NCKAA: 7 Days Until Christmas

Orange Smiles

1 orange

Cut orange into 8-10 segments. Enjoy!

Note: Save the orange peel to make Crandied Orange Peel :-)

Nutritional Information:  Calories: 87; Fiber: 4.4g; Carbs: 21.7g; Protein: 1.7g

Sometimes, it's the simple things that can make you smile. For me, oranges make me think of Christmas and that makes me smile.

I've got several more recipes on my list for Natalie's Christmas Kitchen Advent Adventure, but for some reason, Orange Smiles were calling out to me today.

I also have another batch of craisins in the dehydrator. This time, I cut each cranberry in half (tedious, but no big deal if you use cooking shears and have a favorite tv show in the background), dissolved 1/2 cup Splenda in 1 cup water (boiled to dissolve) and soaked the berries in the sugar water for 30 minutes (save the berry water for Crandied Orange Peels!). Then I spread them on the dehydrator and have had it going all day. These look a lot prettier than the batch I made a few weeks ago. I've got baking plans for some and breakfast plans for the rest (we love them in oatmeal and cream of wheat!).

NCKAA: 31 Days Until Christmas!

My crandying paraphernalia :-) MMmmm

Next up in Natalie's Christmas Kitchen Advent Adventure ...

Crandied Orange Peel

3 oranges
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups water
1/2 cup cranberry water *

*When I made craisins earlier this week, I set aside the juices from blanching them and used them in my candied orange peel. If you don't have this - no idea if cranberry juice will work but I don't see why not - then use 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup water.

Cut peel of each orange in eighths; loosen from pulp with bowl of spoon.  (Eat orange sections as 65 calorie snack.)  Add salt to 4 cups water; add peel.  Put water, salt and peels in large freezer bag and let stand overnight.

Drain; wash thoroughly.  Cover with cold water; heat to boiling.  Drain.  Repeat three times.  This helps remove bitter taste.

Cut peel in strips 1/4 to 1/5 inch thick.  In saucepan, combine 2 cups peel, sugar, and 1/2 cup cranberry water. (If using sugar and water, heat and stir till sugar dissolves).  Cook slowly till peel till peel is translucent. This can take about 45 minutes.  Drain, roll in granulated sugar.  Dry on a rack for several hours. Keep away from all animals. Cat hair is murder on these!

After about 5 hours, I wiped the excess sugar from the strips and set it aside (for oatmeal - it's cranberry-sweetened!). Then, I let the peels keep drying. 

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Today is also Weigh Day and Measurement Day. Slowly, but surely, things are still going down! (Except my cursed calves, of course. Grrr)

My Measurements:
Weight: 142.8 ... overall loss of 52.2!!!
Waist: 27.75 inches ... 0.25 inches smaller than last month
Hips: 37.75 inches ... 0.25 inches smaller than last month
Thigh: 19 inches ... 0.5 inches smaller than last month
Arms: 11 inches ... no change from last month
Calf: 15 inches ... no change from last month, again.

Last Month's Measurements:
Weight: 146.2 pounds 
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Thigh: 19.5 inches
Calf: 15 inches
Arms: 11 inches

Starting Points:
Weight: 195 lbs
Waist: 40 inches
Hips: 47.25 inches
Thigh: 28.5 inches
Upper Arm: 15.5 inches
Calf: 17.25 inches
Push ups: 4
Crunches: 15

NCKAA: 33 days until Christmas!

It's still 33 days until Christmas, but I'm already craising hell in the kitchen! For today's Advent Adventure I'm passing on the recipe for making CRAISINS.

Two 12-ounce bags yielded about 2 cups of craisins

Natalie's Crack-tastic Craisins

1 bag fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar substitute (Truvia is my preference, but I used Splenda because I already had a lot of it)
1/2 cup water

1. Sort through cranberries, throwing out any brown or mushy berries. Dissolve sugar substitute in water. Put all ingredients in large pot/pan.
2. Heat until every berry pops.
3. Let cool ten minutes.
4. Smash all berries with back of spoon to make sure they are all popped.
5. Let soak 5 more minutes.
6. Place in dehydrator for 15 hours on 125 degrees (or until they reach desired dryness).
6a. If you don't have a dehydrator, put parchment paper n cookie sheet, spread out cranberries and cook in over on 150 degrees for about 10 hours. Check them after 6 hours and then every hour after until they reach desired dryness.

Possible variations: Try soaking them in orange juice instead of sweetened water. Just note this will add calories. Some of the craisins didn't dry evenly and are still pretty juicy. I have seen some variations that involve cutting each cranberry in half. I might try that for the next batch. I'll let you know if it works any better.

Nutritional info: 1 cup of chopped cranberries is 51 calories. I'm guessing 1/4 cup of these craisins is about 50 calories. Store-bought craisins average about 140 calories for 1/3 cup. Just sayin'

My grocery store has cranberries on sale, so I stocked up! Two bags for $4 is a great deal - plus, they can be frozen, in their original packaging for at least a year.

Because I love craisins (hello, crack-tastic!), and plan to bake with them, I wanted control over the amount of sugar in them (i.e. calories). Store-bought craisins are sweetened using sugars that add calories. Mine are not. Yay! These are tasty, lower in cost, and lower in calories. Score!

I am super excited to sprinkle some in my oatmeal tomorrow morning!