okies, think the title says it all. i have an aunt (51) who is pre-diabetic (on the cusp if she isnt' careful), has an intellectual disability, and we need to get her eating healthier on a budget (she's on the pension).

essentially, she knows how to cook basic stuff (snags and veg etc) - she lived with my grandparents up until they both passed, and has continued eating the same thing. her vegie intake isn't bad, but she lets herself down with the days she doesn't eat vegies. like, having soup for lunch (from a tin) - not such a bad thing - but she'll add four or five slices of bread with it. she rarely buys decent cuts of meat, more just sausages and things - cos she knows how to cook them. she cooks in too much oil, but given how far away from us she lives (about 30k's from me) i can't "police" her cooking to help her learn alternatives

so, what i need, is some recipes that will be very simple for her, give her variety, healthy, filling meals - and preferably be really budget friendly. i'm spending tomorrow with her cooking up slow cooker meals. we've recently bought her a cooker, and the intention is to get about half a dozen different meals on the go that DH and I regularly cook in our slow cooker (gotta love friends and family that will loan them to us) and show her about cooking in bulk and freezing meals. the aim would then be to encourage her to buy meat and veg for slow cooker every pay day, get half a dozen meals in the freezer, and work from there. so maybe a spag bol this week, braise in a fortnight etc.
and then get her cycling through the frozen stuff every few days and filling in between with healthier alternatives. but, they need to be VERY simple (both ingredients AND instructions) and preferably stuff that can be served with vegies or, in the slow cooker, bulked out with lots of veg so that it's a cheaper alternative for her. tomorrow's cook up will mean her taking a third of everything that we cook to put in her freezer to give her a kick start. we will use the other two thirds for our freezer (well, seeing we're cooking at mum's will leave some for dad!).

suggest away ladies!

oooh, and Col has very basic tastes - nothing with much spice or anything - she just won't eat it.