Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving Feasts + Health Benefits

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

This post is sponsored by Foodie.com.

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without cranberries on the table and I’m happy to be sharing a collection of cranberry recipes I put together for Foodie.com – you’ll find healthy cranberry recipes for Thanksgiving and the remainder of the holiday season.

If you’ve wondered why we mainly eat cranberries in the fall, it’s because they are in season October, November and December – the primary holiday meal making months! However, this sweet-tart berry has so many health benefits that I like to eat them year round. Many of these health benefits are attributed to the phytochemicals known as proanthocyandidins found in cranberries – this compound in cranberries inhibit bacteria from adhering and multiplying in the body – that’s why drinking cranberry juice is a natural remedy for urinary tract infections. Cranberries may lower incidence of cancer; studies show polyphenolic extracts from cranberries diminish the growth of prostate, lung and esophageal tumor cells – cranberries have the highest level of this powerful antioxidant than 20 fruits and vegetables tested. As an athlete, cranberries are also a great source of natural carbohydrates to fuel workouts.

So, how can you enjoy cranberries year round when the store shelves are cleared out at the New Year? You can freeze fresh cranberries to use later in sauce, relish and other recipes. If you’re in a hurry, simply place original packing inside a heavy duty freezer bag and freeze for up to one year. If you have more time, I’d suggest rinsing and drying the cranberries and then freezing in a single layer on a baking sheet before placing in an airtight container. This allows you to grab a handful at a time without the berries being clumped together.

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Do you have a favorite cranberry recipe? Please share!

Apple Cider Bourbon Glazed Carrots + Big Book of Sides #Giveaway

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Other than turkey, nothing says Thanksgiving more than a bottle of full of bourbon in my family. We’ll have that sucker drained in no time — no so much taking shots (okay, maybe a couple), but rather as a spirited ingredient in my holiday menu.

Watch this video of Rick Rodgers, chef and author of The Big Book of Sides, make Bacon, Onion and Bourbon Marmalade –it’s fantastic and versatile enough to spread it on a biscuit or dress a bowl full of warm green beans. Oh, and I’m hosting a giveaway for a copy of The Big Book of Sides, so enter at the bottom of this post.

Based on Rick’s recipe for Pomegranate Glazed Carrots (p. 148 of The Big Book of Sides) and my new found bottle of Four Roses Bourbon, I was inspired to create my own side dish recipe — Apple Cider Bourbon Glazed Carrots. These carrots are so delicious and make a perfect pairing with your roast turkey or even a juicy steak – and because I’m using coconut (palm) sugar, they are even Paleo-diet friendly.

Bourbon Apple Cider Glazed Carrots Recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound carrots, scrubbed and green tops removed
1 cup apple cider
1 ounce bourbon
1 tablespoon coconut (palm) sugar
Sea salt
Ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped pecans

Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add carrots in single layer and pour in apple cider and bourbon. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring sauce to boil over high heat, occasionally stirring to dissolve coconut sugar.
Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes to soften remove lid and bring heat up to high. Boil until sauce has reduced to a glaze, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Transfer to serving platter, sprinkle with pecans, and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Serves 4.

Enter #giveaway for THE BIG BOOK OF SIDES @CookBookRick @4RosesBourbon

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So, if you’ve ever struggled with side dish ideas and are tired of the same old mashed potatoes or plain buttered peas, The Big Book of Sides has more than 450 recipes that will add pizzazz and razzamatazz to your holiday plate. Some of the side dish recipes that spoke to me were Chard Puttanesca; Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes; Farro, Cherry and Feta Salad; and Chipotle Corn Pudding. Enter below for a chance to win a copy of this must-have manual for the home cook – if you can’t wait to win, you can pick up a copy on Amazon.

This post and giveaway is sponsored. I received product and other compensation in exchange for my time; all opinions, editorial comments, content and photographs are my own, unless otherwise noted.

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Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish & #StackandSnap Food Processor #Giveaway

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

This post and giveaway are sponsored by Hamilton Beach. While they provided products for review, all opinions, editorial comments and recipes are my own.

Looking for an easy, healthy holiday side dish you can make CHOP, CHOP?! My recipe for Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish is a real winner that beats that nasty canned jelly stuff with a wallop of fresh, zingy flavor. Versions of this recipe have been served at my family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for as long as I can remember – while Grandma used to dump in a cup of granulated sugar, I keep it lower carb by using Stevia instead.

Can you believe there are only four (FOUR!) ingredients in this simple recipe and it can be whipped up in two minutes or less with the help of a food processor. Seriously, all you do is wash the fruit, quarter the orange (leave skin on!) and peel the ginger, throw all the healthy ingredients along with a touch of Stevia (or you could use honey) into the food processor and pulse for about a minute. Viola, you’re done – it’ tastes even better the next day and can be used as a side salad, relish for lean proteins, topping for yogurt, or as a way to add some seasonal razzamatazz to your turkey sandwich or roast beef wrap. And, for those of you with dietary concerns, this fruit recipe is sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and appropriate for Paleo, vegetarian, vegan and raw diets.

I was so excited to receive a brand spanking new Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor from Hamilton Beach just in time for the holidays. My old one is almost 24 years old (wedding gift) and a pain in the butt to use – although, back then it was AWESOME! Today my new awesome is this good-looking Stack and Snap™ processor – it’s super easy to use thanks to a simple function guide that shows you which blade to use and which button to press. Another thing I appreciated right out of the box is that everything assembles with ease — there’s no twisting, turning or locking required when assembling the food processor. Uh, I hated using my old one because I could never remember how to put it together. I would have to holler for my husband to come into the kitchen to fix it because it was “broken.” Hey, don’t judge – I do all the cooking, he should make himself useful in the kitchen too!

With a powerful 450 Watt motor, this healthy-food-making bad boy can chop, slice, shred, mix and puree in no time, making my recipe prep time nearly non-existant. The Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor is also leak-proof, has a lock-down blade that won’t fall out when pouring and a Big Mouth® feed tube that can handle many whole-sized food (less pre-chopping by me)! Oh, and clean up’s a breeze, the parts (except for the base) are dishwasher safe. So, you know it – I’m giving one away! Enter via the Rafflecopter app at the end of the recipe.

Raw Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish Recipe

1 lb. package fresh cranberries
1 large navel orange
2-inch chunk of ginger root, peeled
2 teaspoons powdered Stevia

Rinse cranberries and drain in colendar.
Wash and quarter orange, remove any seeds but leave peel on.
Peel ginger with paring knife and cut into chunks.
Place all ingredients in work bowl of processor and pulse intermittently for one minute, or until coarsely chopped.
Serves 6 – 8.

If you’re looking for another cranberry relish idea, check out this Bourbon Apricot Pecan Cranberry Relish recipe I did for last year’s feast. It is also sugar-free, but has a more syrupy, cooked on the stove top taste.

Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish & @HamiltonBeach #StackandSnap Food Processor #Giveaway #Ad

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Creamy Cranberry Orange Smoothie & Marathon Countdown

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Where DOES the time go? It’s almost the middle of November which means cranberries are popping up everywhere, getting me excited for Thanksgiving) the subsequent Dallas Marathon just 17 days after that. Am I ready? No. Am I ever ready? No. So, I’m just not going to worry about it and be happy for what my body can do rather than what it can’t. Once again, I plan to follow the “fat-loading” pre-marathon diet that I did last year (read about it here). Because Dallas Marathon was canceled due to ice last year, I never got to see if all that avocado and salmon scarfing actually helped train my body to better tap fat stores as a more immediate source of fuel. The idea is that the body will spare glycogen reserves for use at the race by using fat stores more efficiently on the front end. In other words, no bonking – hopefully.

2012 Dallas Marathon — it rained the ENTIRE race! That’s me, only girl in that group on far left.

So, enough about that – I can’t even think of running 26.2 miles at my race pace right now! Instead, I’d rather think about my Creamy Cranberry Orange Smoothie which is sweet-tart, but not over the top! If you are looking for other autumn smoothie ideas, check out my collection of six fall season smoothies which includes a Maple Pear Chia Chiller. Enjoy!

Creamy Cranberry Orange Smoothie Recipe

6 ounces fresh orange juice
2 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces Greek yogurt
1/3 cup fresh cranberries
Lemon- or regular-flavored stevia, to taste
Ice, as needed

Blend together juices, yogurt and cranberries. Add stevia to taste and ice to achieve desired consistency. Serves.1

Creamy Cranberry Orange Smoothe #recipe & Marathon Countdown

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So, who’s running marathons in November or December? Let me know!

Kale and Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes + Favorite Fall Recipes

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

If you take pleasure in eating the signature dishes of the season, fall is a particularly comforting time of year. Just thinking about the bounty of upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and autumn harvest inspired recipes gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling of well-being of being at Grandma’s house with all the family gathered round.

Pumpkin aside, the most iconic ingredient of autumn may be the sweet potato. Even though this practically royal root is actually enjoyed year-round to the tune of 2.6 billion pounds in the US, it makes the most of its popularity in October, November and December. Think about it — if you haven’t had sweet potatoes on your holiday dinner table, you may not be normal.

What is normal in my kitchen is to skip mucking up this orange tuber with marshmallows (why, WHY?!) and instead mash up and mix in other healthy ingredients – like the healthy greens, onions, coconut milk and wellness enhancing spices in my recipe for Kale and Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes below. If said it before, but I’ll say it again – I love using the sweet potato as a way to fuel my distance running, it’s the perfect choice for healthy carbohydrate loading. Not only does the sweet potato have a lower glycemic index than the traditional white potato (meaning it will be deployed as energy to your body at a more steady state), it is also packed with other nutrition that benefits athletes including vitamins A and C, manganese, calcium, potassium, iron, vitamin B6 and fiber.

This Kale and Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes dish is the one I made earlier in the week to complement my Cinnamon-Rubbed Braised Lamb with Cranberry Ginger Sauce. This recipe is so yummy, it’s BAAAAA-d to the bone! And, by the way — totally approved by all my Paleo diet friends.

Kale and Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes Recipe

2 lb (about 2 large) sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large sweet onion, finely sliced
¼ cup white wine (or broth)
4 cups shredded kale (or other winter greens)
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Peel the sweet potato and cut into even sized 1 inch cubes. Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot filled with water. Boil uncovered for 15 minutes or until softened.
Drain the sweet potatoes in colander and set aside.
In bottom of same pot, add olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, for approximately 15 minutes or until turning golden brown and caramelizing. Add wine to pot to deglaze pan and then quickly add kale or other greens and continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until wilted. Turn off heat.
Add sweet potatoes, coconut milk, ginger, and cinnamon and mash everything together to desired consistency. If needed, add a splash more coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4.

Kale & Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes + Fall #recipes @foodie

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What is your favorite sweet potato recipe?

This post is sponsored by Foodie.com – however, all comments, opinions and recipes are my own.

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Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving Feasts + Health Benefits

Apple Cider Bourbon Glazed Carrots + Big Book of Sides #Giveaway

Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish & #StackandSnap Food Processor #Giveaway

Creamy Cranberry Orange Smoothie & Marathon Countdown

Kale and Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes + Favorite Fall Recipes