I was shopping today and noticed that fresh cranberries are in stock at my local grocery stores. Freshly made cranberry sauce was a staple at my house growing up every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Turkey without the cranberries and dressing was not a meal! My mom always made cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries. There was never any canned jellied cranberries on our table. I always enjoyed it when I was younger, but over the years I stopped eating the cranberry sauce because I have tried to cut back on sugar and it takes a lot of sugar to sweeten cranberries. Cranberries have health benefits such as helping fight against urinary tract infections, especially in children. They contain flavonoids and polyphenolics that promote cardiovascular health and they are filled with Vitamin C. For awhile, I ate craisins but after reading the labels and researching I realized that I was just eating sugar. The dried cranberry is really just the skin of the berry after all the juice has been removed so the benefits of the whole cranberry are mostly lost. Then they dump huge amounts of sugar in the mix to make it sweet. I still use craisins occasionally in salads or I sprinkle a few on my oatmeal. This year, I was feeling a little more nostalgic and decided to try my hand at making fresh cranberry sauce. The post below has several very simple recipes that look good and that sweeten the cranberries with natural fruit or honey rather than sugar. I know I am going to try it. I hope you will too…
Go Crazy with Cranberries! | Skinny Ms.
Trying to go light this holiday? Try our homemade cranberry orange sauce or our cranberry melange. Try our cranberry applesauce and our cranberry chutney, too!