I usually do the cooking on special occasions here in my family, though as
the only diabetic I sometimes end up not eating what I cook (e.g. carb rich
birthday cakes etc.). This Christmas my wife and my daughters said 'forget
the turkey and the stuffing and the gravy and the mashed potatoes and the
cranberries and go ahead and make your perfect diabetic Christmas dinner,
we'll eat it with you'.
I thought a bit about it. I know some people make 'pretend' Christmas
dinners using 'mashed potatoes' made from cauliflower as well as fake turkey
or whatever, but somehow that didn't seem very appetizing. I'd rather have
something genuine than an imitation of something else.
So I went shopping and then brought the barbecue out on the patio and here's
what ended up on the Christmas dinner table:
Appetizer: Grilled asparagus spears and Shitake mushrooms garnished with
worchester sauce
Main course: Italian herb fettucini cooked al dente, drained and stirred
with some light olive oil, boneless skinless chicken breasts marinated in
lemon and pepper and then barbecued and a homemade primavera style sauce
made from crushed tomatoes and a variety of chopped vegetables, topped with
fresh grated parmesan cheese and sliced Sicilian olives.
Dessert: Frozen natural yoghurt whipped with blackberries, raspberries and a
dash of lime. Coffee and dark Belgian chocolate.
First of all, nobody complained and in fact they all had second helpings of
the main course. Secondly, nobody passed out on the sofa afterwards (the
usual symptom of massive turkey and stuffing overload), in fact they all
asked to join me when I went for a half hour walk on the seashore.
My blood sugars were reasonably good, 94 one hour after and 115 after two
hours, thanks to using the low GI pasta with a reasonable amount of oil.
For me at least, it goes to show that eating healthy doesn't have to mean
eating boring or eating alone.
Tor