Cooking for my diabetic Nana - 2,000 cal, low carb, low sodium, low fat, diet, diabetes friendly meals.

[Sandwich_Sister]

My grandma (Nana) is on a 2,000 calorie heart friendly diet, she has heart problems and diabetes. She can cook for herself when she gets better. She's newly out of the hospital. but for now we are trying to get this southern 77 year old lady to get used to not eating so much salt and butter and arming her with the food and recipes she needs to recreate them.

I make dinner for her once a week, she's a foodie and I've been trying hard to make things that she'll like that works within the diet rules.

Does anyone have any favorite meals they enjoy that are healthy that she would enjoy?

Here is what I know:

- She loves fish but her least favorite fish is Salmon.

- She is not a fan of lettuce, or salads but loves some raw veggies such as tomatoes

- She does love cooked veggies

- She's not a huge fan of chicken, she thinks it's boring but a delicious chicken recipe wouldn't be bad either

- for dinner she is allowed 3 oz of meat

- there is a snack or dessert option so that is also up for grabs as long as it's sugar free, or diabetic friendly. Dr. suggest Angel Food Cake. We made her sugar free strawberry short cake subbing the angel food cake.

- She's southern and misses her fried foods, so anything we can bake that is a healthy alternative would be great.

- We are using penzey spices, mural of flavor as a salt substitute, I have vegan butter, and lite margarine which is what the dr. suggested and low fat milk.

I thought about making it fun since she is such a foodie and letting her judge the meal. It's a win / win because we get to see what she likes, that we'll keep, be able to give her recipes if and when she is able to cook for herself.

Here is what she has said about the food I have cooked for her so far.

Dinner 1
A modified version of chow's baked fish in parchment paper. I used Salmon, dill, chive, lemon, vegan butter, salt sub (mural of flavor). I loved it.
Her comments: Salmon is my least favorite fish, but I love the lemon and herbs with it.

Roasted Bell pepper Salad - Roasted yellow, orange, and red bell peppers, with roasted roma tomatoes, sauted onion and garlic with thyme and a touch of olive oil.
Her comments: I love this, it's simple but vibrate in color in taste. I can see this going well together with any fish.

Wild Rice Blend with salt sub and vegan butter. I'll admit I thought this was a little bland too.
Her Comments: I didn't really care for this. It's bland and I think of it as filler.

Grapes for dessert
Her comment: Not a dessert to me, but I know I have to stick to this diet.

Dinner 2
Spaghetti and meatballs - Whole wheat noodles and 3 one ounce turkey meatballs with onion and green pepper with home made sauce. Using carrot as a sweetener, and no salt added can of whole tomatoes blended.
Her comment: Loved it I never thought I'd be able to eat it again and I don't even mind that it's turkey meat. A week in and I'm starting to enjoy my food more.

Simple Salad with Balsamic Vinegar
Her comment: This is rabbit food. I don't like lettuce, sorry, I'll eat these grape tomatoes though, and I'm going to eat some of the rest because I know it's good for me. I like my veggies cooked though usually.

Dessert - Sugar Free Strawberry Angel Food Cake with sugar free cool whip.
Her comment: I Love this! You gave me less angle food cake than that hospital did, but this is delicious.

Thanks to all that read and reply. Any recommendations or links to blogs, recipe sites, etc is very appreciated.

[cheesecake17]

Stick to what she likes and go from there.
Try whole wheat pasta mixed with meat sauce, use ground turkey or chicken.
Baked tilapia or cod with peppers nd onions

Two ideas for lettuce
Lettuce wraps, filled with taco filing, tofu scramble, grilled vegetables
Lightly grilled romaine. Dress with something simple, like lemon, or creamy, like tahini.

Trader joes sells low carb tortillas. Those might appeal to her. They can also be cut up and baked like chips.

Try different lettuces. Butter lettuce, arugula, mâché, broccoli slaw. So many different choices.

To get her interested in chicken, try preparing a great roasted chicken. Leftovers can be made into chicken pot pie with phyllo, chicken salad, chicken soup...

Zucchini and eggplant nd poblano peppers are delicious dipped in egg whites, lightly beaded in cornflake crumbs and baked. This works for proteins too- tofu, fish, chicken, turkey cutlets..,

Hope ths helps

[todao]

If you post your question on this board:
http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/90
you might get better results.
The fish I would recommend (and the list from which I often select sea food for my special dietary needs guests) are sardines, salmon (Alaskan is best) pink shrimp, farmed trout and scallops. A little lower on the "healthy" list but still worth consideration might be sole. I avoid Tilapia because of its high concentration of omega 6 fatty acids.
Take a look at this recipe:
http://www.laaloosh.com/2008/06/23/pa...
and see if it works for you.
One of my favorite ways to prepare fish is to top it with some fresh herbs, garlic, a few drops of good wine and chopped scallions, fold the fish in a piece of foil that has been coated with a light film of olive oil and bake it for about 20 minutes (or until it's done - which depends on the type of fish and the size selected)