Xmas hamper for a diabetic?

kscour · 22 September 2006 at 10:12AM

Was wondering if anyone had ideas for a xmas hamper for a diabetic.
I don't want to use too many (if any) "treats" because I'ld like it to be a luxury hamper that you don't have to be too careful of how much you eat (hope that makes sense)
Trouble is I mostly know what diabetics can't eat not what they can eat without worrying too much.
As I know he eats granary bread I was thinking of a granary bread mix but past that I'm a bit stumped!
Any ideas would be v. gratefully received cos I want to make this for my Dad as he seems to get an awful lot of boring presents at xmas and I want him to know I think he's v.v.v. special (of course no medical advice goes without saying)

Rikki · 22 September 2006 at 10:21AM

Wholemeal pasta/rice
Flavoured teas
Muesli
Low Fat Cheese and some wholemeal crackers
Plain biscuits
Alcohol in moderation.

I'll carry on thinking.:)

Working_Mum · 22 September 2006 at 10:22AM

One of our really good friends is a diabetic and we once gave him a lovely little leather pouch to keep his insulin and syringe etc in whilst travelling. We found the pouch in a second hand shop and cleaned it up.

He also needs to eat little and often so maybe you should consider putting packs of organic fruit and nut type bars in his hamper so he can keep some with him - may be you could make your own card box and he can have one for his car and one for home/caravan etc so he always has something handy when he needs to eat?

I'll keep thinking!

Take care,

Wokring Mum!

Miss_Cinnabon · 22 September 2006 at 11:00AM

Im sure he could have a treat since its christmas and its for the hamper:rolleyes:

Granary bread - as you mentioned
Cheese bread
fruity ginger squares
flapjacks
banana and walnut slices
glazed christmas cake
bran fruit loaf
banana cake

Also look here http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Recipes__food/Recipes/Recipes_Listing/?page=1

These are all suitable for people with diabetes, this is from my diabetes recipe book, not sure if i can post the recipes though, is this allowed?

Kyle

Monkeypants_3 · 22 September 2006 at 11:34AM

I make a hamper for my Grandad every Christmas. As he survives on meals on wheels for the rest of the year and I'm dubious of the nutritional value of some of the food he is served, I try to include healthy things, such as bags of nuts (e.g. brazil nuts or walnuts) and dried fruits (e.g. apricots and dates). These items should also be suitable for diabetics.

Other items which you could include are:

- a bar of dark chocolate containing a high level of cocoa. Lindt does a bar containing 70% cocoa, for example.

- a good quality luxury muesli (check the ingredients to make sure that there is no added sugar)

- a jar of olives in olive oil

If the person likes cooking you could also put the following items in:

- wholemeal rice and pasta

- dried pulses

- olive oil and white and red wine vinegars (I think that balsamic may be a little too sweet)

I hope these suggestions help and have fun putting the hamper together.

purpleimp · 22 September 2006 at 12:28PM

I'm making hampers this year too and my father is also diabetic, so I'm stuggleing for ideas for what can go in, the booze is out, mum will drink his share though because he can't drink due to his varying medications,but so far, there's cheese, homemade oatcakes, homemade spiced irish beef, how about pate?

The other thing that I would include is a bag of barley sugars, my late grandmother and aunt (both "matrons" in their day, 40+ years ago)always insisted barleysugars were invaluable as an emergency measure for diabetics (my uncle was insulin dependent for many years before he died and the barley sugars had to go everywhere with him incase he crashed,) apparently they have the highest sugar levels in sweets and offer a suitable pick me up until correct medication can be taken.

I am by no means trying to offer medical advice or saying that this is right or wrong just what has always been done by my family as there are now a few diabetics among us who all hold one in their pocket just in case.(Dear Mr Moderator, please edit if this is in any way inappropriate, that is not my intention!)

HTH

Imp

morganlefay · 22 September 2006 at 7:07PM

I'm diabetic and I was told not to eat lots of dried fruit because the sugar is just concentrated. I watch my rather extravagant daughters buying lots of fresh fruit to put on their muesli every day, and i'd like to do that too but actually I can't afford to buy mangoes or raspberrries or blueberries out of season all the time like they do, so would he like some really nice fruit that he wouldn't buy himself (esp at Xmas) to eat while you're all stuffing mince pies ? (I realise this is not a very carbon-neutral suggestion, but Xmas comes but once a year). If you gave me a crate of mangoes i'd love you for ever.
I also make my own muesli with oats and oat bran and wonderful seeds and nuts in - much nicer and infinitely less sweet than any bought one - you could do him some that could have really nice nuts like macadamias or interesting stuff - not just walnut bits or almonds - and perhaps dried sour cherries, not nasty bits of coconut and currants like bought ones, but maybe he doesn't like muesli. I'll go on thinking !

janeawej · 22 September 2006 at 7:41PM

what about making some diabetic marmalade or jam? and a couple of diabetic cakes and biccys im sure he would appreciate them

earthmother · 22 September 2006 at 8:17PM

I had gestational diabetes during my last pregnancy, so got a taste of what my Grandpa has been dealing with for years.

So much seems to depend on the person - for example, fruit and fruit juice was a big no for me - would send my sugar levels sky high - and yet grandpa has orange juice on his cornflakes and can eat most fruit with no problems.

Cakes and the such are really a trial and error for each person - so maybe best to stick to what you know he has (although I did get given a Panettone that Christmas with what seemed like quite a low proportion of sugar - both I and Grandpa were ok with that).

On the treats side - if you want barley sugars, or other diabetic sweets, try someone like bagofsweets.com - they have a great selection

kscour · 22 September 2006 at 9:21PM

Wow - thanks everyone you've certainly got the cogs in my little brain whirring!
He does have a tendancy to treat himself to diabetic chocolates rather often. I maybe wrong but my gut feeling is that he would be better to have much less of the real thing instead.
The recipes on the site were brilliant I think I may copy some out and laminate them and put the ingredients in the hamper and in the case of things that will keep I might make a few samples so that he can try them first.
I also thought I might try and see what he's eating day to day (shouldn't be hard with my mums cooking - simply a matter of leafing through the empty boxes in the bin!:eek: ) and then find a more diabetic friendly version.
When he was first diagnosed I did make some biscuits and cakes from a diabetic recipe book I gave him however my Mum rather than seeing how nice they were and baking him some once in a while just seemed to assume that I could keep them permanently supplied! I would if I could but I really don't have the time to do it on a regular basis.:o
Anyway thanks again for all your wonderful suggestions:T

countrymusicfan · 31 December 2007 at 9:22PM

Please do not give a diabetic diabetic jams or chocolate or anything else which says diabetic on it. Not only are they very expensive, but they are not all that good for them. I was told that by my diabetic nurse 15 years ago. (I feel old)

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Xmas hamper for a diabetic?

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