I subscribe to diabetes self management magazine. The website has a lot of good recipes.

https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/recipes/

Many people with insulin dependent diabetes have dealt with it long enough so they know how to adjust their dose of insulin to match what, and how much, they eat. So they will have one regular cookie, or a half a piece of cake. After all, they must do the same when they eat a large amount of carbs like a big plate of pasta which may end up producing a lot more glucose that one small cookie.

Thanks, Lucille...she doesn't have to do the insulin shots. She really misses breads and sweets so I try to have something for her. Those recipes I've tried to adapt are not successful, unfortunately. I'll check out ravens website. (Thanks Raven!)

If she likes chocolate, I've found some wonderful sugar-free chocolate. It's called Lily's. I like the milk chocolate and almond one. It uses stevia. My husband thought it was regular chocolate. I get it at Whole Foods. They make chocolate chips too.

I haven't baked any sweets yet (I am on a strict low carb diet) but I am planning on trying Swerve.

I'm trying a low carb eggnog this weekend. I'll let you know if it turns out!

You mentioned that she misses bread. So does my husband. But I made some blueberry muffins last weekend that hit the spot. The recipe makes 12 muffins, 3 net carbs per muffin.

LOW CARB BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 and 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup Erythritol (or any granulated sweetener)

1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup coconut oil (measured solid, then melted) or butter

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners. In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, erythritol and baking powder. Mix in the melted coconut oil, almond milk, eggs and vanilla extract. Fold in the blueberries. Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are golden.

The only change I made was that I used regular milk.

And my husband has to have his sweets. I've picked up some good recipes from this site: https://lowcarbyum.com/ I'm trying a pumpkin bread tomorrow.

Everyone always seems to focus on desserts when they have guests with diabetes, and there's this idea that the thing they need to do is to replace the sugar in any desserts with stevia, splenda or some other sweetener.

But, people with diabetes CAN eat sugar and a piece of a regular dessert or a candy bar can have a lot less impact on their blood glucose than the rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, fruit juice, fruit, wine, regular soda, etc. that is commonly served with meals and almost never considered.

It's not about sugar, it's about carbs and certain carbs will affect different people in different ways. For example, a friend of mine with diabetes would have a lot less trouble with a serving of most any dessert than she would with white rice.

Also, desserts with stevia or an artificial sweetener can still have plenty of carbs, which come not just from the sugar in desserts, but also from things like flour. You can make sugar free cakes, cookies, pies, etc., but it's easy to forget that these have plenty of carbs in them from the flour and the sugar may have actually not contributed that much to the carb count in the first place.

So, overall, making sugar free desserts just isn't that helpful for people with diabetes, especially if the desserts have other sources of carbohydrates.

Honestly, I always just ask people if they have any dietary restrictions or if there are things that I need to consider when making meals. You might be surprised to find that a diabetic guest will be just fine if you make a regular dessert, but will request that you include a salad and other vegetable to go along with the lasagna, potatoes, rice, etc. that you were planning to make.

I agree. We are restricting carbs for DH. Of course, sugar is carbs. I use almond or coconut flour instead of wheat, vegetable noodles instead of pasta. He needs back surgery and it has already been postponed once because his diabetes was not in control. He doesn't want to take insulin, so we've severely cut down the carbs and his A1C has plummeted from 11.9 to 7.2. Surgery is back on the table for after Christmas.

^^Agree. There are many vegetables high in carbs, also. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn. Low carb veggies are cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, celery, and many more. Meat is a great option for diabetics, and a nice dish of roasted and seasoned vegetables and a salad.

Meat is a great option for diabetics

Keep gluceogenesis in mind, though. Too much meat or any protein, can lead to the production of some glucose.

I find that the simpler the food, the healthier for all involved such as cutting up some fresh fruit and berries. You can dress it up with unsweetened whipped cream...the fruit is sweet enough. Maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon or some fresh mint. Or if you want a little chocolate flavor, dust on some unsweetened cocoa powder. And use a margarita glass to serve it in. Anything in a margarita glass looks fancy!

You’d have to make your own jell-o to use stevia, but it’s about zero calories, is cheerful, and counts as dessert. Nice with whipped cream.

Donna, we had this low carb lasagna last night and it was great! Tasted like regular lasagna. Thought I'd mention it because personally I don't like the vegetable lasagnas and I was missing pasta. This hit the spot. Dh liked it better than my regular lasagnas.

https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/just-like-the-real-thing-lasagna/

Thanks Chi! I will definitely try this one.

You could also make your own sugar-free pudding using stevia...