Yummiest Matzah Granola

If you are like me, every year you buy a box or two of Manischewitz Magic Stars cereal for Pesach, only to find your kids spitting it out and realizing just how not yummy it is...I finally learned my lesson last year and stopped buying it, no matter how tempting it was to replace their Honey Nut Cheerios with something! I read many recipes for Matzah Granola and through trial and error came up with this perfect one-but please understand it is more of a method than a recipe, because you can add/subtract anything you like/don't like to this recipe! This is how I make it, but use the additions to customize it to your taste!

Ingredients:

• 1 16 ounce box of matzah farfal (I use Osem)
• 1/2 cup vegetable/canola/grapeseed oil 
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Line a big baking sheet with foil and coat with baking spray
• In a large bowl combine farfal, oil, honey, salt, coconut and nuts-mix well until all coated
• Spread mixture on baking sheet
• Bake for 20 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every 5 minutes to make sure mixture doesn't burn and evenly browns
• Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes
• Add cranberries and chocolate chips
• Store in an airtight container; will last all of Pesach, or until it all gets eaten!

Eat and enjoy!

Chametz-free Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

While many people dread Pesach for the cleaning, the lack of chametz (bread products) or the way it affects some tummies-my family looks forward to these delicious cookies! My son enjoys them more than the "regular" chocolate chip cookies I make the rest of the year-which to be honest are basically the classic Nestle recipe!! These are so easy to whip up, they get mixed in one bowl, and they bake in 10 minutes! I always double the recipe and they still don't last us the whole 8 days! Try these and let me know if your family loves them as much as I do! I hope they bring sweetness to your holiday and bring a little less grumbling to your home this week!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 2/3 cup matzah cake meal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz chocolate chips (I use Leiber's)

Directions:

• Cream together the margarine/butter and the sugar
• Beat in the egg
• Add the dry ingredients and mix well
• Add the chocolate chips

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack, store in airtight container. They will be gone before they go bad!

Eat and enjoy!

Best Brunch Dish!

Do you ever need to throw something together to serve company for brunch and go looking through the fridge to see what you have? Well, that was me today. And it came out....so delish! Everyone loved it! Who doesn't love eggs, broccoli and cheese? Well combining them all and throwing in a few other staples makes for a delicious brunch casserole! I whipped it up in 5 minutes, threw it in the oven, and 45 minutes later...voila! Try this the next time you are having company, or you are having breakfast for dinner, which is my kids favorite night! Couldn't be easier, or yummier!

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 bag fresh broccoli (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 cup fat-free half and half or milk
• 6 slices bread-buttermilk, sourdough, french, challah...whatever!! Cube it up, should have about 2-3 cups, doesn't have to be exact!! The less bread, the eggier it will be. The more bread, the denser it will be. You pick!
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded cheese-cheddar, jack or mixed

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Snip the corner off the bag of broccoli and microwave for 3 minutes, or steam. 
• Beat the eggs with the milk/creamer and add 1 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp each fresh ground pepper and garlic powder. 
• Add cheese to egg mixture.
• In a baking dish greased or sprayed, put the cooked broccoli on the bottom. 
• Then add the bread that has been cut up or torn into pieces. 
• Pour the egg/milk/cheese mixture over the top and use a spatula to toss all ingredients right in the baking dish-how easy is that????
• Let sit for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours, covered on counter.
• Bake at 350 uncovered for 45 minutes until golden and delicious.
• Cut into squares and serve.

Eat and enjoy!!!!

Best Corn Chowdah Evah!!

It's hard to believe that I have not shared a recipe for far too many months now. I could tell you I have been busy cooking, but it's far more likely that I have been busy eating as my body is busy growing baby number 4. I have made some super yummy things lately that I am hoping to get around and get back to sharing with you, but after I made this incredibly YUMMY and EASY soup tonight I knew I had to share! For those of you West Coasters, you will call it Corn Chowder. My East Coast friends, this is straight up delicious Chowdah! So here you go...

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bag frozen leeks or 2 fresh leeks, cleaned and chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter (can easily use all oil to make pareve)
• 2 tablespooons flour
• 2 boxes chicken/vegetable broth or 8 cups homemade stock
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 bags frozen corn
• 1 cup fat-free half and half or mocha mix or heavy cream, whatever you have/like at home
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ground thyme, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute onion and leek in oil and butter for about 10 minutes until soft. Toss veggies with the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add potatoes to pot and toss all veggies around. Add the broth with a dash of thyme (about 1/2 teaspoon or so???), salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and let boil about 5 minutes to break down potatoes. Add the frozen corn and the half and half and the sugar. Cover and let simmer 10-15 minutes until potatoes are soft. Use an immersion blender to puree, and taste for seasonings. 

This soup was SUCH a hit at dinner tonight with all 5 of us! We topped it with some oyster crackers and the kids all asked for seconds! Please try this. Your tummy will be happy. You will not be sorry. Eat and enjoy!

Smart Blondies (and healthy & yummy too!)

When I saw this recipe on chocolatecoveredkatie.com, I had to read it twice. Then I read it again. Hummus and chocolate=yummy? I didn't believe it! But, then,  I tried it-and let me tell you-YUMMY! I adapted her recipe just a bit, lowered the sugar and added some almond milk. When my hubby ate one, he couldn't believe it was healthy. And when I gave one to Ari, he said "mom, these are awesome!" So there you have it- a winning, healthy and yummy recipe! These are gluten free and can easily be vegan if you use vegan chocolate chips (available at Whole Foods or other health food stores.) Trust me on these and give it a try. They are super easy too, the hardest part was just getting the skins off the garbanzo beans, which is not mandatory but I think makes the batter creamier. FYI, when you drain and rinse the beans, put them in a clean dish towel and roll it back and forth to remove the skins. Then just separate them from the beans and dump it all in the food processor. Let me know if your family loves these as much as mine! And you see, blondes are smart! And they can cook! Hope you enjoy this recipe. Eat and enjoy!

Smart Blondies

(makes 15-20 squares)

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas/garbanzo beans (1 can, drained and rinsed)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (she says you can sub coconut sugar but I have never baked with it)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (or vegan chocolate chips if you want)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (except chips) until very smooth in a food processor (not a blender). Mix in chips, and scoop into a greased (or tinfoil-lined) 8×8 pan. If you want you can put some chocolate chips on top too. Bake for around 30 minutes. They’ll look a little undercooked when you take them out, but they firm up as they cool, and you don’t want them to get hard.

YUMMY!!

One Pot Shabbat

Last night Mimi and Gramps and Doda (I know, funny names in our fam) came over for Shabbat dinner and we all loved this yummy and easy dinner. My dear friend PITA gave me this recipe, so I can't take credit-but I can share it with you so you can have an easy one-pot dinner for your family too! This is healthy, yummy, comfort food-made easier by combining all ingrdients in one pot and baking in the oven. The best part, are you ready? While it is in the oven, you can actually sit down with your coffee and read a magazine! Oh wait, that's just wishful thinking! But the point is, you don't have to stand over the stove with this great recipe! It's not an exact science so measurements all depend on your tastes, etc...you can change the seasonings depending on your mood to give the dish different flavor-Middle Eastern, Tex Mex, Indian, etc. Last night I went for traditional Shabbat chicken and you can't go wrong with that! So experiment with it and have fun!

INGREDIENTS

1 whole cut up chicken, with skin and bone (I used an extra package of bone-in breasts)
2 cups basmati rice or brown rice (just not instant)
4 cups chicken broth or water
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Kosher Salt
Onion Powder
Pepper
Paprika

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using a Dutch Oven or heavy pan with a lid (if you don't have one, you can use a baking dish or aluminum tin pan covered well with foil-the key is covering this tightly), combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, rice and liquid in the bottom of the dish and mix to combine.
• Rub both sides of the chicken with a little EVOO and season well to your liking. Place the chicken skin side up on top of the rice mixture.
• Cover tightly with lid or foil and bake for 90 minutes. Uncover and check the rice-sometimes it needs a few more minutes, so stir and recover and bake for 20 more minutes. When done, the chicken will be falling off the bone (which is good-remove skin and bones!!) and the rice will be absolutely delicious!
• Serve with a roasted vegetable and your guests (or family!) will love you for this dinner!

EAT AND ENJOY-IT'S YUMMY!

Wannna Waffle?

Sometimes breakfast rolls around and you feel like there is nothing in your house to feed the kids! Well, with this recipe you can always have a hot breakfast on the table in less than 15 minutes. Oh, and it will be yummy-I promise! We made these this morning-not only were they gone, I even ate one-they are that good! You can substitute whole-wheat flour and they will be just as yummy, just not quite as light and crispy. And if you don't have any buttermilk you can use all regular milk-it's flexibly yummy either way!

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1 cup skim milk (or whatever you use in your house)
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or vegetable/canola oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with whisk until fluffy. Beat in milk, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Whisk in all dry ingredients until just smooth.

Spray preheated iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the iron-it will be thick because of the buttermilk so just spread it to cover the iron.

Cook, eat and ENJOY!!