Kathy in FL, would you share some of your diabetic friendly menu's? I'm not diabetic, but tend to not eat filler foods like rice, pasta or potatoes very often. Certainly not every day, and more often not even weekly.
Judy
I eat a lot of protein and just watch my carbs and starches. My husband mostly gave up bread a couple of years ago when he was training for a backcountry camp/hike in Philmont with the Boy Scouts and it made a significant difference on his joints.
A frequent lunch when tomatoes are in season is I "stuff" them with canned tuna or canned salmon.
Another common meal for me is a grill burger ... beef or salmon.
The above two ways are the only fish I eat and before that Long John Silvers was an addiction but not so much now. LOL
I do still like hushpuppies and cornbread but since I am the only one that cooks it I just force myself to limit it to once or twice a month.
I like a nice caprese salad but can only have it like once a month.
I've learned to eat Asparagus but I swear they still look like aliens to me.
I drink a lot ... A LOT ... of zero sweetener bubbly waters (brands: La Croix, Bubly, store brands) because I can't eat any kind of artificial sweetener without winding up with heartburn from hell. I also drink a lot of sun tea that is brewed without any kind of sugar/sweetener.
If I eat fruit it either has to be fresh, dehydrated
without sugar as a preservative, or canned in a light fruit juice rather than in a syrup.
I eat a lot of homemade soups because I find them filling ... which helps with portion control.
My one problem has been controlling my dairy intake. Nut milks tend to upset my stomach for some reason. It is the real stuff or nothing. I can drink a gallon of milk in two days all on my own. Yeah I know, ridiculous.
I love grits and oatmeal as well which isn't the greatest thing in in the world for you. On the other hand it isn't the worst either and the fiber helps to offset any carbs you take in.
One of the best is shrimp and grits. Yum.
Instead of using rice, potatoes, or pasta as a filler these days I'll eat a chopped salad. Have to watch the amount of dressing but I like a good chopped salad better than just a regular garden salad.
And when I cook up street tacos, which has gotten to be another one of my go to meals for my busy days, I fixe them on 6" carb counter tortillas (Mission brand has one that is 20 calories per tortilla) and then instead of lettuce I will use finely slice cabbage which is actually very traditional and I use queso blanco (white cheese) that has a lot of flavor (salt) compared to other Americanized cheeses.
When I am really jonesing for a treat I'll lightly bread and fry some queso blanco. Just have to watch how much you eat or you'll be sorry (gut issues that will bind you up for days).
Another thing I like to do is what I call "fake fajitas". Instead of using fajita seasoning to fix your meat with, just use whatever your favorite seasoning is ... BBQ, rubs, lemon pepper, garlic, etc. ... then fry/steam some veggies to also go with. Put them on a carb control tortilla shell and fast and happy meal.
You can do amazing things with rotisserie chicken. I have a rotisserie ... thing much be nearly 20 years old ... and I'll make my own if I can find whole chickens on sale. Then shred or slice and you can make a bunch of meals that way.
I have found almost any gluten-free recipe helps me to keep my carbs down. However, just because something says it is gluten-free doesn't mean it is low-carb. Grains in general, even gluten-free ones, tend to have a lot of carbs in it so I still have to be careful. The same can be said for stuff calling itself "plant based."
I eat a lot of "raw food" recipes. I'm not talking about meat ... simply more vegan where the food doesn't rise above a certain temp. I am not a vegetarian or anything close. But for the sake of our budget I try to be a little more flexible than a T-Rex that wears an apron. I've experimented with a raw food lifestyle since college. It isn't bad but you have to be careful because if you aren't keeping it locavore (locally available foods) it can get expensive.
I like me some potatoes too but I've learned portion control and if you have to start from raw all the work involved preparing them helps you to do that as well.
If I am wanting something "sweet" with my meal then I will bake some root veggies and not just potatoes ... there's carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, rutabaga, jicama, kohlrabi. All of those make good "fries." Jicama can make great raw fries ... just slice into your favorite fry shape and dip them in whatever you normally dip your fries in or experiement.
I eat a lot ... A LOT ... of cucumbers when I can get them. A cucumber salad is very healthy and can dress up a boring or bland meal. I know some people have problems eating cucumbers but I never have. One of my earliest memories is sitting in the dirt between rows in my grandmother's kitchen garden. My granddaddy was out there with the hand cultivator and to keep me from following so close and making his job harder he plopped me down out of the way and peeled me a cucumber and I was eating it like a banana. LOL
I like vegetable soups that have a lot of cabbage in them. I don't like cooked cabbage by itself but I like it cooked in soups or raw in salads, tacos, etc.
Hope this helps Judy. I'm just not a fussy eater. Give me basic and easy. The only time I really fuss with a meal is at Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Easter. Thanksgiving is turkey. Christmas Eve is Cuban pork. and Easter is baked ham. Uber traditional and likely boring for some people but like I said ... basic and easy and filling with minimal clean up.
I do have some guilty pleasures ... international foods. Lots of Cuban food (black beans and yellow rice or pintos and rice), marinated pork, picadillo, carne asada, Spanish bean soup, etc. Some of the Caribbean foods though they can be heavy in starch. My mother fixes this Thai dish called Cow Pot that she learned from a neighbor lady and I've never been able to find it online ... basically white rice, chicken, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, and I forget the seasoning. I also like Pepper Steak with onions and green peppers, and other Chinese food. I figure as long as I portion control then all is good. If I over indulge I just make sure that I add some extra distance on my evening walks (I usually walked an extra average of 4 miles a day)
ETA: All of the above are easily dehydrated as individual items and then cooked as needed or cooked and then dehydrated for use later.