Healthy Cranberry Sauce

Christmas-ify that Turkey!

7 more sleeps to go!!!

Not long peeps, not long. A week in fact, fancy that. This morning’s post comes to you straight from the comfort of my bed (I feel we know each other well enough now – I am so hoping that you agree) and twill just be a quickie – behave.

I know that cranberry sauce is an American Thanksgiving staple but over here in the UK it’s something that always makes a come-back at Christmas time. Whether it’s the fact that it goes so well with turkey or maybe just because it is so festively flashy i.e. redder than Rudolph’s conk, it’s always on my parents table come Christmas dinner and as a result all over my plate… and face.

The shop-bought sauces are delicious don’t get me wrong but they usually contain more refined sugar than actual fruit which whilst not being something that I really think about on December 25th (I start the day with baileys/chocolate and end it with mince pies/cream), I would rather get the majority of my sugar overload from the ocean of sweet treats on offer rather than from a condiment.

I would love to say that this cranberry sauce is made 100% out of cranberries with no sweetening agent but real life gave me a hard reality-kick to the balls when I first attempted to achieve this because the fact of the matter is – Cranberries are more tart than me after a few glasses of wine. Hence I used a little natural sweetener to make this sauce and the result was fantastic! Quick and easy to make, take this sauce along with you to Christmas dinner and you will have for sure lightened your load in terms of the added sugar which can mean only one thing – an extra slice of Christmas pudding is most definitely in order!

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen cranberries

1/8 cup truvia – can use other sweeteners here of course however I found that truvia gets more sweetness without having to use as much. In fact the amount used here makes the sauce sweet enough for me with a hint of cranberry tang still remaining. Gotta have me some crang in my sauce.

2 tsp lemon juice

Optional – the juice and zest of an orange.

Instructions:

Place the cranberries in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and heat through till they begin to ooze their juices and lose their plump form.

Once broken down and looking more sauce like (only takes 5-10 minutes or so) stir in the sweetener, lemon juice and if feeling ultra festive some orange zest and juice.

Reduce the heat to low and allow to thicken to desired consistency, stirring/mashing every few minutes or so.

Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. Bosh! It’s that easy.

Now as it is the season of giving, here is a little bonus recipe featuring one of the infinite ways that you can use this sauce.

Roast chicken sandwich with garlic, sage and cranberry sauce.

Serves 1 Father Christmas or 2 elves. Note – will only serve 1 rabid elf.

Ingredients:

1 uncooked chicken breast (or some leftover turkey meat – Hello Boxing day!)

Some dried sage and garlic granules/powder

2 pieces whole meal bread

A handful of spinach

A generous tbsp of cranberry sauce

Optional – salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and season the chicken with a sprinkling of sage, garlic granules and salt/pepper if using.

Place the chicken breast in the heated oven for 25 minutes, turning over once halfway through. Whilst the chicken is roasting away, assemble the rest of the sandwich as you see fit. I started with a bed of spinach, then chicken, then cranberry sauce spooned over the top, cause I how that’s how Rudolph would do it (if he were carnivorous).  

Also, always ensure that your chicken is cooked all the way through. There’s nothing festive about food poisoning. Not one thing. Nope. There really isn’t.

This is a great lunch for this time of year and it’s also one that should get impressed/slightly envious looks from your work colleagues as opposed to the ones of confusion/mild disgust that I usually receive. True story - I made a few of these for several days of work lunches a couple of weeks ago but due to me forgetting to label them in the fridge; the Grandparents thought that I had forgotten them and ate them all! Did I laugh about it? Of course. Did I die a little inside?

…

Well, let’s just say that I made more sandwiches and have been looking at mini-fridges on ebay.

Oh well. Tis the season for giving I suppose and at least they liked it (in fact, them enjoying it is really the reason I decided to share the sandwich on here). Let us all be grateful for unwitting Grandparent guinea pigs! Gotta love ‘em!