Not So Sweet Success!

Easy and fresh!

In my last post, I mentioned that for the most part,when it comes to Thanksgiving, my family members are traditionalist. They pretty much like things to be the same year after year. It was an observation more than an accusation, and the next day I learned how observant I am!

In an effort to curb my intake of sugar, I was trying a little experiment. I remembered a spread in a magazine last November that pointed out which menu items had the most sugar. I was surprised to see that a portion (a mere 1/4 cup) of cranberry sauce had 21 grams. A whole sweet potato only has nine (unless you serve it candied, then a small serving jumps to 41 grams of sugar. Yikes!)

So, you can see where I'm going with this. There is no way to reduce the sugar in store bought cranberry sauce. The only alternative is to make it from scratch at home. I used a a recipe from the Splenda website. (Please no lectures on artificial sweetener choices. I try not to use them at all, but when I need to, this is my choice.)

The "canned stuff"

Anyway, I posted on Facebook that I was making homemade cranberry sauce for the very first time and was really surprised at how easy it was. That is when the text and emails started coming:

"You're not really going to serve that on Thanksgiving, are you?"
"No disrespect, but we are bringing the canned stuff."
"The pilgrims didn't have Splenda."
No they didn't. But if we are going to celebrate like the pilgrims, after dinner I'm going to have to kill most of you and then steal your land! So relax, everyone. Trying this recipe was for me. I love cranberries, in anyway, shape of form. I was trying to find something that worked so I could enjoy them more often.

And, it was actually really good! Now, I'm only including the recipe below if you, or someone coming for dinner, is a diabetic or someone watching their sugar or caloric intake. (Not that anyone in my house is watching calories on Thanksgiving). It only takes about 20 minutes to make, not including the cooling time, and is totally worth the effort for someone at your table who may need it. It can also be made days ahead of time so it won't interfere with the manic mayhem of that particular
Thursday morning.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 cup SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 medium orange, peeled, seeded and diced

•  

  1. Combine the arrowroot (or cornstarch), SPLENDA^®Granulated Sweetener and water in a medium saucepan, stirring until SPLENDA^® Granulated Sweetener and cornstarch dissolve. Stir in cranberries and diced orange. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often, over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 5 minutes or until cranberry skins begin to pop and mixture begins to thicken. Set aside to cool. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.
  2. Serve cold or warm over your favorite roasted meats.

  So, in the next few weeks, there will be plenty of recipes in this space that may or may not be part of our holiday menu. But before any of you point your text messages my way, I promise that everything that is usually there, will still be there! ALONG, with a few new surprises.