Meal planner for 1

[miamimike]

Hi, new here and am fortunate that my test shows I am at the lowest score for pre-diabetes, and coincidentally my elderly mother was given a type 2 diagnosis the day before. We both I've alone (and some distance away), so I have been looking at the meal planner for 1 on the website and a few things came to mind that I'd appreciate other peoples thoughts about.
Firstly, is a practical one. Having written a shopping list for week one, I am struggling to think where I could buy a single wholewheat pitta bread, because I only need one per week! Likewise I seem to need half a punnet of cress and 80 g of Brocoli, all things that won't survive into next week if I buy normal supermarket sized items. Do people use this planer more as a guide than a strict diet plan?
I also can't predict where I will be and when because of work which makes the hot lunches difficult. Anyone have ideas for alternatives that might need to survive 8 hours in a car! I have spent many years happy with a sandwich, chips and fruit topped up with the occasional treat from Greggs tbh. OK not so occasional treat...
For mum, she can't cook much more than a ready meal or some toast these days. She generally manages with a sandwich ( and lots of Pringles) for lunch and a ping meal for her tea. Does anyone have any suggestions for her meals that would be practical in her circumstances?
Thanks for reading.

 

[helli]

I don't know about cress but broccoli lasts 2 weeks if kept in the fridge standing in a glass of water and pitta can live in the freezer until needed.
Plus both can be used for multiple meals.

 

[Inka]

You can adapt some recipes as well, eg the pitta one. Look at the carbs for the pitta to get an idea, then substitute with appropriate bread, crispbread, etc. What you can also do is use only 4 meals a week from the planner (or whatever number works) and use up your spare food on the other days by creating similar meals.

You can also substitute veg, etc.

 

[JITR]

Maybe not quite what you had in mind, but a simple plan with red, amber, green lists of foods to avoid, consume in moderation, eat every day:

https://www.lowcarbfreshwell.com/documents/8/Freshwell_Red_Amber_Green.pdf

Invest in a cool box for the car? Have a good breakfast and packed lunch, no snacks.

 

[Leadinglights]

You can always make substitutions or make the recipes and if it is more than you want for one meal portion out and keep in the freezer for home made ready meals.
There are 2 of us but if I make chilli, curries or stews It will be doing 6 portions so enough for 2 days plus 2 portions for the freezer.
For veg like broccoli and other low carb veg there is no need to be restricting the portion, that given is just a guide.
For your Mum some of the WW or SW ready meals are not too bad for carbs and she could have with salad or microwaveable veg pouches. Wiltshire foods do some low carb meals that can be delivered. Looking carefully at the carbs on supermarket ready meals will identify those with lower carbs.
For taking lunches you can get bags or boxes with a space for a freezer block which would keep whatever you take cool or food flasks to keep soup hot. Cooked meats, cheese, tuna, boiled eggs, hummus with salads are good lunches.
Crispbreads are lower carb than pitta.
But for yourself if you are at the lower end of prediabetic I would think a few tweets to portion size of some of the high carb foods would be sufficient.
Depending on what your Mum's HbA1C is it may be the same for her as for the more elderly the diagnostic level is recommended as being a bit higher according to newer NICE guidelines taking into other risk factors.
You may find this link helpful to give you some ideas, https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Lucyr]

Firstly, is a practical one. Having written a shopping list for week one, I am struggling to think where I could buy a single wholewheat pitta bread, because I only need one per week! Likewise I seem to need half a punnet of cress and 80 g of Brocoli, all things that won't survive into next week if I buy normal supermarket sized items.

Do you have a freezer? You can freeze a pack of pita breads and just take out one when you need it. Broccoli you can buy frozen and cook from frozen too.

 

[Docb]

Hi @miamimike and welcome to the forum.

I am one of those who also cooks for one. My solution to the problem you have is not to have a meal plan. I have a freezer, a bit of a store cupboard, half a dozen basic recipes in my head and some decent kit (pressure cooker, accurate oven, hand held whisk/blender and some decent knives).

None of my recipes are fixed. I don't buy against recipes, I buy to keep my store cupboard stocked.

For example today I had a braised chicken dish done in the pressure cooker. I made it with diced veg(onion, celery,carrot), wine, tomato paste and harissa spice mix. Another day I might add a tin of tomatoes and some mushrooms, another day maybe with leeks and a stock cube and another day something else. See what I have got in and use it.

Always cook a batch, portion it up and freeze what I don't eat as meals for some time in the future. Same with making beef ragout. Always buy a big pack of beef mince, take what I need for the day and freeze the rest in batch cook portions. My ragouts vary, usually have onion/carrot/celery from my store cupboard. Might have some bacon lardons or sausage in it or herbs or whatever I have. I tend to make a batch of Staffordshire oatcakes now and then and when I do some go in the freezer. Would use one or two as a sub for pitta bread. Now and then I go off piste and if things don't work as expected, I eat it anyway. You are the only person you have to please and you really have to mess things up for something to be inedible.

I would deal with your lunch problem with a couple of plastic container boxes. i would fill them with whatever was in the fridge. Supermarket mixed salad, some ham or cold chicken, coleslaw (make it myself so it is never the same), cheese, crackers (or an oatcake or two), some fruit, maybe a piece of decent chocolate. Amount would depend on time away.

I hope you get the drift. It works for me but no guarantee it would work for anybody else.

 

[Mark72]

Definitely batch cooking helps, I try and do it at least monthly and then have a couple of easy meals most weeks I can just take out of the freezer the night before to defrost in the fridge and reheat when I get home from work. Definitely takes the pressure off.

A favourite go-to for lunch away from home is Greek Salad, it's just tomatoes, cucumber, a bit of red onion, black olives and feta cheese mixed with the juice of a lemon and some dried oregano. I normally chop enough for 2 days in one go and add the lemon and oregano on the day I'm eating it.