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!