3 Thanksgiving Recipes to Help Stop Sugar Shock This Holiday

Earlier this week, I offered ideas so you can SUGAR SHOCK! this Thanksgiving by giving you 5 Tips to Have a Sweeter, Tastier Holiday.

In that entry, I promised you three scrumptious, sugar-free recipes that you could bring to your gathering this Thursday.

Here they are, thanks to the creative, talented culinary consultant Pamela Morgan.

Before you try out these recipes, you have to take my word for it. These three dishes are simply divine. Yummy! You’ll absolutely marvel about the fact that they contain no refined sugar.

Last night, I picked up these three dishes from Pamela Morgan to bring with me on the plane to California for when I appear on KTLA Morning Show tomorrow, and you should have heard me "ooh" and "aah."

So here are recipes to three Thanksgiving dishes, thanks to Pamela Morgan. Try them out this Thanksgiving!

Here, then, are the recipes for:

Sweet Potato Puree Heaven with Orange; Cool Cranberry Relish with Walnuts and Pears; and Spiced Baked Apples with Cinnamon and Ginger

3 Thanksgiving Recipes to Stop SUGAR SHOCK! — Created and Prepared by Pamela Morgan

Spiced Baked Apples with Cinnamon and Ginger

Serves 6

6 large McIntosh apples (about 3 pounds total), cored completely through to create a ¾-inch-wide cavity

1 ½ cups dark or golden raisins

2 tablespoons peeled and julienned fresh ginger

1 cup fresh apple juice (freshly made from apples)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. With a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, remove a 1-inch-wide band of peel from around the top of each apple. Arrange the apples in a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them comfortably. Divide the raisins among the apple cavities, packing them in if necessary. Place the ginger pieces atop the apples. Pour the apple juice over and around the apples. Scatter the butter pieces over all. Set the dish in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Baste with the pan juices and bake another 10 minutes. Baste again and bake until the apples are puffed and tender, maybe even a little collapsed-looking, another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand in the dish, basting occasionally, for 10 minutes. Transfer the apples to individual plates or shallow bowls. Spoon the sauce from the pan evenly over the apples. Serve warm.

Sweet Potato Puree Heaven with Orange

Serves 6-8

5 pounds (4 or 5 large) sweet potatoes
¼ teaspoon orange zest
Juice of 1 orange (about ½ cup)
2 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon fresh nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

Garnish: Orange cups (orange halves scooped out) and zest.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Set the sweet potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until very tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. The potatoes can be baked up to 24 hours in advance. Hold unwrapped at room temperature.

Peel the sweet potatoes, then mash them well in a bowl. Place potato mash in a food processor and combine with orange zest, orange juice, butter, nutmeg and salt. Serve in orange cups and garnish with orange zest. If desired, sprinkle fresh pomegranate seeds on top of each sweet potato pureed dish and place more pomegranate seeds around the edges of the plate.

Cool Cranberry Relish with Walnuts and Pears

Serves 6-8.

1 whole orange, stem ends removed, cut into quarters
1 cup pitted dates
1 pint fresh cranberries (2 cups)
1 cup walnut halves
1 ripe pear (such as Bartlett), peeled, halved, and cored and cut into a ½ inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped fine

In the bowl of a food processor, place the orange quarters and process until pureed. Add the dates. Process again until the dates are finely chopped. Add the cranberries and walnuts. Pulse on and off until the relish achieves a chunky consistency but not overly pureed. Place mixture in a bowl and add the chopped diced pear. Add the chopped fresh mint.  Serve with your holiday turkey or ham as an accompaniment. If desired, place fresh mint pieces outside the bowl of the cranberry relish.