The average North American consumes approximately 4000- 5000 calories on Thanksgiving. When I look at the below dinner plate it makes me ill. Come on, do we need this much food in our stomachs at one sitting?... how about seconds, anyone? :)

Please share your suggestions (recipes and whatnot) on making Thanksgiving day a slightly bit more Diabetic friendly holiday?

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Stick to eating the protein stuff like turkey...try to get all desserts made with sucralose...and dual wave, baby, dual-wave :-).
Sigh.......Thanksgiving IS in a few weeks, isn't it. I've learned, to seriously take a look at what foods I actually REALLY like. It is so easy just to throw every dish on your plate because it 'all is so good!" Once I get to my seat and start eating I realize that I put a lot on my plate that I didn't really care for. Now I try (and I repeat, try...) to pick the dishes that really are my favorites, the ones that I only get when Grandma/Aunt/whoever makes once a year. There's no need for me to eat a bunch of mashed potatoes when I can eat them anytime, or have those cookies that I actually don't care for when Great Aunt Carol's pudding next to it on the table. So, I try to just eat my really favorite favorite foods. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I try.....

-Elizabeth
I have yet to experience a Diabetic thanksgiving. This year will be my first, so anything could happen.
It's my first Thanksgiving also. I'm not sure how I will do.
here's a little discussion we had about Thanksgiving last year.
157 grams anyone?
And it doesn't include the pies, wine, and sleeping afterward!
I'll eat the turkey and beans. About 1 tablespoon of the dressing. And a bite of my husband's pie. We will have tests all around, one hour after eating!
What works for me is to do the cooking because I cook what I like: Turkey with homemade bread stuffing, cranberry-raspberry sauce in the can, green beans, real potatoes made with stock instead of milk and butter, gravy made with stock and a small amount of milk and whole wheat flour for thickening, and lime gelatin with pineapple for dessert. The next thing to do is to eat in moderation, moderation, moderation....plus combo bolus!
I have already been looking at my recipes to "tweak" them if needed as hubby and I are in the middle of losing weight as well as me being a diabetic. I have managed to come in at around 1400 calories for dinner and dessert. I will not be making stuffing as I decided I would rather have rolls (I only make them at the holidays) and the girls don't eat it. I will not put any sauce on the vegetables just steam them ( I usually make cider green beans and tart cranberry glazed carrots). I will modify my potatoes to be lower cal and fat, and I will only make enough for dinner. I will only make apple and pumpkin pies ( I usually would make a chocolate pie and cheesecake as well). All desserts and cranberry sauce will be made with a sweetner. If I walk before dinner and after dinner it should help with my numbers as I am a T2 on oral meds, even if I have that second piece of pie (which is figured into the total for dinner).
I'm very choosy about what I eat on Thanksgiving. I'm the crazy one with the measuring cups getting the actual serving size (or as close to it) as I can. Seconds? Never. No processed food and I try to eat more veggies and fruit. Its not easy! And the old dual wave bolus is my friend!
Treat it like any other normal diabetic day ;-)

I understand where you're coming from Danny (although Thanksgiving is not a festival here in the UK -- Christmas/New Year are the big blow outs, then Easter but to a far lesser degree). As far as I'm concerned I enjoy all the traditional fare of a British Christmas, but it's not as if I spend the whole twelve days of Christmas grazing and boozing all the time. I don't go much on cakes and pastries -- it's not as if I have cravings for them -- and I never snack between meals, but at Christmas time I won't forego the traditional Christmas pudding as the dessert item after the turkey and a slice of Genoa cake with the evening meal. Shop bought cakes and puddings come with all the nutritional information and so I can weigh things on my electronic scales and inject accordingly. Since Christmas comes but once a year I'm happy to enjoy the special food that's on offer. In reality it's not that different from eating out in restaurants (in many ways restaurants are worse because there are no electronic scales and there's no way of knowing exactly what's gone into a dish, unless you happen to be an experienced chef), which is something a lot of people, including diabetics, do quite naturally. So if you're particularly worried about these annual festivals, you might do well to think twice about ever eating out at a restaurant, café, snack bar or burger joint as well.
when I have thanksgiving I don't have a whole lot anyway.
Gotta say that plate of food makes me feel queasy.

I stay with the turkey & veggies. I have a great low carb pumpkin cheesecake recipe with a pecan nut crust that's killer. Will have to find it to post it. It's pretty light & around 6-7 carbs for a real size piece.

Braised red cabbage is delicious, colorful & festive. Slice red cabbage fairly thin. Rinse, leaving water on it. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet (one that has a lid) & add cabbage. Sautee it. When the cabbage is cooked a bit (not mushy), add either cider vinegar or dry red wine (or combo of both is better), chopped fresh garlic, salt & fresh ground pepper & a little artificial sweetener (I use a stevia), Stir & cover until it's cooked to the texture you like. It has a sweet & sour taste. Sorry, don't know the quantities for the wine or vinegar because I just toss it in.

Cranberry sauce: fresh cranberries boiled in water until the skins pop, drain water, add orange extract, maple extract & Fiberfit liquid splenda. If you like cranberry sauce more gel-like, add agar-agar flakes. Refigerate. Yummy.

Judith has a low carb stuffing made from high fiber wholegrain crackers. Hope she posts it.

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