It's that time of year...Thanksgiving is here and that means delicious, comforting, and HEAVY food.
Even though I try to eat MAINLY whole, unprocessed foods, I totally enjoy the holidays without any guilt. Moderation is the the key to staying happy around food in general. But especially around big, family meals, I do look for ways to make the Less-Than-Healthy dishes a little less naughty.
We eat way more sugar around Thanksgiving and the holidays than we eat the rest of the year. But for things like cranberry sauce, you want to make sure it still tastes delicious and sweet, even without all the processed white stuff! My girls and I played around with the recipe on the back of the cranberry package and came up with a delicious, reduced-sugar cranberry sauce recipe.
Since cranberry sauce can be a little too tart for the kiddos, we followed advice from my aunt to add in cherry juice and a bit of orange juice. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, so we tried reducing to 1/2 the sugar (1/2 cup) and adding in cherry juice to still give some sweetness and cut the tart flavor.
This recipe is super easy to make and it's a great one for your kids to help out and take part! It goes great with turkey or as a side for any time of year (I also love it at Christmas and Easter). We also love buying Ball Glass Jars and giving it as a gift!
REDUCED SUGAR CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Water
- 1/2 Cup Cherry Juice
- 1 Bag of Cranberries
- Juice from one Orange (fresh)
Instructions:
1. Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Add in cranberries, cherry juice, orange juice and bring to a boil.
3. Stir and heat on medium until cranberries begin to pop. Remove from heat and transfer to glass container. Allow to cool. Enjoy!
About the Contributor:
Jessica Brassington is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur constantly seeking new ways to incorporate less processed beauty, food, and health into her hectic schedule. After losing herself in motherhood she chose to take a new outlook on life, discover her body, and bring her sexy back. When she's not fitting in her fitness, spending time with the fam, or Ubering around her kiddos, she is the host of Naked Talk with Jess podcast where she shares candid conversations about shedding shame around our bodies and sex from a holistic perspective. She is also a MentorMama for the SocialMama App.