What do you put in your coffee?

Here’s an ingredient list from a product that most of us are familiar with.

Can you guess what it is?

Hint: It’s found in kosher kitchens, restaurants, synagogues and on airlines.

Ingredients:

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut, canola, and/or palm kernel), corn syrup solids, sugar, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), dipotassium phosphate, monoglycerides, natural flavor, salt, silicon dioxide, sodium tripolyphosphate, vitamin E acetate, DATEM, lutein, artificial color, soy lecithin. May Contain Soy Products.

Take a guess. Does it sound like something good for you? Does it even sound like food?

If there’s one product, besides margarine, that I’d like to banish from kosher kitchens, synagogues, restaurants and airline meals, it’s non-dairy creamer.

Whether it’s a powder or liquid, it’s likely to contain trans fat in the form of partially hydrogenated oil. Besides fat, you’ll find a long list of synthetic ingredients. I challenge you to pronounce them, let alone understand what they are!

Does it really taste good or is it just a matter of whitening and thickening your coffee? In my opinion, its only contribution is an off-tasting, oily mouth feel.

What are the alternatives to this main-stay of kosher coffee drinkers?

Keeping it parve gives you these options: Drink your coffee black or use an alternative vegetarian creamer such as a soy, rice or almond beverage.

Most soy beverages and creamers (such as Silk Soy products) have a kosher dairy label. A little investigation often reveals that they are actually dairy-free, but produced on dairy equipment. In this case, you may not use them with, but only after eating a meat meal. (Please consult your Rabbi for further details.) Soy drinks and creamers come in a variety of flavors and fat content.

If you enjoy real cream in your coffee with a dairy meal, consider the alternatives. Full-fat cream may be more natural than non-dairy creamer, but it’s high in calories and saturated fat. Try low-fat or non-fat milk instead. If you insist on a creamy taste, use a small amount of whole milk.
Another creamy option is evaporated milk. It comes in cans and is available in full-fat, low-fat and fat-free varieties. They are all lower in fat than cream.

With all of these options, you can rid your kitchen of non-dairy creamer, enjoy your coffee and take a positive step for better health.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Among our extended family, we were the only ones who kept kosher. So my mother always cooked Thanksgiving dinner. A houseful of cousins set up board games, we ran around outside and my mother cooked up a storm.

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving any more. Years ago I decided that I wouldn’t cook turkey, or any other elaborate meal, on the day before Erev Shabbat. And Thanksgiving in America is always on Thursday. Now that we live in Israel, we don’t relate to the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving like we used to anyway. We have a barbeque on Yom Ha’atzmaut and celebrate our thanksgiving on Sukkot.

Then November rolls around and I get a little nostalgic for the smells of roast turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Sweet potatoes are abundant and delicious. The chestnuts we brought back from Italy would be perfect in a stuffing. And I've got one can of pumpkin from our last trip to the US.

We jokingly call it “Shabbat Thanksgiving”, although the date is dependent on when family and friends can come. My friend in Tel Aviv is cooking turkey dinner for her family in December.

We'll eat turkey breast and sweet potatoes. A pilaf of brown and wild rice sounds good. I’ll make a salad of baby greens, fresh pears, walnuts and dried cranberries. (I’ve never seen fresh ones in Israel.) If I'm lucky, I may find fresh brussel sprouts this year. I know they're grown in Israel now, but I've only seen them a few times here in Beer Sheva. Pumpkin pie for dessert, and of course fresh baked challah and a good Israeli wine.

Here’s my pumpkin pie recipe. I use Tnuva’s lower-sugar refrigerated soy milk. If your soy milk is sweet, use less sugar in the recipe. For the crust, I use the “No-Roll Whole-Wheat Pie Crust” recipe from my book.

If canned pumpkin isn’t available, use winter squash (d’laat or delorit). It won’t taste like pumpkin, but will still be delicious. Bake or microwave the squash, peel it, remove the seeds and drain off any liquid. Puree it in a food processor and measure a scant two cups for this recipe.

The photo shows whipped topping on the pie. It's probably cream, which is obviously not an option with a meat meal. Please don't be tempted to use parve whipped topping. It's high in either trans or saturated fat, and one of the few foods I suggest avoiding altogether. Just enjoy the pie as is!

Pumpkin Pie (Parve)

¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 ¼ cups soy milk
2 large eggs
Pastry for a single-crust 9” (23cm) pie crust

Prepare the pie crust and set it aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).

Mix together the sugar, salt and spices in a large bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin, soy milk and eggs. Mix it up well, until it’s smooth. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 F (180C) and continue baking for about 45 minutes, until the center of the pie is set. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.

Let it cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Serves 8

Healthy Snacks

When your children are hungry for a snack right now, what do you do? Chips, cookies, snack cakes, Bamba and candy may be convenient, but they’re not at all good for your children’s health.

Whether it’s after school or on Shabbat, there are much better alternatives to noshing on fatty, salty and sugar-laden packaged snacks. With a little planning, you can give your children delicious snacks that are good for them too.

Here are some snack ideas to get you started:

Air-popped or low-fat microwave popcorn
Brown rice cakes spread with natural peanut butter
Baked tortilla chips dipped into salsa or guacamole
Fresh seasonal fruit cut into “child-friendly” sticks or wedges
Dried fruit like raisins, apricots, peaches or pears
Hummus with carrot or celery sticks to dip with
Low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese with cut-up fruit
Low-fat string-cheese
Whole-wheat crackers or pita with hummus or low-fat cheese
Low-sugar, whole-grain cereal to eat from a small cup

Here's my granddaughter eating one of her favorite afternoon snacks, lightly-sweetened whipped yogurt (Daniella).

I’d like to hear about your children’s favorite healthy snacks. Please send me your ideas (use the “Post a Comment” space below) and I’ll share them with my readers.

Teaching Children to Eat Well

Hot lunches were served occasionally at my son’s day school, but most days he brought lunch from home. He got a healthy sandwich, fruit, home-made cookies and 100% fruit juice. Which of his friends always wanted to trade lunches with him? The boy whose lunch box was filled with potato chips, cold-cuts, candy, cakes and soft drinks!

I’m convinced that children really do appreciate real, wholesome food when they are exposed to it.


Children can learn to enjoy eating vegetables and whole grains. They’re eager to know about how food is grown and produced. We can teach them Jewish views on diet, health, agriculture and kashrut. And they can learn to eat in a relaxed, quiet environment.

Just as physical fitness was mandated in US schools in the 1960’s, we’ve got to work seriously towards nutritional fitness in our schools. The government may eventually step in with guidelines and financing.

In the meantime, there’s a tremendous amount we can do ourselves. Right now.

And Jewish schools are the perfect place to start.

Children learn by doing and feeling. By getting their hands into the dirt where food grows and their fingers into the pot of soup they help cook.

Every school should have a garden, where children can learn how to grow vegetables. A child who grows a green bean from seed is much more likely to taste it than if it arrives on his plate via a freezer bag. A garden is the perfect place for children to learn about brachot, trumah and ma’aser, shmittah and other mitzvot pertaining to food and agriculture.

We can teach children how to cook in school. Hands-on food preparation is a great way to learn about food, nutrition and kashrut. (Cooking also helps teach reading, math, science, creativity, teamwork, respect and patience.) Children are fascinated with food. And cooking it themselves is rewarding and educational.

Good eating habits should also be taught at school. In today’s world of “fast-food” and eating on-the-go, we can create a quiet relaxed environment at school that can serve as a model of enjoyable social eating.

Growing, cooking and eating food together – these are all important skills that can be taught in our schools.

With these skills, we can enable our children to have a healthy attitude towards food that will encourage good eating habits for a lifetime.

Healthy Active Children

I’m sounding a lot like my mother. Though I promised myself that it would never happen, I can hear myself echoing her words.

My mom, circa 1958: “When I was a girl, I walked over a mile to school in the snow. I spent the whole summer playing outside with the neighborhood children.”

Me, circa 2008: “I walked to school every day. And it was uphill. I rode my bicycle all summer long – to play with friends and to the swimming pool.”

Well, my mom turned out to be a smart lady. Although I was not even close to being athletic, I could (and still can, thank God) ride a bike, jump rope, hike a few hilly miles and swim the length of a pool.

My sons can thank me for insisting on after-school sports, swimming lessons and bicycles. As adults, they still seem to be in pretty good shape.

But many children today are in trouble. They’re heavier and less active than ever before. It’s happening at a younger age.

And the Jewish community is not exempt. In fact, our children may be worse off than others.

In a survey of the Chicago Orthodox Jewish community, 54% of the children were overweight and 26% were obese. In the general population, childhood obesity was 13%.

Israeli children were among the least active (and the most connected electronically) in a recent 14-country study of childhood behaviors.

It’s not hard to figure out why.

Too many hours sitting in the house and not enough time running around outside. Carpools instead of bicycles. Computers, videos and television instead of swimming pools, playgrounds and sports.

The effects are disturbing:

An increase in the number of children suffering from Type-2 diabetes (which used to be called adult-onset diabetes)

High cholesterol and high blood pressure in children

Overweight young teens with eating disorders

Decreased bone density – By the late teens and early twenties, bone mass is complete. The quality of the bones we’ve built by then has to last us the rest of our lives

What can you do?

Whenever possible, let your children walk rather than ride in a car.

Limit your children’s time with electronic games, television, computers and phone calls.

Encourage your children to participate in after-school sports and fitness classes.

Take walks together. Ride bicycles. Swim. Jump rope.

Keep moving!

The Trans Fat Dilemna

Trans fats (also known as partially hydrogenated oils) are commercially produced fats made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils. The process turns liquid fats into solid ones.

Recent laws in New York City and California have banned these artery-clogging trans fats from restaurant and bakery products.

It’s an issue that hits kosher bakeries especially hard. For years they’ve been dependent on baking mixes containing trans fat to make parve cakes, cookies and pastries. Recently, a Los Angeles Jewish newspaper reporter asked me to address the problem.

At home, it's not too difficult to use liquid oil in place of solid fats like margarine. Or to use a little butter for dairy baking.

But commercial baking is different.

The obvious choice is a liquid vegetable oil. Health-oriented bakeries do this, but it's expensive. And you can't just substitute liquid oil for solid fat. Recipes need to be re-formulated. Baked goods won't have the same taste, texture and long shelf life that we’re used to.

So most commercial bakeries are switching to new trans fat-free baking fats.

What’s the “new” ingredient in most of them? Highly saturated palm oil.

It wasn’t that long ago that palm oil was taken out of baked goods. Now they’re putting it back in as a substitute for trans fat.

So it’s either hydrogenation or increased saturated fat. Not a great choice, in my opinion.

The best bet is to eat fewer baked goods altogether. The sugar and fat in coffee cake, rugelach, cookies and donuts has not served our health well at all.

Another option: bake at home.

Legislation is a start. But only when consumers demand healthier products from kosher bakeries will they respond by baking healthier products.

An Easy Soup for Chol Hamoed Sukkot

We're coming down the home-stretch of the holiday season. We've been cooking a lot. And most likely eating a little too much.

With Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah ahead of us, I'm trying to keep things easy - less fussing in the kitchen and fewer calories will have everyone feeling better.

Here's a simple recipe from my book - a nutritious, warming soup that is perfect for cool nights in the Sukkah.

Moadim B'simcha! Chag Sameach!

Red Lentil Soup (Parve)

Small red lentils cook quickly and give this soup a golden hue.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash cayenne pepper, optional
6 cups water

1 1/2 cups red lentils, sorted, checked and rinsed well in a strainer
1 small can diced tomatoes (14 to 16 ounces/400 gm), with their juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and spices and cook, stirring for a minute or two. Add the water or broth, lentils and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the soup, partially covered, until the lentils are cooked and the soup is thick. You may want to add more water if the soup is too thick.

Season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Serves 6 to 8

Stuffed Turkey Breast and Thoughts on Tishrei

I received numerous questions about how to prepare the turkey breast that I described.

We ended up cooking ours for Shabbat dinner, when we were fortunate to have two "last-minute" visiting student guests. (Ben Gurion University has an impressive overseas student program, for anyone thinking about "junior-year-abroad" here.)

The turkey turned out delicious! Here are instructions:

1. Saute thinly sliced fennel and leeks in olive oil until soft. Season with freshly ground pepper. (My husband did this a few days ahead of time.)

2. Purchase half a turkey breast and ask your butcher to make a pocket. In Israel, turkey breasts come already skinned and boned.

3. Lard the turkey with garlic. (No, that doesn't have anything to do with using treif fat. Just slice a few garlic cloves into quarters, cut small "pockets" for them on the surface of the turkey and stick in the garlic pieces.) Fill the pocket with the stuffing. (My husband did all of this too. I'm very lucky!)

4. Put the breast into a covered cassorole or baking pan. We used a clay pot. (These need to be soaked in water and placed in a cold oven - read the manufacturer's directions before using.) There was no need to tie the turkey. Any extra stuffing can be spooned around the turkey.

5. Surround the turkey with sliced carrots and potatoes (winter squash would be good too). Add dry white wine, a few sprigs of rosemary (we took it from our garden; you can use other herbs as well) and pour olive oil over it all.

6. Cover the turkey breast and bake it. With our clay pot, we use a very high oven temperature. Using a regular baking pan, 350 degrees Fahreinheit (180 Centigrade) should be fine.

Cook the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahreinheit (71 Centigrade). This is very important, so I always use a thermometer.

If you cook white meat of poultry beyond this temperature, it will be tough and dry. (Dark meat, on the other hand, should be cooked to 170 Fahreinheit/77 Centigrade, and is more forgiving of overcooking.) You don't want to undercook the meat either, as this could lead to food poisoning.

7. Uncover the pot for the last few minutes of cooking, to crisp the vegetables. Baste with the pan juices a few times. If it's not Shabbat or a holiday, slice and serve. We cooked ours in the morning, refrigerated it whole until just before Shabbat. Then I re-heated it in the microwave for about five minutes and set it on the plata/hot plate until dinner. Slice it (another of my husband's specialties) just before serving and enjoy!

Our medium size half breast (about 2 pounds/1 kilo) served 6 people.

Thoughts on Tishrei

This time of year I feel like I'm swimming the breast-stroke: Holiday, Shabbat, up for a breath. Another holiday, Shabbat again and another breath before the next chag.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy every one of the chagim. There's nothing like the holidays - especially in Israel where you see and feel them everywhere.

This morning my green grocer was juggling half a dozen customers while trying to restock his shelves. Flowers stands pop up on street corners overnight. Women at my gym share holiday recipes while trying harder to burn off extra calories. And now sukkahs are popping up next to apartment buildings, in back yards and even at the mall.

But I started feeling a little worn out this afternoon. Sukkot menus started getting a little blurry in my mind. What was I planning to serve for lunch on Monday? Or is it Tuesday? Should I be baking yet another batch of challah?

Then I thought about what I love about Sukkot. Eating leisurely meals of hearty soup and bread in the sukkah. Not running off to work and classes right after a meal. How, instead of doing laundry almost every day, I'd use that time to relax. Read a book or two, even bring out a pad of drawing paper and pastels. The last time I did that was on vacation last June!

So my husband and I cooked a few things this evening, and I plan to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow I want to try a new recipe for cabbage soup that looks easy and sounds satisfying. With a few soups in the refrigerator I won't have too much cooking to do during the holiday. My goal is to end this rather hectic month of holidays on a more laid back note.

I wish all of you a joyful and relaxing Sukkot.

Favorite Sukkot Foods

Sukkot, celebrating our liberation from Egypt and the end of the agricultural year, brings to mind abundance and a bountiful harvest. No wonder that stuffed vegetables and filled pastries are traditionally eaten at this time.

Sweet red peppers are in season and are perfect (and easy!) for stuffing. I cut the peppers in half lengthwise, remove the stem and seeds and stuff each half with a whole grain filling. Arrange them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice or a simple tomato sauce, cover and bake. Rice is a traditional filling, but the possibilities are endless. Here are some other ideas:

Bulgur, raisins, pine nuts and dill
Curried quinoa and diced zucchini
Brown rice, lentils and tomatoes
Barley, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

For Shabbat dinner during Sukkot I’m planning to stuff half of a turkey breast and roast it in a clay pot. The stuffing may be leeks and fennel or mushrooms and onions, seasoned with fresh sage or rosemary from the garden. I’ll add cut-up potatoes and carrots, and pour dry white wine and some olive oil over it before baking. A green salad and apple crisp for dessert rounds out the menu.

Sometimes, stuffing vegetables and meat seems too labor intensive when you’re feeding a crowd in the sukkah. One of our favorite Sukkot meals is dairy lasagna and a green salad. I use lasagna noodles that don’t require pre-cooking to make it especially fast and easy. Layer them with ricotta cheese, vegetables, (defrosted frozen spinach, sliced zucchini or roasted eggplant and red pepper all take to lasagna), a touch of grated parmesan and lots of flavorful tomato sauce. Be sure the sauce is thin enough to cook the noodles, since ready-to-use lasagna noodles absorb more liquid. Cover and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the noodles have softened and everything is cooked.

Soup is another of our Sukkot favorites. I favor hearty meal-in-a-bowl soups such as lentil and Swiss chard, minestrone, sweet potato, and mushroom barley. Vegetable soups with meatballs, tortellini, beans and grains are all great for Sukkot – easy, filling, nutritious and deliciously warming to eat in the sukkah on cool evenings. Served with bread or muffins and a salad, and you’ve got a complete meal.

Here’s an easy soup recipe that you may want to try this Sukkot:

CAULIFLOWER AND PASTA SOUP (PARVE OR DAIRY)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium or 1 large onion, thinly sliced
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
10 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf
½ -1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 medium cauliflower (2 pounds/1 kilo), cut into florets, washed and checked
1 cup small whole-wheat pasta
Freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the onions until they’re soft. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce and herbs and bring to a gentle boil.

Add the cauliflower, reduce the heat and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until done. Add pepper to taste, and salt if needed. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on each bowl.

Approximately 6 servings.

Feeding Your Children at Home

No one says that feeding children is easy.

One child eats any kind of sandwich you make, while another only agrees to peanut butter and strawberry jam. Your son cleans his plate while his sister just pokes at her food. The child who ate everything yesterday is suddenly picky today.

We’re all concerned with our children’s health. We know that good eating habits start early on. And as parents, we want to do our very best to see that our children get off on the right foot nutritionally.

Here are some tips for encouraging healthy eating:

• Serve child-sized portions


• Don't use food as a reward or punishment


• Serve water instead of sweetened drinks


• Discourage eating while doing other activities, like homework and reading


• Eat meals as a family as often as possible


• Be a role model by eating healthy foods

The last point may be the most important. Children learn from what their parents do.

Eat a variety of nutritious foods, eat in moderation and eat mindfully and your children are likely to follow your example.