Most holidays are synonymous with food, friends and family. Diabetic living may present a challenge to holiday cooking, but not an insurmountable one. Favorite family recipes might need tweaking to alter the calorie and carb count. Don't throw caution to the wind and binge on holiday feasts -- as a diabetic only you will pay the health consequences for that.
Step 1
Prepare ahead of time by reviewing your holiday schedule. You can purchase and cook some of the food for parties and gatherings ahead of time. Planning your diabetic menu and grocery list will eradicate the potential to use ingredients that are not good for your sugar level.
Step 2
Experiment in advance if you are trying to substitute ingredients in an old family recipe. Substitutions can alter the flavor and appearance of your dish -- better to know that before the big holiday event. Try recipes that will require only one or two substitutions. If you are trying to substitute too many ingredients, the food choice may not be a healthy one anyway.
Step 3
Skip the heavy creams altogether and make your own diabetic-friendly cream for desserts. Some heavy cream toppings for pies have up to 420 calories per serving. Try blending a low-fat ricotta cheese until smooth, then adding some plain no-fat or low-fat yogurt to make a lower fat, lower calorie version of cream.
Step 4
Broil, bake, grill or steam meats. Avoid deep frying methods and basting, which can harness the fats within the meat and increase the calorie count. Cook that holiday turkey in an oven-bag, which is self-basting using the natural juices of the meat as opposed to cups of butter.
Step 5
Know your diabetic substitutions. Use egg whites or egg substitutes in lieu of whole eggs to reduce overall fat and cholesterol in the food. Breads, cakes and cookies can be made with egg whites and retain flavor. Use a sugar substitute as opposed to the real deal and alcohol extracts instead of whole grain alcohols in cooking.
