Mock Mashed Potato Follow Up

So, I tried to be creative and I don't have a very adventurous group around my table. Serving new foods to kids with GERD is really never easy. They are so wary of anything new, and afraid they will get heartburn...

So last night's dinner was not so successful. They loved the soup and ate tons of salad, but almost no one ate the polenta with veggies or the mock mashed potatoes... I actually thought they were quite tasty - but not spicy, because I know my customers - but they are all a little too suspicious of new things. Next time I think I will only hit them with ONE new thing at a time.

How do you get your family to try new foods?

Wednesday night - Feb. 9, 2011

I'm very disappointed with this week's grocery sales. Have you found any good sales lately? I have a Rami Levy, Yesh, Mega, Kimat Chinam and Supersol near me...

Luckily, I still have plenty of produce in the fridge. Time to get creative! I'm not sure my family likes it when I get creative, since that means they have to try new things. But that's the point, so they try new things! How do you get your family to try out new foods?

On the way to the table tonight:


Split pea soup
Mock Garlic Mashed Potatoes (let's see if I can get the kids to eat the cauliflower!)
Polenta topped with roasted veggies and black beans (and some cheese for picky eaters)
Lettuce, Purple Cabbage, Honey Cinnamon'd Oranges, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad

Some notes:
Mock Garlic Mashed Potatoes - I'll puree cooked cauliflower with roasted garlic and other seasonings as the mood hits me, and serve it like mashed potatoes. Rumor has it it's pretty good like this. We'll see how it goes...

Polenta is pretty easy to make. I make it kind of runny so I can pour it into a well greased quiche pan. Then, I top it with all sorts of things - right now I have lots of tomatoes and red peppers, so that will be most of the topping, along with black beans. Then bake it for about 20 - 25 minutes... I have a feeling I may have to melt some cheese on top for my picky eaters!

Once again, I'm serving the salad "salad bar-style". Everybody wins!

Tuesday Night (Feb. 8, 2011)

I'm a little under the weather, but I still need to run my household. I hung out a couple of loads of laundry today, even though it's raining (I put the drying racks in the covered part of my mirpeset). (I have no dryer)
I didn't think of putting on a coat for that task... I'm cold.

If you have great warming foods to serve, please tell me! I could use some creative and different ideas.

My kids are wondering why I've been serving soup so often lately. Don't they notice it warms them AND fills them?

Here's tonight's menu:

Minestrone Soup
Cheesy Baked Cauliflower
Rice
Roasted Beets
Tomato and Chick Pea Salad

Some notes about this menu:

Minestrone Soup is very forgiving - you can really use all sorts of veggies in it!

I'm experimenting with the cheesy baked cauliflower. I bought a whole lot of cauliflower  for 1.99 NIS/kilo. Now I hope I have the energy to clean and check it... I know cheese is not the most frugal food, but you can stretch it pretty far with enough ingenuity.

I will make oven-baked rice, since I'm roasting beets also, and I'll probably bake something else since the oven will be on already. Date bread? Chocolate Cake? Cookies?

I cooked a lot of chick peas the other day, and now we need to be sure to eat them... so we're having a salad repeat. Especially since tomatoes were 1.99 NIS/kilo...

Let me know what you're making for supper!

Monday Night, Feb. 7, 2011

I ended up going out shopping on Sunday afternoon, only to be very disappointed with what I found. I went to Kimat Chinam, where for the past few weeks I have found amazing produce deals, and for the past few months in general  has had very good produce pricing... only to discover that they raised all their produce prices (cucumbers for over 5 NIS/kilo, for example)! So, I left and went to Mega, since I noticed an ad the other day about some low produce prices.

At Mega I found a bunch of produce, so I bought according to the sales. Once again, we have lots of cauliflower. I'll have to get creative with cauliflower! (I also found tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and red peppers for decent prices)

Let me know if you are finding stores with good produce sales! (The shuk here in Teverya isn't really less expensive than the supermarkets, only perhaps right before closing, but that timing doesn't work out for me right now...)

Tonight's menu is a bit different. We like to mix things up every once in a while....

Breakfast for Supper!

Omelets
Cut Veggies - carrots, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes -  with avocado dip
Hash Browns
Carrot muffins
Citrus fruit salad


Some notes about these dishes:

My kids think omelets are so much cooler than scrambled eggs, so we'll go with omelets.


I have tons of avocados left from when I bought them at Yesh for 1.99NIS/kilo a week and a half ago. They are all ripe now. So, avocado dip is in order. I'm going to try to freeze some, as rumor has it that does work. What do you think?

Hash Browns allow me to pretend that I really am a southerner. I like to think I have southern roots, even though they're not very deep... I like potatoes in most any form, in any case, so I will introduce my kids to the idea of hash browns tonight!


Citrus Fruit salad - I have been buying all those citrus fruits that are in season right now. We have white grapefruit, pink grapefruit, pomelit, naval oranges, and clementines right now (yes, we also have lemons, but I'll leave them out of the salad!).  My 6 yr old really wants honey-cinnamon oranges, so I'll indulge her and make them again.


Let me know what you think, or what you're making for supper tonight!

Sunday Night, Feb. 6, 2011

Shavua Tov! I had a very relaxing Shabbat in Yerushalayim. It was great to see family and friends whom we rarely get to see.

It's a new week, and in the past, Sunday night supper has snuck up on me and often caught me off guard. Now, I have a plan! (This meal planning thing is great! I am stretching my shekels so much further, and feeling much less stressed out!)

Here's the menu, using only things that I have on hand (not sure if I will make it to the store or not early in the day - I haven't planned my grocery run, yet!):

Green Bean Soup
Broccoli or Spinach "Puff"
Couscous
Chick Pea & Tomato Salad

Some notes about these dishes:

Green Bean Soup works very well either with EXTREMELY fresh green beans (garden or farm stand), or frozen ones (these are usually harvested and frozen the same day, so they are very fresh). It does not work well with supermarket "fresh" green beans. Here's what I do: Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil till translucent. Add green beans to the pot, stirring and heating till they are bright green. Add water or soup stock. Heat through, puree, add milk or rice milk to make it "creamy", and season with salt and pepper.

Broccoli or Spinach Puff: (Yes, these are slightly less frugal than the other menu items, but we all have to add some variety and remember to not be so thrifty as to never make our kids' favorite foods. My 3 yr old loves anything with spinach and my 12 yr old loves anything with broccoli. I know, go figure...) Mix the following ingredients together and bake in a deep casserole dish at 375 F for 1 hour: 16 oz. cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 4 oz. shredded cheese of your choice, 2 T. flour, 2 c. chopped broccoli or chopped spinach, salt and pepper to taste.

Chick Pea & Tomato Salad - don't forget to soak the chick peas overnight, and cook them early in the day (or use canned - but that costs a lot more per unit, and then you also have to deal with the question of BPA in cans. I prefer to soak and cook them myself.), as these chick peas should be completely cooled before combining with tomatoes and green onions for this salad...

As usual, let me know what you think!

Easy ideas for Shabbat

Lucky for me, I'm actually not cooking this week! (So rare, and I really appreciate it when that happens. Even though cooking makes me happy, I still like having a break sometimes.)

In any case, I figured I could just share a few tips and shortcuts for making Shabbat a bit more frugal and simple without it feeling stingy. We try not to waste the chicken - I splurge and buy organic chicken for ethical and environmental reasons - so I don't cook much extra chicken. Instead I make sure that there is plenty of good stuff on the table, using in-season produce and inexpensive, filling grains and legumes.

Here are some simple ideas:  steam those vegetables you bought when the shuk was closing, or roast them if you're already using your oven. Roasting really brings out the flavor in so many vegetables. Certain kinds do best if roasted alone (like beets), others can be roasted as a medley (I like roasted ratatouille - place diced onions, garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, and eggplants in a roasting pan and toss with olive oil. roast uncovered in your oven till they smell amazing and look done).

Rice, barley, couscous (whole grain, of course) and other grains are nutritious and frugal can be embellished in so many ways. I like to add mushrooms to most dishes, but that's because I really like mushrooms!

If you're looking for a side dish with some zip, you can make a southwestern-style pasta salad. Simply combine cooked pasta with diced tomatoes, peppers, green onion, cooked black beans, and frozen corn niblets (these defrost very quickly when mixed into the salad!). Season with a jar of salsa (hard to find here - so you can use one of those spicy tomato based piquante salads instead), lemon juice, and ground black pepper.

Enjoy your Shabbat! Let me know what you do to fill your table with good food without spending all night and day cooking! I could always use more ideas.

Thursday Night, Feb.3, 2011

I can't believe how fast this week is flying by. Menu Planning is really helping me out - there are fewer foods going to waste and no supper crises, so I'd say it's been a successful food week. Not everything I've done this week has been so successful, but I'll take what I can get...

That said, it looks like it will be another busy Thursday. We usually end up running in the door right before suppertime, and everyone wants to eat "NOW". I may not post every Thursday from now on, because it's just too predictable...

The Menu:


Any leftover soup from the week
Make your own salad 
A variation on pizza

Some notes about this menu:

Make your own salad works wonders in our house! My kids don't always like it when too many flavors are mixed together, but for some reason, it's so much more palatable for them to choose their own combinations. I just put out all the various vegetables (and yes, fruits sometimes too) in individual bowls and everyone takes their own winning combination. This way, the one who loves avocado can have it, and the one who won't touch it avoids it without any fuss...

Our pizza variations usually include toppings like tomatoes, olives, peppers, and mushrooms.

Crock Pot Cooking

Today, I decided to put the soup in the crock pot, even though we were home all day. I thought it through and was wondering which one is more cost effective - to cook the soup on the gas stove for an hour or more, or to use the crock pot?
If anyone knows, I'd appreciate the information!

Wednesday night - Feb. 2, 2011

My house feels really chilly. We all had hot chocolate before putting the kids to bed tonight.

I know that those of you in the States will think I'm nuts, and I'm sorry that you have to deal with so many snowstorms and "Crazy Weather" (one of my kids once wrote a song entitled "Crazy Weather"... It was a big hit in our house!). But I'm thinking that we need cold weather food for Wednesday night.

So, here is the plan (using only foods that we already have in the house):

Creamy Green Vegetable Soup
Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Zucchini Pancakes
Lettuce, Purple Cabbage, Cinnamon-Honey'd Oranges, Avocado, and Walnut Salad (ok, the salad is not a cold weather food, but we have plenty of these ingredients and serving salad always makes me feel like a better meal planner.)

Some notes about these foods:

Creamy Green Vegetable Soup - Trying to get the kids to finish up the cauliflower that I made the other day. Here's what I do - make a basic vegetable soup with onions, garlic, celery, broccoli stalks (peeled and chopped), and zucchini. After it has simmered for a while, add some frozen spinach and the already cooked cauliflower. Puree it before serving. Serve with croutons or "soup nuts". (The kids love it and have no idea which veggies are in it!)

Stuffed Baked Potatoes - Bake some potatoes, cut in half, keeping the skins intact, and scoop out the insides. Mash it up with garlic, cheese, chopped broccoli or any other additons you like. Scoop back inside the potato halves, and bake again.

Zucchini Pancakes - I make these with shredded zucchini, chopped onion, ground flaxseed, egg, salt and pepper.

Salad - pretty self explanatory. You can make Cinnamon-Honey'd Oranges like this:  Peel and section a few oranges. Cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place in a bowl you can cover, drizzle with honey and a generous amount of cinnamon. mix gently. cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving with your salad. There is no need for any other dressing on this salad!

Sloppy Sams Follow Up

I was so happy last night when the sloppy sams were eaten without complaint! I think we're finally getting closer to a truly successful sloppy sam recipe!

Here's what I did:

(This recipe requires a small amount of advance preparation, but it is well worth it.)
The night before or in the morning, open and drain a package of firm tofu. Place on a towel lined plate, cover with another clean towel (or paper towel), and weigh it down. I used my cast iron fry pan to weigh it down, and it really drained a lot of liquid out of the tofu over the hour or so I drained it.

Once the tofu is well-drained, crumble it finely with a fork (in a bowl you can cover). I seasoned it with soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Cover the bowl and refrigerate till you're ready to throw the sloppy sams together.

Later, finely dice 1 medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and a sweet red pepper. Saute in olive oil over medium heat, preferably in a cast iron pan. When the onion is translucent and fragrant, add the tofu crumbles. Continue to cook, stirring frequently. Once the tofu browns somewhat, add tomato paste, water, sugar, vinegar, ground black pepper, and any other seasonings you like. Allow to cook over med-low heat till warmed through, stirring occasionally. I also added some oat bran toward the end, because I accidentally used too much water. This thickened it up really nicely, and even added fiber and nutrients to our meal.

Even my 6 year old daughter, who always claims not to eat Sloppy Sams, ate it all up!