It is somehow the week before Thanksgiving and I am trying to tamp down my panic through denial and distraction.
One distraction is that I keep thinking about what diabetic-friendly side dishes I can offer for the family member who is pre-diabetic. We make the same things every year, because everyone has their Favorite Thing they don’t want to give up: dressing (my husband’s favorite), mashed potatoes (my favorite, and honestly the only thing I want to eat on Thanksgiving), sweet potatoes with marshmallows (Carla’s favorite), and turkey (the source of the gravy). We have tried adding a salad in the past, because honestly I like salad much more than anything else on the Thanksgiving menu, but no one eats it and salads do require a significant amount of work. (Plus, my plan is make butternut squash soup and a big salad for dinner the night after Thanksgiving, and those who like leftovers can eat those too. I don’t want to make a big salad two days in a row, is what I’m saying.)
The idea of adding another side dish to the rotation is awful, but I want every family member to have something to eat – and something enjoyable to eat, at that. So I think it would be highly worthwhile to find another dish that my pre-diabetic family member can enjoy without worry. (Before you suggest that I simply ask this person for suggestions, know that I have considered this idea! But this person is notorious for not wanting to be a bother, and I am SURE would simply say, “Oh, I don’t need anything extra! Don’t make a fuss!” and then would eat only turkey on Thanksgiving Day.)
There are complications, of course. Ideally, this mystery dish would be something I could prep, at least in part, before Thanksgiving. And, ideally, more than one person would eat this additional side. If it were Brussels sprouts, for instance, I think only three of us would eat them. My mother-in-law loves creamed spinach, and I am 100% sure she would make it for us… but again, only three people would eat it. Maybe that’s enough people.
(Also, just to clarify – my guests are all from out of town and will be staying with us. So there is no way to ask them to prepare a dish and bring it with them. All the food will be prepared here in my house. Mainly by me, because I am a control freak.)
In my perusal of internet options, here are a handful that sounded workable (although I honestly don’t know how truly diabetes-friendly they are):
- Balsamic Oven Roasted Carrots: I hate cooked carrots with the fire of a thousand suns, but maybe other people would like them?
- Steamed Broccoli with Lemon: This is a standard side dish in my house, and it’s easy, and if I steam it in my steamer basket I can use the microwave and don’t need to find another spot in the already-crowded ovens. (Yes, we have two ovens this year, although it is debatable whether one of them heats fully.)
- Holiday Rice Salad: This sounds hearty and different, and I could make it ahead. (Perhaps without the golden raisins; raisins are my sworn enemy.)
- Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic: This sounds easy and yummy… but the only thing more hotly in demand than the oven on Thanksgiving is the stovetop, so I don’t know if this is really doable.
- Lemon-Herb Asparagus with Pine Nuts: I think it was Kae who said she is ordering the entire Thanksgiving meal this year, and I am 100% behind that. It doesn’t work for our family, because my husband likes a very specific stuffing, and I like a very specific mashed potatoes, and Carla likes a very specific sweet potatoes… we are difficult, is what I’m saying. But I am getting our turkey from Whole Foods, and they have ready-made sides like this asparagus dish… maybe it would be good?
- Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Feta: Hmmm. This requires cooking on the stovetop, so it may be a no-go. But it sounds yummy.
- Low Carb Cauliflower Stuffing: I really, vehemently dislike regular dressing (soggy bread? no thank you), so this sounds preferable. (We would still have regular dressing.) I bet I could prep all the veggies in advance, ask my mother-in-law to put everything together the day of, and maybe there would be space in one of the ovens???
- Rosemary Roasted Root Vegetables: This sounds delicious, but it would require a LOT of chopping and peeling. Probably doable mostly in advance, though. And maybe with two ovens, I could manage this. I would skip the beets and maybe the potatoes. Maybe carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash? I wonder if I could throw some cauliflower in there too?
Do you have any low-carb or diabetes-friendly sides you swear by?
Okay, even though my mind is already in the thick planning for next week (HOW is Thanksgiving NEXT WEEK), we have to eat this week too. (Why?) So let’s think of some easy meals to make.
Dinners for the Week of November 13-19
- Tacos
- Japanese Curry with Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, & Broccoli: The first time we made this, we used carrots instead of broccoli and I just cannot deal with cooked carrots. Broccoli it is!
- Sheet Pan Garlic Ginger Chicken and Broccoli: Nothing easier than a sheet pan meal!
- Quick Garlicky Shrimp Couscous: Can I convince my husband to eat shrimp? We’ll see.
- Teriyaki Chicken with Spicy Cucumber Salad: This sounds yummy and I have never had cucumbers prepared this way.
What are you eating for dinner this week?
I am kinda sorta attempting to complete NaBloPoMo, with the full expectation that life will make it impossible any day now. If you want to follow along, or join the fun, check out San’s blog here.
Okay. I knew about eggs. And I knew about oatmeal. And I knew about tomatoes.
But this – I hate cooked carrots with the fire of a thousand suns – is news.
Hahaha. I laughed so hard when I saw this. I don’t HATE cooked carrots but I never make them because there are just so many other cooked veggies that are better.
Ditto the golden raisins. Never buy them and NOT a fan, but I didn’t know you loathed them so much.
Good luck with all the food stuff. We Canadians are sitting back and watching Americans scramble since Thanksgiving is in our rearview mirror!
I am a very picky eater, Elisabeth!!! And yes. So many vegetables that are better than cooked carrots!
I always make carrots like the ones you posted and a homemade green bean casserole– no cans. I would also have MIL make creamed spinach– who cares if only 3 are eating if you’re not the one making?? Sometimes we make brussels, too. I like at least 2 veggie sides and then one or 2 WITH veggies.
I would do ALL the veggie sides because I would eat them. Pretty much my Thanksgiving plate is just mashed potatoes and gravy with a no-thank-you portion of everything else. But if we had Brussels sprouts or green beans or salad I would totally eat those. It’s just not worth the effort, you know? I already have to make all the other junk.
I always make a salad because I like salad and even if I am the only one eating it, it makes me happy so I don’t mind! I would vote either Whole Foods side (for ease) or green bean salad which can be made in advance and finished on the day of (I am assuming you eat it cold). Also, I am a fan of more veggies, so I would even eat a salad and a green bean salad. I also like green bean casserole (homemade) and this could be made the day before and just heated on the day of, if you have room.
Oh wow, I would eat any and all of those side dishes. OMG. They all look so good. Thanksgiving dinner has always been a nightmare for me because even when I did eat meat, I didn’t like turkey, and I loathe mashed potatoes. Don’t even get me started on stuffing. We used to spend every Thanksgiving HERE but in my MIL’s house, you know? And my holiday dinner was always over-boiled peas and carrots. So. I applaud you for making sure that there is something lovely to eat for your guest, I actually teared up a little. There needs to be more Suzanne in this world!
Cooked carrots are disgusting, agreed. I’ve had gestational diabetes, and I would totally be able to make a Thanksgiving plate with the protein (I would say turkey but I hate turkey too) and veggies and a tiny bit of potatoes or stuffing. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t think you need to make anything special…maybe just make sure you have low sugar drinks available.
I have diabetes and Thanksgiving is hard, because all the traditional sides are pretty high-carb. I don’t know how strict the pre-diabetic guest is, but my guess is s/he has a little more leeway.
I don’t know what the carbs are like in wild rice, but rice (white or brown) pretty reliably causes me to spike. Roasted sweet potatoes and squash are borderline. I would eat small portions of them in a normal meal, but not as a low-carb supplement to a high-carb meal. (If it were me, I’d be having tiny portions of all the carb-heavy stuff. I guess I’m kind of assuming your guest will do the same.) Everything else looks like it would work, depending on the person’s preferences.
If I were coming to your house and you asked me to choose, I would say the broccoli or one of the green bean dishes.
I hope this helps.
I definitely see that problem here. As a vegan, if I were invited to someone’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner (a scenario I try hard to avoid, for everyone’s sake) I would bring along a couple dishes that I could eat, and to share with everyone. But as you pointed out, that wouldn’t work in this situation. I looked at the recipe for that cauliflower dish and it sounds DELICIOUS. I’m actually thinking of adding it to our Thanksgiving dinner. The recipe says it will keep for five days in the fridge, so you could make it in advance and just heat it up. And I would definitely get your MIL to make the creamed spinach. There! I think everyone will be happy.
Your TG menu sounds like ours==>if there’s a dish that any one person wants, then it’s going on the menu. I’m partial to eating my weight in my SIL’s green bean casserole.
There’s no good answer for the dietary restrictions, though I will say that the sauteed green beans with garlic sound tasty. We have a couple of GF folks in the family, but no one wants to give up our traditional gluten-logged dishes so we just end up making extra of the GF food. And then one of the GF folks (a teenager) isn’t compliant, so it’s like why do we even bother (to make life easier for her mom).
I’m a salad girl. Yes, there’s some prep, but a lot of it can be done in advance. I wash the lettuce ahead of time (store in a plastic bag with paper towel). I cut up any additional veggies ahead of time (tomatoes – lol for you – grated carrots, cucumbers, etc.). I make the dressing ahead of time. I grate/shred the cheese ahead of time. Then when it comes to the day, I just dump everything in and mix it. Sure, maybe only three people will eat it, but that’s three people who aren’t forced to eat gross things like turkey and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. But that’s just me, I think!
Honestly, roasted green beans with a glaze is super easy and that’s what I’d do!
So I have a strong opinion on this, and am just going to spit it out: Order a side this person (and any others who want to) can eat from Whole Foods and call it done. I’m the only vegetarian in my family and my aunt always bought me a delicious main dish of my own from the store (we live on different continents… so like your guest, when I was visiting, I also couldn’t bring something myself as a “veggie main”) and I always felt bad enough she’d gone to this much trouble and would have felt 100x worse if she’d had to home-make something else for me, on top of all the other christmas food she was making. Also: if you are buying it, you can buy less if you don’t think others will eat it so something only 3 people will eat is absolutely fine. You have enough on your plate these days. Go online now and order it without delay!! and then treat yourself to a glass of wine for a decision well made (:
You are so kind to consider this. I’ve recently developed a very severe, celiac-level gluten intolerance, which informs my view of this question. If the person’s pre-diabetic diagnosis is new since last Thanksgiving, please ask them. I also hate to be a bother, but I no longer have a choice. The severity of my condition means that I have to tell people. I would be very happy to “just eat turkey” at Thanksgiving because I don’t want to risk getting sick, and extreme GI distress in someone else’s home is the worst. I would also feel awful if everyone felt obligated to eat GF just for me. I honestly want people to eat what they want, and I will eat what works for me. My advice is, (1) ask your guest, (2) believe what they tell you, and (3) if it makes you feel more comfortable, prepare one of the other lovely sides you suggested. You are an incredibly kind host to think of this.
I don’t have any diabetic options to suggest, but I think you have an amazing list of possibilities. I really like the first two that you have listed there. Bonus if they don’t require the stove top or the oven, so I say let that lead you.
The sheet pan garlic chicken meal sounds very tasty and not very difficult to make. I’ve copied that link into my email, so I can try it sometimes soon. Thanks.
Good luck with all your hosting duties and your Thanksgiving feast. I’m sure it will be wonderful.
A veggie dish that can be made ahead of time (or bought as some smartly suggested) would be ideal! Bagged salad, even! Dishes with broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, or green beans, I’d say you can make them the day before (cook like 90% done) and then heat them up the day of Thanksgiving. I love simply roasted veggies with olive oil and salt. So that’d be my easy suggestion.
My go-to side dish would be pan sheet roasted vegetables (I think the root vegetable dish sounds delightful!). It can be easily prepared in advance and can probably bake while the turkey is resting?
Green beans and/or broccoli! Anything low carb will help. I am not a cook so I buy frozen veggies and microwave them. Yes, even for Thanksgiving. We like French cut green beans and/or baby broccoli florets. I don’t even put anything on them. If an individual wants to put butter or seasoning on their serving they can.
Cauliflower steaks look pretty and distinctive, and you can roast them in advance. (I do not mind room-temperature roasted veggies in the slightest, since roasting makes them so flavorful, but this may not be a popular opinion.) Here’s a recipe to riff on: https://therecipecritic.com/roasted-cauliflower-steaks/
Rice is a carb and digests as sugar so rice baseed salad is not a top choice. https://biritemarket.com/feast/recipes/mamas-carrots/ Is really good and would work. Frozen Green beans with almonds is good too and super easy. Dessert is really tough but offering a cheese plate with VERY thin sliced apple pieces gives an option.
Suzanne; although I’m still puzzled by your hatred of peanut butter; I am with you 100% percent on cooked carrots!
I am completely on your side re: cooked carrots. There is a reason why I dice them finely for all soups.
Deviled eggs! We always have deviled eggs at family-of-origin gatherings. And while I will only eat about 2 hardboiled eggs and a 3-egg omelet is too much, I will happily scarf down at least 5 eggs worth of deviled eggs. I am not sure how adding mayo (an ingredient I do not like) and mustard to egg yolks works, but it works all too well. Bonus, they can absolutely be made in advance.
The stores I shop at have some decent to good bagged salads, quite an interesting variety of them. Everything is included. You pour the ingredients in a bowl, add the dressing, toss it and VOILA!
I like all of your low carb options! I make a Sweet Potato pudding that works for my husband, who is pre-diabetic. I substitute Swerve fake brown sugar instead of regular. I don’t like sweet potatoes, so this isn’t for me, but my family loves it.
https://jellyjules.com/sweet-potato-pudding/
Promoting my blog on your blog! Sorry. 🙂
It is very kind of you to think of your guest. I had gestational diabetes so had to navigate Christmas during Paul’s pregnancy and Thanksgiving during Will’s pregnancy and overall it wasn’t so bad. Having a carb that they can count on really helps. I made a cheesy cauliflower side dish for Thanksgiving which was just ok. Your guest might end up eating pretty normally because they might make an exception for something like Thanksgiving. So try not to stress too much (unless this person has made it clear that they’ve made drastic changes to their diet – but if that is the case they will probably load up on protein/fat at other meals and/or pack some cheese sticks, etc).
I think you’re very sweet to even be thinking about this, among all the other things you have on your plate right now! I like green beans with almonds and parmesan cheese as a veggie side on Thanksgiving, personally!
It is so considerate of you trying to please everyone with a. favorite dish. Hope you found a nice solution.
I am also amazed of your meal planning. I am trying to get into it a bit more as it does take of the constant thinking of food.