Cranberry Sauce and Meatless Monday

Over the years, I remember my mom and I having a few failed attempts at making delicious tasting cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.  We always ended up reverting back to the classy stuff that jiggles out of the can for the big day!  This year I finally got smart about it, and got it to not only work, but also taste pretty delicious!  I have actually ended up serving cranberry sauce more since figuring out how to make it, and love roasting chicken breasts in it - in fact, that is what I made it for tonight!  We will be enjoying it tomorrow night alongside some chicken and a salad.  This sauce is best served the next day after it has chilled in the fridge overnight!

Cranberry Sauce 
Yields approximately 3 cups of sauce

Ingredients 
Approximately 12 ounces of cranberries
2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
6 ounces of Craisins
1 teaspoon of cornstarch or flour

To Prepare the Sauce 
1. Pour the cranberries, sugar, and orange juice into a saucepan and turn on high heat.

2. Boil and stir it.  You will start to see and hear the cranberries pop!
3. Once most of the cranberries have popped and started to break down, pour a few teaspoons of the liquid from the pan into a small bowl and mix it with the cornstarch or flour until it makes a paste.

4. Add the paste to the saucepan and stir well.  This will help your sauce thicken and turn a nice consistency.

5. Cook over medium heat for a few more minutes, and then stir in the craisins.
6. Turn off the heat and leave on the stove to cool off.  Your sauce will thicken and turn that deep, clear color as it cools!  Cover it and move it to the fridge overnight! 

Tonight was also our forth Meatless Monday.  So far, they have been going well, and there have been no complaints from my dad or sister!  This week, I let my sister pick the meal and she asked for a huge garden salad!  I mixed 3 kinds of lettuce - iceberg, green, and red!  We used provolone cheese as our protein.  We had bell pepper, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, red onion, tomato, broccoli, mushrooms, and black olives as our toppers!