Sorry about your Mom, rhapsodie. Thanks for the links so far. I've just gone on a restricted diet (cholesterol), and I have the opposite problem as you and your Mom, in that I just don't know how to cook. "Easy" recipes look really difficult to me.

rhapsodie: my condolences about your mom. Having no personal experience, I'd turn to searching on Metafilter, where this thread pointed me to this blog. Maybe not as food-focused as you're looking for, but there are recipes amongst his writings on life with diabetes.

rainbaby: start small and basic. It might help to organize everything ahead of time, so you're not searching for the item when you need it (this works for me). Also, you can find recipes with three ingredients (or four, or five, as linked within). Though these are not specifically low-cholesterol recipes, they might give you the notion that cooking isn't always daunting.

rainbaby, definitely organize everything ahead of time so you're not scrambling and risk burning the dish while you can't find the garlic powder. Do you find written recipes daunting? I'd start by altering what you're already comfortable cooking, even if it's spaghetti with canned sauce - start making it healthier.

flt, thanks for that blog link, I'll add it to the list for my mom. I'm surprised that there's not many diabetes-focused blogs posting bi-weekly recipes like the food blogs I so dearly love. Maybe I should just concentrate on sending her a list of healthy blogs and get her a subscription to Diabetic Cooking magazine.

In related news I'm enjoying the hell out of spending time with her this week, just the two of us. And the two dogs.

rhapsodie, partly the reason for that is that the "eating cardboard" philosophy is a little dated. Right now the thinking is more about being aware of what you're eating and what the short-term effect on your blood glucose levels will be. Otherwise you are simply trying to eat well and focus on non-processed foods.

That's oversimplifying things. I'm no exemplar, and I've only been diagnosed for a year or so, but that's the gist of things as I see it.

Make a few obvious choices. Sugar soda? Right out (but optionally keep some around in case of hypoglycemic episodes). Anything but fat-free milk? Nope. Exchange sugar for Splenda (you can even bake with it). And so on. But generally the key isn't so much special diabetic recipes as it is eating right and doing a proper meal plan, carb count, or diabetic exchange. Personally, I'm eating more fruit in a day than I might have in a week a few years ago.

There are a number of pretty good books out there but I immediately liked this one:
The Best Life Guide to Managing Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes