It’s Christmas time. I love holidays. Decorating is fun. Shopping and wrapping presents are entertaining. While I love food, my least favorite thing is all the food I can’t eat so, I’m always coming up with substitutes.
Some substitutes have nothing to do with food. I love to see the lights. The rock city lights on Lookout Mountain are a great activity to go walk and see with family and friends. This really helps to work off some glucose, so I can’t eat later.
Once I’ve deferred eating for some exercise, I look forward to enjoying holiday treats. Just remember you can eat anything as a diabetic. It’s all about the quantity and quality. It’s even more specifically about the sugar and the carbohydrate content in the food.
I know I can’t be perfect 365 days out of the year. I plan to enjoy myself on the holidays similarly to everybody else. I just don’t want my blood sugar going through the roof. When that happens, my body is usually inflamed from the wrong types of foods. It puts me in the wrong mood for the holidays. Afterall, it's hard to have fun when your body is in pain from pancreatic flare ups.
Many of us do not even realize what this pancreatic pain is. I didn't for 3 years of my life. It occurs just below the left side of the ribcage. These pains will act up with the wrong food choices. Many friends and family don't realize this is a fact of diabetic life.
It reminds me of an H&R Block manager with whom I used to work. She’s diabetic as well. She thinks she can eat anything she wants without any consequences and just increases her insulin. The truth is when she makes the wrong food choices for her body, she turns into a grinch.
Instead, I try to come up with recipes that won’t spike blood sugar. I like fun relaxed holidays. This week’s recipe, Santa's Sausage Balls. is a holiday treat, not a regular appetizer.
Ingredients:
1/2-pound mild pork sausage
1 cup Italian flavored Panko
2 cups cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons parsley, divided
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the sausage, Panko, cheddar cheese, paprika, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Use a cookie scoop or make balls with your hands like making meatballs and place them on parchment paper. It makes about 30 balls.
Baste the sausage balls with olive oil.
Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
My mother used to make a similar recipe every Christmas for her annual open house. The protein won't spike you, but sausage is a highly processed meat that can lead to multiple bad health outcomes if you over indulge. The cheddar has dairy which can clog you up, so enjoy sparingly. Olive oil is an extremely healthy fat.
Please let me know if this week's recipe makes it into your recipe book. Our diet can play a significant role in undermining our hard work. I'll keep working on the recipes to prevent this. If you have a favorite dish, please tell me. I'll create a diabetic friendly version, just let me know by leaving a note below. I've learned how to swap blood sugar spiking ingredients for others with a lower glycemic index. It may take a week or two, but I love the challenge. I'll also work on introducing more recipes to help lower the ceramides in the body. Please comment, like, share, and come back next week for more recipes, ideas, and tips. Subscribe to the website, if you would like weekly email reminders to add more recipes to your recipe book.