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If you celebrate Thanksgiving, do you use any special recipes that are lower carb versions of Thanksgiving dishes? Share your favorite recipes in the comments!
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When I got an insulin pump over 20 years ago and realized I could bolus for carbs, I shifted away from totally low carb meals. And after a couple years of Thanksgiving meals, I discovered that if I doubled my typical meal bolus, I could eat as much Thanksgiving food as my stomach would hold — without going particularly high. Since then, I have been very thankful to enjoy Thanksgiving to the fullest!
I eat low carb regardless of what’s on the table.
I have a recipe for sugar free crustless pumpkin pie, also a sugar free cranberry sauce. Yes, sugar substitutes, but Thanksgiving fat and carbs are definitely not diabetic friendly. Mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, pie crusts are huge carb counts. I am not on a pump, so watch carefully.
I will eat standard food but smaller portions of recipes with carbs. I will skip the roll, have some sweet potato and dressing. Maybe some pumpkin pie but not at the main meal time. I also plan to walk or ride a bike I have on a stand in the basement. Have a plan so I will enjoy foods I like and control blood sugar.
I am on a pump – so I bolus the highest I can go (usually 90 grams of carbs before I would go low) and then bolus again an hour or so later. I haven’t gotten into dual waves, etc. But – that and Christmas and my birthday are cheat days. In the words of my endo: you can’t be good all the time.
Crustless Pumpkin sugar free pie Pour into pie plate, bake at 1. 2 eggs 350 for 45 min. or 425 for 15 2. small can of pumpkin min. Cool and top 3 .1 C. of evap. or regular skim milk 4. 1/4 cup of of sweetner, brown or white packet equivalent 5. 2t. pumpkin pie spice 6. whipped topping lite or sugar free Hit the Sauce! 2-3 quart saucepan Heat to boiling on high 12 oz bag of cranberries Reduce to simmer for 2-5 1 cup of water minutes. Serve chilled or 1/2 cup or equivalent sweetner warm. 1 t. ginger cinnamon stick or 1T. cinnamon peel from 1/2 orange 6. 1/2 t. salt (optional) 7. whipped topping lite or sugar free
I don’t make any changes in the menu that my daughter creates. It is all about portion control and staying away from some items. Gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, desserts are the culprits. So moderation is the key.
This is my first Thanksgiving since diagnosis and I am going to make the normal recipes and just limit my portions of them. I am still on MDI and can’t get a pump until next month.
I use recipes from Danielle Walker’s books, Celebrations and Against all Grains. I also sometimes use recipes from Elana Amsterdam’s books. We are doing a chicken this year because of CoVid. Just the 2 of us:) very Thankful to be alive and well.we are choosing to be a part of the solution to this pandemic by not congregating over the holidays and spreading the disease. It is my gift to all of the wonderful healthcare and emergency workers who are already overwhelmed by the transmissions of CoVid that are taking place before the holidays. Please be careful in your decisions, too.
I eat the recipes served just like I would for any other meal at home or in a restaurant. As others have stated, the process of portion control and counting the carbs applies to every meal. Then I bonus for what is on my plate and eat it with joy and thanksgiving
I just eat what I want and bolus accordingly. I have done low carb eating in the past, but I tended to lose too much weight.
I don’t cook, so just eat whatever others make.
I just take a taste of the carbie stuff and stick with the roasted vegetables and turkey. Not worth the aggravation.
The only thing I make differently is yams that taste better than candied yams. After they get soft enough to slice and throw in a baking dish, I cover them with a layer of apple sauce and sprinkle cinnamon on top. It’s a good combo if you like yams.
Food choice and portion control guides what I eat almost all of the time. This year we’re staying home and just the two of us will be feasting. We’ll be enjoying roast cornbread encrusted chicken breast instead of turkey along with steamed asparagus with a lemon butter sauce. Desert will be fresh pineapple with pomegranate. Granted, it’s not “traditional” Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving, but it’s a festive menu that should not push my bg into the 300’s.
Mostly standard recipes my family loves and occasionally I will set aside a portion of yams for myself and not put brown sugar in them. Only a couple of mini-marshmallows instead of an entire crust on top! I am not a fan of mashed potatoes or stuffing, so I always stay away from them.
My husband is pretty diligent about eating low carb and avoiding spikes and he LOVES turkey. So I’ll cook a bone-in turkey breast, make the cauliflower stuffing recipe from the WholesomeYum website, pan roast Brussels sprouts (one of our faves with fennel seeds) and bake my traditional cranberry orange bread with almond and coconut flours and Swerve. We gave up potatoes years before my husband was diagnosed T1 so we won’t miss those. Last year, I could not find maple extract so I made the keto pecan pie from https://lifemadesweeter.com/pecan-pie/ I’ve since found the extract so I’ll likely make this low carb pecan pie: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/the-best-keto-sugar-free-pecan-pie-recipe/
“Other” I am not the cook, so I choose from among the food offered judiciously. On the rare occasions I contribute a dish I normally would choose something I would eat on another occasion.
The meal for Thanksgiving only happens once a year. We have the same meal we’ve always had and we enjoy all of it; once a year. 🙂
Note: Even though I don’t doctor the recipes to make them lower carb, I don’t do crazy, high-carb recipes to begin with. For example: I hate that sweet potato casserole that people make with all the marshmallows and brown sugar. NO THANKS! I like my sweet potatoes baked. No green bean casserole, either. I just make plain, whole green beans. Generally speaking, I don’t like my vegetables doctored with a bunch of extra stuff on them, anyway. I like them steamed with a little butter and salt. That’s enough for me because I actually like vegetables and don’t need to ‘hide’ the taste. 😉
Pre-diagnosis, I was a giant carb eater. I love potatoes, pasta, desserts, etc. Thanksgiving was my favorite day of the year. I am little, pound-wise, but a huge eater. Since I now have T1D, I still eat the same foods on Thanksgiving, but a lot less than before. I will hold off on dessert until dinner wears off, or wait until the next day. I don’t get to eat as much, but it’s still pretty great.
I do not use low carb recipes, but before my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes I started disliking very sweet things: sugar, desserts, candies, …. I still like potatoes, starches and fruit on its own.
Occasionally, I might make a low carb option, but typically I eat what’s available there and either avoid or reduce portions of some menu items.
Since I have no self control, I rarely accept invitations to Thanksgiving dinner, unless I know the person eats healthy. When I made dinner it’s not the Traditional Thanksgiving dinner. This year I made chicken curry, brown rice and roasted brussels sprouts. No dessert.
Yes and no, I do both. Who writes these answer choices? Why do you have such limited options?
My holiday meals are always the standard recipes. My mother never served high-carb meals, but chose balanced, healthy meals (well there was always dessert, but not ooey-gooey sweet stuff). I do the same. My family is not one for sweets, we go for the ‘real food’ LOL!