Thanksgiving Recipes for Diabetics

Food plays the lead role when it comes to celebrating occasions like thanksgiving. The diabetics are the ones, who suffer the most during the celebrations more than the normal days, as they have to keep a watch on what they are eating and always follow the diabetic diet. Well, it's pretty hard on them. Isn't it? So, why not check out some tasty and healthy thanksgiving recipes for diabetics? Sounds interesting, right.

Thanksgiving recipes are basically the updated classical dishes that are prepared using the traditional high impact fresh herbs, tangy spices, seasonal vegetables and fruits. The recipes must be heavily relying upon vegetables combined with fat free fish, poultry and lean meats. For this occasion, please try to avoid canned and processed foods and try to lower as much saturated fats and the trans fats as you can.

Southern Roast Turkey with Bourbon Peach Glaze

(Nutritional Information: Calories: 355, Protein: 45 g, Sodium: 258 mg, Cholesterol: 132 mg, Fat: 16 g, Carbohydrates: 5 g.)

Ingredients

• 1 whole turkey (15 lb approx)
• ½ cup peach preserves
• 1 ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of bourbon
• 5 pickled peaches
• 2 teaspoons of Angostura bitters
• pan juice

Procedure
Remove turkey giblets and neck and reserve it for making the gravy. Clean the turkey with running water and pat it dry. Put pepper and salt over the cavities and fold the neck skin of the bird. Fasten it to the back side by using skewers. Fold the turkey wings under the back and return the legs at the tucked position. Place the turkey on a large and shallow roasting pan. Make sure you place it breast side up. Place a thermometer into the thickest part of the bird and make sure that it doesn't touch the bone inside. Roast the turkey in an oven that is preheated, over 325ºF, for 3 to 4 hours. While the turkey is getting roasted, heat a saucepan over low heat and add the peach preserves, bitters and bourbon to it. Cook till the peach preserves get melted and before the last 30 minutes when the turkey is getting roasted, baste it with the pan juices, that is the bourbon peach glaze. Continue to roast until the thermometer shows 180ºF temperature. Remove the bird from the roast and wait for 20 minutes before carving it. Place the prepared turkey in a large serving dish and garnish it with the pickled peaches!

Low-Fat Turkey Gravy

(Nutritional Information: Calories: 12, Protein: 1 g, Sodium: 10 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Carbohydrates: 2 g)

Ingredients

• 4 cups of turkey broth
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• Pepper and salt
• Defattened pan juice (put poultry dipping into a measuring cup and refrigerate it until the fat gets solidified and forms a layer on top of the liquid. Remove this fat and use the liquid)

Procedure
Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add turkey broth and pan juice to it. Bring the mixture to boil. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water, dissolve all the clots and by whisking it continuously, add into the boiling mixture. Boil until it forms gravy and season it with pepper and salt to taste.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables

(Nutritional Information: Calories: 172, Sodium: 176 mg, Fat: 9 g)

Ingredients

• ½ lb small red potatoes
• Crushed garlic cloves
• 2 lbs butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Fresh thyme sprigs

Procedure
Take a bowl and combine quartered potatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, dried thyme, garlic, bay leaf, pepper and salt into it. Put the vegetables into a large and oiled toasting pan and roast in the preheated oven, over 375ºF for 25 minutes. Keep turning the vegetables after every 5 to 10 minutes. Take a bowl and put remaining olive oil, a bit of pepper, salt and squash into it and toss well. Add this to the roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes more. Discard the bay leaf and garnish the vegetables with the thyme sprig.

Blueberry Torte Dessert

(Nutritional Information: Calories: 177, Protein: 8 g, Sodium: 357 mg, Fat: 10 g, Carbohydrates: 14 g)

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries
• 3 eggs (separated)
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sugar substitute
• ½ cup whipping cream
• ½ cup yogurt

Procedure
Beat egg yolk and sugar, together until it forms a light structure. Add almonds and keep beating until eggs get stiff. Add egg whites into this yolk mixture. Take baking pan and line it up with waxed paper. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake it into the oven for about 15 minutes, over 325F. Remove the pan from the oven, cool it and make small square pieces of it. Now, for making blueberry sauce, take ½ cup of blueberries into a blender and make puree. Dissolve cornstarch into the whipped cream. Take another saucepan and cook the blueberry mixture, cream mixture, remaining blueberries into it for about 10 minutes, over a medium heat. Let it be cool and then add the sugar substitute to it. For serving, line a beautiful serving dish with the blueberry sauce. Place the egg squares over the sauce and top it with remaining sauce and yogurt!

I hope you found them very easy and scrumptious at the same time! Well, happy thanksgiving day! And don't forget to invite me!