thanksgiving

I was never a fan of cranberry sauce. That jelly mold that came out of a can did not appeal to me at all!

Then in 2012, I decided to try my hand at making “real” cranberry sauce.

Oh.my.heavens

How had I celebrated Thanksgiving all these years and never had real homemade cranberry sauce?! Not only is it super easy to do, but it’s delicious!!

Of course I couldn’t just go with a basic recipe. I’m always trying to improve on greatness, but after 3 years, I can confidently say that this is my go-to recipe.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

1 bag (12 oz) of fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
1/2-1 oz Cointreau
pinch of salt
sprinkle of cinnamon

Bring the sugar, orange juice and water to a boil. Add the cranberries, Cointreau, and salt and simmer for 8-10 min. I stir in some cinnamon during the simmer process (optional). The cranberries should be all popped open and the mixture getting thick. Then chill!

Super easy and super delicious. It’s just as good without the Cointreau too. A lot of recipes call for orange zest, but I’m not that fancy.

This year I tried an Apple Ginger Cranberry Sauce from Clean Eating Mag. It’s got a bit of a different flavor and it’s not bad per se, but I think my absolute favorite is still the Orange Cranberry.

Does your family use canned or homemade cranberry sauce? Do you have a favorite way to prepare it?

I hope you’re all spending the day surrounded by loved ones, eating a smorgasbord of delicious food and taking a moment to be thankful.

Okay, so it’s fess up time. You may have noticed a little radio silence lately. No excuses really. I could tell you that I was stressed, I had other things on my mind, I pulled something in my neck, etc. All true things, but it is what it is.

I was doing SO well too. Even after a couple of hiccups, I was able to pull it back together, but once I pulled a muscle in my neck (last Monday), I fell and didn’t get back up…just laid on the road and let the wagon ride off without me.

Time to call the wagon back though. No, not another challenge. With the holidays afoot, I know I won’t stick to it.

But it’s about balance.

I’m going to continue making water a priority and try to get a workout in 3-4 days a week (hopefully more).

I realized that being active is good for me. I would be in a horrible mood, but once I got my workout in, I felt so much better. Even if I hated it while I was doing it, I was happy that I made it happen. I did realize that some days I felt like my 30 min weren’t very productive, even though I was technically doing something. Which goes against everything I believe in and part of the reason that I slacked off. If you bust your butt for 15 min, you can burn more calories in that short workout than you would walking for 30 min and even though it’s not all about calories, I think the 15 min busting your butt should count as exercise for the day. I think a better goal to have set for myself would have just been to “sweat every day” or maybe 6 out of 7 days. My brain needed a rest. I kept wanting a day “off” that I didn’t have to think about it.

Live and learn, eh? Now it’s on to Thanksgiving and Christmas! Did you know Christmas is only 28 days away?! I haven’t even started my shopping yet and as fast as the days have been flying by, 28 days is going to pass in no time!

But for now, I’m just concentrating on Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time for me!

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! My kids are out of school as of tomorrow, we are celebrating turkey day with extended family, and on Friday, it’s our annual visit to a holiday craft show downtown. Fun times!! 🙂

Cranberry Sauce is a must!

30 day Challenge Wrap-Up