My Dad has the same problems as your Dad. You should make your own bread. Bread has lots of sodium and you can make it sodium free. Milk has lots of sodium. You can buy soy or other grain milks but they have lots of sodium also. But, you can make rice milk real easy and not add salt and either drink or use it in your receipes and it is sodium free. If a salad dressing calls for oil, use water and thicken with cornstarch or arrowroot. I use Fetherweight Baking powder (no sodium), EnerG egg replacer (0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 5 mg. sodium), EnerG baking soda (no sodium). I create my own receipes for my Dad. I gave him a low sodium cookbook (uses less than 500 mg. sodium in a days meals). I cannot remember the name of it. E-mail me and I will let you know.

He can take yoghurt, but try to get non-fat ones (as cancer likes fats and sugars). Also try to avoid salt if you can. Here's a recipe for a soup which I'm taking. 3-4 stalks celery 1 med parsley root garlic as desired 2 small leeks 1 1/2 lb tomatoes 2 med onions 1 lb potatoes a little parsley For 1 person use a 4-quart pot, no aluminium ones allowed. Buy organic produce, wash & scrub well, don't peel the veg, cut them corsely, cover with distilled water, simmer slowly (very small flame) for 2 hours, & put thru food mill in smaller portions. Discard any coarse fibre as it's difficult to digest. If too thick, vary the amt of water used for cooking. Keep well covered in fridge no longer than 2 days, warm up as much as needed each time. From a fellow cancer sufferer.

Thanks MarieND, ElsMaMa, I somehow seem to have given the impression that my Dad wont follow a diet. Actually, he is very good about trying to stick to a low fat, low carb, etc diet, and has his diabetes well under control at this point. The problem is that he gets tired of his extremely limited diet, and who can blame him. I'm just trying to help him find some other things he can eat. Since he is 70, and male, he just isn't willing to learn how to cook complicated dishes. He makes stir fry, and simple soup and stew dishes, for example. I just thought that maybe there were some microwaveable dinners that would fit his diet. Given the large number of older folks with these problems, you'd think some bright boy would be marketing to them. Thanks again! Le Jane

Well, everybody's different, but I aim for about 20% protein, less than 20% fat (I like it closer to 10%), and the rest complex carbs overall in my diet. This is from my meal plan: Breakfast: 1/2 whole wheat bagel 1 teaspoon cream cheese 1.5 cups skim milk 1 cup orange juice Lunch: Fruit Salad Lentil, Cracked Wheat, and Vegetable Salad Dinner: Italian Pasta and Vegetable Stew Garden Salad It fills me up. Here are the recipes for the lunch and dinner items: * Exported from MasterCook * Italian Vegetable-and-Pasta Stew Recipe By : Cooking Light, Sept. 1995, page 158 Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:29 Categories : Soups And Stews Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 4 cups water 2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups quartered small red potatoes 1 cup dried Great Northern or navy beans 1/2 cup sliced carrot 1/2 cup quartered mushrooms 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley 1/2 pound lean boneless round steak cut into 1/2-inch pieces 14 1/2 ounces pasta-style chunky tomatoes -- (1 can) undrained 14 1/4 ounces fat-free beef broth -- (1 can) 3 cloves garlic -- chopped 1 cup sliced zucchini 1 cup torn spinach 1/2 cup uncooked alphabet or other small pasta 1 tablespoon dried rosemary -- crushed 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon rubbed sage 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Combine first 11 ingredients in a large electric slow cooker. Cover with lid, and cook on high-heat setting for 6 hours. Add zucchini and next 7 ingredients (zucchini through nutmeg); cover and cook on high-heat setting an additional 30 minutes or until beans are tender. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1-1/2 cups stew and 1 tablespoon cheese). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : Ladle into individual soup bowls, and sprinkle with cheese. Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 4716 4214 0 4204 86 4787 0 1514 0 0 5663 0 4363 0 0 1302 0 0 0 * Exported from MasterCook * Lentil, Cracked Wheat, & Vegetable Salad Recipe By : Cooking Light YEAR: 1995 ISSUE: Nov/Dec PAGE: 167 Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Vegetable Salad/Dressing Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 cup boiling water 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur -- cracked wheat 1 cup dried lentils 2 tablespoons olive oil -- divided 2 cups diced zucchini 2/3 cup diced green bell pepper 2/3 cup diced red bell pepper 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion 1 teaspoon grated orange rind 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper Lime wedges -- optional Combine boiling water and bulgur in a large bowl; stir well. Let stand 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Place the lentils in a large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well; add to bulgur, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, bell peppers, and onion, and saut7 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add vegetables to bulgur mixture. Combine remaining oil, orange rind, orange juice, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl; stir well. Add to bulgur mixture; toss gently. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : Serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired. Serving size: 1-1/2 cups. Nutr. Assoc. : 0 218 0 0 5663 0 0 4712 0 0 0 0 0 0 * Exported from MasterCook * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The fruit salad is as big as I can eat it- about 2.5-3 cups of fresh chopped fruit, no dressing or other stuff. The garden salad is 2-2.5 cups mixed greens (I like mesclin mix with Romaine lettuce and spinach), 1 cup of chopped other veggies, usually green and/or red peppers, mushrooms, carrots, celery, broccoli, and some shredded cheddar cheese (I don't like salad dressings). If I have them, I might put some croutons on it too. The day's plan I gave has the following nutritional info, according to Mastercook: 1210 calories 19 g fat % calories from fat 13.4% 6 g saturated fat 212 g carbohydrates % calories from carbs 67.2% 43 g fiber 61 g protein % calories from protein 19.4% I usually don't get that much fiber, but the day before was a little deficient, so I made up for it. I aim for 30 g fiber per day. I try to balance everything out weekly.