Jazz up your lunch (or dinner) repertoire with Red Tuna Salad

This new take on an old favorite is now my go-to lunch when there are no dinner leftovers available, or at least not enough to satisfy. We are staying at my in-laws who like to keep albacore tuna on hand. Rena just likes to eat her tuna plain with nothing in it. While I'm not usually a big fan of mayo, I get bored if I have to eat my tuna plain. So here's what I came up with:

Red Tuna Salad

(Amounts listed should be enough for just one person; use more if you're serving more than one. You could even put each person's serving in their own bowl to suit everyone's individual tastes, as this is a flexible recipe.)

1/2 can tuna (I've only used albacore tuna but I suppose it couldn't hurt to try this recipe with chunk light tuna.)
1 small red bell pepper, more or less, or part of a larger red pepper
A few mushrooms (optional)
Tomato sauce or salsa to taste
A grain (preferably a whole grain) of some sort -- ready to eat -- such as bread, crackers, cooked pasta, cooked couscous, cooked quinoa...(optional; I sometimes skip this and just eat more of the other stuff) (definitely skip if you are on a low-carb diet)

Chop/dice the red pepper and mushrooms (if you're including them) into your bowl. (No mixing bowl needed if you're making an individual serving; you can go ahead and put it directly into the bowl from which the eater will be eating it.) Add the tuna. If you are using a grain that is in small pieces such as pasta, couscous, or quinoa, add it. Now mix in your tomato sauce/salsa until the tuna salad is mixed thoroughly. If you're using bread or crackers, top them with your prepared Red Tuna Salad. Enjoy!

My chicken soup recipe- Is it Ashkenazi or something different?

Sometimes for Shabbat in the winter I'll make two big pots of this chicken soup, maybe a dessert, and maybe a salmon salad that doesn't have to be made before Shabbat (no cooking required). Any time any of us is sick is also an excuse to make it on a weekday. Ok, no more preamble; let's get to the good stuff! :)

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (a package of, say, chicken thighs would also work, but boneless skinless probably would not come out right)
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste (optional)
4-5 or more carrots, sliced
4-5 or more celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, whole (I've used yellow and red; both make the soup taste good but they're different)
1 leek, sliced (that's how we like it best but you can also use more or less half a bunch of parsley, chopped, instead)
matzah balls (optional; I actually haven't been making them lately because I found organic, whole wheat matzah meal at my Whole Foods around Passover time but that's it)

Put chicken in your biggest available pot, fill pot with water (you can estimate but if you want a measurement it's 2 and 1/2 quarts or 10 cups), add seasonings, and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, you can turn down the heat to a simmer if it boils over. Now add veggies and cook for 1 and 1/2 hours. If you forgot the seasonings before or decide you want more, go ahead and add them at any time (but I think the soup comes out best when they're added immediately). If you're including matzah balls, follow your recipe's instructions. (I don't currently have a good one to recommend but I do suggest using whole wheat if possible.)

So what do you think? Ashkenazi or not?

Hubby asked for fourths of tonight's easy, delicious salad with just five ingredients...

...Though he's a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. He'd asked for salad because he said he needed raw greens! I'd already made him an omelette containing chard for breakfast but I guess my unofficial health coaching is working! :)

Here's the salad that I threw together in a large mixing bowl:

All ingredients were organic. (See this post and the one it links to for why organic is better.)

Four slices Ezekiel cinnamon-raisin bread (you could probably use any other cinnamon-raisin bread, or even plain bread plus raisins, but Ezekiel bread is a complete protein)
Walnuts (maybe about a cupful or more)
One bunch lettuce (not a head of iceberg; I think it was green leaf)
A few small carrots
A little bit of cilantro (you could probably leave that out if you don't have it)

I just broke up the bread into small pieces, tossed in pieces of walnuts, tore up the lettuce into small pieces, attempted to Julienne the carrots, and tore up the cilantro.

What are your favorite random (or not-so-random) salad ingredients?

Heathy food=lots of energy! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

After taking an unusual route yesterday from Meadowbrook Playfield and having to go out of our way due to lack of sidewalks, Rena and I "somehow just randomly" ended up at Whole Foods just before lunchtime. (Hubby said it was typical Pie.) So I bought us some food that we could take and eat at one of the benches outside. Our healthy fare consisted of a Jamba Juice apple and greens smoothie; organic minestrone soup with veggies, beans, peas, etc.; and herb Mary's Gone Crackers.

Rena not only perked up (she had napped in her stroller on the way there from the playground) but walked herself almost the entire way home without even being very worn out by the end.

Cute compliment from hubby! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

Hubby called me a "hot chocolate." It made me chuckle as I mixed water, organic skim milk, organic vanilla extract, organic and fair trade unsweetened cocoa, and organic maple syrup in a pot to make my healthier version of this favorite drink. ;)

Post-Party Excursion

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

When we got home from the party, hubby decided he needed some root beer so I headed to Whole Foods to get a healthier version than diet or regular, Oogave made with agave. I bought that and also picked out a treat for myself: A Theo milk chocolate bar- organic, fair trade, and with a Jane Goodall seal. (Yes, it does have sugar but I rarely eat a treat with sugar in it!)

I headed for a bench outside the store, purchases in hand. After enjoying my chocolate bar, I finished my blog post about the night before. Then I relaxed on Facebook and listened to someone singing and playing ukelele in the background. Ukelele seems to be a popular instrument around here.

When I started to get chilly and the hour was getting late, I headed home to hang out with hubby and give him his promised root beer. :)

"Slumber Party" with Hubby! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

To celebrate my new job, hubby and I decided to have a special chicken dinner. I gave Rena an early, simple dinner of crepes (I make them with coconut oil instead of butter or margarine to cut down on my dairy intake, as I might be slightly lactose intolerant, and to avoid using a product with soy) with some raw tomato and some raw avocado on the the side (she loves them; I don't always have to cook side dishes for her) and then put her to bed. I headed to QFC at the University Village Shopping Center to get kosher chicken, as Whole Foods around here doesn't carry it.

I decided to call my parents on the way. They're three hours earlier, as they live in Cincinnati, but it's ok for me to call them late. They had actually just walked in the door: They'd been out late at the wedding of a local Chabad rabbi's daughter. They reported that there must have been 600 people there and that a bunch of them asked about me. It made me happy to know that so many people in my hometown still think and care about me. Even someone who wasn't at the wedding asked my mom about me recently when she ran into her at a grocery store.

At QFC, I headed to the kosher poultry section. I hadn't seen Empire Organic chicken in ages, but lo and behold, it was there last night! I bought all the drumsticks and left the whole chickens and boneless skinless breasts for others.

Back at home, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and made a one-dish dinner out of a dozen drumsticks, a couple big bagsful of cremini mushrooms, and a pile of raw cashews; seasoned with salt, red pepper flakes, and a little turmeric; with coconut oil mixed in. Forty minutes later.... Yum! :) Hubby and I ate up all the drumsticks -- we each ate half a dozen and saved some of the other stuff for today.

Then we had fun singing, dancing, joking, and playing around. We do that part of a slumber party most nights, really, but this was special because we were celebrating my new job! :)

My ever-increasing dietary restrictions. Or, why is it so hard to find kosher organic food?

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

Finally, after almost two months, here's the promised story of my transition to buying organic. I have this post that I saw posted on this Facebook Page to thank for motivating me to finally write this. It's going to be long so I'm going to divide it into sections. Here goes:

My first shopping trip upon going organic

I was already going to Whole Foods for most of my grocery shopping, so I continued there. I thankfully live within walking distance of the Whole Foods at Roosevelt Square. The only difference was I had to look for that "USDA Organic" symbol, besides looking for a kosher symbol. Basically, I'd apparently made my food life twice as complicated....Or so I thought. See, several items I'd been getting for their other health benefits, such as Rena's juice-sweetened puffs, my favorite vegetable broth, and these yummy tortilla chips were already organic. Other items, such as milk, eggs, and salsa, were easily found in organic versions.

Crackers

My main struggle that trip was finding crackers that would be acceptable to my husband but also healthy and organic. He had been used to eating a specific variety of Triscuits but unfortunately they are not organic. To complicate matters, there were for some reason two sections with crackers, which I didn't know at first. In the first, small section I found exactly one brand that was kosher and organic....but otherwise not up to my dietary standards. I thought, these can't possibly be the only crackers in the store! I asked an employee where I could find crackers, and she directed me to another aisle. Phew! Here I had some trouble as well. I found so many organic crackers but they weren't kosher. Finally I found one called Mary's Gone Crackers that was labeled both organic and kosher. Fun name, but were they healthy? Yes, whole grains and no sugar. I brought them home to hubby....Yum! :) 

P.S. The next day I found other crackers called Two Moms in the Raw that Rena and I liked better.

Produce

Organic versions of my usual fruits and vegetables are readily available at Whole Foods. However, I decided to join an organic CSA that would deliver to my door, just for convenience. Full Circle Farm packs up a box for us every week with organic produce from their own farm and partner farms and delivers it to our apartment at some point on Thursday nights or early Friday morning. I love it because I don't have to think about my weekly fruits and vegetables if I don't want to, but if I want to change anything there's a window of opportunity. I could also tell them never to give me something if I don't want it. Customer service is great, always responding to your questions and comments. They'll even give you a credit if you're not completely satisfied with all your received produce, if you ask. They even called a couple weeks to make sure I got my box, since the deliverymen couldn't be buzzed in. All this for $46 a week, for a family order. I always end up buying other fruit because hubby and Rena eat TONS of fruit (and I barely get any!). Also there are a lot of greens, which sometimes spoil before I get to use them all. This is good, though, because I'm encouraged to get used to using more greens.

Also I love that it comes so close to Shabbat so I get fresh produce for Shabbat! :)

Meat

I wanted to make a meat dish for Friday night Shabbat dinner right after my organic transition, but I couldn't find any locally. Help! I resorted to making a vegetarian meatloaf in the hopes that hubby wouldn't even realize it was fake. Funny thing was, I realized as I went to serve it that it happened to be April Fool's Day, so even if he figured it out, it would just be an April Fool! Well, he didn't, and not only that but it came out awesome and he said it was deli-quality meatloaf! :) Unfortunately when I made it next time it didn't come out so good -- I think I just got lucky the first time because tofu isn't usually the best thing in the world -- so after that I just got regular kosher ground meat. As for chicken, for the following Shabbat I went online to search for kosher organic meat, as QFC only rarely has Empire Organic chicken. I tried ordering but they wouldn't even process my order for a single chicken because shipping costs would have been exorbitant! I'd promised hubby chicken for Shabbat so I had to run to QFC and get a regular kosher chicken. Hubby also likes when I get the precooked kosher chickens but unfortunately those aren't organic either. I once tried making General Tzo's Tofu in the hopes that hubby wouldn't realize it was tofu not chicken, but he could totally tell the difference because it didn't come out good. My only hope of avoiding non-organic meat of any kind is to make it to QFC right when they've just gotten a shipment of Empire organic chicken. They get so little so rarely that it's snapped up immediately. They supposedly get it every two weeks on Mondays, but last time I was told it was coming on Tuesday and then it was late. I've basically given up on that. In short, I'm resigned to eating non-organic meat, at least while living here in Seattle. If it were just me I might go vegetarian, but I can't do that with my hubby who goes nuts after just a few days without meat.

Fish

According to my Internet research, wild-caught is really the best way to go, even better than organic fish. So I called Whole Foods again to find out what wild-caught fish they had and found a recipe accordingly. I've also gotten wild-caught canned tuna and salmon.

Cheese

I had a big problem with cheese, as there didn't seem to be any available locally that was both kosher and organic. Initially I tried making my own but I could only make a soft cheese which is simple and doesn't need rennet, a thermometer, etc. I made Paneer cheese. Hubby and I liked it for a bit but then he got tired of it. I spent more long hours on the internet, and it turned out that a couple brands, including Tillamook Cheddar that's found at Whole Foods, were actually organic and kosher thought they didn't advertise that on their packaging or website. Though it's a bit annoying that I can only get cheddar but no mozzarella, parmesan, or others, I can't complain too much because I do get to have cheese. There's also kosher organic cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. I love the brand Nancy's because it tastes good and it's cultured. Also Nancy's sells giant containers of yogurt which is wonderful because my husband is currently on a fruit-and-yogurt kick. (Please note, not all Nancy's products are organic so you have to make sure the package says organic when you buy.)

Sweeteners

I had been using Truvia, but it's not organic. Also I'd heard that it can actually make you gain weight because your body is tricked into producing unneeded insulin which is stored as fat. So I experimented with various sweeteners. I'll go into more detail in a separate post, but for now suffice it to say that there's no lack of natural sweeteners, such as honey and maple syrup, in organic versions. 

Passover

I bought kosher organic grape juice that I'd finally found at Whole Foods awhile before that. However, my husband requested wine. I could not find a wine that was both kosher and organic so I resigned myself to getting Israeli wine. If it wasn't organic, at least I could support Israel with my wine purchase instead of Kedem.

Whole Foods actually had kosher organic matzah and matzah meal that were also whole wheat, amazingly enough, so that was that.

Hubby requested a couple of things -- horseradish and marshmallows -- that simply did not exist in kosher and organic versions. I complied like a good wife.

Other food wasn't a problem; I just had to make sure everything was up to the strict standards for Passover, i.e. nothing with leavened bread.

Gotta draw the line somewhere


At this point, I still accept food that someone gives me, is provided free at an event, etc. even if it's not organic. I'll eat Noah's Bagels still, for example, if someone else pays. I admit that free food is a weakness of mine, but it's also important to me to not look a gift horse in the mouth. As it is, my husband has local relatives who don't keep kosher, and it's hard enough for them to give us food that's ok, without making them also give us only organic food. I'll also use up non-organic food I had from before my transition, and I'll also use something non-organic that I bought accidentally. It's still food, an it's important to me not to waste.

Conclusion

While organic food has become important to me, and indeed most of the food I eat nowadays is organic, sometimes something else that's important to me trumps my desire to eat organic. I don't want to beat myself up over not eating 100% organic. As much as I can do is good. I don't have to throw in the towel when I encounter a snag.

Oh, no! How can I make the cookies now?!

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

These apple-walnut cookies were a big hit for all three of us the first time I made them. I used all organic ingredients, whole wheat flour, and maple sugar instead of regular cane sugar. (I learned recently that Truvia can actually make you gain weight because your body is tricked into thinking you've eaten sugar. It produces insulin which is then stored as fat because it's not used. I learned this from a Facebook friend who's a holistic health coach. The accuracy of that information is a moot point because it's not organic anyway, but if anyone is interested I can request a source.) Also instead of following the directions I just tossed all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixed them all together. I knew from past experience that you can get certain recipes to come out just as well by taking that shortcut.

So anyway, hubby asked me to make them again a few days later. I began going down the list of ingredients, measuring amounts, and tossing them in the bowl....Oh no! I needed an egg but I was totally out of eggs! I couldn't just run out and buy eggs half a block away here in Seattle, not like we could in New York. But I promised hubby I'd have them ready when he got up! What could I do?! I racked my brain, and suddenly I remembered reading that you can make a natural, vegan egg substitute with flaxseed and water. Yes, I had flaxseed on hand because I'd decided to put flaxseed, among other additions, in these bagels. (I'm officially insane, btw: I made these for the first time right before Passover when I was uber-busy and would have to cease eating unleavened bread shortly. Don't worry; they were all gone before Passover.) I hopped online and, sure enough, I found this simple recipe. Indeed it had an egglike consistency when I moved it around and even felt eggy to the touch! I tossed it in with the other ingredients, finished making the recipe with no other glitches, and hoped for the best. The verdict? Good but not as good as the first batch. I might have baked them a tad longer than the first batch, so the extra substitution might not have been the problem. The taste was the same, in my opinion.

FYI, the cookies were not actually vegan because they still contained butter. ;)

I didn't go grocery shopping yesterday because I was low on time...

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

...due to yesterday's sudden recurrence of my obsession with organic food. What did I do for dinner? The only animal protein I had available was a can of sardines -- which I didn't dare use because hubby says he doesn't like sardines -- milk, cheddar and mozzarella cheese (already used lots of cheese for breakfast and hubby's lunch), and a single egg. I did have plenty of plant protein in the form of blackeye peas (which I didn't want to use because I prefer overnight soaking), soymilk (not much left), walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and some lentils. Help!

Google to the rescue! I think I searched for "recipe lentils nuts" and came up with this useful page. I decided to tweak the following recipe from that page, even though I was a little confused because some of the words were replaced with this weird "s&bp" or "s&gp" thing. I'll write next to each ingredient and step how I tweaked it. The original recipe will be bolded.

Lentil and Nut Cakes--or loaf

fresh white bread, 2 slices, crumbed (more volume than dried) ->I used instead a container full of crumbs of Delicious Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread that were in the fridge just waiting to be used in a recipe that called for bread crumbs.
1 C lentils (for this I prefer brown) ->I just used whatever I had left, which may or have not been a full cup.
2¼ C of slightly reduced veg stock OR water ->I used water to boil the lentils. I always use water if a recipe says stock or water because when I use stock, I use this expensive vegetable broth that's basically the only thing I can find that's both kosher and not full of icky stuff like sugar and lots of salt. I looked up how to make my own stock but I don't have a strainer as of yet.
1 med yellow onion, chopped ->I found about 3/4 of a large white onion in the fridge and sauteed that. I added a tomato and sauteed further for extra veg and extra flavor.
1 can black olives, coarsely chopped ->I was going to use instead a can of green olives that I thought I'd gotten, but they were nowhere to be found! So I just used what was left of a can of capers instead.
2 sprigs rosemary (around 8 inches each), minced ->I took a random number of leaves off of our rosemary from our brand-new garden! :) I forgot to mince them. I used some whole in sauteing the lentils, the onion and tomato, and threw some more into the final concoction for extra flavor.
nut of choice, at volume of choice, only partially toasted (a couple minutes at 300°) ->I used some walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds. I didn't bother to toast them at all, as I knew they would be baked with the final dish and I didn't want them to get burnt.
salt ->I sprinkled a little in the sauteing onion and tomato.
ground black peppercorns ->I have only ground pepper but I couldn't find it until well after dinner was made. Good thing, because it came out delicious without the pepper!
ground green peppercorns ->I didn't have any of those.
white wine ->I didn't have that either but I figured the vinegar from the capers would be a good substitute. (I'm no expert, but I guess that was ok.)
butter ->I was low on butter, but I did have some Earth Balance Buttery Spread (I usually use butter but I have that on hand to use with meat) so I used that instead. I only put some into the final concoction.
ev olive oil ->I use canola oil, as it's considered to be a healthy oil and it's cheaper than olive oil.
1 lg egg, whisked ->I didn't bother to whisk the egg; I just tossed it into the mixture.
Melinda’s Extra Hot Habanero Sauce or store or home hot sauce of choice ->I used instead some 365 Everyday Value Mild Salsa that I had on hand.
cooking spray ->I never use cooking spray anymore -- it's expensive and I don't think it's natural -- and I didn't even grease the pan at all because there was already a lot of oil and buttery spread in it.

In a saucepan, saute lentils over high heat in oil with s&bp until some brown and the aroma increases. Turn heat to low, add stock or water, s&bp. Simmer uncovered (not a low boil, so 1 bubble roughly 5-10 seconds) around 1¼ hr. S&BP again around ½ hour into it. Finish with a little butter, s&bp. ->I sauteed the lentils with rosemary, added water, and let it boil before turning it down to a simmer. I think I let it simmer for approximately the time stated.

Sweat the onion in oil, s& bp. Add ¾ C white wine, s&bp&gp and a little butter. Cook around 5 minutes. Finish with s&gp. ->I heated the oil in a skillet, added onion, sauteed for bit, then decided to chop up a tomato and add it. I sauteed it for a bit longer, then added a little salt and rosemary.

Crumb bread in food processor. Pulse nuts a few times if you wish.
Whisk egg with s&bp. Add butter (about 1 inch of a quarter pound stick). Add hot sauce to taste. Combine everything. Stir. S&GP to taste. Check seasonings ->I don't currently have a food processor but my bread was basically already in crumbs. I just left my nuts and seeds whole. I began mixing everything together, without whisking the egg, and with the buttery spread instead of butter and salsa instead of hot sauce. I added more fresh rosemary to the whole mixture. I tasted it. It tasted slightly strange because of the raw egg (not recommended if you're concerned about salmonella from raw eggs) but otherwise good.

Spray and fill the ramekins (I have 1 C ones). Put into a 350° oven around 20 minutes. ->It was still kind of soft after that amount of time, but it tasted delicious!

Tons of variations/omissions/additions possible. But I think green peppercorns are pretty important. They make things so round and supple. ->I'm so glad I made it anyway, even without the green peppercorns!

This post was written in response to a comment on Facebook.

Gratitude to Bliss Project, Day 5

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

1. I'm grateful that I did not accidentally delete the email draft where I'd saved links to recipes I'll be using for the week.
2. I'm grateful for my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law who took us to the
Children's Museum despite the rain.
3. I'm also grateful that they treated us to kosher Chinese afterward at Bamboo Garden.
4. I'm grateful that the food was good, even though it's a vegan restaurant so the general tso's "chicken" was made with tofu. Rena, who LOVES chicken, appeared to not be able to tell the difference: She scarfed it up the way she would scarf up real chicken.
5. I'm grateful Rena has her own bedroom, where she falls asleep fast usually and often stays asleep until morning.

Gratitude to Bliss Project, Day 2

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

I received a welcome email that requested the following:

It's important to set your intention. Please take a moment to think about and write down what you are hoping to get out of your participation in this project.

My response: I hope to gain a more positive outlook on life by emphasizing the good things in life, and a greater love for G-d for having given me this wonderful gift of life.

Now, on to today's list of five yays:

1. Another day of life. As part of daily Jewish practice, we say a prayer first thing in the morning thanking G-d for returning our soul.
2. Hubby woke up at 5-something in the morning and asked what time it was. We don't have a clock in our bedroom so I reached for my cell phone, which serves as my time piece for the night. I couldn't find it next to the bed, so I used hubby's iPhone to call it and found it in my purse in the closet by the front door of our apartment. Yes, I could have checked the time on the iPhone, but you see, my phone also serves as our morning alarm. I'm grateful that he woke up before we had to get him ready to go to work because without the alarm next to my bed we probably would have overslept. Sure, this happens occasionally, but this is a new job that he started a few weeks ago and it would have made a bad impression.
3. I had the best, healthiest breakfast ever this morning! I started by pouring some Ezekiel 4:9 Almond cereal into a bowl. This was the first time I'd tasted it; I'd found it at Whole Foods yesterday where I'd taken the opportunity to do some shopping because I'd gone to a shoe store nearby to buy hubby new sneakers. I though it tasted kind of like Grape Nuts so it needed something extra. Last night, I'd taken some medjool dates and mixed them with unsweetened cocoa into a doughy ball to make a quick dessert for hubby. (I'd made and enjoyed some for myself for lunch during the day and he said it sounded yummy.) I got the idea from a Yahoo! article I read awhile ago, believe it or not, that suggested rolling dates in cocoa. There was some left over so I broke it into small pieces and mixed it with the cereal, then I poured fat free milk over it. I savored every bite! :)
4. My parents- Even though I'm an adult living far away, they still concern themselves with me, keep me updated on their lives, and take interest in what I've been up to.
5. Lots of healthy snacks from Whole Foods, in addition to the cereal!
 -Raw Revolution Cashew and Agave Nectar (I got a box of ten bars cuz they're so good!)
 -Food Should Taste Good Jalapeno tortilla chips
 -365 Everyday Value Thick & Chunky Salsa to go with the tortilla chips
 -three healthy varieties of Snyder's of Hanover pretzels:
   -whole wheat and oat
   -8 grains and seeds
   -honey whole wheat (we haven't tried these yet but I'm grateful for the opportunity to try a new flavor!)
 -Flamous Organics Falafel Chips (I got the spicy ones this time; another new flavor opportunity!)

Let's get cooking! :)

This inspirational video encourages cooking for healing.



From: BeamanGarcia  (Andrea Beaman)


It's amazing! When my husband and I first got together, I had no idea, really, how to cook. I knew I had to when we got married. Sure, I helped cook at Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin when I went there during our long engagement, but since I had no clue what I was doing, I just kind of let whoever I was cooking with take over. She would usually assign me to chop veggies, which I'd done before. I still didn't know what I was doing when it came to the actual cooking part, i.e. how everything fit together; and I was always afraid of ruining food if I tried to cook. When I got back to the US, my then fiance just kind of threw me into the kitchen to cook dinner. Slowly, slowly, I discovered that, with enough practice, I could begin to make things up. That's hit or miss, though, and I've discovered that, for me to have almost guaranteed success, I have to follow a recipe. The bonus of using recipes is that I avoid getting stuck in a rut because I discover recipes online from sites like Food.com that have ingredients I would never have thought of on my own. How does all this relate to health? When you cook, you have complete control over what goes into your body, and it's good to experiment with a variety of foods to see what's healthiest for you. When you eat prepared food, there are so many added ingredients that you would never want to use in your own cooking, like high fructose corn syrup.

Yummy vegan veggie bergers!

Cross posted on The Daily Yay!

No, I'm not vegan by any means -- I love chicken too much to be even a
vegetarian -- but there was part of a bag of black beans that I wanted
to use up before our big move to Seattle at the end of the month.
After they'd soaked overnight and for most of the day (eight hours is
the minimum for an overnight soak, but longer is better), I rinsed
them and set them to boil in a pot for about an hour. A tomato and a
big white onion went in the blender. I pureed those first to make
room, then added two cups of cooked black beans. (I decided on that
amount because a veggie berger recipe that I've used before called for
two cups of beens, to my recollection.) Once the beans were pureed, I
pureed oats until the consistency was more mushy and less liquidy.
(I'm not sure how much it was; maybe half a cup's worth to a cup.)
After adding salt and pepper, I ran the blender again for a moment to
mix them in. Meanwhile, a couple of capfuls' worth of canola oil were
heating up in my big skillet. I dropped heaping spoonfuls of the stuff
in the blender onto the skillet and fried them for a few minutes on
each side, about 3-5 minutes or so. Wow, these veggie bergers have
awonderful texture and flavor and hold together incredibly well! I
enjoyed that batch with ketchup. Rena was already asleep but luckily
there's plenty more bean stuff for the Little Bean to enjoy my veggie
bergers tomorrow!

Date Night!

Cross posted on The Daily Yay!

Hubby here! For the first time in a long while we were free from following the little-one around on her adventures. Yay for grandparents who come all the way to New York....to babysit. Sarah and I had a romantic meal at Shalom Bombay (great service and food!) interspersed with many tender affections and not a little bit of conversation about Hinduism and karma.  Give a yay to get a yay is what I say. How many of you had a yay day today? A yay hour? A yay moment? Share your daily yay and keep the good vibes alive.

A yayful restaurant experience!

Cross posted on The Daily Yay!

My in-laws arrived today! That would be a "yay" in and of itself, but the servers at Wolf and Lamb, the kosher meat restaurant where we went out to dinner, went out of their way to accommodate our group of four adults and one baby. They really didn't have to, as the restaurant was already almost filled to the brim. They managed to squeeze in a high chair at a table that was really supposed to be for just four people. Though we'd been feeding Rena banana flavored Organic Puffs to tide her over, a server brought us a complimentary giant matzah ball for her to eat. Wow, she enjoyed this new food so much, she gave her Grammy huge smiles and clapped excitedly while she scarfed it up!

Rena and her daddy playing with her sippy cup at Wolf and Lamb

Spoiled Applesauce

I stick my hand deep into the recesses of the fridge and pull out the applesauce. I open the top. Ewwww! Something nasty hits my nose with a strong upper-cut; I recoil in disgust from the invisible wall of bacteria that has been released.

As I toss the applesauce into the garbage, I think: Oh, no, it's a holiday! I need more applesauce but I can't buy it now! I say to my husband, "Maybe I'll take some apples and make my own applesauce. Any idea how to do that?" He shrugs. I can't look up online how to make applesauce, either. What can I do?

I put five New York apples into a pot of water on the stove and let it boil. I don't know if this will work, but...after awhile, I check the apples, and sure enough, they feel like applesauce! I take them out of the pot, slip the peels off, remove the seeds, and mash them up a bit with a fork in a plastic food container. Wow, that was easier than making and peeling hard-boiled eggs!

I add about a cup of my applesauce to six mashed bananas that I've mashed with a fork and pour in half a cup of unsweetened Silk soy milk. I mix it all up. Finally, the mushy mixture goes into a bowl of whole wheat flour, Arm and Hammer baking soda, and wheat germ....

An hour and a half later: Delicious baby cake! I'll definitely make this with some added Truvia for Rena's first birthday party! The baby doesn't seem to like it yet, but it's the only cake I've eaten or served to grown-ups that I can honestly say is guilt-free!

"Cheese"burgers and "Pepperoni" Pizza

Cross posted on Kosher Cuisine


My husband, who did not grow up keeping kosher, reminisces about cheeseburgers, pepperoni pizza, shellfish, and other delicacies he hasn't tasted in years. I wonder: What can I make for Shabbat this week to bring back those memories for him in a kosher way?

This week at Fairway, I head upstairs to the section with the soy products. It's incredible: One can buy so many foods made with soy that look and taste like meat or dairy but are actually completely parve! Sure, I've used soymilk in my meatballs recipe that calls for milk -- but oh, the possibilities of soy! I can buy any of several soy cheeses: cheddar, nacho, mozzarella....I pick mozzarella to make "cheese"burgers. Having never had a cheeseburger in my life (I grew up mostly kosher, so I never had anything that was a clear no-no), I have no clue what's the best cheese for a cheeseburger. Maybe I'll use cheddar next time. All I know is that I'll slice the soy cheese and melt the slices on top of the meat once it's been mostly cooked into burgers, according to my husband.

Ok, that takes care of one meal. I'm thinking for the other meal I'll do a pizza with real cheese and some kind of fake meat made of soy. Let's see what there is....OMG, there's fake pepperoni! Perfect! I'll make my pizza crust (with whole wheat flour, of course), spread it with sauce (I use spaghetti sauce), and lay the pepperoni slices over it. I can still use my usual cheesy veggie pizza recipe for the veggies this time, and perhaps I'll just put some mushrooms over the "pepperoni" next time for a change.

Wow, my husband is going to be so happy this Shabbat!

Thursday adventure!

....Continued from previous post

....As we surge forward with the masses on the sidewalk, we pass the row of strawberries, cherries, and other fresh fruit stacked outside under the building's blue awning. Rena and I enter the door with the steps leading to the second floor. Ahh, here we are! We've finally arrived at Fairway, the super-market that has two floors! I carefully carry Rena up the stairs in her carrier. For once, I remembered to stop upstairs first so I could easily take the stairs instead of having to drag a shopping cart onto the elevator. This week, I need only soymilk from upstairs, for making meatballs. I start to grab a carton of ZenSoy because that's usually the cheapest of all the non-dairy milks there- but then the word "SALE" on some signs catches my eye. What's on sale here? I wonder. Some of the more expensive soymilks have a sale sign, but so do Blue Diamond almond milk and a rice milk. I pick the almond milk for several reasons, but mainly becaus I love almonds and expect the taste to be delicious! It's also low-calorie. I grab one and carefully carry Rena back downstairs.


We dodge the customers who are paying for their purchases as we head over to the beginning of the path that is the first floor, the vegetables. Fairway chose to have us, its loyal customers, begin our search for sustenance with the most nutritious selections! I equip myself with a shopping cart. Good, the broccoli is still 2 for $5 so I pick out two beautiful, green broccoli bunches. Refrigerated opposite the broccoli is a selection of spinach, arugula, and....Fresh herb salad! Awesome! I'll use that for my salad instead of the usual lettuce or spinach. And here, at the opposite end of the aisle, are my all-time favorite vegetables: Multiple varieties of mushrooms are sitting on the shelves, both loose and packaged, just waiting to be savored! Today I take a few of the loose, giant portabella mushrooms and grab a few handfuls of loose crimini mushrooms. Mmm, I can already taste the garlic tilapia with mushrooms....

..."Can I please have two pieces of tilapia?" One of the men working behind the fish counter picks out two nice pieces from the pile. He places them on the scale, wraps them up, and hands them to me. I toss my "catch" in my shopping cart, and we continue to the vast selection of breads -- from challah to bagels to tortillas to naan bread. I find a kosher, fresh loaf of "Bread Alone." No challah for us- we prefer natural, whole-grain bread nowadays. Now, this week I know I have to replenish our Kedem grape juice supply, as we finished the bottle last week. Rena and I head over to the kosher aisle. Which kind do I want this time? Do I want concord or blush? Let's try blush this week.

What else do I need this week? I know I'm making meatballs....Of course, I need ground meat! Should I use real ground beef for this week's meatballs, or should I use ground turkey? Well, the ground turkey is both cheaper and healthier than ground beef, so I grab a package of Kosher Valley ground turkey. I'm careful not to pick one that says ground turkey breast because those are about the same price as the ground beef. At this point, I take a break and turn on my PDA to make sure I didn't forget anything in my shopping list...Oh, oops- I forgot to get more cooking spray! So Rena and I find the aisle that holds the baking supplies. There, above the oils, is a selection of cooking spray. I choose the cheapest: Pam. I've also forgotten to get roasted edamame beans for the salad. I find these in the selection of kosher nuts, vegetable chips, etc.

Finally, with every item on my shopping list checked off, Rena and I wait in line to buy our Shabbat food at one of the express lanes. Rena remains asleep as I swipe my card and hike with her and my bagged groceries back to the subway to return home from our Thursday adventure. For now, this is how our special mommy-and-baby bonding time goes each week- But I can't wait until my Little Pie is old enough to enjoy food shopping without sleeping through the whole thing!

Putter Pie! (Or Putterfly)

My PDA is in the backpack. I've got my debit card and my Metrocard within easy reach. Oh, wait, I forgot my phone; it's plugged in in the bedroom because it was running out of power. Back and forth I go, puttering around our apartment and distracting my husband who's trying to get some work done.

"Why don't you just get the baby dressed?" he says. "Come on, hurry up!"
"But I'm not ready to go yet!" I protest. "I have to finish getting dressed!"
A moment later, as I fill a bottle of formula (Philips Avent 4oz Bottle w/ Newborn Nipple): "I thought you were getting ready to go!"
"I am! This is part of getting ready."

And indeed it is, as are making sure I have enough diapers and wipes in the backpack and packing the powdered formula (Similac Advance EarlyShield Powder Formula - 23.2 oz.) and the portable changing pad. Rena and I are getting ready for another Thursday adventure together!

Finally, I'm dressed and ready to head right out the door. I just have to get Little Pie dressed in a gazillion layers so she doesn't freeze and put her in the baby carrier -- always the last preparations I do so she doesn't have so much time to get overheated.

Now my husband is distracting me with his jokes and playfulness while I attempt to dress the Little Bean who is, of course, miserably uncomfortable in her layers. Not to mention the difficulty of stuffing her and her layers into the carrier. There is a constant background noise of "Waah, waah, waah," but the moment I pick her up in the carrier and sling it over my shoulder like a purse...ahh, serenity at last!

My husband and I say "Bye, Pie!" to each other, and I carry Rena in her carrier to the front door, where I pick up the backpack and put it on. By this time she's sound asleep. I open the door and step out into the hallway. I take the elevator down to the first floor and exit the building, a huge smile planting itself on my face as I get psyched for our adventure! My stride is slow (I don't want to trip while carrying the baby) but purposeful. We reach the subway station. I wait eagerly for the 1 train, and when it comes, I rush inside and grab a seat so Rena can be comfortable and safe as we race toward Thursday's destination.

"This is 72nd Street," proclaims the conductor. "We're almost there, Rena," I tell her, although she's still asleep. We navigate the sea of people, first in the subway station and then outside. We walk just a couple of blocks and then, suddenly, our goal appears before us and the adventure begins....

To be continued....