Intro to Cooking: Cranberry Applesauce


This Week’s Ingredient: Cranberries!

They’re sweet. They’re tart. They’re harvested from bogs. And they’re a deep, beautiful, fire-engine hue. If your only exposure to cranberries is in combination with their fermented partner, vodka, then you’re totally missing out (not to mention that the “cranberry juice” served in bars is basically just sugar water). Long celebrated for their ability to prevent urinary tract infections, cranberries are also thought to enhance digestive health and prevent kidney stones. It’s not customary to eat raw cranberries as they are far too tart to snack on alone. Hence the popularity of dried cranberries and juice–but beware that both contain added sugar to temper their tang.

Easy Meals

1. Add dried cranberries to a romaine salad with crumbled feta for a simple and healthy plate of different textures and flavors.
2. Any combo of cranberries and oatmeal (for breakfast, in cookies) adds a twist to the classic oatmeal & raisin duo.
3. Place cranberry juice in an ice cube tray with popsicle sticks inserted in each divet for homemade pops. Read More »


The Healthy and Tasty Alternative to Ice Cream

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Everyone’s favorite summer snack is ice cream; its cold goodness sliding down your throat eases that sweet tooth every single time, am I right? The chunks of chocolate or swirls of caramel create an orgasmic explosion in your mouth. One problem with ice cream, though (like that frightening cup above!): it’s full of fat, sugar and calories (no lie – Chubby Hubby has 330 calories and 20 grams of fat…yikes!?!).

While it tastes amazing, adding those extra pounds on your thighs during bathing suit season is never a good thing. Here’s my low-fat, low-cal, highly-delicious alternative to ice cream.

You’ll need:

One Tub of Fat Free Cool Whip

One packet of Colored Sprinkles

One Gallon of Stonyfield Farm or Dannon Light & Fit Fat Free, Strawberry Yogurt

One Packet of Frozen Berries

One Pack of Red/Blue Plastic Cups (generic Beer Pong cups work perfect for this)

Glad Press ‘n’ Seal Read More »