Chocolate Cake (Vegan)

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My go-to cake lately is chocolate cake. And it's a super simple recipe. (And more often than not, one of my kids makes it.) And it always gets compliments. AND it's vegan!

So since several people asked about it, I'm posting it here. 

The thing about this recipe is it's deep chocolate flavor. REAL dutched cocoa is the secret. If possible, don't use any other kind. And certainly don't substitute with that weird powder Israelis call chocolate for baking. It will be all wrong, so just don't, ok? Thanks!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

This recipe makes 2 cakes - 9 inch round or 8 inch square both work. Actually, this week I made it in my 8.5 inch bread pans and it was extra moist and delicious!

3 cups flour (I used 80% whole spelt, but really any flour should work)
2/3 cups dutched cocoa powder (I get it in the shuk in Teverya, I'm sure you can find it other places too. If you live near me, you can join our group orders from the store that carries them! Be in touch!)
2 cups sugar
0.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

MIX all the above together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center.

Add:
1/3 cup oil (I use sunflower oil, but use whatever you prefer)
1 cup cold coffee (plain, unsweetened, no milk, nothing whatsover added!)
1 cup cold water
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

MIX everything together until well combined. Pour batter into lined or greased and floured pans.

Optional, but highly recommended: 1/2 bag or more of chocolate chips - sprinkled on top!

Bake at 190C for about 35 minutes (test with a toothpick before declaring them done). Cool before cutting.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

 

5-minute supper!

 

Tonight, I wanted soup. But I didn't want to spend time in the kitchen, obviously. (That's what extreme burnout does to me...)

So I took stock of what I had on hand and it hit me: with just 5 minutes of work, we can have tomato soup with rice and croutons!

Here's what I did:

Tomato Soup with Rice

1-1.5 cups leftover cooked brown rice
1 large can crushed tomatoes

Water - the amount that fits in the empty can
1/2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. dried garlic flakes
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of hot pepper flakes
a couple dashes of coarsely ground black pepper

Mix it all together in a pot and heat on the stove until heated all the way through.
Serve with croutons.

Quick croutons

Several pieces of leftover challah/bread
spray oil
granulated garlic
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Cut the challah/bread into small pieces. Sprinkle salt, garlic, and pepper over the pieces of bread. Spray with oil.
Bake at 220C until golden brown.
Serve with soup or salad.

Enjoy!!

Find more quick meal ideas HERE

Banana Coconut Bread (with a twist of lime) - "Tropical Coffee Cake" (Vegan)

I made a last minute banana bread on Friday, but I didn't have much sifted flour left on hand, and I had a LOT of mushy bananas (note to self: stop buying too many bananas!).

I also had a lot of limes. Our lime tree has been giving us SO many limes!

(But the lemon tree. Don't ask me about the lemon tree! It's got about 3 lemons on it. What a stingy lemon tree - the lime tree is way more generous.)

So, I decided it would be banana with coconut and lime. And I am a fan. The kids seemed to like it, too - they pretty much polished off this cake without leaving any for me.

Here's what I did:

Banana Coconut Bread, with a twist of lime

3-4 overripe bananas, mashed well
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. oil
1 T. chia seeds
2/3 c. water

juice of 1 lime
1 cup flour
1.5  c. shredded coconut                                                                       
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
 

First combine all the wet ingredients, and then mix in the dry ingredients.

Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 180 C for about 1 hr.

You can make muffins instead if you like, use a greased muffin tin or paper liners, and bake for about 30 minutes.

This is a pretty dense loaf, though! So - keep that in mind.

It went well with my coffee! I'll call it my "Tropical Coffee Cake"!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Bar Cookies with Chocolate (Recipe)

Cookies.

When you're more or less living in lockdown (as we're all doing right now due to the pandemic), sometimes you just need some cookies!

And personally, I can't get enough of these peanut butter and chocolate creations - and the recipe is super simple so ... well, let's just say I've been making them a little too often!

So, for those of you who've been asking as well as those of you who didn't know to ask, here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Bar Cookies with Chocolate Topping

Cookie bars:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup Demerara sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir everything together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Spread out in a large pan (9x13 or so). It will be relatively thin and that's all good.
Bake at 180 C for 20-22 minutes. Turn off oven.

Topping:
1 bar bittersweet chocolate. If you want it extra chocolate-y, use 2 bars. You could totally do this with milk chocolate if you prefer, but I like to keep my baking pareve (dairy allergy!)!

Break the bar up and put it on top of the baked cookie layer (uncut). Return the pan to your still-warm (but off) oven. Leave it in the warm oven for about 8-10 min. Remove from oven when the chocolate is warm and spreadable. Use a silicone spatula to spread the chocolate evenly on top of the cookie layer. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into cookie bars.

Cool further before you eat them.

Enjoy!

Please tag me on Instagram (@kosher_frugal) or FB (@kosherfrugalmenus) if you make them!

Summer Craziness... Shabbat is almost here AGAIN!

This summer has flown!! I cannot tell you how crazy it's been for us this summer. Just trust me, it's been crazy, and I feel like every week just gets to its end before I even had time to get started!
I've been working 'round the clock on some new projects and some old projects, hanging out with friends and family, and in the process, totally neglecting this blog. I'm so sorry!
I still love you all, I'm just truly in over my head... Please bear with me, ok? 

So it's Thursday, and normally I would post a new recipe or something, but I just have barely been able to keep my family fed, let alone clean my kitchen. So... no new pictures today! 

But since some of you asked about my "crock-pot" roast a couple of weeks ago, I'll just write out what I did. Feel free to make it and take pictures - mine was only finished cooking on Shabbat, and then it got eaten up, so there were no pictures:

Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker:

Cheapest beef I found was #8 (on sale) so I used that, this last time it was a 2+ kg piece.
4 onions, sliced
10 garlic cloves, sliced
crushed black pepper
Silan (pure date honey) (I used about 1/8 cup, as that's all that was left in my jar)

Place some onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock. Put the beef on top of that. It was a large piece, so I piled more onions and garlic on it and then sort of folded the beef over that. Top with more garlic and onions. Top with as much black pepper as you like, and then pour silan over it all. Cover the crock pot. Cook on low till Shabbat lunch.
Everyone who ate it loved it (I don't eat beef, so I can't personally tell you how it was, though it definitely smelled delicious!)!
Enjoy!

Other Shabbat recipes you may want to use:

Our favorite challah is Whole Spelt and Oat Bran Challah (can be made with Whole Wheat, as well)

We always like Split Pea Soup (though it's a bit hot for that now!) or Vegetable Soup - but I think I've only made soup once this entire summer! Soup season will be back before you know it, though!

Favorite Chicken Recipe: Oven Fried Chicken

Favorite Kugels: Potato Kugel and Broccoli (or other vegetable) Kugel

Unfortunately, I can't post "Favorite Salads" because my kids are so picky and really only eat plain cut vegetables... Though lately it's gotten better. Some of them eat a few salads now, so I hope to post our favorites at some point (when life is calmer).

But most of us really like Vegetarian Liver, served on a bed of lettuce and garnished with tomatoes, pickles and olives (for some).

Most weeks we also have Black Bean Cholent for lunch.

And for dessert, brownies and cinnamon cake are always winners!

Let me know if you try out any of my recipes! I'd love to hear from you!

What's on your family's favorite list?

Be sure to follow my Facebook Page, I post updates there even when I don't post a whole blog post. I'd love to stay in touch with you!

Spicy Lentil Sauce Recipe (Vegan)

I'm always looking for new ways to make quick and easy and healthy weekday meals.
And we all know that rice and legumes is the most frugal way to feed a family, almost anywhere in the world!

So with that in mind, and armed with the knowledge that my family doesn't love their foods pre-mixed for them - they prefer to mix it themselves (or not) - I started serving rice bowls.

That is, rice, and things to go on top of the rice. Because this way, everyone can choose how much of each thing they want to mix into their bowl. Or they can choose to eat each thing separately on a plate. And I don't have to spend any more energy thinking about whether this one eats onions but that one doesn't, and that one eats dairy, but this one doesn't...

So this spicy sauce worked really well with long grain brown rice and roasted veggies (yes, I roasted each vegetable in its own pan, to keep the everything "clean"). I filled up my rice bowl with rice and roasted veggies and then ladeled this on top, and it was just right!

So here's my spicy lentil sauce:

1 cup lentils (picked over and rinsed)
3 cups water
lots of sliced or diced garlic
harissa (hot pepper sauce I buy in a can) to taste
tomato paste (I used about 100g)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Cook the lentils with the water and the garlic till soft.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.
Simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
Serve hot!

picture taken with my junky phone, sorry

Gluten Free "Bread" Experiment

I was asked to make sure I have a bread substitute for this Shabbat for someone eating here who has recently gone gluten free and is not so happy about it.

Gluten Free breads tend to be very pricey in my neck of the woods, so I figured I should save a bunch of money making my own! But I didn't want to spend a lot of time patchey-ing, and I didn't want to use starch and xanthum gum to figure something out...

So I thought back to that Techina Bread that made the rounds one Pesach in the not-so-distant past, and that I had made using cashew butter for Pesach (as we are not kitniyot eaters). I remembered it being slightly more cake-like than bread-like, so I decided to tweak it a bit. No, this is not a real bread that you can make "hamotzi" on, but I think anyone who really cannot eat gluten doesn't need to make hamotzi, so it's ok (that's my understanding, but I'm not giving you a halachic psak - check with your halachic authority).

The Techina bread recipe calls for eggs, techina, honey, and baking soda. That's it! Hoping to make it a bit more like a hearty, whole grain bread, I changed things up a bit.

Here's my version:

4 eggs
1/2 cup techina
2 tablespoons silan
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp flaxseed
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds (+ more for topping, if you want)
pinch of salt

Mix together eggs, techina, silan, salt, and baking soda - mix well with a whisk until thoroughly combined and batter thickens slightly. Fold in seeds.
Fill greased baking pan(s) - I used 3 mini loaf pans, but it can certainly be made in 1 loaf pan for one loaf
 - and sprinkle extra sesame seeds on top (optional).

Bake 25-35 min at 180 C (about 360 degrees F) It turned a rich golden-brown color, and resembles a whole grain bread (at least that!)!

Hoping it goes over well! I nibbled one and it's definitely less cake-like than my last experiment! I liked it! Hoping my picky "customer" enjoys it too!

Let me know if you give it a try!

Black Lentil Soup

Yum.

Black Lentil Soup is SO much more flavorful and delicious than Green Lentil Soup.

Yes, black lentils are a little more expensive, BUT very worthwhile for this soup. It is a difference of a couple of shekels, I believe. If you can't do that right now, this soup also works well with other varieties of lentils.

This recipe is so easy! In addition,  you can vary it somewhat to your preferences by adjusting the quantities and types of vegetables. Feel free to get creative! I actually made it a bit heartier today by adding a couple of diced potatoes to the pot.

Black Lentil Soup

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
4-6 carrots, sliced or diced
6+ cups water
500g black lentils
seasonings: salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, whatever else you like


Pick over the lentils (there are often stones in the black lentils) and rinse them. Set them aside. Heat olive oil in soup pot. Add chopped onion, chopped garlic, diced celery and carrots to olive oil. cook till onion is starting to carmelize. Add 6 or more cups water (depending on your pot) and the lentils. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 min. Add seasonings (I used pasley, salt, pepper, and oregano, sometimes smoked paprika), and simmer a few more minutes. It should be nice and thick and fragrant when you serve it...

My family loves to pair this with fresh rolls, but garlic bread or pitot works well too! 

This can be a quick meal on it's own, or the start to a bigger meal.
Enjoy!

GF Noodle Kugel (pareve)

Lately, we've been doing a lot of Shabbat hosting - every week we find ourselves with a houseful of guests! It's really amazing to do this, and reminds us that we have a direct line to the tradition of hosting, passed down from Avraham and Sarah...

I won't lie and say it is simple, though. It's a lot of work to host all the time, so I decided to try to streamline my cooking -- I found I was getting overwhelmed -- even more than before. And I think I've done it! Shabbat prep isn't quite as overwhelming as it used to be (granted, some of this is related to the fact that it's Summer, and Shabbat starts late, but I'm trying to convince myself that it's more than that!)!

One of the things that I have begun to do is make several kugels in multiples (and I do this on Thursday) - so all of our side dishes Friday night and Shabbat morning are actually identical.

Most weeks I make 4-6 kugels, but it's not that much work.

Here's one of my new go-to recipes, because it's so easy, and works for almost everyone's food issues (but not vegans, sorry) and is not expensive at all to make. I also take shortcuts and don't make lots of dirty dishes in the process.

noodle kugel, not yet baked

GF Noodle Kugel (makes 1 large pan or 2 small pans)

1 package of thin rice noodles
5 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 Tablespoon salt
pepper to taste 
(1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar, optional)
(1/4 cup raisins, optional)

Boil a pot of water and cook rice noodles. I tend to undercook them and then turn off the fire to let them finish absorbing the water in the pot.
Allow noodles to cool somewhat (do something else while waiting - it's enough time for me to chop some veggies or check Facebook...).

Then I do the rest of the prep RIGHT IN THE POT so I minimize the dirty dishes I've got piling up in the sink!

Add the rest of the ingredients to the rice noodles, stir with a wooden spoon. When fully mixed, transfer to baking pan(s).
Bake at 200 C for about 1 hr.

That's it! It's so easy, and everyone seems to enjoy it!

Price breakdown: 
Rice noodles - 5-8nis. (Depending where I buy them. Obviously I prefer to get them for 5, but that's not always an option.)
Eggs - just under 5nis
oil - 1nis perhaps
seasonings - minimal, let's round up to 1nis
if you use raisins, add a few shekels to the cost.
(Baking time in the oven -- costs a bit too)
Total: less than 20nis (12 - 15 for basic ingredients)!!

The other kugels I make are usually Potato Kugel, and Vegetable Kugel. All are big hits among kugel eaters. The thing about kugels are they are totally comfort food for many of us...

Then I add random other things to the menu: Usually roasted whole chickens or cut up chickens (spicy or with date honey, depending on my mood) for Friday night, and Cholent and Spicy Chicken Breast for Lunch. And salads, using the abundance of cheap veggies available! If I get enough requests, I'll make soup for Friday night, too, but right now, its so hot I think it's fine to skip it!

For dessert, I have been keeping watermelon on hand, and if there's enough time, I'll bake a couple of cakes.

What are your favorite, EASY crowd-pleasers for Shabbat?

Kugel Recipes for Pesach (passover)

Pesach cooking calls for a bit of extra creativity. And sometimes when it's time to cook, I have nothing left! I mean, exhaustion just takes over. I'm SURE you've been there too.

Oh and I'd just like to note that on Pesach I relax some of my "frugal" guidelines. I spend the month before being very careful and doing pantry challenges, and avoiding extras, so that when the holiday comes along we have enough wiggle room in our budget to buy some nice extras. So yes, we spend more on Pesach than on a typical week. And I'm totally ok with that!

Anyhow, back to cooking: In order to avoid "the rut", I'm gathering our favorite kugel recipes that are kosher for Pesach and posting them here. No, I am not up to cooking yet. As a matter of fact, I won't be cooking until Sunday right before Pesach. But I am planning now - that way I can hope not to overbuy when I shop tomorrow.

So here are the kugel recipes - bookmark this page so we can all find them later!

Carrot Kugel (contains matzah meal, so this is "gebrokts", pareve)

Potato Kugel (gluten-free, non-gebrokts, pareve)

Vegetable Kugel (gluten-free, non-gebrokts, pareve) - I also do this with steamed broccoli or steamed cauliflower. Same idea, different kugel. Always a hit.
(The original version of this works really well for using up veggies from the "sug bet" rack!)

Sweet Potato Kugel (gluten-free, non gebrokts, pareve)

We also love desserts, so watch for a post coming soon about Pesach baking!

Pesach Banana Cake (pareve, non-gebrokts)

This year, I gave up eating wheat when I realized I was having a mild allergic reaction to it. So while I'll still bake my kids their favorite Pesach treats (like mandel bread and pesach rolls), I needed to come up with something I could snack on too!
{So I stood in my kitchen and spotted a bunch of ripe bananas}
And I decided to try to change up my banana cake recipe!
Here's what happened:






4 large bananas, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1.5 cups ground coconut
1.5 cups potato starch
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder

Mix bananas, sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract, if using and make sure they are combined well
Add dry ingredients. Mix well.
Divide batter between 2 loaf pans and bake at 185 C (about 370 F) for 45 minutes or until done.

This was so easy and really came out delish. It's perfect and I'm going to make it all year long!

Shabbat Favorites!

This week, we're having a take-out Shabbat (from the freezer, of course!), so I'm not cooking.

But I thought I would share some of our favorite Shabbat recipes!

Our favorite challah is Whole Wheat and Oat Bran challah (can be made with Whole Spelt, as well)

We always like Split Pea Soup or Vegetable Soup

Favorite Chicken Recipe: Oven Fried Chicken

Favorite Kugels: Potato Kugel and Sweet Potato Kugel

Unfortunately, I can't post "Favorite Salads" because my kids are so picky and really only eat plain cut vegetables.

But most of us really like Vegetarian Liver, served on a bed of lettuce and garnished with tomatoes, pickles and olives (for some).

Most weeks we also have Black Bean Cholent for lunch.

And for dessert, brownies and cinnamon cake are always winners!

What's on your family's favorite list?

Shabbat Menu Planning

Here's my plan for this post-Pesach Shabbat!

I'm still a bit under the weather (yes, it's getting ridiculous already), so I hope this plan is not too ambitious. Most of the oven cooking will be done all at the same time, and I'm putting my kids to work chopping all the various vegetables...

Fresh Challot
Vegetable-noodle soup
Black bean Cholent with vegetarian kishke (have to write up that recipe someday soon)
Oven Fried Chicken
Baked Rice with garlic
Apple Crisp
Roasted Vegetables (I've got kohlrabi, kishuim, eggplant, and peppers)
Make your own salad

For seudah shlishit, I'm making challah rolls and salads:
pasta salad
potato salad
chumus
cut veggies

For dessert, I will have one of the kids make a chocolate chip cake 

What's on your Shabbat menu?

Pesach recipe round-up

So far, I have not cooked anything for Pesach.

I have not experimented at all to make up any new recipes for pesach, though I DO plan to. Just right now we are really eating chametz, chametz, and more chametz! (yes, we have too much flour in the freezer, didn't I mention that earlier?)

But I am sure some of you are more organized, and are busy prepping your menus, writing your shopping lists, trying to calculate just how much potato starch to buy this year, or trays of eggs...

So here are some of my favorite Pesach recipes!

Mandel Bread

Pesach Rolls

Carrot Muffins

Cashew Butter

Brownies

Banana Cake

Potato Kugel

(Oops, they are mostly dessert. Um, well, what can I say?)

There will be more coming. Just give me at least another week.

Kosher Cooking Carnival - Shvat Edition

I am so pleased to be hosting this month's Kosher Cooking Carnival (KCC). It's a tradition dating back to long before I started blogging, and it's so much fun to discover other Kosher Food (and related) blogs.

So here is the Shvat Edition!





Soups and Main Dishes
Chaviva presents Vegetarian Sheppard’s Pie posted at Challah Maidel, sharing her no-tofu version of vegetarian shepherd's pie.


Batya shared The Winds Whistle and The Soup's Cooking posted at me-ander.

I posted a summary of some of my favorite winter soup and stew recipes in Wintery Food, here at Frugal and Kosher.

Chaviva also shared her Oven Baked Felafel recipe at Challah Maidel.

Desserts
David shared Chosen Eats: A Good Apple (Cake) posted at JewishBoston.

Mrs. S. presents Freshly Baked Goods Friday: Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes Edition posted at Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress.

I posted my vegan Chocolate Chip Squares, here at Frugal and Kosher.


Kashrut Concerns
Batya presents Shabbat Menus, Very Tricky Especially When "Milky" posted at me-ander.


Restaurant and Book Reviews
Batya presents me-ander: Eating Out, Don't Be Shy About Complaining posted at me-ander.

Hannah reviews the book A Practical Guide to the Laws of Kashrut at Ilana-Davita.


That concludes this edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Submit your blog article to the next edition of kosher cooking carnival-kcc using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page, and you can find us at the KCC Facebook Group, as well.

Chocolate Chip Cookies/Squares (vegan)

This post is long overdue.

We had some family over for Shabbat a while ago, and I made these chocolate chip squares. Well, the guests wanted the recipe, and I promised I would write it up.

I'm a little late, but trying to keep my promise!




Ingredients:

3 Tbp ground flaxseed
2/3 cup near boiling water
1.5 cups sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
6 oz chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 190C
First, mix the flaxseed with water in a large mixing bowl. Let cool for about 10 minutes before you continue.
Then add the rest of the ingredients (except the chocolate chips, save those for the end) and mix well.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread the mixture out on a large cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15 minutes MAX. Take them out a bit BEFORE you think they are done. Trust me, if you wait till they are "done", they will get rock solid.
You can also form these into cookies and bake for 8-10 min
While they are still warm, cut into squares.
This recipe yielded 4 dozen smallish squares.
Watch them disappear, while you smile that your kids are eating a treat that has a few slightly healthier ingredients!

Wintery Food - Lots of Stews and Soups

This is supposed to be quite the week here in Israel! Not only are they predicting up to 250mm of rain in my area, they are also expecting winds up 100 km/hr. And snow in the higher elevations!

BRRR

If your house is anything like mine, it has heaters, but it's pretty drafty and nearly impossible to keep warm.

We're piling on the layers, wearing our warmest socks and sweaters (I found some wool-blend socks which do a pretty good job of keeping toes warm), and walking around with steaming hot mugs in our hands.

We're drinking tea and coffee, some hot chocolate, and if I get some apple juice, we'll make mulled mock-cider.

We'll be getting filled up with toasted sandwiches and soups. And stews.

Here are some to try out:

Vegetable Stew with Eggplant and Red Lentils

Lentil Stew

Split Pea Soup

Pumpkin Soup

Chunky Tomato Soup with Rice

Tomato Soup with Black Beans

Minestrone Soup

My Fusion Soup

Traffic Light Soup

Carrot and Red Lentil Soup

Crock Pot Tomato Soup

"Garden" Pea Soup


I hope that helps inspire you to make some soups! Please let me know what YOUR favorites are!

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