Almost all my cutting boards are inexpensive, flexible plastic mats. I like them because they are light, inexpensive, don't take up much space, go in the dishwasher, and they bend for accurate pouring after prep. I do not find them to be any drippier than my other cutting boards. Mine tend to curve a bit from washing in the dw, so I put the curve facing up which keeps the juices in check. I wipe my counters down continually while I cook, anyway, so I would have to pay attention next time to really know about juices. The only negative I have about them is that they do crack after a while (I've had mine for several years. However, they're so inexpesive and readily available that I don't consider this a big deal. I replace them like I replace my kitchen towels as they wear out.

My thin athletic DH has been pre-diabetic for about 10 years now. He checks his blood sugar, both fasting and 2 hours after a meal about once every two weeks. I do cook differently - but just a bit. Pasta is now a once a month meal, and served with sauces made with lots of veggies. The pasta is also whole grain. Bread is never served with any meal. Sandwiches - well, I like them, and he never did, so our sandwich lunches are everything you'd have on a sandwich, minus the bread. His is served with extra lettuce and a knife and fork. I make our own soups, not only because I think canned soup tastes like crap (he loves canned soups!), but because I can control the sodium, and make sure any flour ingredients, like noodles, are made from whole grains. I showed my DH the diabetic cookbook - and no, there wasn't anything in that book he was even willing to try. As a cook, I thought most of the recipes were gauged to please the "add a can of soup" group. I've never cooked that way, so their substitutions were still more sugar and salt than I've ever used. We do lots of quick stir fries with lots of veggies and a bit of meat. Brown rice or barley. We haven't cut out everything tasty, but bacon (UMM, bacon), is now a condiment rather than a main ingredient. DH's fav pasta sauce is a browned sliced of bacon, diced, a bit of minced garlic, lots of chopped mushroom and cabbage. Add a bit of the pasta water, toss with the pasta, top with parmesan - the good stuff, not the Kraft shake cheese.

I have brought this up at least once before, but here it is again. I'm sure that all of the advise or recipes will be useful particularly if this relative is a Type A personality. But most of us would prefer to be a little more relaxed and not over-react and then burn out from minor or major failure to maintain a stiff diet. I am certainly not an expert, but I spent many years with the group that is currently known for study and naming of Syndrome X, a set of conditions that often lead to type 2 diabetes. In addition, my supervisor was a type 1 diabetic. I am sure that current ideas for good diets for diabetics, most specifically low glycemic index foods, is the best approach. But that doesn't mean that one is required to eat those foods all the time. Moderation In All Things! Low glycemic foods are those that are low in sugar and slower to turn any starch into its sugars. The point is to keep blood sugars from rocketing up from a quick sugar dose. Therefore, cake and ice cream are mostly Out. Even there, moderation is the point. My supervisor's wife was the best baker of cakes. I guess he would have a very small slice and leave the rest for some family and bring it to the lab the next day for the rest of us to finish off. Occasionally, he would forget to bring lunch. He would then put a regular Coke in an ice bath to keep it cold for hours as he consumed it over several hours. I note pillogs mention of chili without beans. I doubt that the beans would be a serious problem. A slightly greater issue might be the brown sugar. Even there, the real issue is not over eating of that chili. One can eat cake too, if it were consumed like the slow Coke. Everything in moderation; a little more activity; a little less food (unless underweight); snacking ok if total is the same.

Although fish boils are very popular around the lake here, I have yet to get to one, it's on my bucket list. I have done salmon or tuna on the grill, frozen fish would be the best thing I could get where I live right now, and considering how expensive it is, not any particular incentive to serve it for entertaining, although I have. And I also love enchiladas and baked ziti or any other type of pasta, but in the summer I like to take full advantage of the grill. I did the kebabs two years ago for a porch party and it was easy peasy to prepare ahead of time and marinate, and easy to serve. Also easy for picky eaters to avoid something they didn't like from the selection. I think I did some type of rice pilaf in an insulated serving dish and I think I made it ahead and reheated. Now I have an instapot which I would use as to avoid heating up the kitchen. I can't remember what I did for sides . . . but I made a whole round two layer frosted cake for dessert (chocolate with almond coconut frosting) served up on my crystal cake stand, and almost no one ate a slice . . . I get so frustrated at how all my friends never eat desserts anymore. I mean I get it, I don't either, which is why I always want to make some nice fancy dessert that I never get to eat when I entertain, for special. And then I end up with a ton of it left over . . . A friend brought fruit salad and that was what folks ate, it was good too. I had a friend over a couple of weeks ago and we just loved noshing on guacamole, hummus and spinach dip on the porch with some store bought sangria. So easy as I bought everything at the deli. But it could also be home made in advance too. Pita and corn chips. I always make some type of chopped salad in the summer, marinating the veggies a bit ahead of time and then serving them over fresh chopped lettuce. So many great combinations. One of my favorites is home grown tomatoes, crumbled bacon, diced avocados over lettuce with whatever else seems good. Or just the tomatoes and other veggies with a green goddess dressing. If you want to stick with a bit of a Mexican vibe, yellow rice with peas makes a tasty and colorful entry. In fact, that may have been what I served last time. It's just rice with tumeric added, and whatever seasonings you like . . . peas optional, just for the color constrast. Could use red onions or red peppers too. Here's an unusual potato salad I like to make in summer for my lighter Mexican meals. I tasted it from the deli at Wegman's once and fell in love with it. I also sometimes make sweet potato salad but find a lot of my friends don't like it even though it looks pretty. If you par boil sweet potatoes they are nice on the grill though. Latin Red Potato and Corn Salad - Recipe from Wegman's Edited to add that I forgot to mention another dish that is always well received, a southwestern black bean and corn salad. Here's a link to one recipe. I'm not sure if it is exactly like the one I got from Annie on CF years ago, but very similar if not exactly the same. https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/all-purpose-southwestern-corn-black-bean-salad