Our First Diabetic Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was different than all the others. I went through it as a Diabetic. Actually I went through it twice AND I did just GREAT!

First, my wife and I went to my mother’s house and spent the day with my family. My little sister had flown in from California and was there with her children and grandchildren. We were about 20 people in all and this was a more-or-less traditional American Thanksgiving.

There was Turkey, Dressing (stuffing), green bean and French onion casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, white flour yeast raised dinner rolls, spinach salad with mandarin oranges, pies and cakes galore. My wife has made dinner rolls from scratch for years. Most of the family love them and ask for her to make them every holiday because they really are so delicious.

I went through the meal eating a tablespoon each of green bean casserole and dressing; no mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce, a small amount of gravy, more turkey than all the starchy things on the plate except for much more spinach salad than anything else. I used “the plate method” for the most part and even ate a piece of sugar-free apple pie (without eating any of the crust of course). I had nearly all of one of my wife’s luscious dinner rolls. Later, upon testing my blood glucose at two hours afterward, all was well. No spike…   I was elated.

Finally, two days later on Saturday, we had my cousin and his wife over for another Thanksgiving dinner. They’re in their 90’s (he is 93 years of age) and every year we try to ensure they get a good meal and that we celebrate God’s goodness by giving thanks together.

This meal was a Diabetic-friendly meal that my good wife generously cooked. It featured Turkey of course - but it was organic. Instead of mashed potatoes there was cauliflower and also butternut squash. There was a green bean casserole. There was cranberry sauce (Tomatoes was my alternate dish), sweet potatoes and dressing for the non-Diabetics. Unlike any other year, my wife purposely did not include making her famous dinner rolls for this meal (why I love her so much!). Finally, there was a Diabetic pumpkin pie. The recipe is listed below in case you’d like to make it. It was sugar-free and delicious. Again, I tested my blood glucose level two hours after the meal and it was well within normal range! Wonderful!

This holiday I am truly thankful for my family, who cared enough to feature a sugar-free apple pie, for my wife who cared enough not to make her world-famous white flour dinner rolls and to make a simply delicious Diabetic-friendly meal. I’m thankful for our friends and for the information I’ve learned that allowed us to make appropriate choices to manage the disease we must now live with.

I hope yours was as fruitful and delicious.

Diabetic’s Pumpkin Pie

1 baked, cooked 9 inch pie shell
2 sm. Pkgs. Sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
2 c. milk
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. Cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth.

Use plain canned pumpkin. DO NOT USE CANNED PUMPKIN PIE MIXTURE.
Pour into pie shell and chill until ready to serve.