recipe win!

the reason why this is a super share is because i thought i would be posting about a recipe FAIL. but it turns out to be very tasty, albeit, in a weird way, lol.

microwaved baked apple with hummus: wash and core apple. place in a microwave safe dish filled with water about 1/3rd of the way. stuff cored apple with 2 tbsp hummus-techina. bake covered for about 5 mins. you will be left with a sweet baked apple in a fascinatingly tasty chickpea soup.

p.s. if you hate on microwaves I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.

apple-pomegranate-beet salad

ok i know i have not written in like a jillion years. but here's a fabulous salad that is PERFECT for rosh hashana! had to share it!

1 granny smith apple
3 pomegranates
3 beet bunches
toasted sesame oil
truvia

drizzle toasted sesame oil into a pan and then warm it up. crack open 3 poms and empty their precious magenta seedlings into the warming toasted sesame oil. let the pom seeds sautee for a good while. then add some truvia (all you haters out there, please don't. sugar sets me off in a very weird way so i rely on "fake" sugar). put pom seed sautee in a small container. dice up your raw granny smith apple into small cubes and add that to the pom seed mixture. set aside to marinate overnight in fridge. roast your beeties in aluminum foil in the oven. for a long time. take them out, let them cool, and sluff off their outer skins. chop up into slender rounds and serve across a plate, a la "tipped domino" style. sprinkle the pom and apple marinade on top. a beautiful presentation and a beautiful rosh hashana dish!! k'siva v'chasima tova!!

Lunch muffins

Ok firstly I'm on a mobile device so I dunno how well this is gonna go. Secondly, this is one of those "throw it all together" food experiments that magically worked for me, so I hope it magically works for you too.

1 lb or more of mushrooms
Yellow peppers
Green peppers
Red peppers
1 8oz bag of haolam mozzarella
1 container "eggbeaters" egg whites
1 package tofurkey Italian slices
1 small bag of cornmeal
Spices

Chop up everything. Throw veggies in bowl. Pour in cheese and eggbeater container. Chop up entire tofurkey package and crumble in tofurkey pieces. Mix mix mix! Add cornmeal. Mix more! Put in sprayed muffin tins and bake for about 25 mins at 350. 3 of these make a lovely, crunchy lunch! (I dipped mine in tomato paste, yum!)

pumpkin muffins

makes 24:

3c whole wheat flour
1c sugar (the less processed kind; organic, demerarra, etc)
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1 1/2c wheat germ OR ground flax OR a combo of both
1 1/3c soy milk
2 eggs
1/2c light olive oil
2c pumpkin
1c raisins

bake at 400 for about 20 mins

dr. dan's tofu

this recipe was inspired by dr. dan mager, a chiropractor in amherst. i got the recipe through my friend esther.

sprinkle some tamari, toasted sesame oil, and nutritional yeast in a pan. drain tofu and cube. put cubed tofu in pan and drizzle same ingredients on top. shake the pan to evenly distribute. broil the tofu for a few minutes. watch carefully so it just gets toasted and doesn't burn.

i made this with veggies and grains last night - it was a hit!

Mac and cheese makeover

Here's how you can make a classic "junky" dinner somewhat redeemable:

1 23oz bag frozen bodek cauliflower
1 nice sized onion
4 tbsp butter (approximately)
2 13oz boxes of whole wheat elbows
2 c milk (approximately)
1 8oz bag shredded cheddar cheese

Let the frozen cauliflower totally defrost. Dice up onion and sautee it in the butter. I used one of those tnuva mini butter rectangles, which I think is about 4 tbsp. Squeeze out the water from the defrosted cauliflower, chop it up, and sautée it in the butter and onions.

Put the sautéed onion-butter-cauli mix into a blender with about 2c milk and blend the heck out of it until it's smooth. Then pour in the 8oz bag of cheddar and blend that up, too. I had to add a few splashes of milk to get the cheddar all blended in. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and garlic, to taste. You will be left with a creamy, warm, pale orange sauce.

Cook the whole wheat elbows and drain them, then add the sauce. serve!

Yum! Everyone loved it!

simple dinners

a nutritious dinner can be so simple. like last night, for example, was leftover shabbos soup, whole wheat shell noodles, and chicken pieces (served all together in one bowl). do yourself a favor and say goodbye to white flour noodles.

i have lots of chicken to spare! tonight i served chicken that was baked with whole foods' "herbes de provence" spice. it's a mix of savory, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, and lavendar. i served it with "tru roots" organic sprouted rice and quinoa blend. this is an amazing product you can buy at...COSTCO! (my favorite place, lol!) i also also served costco's frozen organic foursome (corn, carrots, peas, green beans). i love costco! i hope YOUR costco has as many nice, healthy selections as mine.

disclaimer: i don't do vegetables every night - not worth the fight. i didn't mean for that to be a rhymed couplet, but it cheers me that it is. :-)

heavenly carrot-zucchini muffins

i am blessed to take a natural cooking class with another "healthy homes for jewish families" mom, yael leah. wednesday she made a gorgeous carrot muffin in the class. i based this recipe on hers.

2c white whole wheat flour
2c ground mixed nuts (costco, yahoo!)
2/3c ground flax seeds
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp pumpkin spice (clove, nutmeg, cinnamon)
1/2c coconut oil  **
1c olive oil
6 tbsp agave nectar   **
2c natural sugar **
4 eggs
2c shredded carrots
2c shredded zucchini

** her recipe called for more coconut oil. since i was doubling it, that became prohibitively expensive for me.

** yael leah says she does not like agave nectar, for whatever her reasons (she did not divulge them in the class, and since i am basing this recipe on hers, i feel compelled to share her opinions). HER recipe called for maple syrup, an ingredient i didn't have at the time.

** yael leah's recipe called for date or coconut sugar, an ingredient i also didn't have at the time.

this recipe accidentally became a carrot-zucchini one. as i said, the original recipe called for just carrots. but since i was doubling the recipe, i was getting tired of peeling all those carrots! i decided to use zucchini instead! it worked beautifully. another thing that yael leah (trained natural foods cook) did was mix her wet and dry ingredients separately, and then incorporate them closer to the end. i just threw everything into a bowl and mixed like crazy. put into 24 sprayed muffin tins and baked at 350 for about 25 mins. i made these muffins late this afternoon and now there are only 7 muffins left. they were devoured! :-)

creamy carrot soup

i based this recipe from the kosher palette.

3 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 diced onion
tamari
1 lb peeled/cut up carrots
6 c water
1/3c brown rice
1c soy milk

sautee garlic and onion in olive oil. add cut up carrots and continue to sautee. splash in some tamari. add 6c water and the brown rice.  simmer on low until carrots are tender and brown rice is cooked. use an immersion blender and blend ingredients until creamy. or transfer soup into the food processor a few cups at a time and do the same. when soup is blended, add 1c soy milk. i spiced it with salt, cumin, and italian seasoning.

i served this soup with whole wheat rotini and chicken pieces, all in one bowl. yum yum!

(meal was pareve until i added the chicken)

st-RAW-berry pie

hadassah h. made this for a n'shei chabad event, and you bet i made sure to get the recipe!

2c mixed nuts

2c raisins

1c pitted dates

1 small lemon

6c strawberries

chop up nuts in food procesor. not too fine, coarse and crumbly. add the raisins into the spinning food processor so they get ground up with the nuts. firmly press raisin-nut mixture into pie pan/plate, pressing it up the sides. put pan into freezer and continue to prepare. you should have some extra raisin-nut mix, put this to the side.

cut dates in half and check them, and then soak them in about 1c of water for 10 mins.

drain water out from the dates and puree them with 2 c strawberries in food processor. juice one small lemon into puree as processor spins. take pie plate out of freezer and then pour the puree into it. 

halve/check the remaining 4c strawberries and arrange them into the puree. arrange some of them facing up, down, etc, make it creative and pretty. i needed to add more strawberries because my pie plate is a little larger. 

what i ended up doing in pushing the side-crust down flat on top of the strawberries to create a nice crust "border" around the pie plate. i also used some of the remaining raisin-nut mix and pressed some of that along the sides too, to add some extra "border." (see picture i posted on facebook.) i sprinkled coconut shreds along the border for a pretty touch and taste, but it isn't necessary.

i made this on thursday and refrigerated it, which i recommend. all the ingredients get cold and firm! i served it on shabbos day and it was a total hit! the whole thing got eaten up!

BMT lasagna

Broccoli meat and tofu lasagna - don't get scared, it's awesome:

 Healthy harvest lasagna noodles
 Large can or jar of tomato sauce
 1/4 bag bodek frozen broccoli
 3 packages nasoya firm tofu
 2 eggs
 2 lbs ground meat

prep the tofu by draining the 3 packs and emptying it into a bowl. mush it all up with two hands. mush mush mush! (this is a great activity for a kid who's into sensory stuff. well, a kid who's into sensory stuff who happens to have VERY CLEAN HANDS - just sayin'.) juice in a whole lemon and generously sprinkle in nutritional yeast. less generously with salt. go slow and taste as you go - the goal is to have the tofu mush taste "cheesy." (in fact, that should be the tofu's texture: cottage cheesy.)

take the frozen broccoli and put it into your food processor. grind very very fine. add a little water to make the grinding easier! use as much frozen broccoli as you think you can get away with! (i should have used even more myself.)

put the meat in a bowl and add two eggs. spice it up with whatever you like (i used italian seasoning, salt, onion and garlic powders.) put in the ground up broccoli. mix mix mix!

Take a 9x13 and sauce the bottom well. Place 3 UNCOOKED lasagne noodles in the sauce (if your 9x13 base is larger use 4). then add half the tofu mush. place another UNCOOKED noodle layer on top. add the entire brocco-meat mixture. add another UNCOOKED noodle layer. then add the other half of the tofu mush. put your last layer of UNCOOKED (am i being redundant?) noodles on top and then add the rest of the sauce. don't be skimpy on the sauce, lady, cause that's what's cooking the noodles! make an aluminum foil "tent" on top and bake at 350 for 2 hours.

how good was this dinner? my 10 year old said, "mommy, you finally made something normal. it's not too healthy and there are NO VEGETABLES." lol!!

cornbread and chowder

a yummy milchig supper!

chowder (inspired by a recipe @ naturalmammas.com):

4 tbsp butter, heated

1 large onion sauteed in the butter

4 nice size garlic cloves, chopped fine, also sauteed

32oz  container imagine foods veggie broth

32oz container imagine foods butternut squash (love my imagine broths)

1 8oz can creamed corn

5 medium-large potatoes, chopped (not too small, not too big) 

let chowder softly bubble (doesn't that sound lovely?) until the potatoes are cooked. then add 2c shredded cheddar, stir stir stir! i seasoned mine with salt, pepper, and tamari. the tamari is essential! hubby and i added feta as a garnish for ours, a nice tangy touch. this is a large recipe, we feed a lot of folks in my house. scale it up or down to feed your gang.

cornbread:  (inspired by "best cornbread" from easybakingtips.com):

1c pastry flour (i used unbleached white, but i think any light grain flour would work nicely)

1c cornmeal

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4c honey 

1 egg

1/4 olive oil

1c milk

mix well and pour into a sprayed 9x13. bake until golden. i never made a milchig cornbread before and i was NOT disappointed! 

oatmeal cookies

disclaimer: one reader had tried my "luscious banana cake" and tried to duplicate it based on the recipe i posted. i usually bake in volume, and i have been scaling down my baking recipes when i post them online. but i found out - through my reader, an experienced natural cook herself - that it didn't work well. oftentimes when i make a recipe, when i double or triple it, i can use different types of sweeteners, flours, etc. this doesn't translate so well when i post the recipe as a "single" portion. so now i am going to post my recipes AS I MAKE THEM and if YOU, the reader, choose to scale it down, gezunter heit. :-)

oatmeal cookies (loosely based on a recipe from "the happy go lucky vegan"):

6c rolled oats

1c whole wheat flour

1c ground flax

1c wheat germ **

2 1/4c shredded coconut

3 tbsp cinnamon

3 large pinches sea salt

3/4c honey

3/4c brown rice syrup

3/4c agave nectar

1c olive oil

1/2c toasted sesame oil

3 tsp vanilla extract

3c natural puffed cereal (i used a puffed rice/millet combo)

** 1c of the dry mix could very nicely be substituted with carob or cocoa

roll into nice size balls and bake for about 7 mins at 350. voila! yum!

rice crispy treats

to make these treats even easier, i mixed this up right into the 9x13 pan. it's a "one bowl wonder!" lol

4c natural brown rice cereal (i used whole food's 365 brand)

1/2 c brown rice syrup

1/2 c NON-HYDROGENATED nut butter (i used peanut, but i'm thinking tahini might be nice too!)

* marshmallows optional, i used them. i have never found a "healthy" kosher marshmallow but there are some that are better than others. read labels. i just threw in enough marshmallows that everything looked "even," lol

mush it all up and flatten into an olive-oil-sprayed 9x13. stick in freezer for about 20 mins to solidify.  this recipe is quick, easy, and more nutritious than the regular version!

p.s. i tagged this as "vegan" but it is ONLY vegan if you don't use the kosher marshmallows (fish gelatin)

tilapia with a twist

fresh tilapia sprinkled with salt, onion and garlic, coriander, dill, and mint. baked.

tru roots brand sprouted rice and quinoa blend (another costco purchase).

asparagus and mushrooms, sauteed.

wake up and go smoothie!

8 oz carrot juice (bolthouse farms, costco)
2 tbsp ground flax (woo hoo costco!)
frozen strawberries (go costco, go costco)
frozen mixed berries (cascadian farms...costco!)
1 banana
1 tbsp nut butter
drizzle agave nectar
...everything in the BLENDER!

(see i told you i was weaning myself off the coffee)

don't get mental ... leftover lentils

So 2 nights ago I made tofu lentil something or other and I had lots of leftover lentils. Reinventing/recycling leftovers is one way to honor G-d's food gifts. So anyway I made a saffron rice. Then in a separate saucepan I sautéed onions and the lentils in toasted sesame oil. Then I added costco's fabulous frozen organic veggie 4-some (carrots corn green beans peas). I added some shabbos chicken soup and then 1 package of chicken breasts, cut up. I served the chicken lentil veggie extravaganza over the saffron rice and it was delish!

cauliflower black bean tacos

drizzle a little olive oil into a pan and sautee your cauliflower. chop up into small pieces. add canned black beans. i used 2 cans of black beans and about 8 oz of cauliflower. adjust these ratios for your family size.

food crime: i added 2 sauce packets from a "regular" taco kit into the bean and cauli mix.

i arranged 365 brand taco shells into trays and scooped the bean mix into them, then i added nice amounts of shredded mozzarella.

serve with tomato-avocado guacamole and hot salsa and you have...a WINNER DINNER! lol

(the one thing that would have made this better? sour cream.)

snacky mama

i try to eat 6 small meals a day. i like to stick to simple, healthful things that will give me a lot of bang for my nutrition buck (not to mention my tastebuds. yummy food = very important.) here's what i ate today thusfar:


2cups of coffee with soymilk and truvia (weening my way off it, ok?)


1/2c mixed grains, toasted sesame oil, tamari 3 oz chicken


carrot juice/fruit smoothie w/ 1/2 tbsp nut butter


cucumber sticks with hummous


apple


and then, my HAPPY NEW FOOD CREATION!!! my imagine food's portobello mushroom soup with 1/2 a tofurkey veggie dog (italian style, ¡pnina del viva!)

for "dinner" i'm having 1/2c whole grain elbows, and tofu+lentils with tamari, toasted sesame oil, curry and nutritional yeast sprinkled on. 

cheesy soft pretzels

criminal. i made these for school snacks and we are already plowing through them. this recipe courtesy of jane kinderlehrer, former editor of prevention magazine and author of cooking kosher; the natural way.


2 tbsp butter
3/4 c + 1 tbsp water
1 tsp honey (i used more)
1 tbsp dry yeast
2c shredded cheese **
1c wheat germ
1c whole wheat flour
1 egg

**  i doubled the batch and used 2c cheddar and 2c mozarella.

gently heat the butter, water, and honey. when appropriate temperature (tepid/wrist temp), add yeast. combine all other ingredients in bowl and pour in yeast mixture. knead dough and shape into little pretzels. place on cookie sheets that have been dusted with cornmeal.

spray tops with olive oil cooking spray and then sprinkle salt (preferably coarse kosher salt) on top. bake at 375 for about 25 mins or until brown. delish!

luscious banana cake

i got this recipe from my new favorite blog, but since i modified it, i am posting my version here. my kids went gangbusters over this all shabbos! PLUS i got rid of lots of leftover pesach bananas! yay me!

1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c oat flour
1/2c ground flax seeds
1/2c cornmeal (this made it special!)
2 tsp baking powder (i use rumford's aluminum-free)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2c soy milk
1/4c apple juice
1/4c brown rice syrup **
4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/3c applesauce (i used a granny smith tart applesauce)
1/3c melted earth balance marge

throw everything into a bowl, mix mix mix, pour into a 9x13 and bake at 350 until you can stick a fork in it (about 45 mins to an hour i guess).

** i quadrupled this recipe because i had lots of leftover bananas and i was also baking for someone else. i varied the sweeteners under the circumstances. so my quadrupled version ended up with something like; 1/2c brown rice syrup, 1/4c agave nectar, 1/4c honey

OMG SO DELISH :-)

sometimes i'm a night bird. everybody is asleep. i can relax and troll the internet get some household tasks done in peace.

so what's a girl to do at 3am when she's hungry? why, invent a new and amazing snack!

i decided i wanted shirataki. you know, the uber low-cal soy noodles (love love love them). i wanted them in broth. i hunted high and low for something broth-like, but to no avail.

then i decided i would make them with some cheese and sauce! yummy, right? so i open the pantry only to find huge bottles of tomato marinada. nope, not interested in opening those. then my eyes fell upon ... the baby food jars! specifically, earth's best tomato and carrot blend! (for those of you creeped out by the idea of eating baby food, get over yourself. it's just pureed food). so i used those as "sauce."

i heated up 2 baby food jars in a saucepan and added 1 baby food jar of water. added sliced mushrooms and the package of shirataki noodles. when everything was hot, i added 2 tbsp of j & j cream cheese, and mixed it in until it became creamy. i spiced it up with salt, italian blend, garlic and onion powders.

voila! yummy, low-cal, high protein "fettucine alfredo!" (did i mention tasty? lol)

sweet potato and even sweeter salmon and veggies!

baked sweet potatoes with earth balance olive oil margarine...yum...

salmon dipped in egg and dredged in ground flax seed and oat flour. the dredge was generously spiced with curry powder. more conservatively on garlic and onion powders. :) baked.

red, yellow, and green peppers were cut up and broiled for about 5 mins, then arranged on top of the salmon. agave nectar was gently drizzled on, then sprinkled all over with salt.

can you say YUM?

shortcuts (quick fleishig supper)

tonight's repast will be the usual healthy and kosher, but simple is the magic word. i'm falling on my face with exhaustion so i took some shortcuts.

let's talk about a great product: imagine food's creamy mushroom soup. this food seriously rocks the casbah. i was going to make a creamy white sauce from scratch when this product literally jumped off the shelf into my waiting shopping cart. that's shortcut #1.

shortcut #2 was frozen veggies: heimishe brand broccoli, yellow squash, yada yada. less chopping.

i sauteed some onions in olive oil and tamari, and then dumped the whole container of thick mushroom soup in. added all the veggies, and it's happily simmering away as we speak.

oh yeah, i put in chicken. lots of leftover pesach chicken. i pulled it off the bone into strips.

the only question is, do i serve it over whole wheat noodles or rice pasta?

gumbo popcorn balls

just like gumbo, they have a little bit of everything:

one big ol' bowl of popcorn
365 chocolate bits (whole foods house brand)
chatfield's carob powder
elyon mini marshmallows (heimish brand)
365 sunflower seed kernels
flax-USA ground flax seed
*kirkland signature honey (costco house brand)
*lundberg brown rice syrup

* you could use a non-hydrogenated nut butter in place of either the honey or rice syrup, that would lend a chocolate-peanut buttery taste. if you use a nut butter, add some salt to jazz it up.

dump everything into the big ol' popcorn bowl and make sure all the ingredients are relatively "even." at the end, drizzle copious amounts of the honey and brown rice syrup all over everything until it's nice and saturated. then form into little balls - squeeze your hands together tight! make those suckers stick together! place on cookie sheets and freeze. YUMMY. tastes just like nutty chews (only healthier)!