Earlier in the week I mentioned the menu for my mother’s birthday party, and promised to share the recipe I created for cabbage wedges with grain-free cheese sauce (got concept from here).  The sauce recipe there reminded me of a very processed white sauce, but I make a simple and very delicious white sauce from scratch, and it occured to me that a) I could use nut flour to make it grain-free, and b) I could consider the cabbage in place of noodles (eg macaroni and cheese concept)! 

I had heard of using carrots and summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash) as grain-free pasta substitutes (use a peeler and peel length-wise down the vegetable so you create long strips), but I think you can use just about steamed vegetable if it appeals to you!   (When I say pasta substitute, I don’t mean in terms of flavor in as far as being a base to put tasty sauces on.)

Okay, I know that might sound weird, but the kids really liked this new cheese sauce, which eliminates the whole wheat flour I usually use as a base.  Even ds20 months was sitting in his high chair munching on cabbage, and since I served the cheese sauce separately (because my mother is minimizing fats right now), the serving bowl of sauce got a good workout being repeatedly requested back and forth across the table!

Cabbage Wedges with Cheese Sauce

• 1 head cabbage, cut into eighths
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 c. nut flour (whatever kind you have)
• 4 c. milk (I used raw cow’s milk but coconut milk would work, too)
• 16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 t. sea salt (add more salt if using coconut milk to balance the flavor)
• sprinkle of pepper

Steam the cabbage wedges until tender.  While the cabbage is steaming, prepare the sauce.  Melt the coconut oil, then saute the onion in the oil.  When onion is translucent, mix in the nut flour. Then stir in milk and spices (I wasn’t sure if the nut flour would thicken as regular whole wheat flour did, so I used less milk than what I listed above, but wrote in what I would do in the future so the consistency would be better – it got very thick).  Continually stir the mixture as it thickens so it doesn’t burn.  When the consistency is what you’d like it to be, stir in the shredded cheese.

You can put the cabbage in the oven and heat it with the cheese sauce on top for about 20 minutes, or just serve without any further ado!  Serve cheese sauce warm over any kind of pasta or steamed vegetables. 

This would be suitable for anyone who wants to eliminate grains or glutens, or lower carbs. 

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays.)

Avivah

I bought some fresh cranberries intending to use them for Thanksgiving, but then my mom ended up making cranberry relish so I didn’t need to!  So they’ve been sitting around in the fridge waiting to be used, amazingly enough still perfectly fresh, and I thought this was a good chance to try out this new recipe with them – I made a lot of adaptations but the original was from here, the Mutritiousnuffins blog. 

Cranberry Muffins

• 1 c. almond meal
• 1.5 c. finely shredded coconut
• 2 c. ground walnuts
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 3/4 c. honey
• 1 c. butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 c. fresh cranberries, chopped

Mix the almond meal, ground walnuts, coconut, and spices.  In a separate bowl, mix the honey, melted butter, beating in the eggs; add in the yogurt and water.  Mix the dry and wet mixtures, and when combined, stir in the chopped cranberries.  Scoop into muffin tins (this recipe makes 18 muffins), and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  (I’m estimating on the time because I didn’t look at the clock; I didn’t bake the first batch for long enough and they were difficult to remove from the pan, and the second batch overbaked since I was putting the littles to bed.) 

Do not remove the muffins until they’re cooled, otherwise they crumble (but are still delicious).  These are nutrient dense and high in calories, making them super filling so you don’t need more than two or three for an easy and filling breakfast – perfect for days you’re on the go!

(This post is part of Simply Indulgent Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays.)

Avivah

Here’s the brownie recipe that was recently requested!  This is a rich and delicious recipe, easy to make, and it gets gobbled up pretty fast, too!  I’ve been making this recipe for 18 years, but have been making it with my healthy adaptations for only 4 or 5 of those years. 

Yummy Brownies

• 1 c. butter or coconut oil
• 1.5 c. sucanat
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 4 eggs (we like free range eggs best)
• 1 c. cocoa
• 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour (we use hard white wheat and grind it fresh)
• opt – 1 c. coarsely chopped nuts or 6 oz. chocolate or peanut butter chips 

Cream the butter/coconut oil together with the sucanat until light and fluffy.  Stir in the vanilla and the eggs.  Add cocoa and flour.  If using additions, stir in the nuts and/or chips at this point.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes. 

Perfect to take to a holiday party or as a dessert anytime that everyone will enjoy!

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays.)

 Avivah

On Sunday I had a lovely visit from my sister, niece, and nephew!  We haven’t seen them for 4.5 years and it was really nice to catch up in person a little. 

Sufganiyot (filled doughnuts) are a Chanukah classic (along with latkes) in our home (and probably for most other families, too!).  Since we were planning to make doughnuts to serve later that evening when grandparents came by for menorah lighting and then dinner, dd14 made the doughnuts with her cousins and siblings.  It was a nice activity for them all and the doughnuts tasted amazing!  We adapted a recipe from A Taste of Challah to make it healthier.  This makes about 40 doughnuts.

Michal’s Sufganiyot

• 7 c. whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. sucanat
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 T. yeast
• 3 – 4 T. orange juice
• 1 c. warm water

Mix the dry ingredients.  Melt the coconut oil.  Add to the dry ingredients the eggs, melted (slightly cooled) coconut oil, and vanilla and knead for a couple of minutes.  Make a well in the center of this mixture and sprinkle in the yeast, juice, and warm water.  Cover bowl and let it sit for about ten minutes. 

Knead until dough is soft and pliable.  If the dough is too hard, add a very small amount of water and oil until you get it smooth.  If it’s too wet, add a little more flour.  Smear your hands with oil and pat the dough all over with your hands, over the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes. 

Punch dough down, then roll out a section of dough so that it’s thin but not transparent.  Using a round cookie cutter or a round glass/jar, press down on the dough enough to make an indentation but not enough to cut through; do this on half of the dough until there’s no room left.  In the center of each circle outline, place the filling of your choice.  (We used homemade cherry filling.) 

Now, fold the other half of the dough over the filling and circles.  Take the glass or cookie cutter you used before and press it down firmly around each bump, and twist it while cutting it out.  This seals the filling into the center of each doughnut.  Repeat until all dough is used up.  Let doughnuts rise about 30 minutes on a piece of parchment paper.

Heat up the coconut oil for frying (saturated fats like coconut are the best for frying because they are stable at high heats), and add a piece of carrot into the oil.  This keeps the oil clear as you fry the doughnuts. 

Fry the doughnuts in the hot oil for 3 – 5 minuts until they’re golden brown.  Then flip them over and fry until the second side is also golden.  Remove with a slotted spoon and put on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb extra oil. 

This is definitely a labor intensive project – most filled cakes and cookies are – but it’s just once a year and they were so good that they were worth the effort.  And as I said, the kids had fun making them!

Happy Chanukah!

Avivah

(For those who saw the message that my account was suspended earlier, and were wondering what was going on – I was relieved that within less than five minutes of contacting support, my account was restored and I was sent an apology and explanation that there was a mistake made in the system which has been corrected.  Thank you to Y. who contacted me to let me know that the blog was down.) 

I’ve just learned that today is National Homemade Bread Day!  (Seriously, who sits around and makes up these ideas for national days??)

Anyway, it happens that today I’m trying an experiement – pizza rolls and kolaches of different flavors. Ds11 mixed up a large batch of pizza dough (10 cups of flour), so what’s left to do is rolling out the bread dough thinly into a large rectangle, spreading filling on it, and rolling it up like a cinnamon roll.  Since we are out once a week for lunch time, it will be nice to have an easy meal to take with us when we go out.  I think it will be like a compact sandwich.  I’m planning to partially bake the batches that are destined for the freezer, and then bake then for ten minutes before eating so that they are hot and fresh.

Here’s my pizza dough recipe – ds mixed up five times this amount for us:

Pizza Dough

• 1/2 – 3/4 c. warm water
• 1 T. instant yeast
• 1 t. sucanat
• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 T. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 t. salt

Combine 1/4 c. warm water with yeast and set aside.

Mix flour, coconut oil, and salt.  Mix together with yeast mixture.  Drizzle remaining water to the mixture.  Let stand ten minutes, covered.  Pat out dough, and spread with toppings.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes, until crust is golden.

Avivah

This salad was something that I’ve been meaning to try for a while, but it wasn’t the hit I had hoped it would be.  The vegetable ingredients were great, but the vinaigrette was waaaay too spicy – I should have known better than to follow it as written when I saw cayenne pepper as an ingredient.  The dressing below is my adaptation from the mouth burning original version that left even those who love hot sauce and spicy foods reaching repeatedly for their water glasses.

Jicama and Avocado Salad with Thai Vinaigrette

• 1 lg jicama, peeled and cut into french fry shaped sticks
• 2  avocados, sliced thinly
• 1 small red onion, minced
• 2 c. salad greens (I used romaine lettuce)

Dressing:

• 1/2 t. tumeric
• 1/2 t. sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 T. honey
• 2 limes or lemons, juiced
• 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste.

Blend dressing ingredients and mix over the tossed vegetables.

Avivah

Thanks once again to my fantastic crew of children, the sukka is up and decorated – it looks beautiful!  I took ds3, ds4, dd9, and dd14 to make some Sukkos crafts yesterday.  The littles made some smaller decorations and both of the girls made a new large poster.  Ds11 really wants to make a poster tomorrow but I don’t know if I’ll be able to let him spend so much time on it when there’s so much to be done, and then go to get it laminated – I’m going to try, though, since it enhances the holiday for the kids to look around and see their artwork adorning the sukka walls.

This afternoon the kids harvested some pears from a neighbor’s tree, and though they could easily eat them all fresh, I thought it would be nice to use some of them for a dish in honor of Sukkos.  After all, Sukkos is the ‘Festival of the Harvest’, so it seems particularly appropriate to use food we personally harvested. 🙂

Last week I also got these fantastic huge winter squash – I don’t remember what they’re called, but they look kind of like butternut but much larger with long crooked necks.   I want to use at least one to put in the sukka somewhere as a decoration, but fortunately I have enough to do that and still have plenty to cook with!  Here’s my adaptation of a soup recipe I found at an online recipe site:

Roasted Squash and Pear Soup

Saute onion in oil until golden. Add pears, ginger, squash, and any leftover liquid from roasting pan.  Add stock and coconut milk; bring to a boil, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Blend with immersion blender until soup is velvety smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

** It also occurred to me that following the instructions up through roasting the vegetables would make a very nice side dish of roasted squash, pears, and ginger.  Yum!

(This post is part of the Real Food Sukkot Carnival and Real Food Wednesday.)

Avivah

I found this recipe online when I was doing a search for recipes using chia seeds.  I unfortunately don’t remember what site I found this on – it was from a company that sold them, and the recipe was sent to them by a customer.  I slightly adapted it; it’s an easy recipe filled with healthy and tasty ingredients.

Chocolate Coconut Chia Bars

• 1/2 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 c. cocoa
• 1/2 c. xylitol or 1/4 c. honey
• 1/3 c. coconut milk
• 2 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 1/2 c. dried coconut flakes
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all the ingredients, stirring until everything is mixed well.  Spread the mixture on a baking pan in a thin layer, and put in the freezer or refrigerator to set.  Cut into small squares to serve.

As requested, details to come about chia seeds in a separate post. 🙂

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.)

Avivah

This recipe calls for a bunch of ingredients, and I found it when I was once searching for a way to use up some vegetables I couldn’t picture using together.   I once again had this conglomeration of vegetables in my fridge and freezer needing to be used up, so it appeared again on our dinner menu!

I’ve never made this recipe exactly as it’s written below – if I don’t have something, I leave it out – but it’s always been tasty.  This is a one pot meal, so once you have the vegetables prepped, it’s a simple meal to put together.  The spices are typical for West African dishes, but you might want to use less if you’re not so adventuresome – it has a number of spices that might be unfamiliar to some palates.

West African Stew

• 1 onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, diced
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 c. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 each – red, yellow, and green peppers, cut in 1/2″ pieces (I dislike cooked peppers so I leave this out)
• 2 c. okra, sliced
• 4 c. vegetable broth
• 1/2 t. cayenne
• 3/4 t. ginger
• 1/2 t. coriander
• 1/4 t. tumeric
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1/4 c. honey (I never put this in)
• 2 – 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 3 c. chopped greens (kale, collard, mustard, spinach)
• 4 – 15 oz cans chick peas, drained (or 1 lb dry chickpeas, soaked, sprouted, and cooked- you need to plan a couple of days ahead if you want to sprout them)

Put the onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, and okra into a pot with the vegetable broth.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil. When the vegetables are tender, add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil again, and cook for 5 – 10 minutes until the green beans are tender.

Serve hot over brown rice or with fresh whole wheat bread.

This is an economical dish, assuming you buy the vegetables at a reasonable price.   I’m costing the recipe out as it’s written and estimating according to the quantities listed, though it’s possible dd15 added more of something than I’ve indicated when she prepared it.

• onion – .20
• garlic – .20
• 1 lb sweet potatoes – .33 lb (bought in case of 40 lb)
• 1 sm eggplant – .49 lb (reduced rack)
• 1.5 c. mushrooms – .99 lb on sale (I dehydrated a large amount last time I bought them on sale so I can use them for cooking when it’s convenient for me)
• 2 c. okra – .50 per 16 oz. pkg (I bought a huge amount of these frozen a while back because they were so cheap)
• broth – free if you use veggie trimmings to make your own (can also use water instead of broth thought it won’t be as richly flavored)
• 2 – 28 oz can tomatoes – .79 each (on sale because slightly dented)
• 3 c. greens – free – (didn’t use it this time but in past used what we had in garden)
• 1 lb dried chick peas – .75 lb on sale

Total –  just $5.04 !! – this made a filling dinner for our family with enough left over to have for lunch another day.

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.)

Avivah