How do you manage meals when you have a family

[Rosieroo]

Hi all
I have type 2 possible 1.5 diabetes . I have a 14 month little.
I wondered how people manage meal planning when they have children/families to feed .

My little boy is not the best eater when it comes to variety he mainly loves rice or pasta all the things I can't eat. I feed him at 5 and then eat with his daddy in the evening . I would like to eat with my little boy as I think this would help with his eating , if he sees me eating he will also eat idea. We do try and do this at the weekend the three of us have a roast dinner which I ca usually eat cos I'll have chicken and veg just miss out the potatoes and any high carbs.

I'm struggling to make meals we can all eat which are good for my diabetes I feel like I'm cooking separately .

How do others manage it including finding the time - I work and don't have a lot of time to cook etc , once little one is put to bed I don't wanna be cooking late at night . I do batch cook some meals for my little boy but again it's things like pastas and rice which I can freeze for him
Any advice would be great

 

[Jo123]

I had the same issue, although my children were older at the time.
Mine both loved spag bog and lasagne and I would give them lasagne or spag bog, and I would just have the bolognaise with vegetables.
They loved stir fry I would have it with no noodles.
Roasted veg, but I would do a separate with the higher carb veggies.
Casseroles, obviously with no potates or dumplings for me.
Mine used to love carbonara from a very young age, I just had mine on a plate of veg rather than pasta.

I worked part time and definitely didn't want the aggravation of cooking two dinners.

 

[azure]

I eat with my children We eat 5.30/6. I used to plan out meals on a weekly planner but haven't had time to do that with a toddler myself.

I cook meals where I can count my carbs easily - eg instead of making a sauce that contains oasta or noodles, I keep the carbs separate then add them to the plate when I serve up. That way I can have the amount of carbs I want. I also make sure to cook fresh veg every day - healthy and filling

I like to focus on my children and adapt whatever I cook if I need to for myself.

Not related but when will you get your final diagnosis? If you are Type 1.5 that might affect the way you eat anyway.

 

[Rosieroo]

Thank you for your replies they are very helpful.

Well I'm back to the specialist on the 15th March. TBH they did tell me a few months back that it was 1.5 but didn't say much apart from i will eventually need insulin. They sent of for further tests for rarer types . I'm actually quite confused by it all the specialist I see isn't the most easy to talk to. I'm on a lot of meds which I don't like either .
I

 

[Diakat]

I just carb count mine. Although we often have 3 different meals as I don't eat meat but family do.

 

[Kristin251]

My kids are gone now but when they visit I make the protein and veggies for us all. Then I make a starch for them. Lots of times I'll make big batch of garlic rosemary sweet potatoes for my daughter and freeze. For my sons, I'll make a big batch of cheese and bacon mashed potatoes and scoop onto a baking dish with an ice cream scoop and freeze. After frozen they go into a baggies. Then they can all heat and eat as desired. Saves me loads of time in the kitchen.
I would imagine you could freeze rice balls too. Pasta freezes as well. Or you could make a few days worth at a time and eat until gone.

I just eat the protein and veggies. If there's a sauce I put it on one of those two. Things like casseroles and lasagna etc are much harder to judge.

 

[azure]

Thank you for your replies they are very helpful.

Well I'm back to the specialist on the 15th March. TBH they did tell me a few months back that it was 1.5 but didn't say much apart from i will eventually need insulin. They sent of for further tests for rarer types . I'm actually quite confused by it all the specialist I see isn't the most easy to talk to. I'm on a lot of meds which I don't like either .
I

If you feel you're not getting the answers you want, you could try speaking to a DSN or to your GP. It could be that the specialist doesn't want to say too much until the further tests come back, but you shoukd feel you can ask all the questions you need and get satisfactory answers.

 

[Chook]

My daughter has long flown the next but when I'm cooking for either just me and my husband or a larger group I will cook things that I can eat. I did this over Christmas several times and nobody noticed the missing carbs. I even made a low carb Christmas cake that was a huge hit.

I think if I had a littlie at home all the time I'd cook a meal that we all can eat and then add the carb rather than cooking separate meals.

 

[Christine McMillan]

Ask to go on an XPERT course if you can. Six x 2hr courses with others, we met a wide variety of people and the practice nurse (we were ftom all over the toen) could answer everything, even a fsmily with differnt types of diabetes, and peole from a variety of cultures, and being practice nurse could deal with medication questions.

 

[vintageutopia]

I have three kids 11, 10, 3. They eat what I eat, but maybe a few extra carbs.

If breakfast is eggs and bacon, I may add a slice of toast for them.

I eat my yogurt plain, but add fruit to theirs.

For lunch, I eat my delight rolled into lettuce, but may include bread with theirs.

For dinner, we all eat meat and vegetables. I may add fruit for a dessert.

They definitely eat more carbs than I do, but still a reduced carb diet. I don't believe the extra carbs are good for them either.

 

[Enclave]

I would just try the rest of your family on the same as you are eating .. carbs are not essential in anyones diet if you get the balance between low carb and highish fats right ..
Having said this .. I am vegetarian and think the LCHF way of eating must be easer for vegetarians

 

[Christine McMillan]

Ask to go on an XPERT course if you can. Six x 2hr courses with others, we met a wide variety of people and the practice nurse (we were ftom all over the toen) could answer everything, even a fsmily with differnt types of diabetes, and peole from a variety of cultures, and being practice nurse could deal with medication questions.

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8f4c380c118631a44cbf1553e&id=9e17f83036&e=0b030893d0 is, I hope, a link to the X-pert spring newsletter.

 

[Christine McMillan]

Phew, yes!! It worked.

 

[Mongolia]

I bought a cook book that may be of interest https://www.waterstones.com/book/ty...kbook/vickie-de-beer/kath-megaw/9781910904978. It is a collection of recipes written by a mum for her diabetic son, so the recipes are both child and diabetic friendly eg beef burgers, fishcakes, sausage 'pasta' sauce, fish fingers, pancakes and a variety of cakes.

 

[Christine McMillan]

If its on Kindle, I'll look for it. You isn't get kindle screens as grubby as recipe book pages!