Note from Crystal: For the record, cranberry sauce would also be an area my minimalistic nature would nix. (I know, I know, some of you are probably thinking you'd never want to eat Thanksgiving Dinner at my house by now, seeing as I already said I think stuffing is a non-essential, too!)
However, I know that to many of you, Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce. And so I present Erin's Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce:
Homemade Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce
by Erin at $5 Dinners
This sauce costs approximately $1.50 to make one batch. Not only is it fairly frugal but it' also doesn't contains any preservatives or additives!
1 lb. fresh cranberries (these are on sale at Aldi this week for $0.99!)
1 orange, juiced
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ cup sugar
Rinse cranberries. Pick out any cranberries that are white in color or have "gushy" spots. Place cranberries in sauce pan with 2 inches of water, or apple juice. Boil for 10 minutes, then reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. While boiling, add the juice from one orange. I squeeze it over a strainer to prevent seeds from dropping into the sauce. Add 1 teaspoon orange zest to the sauce. Cranberries will "pop" while boiling!
Add ¼ cup sugar to the cranberries. Alternative sweeteners include apple juice concentrate, orange juice (from a sweet orange), honey, Stevia or Splenda. Add more sweetener for sweeter sauce, or less sweetener for a more tart sauce. Add ½ – 1 teaspoon of ground ginger. Allow sauce to sit for at least 10 minutes to "thicken" a bit more.
Other mix-in ideas: fresh apples, cooked with the sauce, or raw for some crunchiness; walnuts, pecans or other nuts; crushed Pineapple.
Just for fun: Do you usually serve cranberry sauce at your Thanksgiving dinner? If so, do you normally serve homemade or store bought?
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Never cranberry sauce…but I am very tempted to try the homemade. It looks delicious. The canned stuff is BLAH!
We use the canned sauce, but I may have to try making it this year. Aldi had bags of Ocean Spray cranberries for $1.99. Also, cranberry sauce is excellent with Chicken Casserole!
We LOVE cranberry sauce! I buy cranberry when they’re on sale (this time of year) and toss them in the freezer. Leftover sauce is wonderful mixed in muffins, too!
I made this recipie for people who usually buy the canned stuff and it was a hit!!! Thanks!
I made homemade cranberry sauce this year for the FIRST time. (with berries for 1.00 from Aldi,of course) I will NEVER buy the canned again — it was the best. Yum!
I also stashed two bags of cranberries in the freezer for later this year for muffins or more sauce. Can’t beat that price.
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