I recently posed the question on twitter: "how does one describe broccoli kugel to non-Kosher eating folks?" For someone like me, who grew up eating kosher, Jewish style foods, kugel is a no-brainer. But when you stop and think about it, try to determine how one can define kugel, it gets infinitely complicated. Is it a side dish? Maybe. Is it savory? Occasionally. A sweet dish? Can be. Something eaten on Shabbos (sabbath)? Often times. Is there one blanket definition of kugel? Sadly not. So while my Jewish readers will probably know exactly what a broccoli kugel is, it may be perplexing to my non-Jewish readers. What exactly is a broccoli kugel, you may be asking yourself. Well, … [Read more...]
Healthy Cottage Cheese Pancakes
If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know already that I work long days, plus I commute. I generally leave my house at 7:30 am, and return at about 7:30 pm (on a good day). You can, therefore, imagine that my typical weekday breakfast isn't very glamorous or post-worthy. I generally get to work about a quarter to nine, and use that time to make coffee. That's the glamorous part of my breakfast, trust me. I try to gulp down a few drops of it before the clock strikes nine and the phone starts ringing. On a good morning, I can drink about half of my coffee before I get distracted by my first phone call. On a bad day, the phone rings at 9:01, and the poor, unknowing … [Read more...]
Healthy Muffin Recipes: Link
Are you looking to eat healthier, now that the Holidays are over? Check out my article on Joy Of Kosher for information on healthy baking, as well as three amazing healthy muffin recipes. Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers
As the clock struck midnight, we ushered in a new year. And with it, a brand new resolve to eat healthier and watch our weight. While this may be sadly short lived for many of us, it's still the first day of January, and the proverbial ink is barely dry on the list of New Years resolutions. Posting a cookie recipe today feels a little cruel, doesn't it? (Just) for today, I will put my delicious baked goods on the back burner and share with you one of my favorite healthy recipes. Here's what happened. It was late one night when I realized I hadn't prepared my lunch for the following day. I was going to make my easiest, go-to recipe, roasted chic peas. I turned my pantry upside down … [Read more...]
Healthy (Mock) Breaded Cauliflower
Healthy Mock Breaded Cauliflower is crispy and delicious, without all that fat! It's Chanukah now, which means that most of my readers, particularly the Jewish ones, will be expecting all kinds of deep fried delicacies to appear on the front page of this blog. After all, what kind of good Jewish girl isn't making latkes and donuts now? Okay, so I won't go so far as to say that I am not making any fried goodies this week. In fact, I have a whole bunch of deliciousness up my sleeve, (or in my frying pan, as the case may be). Hopefully, those will be here soon. But in the meantime, I figured I would preempt the unhealthy treats with my latest veggie creation. I think obsessed is a … [Read more...]
Roasted Vegetable Chickpea Salad
***Before we start – have you signed up for my email newsletters? You’ll get new recipes, cooking tips, menu suggestions, kitchen deals – and more! Click here to signup.*** This salad has a long history. Very long. It started about three (maybe four?) years ago when I ate dinner with an excellent cook named Batya. She made a salad with some roasted vegetables and chickpeas, and I absolutely loved it. I went home and copied it, and served it to my sister. My sister loved it, and made it again, for me, when I visited her. Then I forgot about this salad, and I thought my sister did too. Fast forward a couple of years, when I spent the weekend at my sister's house. As I have mentioned … [Read more...]
Baked Butternut Squash Fries
While the majority of my job involves sales, I work on sales on a corporate level, so it's also a matter of building relationships with people, keeping customers happy, and other aspects of customer care. And while my company has a very loyal base of happy and completely satisfied customers, we are human, and like every company there's glitches that pop up and issues that happen and customers that get upset. And it's my job to deal with those unhappy people. And if an unhappy customer who spent a hundred dollars is a problem, you can imagine that an unhappy customer who spent a hundred thousand dollars is about a thousand times more of a problem. But it happens. And we deal with it. And … [Read more...]
Creamy Orange Vegetable Soup
I realize that the title of this post is kind of misleading. When you see the word creamy, you probably imagine a rich and creamy soup, full of...well, cream. In actuality, this soup is thick and rich. However, it is not only devoid of cream, but it's pretty healthy. I've been making this soup for years, and it is one of my all-time favorites. While this soup is delicious all year round, the flavors and colors are absolutely perfect for fall. And because this soup freezes magnificently, I freeze it in single servings, and pop one in the microwave when I come home from work late on a frigid fall or winter night. This soup is thick and filling, and warms you right to the very core. Best of … [Read more...]
Grilled Mustard Marinated Chicken
I've always read and heard great things about using a grill pan, but I've been too scared to use one. Why, you ask? Simple. I have a relative who is a huge fan of the grill pan, but everything they've ever cooked on it has come out dry and overcooked. [Let us all take a moment now to say a collective prayer that said relative doesn't actually read my blog.] Let's go on. So I left the grill pan in the back of the cabinet, opting instead for the outdoor grill, the George Forman grill, or in a pinch, the broiler. Then the blackout happened. And for three days I faced very limited cooking options. 30 degrees and a foot of snow meant no outdoor grill, the lack of power eliminated the … [Read more...]
Barbecue Flavored Roasted Corn Kernels: a Healthy Snack
I've been real quiet lately, I know. But I have a good excuse. No, a great excuse. Lets start with the month of Jewish Holidays, in which I cooked and fed a monstrous amount of food. No time for pictures, no time for writing up posts. No time to breath, really. All the while, I thought to myself "well, as soon as the holidays are over (they are now) I will be cooking up a storm, photographing everything I make...after all, I will have so much time." I must have forgotten ab0ut *work* when I formulated those thoughts. My company closed for the entire week of Succos, which is very nice on Succos. Then we all came back, and the reality hits. It's not like one person going on vacation, when … [Read more...]