In addition to that big change, I have a family now that includes my husband and two children under the age of three. Quick and healthy meals have never been more important to me, since time is limited like never before. I understand that most people don’t have a lot of time to get meals on the table. I always encourage the whole family to eat healthy together, so the recipes in this cookbook are not ONLY intended for the person with diabetes, but for the entire family and anyone looking to eat quick, healthy, and delicious food!
Jennifer Bucko Lamplough
We felt it necessary to also incorporate new recipes that focus on updated dietary recommendations and that appeal to a wider audience of people who are not only eating for diabetes but also for general good health. I am actually one of those people. I do not have diabetes but for the last 20 years I have struggled with a weight problem. Being a chef who specializes in cooking and creating recipes for people with diabetes, it has always been a front-and-center issue for me that I needed to focus on my health, too. For the last year or so, I’ve been on a weight-loss journey, eating healthy (making recipes out of Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cooking as well as our other book, The Healthy Carb Diabetes Cookbook), working out, and seeking therapy to deal with my food issues. I’ve lost 60 pounds and continue to pursue good health and fitness. I have become an avid runner in this process and have received a whole new lease on life.
I’m so thrilled to share my weight-loss journey with you and others who come see us at cooking demonstrations. In the last eight years, I’ve also gotten married and continue to work as a faculty member teaching futures chefs. I am on a mission to educate them on how to bring healthy options to the public as they pursue their careers in food service.
Thank you to all of you who supported the first edition of Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cooking. We were overwhelmed by the positive response to that cookbook and are grateful that so many of you spread the word to your friends and family. The biggest compliment we receive is that people actually use this cookbook and it’s not just sitting on the shelf!
Thank you to the efforts of many people at the American Diabetes Association. Big thanks to Abe Ogden, Director of Book Publishing, for allowing us to do this updated edition—you are a true professional and have been great to work with. Thank you to Greg Guthrie for all your time, work, and dedication to this project. Big thanks to Lyn Wheeler for your hours of work on the nutrition analysis (and for taking our calls at any time of night). We were thrilled to work with you again.
Special thanks to my family, including my mom, dad, and sisters, Kari Mender and Jennifer Sebring, who have been wonderful supporters and bought and sold many of the cookbooks. Thank you so much for your love and for sharing in my joy. My closest friends and Dinner Club girls have been wonderful supporters, and I thank you too. A special thanks to Megan Clendening, who has given almost everyone she knows copies of our cookbooks and has been a great help at our book events. Thank you to my fellow certified diabetes educators who recommended the cookbook to their patients. You all have been wonderful and thank you for sharing in my excitement.
I’m forever grateful to my co-author, Jennifer Bucko Lamplough, who isn’t only an amazing chef, but also a great writer, my best friend, and one of the smartest and funniest people I know. I’m so glad we’ve been through it all together—especially this project.
Thank you to my husband, Jared, for your constant love and support and for making so many of my dreams come true. Thanks also for your ability to make me laugh, for your taste-testing skills, and for always giving me your honest feedback. And, to my two little sweeties, Ethan and Penelope, I love you more than you will ever know and I’m so grateful for the joy you have brought into my life.
Finally, thank you to all my patients with diabetes who continue to inspire me every day. I hope this makes your life with diabetes a little easier and healthier.
—Lara Rondinelli-Hamilton, RD, LDN, CDE
This book surely would not have been possible had it not been for my co-author and lifelong best friend, Lara Rondinelli-Hamilton. Lara, your knowledge and experience made this book what it is and continuously inspire me to be healthy, and your unconditional friendship inspires me to be a better person. This book started as a dream and became our reality, and I wouldn’t want to share this experience with anyone else.
I want to thank my darling husband, Michael Lamplough, for his unfailing love, support, and encouragement. I feed you healthy food, and you feed my soul. I love you more than any words can say. Thanks for being such an incredible cheerleader, taste tester, and partner.
I want to thank my family for being such great supporters and taste testers, especially my mom, Judy Bucko, for constantly inspiring me to follow my dreams, do what I love, and make a killer pot of soup. Mom, you are the reason I’m the woman I am today. To my entire family: Jill, Rob, Kate, and Erin Kilhefner; Jane, Mike, Gabrielle, and Camille DiMartin; Jackie, Penny, and Ella Burke; Jim, Paula, Lily, and Jackson Bucko; Margaret McKenzie; Joel and Laura Lamplough; and Joel, Josh, Jacob, and Jessica Lamplough; thank you for your constant support, your outstanding recipe ideas, your feedback, and your senses of humor … all of which I couldn’t have survived this project without.
Most importantly, to my dad, Jack Bucko, who would have loved this book. Dad, I wish you could have been here to see, experience, and taste all of this.
To all of our friends who acted as our official taste testers and who are always there to support us in whatever we do, especially Draga Beckner, Megan Clendening, and the rest of the Dinner Club girls—Ann Marie Ferguson, Stacey Joyce, Mary Alice Patton, Elizabeth Sheridan, and Heather Johnson—as well as all of my wonderful neighbors and Batavia friends, you have my thanks.
Thank you to everyone at Robert Morris University Institute of Culinary Arts, especially Nancy Rotunno, Amy Keck, Bryan Flower, and all of the incredible faculty, advisors, and students. There is a reason I love my job, and it’s all of you.
Thank you to everyone at the American Diabetes Association, especially Abraham Ogden, Director of Book Publishing, for your support and words of wisdom. Thank you to our editor, Greg Guthrie, for all of your hard work, and to Madelyn Wheeler, for your unbelievable dedication in completing the nutrition analysis of the recipes.
I mostly want to thank all of our readers, especially those who come see us every year at the American Diabetes Association Expo in Chicago. Your support and belief in us and our recipes make what we do worth every second of cooking, testing, writing, and reworking to make these recipes happen.
Eat well!
—Chef Jen Bucko Lamplough
Are you confused about which kitchen tools are must-haves and which ones are fads? This list is everything you need to ensure smooth sailing in the kitchen.
A good knife set, including:
• a French or chef’s knife
• a paring knife
• a serrated knife
• a honing steel (usually included with knife set) and
• a sharpener
Baking dish (casserole dish), 9 × 13
Baking sheets
Can opener
Colander (small and large)
Garlic press
Immersion blender
Measuring cups (liquid and dry)
Measuring spoons
Meat thermometer
Plastic cutting boards
Potato