My blogging as guided by a six yr old

Can you please tell me I'm not the only one - sometimes I just can't remember my kids' names! It's not that there are so many of them, but there are usually at least 7 other things going on in my brain while I am trying to address the concern of my little bundle of joy - whatshisname.

Today's episode - Netanel Chimes In

Mommy is cooking dinner in the kitchen, chopping carrots and sweet potatoes for red lentil soup (recipe below!). She just managed to put the baby down in the salon to play with his siblings, and is just beginning to feel the sweetness of working with two hands - when chaos strikes!

A toy was grabbed, hair was pulled, crying ensues...

Mommy (calling from the kitchen as she chooses between curry and cumin, finally deciding on both): Netanel, can you please help with sh-oh-ne- the- that-"

Netanel (incredulously): Yitzchak?

Mommy: Yes! Please help him to stop crying.

Netanel (now with impunity): Mooommy! What? You don't even know you're child's name? 

Mommy (absently, stirring the soup): sometimes.

Netanel (with the know-it-all essence only a six year old can convey): (chuckles) you don't even know your kids' names! Blog that!

So I did. :-)

Absent-minded One-handed Red Lentil Soup recipe:

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped

3 carrots, chopped or grated

2 sweet potatoes, in chunks

1 apple, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 liters of water

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

spices: salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, curry, 1 bay leaf, 4 whole cloves, 4 dried myrtle berries

Sautee onion in olive oil over low heat (that way it doesn't burn while you run to wipe a nose, flush a toilet, sooth some tears, etc...)

add carrots, sweet potato, apple

add the ground spices and stir until aromatic

add garlic, sautee for about 30 seconds

add water, bring to a boil (you wanna raise the heat now!)

throw  in the lentils and the bay leaf, cloves and berries (if you're not sure what these are, you can skip them!)

Simmer for about an hour, remove bay leaf, cloves and berries, and hit that pot with an immersion blender!

(If it seems like it still needs something, it does - lemon juice. Squeeze in about a 1/4 cup of lemon juice and you will have soupy bliss!)

Fresh bread and butter... heaven!

The most delicious thing in the world, in my opinion, is a generous glob of butter spread on fresh-out-of-the-oven bread. Sprinkle on some sea salt, and life just got even better!

So due to popular demand ;-) here is my favorite
Quick and Easy Bread Recipe (that you can even make by hand!)

Ingredients:
4-6 cups flour (any type, I use 100% Whole Wheat and it comes out awesome!)
2 Tbs yeast
2 Tbs brown sugar or honey
1 Tbs kosher salt
3 cups warm water
(for crusty bread: a cake pan of hot water)

Directions:
proof yeast  w/ water and sugar
In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour with the salt
Add the bubbly yeast mixture a little at a time while stirring (I like to use the "Well" method, if you're not familiar, leave a comment!)
cover and let stand for about 20 minutes
Add enough flour to make a soft but sturdy dough
Form into 2 round loaves, or 10-12 rolls, whatever suits your needs
cover and let rise 30 minutes
run a knife over the top of each loaf to allow air to escape during baking (make a very shallow cut)

Put the bread in a cold oven and turn on to 400F/205C
place a cake pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven for crusty bread!
Bake for 40 min for loaves, 1/2 hour for rolls

As soon as it's cool enough to handle, cut yourself a slice and spread some butter on it, your tastebuds will love you forever!!

Enjoy!

The non-existential post

There's something brewing just under the surface of my consciousness, and it's not the coffee. It's a transformation I'm experiencing and I have been trying to express it in words for the past month to no avail.

Yesterday I applied myself to the task. The house was quiet, Yoram was doing work for a client, the kids were asleep, I'd had a productive day. I opened up a new post in blogger and started to write - nothing. I tried WordPress, thinking it might help to use a different format. Still nothing. So I shut off the internet and opened a document in OpenOffice, thinking that if I treat it as a random piece of writing as opposed to something I plan on sharing with the world, maybe the creative juices would start flowing... Not even a sentence emerged.

I closed my computer, and dug out a pen and a paper notebook - I abandoned the idea of a title or any purpose at all, just allowed the pen to flow along the sheets of lined paper... It did flow, which I discovered when I woke up half an hour later with ink marks on my hand and my cheek!

So I've decided to let that go for now. Apparently this new experience is not ready to have an expression outside of myself yet. 

Since I am sure that you are now reading this feeling very let down and disappointed, fear not! I will not leave you thus sulking in uncertainty and anticipation! I will leave you with something much more substantial and exciting than the expression of my existential transformation could possibly achieve...

Recipes! 

I made a really delicious salmon for Shavuot that was inspired by a recipe in Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions. I humbly submit it for your enjoyment:

Salmon and Scallions

Ingredients:

• 5-7 salmon fillets
• bunch of green onions (scallions) chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• 1" chunk of ginger, grated
• 1/4 C soy sauce
• 1/4 C rice vinegar
• 1/4 C honey
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

• preheat oven to 350F/190C 
• lightly grease a 9x13 pan or use parchment paper
• lay fillets, skin side down in the pan
• sprinkle chopped scallions over salmon
• in a bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over salmon
• cover tightly and bake 15-20 minutes until just done.
• toasted sesame seeds (I prefer toasting them myself, just toss them in a hot skillet until they get brown - but careful not to let them burn!)

I served this at room temperature and then again the next day (and then again a few days later!)

Leftovers keep very well in the fridge

So what are you serving this with?? 

How about:

Sweet and Spicy Veggies w/ Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice, cooked*
• 4-5 large carrots cut into coins
• 1 bunch spinach
• 3 Tbs butter or oil
• 1/4 C honey
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

*You can prepare any rice you like in your favorite way. My personal favorite is whole grain basmati rice which I toast with some olive oil before adding boiling water. 

• wash spinach but don't dry it, just shake off excess water, set aside.
• In a medium saucepan (larger than 2 quarts) melt butter over med heat
• Add carrots and stir to coat
• Cover pot and cook carrots until they just begin to soften (~3-5 min) 
• Add spinach and stir
• Cover pot again and cook another 5 minutes (just enough for the spinach to get wilted and the carrots to soften)
• add the rest of the ingredients and stir to coat
• cook, covered, another 5 minutes
• toss over rice and serve!

The nutritional benefits of this complete meal are fantastic! The combination of the fish with the rice and lightly cooked vegetables ensure that all the nutrients: protein, calcium, iron, carotenes, Vitamins B and C (just to name a few!) are all at their highest levels of bio-availability! (that means your body will actually be able to absorb and use the nutrients in this meal when it is served together.)

בתאבון!

Enjoy!

Lucky/Unlucky Me

There are always leftovers of the lunches from my son's preschool. Most of the time someone knows someone who could really use free food. But occasionally it's offered up to the first parent to arrive at pick up with a car.

Today I was the lucky one. Since there's no school tomorrow I decided, "what they hey? It'll make my life a little easier tomorrow." So I left with a large plastic bag of gov't issue preschool lunch. Then I got home and looked at what it was.

Unlike my experience in my son's NJ school, we do not receive a menu, and although I ask Netanel what he eats for lunch, I don't always get a straight answer. So this was my first exposure to the actual food that he is being served on a daily basis. I was devastated.

In one plastic container, I found greasy pasta which seemed to be seasoned with soup mix. The second container had canned green beans in a watery red sauce. I can only assume there was a protein main dish that had been finished. Based on what I was looking at for sides, I can only imagine that the main dish was something just as pitiful. Fried, breaded chicken breast? Maybe.

I feel defeated! In my house we eat only whole wheat flour, we stay away from refined sugars, we eat mostly vegetables and fruit, grains and legumes. We have limited dairy intake too. Netanel's behavior is so easily affected by his food, so I try to be very vigilant over what he eats. Why should he be reprimanded for behavior problems caused by the food I give him? If I allow him the occasional treat, we discuss it before hand. I ask him, "Who's in control, Netanel? You or the sugar?" And he tells me that he is, and I tell him that if he is unable to control himself, I will restrain him, and then he can choose to eat the treat or not. Now I feel as if all my hard work is a complete waste of time!

I want to take on the system, get in touch with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, and start a campaign to bring healthy food to our children. I know it's been done in other places, and I think it's even being done here in some areas of the country. At the same time, I'm so reluctant to take something else onto my heavily burdened shoulders.

This is Netanel's last year in Gan, but next year Odeliya will be starting, with Yitzchak not far behind. Something needs to be done about this, and soon. I am so open to ideas of how to go about this, or maybe even find other people who are already working on getting healthy, fresh food to our kids' schools who's bandwagon I can conveniently jump on.

Till then, I'm going to sleep.

15 Minute Oat Muffins

By popular demand, here is my favorite muffin recipe - these muffins are so easy and bake so fast, and you can add anything you want to them (including things your kids won't eat!) The original version of this recipe came from my mother in law, but I modified it.

You can literally be eating your muffins in 15 minutes from now! I've even made these for breakfast - before coffee!

Ok, here it is:
15 Minute Oat Muffins

Ingredients:
1 Cup Rolled Oats (you can use the quick oats, but I prefer the old fashioned type - better flavor)
1 Cup flour (or oat bran, or whole wheat flour or wheat germ)
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or any other extract)
1/2 Cup apple juice or soy milk (today I used white grape juice, you can also use water if you don't have anything else)
1/4 Cup oil
2 eggs
1/3 Cup sugar or honey
Extras: raisins, blueberries, chopped apple, mashed banana, flax seeds, nuts, chocolate chips, pomegranate seeds, etc... (and that's just what I've tried it with! Try combining groups of extras - it's like trail mix in a muffin!)

Preheat the oven to 425 F
Mix all ingredients together
Fill 2 standard sized muffin tins, filling each cup about 3/4 full
Bake for 12-15 min

בתאבון! Enjoy!

Oh Joyful Rapture! Gloriously Delicious Soup!

You mean not everyone gets this excited about soup?? But it's SOUP. Soooup. In the winter... hot, cozy, creamy or chunky, spicy, comforting soup.

And I do believe, in my humble opinion, that I've mastered the art of zuccinni soup. I challenge any of you to make this soup and tell me it's not the best zucchini soup you've ever eaten!

Ok, here it is:

Ayelet's Mother of all Zucchini Soup

Ingredients:
1 Tbs oil or butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp chopped fresh red chili pepper
(or 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper)
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 carrot, shredded
7-8 zucchini, cut into chunks
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice or 1/4 tsp lemon salt

Directions:
In a large pot, sautee onions in oil just until translucent, add the chili pepper and stir. (Do this even if you are using cayenne!)
Add the potatoes and carrots, continue to cook over med heat for about 3-5 minutes.
Add the zucchini and pour in enough water just to cover.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer and stir occasionally for 45 min - 1 hour.
Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste, and the lemon.
(Trust me, you won't taste the lemon. It just adds the right amount of acidity to bring out all the taste!)
If you have an immersion blender, use it now! If not just let the soup continue to simmer until everything is mushy and smooth.

Serve, and Enjoy!!!

My kids finished their bowls - this is big news!
I've currently had about 4 bowls and even Tzachi couldn't get enough of it! He loved it!

The Olives that Irked Me

On the way to Odeliya's day care there is this one house that has a small grove of olive tree that hang over onto the path. As the olive harvest began back in Sept, the kids started to notice the olives ripening on the trees and I pointed out that soon the owners would harvest their olives and they can pickle them or press them into oil. (The local olive oil factory will actually press your olives for you!) But as the olives continued to ripen, and we started noticing more and more olives on the ground, I started to get annoyed.

It is a fact that this year's olive harvest was particularly slim - olive oil prices here have gone up because of it, and here's a family with enough olives for maybe 2-3 liters of oil and they're letting it rot! They are going to go to the supermarket and buy bottles of olive oil and cans of pickles olives, instead of harvesting their bounty! And now there's fewer bottles on the shelf for people like me that don't have the privilege of having olive trees!

We talk about depletion and lack - there is no lack in the Universe! Hashem's bounty is abundant! But we are lacking in our self-preservation, because we think that the things we use come from the store. We forget where the things we need really originate - and that's in the Earth.

I remember one Sunday back in the US (when Sundays were a day off!) when Yoram was putting up shelves and needed more wood. So Netanel, then barely 3 years old, said, "So we need to go to Home Depot to get more!" I asked him, "Netanel, where does the wood come from?" and he answered, "Home Depot." At which point we educated him on lumber and the process of turning trees into shelves. We watched videos online and looked at books, and now he knows that wood comes from trees.

I think we all need to take a step back and remember where the things we buy come from and the work that goes into putting it there. Before I buy something from the store, I ask myself if this is something that I could conceivably make on my own. And if the answer is yes, then I do.And I'll leave that product on the shelf for someone who can't conceivably make it on their own.

I Can Make Soymilk!

And so can you! As I write this I am enjoying a cup of fresh, sweet, vanilla chai tea! Mmmmm..... heaven!
I know that you are thinking, "How can she not know about all the information about the problems with too much soy and the estrogen content and all that stuff?" Well, here's the real deal. If you eat mostly whole foods, and any soy products you do eat come from actual soybeans that you purchase or grow on your own, then you don't have to worry about all that stuff. The problem is what they're doing to the soy, not the soy itself.

If you're eating mostly processed foods (i.e. anything with an ingredient list of more than 2) Then you are most likely exposing yourself to processed soy parts. Soy protein isolate, soy powder, soy lecithin, hydrogenated soybean oil, etc... Our bodies don't know what to do with that junk! So we hit maximum soy toxicity levels and have all sorts of unwanted problems like allergic reactions and estrogen imbalance.

Soy, as a whole food, is just like eating kidney beans, for example, or lentils. And the health benefits and nutritional benefits are wonderful.

Er, ahem. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: "Learning Your 7 Times Tables With Hands On Examples" - I mean, uh, "How to Make Your Own Homemade Soymilk" (I've been awake for waaaaay too many hours this week!)

I watched this video:


Practical "tachliss" recipe:
2 Cups dry soybeans, soaked overnight in 4 cups of water
~ 7-8 cups water
sweetener/flavorings to taste.

equipment:
blender
cheesecloth (or a nylon knee-high like I use! Doesn't everyone have pantyhose as kitchen utensils?!?)
a large pot
an extra bowl

yields (i before e, except after c. Yes, I did just say that.) about a liter and a half of soymilk.

I have one thing to add. Before you put the pot on the fire, rub some vegetable oil on the inside of the rim, it will prevent it from boiling over. 
Also, I highly recommend blending the beans for at least 2 minutes, as he says, otherwise your milk will be very watery.
And another thing: Don't throw out that soy meal! You can use it to make bread, or muffins, or soy burgers! Or just add it to your next smoothie for an extra kick of protein! (and this is one of those i/e exceptions that remind me how much I love my spellcheck!)

If you try it, please do let me know how it came out for you! I am thouroughly enjoying my tea!

Wonderful Tasty Chard!

I bought chard in the market this week b/c we've been low on dark green leafies, so I decided to get creative for preparing it. Here's my original recipe for  

Chard Salad w/ Cooked Grains
5 stalks chard (red or green)
1 leek
3 cloves garlic
1 cup barley
1 cup rice
~3 Tbs olive or sunflower oil

Directions:
Cook up the barley and rice (i did it separately, but you could probably cook them together and save time.
chop up chard, leek and garlic
sautee lightly in oil with some salt and pepper

refrigate all components separately.
before serving toss together with some fresh cilantro and lemon juice
Enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom from the Land of Milk and Honey!