You got through the candy-fest of Hal­loween, but the big­ger feasts of Thanks­giv­ing, Christ­mas or Hanukkah await through Novem­ber and Decem­ber. These are times of big temp­ta­tions for dia­bet­ics, not only because there’s so much deli­cious food, but because we tend to use hol­i­days as an excuse to eat too much, and eat foods that aren’t good for us. After all, the hol­i­days come around only once a year.

If you plan ahead, you can fully enjoy the hol­i­day sea­son and not feel deprived or left out. Of course, if you are the host of the hol­i­day meal, you can make it a diabetic-friendly feast by prepar­ing foods you can eat along with the hol­i­day sta­ples such as stuff­ing, gravy, mashed pota­toes and yams.

Turkey is the cen­ter­piece of many a great hol­i­day menu. You can make a tra­di­tional stuff­ing for your guests, as well as a sausage and veg­etable dress­ing with herbs for a low-carb alter­na­tive. Use Ital­ian bulk sausage, chopped broc­coli and cau­li­flower, squash, mush­rooms, for example.

Use these same veg­eta­bles as sides to offer with the meal. Steamed broc­coli with melted ched­dar cheese, mashed cau­li­flower with gar­lic (or try mashed win­ter squash, turnips, or pump­kin). You can also offer green beans cooked with bacon and onion as well as a green bean casse­role. Include a large bowl of tossed salad with var­i­ous dress­ings, being sure to include your own favorite low-carb recipe.

Bev­er­ages can include water, tea, cof­fee, soda, a glass or two of red wine, and hot choco­late with cin­na­mon sticks (no-sugar mixes are avail­able at your grocer).

If you are going to be a guest, plan ahead in your mind. Defeat the temp­ta­tion to cheat by mak­ing up your mind before you get there. Another way to resist the sweet desserts is to bring your own diabetic-friendly dessert to share with oth­ers. Con­sider a sugar-free fruit pie or cheese­cake. Check out the video below.

Be sure to load up your plate with turkey and veg­eta­bles. Avoid the casseroles, gravies, breads and stuff­ing. If you sim­ply must have some, take just a small spoon­ful, two or three bites of each. My per­sonal weak­ness is home-baked rolls. The trick (if you just have to have one) is to take only one. Take most of the bread out of the cen­ter, and but­ter up the remain­ing crusty part. Mmm.

Finally, remem­ber the hol­i­days are not only about eat­ing. They are about things that have noth­ing to do with being dia­betic. So focus not so much on food and eat­ing, but enjoy the time together with fam­ily and friends. Cel­e­brate the deeply impor­tant things that Thanks­giv­ing, Christ­mas and Hanukkah really mean, and you will enjoy what mat­ters most.

If you have other hol­i­day ideas and recipes, I’d love to hear from you.

The Dia­betes Book That Could Save Your Life!