Healthy One-Pot Recipies? Help!

Quote by She
healthy, cheep and quick you say.. It is not easy one. However, what I do know about diabetics is that they should reduce salt to a minimum. No fried food, no greasy food, no heavy food, no sugar of course, with limited fruits as well. They should eat steamed vegetables (or boiled for couple of minutes literally) without any salt, some meat aside without sauces or any other additions but salt and pepper. You should check which kind of fish he can eat, but for sure he cannot have any pre-prepared, pre-cooked or frozen food at all (if it is not plain vegetable)

So, one pots if it is not soup or vegetable minestrone, is quite heavy thing. He should avoid one pots actually, they are heavy, they need to be cooked for a while and the product is not good for your boyfriend.

for my veggie soup with cheek-peas you'll need
-onion (fried on one spoon of olive oil until brownish)
-add small cubes chopped tomato with 3 spoons of water to help it start cooking
-then add green beans cut on thirds and add just a bit off water
-add spinach leaves and water to cover the whole thing
-add pre-soaked and precooked cheek-peas (do not add salt to dry cheek-peas until they are completely cooked, otherwise you'll never get them soft and tasty.

Leave it on fire until veggies are cooked, about 15-20 min, add very few salt and pepper.

If you cannot eat it like that you can always blend it, but it would be a shame since texture of it is delicious. But the best thing for your household is to get educated about illness. I am sure any doctor will help you with advise what and how to eat by the new regime. good luck.

Quote by Dirty_D


the veggie soup might be good, but otherwise, dont look at this post for diabetic advice.

Diabetes involves either a) an inability for the body to produce insulin (type I) or b) resistance to insulin (typeII) although low salt is a good step in general, it leads to lower blood pressure, the main issue is actually starch.

The body breaks down and utilizes starch via insulin, thus low starch assists the body. so low pasta, potato, and bread content is the much more important. there are a lot of good one pot cheap suggestions on this thread.

Quote by She


by coincidence I read a few days ago that actually carbohydrates (such is pasta, bread and other pastry) are not so good for the patients with insulin problems (but cereals are in most unrefined form possible) proteins actually helped to improve health. how accurate it is I don't know, but my post is quite accurate for diabetics and their diet, at least where I come from, and to tell you the truth US is quite high on the list with diabetics and diets for it might not be that accurate or people are not following them..
The whole point of diet for diabetics is the way food is prepared, it shouldn't be overly cooked with tons of adjectives like broth stocks, salt, soy sauce, already prepared sauces (anything that is already prepared to easy our life, not even caned things..), it should be light, by that I mean, steamed, cooked for few minutes or baked but only on bit of oil separately than other ingredients on the plate. light plate.
there is tons about the diabetic daily plate on the internet.

this is how light plate looks like




beside, there are few reasons why someone becomes diabetic..three mayor reasons are that maybe someone inherited it, or because of the high stress or because of unhealthy eating habit which is, heavy greasy food, pastry and bread, sugar..

Quote by Dirty_D


*coughs politely* ummm, starchs ARE carbohydrates. The simple ones are the worst.

Additives aren't good for anyone, and added salt increases the fluid load on the body, and on the kidneys. Although Hypertension is a concern with diabetics, the focus is always the carb, or starch, load.

Here's how it works for laymen:

Think of your body like a school. Classrooms are like cells, with bloodstreams(halls) outside. In those halls are hundreds of children running around causing chaos (carbs/starchs). They need to get into the cells to do work. However there are doors on all the openings. Insulin is like the handle that turns the knob.

The number one thing you can do for diabetes though is exercise. If insulin opens the door, Exercise puts more doors there. In otherwords, the more you walk, run, skip, swim, jump, do something besides sit on the couch, the more insulin receptors your body produces and the more responsive your body is to insulin.

Quote by She


hahha you might be right, but you know damn well that healthier way to find starch is in other food than in bread and pasta, I know you know that . I am not advocating the new theory, I mentioned what I read specially after your post about pasta and bread. I was trying to explain myself and my first post. I think there is absolutely nothing better to do (if we ignore new research about the proteins) food wise for diabetics. And you are right, exercise is number one, but I am sure doctor has mentioned that to OP's man.
beside as I said before, he needs to educate himself about his diet with his doctors, I am sure they are helpful at least they are here across the Atlantic.

Quote by Dirty_D


if you read my first response to you, you would have seen I said to avoid high starch foods. Read my initial post, I am a strong advocate for a paleo diet. I eat fruits, vegatables and meat, very very few starches, and those typically from sweet potatoes or those fruits. example: today I am having grilled chicken on a strawberry/romaine salad, toss with a vinaigrette.

for the record OP, this would be an excellent one pan meal, grill your chicken, seasoned as you like, im a fan of pepper, salt and thyme. slice and toss with greens of your choice and a few sliced strawberries. delicious, satisfies my sweet tooth, and is relatively low in carbs. (strawberries have some, they are a source of fructose, but those are more complex then the white flours and sucrose)

Quote by She


I cannot help myself but to nit pick this, sorry. You discarded my initial post to the OP, not really sure why, maybe because I am against one pots when it comes for diabetic diet and you are pro them..you did say that "low starch assists the body. so a low pasta, potato, and bread content is the much more important" and I don't think that low starch in pasta and bread is good for anyone specially for diabetics.
honestly there is nothing better on the diet market for diabetics as my suggestions to the OP (apart from the new protein theory), or let me refraze this and make every one happy, there is nothing better on the diet market for diabetics in my part of the world and what I know about it.

Quote by Dirty_D


Lol.. i too cannot stop.

Are you by any chance not english first? because I think you are misunderstanding everything I said.

I said DONT eat starches, aim for a LOW(or no) starch diet. I am NOT an advocate for flour(again read my first post, I attempt to stay paleo, which disallows wheat, soy, and potatoes as well as others)

I think maybe we are having a translation issue?