What to do with leftover cranberries

Make Your Own Granola Bar

This decadent granola bar comes from Josh Allen, the owner of Companion Café in St. Louis, Mo. The combo of chocolate chips, cranberries, nuts and seeds is the perfect fuel before a long ride.

Ingredients
Granola filling
½ cup sugar, granulated
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
½ tsp sea salt
1 ½ sticks unsalted
butter, softened
1/8 cup honey
1 T vanilla
1 egg, large
½ cup cake flour
1 T milk
¼ cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup pecans, small pieces
¼ cup dried cranberries
Granola bar base
1 ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 T honey
1 tsp sea salt
4 ½ cups rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (conventional) or 325 degrees (convection).
For filling: Blend at low speed the sugar, brown sugar, salt, butter, honey and vanilla for 1 minute. Add the egg and blend for another 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and beater. Add cake flour and milk and mix for 1 minute. Add the seeds, chips, nuts and cranberries and blend to evenly distribute. Set aside in small bowl.
For bar base: Cream at medium speed the brown sugar, butter, honey and salt to a light consistency (2-3 minutes). Adding oats and flour gradually, blend to a crumb-like consistency on low speed. Don’t overmix.
Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with a non-stick greaser. Deposit half of the granola bar base over the bottom of the baking dish and press to an even layer. Add the granola filling on top of the bar base and spread evenly. Spread the remaining bar base on top and gently press to evenly cover. Bake for approximately 40–45 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing into bars.
Enjoy!

Dry those cranberries for goodness through winter

Got leftover cranberries? Loaded with phytochemicals called anthocyanins, they’re really good for you. One cup of fresh cranberries has about 20 percent of the daily fiber you need, and, if you dry them, they’ll keep through the winter and take up less space.

Pick through your bag of fresh cranberries to find the freshest berries to toss into a pan of briskly boiling water until they pop their skins. Drain and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once they’ve frozen solid, place them into a preheated 300-degree oven, then turn off the heat. Let them sit there overnight. Store dried cranberries in sealable plastic bags and use them randomly through the winter. Try them in trail mix, as a veggie or hot cereal topper or as an ingredient in spinach salads.

Remember: One cup of fresh cranberries has just 45 calories, but a cup of dried cranberries has 370. One 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries yields a little more than three cups.

Place fresh cranberries in an ice cube tray and make them into ice cubes for your drinks or add them to a muffin or cupcake mix.

Here’s a great chutney for spooning over chicken and pork dishes. In a large pot, combine a bag of fresh or frozen whole cranberries, 2 peeled apples sliced 1-inch thick, half a cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup each sugar and water and a little grated ginger. Simmer and cook until softened, reduced and thickened, about 30 minutes.

Green Beans with Cranberries, Walnuts and Blue Cheese

This dish is ideal for the Thanksgiving table. The recipe is based on one from Cook’s Country magazine.

2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds green beans, trimmed
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green beans. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are brown in spots, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add cranberries, water and salt and pepper to taste. Cover skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until beans are almost tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove lid. Cook until liquid evaporates.

Transfer beans and cranberries to a platter. Sprinkle with blue cheese and walnuts.
PER SERVING: 219 calories; 7 g protein; 19 g carbohydrates; 4 g fiber; 14 g fat (5 g saturated); 18 mg cholesterol; 205 mg sodium
Fruit with Bill & Sheila
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