Yes, a Church Suppers Cookbook for Anyone with Diabetes!

When our kids were in college, they perfected a scouting system to discover which churches were having a carry-in meal each Sunday. Then they and their friends would systematically, and apparently without shame, show up at the church serving food that day, join the line in the fellowship hall, and enjoy the taste of home-plus.

Church suppers are an American institution. Some are held once a month or once a season. Others happen weekly over the dinner hour and during the week. Some go on at noon on Sundays, right after church.

In certain communities, everyone contributes food to a specified menu. Elsewhere, each person or household who comes brings a dish of their choice for the buffet.

But if you have diabetes, you likely stand back and watch others filling their plates—or join in guiltily.

Phyllis Pellman Good

The recipes in this book are for anyone who’s concerned about their calorie and carbohydrate intake. But we especially wanted to make it possible for persons with diabetes to enjoy a church supper. So take these dishes to your church’s next fellowship meal—or to any potluck. Or create a church supper or potluck menu from the recipes in this collection.

And don’t forget to prepare and eat these dishes at home—whenever you want to!

Managing Diabetes Day-to-Day

The American Diabetes Association joined us in this Cookbook, using their know-how to adapt the recipes and analyze them so they fit into nutritional meal plans. Each recipe is accompanied by Exchange Lists/Food Choices and its Basic Nutritional Values. Persons with diabetes need this information so they can manage their calories and their carb, fat, and sodium counts.

When eating, you’ll want to flip often to pages 5–7, “Learning Portion Control,” until you’ve learned to recognize appropriate food amounts at a glance.

How We Calculated the Recipes’ Nutritional Analyses

The nutritional analysis for each recipe includes all ingredients except those labeled “optional,” those listed as “to taste,” or those calling for a “dash.”

If an ingredient is listed with a second choice, the first choice was used in the analysis.

If a range is given for the amount of an ingredient, the first number was used.

Foods listed as “serve with” at the end of a recipe, or accompanying foods listed without an amount, were not included in the recipe’s analysis.

In recipes calling for cooked rice, pasta, or other grains, the analysis is based on the starch being prepared without added salt or fat, unless indicated otherwise in the recipe.

The analyses were done assuming that meats were trimmed of all visible fat, and that skin was removed from poultry.

A Church Supper for Everyone!

I suggest when you make a dish from this Cookbook for your next church supper or potluck, that you also prepare a simple tent sign. (Fold an index card, or another rectangle of stiff paper, in half so that it will stand up straight.) Write on the card—“Safe to eat if you have diabetes!” And give the “Exchange List Values” for the dish on the sign, too. Then welcome everyone to the table!