Thursday, December 26, 2013

Crackers for crackers

A little behind here, but I finally have a few minutes to put up the pictures for y'all (which Shauly doesn't like me saying, but hey, I'm in the South!).

FOR COLLEEN: Chicken Crackers/ Savory
3 c flour;
1 tsp salt;
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper;
1 tsp baking powder;
1 TBSP sugar (I've been leaving it out and the crackers are fine)
1 tsp sage;
1/2 tsp thyme;
1 1/2 TBSP onion powder;
1 TBSP garlic powder;
 4-6 TBSP nutrional yeast, depending on how much you like/ I use about 8!;
3-6 TBSP oil;
water or almond milk with a drop of vinegar added -- Note, this is not set in stone.  You can alter any amounts, except for the sage and thyme.  I also throw in a dash of paprika when I remember.
I use 2/3 white whole wheat flour and 1/3 white flour.)

MIX dry ingredients.

ADD oil, use a pastry blender to mush into fine balls.

ADD water or milk and form into a nice dough.

Adapted from Real Snacks

I'll add pictures next week if you bug me.  I took them last time I made them.

No one bugged me, but here are the pictures:

 
 


I used to be very anal about trying to get every cracker to be the same shape and size.  Then I realized that everyone just grabs them out of the jar and it doesn't matter what shape or size they are, as long as they taste good.

Happy snacking!

Friday, December 20, 2013

I love nutritional yeast. Yum!!

Stop looking at me like I'm a lunatic.  Nutritional yeast.  Yup.  It's this "new" stuff that most of my friends have never heard of.  It is so yummy, and incredibly versatile.  So what is it?  Wikipedia, which I trust a drop more than I trust this current administration, says this about it:
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is sold commercially as a food product. It is sold in the form of flakes or as a yellow powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. It is popular with vegans and vegetarians and may be used as an ingredient in recipes or as a condiment. 
(I was gonna make it yellow, but then I was worried you would either cart me away to the loony bin, or just not be able to read it.  Which is of more concern to me?  I guess the second.)

This is the brand we use the most, although I don't notice a difference between this one and Red Yeast, which is the other one we can get locally.   I don't think it makes a difference, by girls complain that the flakes on the other one is too big.  I haven't tried the powder yet, just because I can't find it.  I do need to look for it in bulk, because I go through a LOT of this.

So what does it do?  Well, it depends.  You can make something taste like chicken.  You can make it taste like cheese.  For real!  I make these "chicken" crackers, which are really savory crackers.  These are the all time, hands down, winner of crackers in the house.  I can make double or triple the recipe, and it is still gone within a day.  I make a pareve cheddar cheese cracker with it   I use it to make my own bouillon mix.  (Take THAT Goodman's and their MSG!)

But, here is where I love it the most .. ON POPCORN!  Yup.  It is delicious!  It is high in vitamin B.  And it's pretty low calorie.  I put anywhere from 1/4 c to 1/2 cup popcorn kernels in a bag.  My microwave has this cool little feature in that I just push the popcorn button, and a little while later it beeps to tell me my popcorn is done popping.  Remember that mister I use for my oil?  Well pump that little baby up a few times, squirt a tiny bit of olive oil on it, and shake some nutritional yeast on.  I am OCD about it, and I spray and shake and spray and shake and spray and shake.  I don't get that much oil, because I checked in the can how much I've used, and it isn't really that much.  I sometimes add the tiniest dash of salt.  Now comes the fun.  Eat and Enjoy!  Your fingers will turn all yellow and you can lick them too. When you get to the bottom of the bag, you will find a bunch of nurtitional yeast just waiting for you to lick your finger, touch it to catch it, and lick your finger again.  yum, yum, yum.  (I guess it would be sorta gross to watch me do this. Guess why this is best done in the dark with your lap top on your chest while watching Project Runway.  Oh, and make sure you look the other way when your husband vacuums the family room on eruv Shabbos and mutters about the popcorn that is found in the couch.  AND, make sure you have a teenage available eruv pesach to clean the couch.  Unless you are sefardi, in which case, I guess you can enjoy your popcorn on pesach, but the nutritional yeast would be a problem.)

[off topic -- Did you notice that I tend to write these huge, run on sentences.  Does it bother you?  Or are you just following my train of thought and thinking I am insane?  Cuz I am.]

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Another (cheap) product that is often overlooked

I finally attacked the milchig (dairy) dishes.  For some reason, it is assumed that I am the maid the house.  Take a dish, use it, toss it in the sink, and voila, it magically gets washed for the next use.  (If you have any tips on by-passing that, please, PLEASE share!  I can't tell you how many times I have asked/told/begged/pleaded for this not to happen.  I have a better chance of Obama admitting he lies than of that happening.)

So I start to pile up the dirty plates.  You have to also understand that the number one lunch and snack around here is melted cheese sandwiches.  The are made on bagels (which is the worst!) and wraps.  The bagels, as you know, have a hole in the middle.  So the cheese melts down the center and side.  Now I have no idea what in the world is in this cheese, but once it gets onto the plate it is stuck like glue.  I kid you not.  NASA could use this to fix their shuttles (oh wait ... we don't have a space program anymore!).  Even soaking them won't help.  (Which is not something people here are inclined to do anyway.)

So what's a mom to do when she wants to get her plates cleaned of baked on cheese?  Are you ready for this?  Take a guess?  No, not my magic citrus enzyme cleaner which can be used for so many things.  (I didn't try it; maybe it would work.)  It's a cheap product that you often buy to toss into your fridge and forget about it until you clean your fridge for Pesach (Passover).  (Side fact -- Did you know that you are supposed to change it every three months?  Really.)  Yay!  You guessed it, baking soda!  That simple little yellow box is AWESOME!  Today I ran some water on the plate, sprinkled some baking soda on it, added a piece of silverware (so the plates don't stick together; we are talking about corelle here), and then do the next plate.  I had a nice huge stack today, probably every milchig plate.  I washed all the other dishes, and then went to the plates.  I tell you, there was not a single piece of cheese on any plates.  Wait, not true.  There was one plate with cheese on the back.  I have no idea why it works, but it does.  I haven't yet tried it baked on grease.  I can share with you some other uses for baking soda.

Deodorant It is great for deodorizing, which is why you are supposed to put it in your fridge.  You can put it in your microwave if it is smells (from cheese).  You can sprinkle it on the carpet or bed if a kid or pet pees.  It can even be used on your person if you can't take a full shower (like on a 3 day yom tov).  Just rub a little on, and you are good to go until you can hit the shower.  It can also be mixed with coconut oil to make an actual deodorant!

Room fresher Put some in a mason jar with some essential oil of your choice.  I put lace on top with the outside part of the lid.  The oil needs to be added again after about two weeks.  Our bathroom has a nice orangey smell to it.

Shampoo I put some in an old shampoo bottle that had water in it. You can actually wash your hair with it.  It is a softener, so your hair will feel soft while it is on, and when you rinse it, it will feel squeaky clean.  (You can use vinegar for a rinse, and no, you won't smell like a salad when your hair dries.)  Just warn people before they shower, because the water is cold if you leave it sitting in the shower.  I just tilt my head back so if it runs off, it is going into the running water rather than down my back.

House hold cleaner It can be used in the dishwasher for detergent (but I haven't perfected that yet), and in the laundry.

I gotta make dinner and I can't really think of any other uses.

TTFN!  Go open that box of baking soda and find a new use and make sure you tell me.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Revisiting Celebrating without fattening foods


I am a liar.  I decided to make baked donuts.  (You knew I was going to do that, didn't you?)  I did it last year, and if I remember correctly, I was not 100% thrilled with it.  So what did I do?  What I always do when I have a question.  I went to Google University.  There seems to be a basic "vegan healthy doughnut recipe" (uh, is that an oxymoron to say doughnut and healthy in the same title?).  I don't know why I do this.  I find several recipes that have slight variations, and I print them all out.  To make sure that I don't have the same one as last year, I look it up in my cookbook.  Ha!  The note on that recipe says they are awesome! yay!  Oops.  Going to try a new one anyway.  So I compared them all and narrowed it down to this one, Better For You Baked Donuts.  I did make some changes.  Stop laughing!  I can't try a new recipe exactly the way it is written!

Here is my version of it:
  • 2 packages dry yeast
  • 1 tsp vanilla sugar
  • 1 tsp flour
  • 1/3 c warm water
  • 1/4 c Xylitol *
  • 2 tsp salt
  • (The recipe called for 2 tsp nutmeg.  I don't like nutmeg; I left it out.)
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 4 1/2 c white whole wheat flour, divided (I ended up using more.  I added about another cup of white flour)
  • 1/3 c coconut oil, melted
  • 1 1/2 c warm almond milk (or whatever you want to use instead)
  • whatever topping you want or filling (find your own recipe; I don't measure when I make icing)

  1. Proof the yeast (That means you need to put the yeast, sugar, and flour into a bowl. add very warm water, around 105-115 degrees; use a thermometer if you can't tell by touch.  Let it sit for a few minutes, about five, while you are busy with the next step.)
  2. Combine 2 c flour with the other dry ingredients, set aside.
  3. Melt coconut oil in microwave.  Warm the almond milk also.  (You can try to do both at the same time, but I didn't want the milk hot enough to melt the coconut oil, which is why I did it like that.)
  4. Add the melted coconut oil and almond milk to the yeast.  Add the flour and dry ingredients.  Mix this up real well.  (I used a bowl and a fork; not a mixer like the original recipe called for.)  Slowly add the remaining 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups flour.  You want a smooth dough that has no lumps.  If you add the extra flour, and it is still sticky, pour a little oil on the counter, and rub the dough in it on all sides.  Viola!  You should be able to knead it nicely for a minute or two until smooth.
  5. Put into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel (I soak mine in hot water and wring it real well), and put in a nice, warm spot.  Mine sat right next to the stove while I was cooking dinner.  Let rise until double in size, about an hour.  (If your kitchen is really warm, it may take less time.)
  6. Punch it down, and divide it into a few workable pieces.  I divided mine into four parts.  Dust your counter really well with flour.  I love this doo-hicky for that.
  7. Flatten your piece of dough until it is smooth and about a half inch thick.  I keep flipping it to cover it with flour, but you don't want too much, or you will get dry donuts.  Use whatever shape you want and cut out your donuts.  I used a few chanukah cookie cutters.
  8. Put your donuts on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Let rise about 20 minutes.  They don't spread, so you can put them sorta close together.  They rise up, so don't put them so they touch.
     

  9. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.  You want them to be slightly golden brown at the edges.  The original recipe called for 450, but those donuts cooked in like 4 minutes and didn't have time to rise too much.  Your own oven temperature may vary, so play with it a little.  You want them to rise and not burn at the same time.  

Remove them from the cookie sheet.  If you are using icing, you can ice them while they are hot. You can dip them in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.
You can ice them and add sprinkles, like Sheindy did.


If you are making jelly donuts, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUT THE JELLY IN WHILE THE DONUTS ARE HOT!  Trust me.  The jelly melts and you end up with a huge mess.  Ask me how I know, I dare you!  I use seedless raspberry preserves.  Shoshana likes grape jelly.

And there you have it.  These tasted really good.  They are not high in sugar or fat.  They are not deep fried.  IMHO, these are not the worst donuts you can eat.  They were actually really, really good, considering the amount of sweetness (not a lot) and that I used white whole wheat flour.  Sruli, my kid who is diametrically opposed to anything healthy, ate three of them.

You also need to listen to Benny Friedman while making these donuts.  It adds to the ambiance.  Sruli was the one who requested this song.  It got stuck in our heads, and we ended up replaying it a bunch of times.  "Don't let the light go out ... "


"The 8th day of Chanukah is known as "Zos Chanukah" (in earlier times it was called "Chanukas Hamiz'beach") named for the Torah portion we read. The day is mesugal for one to daven for; barren women to have children, for a Refuah Sheleimah, and for one to be blessed with increased Parnassah.
It is brought in the name of the Arizal, that the last day of Chanukah “Zos Chanukah” is the day of the "Gmar Hadin” the day when the verdict of Yom Kippur is finalized and signed off."  
(I told the kids tonight, Rosh Hoshana is when Hashem opens the book; Yom Kippur is when He makes the decree, Hoshana Rabba is when he closes the book, and Zos Chanukah is when he puts the book away until next Rosh Hoshana.  Shoshana said that it sure does take Hashem a long time to finish up.  I told her that this is because Hashem is giving us so many chances to do teshuva and change any decree.)

So eat up!  Last day for donuts and latkes until next Chanukah!

*I know that there is a lot of controversy around xylitol.  Here is my take on it.  Sugar is bad.  Bad, bad, bad.  It is addictive, it rots your teeth and makes you fat.  Xylitol is getting a bad rap because it is refined, like stevia.  However, it is not addictive, it is low in the glycemic index, and it won't make you fat.  You do have to be careful not to eat a lot, because it will upset your stomach.  this recipe calls for a 1/4 cup, and you get something like 36-40 donuts out of this recipe.  Meaning you will get such a little amount that it isn't worth getting worried over.  Unless you are eating the entire batch.  Even that much xylitol won't hurt you, but that many donuts is going to get you one humongous stomach ache!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Can you celebrate without fattening food?

I am going to share a little secret with you ... I am officially the wicked witch of the East, the Grinch that has stolen Chanukah, the rotten, mean mommy who just can't seem to bring herself to make horrible, rotten food for her kids.  OK, I take that back ... I did give in and made latkes last night.

See, I have a reason for not making donuts and sugar cookies (like I ALWAYS, ALWAYS do, every single Chanukah).  First, I do believe that certain foods are associated with certain holidays.  In our house, it isn't Pesach if there isn't rolled up eggies.  Who wants to eat honey cake in June, or eat blintzes in December?  It just isn't happening.  So in our house, it has been a tradition for years .. latkes, donuts, and sugar cookies.  I have a gazillion chanukah cookie cutters (Ok, about 20 of them are magen dovids, about 50 of them are menorahs and dreidles, and a few of them are those big Macabee guys whose sword or leg falls off when you try to pull the cookie cutter from the cookie dough.)  I have this fantastic recipe that uses colored sprinkles (not the long ones, the little round ones that are hard little balls).  It is so yummy, and I am not kidding when I say that the kids look forward to it all year.

So this year I just couldn't do it.  I can't bring myself to do it because ... <whispers> ... i lost my self control!  I just can't seem to stop from eating the sweets.  I lost a lot of weight.  I've struggled for years and years with my weight.  I was rarely technically over weight.  I was just at the high end of normal, and I hated it with a passion.  I finally got wise. I kicked the sugar habit.  I started eating healthy, exercised, and watched my portions.  I dropped the weight and was thrilled.  Then I had an issue, and stopped exercising for a while.  The weight was staying off, so fine.  But this past summer, I started eating sweets again.  BIG MISTAKE!  I've put on a few pounds. Not a lot, but enough to make me mad at myself, for all the hard work I've done.  Now it seems like it is going to go down the drain.  Or rather, show up in my pot belly.  (Yeah, I may be thin, but I am telling you that my internal organs are packing on the fat.)  I can't make donuts or cookies because ... I will hide them in the freezer and eat them myself.

Like I said, I did give in to the pleading and made the kids latkes.  Now if you don't know what a latke, it is potato pancakes that soak up as much oil as possible.  You can put them on a paper towel to try and blot them out, but forget it.  The oil is just staying there.  There is probably enough oil in each latke to fill a cup of a menorah.

 I was sooooo proud of myself.  I did not taste a single one while frying them. Not one.  That was part of my problem, I reasoned.  Don't stand around sampling them until you've eaten 5 or 6 without even realizing it.

And then ... and then ... I sit down to dinner and reward myself with TWO latkes.  Yeah me.  Wrong.  They were yummy, so I decided to eat just one more. And then one more.  And then one more.  At that point, I stopped, but I was still annoyed.  So much for myself control.
 

Come on, admit it ... your mouth is watering, isn't it?  You can almost hear those sizzling in the pan, right?
So now I ask you ... since you know my horrible secret, can it really be a holiday without fattening food?  Can you have Chanukah without donuts?  Is the food what makes the holiday?  Why have we reached the point where my kids told me that this is the worst chanukah ever since I was not making them the traditional foods?  This came after I broke down and <gasp> bought the kids chanukah presents.  (Shauly was shocked that I did.  We give chanukah gelt, no presents.  Well, he was shocked until he heard what they got ... they got bike helmets that they all needed.)

Why do we associate food with holidays, and more important, how do we break away from this?  I've tried baked latkes in the past; they stink. They are not real latkes.  Last year I made baked donuts.  Guess who ended up eating them?  And slipping the white whole wheat flour into the donuts and cookies makes it worse.  (Some of them are starting to figure out that I am using a lot less white flour.)

*sigh*  So, if you happen to have a really good recipe for a low-sugar, not fried donut, or a low sugar sugar cookie recipe, let me know. After spending several hours searching for some, I realized this ... if you take the sugar out of a sugar cookies, and the frying out of a donut, you will get exactly that ... a poor substitute for the real thing.

OK, enough.  I am actually going to make some crackers and I hope that this will make everyone happy.  Maybe I will use my chanukah cookie cutters!


Happy Chanukah and a Gutten Chodesh!  Wishing everyone a g'bentched month, and we should all merit to celebrate the ultimate Chanukas HaBayis, the Bais Hamikdash Shleeshi.  (I was basically saying I want Moshiach Now.)

Monday, December 2, 2013

Shopping local

Ok, I am going to say this, and yes, I can say it.  I am a cheap Jew. (I am not racist for saying it; I'm Jewish!  LOL.  I can say it.  But you can't call me that, because then YOU will be a racist.  Nah.  I don't care. I am a cheap Jew, and it doesn't bother me if you call me one as well.  As long as you say it with a smile in your voice.)  I love a bargain.  I love knowing that I didn't pay full price for something, and that I did get the best price out there.

I am not sure of the age of everyone reading my blog, so I will give you a little background.  Before the Internet (yes, there was a time when there WAS no internet, just like there were no VCRs, oh wait a minute ... you don't know what a VCR is, do you?), you used to get the Sunday paper.  In the paper was all the ads for the week.  You could compare which stores had the best prices for a certain item.  You could go to the store and buy it.

Then came the magic of the internet. Suddenly, you could look online, and find the item for a better price. Sometimes shipping would eat up the cost of the savings, sometimes not.

But then came the apps on your phone that took it one step farther. You can walk into Bed, Bath, & Beyond, scan the bar code, and find out that Amazon had this gadget for cheaper.  I have no problem with this if you are planning on buying it from BB& B and getting the Amazon price.  (They do that, you know!  I got the cool ice cream maker that I just had to have, and then only used once from there.)  I have a problem with walking into Target, look at an object you KNOW you are going to buy online, but you want to see it in person.  IMHO, this is wrong.  Just plain wrong.

Here we get into the cost of doing business.  When you take all your business online, you drive local business out of business. Big whoop, right?  You'll still be getting the better price, right?  Wrong.  I am not going to go into an explanation of capitalism, but suffice it to say that the more businesses there are, the better the consumer fairs.  For example, way back when I was pregnant with Goldie (in 1990!), the two local private hospitals were having a war to attack pregnant women.  They were wooing us like crazy.  Newly renovated rooms!  Steak dinners on your way home in a limo!  When I had my last two babies, no more war, no more wooing.  Just hello, thanks for using us, bye-bye.  Competition drives the businesses to offer you the best product or service, knowing that you can go elsewhere.  When you take away the competition, you end up with prices going up, and little choice.

I am IY"H (please G-d) going to make a quilt for my grandson.  An I-Spy quilt.  They use A LOT of fabric.  Lots of different fabrics.  I have a ton, but the last few I made were for girls.

IMG_0219
I had my eye on several fabrics I wanted.  I did go to our local quilt shops.  We have a whooping TWO quilt shops.  I am not talking fabric from Joanns or Hancocks or Hobby Lobby. I want fabric that will last through throw up and hot washes and all that other gross stuff kids do on their quilts.  Anyway, I did buy from both stores, and I ordered online.

Why am I going on about this today?  Because each of those stores were SOOOO thankful for my business.  I made a point of telling them I was shopping local. I go to the little toy store near my house every once in a while.  Why?  Because when I need a gift in a hurry, I don't want to find that they are closed and now my only choice is Target.  When I want to make sure that the color of the fabric is the right blue or what have you, I don't want to wait for my order to arrive, only to find out that I ordered puke green instead of pretty green.

Shop local.  Support your neighbors, and keep capitalism alive and well in your community.  And now that I have all my fabric, from two online stores and two local stores, I can get down to the fun part of actually planning the quilt.


(BTW, one good thing about Internet shopping is being able to find something you can't find locally.  None of my stores had the "black and white cookie" fabric that I just had to have.  That picture came from Fabric Paradise if you need some too.  The owner is a doll, very easy to work with.  She has loads of cool fabric too.  I don't work there or get anything for plugging them; just a happy customer.)


Now if only I could find a money to support my spending habit ....

Happy Shopping!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Messianics

I am going to start by saying that I am really sorry if this offends anyone.  This is my blog, my thoughts, and as far as I know, this is still a free country, and I am still entitled to have these thoughts.

Tonight was our Chanukah program, Chanukah On Ice.  It's a lot of fun.  We rent out the local ice skating rink.  We play Jewish music, light the menorah, have arts and crafts and sell kosher food.  This year we had some unwelcome guests, messianics.  Yes, I did go over and ask about them (what's your name-where are you from-what synagogue do you attend?).  They had no problem letting me know that they are from Tikvat Israel, our local Messianic church. The guy claimed to be Jewish, with a Jewish mother. Sorry, but I know a Jew when I see one.  There is no way, no way at all that this guy was Jewish.  It is like a sixth sense.  He claimed that he doesn't believe in yehoshua, which is what the messianics call him.  Yeah, he isn't one, my foot.  I did tell them that I was going to let everyone know who they were. And I did.  Anyone who got within 10 feet was warned.

The thing that really, really gets me is this -- We are there celebrating our religious freedom.  The Syrian-Greeks were bent on taking the Jewishiness out Judaism.  I've said it before, it's OK to light Shabbos candles, because they are so pretty.  It's OK to eat kosher, because it is good for your body.  It's NOT OK to light Shabbos candles to show that G-d created the world in six days.  It is NOT OK to eat kosher just because G-d told us to, even if we don't understand why.  This is exactly what they are trying to do to us again.  They use trickery and lies to steal Jewish souls away.  They tell us to believe in their god, and you can still be a Jew. It's a total and complete load of baloney.  It goes against the basic Jewish beliefs to believe in a man as a god.  Why do they have to come to our programs?  Why do they have to slap us in the face like that?

And more important, why do people not care?  So many people kept asking me why they were there.  They all said that it's a public forum, they can't kick them out. No one needs to make them feel welcome.  Call them out for what they are.  They are liars and thieves of the worst kind.

Shame on them for showing up.  And yes, you are listening to a modern day Yehudis who would not let them do their dirty, evil work.  I will call them out for what they are.  I do hope that at the Jewish Food Festival there will be others who will be strong enough to call them out and make them feel very unwelcome.  It's time to take a stand and protect our children and protect those who don't know any better.

Happy Chanukah -- night number 5 - A special night where there is more light than darkness.