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

Paul_ said:

So, it's basically been winter since the 1st August here in the UK, plus I was in a shop today and saw a Christmas seasonal aisle being constructed. There's a lot of serious talk around here - and rightly so - but we all deserve to enjoy the Christmas period whether you celebrate it or not.

As a diabetes newbie, I'm sure I'm not the only person thinking "how the hell am I going to get through Christmas with all the temptation everywhere, family gatherings, social pressures, impromptu drop-ins, receiving food gifts, and work pressures (yep, I'm talking to you Carole, and all your homebaked "goodies" you bring in that would make me blind if I even sniff them!)" Then there's the big day itself, Boxing Day and New Year.

This thread is for everyone - T1s, T2s, prediabetics, or anything in between or outside of that. It's for people who celebrate Christmas and how you cope, or for those that don't and how you cope with it all around you for months. It's for any forum members who are friends/family members of those with diabetes. It's for any diabetes management approach, whether that's medication, insulin, diet only - and it doesn't matter what diet you're on. It's even begrudgingly for avocado lovers, although be aware I will judge you for your crimes against humanity and food!

Do you stick rigidly to your diet regime? Do you let loose for a day? Do you ignore Christmas altogether, or commit to it? Those on medication/insulin, how do you deal with the unknown elements of the food at various occasions?

Between all the members here, there must be hundreds of ideas, tips, recipes and routines people have to make things easier, so I'm hoping we can all benefit in some way.

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Another post that is making me cry with laughter. I live alone and my dear son lives 10,000 miles away. I try and buy some Christmas meats etc from a farm down in Somerset. However, there are temptations such as gammon. try and cook it naked and not have meats with stuffing. Don't eat cake, mince pies etc so ok there. Must not go mad with the Greek yogurt though.

I love the inclusiveness of this thread, all (pre)diabetics, all approaches, no judgement. (Well, I do like avocados but I don't think I ever had them at christmas so I should be fine.)

So I'll kick off with my T1 plus insulin resistance approach.

I have it pretty easy, living alone and in a country where christmas is a thing but not as big a thing as in the UK. For me, there's mostly only christmas day (the traditional food day in the Netherlands) to consider, plus new years eve.

Most days of the year I eat low carb, makes it much easier for me. This also means I'm not very good at dosing for high carb meals, not enough practice.
And I have an uncle who sees christmas as the perfect excuse to go all out with his cooking for his children, grandchildren, me (no parents, no partner, no siblings), and the occasional cousin, niece, nephew happening around.

My uncle's food is the type of food that makes it worth messing up my BG, with 12 to 20 family members attending, the table is reminiscent of the feasts in the Harry Potter movies!
This also means there are plenty of sensible choices to be had, but it doesn't mean I don't want to try the less sensible choices.
So I do eat a lot of the meats and veggies, a little of the carbier stuff, and try to not eat more than a single bite of dessert with varied success.
I've also never had a christmas feast with my uncle without injecting at least 8 times, and going both high and low.
Definitely worth it, and trying to keep a hold on my diabetes during christmas is enough motivation to go back to what's sensible for me the next day, it's just too much work to eat high carb for me.

New years eve is much easier, I live in the middle of nowhere, no fireworks, so I usually host a party for all my friends dogs to escape the fireworks, sometimes with the friends too. Neighbours often feature as well.
Anyway, my main guests are very happy with charcuterie board stuff (especially lots of liverwurst) and cheeses!

And then there is Sinterklaas on 5 december, a Dutch thing I love very much because it involves gift exchanges with poems and creative packaging. It's also riddled with sweets, chocolate letters and pepernoten. But I celebrate that one with a vegetarian friend, so we make lots of vegetarian low carb stuff to go with the poem reading and drawn out presents unpacking, nothing better than a friend who understands dietary restrictions for whatever reason.

Paul_ said:

So, it's basically been winter since the 1st August here in the UK, plus I was in a shop today and saw a Christmas seasonal aisle being constructed. There's a lot of serious talk around here - and rightly so - but we all deserve to enjoy the Christmas period whether you celebrate it or not.

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I don't have any big ideas(yet) but I'm a planner and just wanted to say I thought this thread was a great idea. Thank you. I already know the low carb chocolate slab cake I bought and tried yesterday will feature heavily in my Christmas fayre

Paul_ said:

Probably just as well I don't live in the Netherlands, because although I had to Google them, those pepernoten on Sinterklass would be the end of me!

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They even sell them covered in chocolate nowadays, it's horrible!
And the first ones have been spotted in the store by a friend today. I'm very good at using sweets for hypo treatment only, no excesses, I wish I could do the same with chocolate pepernoten.
So I WILL NOT buy them this year, you hear!

Christmas day falls on my fasting day, so job done! But otherwise, turkey and beef, brussell sprouts, pigs in blankets with a couple of new potatoes plus maybe some cauliflower cheese.

I used to bake cakes, back in the pre-diabetic days, so I'll probably find a low carb recipe to make this year.

It'll be a bit weird, but doable.

Paul_ said:

Interesting to hear about the T1 experience with events like Christmas too, some similarities, but with the additional challenge of trying to calculate dosages on the fly.

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In some ways I think it's easier as a T1, in some way it's harder. But mainly I see similarities, which is why I love those explicit all types and approaches threads.
Easier for me because I have an amazing tool to bring down my BG, even if it takes a bit to work. For a T2 not on insulin there's only dietary choices and maybe running up and down stairs (which doesn't seem a very appealing thing to do while all the inlaws are enjoying dessert). For T1's we have this tool, but it involves a lot of thinking and calculating and timing, no such thing as just putting our meter in the bottom drawer until after christmas.

Paul_ said:

Also love hearing about the customs in other countries and cultures - love stealing bits from them too where I can too.

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Steal the poems and 'surprises', leave the pepernoten to the Dutch!


I also seemed to remember to have read similar threads in the past, so I used the search bar on the top right to do a search on 'Christmas' and ticked the Search Titles Only button.
A whopping 15 pages of results!
Not all of them on foods of course, but there's a lot to find there.

What a great idea for a thread!

There's just the two of us, and my husband cooks Christmas dinner, which we have in the evening as daylight is so short. He is a superstar! He makes the best roast potatoes in the world (I taught him how) but he doesn't make them! We have a roast rib of beef and loads of diabetic-friendly veg. with butter on. We only eat that course - no starters, no puds. I do have one glass of red wine. This year I will have a few nuts which he allocates me as in my mind there is no such thing as "a few". That's why I also don't have the two squares of dark chocolate which would be okay if I did, but the rest of the bar would be calling to me, so we don't buy it. I don't crave his chocolate/biscuits/cake/sweets/peanuts/crisps - am completely indifferent to them since starting keto. That was an unexpected and most welcome side-effect. I'm not goody-two-shoes - it just happened.

I'm not a snacker - I wasn't brought up that way - he is, so he snacks all day, but they are his snacks not mine. So they don't interest me. I'll brunch with something diabetic-friendly when I am hungry. We used to have hot chocolate with brandy after a long walk on the day, but I just have the brandy now, maybe with coffee with cream.

Leading up to the day we do some mild socialising so I do come across people who try to press me to eat/drink things that will do me no good. It annoys me because I see it as manipulative and inconsiderate, but I woz brung up proper so I just refuse politely but firmly, and the more they push (why DO people do this? It's to make themselves feel good. Tough.) the more polite I am. Passive aggressive I can do.

It's honestly no hardship for me to do Christmas this way, but I have no criticism whatever of others having a different approach. The important thing IMO is to stay as healthy as we can manage while having as good a time as we can safely manage. That's different for all of us.

Antje77 said:

They even sell them covered in chocolate nowadays, it's horrible!
And the first ones have been spotted in the store by a friend today. I'm very good at using sweets for hypo treatment only, no excesses, I wish I could do the same with chocolate pepernoten.
So I WILL NOT buy them this year, you hear!

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If you don't buy them, does that mean I have to send some over? Kornelis has eaten his already, so I'd have to go shopping!

Paul_ said:

So, it's basically been winter since the 1st August here in the UK,

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I have only a vague idea of what Christmas will look like this year, but it's likely we'll only celebrate with my in-laws, though if a friend who has no relatives left is in the Netherlands at that time, we might invite him over as well, for dinner in some restaurant or other. But with my inlaws, it's usually "gourmet", as per my request, so a table grill with tiny little bits of meat, fish, veg etc. My little cousins love playing with their food, so it seems to be a winner. I can eat along with the good stuff, and leave the pancake batter and spuds to the rest. In previous years, with my mom still with us, I'd take care of dinner. Usually something fancy (deer steaks, duck breast or something, the kind of thing you don't prepare every day so you're bound to mess up. Badly. To a point where I'd have back-up bovine steaks just in case. And needed them!), veg, mushrooms and for those that wanted them, spuds with rosemary and whatnot. Dessert would be chocolate mousse for the others, low carb coconut yog for me. And waaaay back when my aunts and uncles were still well enough to get together, my aunts (or mum, as the three of them took turns), would make a spread anyone could dig in to for an afternoon of "eat, drink and be merry". I'd have the deviled eggs, mini meatballs, goat's cheese, tiny little cherry tomatoes filled with shrimp, smoked eel, salmon salad and what have you. The rest'd dig into the pastry, but there was always so much, I never went away hungry nor feeling like I missed anything. They had to keep an eye on me, on my lactose intolerant cousin etc, and neither one of us ever, ever felt left out. It helps if people know about food issues, and if you can assist in the kitchen, or bring in ready made goodies, then do. People looked very surprised when we had a big gathering at my mum's long before Covid was a thing, and I was eating pralines with the coffee, and having whipped (unsweetened) cream in said coffee to boot... Just need to have a good look at local chocolatiers to see whether they do sugar free chocolate. All in all it's a matter of just piling up a LOT of good food on the table, so you can have extra of what won't spike you, without anyone feeling like they didn't get enough of something or other. Leftovers are excellent.

The problem I do have is with, as @Antje77 mentioned, Sinterklaas, right before Christmas. It's all a lot of goodies, candies and whatnot, and sometimes I do slip up a bit. Sint's candy is already in stores (my husband has been binging already), so it's a long, long stretch to be a good girl in. But the holidays themselves normally aren't a problem. It's the days around them and leading up to them that can get hard, because everywhere you go, it all smells so good! But now I've found out that I can drink watered down coconut milk, hot, with either cocao powder or a bit of cinnamon mixed in, or both, and maybe a tiny little pepernoot isn't going to kill me. Thankfully there's a whole lot of different types of chocolate available now, so the traditional candies are now often available in extra dark chocolate as well. You find work-arounds. Which I admit, is kind of fun to do, especially if it works! Just have to start early enough in the year, so it's not a mad dash for the holidays themselves. And your freezer is your friend to avoid lines at the butcher's.

Oh, as for restaurants, if Chris is indeed in the Netherlands and feeling lonely without his American fiancée, we'll probably go to some grill restaurant with him, or one of the ones near here which I know the menu of by heart. I know their kitchen won't give me a hard time if I say to leave off the bread or spuds, maybe add a salad or extra veg. That helps, knowing I'm welcome without being made to feel like a bother. Research is such a nice way to get ready for the holidays. "Eating out again?" "All in the name of Christmas!"

Anyway, have an excellent run-up to the holidays!
Jo

JoKalsbeek said:

If you don't buy them, does that mean I have to send some over? Kornelis has eaten his already, so I'd have to go shopping!

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Now there's a nice solution!
I can dose for 3 chocolate covered pepernoten (preferably the truffle variety, definitely not white chocolate, yuck).
And I'm sure Kornelis will be happy to get rid of the rest of the bag.

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).
And I'm sure Kornelis will be happy to get rid of the rest of the bag.

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Careful, I'm taking notes!

Paul_ said:

Between all the members here, there must be hundreds of ideas, tips, recipes and routines people have to make things easier, so I'm hoping we can all benefit in some way.

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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.



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

As I pescatarian, non-low carb person with Type 1, the missing turkey and ham and pigs in blankets is the main difference between my Christmas meal and the non-T1s around me.
Christmas is either spent at my parent's or my partner's parents (ILs).
My Mum cooks everything from scratch - sausage rolls, mince pies, Christmas pud, Christmas cake (including home made marzipan and royal icing) and my veggie alternative which is usually something with home-made pastry parcelly that will go with the rest of the trimmings. She will also make a veggie stuffing so I can have some.
My MIL is not so much of a cook. Aunt Bessie helps out a lot with her Christmas dinner by providing the parsnips and Yorkshire puds (although I was bought up with YP only going with beef so still not got my head around having them on Christmas day). My meat alternative will be a M&S veggie pie. Christmas dessert is usually profiteroles (because my SIL likes them) or cheesecake (because my BIL likes it).

Both will have sweets and nibbles around which means a constant need for an insulin top up as I get offered another Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate truffle (my parents) or a toffee Quality Street (ILs).

I try to participate in all but try to hold back at the end of the evening so I don't have too much insulin on board when I go to bed.

Whichever Christmas it is this year will be fun and an over-indulgence. The only concession will be the Boxing Day walk. With my folks, the whole family troop out. At the ILs it may just be me in my running shoes with weird looks from the family.