ArcaMax

Everyone has their Thanksgiving traditions; especially when it comes to food. My husband, for example has to have his mashed potatoes. On occasions when we’ve been invited over to the neighbors’ for a gourmet Thanksgiving extravaganza, Chris will accept the invitation and volunteer to bring the mashed potatoes.

Do you ever think about breaking tradition and making something different?

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Cranberry Royale (EASY)

This is a takeoff of a cranberry bake recipe from Southern Living. Now that I live in the South, I read that publication much more often.

This is homey, tasty, and not too sweet. Just a little cranberry twang but plenty of sweetness in the apples.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 peeled cooking apples. My go-to is Granny Smith
1 cup of fresh cranberries
1.5 tsp of fresh lemon juice
½ cup of granulated sweetener. I use ZSweet or Swerve
½ cup of quick cooking oats, uncooked
½ cup of chopped walnuts
3 Tbl of Swerve brown sugar substitute
¼ cup of melted butter or you can use coconut oil for a vegan option
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly oil a nine-by-nine-inch ovenproof casserole dish.

Peel and chop the apples. My pieces were about half-inch chunks.

Drop the apple chunks and the cranberries in the baking dish and spread them around. Sprinkle on the lemon juice. Spoon the one-fourth cup of sweetener over the top. Set it aside.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, walnuts, brown sweetener and the butter or coconut oil. Mix with a spatula or fork until it’s all combined into a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this over the apple/cranberry combo.

Bake, uncovered for one hour. The top will be lightly browned.

Serving: Serve warm with ice cream, or plain at room temperature. Whipped cream would be nice. Or if you want to “go English” you could drizzle on a puddle of sweet cream. This also makes a nice breakfast snack the next day.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola