choosing a vegetable, be sure to choose a low glycemic one, such as green beans. This kind of thing can do a lot to make the meal memorable when there are not a lot of spikes in blood sugar, it is a great day.

Us non-diabetics not know what that is like.

I never bake cakes for diabetics. NEVER. My aunt was one of the earliest diabetics in US, and I grew up watching what she chose to eat. Fruit Pies are easier to eat, and most folks like them just a swell.
Easier to adapt to the exchanges, by far.

And Splenda is not good for anyone, especially not diabetics.

 

[TheMamma]

My husband is diabetic and one of his favorite special meals is a pan seared steak (for special occasions I get a ribeye, other times I get a NY strip), and on the side sauteed squash and zucchini that has a can of fire roasted tomatoes and some basil in it, and green beans that are blanched and then quickly tossed in a sautee pan with some sliced shallot and garlic then hit with a shot of white wine.

There is also a really wonderful low carb pasta that's made by the brand Dreamfields. We love it.. it's a white pasta with only 4grams digestible carbs per serving. One of his other favorites is when I make lasange with the low carb pasta. As well as a yummy pasta dish with penne and steak, carrots, mushrooms and onions (Giada recipe).

For desserts he really likes flourless sugarless peanut butter cookies.. it's just a cup of peanut butter, a cup of splenda, an egg and a bit of vanilla. Roll it into balls, and then roll through a bit of splenda and flatten them with a fork. I can't remember how long you bake them,.. Paula Deen did them on her show once, she called the magical peanut butter cookies. I think it was about 10 min, though.

But most of the time he just takes some extra insulin and walks a few minutes on the treadmill so he can have a small piece of regular sugar based desserts. LOL

 

[trooper]

And Splenda is not good for anyone, especially not diabetics.

Nor is any other type of non-natural sugar product.
Most granulated (processed) sugar comes from beets and similar crops; Then Cane Sugar ("Sugar in the Raw") - They are 1:1 sweet:sugar

With these processed things, how do you think a body deals with 600:1 or 1200:1 concentrated sugars?

My policy is to only use whole milk, real sugar, ect... And let moderation and substitution bridge the gap (Use 1Tbls Whole Milk and 1Tbls Water for a 2Tbls ingredient for example.).

Lemon Juice and Vinegar salad dressing goes a long way for getting greens down. I think we are "cursed" as either sweet or savory impaired. I am a savory cook - Mrs. trooper is the sweet-tooth/baker/cookie-monster.

When my buddy, Brad, a diabetic, came to dinner, we made some fajita-style fresh veggies, lean seared beef and chicken, and our starch was a fresh flour tortilla. (Moderation) - limited the salt and served fresh fruit and full-fat, natural vanilla ice cream for desert. I have found that the little things make a meal, like a variety of small garnish and classic garde manager-esq presentation of fruit/veggie servings. Diabetics eat with their eyes, just as anyone else - so the presentation/experience is as valued as the meal.

 

[Alix]

Hey legend_018, you've had a lot of advice here and lots of it is really great stuff.

My only suggestion is to allow your friend to serve her/himself the portions. If you put out a meal that has the protein, carb, veggies separated for the most part then your friend will be able to take as little or as much as they wish. They've been doing this a long time and honestly, they will know what to take and what not to take.

Serve a lean meat, serve a pasta or a rice product (potatoes are a glycemic index no no for many diabetics), and serve a cooked veggie that has little "extras" on it. Serve a fresh salad with the dressing on the side, perhaps offer a choice of dressings (I am a heathen and put the bottles out so anyone who wishes can read the nutritional info on them).

If dessert is your bugaboo might I suggest an angel food cake frosted with either a fruity yogurt, or fresh fruit and a bit of whipped cream on the side?Your friend will be able to have some, and will be able to tell you how much of everything they can have.

I'd just like to say that I think you are really wonderful to care so much about your friend and to try to make them something so special.

 

[ChefJune]

Alix, my aunt absolutely could not have angel food or any other cake. The combination of carbs and sugar could have been real trouble. Pies, on the other hand, have lots less of carbs and the eater can avoid the crust if they wish, and the amount of sugar or sweetener added to the fruit can be legislated easily, as well.

 

[kadesma]

Alix, my aunt absolutely could not have angel food or any other cake. The combination of carbs and sugar could have been real trouble. Pies, on the other hand, have lots less of carbs and the eater can avoid the crust if they wish, and the amount of sugar or sweetener added to the fruit can be legislated easily, as well.

June, I'm diabetic and I find certain foods drive my Blood Glucose over the moon. Theres I tend to stay away from. Years ago they were strict about sweets, now the rules have changed. Sugar can be eaten if we count carbs. If I want a piece of pie or cake or even a scoop of ice cream I trade carbs no potato, pasta or rice. Only protein, a big salad and a veggie and then I can have a small sensible serving of dessert. Life is much easier for us now. Of couse with insulin usage you can pretty much have what you want, but it's best to be careful weight gain is always looking over your shoulder
kades

 

[Alix]

Alix, my aunt absolutely could not have angel food or any other cake. The combination of carbs and sugar could have been real trouble. Pies, on the other hand, have lots less of carbs and the eater can avoid the crust if they wish, and the amount of sugar or sweetener added to the fruit can be legislated easily, as well.

June, its different for every diabetic. Thats why I suggested putting it out there and allowing the diabetic to serve themselves. They are accustomed to the exchanges they require. The dietician I work with says much the same as kadesma, you can have nearly anything you want as long as you account for it correctly.

Edit: Pie can be problematic in that you have no clue how much sugar sometimes is used in the filling. The crust you can almost always calculate though. A boxed angel food cake will have the carbs listed and the fiber as well.

 

[Claire]

Alix, I was just about to write pretty much what you did. Find out what being diabetic means for your guest. It can mean different things for different bodies. I've had friends who had to severely curb carbs, in my husband's case he visited a dietician and came up with breakfast and lunch of 30 grams, supper of 60, and 20 gram snacks. All in all, I think he wound up eating more carbs than he ate previously, just spreading them out over the day, eating more fresh fruit and whole grains in his snacks, avoiding any spikes and hollows in his blood sugar counts. He's so far able to control it with diet, but he's pretty strict with himself. Some people mistakenly believe (to include at least one friend who was also diagnosed recently, but didn't go to the dietician) that it means trying to cut out as many carbs as possible. For my husband it was all about balance, but for others it may mean something else. So ... just be blunt and ask your guest. I agree with the suggestion a couple of you came up with of keeping the sides, meats, desert, appetizers separate so that the guest can choose what s/he knows what s/he is taking and modify accordingly (I try to do this whenever I know a guest has food issues, especially if they are an issue that can truly hurt them. In other words, no lasagna, rather a pasta with a separate salad, meat, and sauce, with cheese on the side. Don't get me wrong, I make a mean lasagna and make it at least annually, it just isn't a meal I'd make if I had to worry about lactose intolerance, vegetarians, vegans,diverticulitis, diabetes, food allergies, etc.) When that happens I make it easy for those who cannot have certain foods to simply avoid them. I don't go out of my way to cater to their needs (in other words if you can't stand to watch anyone else eat meat, don't eat at my house, but if it is just that you don't want to eat it, just skip that dish and I'll make sure there is enough of the sides for you to be able to make a complete meal. My husband can easily at friends' houses, eyeball the starch and know how much he can eat.