FUN/DIY/ Holidays/Parties/ RECIPES/ Sides

Hall Of Fame Cranberry Sauce

This Cranberry Sauce recipe certainly deserves its dramatic title. I made the recipe about 3 days ago and I cannot stop getting into my refrigerator to take “just one more taste.” I may or may not have my own secret jar stashed in the back of the refrigerator that I grab and just dig in with a spoon!

I found the recipe at Shockingly Delicious, and she sold me on it once I read these words:

“I’ve experimented with dozens of versions of cranberry sauce over the years – with Port, with Grand Marnier, with blueberries, with cherries, with raisins and nuts, making it a chutney, with sour cream and onions – even doing a cranberry sauce taste test with three different versions a few years in a row. While the taste tests were certainly fun and delicious, it soon became clear that everyone kept reaching for the same dish repeatedly, year after year.”

My cranberry sauce experience has not been as extensive as Dorthy’s above, as I have never made it from scratch. Back in the day, I just bought the canned version, and it acted more like a table decoration than actual food! I bought it because everyone expected it, and it looked pretty and added color to the Thanksgiving table. The problem was, it never got eaten! What a waste. The last few years I have bought Trader Joes Cranberry Sauce, which was a huge improvement from canned, and I thought it was quite good, UNTIL I TASTED THIS HALL OF FAME VERSION!

This recipe is simple and easy to make, so it is surprising that it is so delicious. It has just the right amount of spices. It is the perfect balance of tart and sweet. It is not mushy & has a great balance of crushed cranberries and whole cranberries. It tastes amazing on a turkey sandwich, spread on toast, and drizzled over vanilla ice cream.

I plan on making another double batch for our Thanksgiving brunch, to use in our Turkey Stuffing Cranberry Sliders (recipe coming in the next couple of days) and in our Jaw-Droppingly Good Cranberry Simosas — also from Dorthy at Shockingly Delicious.

This sauce would also make a great hostess gift for the holidays. It is so pretty just in a simple mason jar. Wrap around the jar a few times with some jute and tie a bow. The color of the cranberries in the jar against the naturalness of the jute is just enough decoration. I did this at a little holiday blog party I went to last night & it was fun to show up with something tasty and festive.

The flavor of this Cranberry Sauce gets better over time, so you can make it ahead of time for Thanksgiving. It can stay stored in your refrigerator in a jar for up to two months.

Hall Of Fame Cranberry Sauce

1 1/4 cups brown sugar (original recipe calls for white sugar. I was out so I used brown, and it was so delicious that I will always use brown!)

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (12 ounce) bag fresh cranberries

Zest of 1 orange (orange part only)

~In a large saucepan, add sugar, water and spices. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a rolling boil, about 3 minutes.

~In a colander, rinse and pick over the cranberries to remove any mushy ones.

~Add cranberries to boiling syrup and continue cooking, uncovered, just until they begin to pop, about 2-3 minutes (set the timer). Be careful not to cook them to long of they will get mushy. I allowed mine to pop quite a bit, as I wanted the syrup to ooze into the cracks to infiltrate the cranberries.

~Remove from heat, stir in the orange zest.

Note: Syrup will thicken and turn a beautiful cranberry color once cooled and refrigerated.

Optional: mash some of the berries, keeping some of them whole. How much to mash? This depends on the consistency you personally like. I like half of them mashed, and half left whole.

~Cool to room temperature, uncovered.

~Ladle into clean jars and refrigerate until serving time.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups of sauce, enough to serve 6-8 people.

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Do you have Cranberry Sauce during the Thanksgiving holiday? Do you make it or buy it? What is a favorite recipe you making for Thanksgiving?

Brunch/ RECIPES/ Sides/ Sponsored/ Sweets

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

We have been enjoying Meatless Mondays around here for quite a while now. It has been much fun creating or finding meatless & dairy free meals and desserts. It causes us to eat more plant-based & gives me excuse to mix up my recipes & pour over my Vegan board on Pinterest. I found a couple of recipes for Pumpkin bread and remixed them to come up with this better-for-you Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Brown Sugar Streusel Crust recipe. It is now a favorite! It is so very good that I won’t ever go back to my usual non-vegan, double-the-sugar pumpkin bread recipe.

It is also Monday night football season, so I’ve had extra fun finding meatless meals and desserts that we can enjoy as a family while having the game on. Notice I say “having the game on” instead of “watching the game.” That is because my husband is really the only one who watches Monday night football. He is in a house of girls who are not too interested, but I must say, I love the fun fall atmosphere that a football game brings to the house. It causes me to light fall candles, plug-in my fun lighty- up pumpkin & even use it as an excuse call up my friends and have them over during the week if I’m feeling social. If not, I just cozy up in the corner of the couch with my fuzzy blanket and fuzzy socks & listen to my husband cheer on his team. He is an extremely quiet guy until it comes to sports…then he gets quite animated and I find myself chuckling at him. It can be very entertaining. Oh how I love my man!

This Vegan Pumpkin Bread recipe is anther something that I just love. It pleases both the girls & guys, and is the thing to make when having people over. It is nice and girly & tastes great with a cup of coffee or tea, but also is sweet & special enough to pass as a dessert with the guys, enjoyed with a pumpkin ale.

The bread is soft and moist, you won’t miss the whole milk, butter or eggs one bit! Creamy Silk Almondmilk, thick pumpkin, and vegan butter alternative is what this bread so moist. The streusel top is a buttery brown sugar concoction that is nice and hearty, not dry & crumbly like most streusels. It seeps into the bread a bit while it bakes and the result is just—MMM.

This recipe mixes up in a snap. All ingredients except the flour and baking powder are combined together in one bowl. You then simply wisk in the dry ingredients, pour in a pan, and top with streusel.

It is a great way to keep things simple on a Monday night. Serve with a crockpot of vegan chili & call it good. Your home will smell, taste, look and sound like fall while eating this if you make it on a Meatless Monday Football Night!

Do you have any recipes that can be remixed for #MeatlessMondayNight?

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Silk’s plant-based beverages & yogurt alternatives are super versatile and can be used as substitutes for dairy products. Using them is a great way to make delicious meat & dairy-free versions of your normal go-to Monday Night Football recipes.

Silk’s products are lactose free, cholesterol free, high fructose corn syrup free & no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (another plant-based oil can be substituted)

1/4 cup Unsweetened Silk AlmondMilk

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

pinch of salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (can use wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder

Streusel Crust

1/4 cup of vegan buttery spread or butter if you are non-vegan, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease & flour one 9×5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
Bread- in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredient through salt & whisk to combine. If coconut oil re-solidifys, no worries, a few small white clumps are ok.
Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined, don’t overmix. Batter is quite thick.
Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
Streusel Crust – in a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour & toss with a fork until mixture combines and crumbs and clumps form. This is a moist streusel, but if your seems very moist and is paste-like, add another 1-2 tablespoon flour, as needed to dry it out.
Evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over the top, using your fingers to break up large clumps in necessary.
Bake for about 40-44 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Allow bread to cool in pan, on top of a wire rack, for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto the rack to finish cooling completely.
Slice bread with a serrated knife in a sawing motion, going over any stubborn patches of the crust a few times, taking care to be gentle to not compress the loaf. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.
To freeze, wrap completely cooled loaf in plastic wrap, then place loaf inside a gallon-sized plastic zipped bag. Bread will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 6 months

Enjoy!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

RECIPES/ Sides

Simple Tomato Salad

Follow New Nostalgia

It is that time of year. My girls are back in school & I’m starting to think fall thoughts, but I’m not quite ready for the cold that I know is coming here in the midwest! I find myself holding onto summer. The flavors of vine ripened tomatoes and fresh basil helps me savor these last few days of August!

I’m continuing to love my square foot garden. I practically ignore it all summer long and it produces amazingness with no weeds. It is my type of gardening. This year I kept it simple by planting just 2 types of tomatoes (early girls & cherry 100’s), one cucumber plant, one basil plant, and some swiss chard. I have had great success with no garden pests this year. Last year I was bugged by those ugly, squash bugs and it was dreadful!

We have had enough rain lately to give my tomatoes a huge growth spurt, and I’m super excited to make some Freezer Salsa & Henry & David Knockoff Onion & Pepper Relish with the abundance of tomatoes that I have.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying the tomatoes by simply slicing them, sprinkling them with ribbons of fresh basil, a bit of feta, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I sprinkle just a bit of garlic salt and pepper to taste. This could not be more simple or delicious! It tastes so fresh, the sweetness of the tomatoes and balsamic, the bite of feta and the freshness of the basil all come together to create a mouthful of flavor. It is simply delicious!

Do you have an abundance of tomatoes? Need some great ideas of how to use them? Then go visit my Recipes: Tomatoes! board on Pinterest.

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Simple Sliced Tomato

(a no recipe, recipe)

1 tomato

2-3 leaves fresh basil, rolled up then sliced into ribbons

a bit of feta cheese

a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

a sprinkle of garlic salt

a sprinkle of pepper

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Slice the tomatoes, sprinkle with basil, feta, garlic salt & pepper. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

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What are your favorite ways to use up those garden or fresh from the farmer’s market tomatoes?

RECIPES/ Sides/ Sweets

Raspberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf

Summer Kitchen Adventures

We have had our share of cloudy summer days here in the Midwest, and although I miss the sunshine on those days, they are great days to stay indoors and get creative! My youngest daughter, Avery, is always up for an adventure in the kitchen, so on a recent cloudy day we decided to bake up some sunshine of our own and make Raspberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf.

I also have two teenage daughters, Teagan and Colsie, but they are much less enthusiastic to get in the kitchen, so it was all up to Avery and I to make this amazing bread that was full of fruit and oh so moist!

Avery is my very capable baker. If you follow my instagram feed you’ve seen some of the incredible things she has baked up. I asked her if she wanted to make this recipe alone and she said “Let’s do it together.” I loved hearing that. She usually has her own plan and loves independence in the kitchen, so to hear her excitement about doing some summer baking together made this Momma happy.

This loaf was really fun and easy to make. I love any recipe that involves mixing the dry ingredients, then making a “well” for the wet ingredients. I also love any recipe that allows me to keep my mixer stored away and clean.

The citrus comes from grated lemon rind, which adds such a great fresh flavor. Raspberry and lemon go so well together, which makes this bread special, but the ingredient that makes it extra special and moist is Yulu yogurt.

HELLO YULU. GOODBYE GREEK.

My new favorite brand of yogurt is called Yulu.

I have never been a big fan of the sour taste of yogurt. I’m a bit picky with my yogurt, as I prefer it to be creamy, but not as thick as Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt tends to be an “acquired taste,” as it is quite tangy, so I have stayed away from it.

Yulu is an Aussie-style yogurt that is made here in the USA. It is double-smoothed and double-creamed, so it was a whole new yogurt experience for me. It is not too thick or not too thin. It does not have the too-sour quality that is found in Greek yogurt. I think it tastes divine.

It comes in a container that is see-thru, which I thought was pretty cool and is a clear sign of the honest company that it is. The ingredient list made me smile as they use real fruit, fruit juice and even vegetable juices for color and flavor– so no artificial colors– and it there is 9 grams of protein in each cup.

If you want to know more about Yulu, you can check them out here and sign up for the Yulu newsletter for coupons, giveaways & more! Keep in mind that Yulu is a new product on the market, so check their site for locations & availability in your area.

Raspberry Yogurt Lemon Loaf

Back to our summer kitchen adventure, I gathered all the ingredients and Avery started in on the measuring. She was a rockstar with grating the lemon rind, which is not my favorite job so I was happy to let her go to town on that. It came together in minutes, smelled amazing while baking, & made a great sunshine snack on a cloudy summer day.

Recipe

2 cups plain flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)

2 eggs

1 cup Yulu Raspberry Yogurt (about 2 small containers)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups rasberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a 1lb loaf pan with oil.

Combine flour, sugar, & baking powder in a bowl. Made a well in the center of the bowl.

In a separate bowl combine oil, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.

Add wet mixture into the dry well and mix well.

Gently fold in raspberries and lemon rind.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake until top is golden and springs back when you gently touch it, and a knife comes out clean.

45-60 minutes.

{for your Pinning Pleasure!}

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Yulu. The opinions and text are all mine.

GF, Vegan & Raw/ Meals/ RECIPES/ Sides

Spicy Chipotle Tomato Sauce

by Teniel Moore–Raw Foods Contributor

Want dinner made in way under 10 minutes?

Then keep reading and get the recipe below for my Spicy Chipotle Tomato Sauce.

For those of you that follow me on my face book page Addicted To Raw, you will

know that at the beginning of February I went on a raw food cleanse.

I eat lots of raw in my diet but not 100% so I like to do reboots like this every few months.

This is where I choose to eat raw, almost completely raw (except for a few sneaky chai’s)

but I did admit that to my followers that I am going to have a hot tea if I feel like it.

So I am being naughty!

I love doing these raw food cleanses because it reminds me of why I love raw food so much. I love the simplicity of it and how I can get so much flavour from my food using all natural ingredients.

It gets me back into experimenting and using my imagination as to what I can come up with.

This raw food cleanse I’ve had an addiction to zucchini noodles and the sauce I made. I must have made this for dinner about 5 nights in a row, so I thought I would share it with you all and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Spicy Chipotle Tomato Sauce

Serves 1 (generous serving)

Large handful of cherry tomatoes or about 2 large tomatoes

3 delicious sun dried tomatoes

Generous pinch of himalayan salt

Generous dash of smoked paprika

Generous dash of chipotle powder (I use Frontier brand)

1/2 small knob of garlic

1/4 large red capsicum (red pepper)

Throw all your ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth.I love to give mine a good kick of spice so I am quite heavy-handed with the chipotle.Pour straight over your pasta of choice. To keep it raw I use zucchini noodles or you could use kelp noodles.This would be lovely over cooked gluten-free pasta. also. and don’t forget to throw in additional flavours like olives or basil if you fancy. I have just been enjoying it as is or with a dollop of my cashew cheese on top.

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Its summer over here in Australia so it’s a perfect meal in the heat. If you want it warm you can heat the sauce on the stove or warm in your dehydrator if you have one.

Hope you try out this super easy recipe. Its a great one for a fast lunch or dinner.

………………..

Teniel Moore of Addicted To Raw

Raw Foods Contributor

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Simple Mason Jar Salads

Salads in a Mason Jar

I’ve seen these mason jar salads all over Pinterest and Instagram, and have been wanting to make them myself for quite a while now. I love the idea of just grabbing a jar and having a healthy lunch or snack right at your fingertips.

These jars took just minutes to make. I decided to keep mine simple, which helped make the process super easy.

I wanted to use ingredients that all members of my family would eat, as I hoped that having some beautiful jars of goodness in our refrigerator would encourage my 3 girls to grab one and eat up their veggies.

It worked, especially on my oldest girl who is a cross-country runner and is quite motivated to get her veggies in! She loved these so much that she asked if she could take them in her school lunch instead of a sandwich.

Salad in a Jar

I’ve seen quite elaborate salads- in- jars all over the internet, but I knew simple would work best for our family. Most that I’ve seen put the dressing at the very bottom, then add veggies, a protein (beans or hard-boiled eggs) then the salad at the top.

Putting hearty vegetables in-between the dressing and the lettuce keeps the lettuce dry and makes them last 5-7 days in the refrigerator. It is great for a to-go lunch or snack.

My family members all like a different dressing, so I skipped putting the dressing in the bottom. We ended up eating most of these at home, where we could easily grab the dressing we liked, dump the jar onto a plate, and add any other toppings at the time of eating.

Really, for my family, the salad jars were a great way to present enticing, healthy, grab and go food. I think it is worth the little bit of time to put the jars together to make this happen.

Sometimes when veggies just sit in their bags in the refrigerator, my girls are less likely to grab them and eat them. Having them in such pretty jars really made a difference in the number of vegetables we consumed that week.

I’ve written before about keeping fresh veggies cut in jars in our refrigerator. Most weeks when I am making a salad for dinner, I will cut up extra vegetables and put them into jars–again–worth the extra time for my family to see healthy foods in our refrigerator.

They will not grab a cucumber and cut it up to eat it, but they will grab a jar of sliced cucumbers and munch away.

The week I made these jars, I made sure I had hard-boiled eggs peeled and chopped, ready to go as it is one of my families’ favorite salad toppings and a great way to add protein.

I also had red pepper slices and cooked peas, both in separate jars, which are two of my favorite salad toppings.

In my pantry, I had a large jar of croutons, a jar of dried cranberries & a jar of sunflower seeds, all of which are great salad toppings.

Jars a wonderful way to keep healthy ingredients at your fingertips, store ingredients so that they last a long time, and make the refrigerator and pantry look beautiful and organized. I just love them!

Below is a list of salad ingredients that can be stored in jars to top your Simple Mason Jar Salad, or to make more elaborate Mason Jar Salads.

If you are wanting to make these with the dressing and all of the ingredients layered in the jar, make sure you buy large mouth jars and layer the ingredients in the right order.

Best Order:

Dressing, hearty vegetables (ones that can marinate in the dressing without breaking down like carrots, peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers), fruits, protein/carb (beans, pasta, chicken), dry toppings (seeds, croutons, dried fruit) then lettuce.

Ingredient Ideas for Mason Jar Salads

Shredded Rotisserie Chicken

Chopped Bacon

Whole-Wheat Bow-Tie Pasta

Sliced Strawberries

Blueberries

Grapes

Pineapple

Mandarin Oranges

Dried Cranberries

Avocado

Green Peppers

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Carrots
Peas

Radishes

Cucumber

Tomatoes

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Feta Cheese

Croutons

Sunflower Seeds

Sliced Almonds

Simple Mason Jar Salads

Here is how I made mine:

Cucumber

Shredded Carrots

Shredded Broccoli Stalks

Baby Spinach

Lettuce Mix

*all of my ingredients (except cucumber) came prepped in bags from Trader Joes- easy!

Directions:

Add ingredients in jars in the order given. Put a lid on and store in refrigerator 5-7 days.

When ready to eat, take out, add whatever extra toppings you would like, add dressing & enjoy!

What about you?

Do you like the idea of having these available in your refrigerator ready to grab and eat? Do you think it would motivate you to eat more veggies?

For a very detailed article on Mason Jar Salads, click here.

GF, Vegan & Raw/ RECIPES/ Sides

Raw Corn Chips – Jalapeno Style

by Teniel Moore–Raw Foods Contributor

I’m not going to lie. I love to snack on something crunchy…and I don’t mean a cucumber! Sometimes you just want that savory chip that you can eat on its own or dip into something delicious like — fresh salsa.

So for those of you like me that want to enjoy chips during this after-holiday season and want something that contains few whole ingredients then this recipe is for you.

* This recipe does require a dehydrator – I use an excalibur 9 tray

Ingredients:

5 cups of organic corn
1/2 cup of golden flax
Himalayan salt to taste
Jalapeno – as much as you like. I use half a small slice (optional)
Juice of a lime
1/2 yellow onion
Water
Garlic (optional)
Coriander (optional)TIP: I only ever buy organic corn to avoid GMO’s. Its foreign to our bodies and so our poor body does not now how to deal with it. This can lead to all sorts of problems down the track. So always look for foods that are non GMO. I also try to limit my corn intake even when its organic, as sometimes it can be hard on the digestive system.But once in a while its a yummy treat and we all need to have balance in our diets. Right?

Instructions:

Whiz the corn first in a high-speed blender. It will probably need some water to get it going. Add water as you need it.

Then add onion and other things like lime juice. Give it a really good mix in the blender so it’s all smooth. At least a minute in the vitamix.It should be like a paste sort of consistency. You need to spread on the dehydrator sheet quite thin & score into corn chip size triangles, dehydrate for about 4 hours then peel it off the sheet and cook it for another 16 hours or so until it Is dry.
Store in an air tight container & enjoy with some guacamole or salsa.

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So get dehydrating so you can be snacking on some wholesome corn chips as a great post-holiday snack!