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Ultimate (hopefully) Christmas Thread - Tips, Tricks, "Hacks", Coping Mechanisms, Swaps, Recipes - Anything goes!

Paul_ said:
the third one was always a questionable component anyway for the enjoyment aspect due to hangovers (really don't miss them).
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Just in case you change your mind, alcohol isn't worse for diabetics than for non diabetics, provided you choose the lower carb drinks. Whisky, wodka, gin, all zero carb; dry wine, low carb. Just steer away from sugary mixers, beer, cider, and sweet liqueurs.
In fact, alcohol is likely to lower your BG a bit throughout the night! (Which is why those on insulin and gliclazide need to e wary of hypos after drinking.)
 
Antje77 said:
Just in case you change your mind, alcohol isn't worse for diabetics than for non diabetics, provided you choose the lower carb drinks. Whisky, wodka, gin, all zero carb; dry wine, low carb. Just steer away from sugary mixers, beer, cider, and sweet liqueurs.
In fact, alcohol is likely to lower your BG a bit throughout the night! (Which is why those on insulin and gliclazide need to e wary of hypos after drinking.)
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Thanks for that, interesting to read.

I haven't been a regular drinker since my first son was born 9 years ago. He had colic as a baby, and let me tell you, going through that first hangover after his colic kicked in was enough to put anyone off drinking for life! :)

I've abstained completely since diagnosis, more for weight loss reasons than BG - as we all know, 1 glass of red quickly turns into the bottle! :) I do like a drink or two with meals though, so I think I'll probably allow myself that over Christmas.
 
filly said:
Oh dear made me cry. My fave song. Dad used to sing it all the time at Christmas and at other times. Whenever I hear it , it reminds me of him .
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lovinglife said:
Me too, we used to tease my dad with that song as he was born in Christmas Day, we never spent a Christmas Day apart until sadly he passed away on Christmas Eve 2019. Always blubber when I hear that song, but it makes me smile too - thanks @Jaylee for this time making me smile :)
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Sorry to read I evoked sadness with my vid. Not my intention.

In our house we tend not to decorate it over the season, because we rarely spend any time there.. not counting covid.
From memory, I’d finished work early prior to the Christmas break & rigged the place like “close encounters of the third kind.”

I try to avoid doing trees & tend to improvise… this has to be 2019? Because I lost the dog in June the following year..

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Jaylee said:
Sorry to read I evoked sadness with my vid. Not my intention.

In our house we tend not to decorate it over the season, because we rarely spend any time there.. not counting covid.
From memory, I’d finished work early prior to the Christmas break & rigged the place like “close encounters of the third kind.”

I try to avoid doing trees & tend to improvise… this has to be 2019? Because I lost the dog in June the following year..

View attachment 62921
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You really didn’t make me sad @Jaylee - you made me smile and think of my dad, memories evoked by passing things keep your loved one alive, never a sad thing - love your inventiveness of a tree lol
 
Jaylee said:
Sorry to read I evoked sadness with my vid. Not my intention.

In our house we tend not to decorate it over the season, because we rarely spend any time there.. not counting covid.
From memory, I’d finished work early prior to the Christmas break & rigged the place like “close encounters of the third kind.”

I try to avoid doing trees & tend to improvise… this has to be 2019? Because I lost the dog in June the following year..

View attachment 62921
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Now I have rewatched it where I could hear properly, I am all emotional too. Makes me think of childhood and family gatherings. Lovely memories
 
Jaylee said:
Sorry to read I evoked sadness with my vid. Not my intention.

In our house we tend not to decorate it over the season, because we rarely spend any time there.. not counting covid.
From memory, I’d finished work early prior to the Christmas break & rigged the place like “close encounters of the third kind.”

I try to avoid doing trees & tend to improvise… this has to be 2019? Because I lost the dog in June the following year..

View attachment 62921
Click to expand...
When the kids moved out, Christmas was about the dog who loved ripping presents open, but only his! He ended up wearing all the trimmings from the presents and had numerous amounts of stickers and Sellotape stuck to him - he was so tolerant :facepalm:
 
lovinglife said:
You really didn’t make me sad @Jaylee - you made me smile and think of my dad, memories evoked by passing things keep your loved one alive, never a sad thing - love your inventiveness of a tree lol
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Christmas to my mind is about enjoying the company of people in your life & celebrating the lives of those no longer with us…
Many years ago. There used to be “ghost stories” shown on TV Christmas Eve? (Not so much a “horror.”)

Probably still tangle with mid winter pagan feasting & remission of sunnier days? (Get the hog roasted…)

Then a Bond movie come Boxing Day.. :hilarious:

I was diagnosed in 1976. “When a child is born” was charting in the UK end of that year??
Though, released the previous year??
To quote “Gerald” the talking gorilla (Not the nine o’clock news, sketch. Can’t post it here. Know the sketch word for word..) on the Jonny Mathis album, “the production was amazing..” lol, I would “shut up & have a banana..”

Not exactly “Chrimbo” conversation but it’s all about a meat fest, time off work & mixing with the remainder of my family, these days. My in laws when they were still with us, we’re lovely & accepting of my “strange ways” not having a pud.
Maybe I could “bolus for it?” But my now deceased FIL had a hearing impairment. He liked me because I have a loud voice (I play it down for everyone else.) he also liked the dog.. “it was a rabbiting hound.” Lol, I saw no evidence. It did like to chase squirrels.

Christmas for me is a long way off.. But I will raise a glass to fallen respected comrade @Goonergal . As well as my T2 dad & wonderful in-laws.

True Christmas story. I discovered from a very early pre T1 age Santa was fictional. (In my questioning on life, I always suspected.)
But, one year my younger sister & I raced down Christmas morning exited expecting Santa to have “been.”

Our mum had “crashed out” on the sofa, TV still kind of “on.”:? Lol, my dad was sound asleep too after (probably knowing) him a shift the day before..
our mum woke startled & answered truthfully, (to paraphrase.) sorry, forgot your stuff…
 
Wonderful post at @Jaylee - I gave you a winner - but I’ve taken the lid of in a virtual sense because you had to spoil it slightly by mentioning Bond :hilarious::spam:
 
Jaylee said:
Christmas to my mind is about enjoying the company of people in your life & celebrating the lives of those no longer with us…
Many years ago. There used to be “ghost stories” shown on TV Christmas Eve? (Not so much a “horror.”)

Probably still tangle with mid winter pagan feasting & remission of sunnier days? (Get the hog roasted…)

Then a Bond movie come Boxing Day.. :hilarious:

I was diagnosed in 1976. “When a child is born” was charting in the UK end of that year??
Though, released the previous year??
To quote “Gerald” the talking gorilla (Not the nine o’clock news, sketch. Can’t post it here. Know the sketch word for word..) on the Jonny Mathis album, “the production was amazing..” lol, I would “shut up & have a banana..”

Not exactly “Chrimbo” conversation but it’s all about a meat fest, time off work & mixing with the remainder of my family, these days. My in laws when they were still with us, we’re lovely & accepting of my “strange ways” not having a pud.
Maybe I could “bolus for it?” But my now deceased FIL had a hearing impairment. He liked me because I have a loud voice (I play it down for everyone else.) he also liked the dog.. “it was a rabbiting hound.” Lol, I saw no evidence. It did like to chase squirrels.

Christmas for me is a long way off.. But I will raise a glass to fallen respected comrade @Goonergal . As well as my T2 dad & wonderful in-laws.

True Christmas story. I discovered from a very early pre T1 age Santa was fictional. (In my questioning on life, I always suspected.)
But, one year my younger sister & I raced down Christmas morning exited expecting Santa to have “been.”

Our mum had “crashed out” on the sofa, TV still kind of “on.”:? Lol, my dad was sound asleep too after (probably knowing) him a shift the day before..
our mum woke startled & answered truthfully, (to paraphrase.) sorry, forgot your stuff…
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Think we need a Santa emoji for this tread.
 
Antje77 said:
Now there's a nice solution!
I can dose for 3 chocolate covered pepernoten (preferably the truffle variety, definitely not white chocolate, yuck). :joyful:
And I'm sure Kornelis will be happy to get rid of the rest of the bag. :hilarious:
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JoKalsbeek said:
Careful, I'm taking notes! ;)
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Look what an amazing present I found in my mailbox today!

Three chocolate covered pepernoten and a regular one (one had already been eaten when I took the picture), so beautifully wrapped that eating 4 seemed very decadent instead of only a little portion. :happy:

They even came with a carb count, 7.3 grams for all 4 of them, well within my limits for an occasional dessert.

Thank you so much @JoKalsbeek !

And I guess this is another useful hack to add to this thread.
Making a very small portion of something carby look extra special can easily trick the mind into being very happy with just the smallest bite,

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Antje77 said:
Look what an amazing present I found in my mailbox today!

Three chocolate covered pepernoten and a regular one (one had already been eaten when I took the picture), so beautifully wrapped that eating 4 seemed very decadent instead of only a little portion. :happy:

They even came with a carb count, 7.3 grams for all 4 of them, well within my limits for an occasional dessert.

Thank you so much @JoKalsbeek !

And I guess this is another useful hack to add to this thread.
Making a very small portion of something carby look extra special can easily trick the mind into being very happy with just the smallest bite,

View attachment 62949
Click to expand...
How kind, what a lovely thing to do
 
Antje77 said:
Look what an amazing present I found in my mailbox today!

Three chocolate covered pepernoten and a regular one (one had already been eaten when I took the picture), so beautifully wrapped that eating 4 seemed very decadent instead of only a little portion. :happy:

They even came with a carb count, 7.3 grams for all 4 of them, well within my limits for an occasional dessert.

Thank you so much @JoKalsbeek !

And I guess this is another useful hack to add to this thread.
Making a very small portion of something carby look extra special can easily trick the mind into being very happy with just the smallest bite,

View attachment 62949
Click to expand...
With my new reformed ways with how I eat, people are struggling to think up gift ideas. It was my birthday recently and it was quite entertaining to see people panicking about what to buy a fat chap that doesn't eat carbs! :)

I'm apparently quite difficult to buy gifts for at the best of times, so this lovely post has given me some inspiration on what to suggest people do so they can fulfill that desire to gift me food. (My mother will be especially pleased, as she's the only human on the planet who can look at me weighing 20 odd stone, and be seriously concerned that imminent starvation is a risk! :) )
 
Everybody else struggled with the Habenero ones, only i ate the Carolina reaper ones, nobody else would even attempt them. i actually thoroughly enjoyed them, despite the burn.
 
Nice thread. The next will be my 8th Christmas as type 2 and I've always stuck to low carb. I love goose, which is fattier than turkey, stuffed with sauerkraut and bacon. This or other meat served with braised spiced red cabbage, not sweetened, maybe stewed together with a chopped apple. My treat is lots of cheese, sometimes a keto "sweet" treat. I once made a low carb yule log with reduced sweetener. It was amazing, but no one else loved it as much

Next Christmas I'll have a 2.5 months old, and a toddler, so I'll keep plans as simple as possible. We may order some ready made foods from a local fishmonger such as fish pate and smoked salmon. I still remember the shock of Christmas 2020, when I had a 4 months old, when everyone else watched lots of telly, played cards, ate pralines late at night, while I was glad if I managed to change out of my pyjamas and leave the house once a day. So this time I'll be at least mentally more prepared. Also, we're not having visitors this time!
 
Antje77 said:
The thread title mentioned recipes as well, so I thought to share the recipe for this amazing low carb chocolate cake.
My friend made it for me last year and it was definitely chrismas worthy!
If you use 85 to 95% cocoa chocolate it's very low carb.
She left out the salt on top, I don't like salt on my chocolate.

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CRUST:
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, plus more room temperature for pan
2½ cups mixed raw nuts (such as walnuts, blanched hazelnuts, pistachios, and/or almonds)
6 Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. kosher salt
Use egg white instead of sugar to make crust stick.

GANACHE AND ASSEMBLY:
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1" pieces
Flaky sea salt
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
A 12"-diameter tart pan with removable bottom

CRUST:
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Lightly butter pan; line with a round of parchment paper cut to fit just inside pan. Pulse nuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Add sugar and salt and pulse again to combine. Drizzle in melted butter and pulse until nuts begin to clump together and mixture looks sandy. Using your hands, firmly and evenly press mixture into bottom and up sides of pan (it doesn’t need to come all the way up the sides). Bake crust until golden brown, 20–25 minutes. Let cool.

GANACHE AND ASSEMBLY:
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until just beginning to simmer; immediately pour over chocolate. Let sit, undisturbed, 5 minutes. Add butter and mix with a heatproof rubber spatula until smooth and glossy. Scrape ganache into crust and smooth out any bubbles. Chill, uncovered, until set, at least 1 hour.
Remove tart from pan; sprinkle sea salt over. Slice into wedges with a hot knife
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I need to reply to this so hopefully I can find it again- sounds awesome.

My very first Christmas as a diabetic I was still in my pity party phase. We traditionally have a roast with lots of vegetables and then 3 desserts plus Christmas cake- pavola (Australian) Bush de Noel and pumpkin pie. It has been my job for decades to make the desserts- my husband does the rest.

The first Christmas we went with seafood- oysters, lobster, prawns etc. We tried payola with artificial sweetener which didn't work but have some diet jelly with cream. The lobster was a real extravagance- so expensive but something I really love. We have since gone back to closer to our family tradition (I have 7 siblings and more including in-laws etc.). I make sure there's something sweet for me (there's nice low carb ice cream in Australia.
I found it hard the first year but not so hard following.

Still going to try @Antje77 's recipe
 
Oh Munkki - roast goose with red cabbage - doesn't that bring back memories! I still make red cabbage during the year, but with leftover meat from a roast joint plus lardons, spring onions and juniper berries. I stopped the apple in my high-keto phase but maybe I'll bring it back now. Have to be non-goose though as too expensive!
 
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