I've been making homemade cranberry sauce so long that my teenager doesn't recognize the gelatinous cylindrical glob my husband’s family plops in a bowl and serves. I grew up on canned cranberry sauce and it's perfectly fine, but homemade cranberry sauce is a little luxury that makes the holiday extra special.
One perk of making your own is that you have some control over the amount of sugar in it. Having a diabetic in the household, I try to reduce sugar and carbs wherever possible. Cranberries have 9 net carbs per cup so there’s still carbs but by reducing the sugar in the recipe, a few tablespoons of cranberry sauce on your holiday plate becomes a not-quite-so-bad indulgence.
The holidays are tough for anyone counting calories or carbs. I tinker with recipes so everyone in the family can enjoy a little bit of everything without going overboard or feeling denied. You can have your holiday without breaking the scale or the glucose meter. You just need to tweak your recipes and plan accordingly.
If you’ve never made homemade cranberry sauce before, give it a try. It’s kind of fun to cook as the cranberries “pop” as they cook down. Just make sure you’re prepared for that, lower the heat when that starts and keep a safe distance from the saucepan. Enjoy!