From Leftovers to...

Hey everyone...hope you guys are having a GREAT weekend!  Ours has been spent in a flurry of "Christmas cleaning" and slowly breaking out all of our tinsel & holly.  My house is beginning to twinkle & I'm in LOOOVEEE!J hahahhahaha

In the midst of 'decking the halls' though, I got a 'baking bug' and was curious to see how I could use up the container of leftover cranberries that were hanging out in my fridge.

Answer:  Make Muffins! 

I had made this fresh cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving morning the same as last year... 

• 1 bag of cranberries
• 1 diced apple
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick 

Bring everything to a boil & then let it all simmer for 15-20 minutes to thicken before adding 3/4 cup of craisins.  I've NEVER been a fan of cranberry sauce in the can, BUT THIS: I LOVEEEEE!  It's perfectly sweet & tart, textured & chewy all while studded with apples.

But really...how many cranberries can you actually eat??  So after using our yearly leftover 'quota' in our post-Thanksgiving lunch of the "Thanksgiving Sandwich" (turkey, stuffing, cranberries on Stuffing bread!)...

...I knew those cranberries would go to waste if I didn't get creative!

So in the spirit of 'waste not, want not', I rounded up all of my baking ingredients:

• 2 cups Spice Apple Bran Mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup Eggbeaters (or 1 egg)
• Extra cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

I had went to reach for flour and had found this tucked away in my closet and knew it would be PERFECT... 

If you don't have a mix, just substitute with 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder & some cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg.  That should do the trick.

I combined all of the ingredients in one bowl & stirred until just combined.  Lastly, I tossed in the cranberries (about 1&1/2 cups) and gave em one last stir to incorporate them all...

Scoop batter into 12 muffin cups (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I loved that these were spicy, tart and sweet while made with almost all natural ingredients and not a whole lot of fat!  Wohoooooo!  Economical AND Healthy!J hehehehhehee..  They'll make a great breakfast, but I must admit I HAD to try one warm out of the oven for my lunch todayJ 

So good!  Try these out if you find yourself staring at all of those leftover cranberries...you could wind up having breakfast for a whole 'nother weekJ

Well, that about wraps it up for today.  I'll give you my weekend recap tomorrow with the rest of our weekend of cooking and a glimpse of all of the RED & GREEN that is emerging!

Have a great night, everyone!