Thursday, November 7, 2013

Super Easy (from scratch) Cranberry Sauce

I wanted to make my own cranberry sauce this year that was free from chemicals that the sauce from a can comes with, and that had no additives whatsoever, and was surprised at how easy it was to make and how delicious it turned out!

Adapted and changed from this recipe HERE.















Cranberry Sauce from Scratch:

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries (approx. 3 1/4 cups)
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1Tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp. fresh ground ginger
  • 1 cup water

Directions:

  1. Put everything in a pot, and turn your stove on.  
  2. Cook over a medium-high heat for approx. 30-45 minutes. DO NOT COVER or it will boil over and you don't want that. When most of the liquid is cooked out, turn your stove down to a simmer. The longer you let this simmer, the thicker the sauce will get don't let ALL the water cook out, though or it will burn. Stir more frequently near the end.
  3. Spoon all into blender and blend until smooth. Pour all contents into a dish/bowl that you want to serve it in.
  4. Allow this to cool in the refrigerator for a couple hours before eating (or eat warm, just make sure to let it cool first)!

 

Green Bean Casserole (Dairy/Gluten/Soy Free and from scratch!)

I was desperate! I needed a GF/DF/SF green bean casserole recipe for Thanksgiving this year, and luckily I found the best recipe EVER and adapted it to meet my nutritional needs! Plus, it's amazing:) Honestly, this was so easy and good, I will never make it another way again!

Recipe adapted and changed from recipe HERE.

Green Bean Casserole:
  • 3 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 1/4 C + 2 Tbs Coconut Oil (include approx. 1 tsp salt in this oil)
  • 10 button mushrooms, chopped fine
  • 3 Tbs gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 C chicken bone broth (or plain old chicken broth or vegetable broth)
  • 2 Big handfuls of green beans (more or less), chopped to 1 inch pieces

Topping:
  • 3/4 C processed/chopped almonds
  • 3/4 C gluten free bread crumbs, ready made.
  • 2 Tbs Coconut oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
                                        
    Directions:
  1. Rinse and drain green beans. Chop to 1" pieces. Place in 9"x9" baking pan and set aside.
  2. Add olive oil to a medium saucepan or small pot. Add coconut oil and salt mixture, and heat on medium-high for about 5-7 min.
  3. Finely chop mushrooms and add to the coconut and olive oil mixture. Heat until mushrooms darken and shrink.
  4. Remove from heat. Add three tablespoons of flour and mix together.
  5. Add 1 1/2 cups of broth, salt, pepper (and any other spices you'd like), and heat on medium-high again until somewhat reduced. Add additional flour for a thicker sauce/soup.
  6. Pour over green beans and heat in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle topping on top, evenly, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.
PS I took the onions out of the original recipe, but honestly didn't even miss them, the casserole was THAT good:)