Cranberry Goodness

Buying a 5 pound bag of cranberries seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, they are only available seasonally, right? The Thanksgiving cranberry sauce we made barely made a dent in that bag! So, I've been trying out lots of different cranberry recipes to use up all this wonderful fruit. I thought I would share a few of them.

Cranberries are also an anti-oxidant super food, so I can feel good about baking and cooking up that cranberry goodness! Here are some of my favorite recipes of the week. They are kind of hard to read in this format, but you can view a pdf version HERE.

Reduced Fat Cranberry-Almond Scones

Low in fat, these semi-sweet scones are packed with the goodness of cranberries and almonds that make this a healthy sweet treat any time of the day!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup raw or brown sugar (or more if you like them sweeter) 3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chopped cranberries 1/2 cup almonds or walnuts - chopped 2 tbsp butter or margarine 1/2-3/4 cup milk (or half buttermilk and half milk)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a pan sprayed with olive oil spray, cook cranberries on medium heat until tender and reduced by about half. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can even do this with your fingertips. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts, then slowly add the milk, just until the dough is moistened. Make a tough dough like cookies.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently, 5 to 10 times. Pat into a 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 16 wedges with a buttered knife; place on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, at 425 degrees. Let cool on a wire rack before trying to remove them.

Nutrition per serving: Calories 121; fat 3.2 mg; fiber 1.8 g; protein 2.9 mg

Broiled Tilapia with Cranberrry-Tarragon Sauce

Broiled Tilapia

Ingredients:
4 4-oz boneless fish fillets (Tilapia, Flounder, etc)
1 tsp fresh tarragon, minced
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lime, cut in 4 thin slices
juice from the other half of the lime

Directions:
ONE: Preheat broiler to high
TWO: Place fillets in shallow baking dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, and tarragon. Lay a slice of lime in the middle of each fillet.
THREE: Place baking dish 5-6 inches away from broler. Broil fish for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through, but still moist. Drizzle with lime juice. Serve topped with Cranberry-Tarragon sauce.

Cranberry-Tarragon Sauce

This delicious sauce can be made ahead of time and simply reheated when you need it.

Ingredients:
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh onion, minced
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp fresh tarragon, or to taste
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 cup maple syrup, or to taste
2 tsp fresh lime juice

Directions:
In medium sauce pan over medium-high heat cook onion until onion is translucent and a bit browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook a minute more. Add cranberries, water, tarragon and salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally, and cook until thickened and reduced, abut 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, whisk in maple syrup and lime juice. Serve over tilapia.

Nutrition for 4-oz fillet and 1 1/2 Tbsp sauce: Calories 210; Fat 2.5 g; Fiber 2 g; Protein 31 g; sodium 240 mg; cholesterol 75 mg

Fruited Curry Chicken

Ingredients:
Olive oil or cooking spray
1 apple, diced
1 pear, diced (or use an extra apple if you don't have pears on hand)
1 small onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp gingerroot, chopped
1/8 cup unsalted cashews
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
3 boneless chicken breast
Fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Spritz a large pot with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add chicken and 1/2 of the onion and cook on both sides. Remove from pan and keep chicken warm. Next, add fruit (except cranberries), remaining onion, pepper, ginger, cashews, curry, cumin, and salt. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add broth and cranberries and mix well. Add chicken back in and spoon some of the mixture over the top. Simmer for 5 minutes and turn chicken over. Simmer another 5-10 minutes, or until chicken is no pink. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

This is great served on a bed of brown rice.

Nutrition info: Calories 226; Total fat 5 g, Fiber 6 g, Protein 9 g, sodium 321 mg, cholesterol 44 mg.

If you have any favorite recipes containing cranberry, I'd love to link them here.

Happy cooking!

Healthier Strawberry Bread

Bed and Breakfast Inns have the yummiest breakfast item recipes! But they are so decadent in the fat and sugar department that I rarely make them anymore. On Monday, I decided to make apple bread for breakfast and realized I was out apples. : ( I looked at the ripe bananas on my counter and just wasn't in the mood for another batch of banana bread. What's a girl to do at 6:30 am? I wasn't feeling committed enough to get out of my jammies and drive to the store.

Flipping through my Country Inn Bread and Breakfast Cookbook (which, incidentally, I scored for $.60 at our local Salvation Army!), I noticed a recipe for 'Strawberry Bread' that called for frozen strawberries, a package of which I recalled being buried in my freezer somewhere between the broccoli and cauliflower. Also, the recipe boasted that it had been requested by The White House, so how bad could it be? The problem was that the recipe was full of oil, white flour, and sugar and I wasn't sure how the recipe would turn out if I substituted and omitted. However, having a hungry tween, as well as a health conscious dh, I decided to forge ahead boldly and make substitutions!

I used whole wheat flour rather than white (yes, ALL whole wheat), sucanat instead of sugar, and mashed banana for more than half of the oil (I had no applesauce on hand due to a certain tween who ravages the frig regularly). I'm glad I did, because the bread was delicious and a huge hit!

Here's the recipe after my healthier substitutions:

Whole Wheat Strawberry Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups raw sugar or your favorite sweetener
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (optional if you are watching salt intake)

3 eggs, well-beaten

3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (if you don't have bananas on hand, use applesauce)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or your favorite oil)
20 ounce package of frozen, sliced strawberries, thawed (or use a berry medley)

Spray 2 loaf pans with olive oil cooking spray and then coat with wheat flour, shaking out excess.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center of this mixture. Pour the eggs, mashed banana and oil in the well. Stir until the dry ingredients just become moist.
Pour the thawed strawberries and juice into a container. With a slotted spoon, dip out the strawberries and gently stir into the above mixture. Then add the juice gradually, stirring until the batter is of the proper consistency. The amount of juice varies , and you do not want the batter to be too thin.
Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour, or until loaves test done.
Let cool in pan 15 minutes and then turn out.

Makes 2 loaves.



Printable version of the recipe HERE

Breakfast Menu Planner

Cereal, cereal, cereal. We are eating WAY too much of it, and am ready for a change in our breakfast menu. Breakfast needs to be simple, nutritious and quick! After looking at various breakfast planners online, I reluctantly decided to take a stab at making my own. Most of the menus I saw were loaded with both sugar and white flour and were lacking in protein. We have been working really hard to improve our diet over the past couple of years and we want to continue to move forward!

Here is my breakfast menu (View as PDF):

Menu A

Monday
Whole grain fruit muffins or fruit bread (I substitute wheat flour for 1/2 of the white flour called for and also add a little wheat germ or flax)
Cheese
Fresh fruit

Tuesday
Fruit Smoothie
Hard-boiled eggs
Wheat toast or bread

Wednesday
Oatmeal with a touch of natural maple syrup
Protein shake
Fresh fruit

Thursday
Self-serve (choose bagels, cold cereal, instant oatmeal, toast, or whatever)
Fresh fruit, cheese or nuts

Friday
Cheesy spinach egg scramble or fried eggs
Wheat toast or bread
Fresh fruit

Sunday night prep
Make whole grain muffins or fruit bread
Boil eggs and refrigerate

Grocery shopping
muffin or sweet bread ingredients
favorite cheeses
lots of various fresh fruits, including bananas and berries
yogurt – plain or whatever you like
eggs
oatmeal
flavored protein powder
almonds, cashews or other favorite nuts
wheat bread
spinach (optional)



Menu B

Monday
Breakfast casserole or bacon and eggs
Fresh fruit

Tuesday
Fresh fruit salad
Wheat toast
Protein shake

Wednesday
Broiled Tomato and Cheese English Muffin

(top a whole-grain English muffin with 2 ounces Cheddar cheese and 2 tomato slices. Broil until cheese melts)

Fruit yogurt

Thursday
Self-serve (choose bagels, cold cereal, instant oatmeal or toast)
Fruit, cheese, or nuts

Friday
Omelete
English Muffin
Fresh fruit

Sunday night prep
Make breakfast casserole and refrigerate until morning

Grocery shopping
Ingredients for breakfast casserole (bread, breakfast meat, cheese, favorite fillings such as green onion or red peppers)
lots of varied fresh fruit
tomatoes
English muffins
flavored protein powder
almonds, cashews or other favorite nuts
fruit flavored yogurt
omelet toppings