Cranberry Vanilla Pudding ⁑

What would a festive winter holiday season dinner be without cranberries? Properly prepared they are tasty, naturally low in sugar, and high in fiber and nutrients. On their own, they are very tart, so a lot of <sugar> needs to be added to make them even edible. Recipe sources abound with clever and tasty ways of making them interesting. But when integrated into a vanilla pudding, the resulting dessert is fantastic!

  • 12 oz package fresh cranberries, whole
  • 1 cup <sugar>
  • 1 cup cold fat-free milk
  • 1 envelope Knox gelatin
  • 1 cup heated fat-free milk
  • 2 Jello® No Sugar Vanilla Pudding Mix
  • 2 cups cold fat-free milk

If the cranberries are frozen, thaw them out. Put the cranberries in a blender bowl with the <sugar> and 1 cup milk; purée until smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

Heat 1 cup milk in the microwave until nearly boiling and pour it into the blender. At a low blending speed, add the gelatin and let it mix for one minute or until completely dissolved. Add this to the bowl with the cranberry purée and mix well. Let this come to room temperature before continuing.

Once the bowl has cooled, add the remaining two cups of milk and whisk in the pudding mix.

Put into individual serving cups and refrigerate overnight. Do not freeze. Serve.

Makes 8 cups, or 16 half-cup servings.

lower g. i. pecan pie

Pecan pie is my favorite pie. I just had to find a way to make one that fit my culinary guidelines (see the Usage Guide and Notes, †.

Ok. So this one is not as good as Mom used to make. If your constitution allows it go buy a real pecan pie. But, if you don’t want to worry about the carbs and calories while eating the real thing, try this one. There is only a slight sacrifice in taste and texture.

  • 6 oz egg substitute (X)
  • 5 tsp <sugar>
  • 1 cup sugar-free maple syrup
  • ¼ cup liquid <butter>
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1½ cup pecan halves
  • 1 lower G. I. flour tortilla, burrito size

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix the X with the <sugar>. Stir in the maple syrup, <butter>, and cornstarch. Whisk until no lumps remain. Stir in half of the pecan halves.

Dampen the tortilla under a running faucet and lay aside to soften. Then line a greased pie plate with it as the crust.

Pour in the pecan pie filling mixture. Place the remaining pecans on top to cover the top area.

Bake for 25 minutes with crust edges covered with foil. Remove foil from the edges and bake for another 25 minutes or until you can insert a knife and have it come out clean.

Cool and cut into 8 pieces to serve.