Help ... need ideas for carb-based meals & snacks for ...

[Millie1]

our recently diagnosed diabetic 3 year old who has now decided to go on strike and refuse pretty much anything with carbs in it.

This means that weetabix/readybreak have gone out the window for breakfast along with cornflakes/krispies. He's a really bad potato eater anyway (will only eat them if in a pie) so dinners are a nightmare.

And as for snacks, with the exception of one type of oat/fruit bar and grapes I'm clean out of ideas. I've tried baking an oat based bar which he refused and will get some more recipes if only I could get time but it's breakfast and dinner which are leaving us tearing our hair out. He has his insulin before those meals and then if he doesn't eat enough of the right type of food (ie. slow energy release, low sugar carbs) his blood sugars fall too low. Already I'm dreading breakfast tomorrow and it's getting to be like that for each and every meal.

All suggestions will be gratefully recieved but I warn you in advance, he's a heck of a picky eater and at 3 years old cannot be reasoned with.

TIA

Millie,

I've posted on your diabetes thread.

How is he with pasta? Rice? Brown Rice? Noodles?
Croissants? Pitta breads? Rice cakes? Oatcakes?
When all else fails my dds will 'nearly' always eat pitta breads and humous!
I've probably been no help but thought I would give it a go...
Good luck

Thanks Tangarine (I'll look there now) and Jenski. Pasta & rice we do. Noodles - not great as he won't eat stir-frys. Unfortunately we have to avoid humous (unless someone can point me in the direction of one which doesn't contain sesame) but I was thinking about pita & dips of some sort.

Please keep the suggestions coming ladies!

Toast for breakfast? Different types of breads like in Jenski's list?

How about wraps for dinner? They're kinda "interesting" and he could get involved in topping & rolling them up? Though my ds (2.7) refuses anything sandwich-like and wants all the ingredients separate at the moment.

For potatoes - how about wedges done in the oven - like chips but healthier?

And how about carb-based snacks like breadsticks, biscuits (the Organix & other "baby/toddler" ones have very little sugar/salt).

My ds also went through a phase of eating cereal dry - and would get through a quite reasonable quantity at breakfast eg. cornflakes/cheerios/branflakes/shredded wheat bitesize (which we call "prickly biscuits"!).

Good luck!

Would he eat plain porridge oats?
Can he eat corn on the cob?
Baked potatoes with things in or on? Probablynot as he isn't a potato eater.
We have brown rice a lot and if that was mixed in with his other food he might eat it. I try to avoid yeast so not much bread.

Wholemeal roll
wholemeal hot cross bun-may be too sugar laden?

Sweetcorn, beans, chickpeas, hummus, falafel?

Flapjacks?

What sort of food does he eat?

Lots of replies since last night - thank you! Okay, trouble is we're doing too much bread at the moment so would like to cut that out.

What does he eat? Well, he's pretty good on things like shepherd's pie/fish pie/chicken casserole with potatoes mushed in but other DS isn't ... so if I get one eating, the other is going without. Funny thing is that he won't eat potatoes, meat, veg mixed in with gravy or a white sauce so I can't serve potatoes with say, homemade nuggets or fish fingers. He doesn't eat chips - which until now has been fabulous but what I'd give for him to eat chips just one night a week!

Trouble is, he won't try anything new just at the moment - probably due to so many things going on in his little life - and who can blame him cos he's been through so much in the last 3 weeks.

I know I sound really negative and like he won't eat more than he will eat but that's how it feels just right now.

I know that I need to find some time for baking so I can experiment with recipes and get some healthy low sugar snacks made and into the freezer.

I also need some new dinner ideas ... at the moment we do bolognese, fish pie, chicken casserole, Friday night is pizza/fish finger night, corny chicken (ie. chopped up and coated in cornflakes) but that's difficult now we have to get something carby into him along with it ... and can't think what else.

Please keep the ideas coming cos they are helping!

What about fishcakes, which have potato in but you could tell him it's fish, like a fish finger but round?

Oh and have you tried stic king it in front of him and reading a magazine? It's amazing what my DS will reject when I offer it to him, then furtively start eating when he thinks I'm no longer interested...

crackers and cheese?

Beans on Toast

cowboy hotpot

soups with bits of potato, pasta and veg in

parsnips are carbs, would he eat those?

what about cheesy mash?

Thanks snowleopard & furball ... will definitely try a few of those - fishcakes for sure and fancy the cowboy hotpot myself!