Cranberry Sauce with a Crunch - an easy, healthy and tasty recipe for the holidays or anytime

It’s National Eat A Cranberry Day! With the holidays here be sure to add cranberries (which are high in vitamin C and anti-aging antioxidants) to your holiday meals and regular meals too. Here’s my recipe – it’s lower in sugar and high in omega 3s and antioxidants on top of it being delicious. 

Ingredients: 

One package of cranberries 

one cup of water

1/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts

1/3 cup of chopped celery 

Photo by Courtney Trefzger, 2018. Image subject to copyright. Cranberry sauce with holiday food.

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain cranberries

2. Combine cranberries, water and sugar 

3. Place in a 3-quart pan and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring occasionally during this time while the cranberries pop

4. Remove cranberry mixture from heat, place in a serving dish

5. Add chopped walnuts and celery.  Mix well. 

6. Cover then chill for at least 4 hours

7. Enjoy! 

Cranberry Salad for the Holidays or Any Day

Cranberries are nutritious containing antioxidants, vitamin C, help to prevent certain types of urinary tract infections and are low in calories. The problem is that most cranberry recipes contain too much sugar or are loaded with unhealthy fat from mayonnaise. Canned cranberry sauce is high in sugar or corn syrup. With Thanksgiving yesterday and the official start of the holiday season here, cranberries take center stage. Here’s a great recipe that I created that’s simple, quick and delicious. 

Ingredients:

1 package of fresh cranberries (you can freeze to maintain freshness, and cook it frozen also)

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of sugar (most recipes call for 1 cup; trust me, you don’t need it)

1/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup of finely chopped celery (approximately 1-2 small stalks)

Directions:

Rinse cranberries well.  Combine cranberries, water and sugar, place in a 3 quart pan and boil for 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally during this time.  You will hear and see the cranberries pop during this process; watch that your heat is not too high so it does not splash out onto your skin. Remove cranberry mixture from heat, place in a serving dish.  Add the chopped walnuts and celery.  Mix well.  Cover then chill for at least 4 hours.

The fat and extra sugar will not be missed. This recipe serves as a great side dish to a meal or a tasty topping to non-fat Greek yogurt or non-fat cottage cheese for a healthy lunch or snack. Try to make cranberries a part of your regular diet throughout the year and not just during the holidays. 

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Yummy Yams: Good for You and Tasty Too!

Baked yams are healthy and delicious.  Yams contain Vitamins A, B and C as well as Potassium and Fiber. Most people enjoy yams during the holiday season, but they are great anytime of the year. I like to have them at least once a week for dinner. They are easy to prepare.  Try these 2 recipes below: 

Carole’s Yam (Basic) Recipe (doubled recipe for more servings shown in parenthesis)

4 (8) Yams

1/4 (1/2) cup of Orange Juice

1/8 (1/4) cup of Pure Maple Syrup (fake syrup is corn syrup so stick with “pure maple” for added health benefits to this recipe)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and scrub yams.  Foil line a baking pan then spray with cooking spray, or, lightly spread a little olive oil on top of foil. Place yams in the dish.  Pierce each yam with a knife 2 times on each side. Bake for one hour.  Let yams cool.  (They can burst if you forget to pierce them just like regular potatoes).

Once cooled, remove the skin.  Cut to the desired size.  Line a pan with foil, again, season with either cooking spray or olive oil.  Add the yams, then, drizzle with the orange juice and maple syrup.  *You can mash slightly if you wish, or keep them the same size. Bake at a 350 degree oven for 30 - 35 minutes, gently stirring at 15 minutes/half way through, to mix the flavors. Depending on your oven you may need more or slightly less time.

*You can wash then peel the yams first; however, they tend to get very brown without the skin and easily burn.

Carole's Candied Yams (Alternative sweeter recipe):  This will yield a higher glycemic/carb value to your final product; however, it is a bit fancier and sweeter for a holiday or special occasion. Prepare the basic recipe as above, plus, add the following to the yam, orange juice and maple syrup step:

1 small can of crushed pineapple, drained

1 small can of mandarin oranges, drained

1/4 - 1/3 cup of miniature marshmallows

Add the pineapple and mandarin oranges and mix/spread evenly with the yams, orange juice and maple syrup mixture in the first recipe.Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, then, add the miniature marshmallows and bake for another 10 minutes. Happy (and healthy) Eating!

Carole’s Cranberry - Walnut Salad

With Thanksgiving next week and Christmas and other holidays shortly thereafter, many people begin to crave cranberries. Cranberries are low in calories and so good for you.  Most cranberry recipes contain lots of unhealthy fat from mayonnaise and way too much sugar. (Canned cranberry is high in sugar too). Both of these derail the health benefits of eating cranberries. Here’s a great recipe that’s simple, quick and delicious. Walnuts contain Omega 3’s, another reason this recipe is good for you.  ( Here’s another recipe with walnuts at: http://carole-jakucs.blogspot.com/2011/06/heres-nutritious-and-delicious-snack-or.html )

Ingredients:

1 package of fresh cranberries (you can freeze to maintain freshness, and cook it frozen also)

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of sugar (most recipes call for 1 cup; trust me, you don’t need it)

1/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup of finely chopped celery (approximately 1 small stalk)

Directions:

Rinse cranberries well.  Combine cranberries, water and sugar, place in a 3 quart pan and boil for 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally during this time.  (You will hear and see the cranberries pop during this process; watch that your heat is not too high so it does not splash out and cause a burn).

Remove cranberry mixture from heat, place in a serving dish.  Add the walnuts and celery.  Mix well.  Cover then chill for at least 4 hours.

Believe me, the fat and extra sugar will not be missed in this recipe.  It tastes so good. Cranberries contain antioxidants and other nutrients that can help to prevent certain types of urinary tract infections and may be helpful (along with a healthy lifestyle and good genetics) to our immune system in preventing and reducing the risks of other types of infections, some forms of cancer and cardiovascular problems.  Try to make cranberries a part of your regular diet (not just during the holidays).