As a kid I grew to be quite hesitant about certain holidays – Easter in particular but also Christmas and the surrounding week either side.
Back in the day when it was two injections a day there simply wasn’t the flexability to be able to just eat a slice of cake or have one of the Roses chocolates that sat in the bowl beside nana’s phone. That’s not to say that I didn’t stuff myself but it never went very well…
As Nic just pointed out in her post yesterday ‘Three Hours without a pump‘, this doesn’t tend to be such an issue for us these days but even then, I’ve still found myself becoming a little bit more sensible than most perhaps when it comes to the festive feasting. As a kid my Mum used to make carob easter eggs for me which was awesome (thanks Mum!) and at Christmas every effort was made to make sure that I had options too. With all the sugar free stuff we now have in the supermarkets and shops including lollies (I used to get mine sent from the US as a kid for a small fortune) you can stuff you face with ’sweets’ but I preferred eating the savoury stuff – Ham, chicken, cheese, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and the likes which I could happily munch on without needing to be more obsessive with the testing than I usually am!
This year, I’ve decided to take it up a notch though as far as savory goes and so in November I went to a cheese-making course and learnt to make my own! My first attempt at a cheddar is pictured here and should be ready to eat by mid January. It’s supposed to be mouldy and I’m telling everyone that asks that it gives the mould something legitimate to grow on other than my walls!
I’ve taken quite favourably to my Haloumi, Feta and Ricotta of late and have only stopped the cheese-making madness because I broke my thermometer 2 weeks ago but I plan on replacing it this weekend before making another lot and having a good helping of home made cheese at hand for the whanau. The requisite dash of garbage will also be thrown in for good measure of course.
Enough about me though, as cadbury cream eggs would say – how do you do it? How do those of you that are parents find Christmas with kids? How do those with T1 deal with the insulin requirements?
- Aaron
Posted in Food
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Sarah wrote
Oh, I’m so impressed, Aaron! I’m obsessed with cheese and I’m sure that its low carb quality fuels this obsession. I have tried to make mozzarella and ricotta before but it was hard! I stick to savoury too because christmas cake isn’t tasty enough to be worth the grief. Am contemplating a middle eastern orange almond cake though – no flour = low carb! And ice cream, that’s always good on a hot xmas day. Yes, I remember many desultory easters eating grapes and carob while my siblings chowed down on giant eggs. Also remember a christmas where I ate so many cherries I was taken to hospital to deal with the side effects.
Aaron wrote
Well heck, come over with some milk one day and we’ll go nuts! You can take home 2KG of haloumi for a mere 10KG of farm fresh milk
Nic wrote
Yuuuum, haloumi! Name your date and I’ll be over with a bottle of wine and some crackers. What was the course called, Aaron?
Ruthie wrote
Wow Aaron! Can I call you Mr Cheese?! haha
What a great little side hobby. Funny you should post about this actually … I was talking to a friend the other day about how lucky I am being T1 and being far more savoury than sweet … I wonder if we have turned to that taste because we had to? (As a kid, before being diagnosed, I ate K Bars like they were going out of fashion!) The only problem I’ve ever had is eating croissants with xmas breakfast and not injecting right for them. They’re like pizza and would hit me a few hours later … didn’t much help once I got old enough to have a glass of champagne too! But now I’m on the pump, I’m alot more confident with eating festive foods … but experience has taught me that if I want to last the day without getting tired (and incredibly grumpy!)from high BGs, then a few more injections or a couple of extra pumps won’t hurt. It’s only once a year afterall!
Jane wrote
Where do you get 10 litres of raw milk in Auckland? At a market? I milk one cow everyday so you’re most welcome to collect some if you want!
For Christmas Chocolate we try to stick to plain choc, not marshmallow Santa’s or anything else fancy. If there is a huge buffet lunch with heaps of desserts I’m more than likely to bolus 20 carbs every 1/2 hr or so until she stops grazing.
Aaron wrote
Hi Jane,
I just read this again in prep for another post and might just take you up on your offer if you’re still keen. I’d need 10L so I’m not sure if it’s possible but we can negotiate
Let me know!
Aaron
Trudi wrote
Hi Aaron, I just remembered this post from ages ago, can you please let me know the details of the cheesemaking course? We are keen as to give it a go… If we can find a supply of milk that is, any suggestions there? Thanks!
Trudi
Aaron wrote
Hey Trudi!
The course is run by a lovely lady called Katherine Mowbray. Google her name and the rest will be history
Let me know how it goes. I’m still making cheese and I love it. You can get the milk from the supermarket so no need to worry about that.
Have fun!