• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Traditional Christmas

LittleGreyCat

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
4,405
Location
Suffolk, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Back in the day of Charles Dickens and Tiny Tim Christmas was special because you saved up to have one big meal of things you just couldn't afford for the rest of the year.

Things are different now, with cheap food (including turkey and all the trimmings) available all year round, so it can be Christmas every day.

Or can it?

There are a lot of things I can't afford to eat every day (and keep my blood glucose under control).

Many of them are found in the traditional Xmas spread, so I am proposing to have a Traditional Christmas this year.

Things available for one day only! [D+ for good, D- for bad.]

Mince pie in the morning (used to be with sherry, but single malt seems better). D--

Turkey with sausages wrapped in bacon. D++
Sprouts. D+
Potato roasted in goose fat. D-
Roasted parsnip. D-
{other roasted vegetables} D+

A tiny Christmas pudding. D---
Brandy butter and/or double cream. D+

That should comfortably use up my 20 grams of carbohydrate for the day!

There have been other things in the past, including sherry trifle, but I don't rate that as special enough. A hot turkey muffin (scarfed when carving) used to be a treat but I doubt I could eat one now along with a main meal. How are the mighty (eaters) fallen.

Drooler's foot note: there are mini Xmas puddings in the shops already. For around £0.70 up you can get a little taste of heaven (and a sniff of the gates of hell). My partner is, with enormous self sacrifice, testing some for me at the moment. The smell brought back memories. I was amazed how powerful the impact was of smelling a hot Xmas pudding.
 
We always have turkey at Christmas as the family insist it is traditional, which actually it is not. We have tried various cooking methods and even ludicrously expensive free range turkeys but it is always disappointing. I would have some quality roast pork or rib of beef given a choice. Bah! Humbug!
 
mahola said:
Me and my girls have decided to give 2 fingers to a traditional xmas dinner. The eldest wants us to have pizza :D

All I'll be getting for xmas is high BG and fatter. Woohoo!
Click to expand...
Surely, someone, somewhere makes a pizza with a traditional Xmas topping. If they don't then they should.
:):)
 
Mr_Pot said:
We always have turkey at Christmas as the family insist it is traditional, which actually it is not. We have tried various cooking methods and even ludicrously expensive free range turkeys but it is always disappointing. I would have some quality roast pork or rib of beef given a choice. Bah! Humbug!
Click to expand...

We tested a frozen turkey crown from Lidl and it came out really well - moist and tasty. So we have another in the freezer waiting for the day.

Yes, turkey is relatively recent and roast beef is probably more traditional. But I like turkey!
 
therower said:
Surely, someone, somewhere makes a pizza with a traditional Xmas topping. If they don't then they should.
:):)
Click to expand...

Just had a vision of mince pie pizza.
Now I wish I hadn't.
 
Traditional Xmas dinner with all the trimmings ( except roast parsnips yuck ) and Xmas pudding with brandy sauce.
Family and Xmas first. Diabetes second. Hell I'll put tinsel around my novo pen but that's all.
 
sob my first diabetic crimbo, no roasties just lots and lots of sprouts.
 
paulus1 said:
sob my first diabetic crimbo, no roasties just lots and lots of sprouts.
Click to expand...

Now wondering about roasties done the proper way.
Par boiled until almost done and starting to go fluffy.
Then roasted in hot fat (goose by choice).
I wonder what the carb to fat ratio is once they have gone all soft and fluffy and soaked up all that lovely fat?
Well, looking for an excuse but going to do it anyway.:)
 
My first diabetic vegetarian Christmas - in other years I have had a homemade pastry/halloumi concoction but maybe not this year. I will cook turkey for the rest of the family and the roast potatoes (well I will have 1) but I like them roasted dry - no Christmas pud, no mince pies or celebration choccies.
 
I believe it was goose that is the traditional Christmas meat. Or at least it was for my ancestors.

We always have a fresh turkey from the local butcher. We order it well beforehand and pick it up a day or two before. I don't have any because I don't like it. I have a lovely piece of fresh fillet steak from the same butcher. Granddaughter and grandson are both quite long term vegans. They sort themselves out but have any of the veg that hasn't been roasted in goose fat.

We always do roast potatoes the same way we do them on Sundays - par boil till fluffy then finished off in the goose fat. What other way is there???
Some of them also have mash, but a couple of roasties have always been enough for me. Various veggies (usually 4 different ones), yorkshire puds and gravy. Very plain and simple. No Christmas puds because not one of us likes them. I have strawberries and cream. The other non-vegans have yorkshire puds as a dessert with butter and sugar on. I will have a small mince pie at some point, a couple of Celebrations or Heroes, a couple of After Eights. Plenty of red wine to wash it all down. I nearly forgot. We have a shot of honey rum late morning, just to whet the appetite.
 
Well, it's for one day only. OK perhaps with a slight diminuendo on treats over two or three days after the crescendo, but I'm not going to give up on the traditional joys of Christmas grub. I'll go very easy on the roast potatoes and limit my self to maybe one but I'm damned if I'll forego Christmas pud or my wife's gorgeous mince pies. I'll abandon BG testing as I don't want to know, but in the long term scheme of things I doubt if a couple of days of gastronomic pleasure will have a seriously detrimental effect and they may just have a positive mental effect.

A few years ago, and having invited several of our family for Christmas lunch we splashed out on a big fresh, free range turkey obtained via a friend from a local farmer. We received it two days before Christmas day and parked the big plump bird out on top of the freezer in our cold garden shed (it was very cold that year). Come Christmas eve my wife went to bring the bird in to pre-cook ready for the morrow. The wretched fowl was foul, and had gone off! We ended up raiding the freezer for whatever we we could find and the meaty core of the main meal comprised chicken legs, sausages, bacon and burgers.

Our other Christmas disaster was when on Christmas day the oven packed in and we had to cook everything in a microwave!!

These last few years Christmas lunch has been hosted by our daughter and her hubby, so no worries as far as regards food prep!!
 
I've decided to fire up the bbq this Christmas just for the chestnuts don't you know. I will be having the full monty Christmas meal as we always do diabetes be damned.

Mind you I once cooked a Christmas meal for four in a mini toaster oven that was just mad turned out great though concidering.
 
I almost cried at the small portion of food I can eat. Diabetes aside. But when I still felt good and everyone was moaning about their stomachs, I felt better. I hate the restrictions but I hate the consequences more. I completely enjoyed my moist turkey with mushroom gravy, butter, Brussels and avo. Times 2 meals. Stomach and energy good. It’s just food. And can be so tasty. I’d rather eat small portions for days than one large in one meal. I know I’m quirky
 
Back
Top