8) THE RECOMMENDED DIABETES DIET
f) Recipes
This is just a few of the recipes we can recommend:
Moroccan Chicken Stew
It is very difficult to properly cook chicken breasts as they should only hit only 160 to 180 degree F. If chicken goes to boiling point of water, 212 degrees F, it gets tough and stringy. We personally buy whole roasters precooked at the store and remove all the white meat to add to this recipe. Note that dark meat chicken and chicken skin is just as bad as beef for saturated fats, only white meat chicken is any good for individuals with type 2 diabetes.A whole chicken or four chicken breasts
1 sweet onion, sliced and diced (or a package of frozen diced onion)
2 large lemons
2 tbls diced garlic
10 chopped green olives
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
one half cup water
Cook the chicken till tender. Remove only cooked white meat from the chicken, break into small pieces the size of a quarter or smaller. Discard skin and dark meat or feed to another in the family. Set aside chicken. Grate the skin off of the two lemons with a medium grater and discard the bodies (note that graters turn dull very rapidly). Set aside grated lemon skin. Fry diced onion in one tablespoon canola oil until browning is observed, keep stirring while frying to prevent burning. Once the onions are browned, add one half cup water to onions and heat till boiling. Stir in lemon gratings, seasoning, olives and garlic and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken and eat as a stew. Makes four servings.
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat Chicken 0 gms 200 0 gms 40 gms 6gms Olives 0 gms 21 0 gms 0 gms 2 gms Oil and Onions 8 gms 100 2 gms 0 gms 4 gms Subtotal 6 gms 414 2 gms 40 gms 12gms Per Serving 1.5 gms 104 0.5 gms 10 gms 3 gms If you leave out the canola oil and simply simmer the onions in one cup of water until they are clear and soft, the amount of fat goes down by 1 gram and the calories drop by 25. And the flavor isn't that much different. Onions contain relatively large amount of sugar and browning them simply carmelizes a small amount of the sugar, adding a little carmel flavor and driving off a small amount of the bitterness. Connoisseurs will tell you the flavoring of browning and sateeing is essential to good flavor, we've found that not to be true. Our "uneducated" taste buds can't tell the difference, and skipping the steps saves dishwashing time.
Beans
There are three basic types of bean recipes: Baked, Chili, and Cuban. They have three different flavors: sweet (baked), hot (chili) and tart or sour (Cuban). They are all excellent foods for people with type 2 diabetes, especially if they are homemade. Pre-made canned versions all have problems with sugar added, salt added, cornstarch added, fat added, or overcooked meat ("poisoned protein" or AGEs).
Sugar Free Baked Beans
While chili beans and Cuban beans are most easily made with canned beans with no loss of taste, the tastiest baked beans are made from scratch with dried beans. For baked beans from scratch, start with a two pound bag(s) of dried navy, northern or pinto beans. Sort out any bad beans. Rinse the beans, set aside. In a slow cooker or crock-pot add:two cups of artificial sweetener which can be used for baking (Splenda™, SucraPlus™, Altern™ etc.),
three tbls dark ("robust") molasses (the main flavoring ingredient in "Boston" baked beans)
two tbls maple flavor
two tbls Worcestershire sauce
three cans condensed chicken broth
six cups of waterStir the flavoring mixture thoroughly, then put the two pounds of dried beans in the crock-pot. Because the beans can sometimes absorb the flavoring liquid relatively fast the flavoring liquid needs to be added to the crock-pot prior to the beans. Stir and let it sit overnight (in the alternative you can simmer the flavoring liquid and beans for one hour). With some beans the flavoring ingredients retard the adsorption of the liquid so simmering the beans for two hours might be necessary. Don't be surprised if you need to keep adding water to keep the beans under water, they absorb a lot of the flavoring liquid. Then add to the beans in the crock-pot:
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce (not catsup, too much sugar in catsup)
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tbls American style prepared yellow mustard
Make sure the liquid level is at least equal to the bean level. Cover and cook on low (180 to 210 degrees) for 6 to 10 hours, or until most of the beans turn from cream to light brown. If you like your baked beans firm, stop the cooking when only a few of the beans have started to turn light brown. Check and stir every once and awhile and make sure the fluid level is even with the bean level and that the beans don't get too thick. Add water as necessary. When the cooking is done, turn off heat, add 2 tbls vanilla and stir well. This will make a lot of baked beans, so freeze or refrigerate what you don't need in small microwavable containers for individual meals.
In the alternative, six cans of canned "raw" beans can be drained of liquid, added to the other ingredients in a crock-pot and cooked on low for 4 to 6 hours. The beans won't be quite as flavorful but it's still good. In another even easier alternative, six cans of canned baked beans can be drained of liquid (the liquid contains most of the added sugar in canned baked beans), rinsed in water, added to the other ingredients in a crock-pot and cooked on low for 1 to 2 hours (remove the chunks of ham hock). These precanned baked beans will have only slightly more sugar than the other two varieties.
Note that this recipe does not use oils, ham, bacon, sugar or salt , all ingredients in most baked beans which are not ideal for individuals with type 2 diabetes. It does contain molasses, but the amount is small considering what it adds to the flavor (the flavor is improved by adding more molasses but the simple carbohydrates just start getting too high). Note also that most beans have glycemic indexes between 30 and 40. Because baked beans have been cooked so long, their glycemic index is up at 48, so only eat a small amount (one cup) at any time. Typically makes about 13 one cup (8 ounce) servings:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 2 lbs beans 572 gms 2340 182 gms 208 gms 0 gms 2 cups onion 24 gms 120 3 gms 0 gms 0 gms 15 oz tomato sauce 28 gms 140 7 gms 3 gms 0 gms 3 tbls Dark Molasses 45 gm 180 0 gms 0 gms 0 gms Correction for Fiber - 192 gms - 768 Subtotal 477 gms 2012 192 gms 211 gms 0 gms Total (Subtotal Divided by 13) 41 gms 155 15 gms 16 gms 0 gms Compare this to 8 ounces Campbell's Pork and Beans:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 8 oz of Beans 46 gms 255 13 gms 11 gms 3 gms Correction for Fiber - 13 gms - 48 Total 43 gms 207 13 gms 11 gms 3 gms The difference is largely due to about 9 gms high fructose corn syrup being the second ingredient in the Campbell's Pork and Beans. Because high fructose corn syrup raises the blood sugar levels very rapidly we cannot reccomend Campbell's Pork and Beans for someone with type 2 diabetes. All the other Baked Beans we've examined in the supermarket have the same problem, most even worse than Campbell's. The only way to eat them is to rinse off the sugary syrup and add a sugarless syrup along the lines of the recipe above.
Compare this to a single 11 ounce can Campbell's Bean Soup:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 11 oz of Beans 62 gms 420 20 gms 20 gms 10 gms Correction for Fiber - 20 gms - 80 Total 42 gms 340 20 gms 20 gms 10 gms The problem here is the large amount of fat and calories contributed by the bacon in the soup.
Vegetarian Bean Chili
Take three 15 oz cans of red kidney beans and pour the beans and liquid into a crock-pot, including the thick settled bean residue in the bottom of the cans. For a "mild" bean chili, add to the beans in the crock-pot:2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 cups finely chopped onion
4 tbls chili powder
4 tbls of artificial sweetener which can be used for baking (Splenda™, SucraPlus™, Altern™ etc.)
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
If you like your bean chili really hot, add the following additional ingredients:
4 tbls chili powder
1 cup nacho sliced and diced jalapeno peppers (ethnic section of the supermarket)
1 tbls black pepper
2 tsp powdered red pepper
Of course by reducing the amount of these additional ingredients a whole gradient of mild to hot bean chilis can be produced. If one member of the family likes it mild and one likes it hot, add tobasco or any other hot pepper sauce at the table.
Cover and cook on low (180 to 210 degrees) for 6 to 8 hours (the longer bean chili is cooked the better it tastes). Check and stir every once and awhile and make sure the that the bean chili doesn't get too thick (it can burn). Add water as necessary. When twenty minutes of cooking remains, add the remaining herbs:
1 tbls cumin
1 tbls ground garlic powder
1 tbls mild paprika powderFreeze or refrigerate what you don't need in small microwavable containers for individual meals. Some people like to add a diced green bell pepper to the mix (Wendy's Chili uses green bell peppers). We don't like green bell pepper as it tends to "take over" the flavor. Note that this recipe does not use oils, ham, bacon or salt , all ingredients in most chilis which are not ideal for individuals with type 2 diabetes. We do not recommend initially adding any meat, Tofu, or Texturized Vegetable Protein to bean chili as the long cooking time insures the creation of a lot of detrimental AGEs (Advance Gycyation Endproducts or "poisoned proteins"). If someone wants to add meat, it should be cooked separately and added to the bean chili just before serving it or putting it in containers. Diced white meat chicken makes a good last minute addition. This recipe typically makes about 8 one cup (8 ounce) servings:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 45 oz kidney beans 178 gms 945 63 gms 63 gms 0 gms 2 cups onion 24 gms 120 3 gms 0 gms 0 gms 30 oz tomatoes 53 gms 270 14 gms 6 gms 0 gms Correction for Fiber - 80 gms - 320 Subtotal 175 gms 1015 80 gms 69 gms 0 gms Total (Subtotal Divided by 8) 22 gms 127 10 gms 9 gms 0 gms Compare this to 8 ounces Hormel Vegetarian Chili with Beans:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 8 oz of Chili 38 gms 255 10 gms 12 gms 1 gms Correction for Fiber - 10 gms - 40 Total 28 gms 215 10 gms 12 gms 1 gms Canned Hormel Vegetarian Chili with Beans is a decent food for anyone with type 2 diabetes but not as good as homemade. If you add turkey to the Hormel Chile (canned "Turkey with Beans, 99% fat free") then the numbers become:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 8 oz of Chili 38 gms 210 6 gms 17 gms 3 gms Correction for Fiber - 6 gms - 24 Total 32 gms 186 6 gms 17 gms 3 gms Still not a bad food for an individual with type 2 diabetes.
Compare this to 8 ounces (small) Wendy's Chili:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 8 oz of Chili 21 gms 200 7 gms 17 gms 6 gms Correction for Fiber - 7 gms - 28 Total 14 gms 215 7 gms 17 gms 6 gms This "fast food" chili may well be the best chili for someone with type 2 diabetes! Then again the numbers suggest it just might be the one with the highest percentage of water in it. And this chili has hamburger in it which has been fried and then cooked for a long time, meaning it has a lot of detrimental "poisoned proteins" (AGEs or Advanced Glycation End-products).
Cuban Beans
Put in a blender:1 red bell pepper (remove seeds and cut into one inch squares)
1 green bell pepper (remove seeds and cut into one inch squares)Then add the following to the blender for mildly tart Cuban beans:
five tbls lime juice
one 7 oz can MEDIUM HOT green salsa (tamatillo salsa or salsa verde from the ethnic section of the supermarket, made with tamatillos and jalapeno peppers)Of course by increasing the amount of these additional ingredients a whole gradient of mild to very tart Cuban beans can be produced. The red salsa below can also be replaced with green salsa for added tang. For families with varying tastes just put a bottle of lime juice on the table and flavor to taste. Note that there are varieties of green and red salsa made with habanera peppers which are very hot; avoid using these as an ingredient unless you are a masochist. Blend these ingredients into a puree in the blender. Drain the liquid from three cans of black beans into a cup and set aside. Add the puree to the following in a crock-pot:
3 cans drained black beans
2 cups finely chopped onion
6 bay leaves
Cover and cook on low (180 to 210 degrees) for 4 to 6 hours. Check and stir every once and awhile and make sure that the beans doesn't get too thick (they can burn). Add water as necessary. Then add seasoning twenty minutes before stopping the cooking:saved liquid from three cans of black beans
one 7 oz can medium Mexican red salsa (tomato, onion, jalapeno pepper, cilantro)
2 tbls ground garlic (or puree several cloves fresh garlic in blender)
one chopped bunch fresh cilantro
five tbls of defrosted frozen orange juice CONCENTRATE (it is a lot cheaper than orange flavoring)
1 tbls ground cumin
1 tsp oreganoYou can add this seasoning to the already used blender and blend. This is an easy way to chop the cilantro. Note also that some people have a genetic inherited dislike for the taste of cilantro, it tastes really bad to them. So have each family member chomp on a leaf before adding it to these beans. Freeze or refrigerate what you don't need in small microwavable containers for individual meals. Take out the bay leaves as you find them prior to putting in individual containers for storage. Makes about 8 servings.
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 45 oz black beans 200 gms 1050 52 gms 63 gms 5 gms 2 cups onion 24 gms 120 3 gms 0 gms 0 gms 2 bell peppers 14 gms 60 4 gms 0 gms 0 gms Correction for Fiber - 59 gms - 236 Subtotal 179 gms 994 59 gms 63 gms 5 gms Total (Subtotal Divided by 8) 22 gms 124 7 gms 8 gms 0.6 gms
Vegetable SoupThere is no single recipe for vegetable soup for people with type 2 diabetes. There are some things to avoid. Avoid potatoes, rice, red meats, sausage, noodles and pasta in any form. We avoid the following because their strong flavor can "take over" the flavor of the vegetables: sage, savory, rosemary, garlic, leeks, and bell peppers. We prefer to put in a crock-pot a base of:
3 cans of condensed chicken broth
two cups onions
Cook until the onions turn clear. Then just add to a crock-pot any vegetables you want and simmer, just observing the varied cooking times (for instance, raw sliced carrots can require two hours to soften while zucchini is soft in fifteen minutes and lima beans from a can are soft right out of the can). Celery, carrots, peas, kernel corn, lima beans, string beans, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, etc. are all good candidates. Be sure and add enough water to cover the vegetables. For the last twenty minutes of cooking add the seasoning ingredients:one tsp lemon juice
one tbsp butter flavor
one bunch fresh chopped basil (fresh chopped basil makes anything taste good)
one half tsp celery seeds (not the cheaper celery salt)
one fourth tsp white pepper
one tsp ground nutmeg
one tsp ground tarragon
one fourth tsp ground thyme
one tbls of artificial sweetener which can be used for baking (Splenda™, SucraPlus™, Altern™ etc.)White meat chicken can be added, just cook it separately, cut it into bite sized pieces, and stir into the soup after the heat has been turned off to the soup. Note that the last six seasoning ingredients can be mixed in bulk and just stored in a jar, using two tablespoons of the soup seasoning mixture when needed. Note that commercial pre-prepared seasoning mixtures tend to be heavy on cheaper spices (in some cases even including fillers such as wheat flour and corn starch) and lighter on some of the better more expensive spices. So make your own spice mixes.
Tuna Bean Spinach Salad
"Healthiest Food Imaginable" If all the research is to be believed, this is probably the best food you can eat:2 medium bags fresh spinach
1 fifteen oz can red kidney beans
1 five oz can albacore tuna fish packaged in water
Dressing, tangy raspberry vinaigrette:
a, half a cup of vinegar
b, one cup water
c, one fourth of a cup of refrigerated flax seed oil (health food store)
d, 1 tsp lemon juice.
e, two tbls artificial sweetener
f, one tube of raspberry sugar free drink
g, spices to taste: 1 tbls oregano, 1 tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp thyme, 1 tsp basil, 2 tbls ground garlic (I personally double the garlic), 2 tbls ground onion, 1 tsp marjoram,
Mix up the dressing the night before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator (it is even better if it sits for weeks before use). Chop up the fresh spinach or just tear the leaves into small pieces with the hands. Rinse off 15 oz can of kidney beans in a strainer, add to spinach. Decant the juice from a 5 oz can of chunk white albacore (must be albacore!) tuna and add to spinach. Pour on some dressing (typically about half a cup for two bags spinach). Mix it all together and eat. Note that the chopped spinach with dressing on it does not last more than one day in the refrigerator before becoming soggy, so cut the recipe accordingly for the number of servings. If dieting the flax seed oil can be left out. Makes about four servings of salad and 16 servings of dressing:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 2 bags Fresh Spinach 12 gms 80 8 gms 8 gms 0 gms 15 oz kidney beans 59 gms 315 21 gms 21 gms 0 gms 5 oz can of tuna 0 gms 120 0 gms 24 gms 2 gms about 1 oz flax seed oil 0 gms 255 0 gms 0 gms 28 gms Correction for Fiber - 29 gms - 116 Subtotal 42 gms 654 Total (subtotal divided by 4) 10 gms 164 29 gms 53 gms 30 gms Without the flaxseed oil the breakdown becomes much more favorable, illustrating how badly any oil or fat can sabatoge any weight loss diet.
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 2 bags Fresh Spinach 12 gms 80 8 gms 8 gms 0 gms 15 oz kidney beans 59 gms 315 21 gms 21 gms 0 gms 5 oz can of tuna 0 gms 120 0 gms 24 gms 2 gms Correction for Fiber - 29 gms - 116 Subtotal 42 gms 399 Total (subtotal divided by 4) 10 gms 100 29 gms 53 gms 2 gms
A Very Rich Yogurt
It is made up of:32 oz container all natural fat free yogurt
two 8 oz fat free cream cheese packages
2 tbls vanilla flavor
1 tbls butter flavor
1 cup of artificial sweetener (sweeteners where one teaspoon of sweetener equals one teaspoon of regular sugar).This is a very rich desert. First dice up the cream cheese into one inch squares. Then all the ingredients are simply blended at medium speed in a blender, then poured into containers and refrigerated. The carbohydrates here are largely lactose or milk sugar, which is very slow to digest. So this is a decent food for a person with diabetes to eat within their carbohydrate control plan. Many variations of this recipe are possible, for instance, one of the cream cheese packages can be replaced by frozen cherries, raspberries, blueberries or strawberries (be sure and defrost the fruit before adding). If you don't like cream cheese, eliminate it from the recipe and make fat free sugar free yogurts by adding the fruit and artificial sweetener yourself. The more cream cheese there is in this mix the higher the calorie count per container (the cream cheese has a much lower volume to calorie ratio than the other ingredients). Makes six one cup (8 ounce) servings. The breakdown using one package of cream cheese and a berry fruit is:
Net Carbs calories Fiber Protein Fat 32 oz Pure Yogurt 64 gms 440 0 gms 44 gms 0 gms one 8 oz package Cream Cheese 16 gms 240 0 gms 32 gms 0 gms Bag of Frozen Berries 51 gms 210 15 gms 3 gms 0 gms Correction for Fiber - 15 gms - 60 Subtotal 116 gms 830 15 gms 77 gms 0 gms Total (subtotal divided by 6) 19 gms 138 4 gms 13 gms 0 gms Note that it is very difficult to find all natural yogurts which don't contain either high fructose corn syrup, saturated fat, or corn starch. A person with type 2 diabetes is pretty well limited to making it on their own.
These are just a very few recipes that illustrate how it is possible to change existing recipes into recipes which are safe for someone with type 2 diabetes. This ebook is not meant as a cookbook. There are many websites with thousands of very good recipes on them. Some of the websites list the calories, fat content, protein content, carbohydrate content and fiber content of each recipe. For anyone with type 2 diabetes the best foods are those with low calories, low carbohydrates and high fiber. Take a recipe you like and:
1, replace sugars and starches with artificial sweeteners.
2, remove fats where ever possible.
3, replace well cooked red meat with lightly cooked white meat chicken or turkey.
4, don't add salt, replacing it with spice mixtures.
5, use lots of high fiber vegetables and beans
6, avoid the "white stuff", potatoes, rice, flour, corn meal, etc.
One site we can recommend for recipes amenable to modification is recipes.sparkpeople.com/great-recipes.asp.
Next Chapter: 9) CONTROLLING BLOOD SUGAR WITH DIET
a) Blood Sugar Control
b) Individualized Reactions
c) What a Diary Tells a Person with Diabetes
d) Protein Poisoning by Fruit Sugar
e) What are "Acceptable Fruits
f) Other Sugars
g) Best Mix of Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats
h) Low Carbohydrate Diets
i) Fitting the Diet to the Individual
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