Diabetic Dinner Guest

Hi all,

I would really appreciate some help here. We are having company for dinner on Saturday evening and one of my guests is a Type 1 diabetic. While I do intend to talk to her about her requirements, I thought perhaps in the meantime you all could give me some guidelines/suggestions as far as appetizers, salad, vegetable, and meat or fish so I can start looking through my cookbooks. Dessert is taken care of.

Thanks much!

Kim

Kwe730 wrote:Hi all,

I would really appreciate some help here. We are having company for dinner on Saturday evening and one of my guests is a Type 1 diabetic. While I do intend to talk to her about her requirements, I thought perhaps in the meantime you all could give me some guidelines/suggestions as far as appetizers, salad, vegetable, and meat or fish so I can start looking through my cookbooks. Dessert is taken care of.

Thanks much!

Kim

Plan what you would like to serve. Add an extra vegetable dish and don't worry about it. The days of having to cook for a diabetic are pretty much gone. With Type 1 diabetes, a person can pick and choose portions and adjust insulin dosages at just about any meal. Cook to please the palate and not the disease.

I'd say just what we all should be eating - avoid "white" food and processed/refined stuff and added sugar. So more broccoli, fewer fried potatoes

heh-heh, I've got a diabetic friend, and when he goes to a latino restaurant he just digs in, man, keeps up with the rest of us. But you can hear him, beating out a nice rhythm on his insulin dosimeter as we eat.

It appears to work for him! Cook something nice, good, and healthy. It'll all disappear where it's spozed to go...

Geo

I appreciate everyone's replies. This is just an area that I have had no experience with. When I talked to my guest yesterday, I was happy to learn that she has no restrictions and told me to make whatever I wanted. She said that about the only thing she does try and do is to keep track of her carbs.

Always nice to learn something new!

Kim

You are a very considerate host. Just for fun/info you might try and google "glycemic index" and look at websites like:

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_foo ... _index.php

I think even we non-diabetics can learn to eat better so we don't get the dreaded Type 2 DM as we age. Have a great dinner party.

Based on a comment from a diabetic friend of mine this evening, I'd say the main thing is to serve truly delicious food:

If I'm going to go blind and lose my toes, it isn't going to be for carrot cake.

Milo and LAZ,

Thanks for your additional comments and the link. I agree that the gylcemic index can be an important tool for everyone, not just diabetics. At the encouragement of my guest, I served what I had intended to in the first place. I had asked her to bring dessert and she showed up with the most gorgeous flourless chocolate and espresso cake with fresh raspberrries. So much for the "diet" issue!

As a long term, type 2'er, the advise on white foods is very correct.

When invited to someones home, knowing of my problem, some will go out and purchase "no sugar added" products. Incorrectly they think that sugar is the problem for us.

If they ask, I try to make it easy for them. I just tell them, make what you want, I will just avoid anything white. Works well for them, and me.

By the way, the line about going blind, or losing toes, for a slice of cake, is very true, and something I will remember, next time that old carrot cake calls to me.

My guest and I talked about that as well. She said that a lot of people make all this sugar free stuff for her a majority of which she finds "gross", particularly sugar free chocolate. Her cake was definitely not made of sugar free chocolate!

Kwe730 wrote:My guest and I talked about that as well. She said that a lot of people make all this sugar free stuff for her a majority of which she finds "gross", particularly sugar free chocolate. Her cake was definitely not made of sugar free chocolate!

I haven't found anything I can't eat yet. Occasionally, I can reduce the portion size though. There are so many myths about diabetes left over from the olds days its unreal. I've been diagnosed for about 10 years now. The scientific recommendations and advances have changed quite a bit in those 10 years. Frankly, people with diabetes can eat anything they want, they should watch the portion sizes.

I always found it ironic that my mother-in-law would put sugar-free candy in my stocking at Christmas, but the meal was full of carbohydrates, and when I would finish eating I would always get asked if I wanted thirds.

sabersix wrote:By the way, the line about going blind, or losing toes, for a slice of cake, is very true, and something I will remember, next time that old carrot cake calls to me.

Oops. I should have provided more context. My friend was explaining why she would choose a rich, gooey chocolate dessert instead of carrot cake, which some consider healthier. I forgot that some people like carrot cake.