Asiany Stir Fry

Making an asian stirfry is a great way to get lots of yummy veggies in to one dish.  I use what ever in expensive veggies I can find. It's usually onion, zucchini, carrots, and bell pepper.
Add in as many or as little veggies as you want and this could feed you and your family all week long!

Start by sautéing the onions and some garlic & fresh ginger. Then add in the carrots and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until carrots begin to soften. Add in the other veggies, some Bragg or soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper to taste and sliced green onion and continue stirring and cooking. Add in sesame seeds or cashews if you like and serve over brown rice.

Luscious Lemon Snaps

I love lemons and I love cookies.

These Luscious Lemon Snaps are delicious.

I wanted to try and make them a bit healthier so I used whole wheat flour and the 2nd time I made them I used only cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of oil (I use sunflower) and I added an egg. Next time I make them I will try with even less sugar and maybe agave nectar instead of sugar.

If you experiment, let me know how they come out.

Veggie Chili & Baked Sweet Potatoes

My new obsession is making a huge pot of veggie chili and baking a ton of sweet potatoes and chopping up some fixings.

Chili is like cholent, but in my opinion WAY better!

I used whatever dry beans I have around and soak them overnight. Then in the morning I saute onion and garlic then add in the beans with the water they have been soaking in and more water if necessary. Let them cook till partially cooked and geting soft, then add in seasonings: salt, chili powder, cumin, dry coriander and what ever else tickles your fancy. Add in veggies: carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, jalapeno, tomatoes and/or tomato paste, etc.. let in cook a bit longer. (The bell peppers and zucchini I tend to add in later as they get soft quickly. When its closer to being done I add in some kind of grain: bulgar, barley, brown rice. My favorite is bulgar, it gives it a bit of a ground beef texture which is good for those meat eaters. Let is simmer for a while till nice and cooked.

In the meantime I scrub a bunch of little sweet potatoes and throw them in the oven right on the rack and lt them bake till soft. Note they will make a mess in the bottom of the oven with sugar liquid that cooks out of them.

Then when I am ready to serve it I slice the sweet potato open just like a plain old baked potato and top with the chili, shredded cheese, salsa, chopped red onion, green onion, jalapeno, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips and whatever else sounds yummy.

This saves well and is great for quick leftovers.

Flourless Oatmeal Cookies

Tried these Flourless Oatmeal Cookies today and they are super yum!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Perfect for these hot summer days and so so easy!

First put a banana or 2 in the freezer to get real cold or even frozen!

Then in a blender mix together:

• Banana
• Peanut Butter
• Cocoa Powder
• Sweetener of your choice (only use a tiny bit, the bananas are sweet enough on their own)
• Ice
• Milk of your choice (I use soy milk)

Blend everything and add more ice till you get the consistency that you want.

Pour in to a tall glass, add a straw and enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes (gluten free)

While searching for a gluten-free chocolate dessert recipe I came across this great recipe!

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

They are quite tasty and very unique. I did not have coconut flour so I put unsweetened shredded coconut in the food processor till it was more fine.
The next time I make these I think I will add vanilla and cinnamon and maybe even some banana and/or nuts.

Yummy Dahl & Brown Rice

One of my favorite dishes to make for dinner is an Indian inspired red lentil dish called dahl.
I usually start by making brown rice and then in a seperate sauce pan I lightly sauté chopped onion and garlic. Then add in red lentils, water & spices. I usually spice with curry powder or tumeric, salt, pepper and Ginger (fresh is best). Cook until done and serve dahl over rice. This dish is great with a scoop of sour cream or plain yogurt!

I tend to make this for dinner and then pack it up for lunches. This is a quick and easy dish. Enjoy!

Green Salad with Orange and Fennel

My mom has taught and inspired me how to make gourmet salads. She is the best and makes a gourmet salad for herself almost every day for lunch.

I am not always a fan of fennel but it works great in a salad with oranges. Both fennel and oranges are easy to come by and inexpensive when in season.

To make this salad use what ever greens you like, spinach, baby greens or just good old romaine. Beet leaves, sorrel, mustard greens or chard would also probably be great on their own or mixed in. Mix in sliced fennel and cut up orange segments and chopped green onion. To top off use a slightly sweetened olive oil white vinegar dressing with mustard seeds.

I was inspired by this recipe from epicurious.com.
Green Salad with Orange, Fennel and Asparagus

Homemade Salad Dressing

Homemade Salad Dressing is the tastiest and cheapest way to have yummy salads!

There are so many different ways to make salad dressing but the easiest dressing is really as simple as adding tons of fresh chopped garlic to olive oil and adding any kind of vinegar and a little salt and pepper. The more garlic you add and the longer you let it sit the yummier the dressing.

Add what ever other herbs you like, fresh are always best!
Try different herbs with different vinegars.
My favorite is an asiany style dressing with apple cider vinegar, toasted sesame oil, Bragg (or soy sauce), fresh ginger, and a dash of agave nectar or honey!

Try adding fresh squeezed juice like lemon, lime or orange. or even try some concentrate, pomegranate concentrate is the best!

Cauliflower Popcorn

My new obsession is cauliflower popcorn!
I have been wanting to make it fr a while now and finally did. Cauliflower is pretty cheap right now in the shuk and this is a great healthy very tasty snack or side. It doesn't take too long to make as long as you don't mind checking the cauliflower for bugs. So far I haven't had a problem with cauliflower, when I am choosing heads of cauliflower I push the florets a bit apart and peak in between to check for bugs, saves a lot of time and heartache.

The Kosher By Design Entertains book has a recipe that I based mine off of. I used less oil and didn't see the need for sugar. I also cooked it until the cauliflower was browning and getting a bit crispy.

This is so yummy, I want to go make it now!

This is the recipe from kbd entertains:

2 heads cauliflower, cut head into medium sized florets and discard stem
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4-1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6-8 tablespoons olive oil

preheat oven to 450. line a jelly roll pan or baking sheet with parchment paper. in a large bowl combine salt, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika,turmeric and oil. add cauliflower and toss to evenly coat. place in a single layer on the prepared sheet. roast uncovered for 30-35 minutes until the largest pieces can be pierced with a fork. if the tops are starting to get too brown, toss the cauliflower during the baking process

The Bare Necessities

There are a few things that I think are necessities so I created the "must haves" list.

• Brown Rice
• Fresh Ginger
• Garlic
• Lemons
• Lentils
• Oats
• Onions

These are the things that I try to always keep on hand and that I use in most recipes.
The fresh ginger I break of about a 4 inch piece from the bins at the spice shops in the shuk.
Brown rice, lentils, and oats I buy from the bulk bins at one of the halth food stores, I have found them to be about a shekel or 2 cheaper and better quality than the pre-packaged from the supermarket.
Garlic, onions and lemons are easy to come by and are usually the same price everywhere.
When choosing lemons get the squishy juicy ones and keep your eyes peeled for the less textured skin they tend to be juicier

I also tend to use a lot of cumin but I don't know if its a necessity.

Herbs & Spices

Fresh Herbs and spices are always better but many people are worried about wasting, that they won't use up what they bought and they will end up throwing it away.
Many herbs like coriander I tend to always have on hand, but basil and parsley tend to go bad so quickly and I don't always have time to use them up. my mother-in-law showed me that I can wash and dry the greens and then separate them in to ziplocks and freeze them. I don't use parsley so often but every so often I have a recipe that calls for fresh parsley, so all I need to do is go in to the freezer and there it is!
I've never tried it, but my friend Hayley mentioned on an other post that she learned from Rachel Ray that you can peel fresh ginger, freeze it and then grate off what you need when you need it. I am excited to try this. I tend to use up my ginger because I cook a lot of things with ginger, but I am very curious to see how freezing it works. If you try it please let me know how it goes.

Lemony Lentil Soup

Where to start, where to start?
I have so many ideas to get this blog started. So here it goes, why not start with one of my favorites!

As you will come to see lentils are one of my favorite things to cook with. They are so versatile and extremely healthy!
In a search for a new fun lentil soup I came across this Lemony Lentil Soup with Cilantro on Epicurious.com, one of my favorite recipe websites.

Epicurious is great because you can type in ingredients that you have and want to use and search for recipes with those ingredients. It is even possible to refine your search to course or dietary restrictions.

Ok so back to the soup. As you will also come to see I almost never follow recipes, I use them as guidelines to make my own scrumptious recipes. This recipe in particular is pretty easy and super quick, 2 of my favorite attributes for a recipe!
It is great recipe as is and is great with the many variations I've tried.

The following is what I've done to make it my own, not to mention, way faster!

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger (fresh chopped ginger is even better!)
  
• 1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or 1 teaspoon seasoned salt and 3 cups of water)
  
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute onion in heated oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute an other 1-2 minutes. Add salt and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add lentils, pepper, ginger, broth, and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are very soft, about 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and cilantro.

Try adding coconut milk for a more Thai flavor!

How to eat in Nachlaot when you're not a trust fund baby!

Ok so just kidding. But all of us no matter where we live or what our backgrounds are, we are all looking for ways to save money, and saving money on food is a great place to start.

People are always shocked when I tell them how little I spend on food a month and always want to know how I do it. I had many ideas on how to share my ideas, recipes, and cooking with others. I thought about cooking up lunch once a week to serve for very inexpensive, then I thought maybe a cooking class, and then a friend suggested writing a book. I thought a blog was a better idea for me, at least for now. So my hope is that each week I will be able to share an idea, a recipe, a thought, just some sort of tasty morsel to help others cook for themselves their family and their friends and not empty their wallets or bank accounts at the same time. Some of the things that I share will be specifically for those who live in Jerusalem and go to the shuk and others are definitely geared towards kosher cooking in Israel but many of the things I do can be used anywhere in the world. If you like something I do, or have a question, have a suggestion or improvement on something or just want to share what you have done, please please please share so that who ever reads "Healthy Cheap Eats" will benefit.
Get your aprons on and head to the pantry and lets get cooking!

And so it begins!