HonoluluSprite wrote:
> I'm sure you have talked about this a million times but I am new here
> and to this whole world. My husband's whole family is either at this
> stage or on their way to being T2, husband included!
>
> I found a cranberry sauce for diabetics but what about everything
> else? Margarine instead of butter?

As everyone has said, no need to make this horrible substitution. <G>
Better to look at methods of cooking where you can use olive oil, if you are
worried about lipid profiles.

> All starches (potatoes, rice, stuffing, macaroni) and fats like mayo
> and butter.

Starches are a problem, fats are not.

> Advice? Anyone? Sorry for taking up space on your board!

Last year, my first as a diabetic, I made a pumpkin cheesecake (no crust)
using artificial sweetener, so that there would be SOME dessert I could eat.
It was good, except that it was much too sweet. Definitely do NOT sub Spenda
in equal amounts for sugar, in my experience! Lots of people here use
xylitol combined with other things such as Sweetzfree liquid, which I
believe is the sweetener in Splenda without the carby filler.

I love, and so does everyone else in the family, green vegetables such as
roasted brussels sprouts (only olive oil), or brussels sprouts browned in
butter. You can make creamed spinach without flour, if you like that. (I
love it.) I have a couple of excellent sweet potato dishes that were in my
Thanksgiving repertoire for years and are less of a problem for diabetics
than mashed potatoes: one is made with bourbon or sherry, butter, and
nutmeg, the other is actually fat free, with orange and lemon zest, fresh
ginger, cinnamon, and perhaps a little orange juice. Mashed turnip is
another diabetic-friendly vegetable. You can have it with just butter and
S&P, or add some sliced onions and apple caramelized in butter and oil and
puree the mixture in the food processor. (You can add a small amount of meat
or vegetable stock to the latter while pureeing. This is a potatoless
version of a dish I love called Himmel Und Erde.)

If you have some good stock at hand, you can make a delicious gravy by
deglazing the turkey pan with wine or brandy, adding the stock, and reducing
it, adjust the S&P, maybe grate in a little fresh nutmeg, then finish with a
little heavy cream if desired. A quick way to achieve a good stock, if you
are not the kind of person who makes your own and has it on hand, is to
throw the turkey neck in a pot with a quart or more of good bought stock,
like Wolfgang Puck's or Kitchen Basics, plus the leafy ends of a couple
sticks of celery, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic, and maybe a small onion
stuck with a clove or two and a small scraped carrot. Let it simmer,
partially covered--never fully cover a stock--on a back burner while you are
prepping and cooking the turkey.

Personally, I cook the giblets for the dogs, I don't pollute the gravy with
them. <G>