How to...Cranberry Sauce

While 67goingon50 always has on hand a jar of supermarket Cranberry Sauce (preferably with Port) for emergencies, when it comes to Christmas dinner Cranberry Sauce is always home-made and always from fresh berries

Neither difficult nor time-consuming, make-your-own cranberry sauce is lower in sugar, free of the usual preservatives and so tasty, diners are astounded.  Once you've made your own, there will be no going back

Cranberry Red Wine Sauce

Easy, make ahead, low sugar & preservative 

Sophisticated, a little different but full of character.  Punchy but not over-the-top, savoury rather than sweet with a hit of fresh ginger  - and all the better for it.  Tasters usually reel back a little, go 'Whoa!!' and enthusiastically dig in again.

Kid-friendly Cranberry Orange & Cinnamon Sauce

Make ahead, lower sugar & preservatives; freeze till needed

Does what it says on the tin; kids love it, especially the jewel-like texture

 

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.

Vegetable sides, hot & cold, for Christmas & Hannukka 2024

Obviously sprouts feature hugely at this time of year and 67 offers several delightful versions, in addition to root vegetable and salad alternatives 

67's top choice: SIMPLE SENSATIONAL SPROUTS  

Vegan with carnivore option, low-salt, low cost.  Relax; this is so easy & tasty, you can get on with the rest of Christmas dinner without worries!

Simple but sensational: Steamed Sprouts with Savoury Spice Mix & Lemon
'Makes sprouts a tasty must-have; the spice mix utterly makes it!'

Christmas Slaw: Sprout, Pear, Walnut & Cranberries:

Every festive table needs raw food - salad or fruit - to offset the richness of festive dishes.  This multi-textured slaw is one less vegetable to cook, prepped ahead & refrigerated until needed.

  Air Fried Sprouts with Pears & Tangy Mustard Sauce

 Vegan, easy-peasy, eat hot or cold  

Unusual but sophisticated combo for an intriguing delicious side that won't take up oven space!  Dairy-free, kids options.

Festive Sprout Latkes

Vegetarian with vegan opt, wallet-friendly, gluten-free, high fibre

Stonkingly delicious sprout latkes with a tangy balsamic sauce: a worthy addition to any festive table 

ROAST VEGETABLES

Easy Festive Roast Veg from Jaimie Oliver

67 makes no apologies for including these recipes from Jaimie Oliver for zhuzzing up carrots & parsnips for Christmas dinner or Hannakah.  The carrots are roasted with oil, honey or maple syrup, rosemary and clementine.  The parsnips, by contrast, are roasted in olive oil, red wine vinegar and bay leaves. Cook in separate pans or in 2 foil packets in one pan.

Sprout, Parsnip & Baby Corn Melange 

oven roasted: perfect consistency

Careful preparation ensures the dense round sprouts, starchy parsnips
 and crunchy baby corn are all ready at the same time.

SINGLE VEGETABLE SALADS: Wallet friendly, healthy (recipe includes all three salad veg shown here)

• One vegetable transforms into a crisp, tart salad in minutes...giving them a new ease of life
  
  
  

  
  
  
  Radishes in tangy creamy dressing, dairy-free option
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Cucumber, in sweet & sour sauce

Lettuce with Green Herb 

These recipes have been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.

Holiday Breads, Rolls & Crackers: Luxury, Family & in-between 2024

Even the most disciplined dieter is unlikely to resist a bit of bread during the holidays, especially if it is a mouthwatering offering from the archive. 

This post includes unforgettable items which pack a culinary punch when trying to impress guests, tasty wallet-friendly treats for family meals and something in-between when rewarding family for good behaviour! 

And guess what?  Many of the items are ultra easy and take little time to prepare (kids will love getting stuck in). 

67goingon50's favourite celebration breads:

INDULGENCES 

Luxuriuous Date & Nut Crackers: for cheese

Vegetarian, Dairy-free option, fat-free: prep ahead; slice & bake as needed

The stuff of heaven, a crispy take on fruit and nut breads.  Crunchy and delicately earthy; the crackers require a bit of a financial outlay if you haven't a store of nuts and seeds on hand.  That said, the recipe makes 50-70 crackers.  

Cranberry Nut Oatmeal Molasses Bread: 

an essential for the cheese course; easy-peasy

Versatile: a centrepiece on a cheeseboard, a healthier alternative - or addition - to the usual Cinnamon buns Or pick-me-up toast the morning after indulgent evenings. 

Exquisite home-made cream crackers: egg-free, easy, prep ahead, dairy-free option

Crisp white shards - broken not cut - are a stunning surprise: so far above shop-bought in taste and texture as to be a different animal. As easy as scones; the  dough can be frozen for a month.

 

 

SNACK BREADS

Dad's Latin American Cornbread 

with corn niblets, chilli & spring onions, 1 bowl wonder

Tender and slightly sweet but with a kick of heat; it's low-sugar, yeast-free and comes in slices or muffins; perfect for brunch, dinner and pot-lucks.  The version pictured has a small amount of wholemeal flour but you can stick with plain white.  

No-knead Olive Foccacia

This one is for foccacia-lovers who don't like kneading and will wait 24 hours (or more) for the dough to rest.  (It's worth it!!)

Heavenly foccacia with very little effort;

SIMPLE DAILY BREADS: quick prep: even tweenagers can make them

                          Cheese & Nut Light Wholemeal Loaf

An easy-peasy light healthy loaf; a stir or two and it's virtually ready for baking.  Ambrosial warm from the oven.   

                             Lower-sugar Sweet Bread/Rolls

Sweetened with dried fruit not sugar, this lovely bread is for a leisurely holiday breakfast/brunch with family & guests 

                  'Midi' Soda Breads for Singletons & Small Households

Quick & Easy rustic soda breads are terrifically versatile and egg & butter free (from left: Olive; Walnut & Seeds; Dried Cherry with Nuts & Seeds)

Perfect for small households - freezes well!

Thrifty More-ish Soda Bread with Oatmeal & Seeds:

Irish Soda Breads are a lifesaver in busy households: there's no kneading or rising; no preservative and the amount of salt is controlled. 10 mins prep, max.  It's uber tasty and beautifully textured - make it top of your home baking list. 

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission. 

Help Mum Get Through the Festivities 2024: Easy Meals for Kids & Dads

 

This cartoon sums up perfectly the dilemma for the Chief Christmas organiser/cook getting ready for the season.  Partners and young helpers can step into the breach.  

Getting the larders & freezers ready for Christmas is always a sweat, more so if family are clamouring for 'proper' meals.  

Courtesy of Pixaby; licensed for reuse 
under this Creative Commons Licence

This post focuses on meals which partners and younger helpers can get on the table without fuss.  They're all healthy and mostly wallet friendly.  More importantly, they are easy but satisfying, attractive and more-ish.

MAINS

Make Your Own Chow Mein Noodles: Easy: as good as the best Chinese take-away but healthier & cheaper

Make Your Own Pizzas, 3 Vegetarian Pizzas with carnivore options: Sausage & Grape, Mushroom & Cheese & Potato

Salmon Rice with Maple Garlic Sauce: healthy 1-pot sensation

One-pot Rice and Whole Chicken: gentle, comforting, flavoursome 

Sausages Braised in Grapes: super-simple, sensationally succulent & tasty 

Potato Frankfurter Salad: frugal treat for kid/ults; option for Vegan sausages

Simple Glazed Wings: super-easy, lower-fat (lots of wing recipes in the archives)

Giant Fish Fingers: easy, quick, wallet-friendly, low salt/preservatives

       

STIR FRIES

Beef & Courgette: lower-fat, no-carb option

Flash-fried Lamb with green beans & gravy: one of the most popular 2018 posts  

Turkey Drumstick with Cabbage & Corn: unusual but tasty combo


SIDES

The Easiest Cheese Muffins Ever? prepped in 5 minutes!! (egg-free).  Unbelievably light & beautifully flavoured; cholesterol-phobes should restrict portions. Dairy-free option.

Easy-peasy Homemade Bagels: 
prep takes minutes; no boil, 
no fat/yeast/sugar

Fluffy Instant Breakfast Biscuits: yeast & egg-free, wallet-friendly.  Leftover morph into tender baps.

Freeze Ahead kid/ult fancy sandwiches 

DESSERTS

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream (Vegan) the nicest, tastiest, healthiest ice cream; no cream - just bananas.

Kid's Delight ChocoMint 'Poke' Cake - deliriously delicious wonder cake with a novel use of supermarket custard; so easy the kids can make it; so glorious it'll be gone in a flash

PAST FAVOURITES

Cheats' Tantalising Tortilla Espagnol: the one occasion when chips from the chippie are encouraged, in a fabulous Spanish dinner omelette


Easy Rich Tomato Soup (2015): cooks itself; stunning flavour, you'll never go back to tinned 

Kids' Delight Egg & Toast Breakfasts: (2017) Easy & Prep Ahead; serve these for supper, too, with beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and conventional or turkey bacon 

Almost Instant Vegetable Noodle Soup (2017) with carnivore & vegan options - just soak Chinese noodles 5 min in boiling water

Recipes from Christmases past on NavBar: How to...  

Please leave a comment in the box below

These recipes  have been developed or adapted by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  They may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.