Spag Bol For Dinner

Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,

I am doing spaghetti bolognese for family dinner tonight. I have always used jars of tomatoe based bolognese sauce. I have just noticed on jar that a serving of this is 9.8g sugar. Having had spaghetti hoops on toast at lunch time they sent my bgc readings high so i dont want to make same mistake again tonight. My question is has anyone any ideas on how to get around this as I am not that good at making meals without using Jars.

Thanks
 

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It's not the sauce that is the problem, it's the pasta. And bread. The combination of spaghetti hoops and toast is likely to send any diabetics BG skywards.
 
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Messages
6,107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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It's always the rice or the pasta in a meal which we should have less of or avoid altogether. People spend a lot of time finding alternatives i.e. cauliflower instead of rice. I tried it and it was fine but I wanted to go further so I made a curry and had it with stir fry veg. This was really good so I am wondering what would happen if you replace the spag bit with stir fry, one with lots of bean shoots in. Crunchy stir bol sounds like it's worth a try. You can get the stir fry stuff in a bag in Tesco.
 
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Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
It's not the sauce that is the problem, it's the pasta. And bread. The combination of spaghetti hoops and toast is likely to send any diabetics BG skywards.
Thanks Totto I know lol I wont be caught out like that again it just goes to show when i was on slimming world and weight watchers they were encouraging us to eat things like this to lose weight. Looks like I need to get re educated on my food stuffs.
 
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
It's always the rice or the pasta in a meal which we should have less of or avoid altogether. People spend a lot of time finding alternatives i.e. cauliflower instead of rice. I tried it and it was fine but I wanted to go further so I made a curry and had it with stir fry veg. This was really good so I am wondering what would happen if you replace the spag bit with stir fry, one with lots of bean shoots in. Crunchy stir bol sounds like it's worth a try. You can get the stir fry stuff in a bag in Tesco.
Thanks Squire I love stir frys and am already having at least 3 a week so I am trying to get a bit of variety in too but great idea. I am making small changes as I go along wholewheat and wholemeal instead of white. My biggest problem is controlling my portion sizes. Its early days for me just yet so I guess it will take a while to get things balancing out.
 

Etty

Well-Known Member
Messages
367
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
Hi Kerry,

It might be an idea to print out food lists and put them up on your fridge, just to be clear. Diet Doctor's 3 lists are "eat all you want", "avoid" and "only a little". You can see them on the page linked to above. Many of us here follow his advice.

I've got used to eating Bolognese in a bowl without pasta. Just make it a little less "saucy" with lots of cheese on top.

If you don't want to go cold turkey with bread and pasta, it would be better to cut your portion in half. Switching to wholegrains really won't make much difference. Wholegrain bread has high carbs too.
 
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Reactions: 4 people
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
Hi Kerry,

It might be an idea to print out food lists and put them up on your fridge, just to be clear. Diet Doctor's 3 lists are "eat all you want", "avoid" and "only a little". You can see them on the page linked to above. Many of us here follow his advice.

I've got used to eating Bolognese in a bowl without pasta. Just make it a little less "saucy" with lots of cheese on top.

If you don't want to go cold turkey with bread and pasta, it would be better to cut your portion in half. Switching to wholegrains really won't make much difference. Wholegrain bread has high carbs too.
Thanks Etty the food lists will be a great help. Whats the story with cheese? I have been avoiding it as I have to lose the weight as well. How much is generally ok?
 

Enclave

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
2,602
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
The wife uses thinly sliced (using the redundant potato peeler) courgette, adding then a few minutes before serving .. then you don't miss the pasta ..
She cooks our vegetarian spag bol .. for the sauce she will gentle fry a finely chopped onion in olive oil .. then she adds lots of different mushrooms (if your not a veggie I guess this would be meat not mushrooms) ... and vegetable stock cube, bouquet Garni, and a bay leaf. Garlic can be added if you like it.. Then add a small squeeze of tomato paste ..and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Simmer for about a good half hour .. then when the sauce thickens .. add shredded fresh basel and a goo slug or two of olive oil. ..then add the courgette just before serving .. remember to remove the
bouquet Garni and bay leaf, before serving ... a good heap of finely grated cheese to top and serve with a crunchy fresh salad ... no need for jars .. just a tin LOL!

When you low carb .. you need to cook with a set of scales in one hand and a calculator in the other ... but only till you get the hang of things.. The high fat part is mostly throwing away all the low fat foods you have (they are full of sugar) and replace them with full fat ones .. You need the fat as you are not getting energy from carbs now .. I have about 30g of carbs a day ... so remember if you eat fats then your body will not need to store fats ... forget weight watchers ... and read ... supermarket web sites are good for working out carbs .. they show the full carb content that you need to count ... NOT just the sugar part ..carbs turn to sugar when you eat them .... This includes whole grains ..pasta ..potatoes .. rice .. cereals, bread ..you will soon get the hang of it .... Don't count the calories for now ..just the carbs
hope this helps I have lost 5st in 18 months with the low carb high fat way of eating
 
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Etty

Well-Known Member
Messages
367
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight
Hi Kerry--
I love cheese too, and eat it two or three times a day. You can eat full fat cheese in reasonable amounts.
If you find yourself snacking on large quantities, you have to use your common sense. Calories do matter-- but the diet works, not by forcibly restricting calories, but by lowering your appetite. You just won't be as hungry (once you adapt), and so will eat less without too much effort or discomfort.
Some systems put a limit of 4 oz per day-- that's a lot more than I would eat!
Eat what you like within the food guidelines, and give some time to settle. then see where you are. This isn't a quick fix, but a lifetime plan for good health.
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Courgette spaghetti is lovely.

Make your own with a spiraliser, or Tescos do it ready made, 2 portions for a £1.

We started off with the premade stuff to try it, but its astonishingly easy to make.
 
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Celeriac

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,065
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Another thing you can try is konjac pasta which is pretty much carb free. It is a bit chewier than pasta though and I wouldn't suggest giving it to kids safety thing.

Also you need to work out the total carbs for the jar then divide by number of people eating to get an accurate pic of how carby a sauce portion is - you can compare sauces on supermarket websites.

Pasta sauces are pretty easy to make, it's the fancy Indian, Chinese and Thai which are more difficult IMO.