Sewgray,
I've been a Type 2 diabetic for about 12 years. I have a bunch of diabetic cookbooks I never used because they are not really different from any other cookbook. They all seem to be just regular recipes, using regular pastas, flour, sugar, etc. What seems to qualify them as "diabetic" is portion size, meaning that each serving is rather small so that the individual portion has a reduced amount of carbs. Well, I can do that myself without having a special book to tell me how to divide a recipe!
The most important thing to remember is to count carbohydrate consumption. Ask your dr. to tell you how many carbs you may consume every day and if you stick pretty closely to that figure, you should be OK. My dr. told me that averaging your weekly carb consumption is more important than worrying about that one day you overdid it.
Low Carb Dreamfields Pasta (high fiber) as mentioned above really works. You can learn all about it at their website as listed in another post. I use their elbow macaroni to make mac and cheese and other macaroni-based casseroles. (Note: Be careful with milk and cheese - they contain more carbs than you might think because of the lactose [milk sugar] they contain.) I use Dreamfields fettucini instead of egg noodles to make tuna and noodles, chicken noodle casserole, I use any of their pastas as a side dish with gravy and roasted meats, etc. As Baloonatic says, this pasta cooks, looks and tastes just like any other pasta and no one will think it's anything different.
I never heard that the acid in tomato sauce removes the carb protection from Dreamfields if they are mixed together before refrigerating as Baloonatic mentioned. There is no such warning on their packaging, either. The carb protection comes from the addition of fiber to the pasta. It prevents the starches (carbs) from being absorbed by the body, rendering them non-digestible so they pass through the body without raising your blood sugar levels. But just because I never heard of it doesn't mean it's not true. Just check with Dreamfields Their toll-free number is 1-800-250-1917. If it is true, then you can choose not to mix them together, or don't let the diabetic in the family eat the leftovers the next day!
Avoid (or eat limited quantities occasionally) of any foods that end with "ose", i.e. sucrose, glucose, lactose, fructose, etc. They are all sugars.
Avoid starchy, sweet and white foods (potatoes, any kind or color of rice and flour), bread products, noodles, sugars, honey, sweet syrups, peas, corn, etc.
When you read labels, the sugar content is not as important as the total carbohydrate content. Remember that your body converts carbohydrates to sugar.
Don't be fooled by products commercially advertised as "sugar-free" or "low sugar", like cake and dessert mixes, baked goods, ice cream, etc. They all have other carbs and if you compare the "sugar" products with the "sugar-free" products, they may very well have no sugar in the ingredients but the total carb count will be so close as to hardly make a difference. In fact, sugar-free Cool Whip has 1 MORE carb than regular Cool Whip! You must be an avid label reader.
Occasionally, I decide I want to have dessert after dinner, so I will limit my carb intake all that day, and dinner will be a protein, 1-2 veggies, and salad - no bread, rolls, potatoes or rice, etc. Then have my dessert. (If it's cake, I'll just scrape off the icing. Other desserts I eat as they come. This never seems to affect my average sugar count for that day or that week. Note: I said occasionally!
My dr. recommends I eat an evening snack to help maintain glucose levels between dinner and the long fasting time before breakfast. She said if I eat a carb, combine it with some protein to keep everything on an even keel, such as peanut butter with crackers, half a tuna or other protein sandwich, fruit and cheese, etc. Works for me! I'm not sure why this works but since carbs are rapidly absorbed by the body and proteins are not, I assume that the proteins slow down the body's absorption of the carb so there is not a rapid rise in glocose levels.
Get yourself a carbohydrate gram counter (a small booklet), a glycemic index booklet (the lower the glycemic number, the better), plan your daily meals, and you'll find out that you can eat many of the foods you ate pre-diabetes without special cookbooks, the whole family can eat the same as they always did, and you can occasionally have some of your favorite high carb, high sugar foods if you plan a little. Again, the key word here is occasionally!
It won't be long before you won't have to check your little booklets very often.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I hope it's been helpful. Good luck!