awesome question. Instead of dairy Alfredo sauce, I soak RAW cashews in water over night and make a very simple vegan sauce, saute mushrooms in vegan butter and mix with sauce. I like a lot of mushrooms.16 oz to be exact. I steam lots of broccoli, pour that mixture over broccoli. Top with nutritional yeast. It's delicious. When we eat pasta, basically we just like the sauce, right? Pasta is just a medium that has no flavor, really. So, I make my sauces flavorful but pour over hearty vegetables. I pour red sauces over spaghetti squash or butternut squash. I mix impossible meat with red sauce as I would ground beef. To this I top with black olives, nutritional yeast... anything you'd like actually to give you a satiated feeling.
Tacos ๐ฎ
There are grain free Tortillas but very very expensive. the brand: siete. In San Diego easy to find, but, my goodness 7.96 for 8 Tortillas. I Stay away from flour Tortillas that say low carb. Flour is not low carb. It will spike my blood sugar. Another option for "taco" is egglife wraps. They are made with egg, not flour. I will eat this. I'm plant-based, not vegan. They too, are expensive. But, I don't want sugar to damage my eyes or give me peripheral neuropathy.
Bread ๐
I make chaffles. They are made with almond flour and pressed with mini waffle maker for the perfect size bun or sandwich. Again, it's the stuff in-between the bread we want. I have accepted that I must not eat bread ๐ for a1c sake, I accepted that tho a chaffle is nothing like bread, I USE IT IN PLACE OF BREAD. It works for me. I make it work, actually.
Pasta
There is chickpea pasta. I've tried it. It, again, spikes my b.s. too high. But it is an option for some. Not for me. I go the vegetable route as stated above.
Breakfast!
I no longer eat conventional breakfast items. No eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, waffles, pancakes, syrup. At home I eat a huge spring mix salad. Huge. Vegan cheese, lots, a big handful of Sunflower seeds, chopped up walnuts dressed with a mix of olive oil, balsamic oil, two smashed up garlic cloves, and a dash of Dijon mustard. You can Google actual recipe, I have changed amounts a tad to my liking. NO salt. ๐ Don't add anything sweet. Your body can get the nutrients a raisin or cranberry has somewhere else. They are just condensed sugar. I love dried fruit, I miss it. Especially mango...
Fruit
Berries....
I do eat 1 banana ๐ a day when I have money. (I'm on ssdi). I love bananas. It's not kind to my blood sugar, but it doesn't spike it either. But I do check to make sure.
I hope this encourages anyone reading this that it's doable to get a1c within normal rage with diet, if medication isn't working well enough. It wasn't for me. You can do it!!!!โค๏ธโ๐ค๐๐๐