Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

I understand that Thanksgiving is over. I know that it's time to move on from lentil loaves, mashed potatoes, and roasted yams. My brain is on board with this. But, my tastebuds? That's a different story.

I made this spiced orange cranberry sauce this year for Thanksgiving and have been indulging myself every day since. I've had this sauce over lentils, spread this on toast, and eaten it after dinner for dessert. If this keeps up, by New Years you might have to send me to cranberry rehab.

In my defense, it's important for you to know that this isn't any ordinary cranberry sauce. This one isn't overly sweet or loaded with refined white sugars like the typical canned cranberry sauce of my youth. Instead, it is sweetened with a few dates and spiced up with ginger, fresh oranges, and zest.

This recipe comes together quickly with minimal ingredients. I highly recommend using an organic orange since you will be using the zest in this recipe. If you are not able to purchase an organic orange, I would skip the zest to eliminate unnecessary pesticides.

Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1 organic orange
1/2 cup water
12 ounces fresh cranberries

5 Medjool dates, pitted and diced

2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger

Directions:
Zest half the orange. Next, segment it by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit then cutting away the peel and pith of the fruit.  Slice in-between the segments to remove any of the white skin in the middle of the fruit.

Add water to a medium saucepan and bring water to a boil. Add cranberries, dates, ginger, and segmented oranges. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, until sauce is reduced and thick. Stir in the orange zest and refrigerate until serving. Serve cold.

Recipe shared at Wellness Weekend

Ginger Orange Carrot Juice

Sometimes, when I am really on top of things in my life, I monitor where web traffic comes from. Most people stumble here through Foodgawker, Pinterest, Finding Vegan, or Google searches. If you do any Google searches for kale smoothies, roasted beets, or kale chips, apparently I'm your gal.

And, as I learned the other day, if you search for "images of nasty looking but good food," you will find your way here as well.  Or more specifically, you will find your way to a very old post where I once made a rather gross-looking, but amazing split pea and yam soup (aka Sexy Ugly Stew) and told some jokes about how Mick Jagger is "sexy ugly." Oh how your internet past will haunt you.

Lucky for me I refuse to make sexy ugly food anymore. Just sexy food. Food that is beautiful and will make you feel beautiful from the inside out.  Hello ginger-carrot-orange goodness...

Today is the two-year anniversary of this blog. Here we are... a year older, wiser, and (hopefully!) healthier. Thank you to each and every one of my readers for your continued support, comments, emails, tweets, Facebook posts, and for joining me in this journey to a healthier, happier life.  My life wouldn't be the same without you. 

And back to this gorgeous number.  This juice is simple, delicious, and oddly filling.  Plus, who doesn't love that vibrant orange color?  The ginger adds a bit of spice which I found refreshing in combination with the sweetness from the carrots and orange.  I always add lemon to my juices becuase lemons help to alkalize the body and restore proper pH balance (since our bodies tend to be too acidic in this modern world).  Removing the peel will help keep the lemon from tasting too bitter in the juice.  Enjoy!

Ginger Orange Carrot Juice

Serves 1

1 pound of carrots (organic if possible)

1-inch piece of fresh ginger

1 orange, peeled

1 lemon, peeled

Juice ingredients and enjoy immediately!

Whole Wheat Orange Scones

I learned a lot of things about myself last weekend when I was fighting my cold.  Apparently while sick I like to bake things.  Sweet things. 

I also learned that while baking my favorite thing to do is to listen to Thriller on repeat.  Loud.  For an hour.  This is completely normal, right? (Sorry, neighbors.)

But, at the end of that process I ended up with these delightful scones.  Totally worth it.

These orange scones are bright, tangy, and perfect for spring.  Surprisingly, the orange pieces make the scone a little tart rather than sweet.  If you're looking for a sweeter scone, juice the orange (you should get about 1/2 cup of juice) instead of using the slices.

The whole wheat flour in these scones definitely lends itself to a "healthier" taste than your average scone.  But, this scone is moist, light, and just crumbly enough.  It's like a biscuit meets a traditional scone.  Yum.

If you're trying to disguise the healthy aspect for your audience, you can serve these warm with jam.  Or just serve them warm with jam just because jam is good. 

If you'd like to add an orange glaze over the top, it's easy enough to do by mixing some powdered sugar with a little orange juice.  I opted out of this because I was trying to avoid the additional sugar.  But, then I went and smothered sugary jam over everything.  Oh well.

Orange Scones
Makes 8 medium-sized scones

Adapted from Inside A Black Apple

1/2 cup soy milk
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 Tablespoons evaporated cane juice
1 organic orange, zested and sliced
Pinch of salt
5 Tablespoons of cold vegan margarine, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together in a small bowl.  Let sit for a few minutes and allow to thicken.

In a large mixing bowl whisk flour, baking powder, evaporated cane juice, orange zest, and salt.  Add the margarine and mix (using your hands) until the mixture is crumbly with pea-sized chunks. 

Slice the orange starting by cutting off the top and the bottom, exposing the wheel of orange flesh inside.  Use a sharp knife to cut away the peel and pith of the orange.  Slice in between the white skin segments to the center of the fruit at a slight angle.  Make sure that you have removed any seeds and then add the orange slices to your mixing bowl.

Stir in the vanilla extract and soy milk/apple cider vinegar mixture until just blended. Do not overmix or it will result in tough scones.

Roll scones into a ball and flatten slightly on a cookie sheet to resemble 3 inch rounds.  Let scones rest for 10 minutes before baking.

Bake for 12 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.