Healthy Cook Books for Kids and Diabetics

The Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Recipes for 1 to 4 People

By Frances T. Giedt and Bonnie S. Polin, Ph.D. with the Nutritional Services Staff at the Joslin Diabetes Center

The Joslin Center at Harvard is one of the leading diabetes centers in the world, and the fact that its name is on this cookbook means a lot to me. This book is geared toward those who are cooking for people with diabetes, and one of the opening chapters deals with setting up your pantry right after diagnosis. While the introduction seems to speak to adults with Type II, most of the recipes are aimed at busy families with older kids who are willing to go beyond chicken nuggets and Tater tots. There are a few funky recipes such as curried tofu, but most of them are healthy versions of dishes like mushroom ravioli, potato pancakes, turkey casserole, crab cakes, and the like. Good news: every recipe has nutritional information right next to it, which is a bonus, especially for casseroles. Bad news: no photos, and most of the recipes are for written for two people, so you’ll have to double if you are cooking for the family. But that’s not a big deal. All can be made in 30 minutes or less with familiar ingredients. Plus the desserts are pretty good. It would be nice to send a copy over to a newly diagnosed family along with a casserole from that chapter, with the carb count per serving taped to the outside of the dish.

The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Edited by Susan Westmoreland

You can still buy this 2001 book used from Amazon and Barnes and Noble online. Weighing in at nearly 900 pages and 1,500 recipes, this is similar to the Joy of Cooking but with nutritional information for each recipe. Not geared toward people with diabetes or other nutritional issues. Just a solid cookbook with all the standard recipes and photos, plus with nutritional info to boot. Great for family meals of regular food, and you can see the carb count for each recipe. Would be a nice gift for a young adult with Type I who is just starting out in an apartment or getting married.