Supporting Your Diabetic Guests At Christmas
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Diabetes is a serious disease that doesn’t take a break for the holidays. No matter what, a diabetic has a specific diet that they must follow if they want to be healthy and control their disease. The best thing you can is by supporting your diabetic guests at Christmas and provide good choices that are safe for them to eat, and then stand back and mind your own business.
For the most part, a diabetic can eat almost anything that you eat daily. No one should be eating tons of sugar and fat, and those are the two main things that diabetics need to watch. But, a diabetic usually needs to count every single carb they eat and eat extra protein to stay balanced.
Therefore, if you stick to a basic “Mediterranean Diet” menu without added sugar or added fat, you will be safe. It might sound boring to cook things without adding sugar or fat, but there are so many options that you’re going to be surprised.
For example, a great dessert for a diabetic that is also beautiful (and happens to be vegan, sugar-free, and gluten free) is strawberry pudding.
Chia seeds are used to make it thick and give it that pudding texture. Just add 3 TBS chia seeds (soaked in a little water until it looks gelatinous) to two cups strawberries.
Blend the mixture. Pour into serving dishes and top with chopped strawberries. You can do this trick with any fruit to make a delicious and creamy pudding. Add a dollop of sugar-free whipped cream if you desire.
Your diabetic family members will be able to enjoy the turkey and even the ham if you don’t serve it with the candy coating that some spiralized ham has.
Consider replacing some of your mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower to cut down on carbs but still provide a delicious veggie side dish on which to serve gravy.
Instead of sandwiches, try lettuce wraps for leftovers. Any type of meat or veg is great inside crunchy iceberg lettuce or butter lettuce. Even eggs and bacon taste good in a lettuce wrap, so give it a shot. You might even prefer lettuce wraps to some of the low-carb bread that is available right now.
Roasted veggies are also a great way to enjoy veggies as a diabetic. Just measure your oil. A 9 x 13 baking pan full of roasted root veggies doesn’t need more than a tablespoon of olive oil to make it delicious.
The trick is to put all your veggies into a bowl, measure the oil, measure the herbs and spices and then use your hands to mix it up before putting into a pan covered with parchment paper. They’ll still taste great and not like “diet” food at all. In fact, they’re going to taste better since you won’t be over-oiling them.
Final Thoughts on Supporting Your Diabetic Guests at Christmas
While we’re in the “a little goes a long way”-line, next time we’ll join you again with a discussion about how to cut down on alcohol during the holidays.
