Hi everyone, I am new here. My 6 year old daughter was diagnosed a little less than a month ago and I've been so overwhelmed. I am glad to find this group of other parents who know how difficult this diagnosis is and what a learning curve there is.
Does anyone have suggestions of free foods beyond cucumbers, cheese, deli meats, and a few carrots? I tried those flavored Gerber stars for the heck of it, as there are something like 6 carbs in 89 pieces, so I thought a couple handfuls of those might add a little variety. They didn't go over well, though! She is getting tired of cucumbers so I am trying to find a few other ideas.
Hi, Leigh! My son is 10 dx 9/2011. He loves cucumbers but tells me they are starting to come out of his ears :) Does she like nuts? Walnuts are only 4 for 1oz and add some good protein. Also, strawberries are 2 for 1oz. Blueberries are 4 per 1oz but that's around 20 berries so she could have only 10 or so and be only 2 carbs. It's been 28 months for us and it is still hard sometimes. Let me think and I'll let you know anything else I come up with. Good luck to you!
Thanks, Jennifer! I haven't tried nuts with her yet, I will have to give them a try. I don't think we have any allergy issues. She doesn't like blueberries but I didn't realize strawberries are low enough to be a free. She does like those. (though she used to like them with sugar!) But hopefully she would have some plain.
It's not exactly "free" but the small packs of smartfood popcorn have only 9g of carbs and the small packs of pirate's booty are 10g. We had the same problems with snacks for my extremely picky 5 y-old son who was diagnosed 3 months ago and we rushed to get him on a pump. He can snack on whatever he wants and we can just cover it!
There's also tomatoes at only 1 per oz. Do you have a smartphone? Calorie King has an app. While it doesn't show which foods are low carb it will help with carb counting. You search for a specific food ie. apples and input how many grams or ounces it weighs and the app tells you the carbs for it without you having to do the math. I use it every day and it is very helpful! It's nice to have for those foods that don't come with nutrition facts like fresh fruit and veggies.
We are vegan so we do nuts of all kinds, my 6yr old (dx 5/24/11) son's favorite is pistachios. We also have stevia sweetened popsicles, carrots are good, some apples with almond butter, celery and almond butter too. I really like the idea of not always having to give him insulin for snacks. Freebies are good and I feel (most times) anything that requires insulin will also affect the blood sugar, typically in an upward fashion.
Thanks! Will have to put those on my list. I have an ipod and will get the calorieking app. I also ordered a scale from Amazon that is programmed with a bunch of carb counts for different foods - I think it is called the EatSmart. I am hoping that will help with accuracy when counting carbs.
Hi Leigh (dx2/10/13) my 11year old son is a foodie and he loves red, yellow and green peppers. I definitely would suggest Calorie King if you have an iPhone, if not definitely a good purchase. My son loves caesar salads and 2 tablespoons are only 1G. Also, if your daughter likes seafood shrimp makes a great snack, we get the cooked shrimp rings and squeeze lemon juice. My son doesn't like the cocktail sauce! I so understand feeling overwhelmed. You are in a good place, lots of information is shared.
welcome to tu, my son's favorite very low or no carb foods are cheese sticks, pepperonis, pickles I think dill are lower carb than bread and butter, popcorn is pretty low also I tend to pop my own on the stove, less chemicals but harder to figure the real carb count but a small bowl could be basically 'free'. best of luck with your little one. amy
Hi. We are almost up to our 1 year. dx 1/2013. Oh how I remember trying all the free-foods - thank goodness my girls were healthy eaters from the start. BUT STILL!! My daughter is 2 and caught on quick to really love the free foods. Nuts are great. She loves peeling pistachios, too. Takes time for her and quite funny. Red and yellow peppers are always a hit. Celery with almond butter.
Hi Leigh. My daughter was dx a yr ago at 2 1/2. She eats pretty much everything mentioned. We also eat a lot of eggs-many different ways, toasted seaweed from Costco or Trader Joes, black olives, bacon, sausage, salami and also unsweetened choc. almond milk (3 crbs per cp) hopefully some of these help.
Almonds (even the flavored ones are very low carb), dill pickles, pepperoni slices, string cheese, Caesar salad no croutons, bacon, beef jerky, slim jims, hot dog, speghetti squash, ICE carbonated fruit drinks.
