Moist, Kid-Friendly Carrot Cake Muffins (Gluten free and Dairy free)

I’ve been on the hunt for carrot muffins my kids actually like, but after trying a couple dozen recipes, nothing worked. So I got creative, ran my recipe by ChatGPT, and made my own “Frankenstein’s monster” carrot cake-style muffin! 

Don't forget to read the notes! I hear from everyone about the consistency, but you just have to trust me here. Ready? Here you go:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chaviva Gordon-Bennett (@thechaviva)

Moist, Kid-Friendly Carrot Cake Muffins (GF, DF)

Makes 12 standard muffins

Ingredients

Dry mix

• 1½ cups flour*
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Wet mix

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ~2 cups finely grated carrots*

*Notes

• I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill’s GF 1:1 flour and regular all-purpose flour for this. It’s very flexible. 
• I’m lazy and buy the bagged shredded carrots. Then, I take out some frustration by cutting them up with scissors to make the pieces super bite-sized! You can shred your own if you want, though. 
• The dough will be VERY (like super) thick, and that’s exactly how it’s meant to be. 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees Celsius) and line a muffin tin with paper liners (or pull out a silicone cupcake pan). 
2. Dry mix: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 
3. Wet mix: In a second bowl, mix the oil, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then, add in grated carrots.
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir until completely mixed. It’ll be thick!
5. Divide the mixture between the 12 spots on your muffin pan. (I use an ice cream scooper for this.)
6. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 
7. Cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Store at room temp for ~3 days or keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks. Reheat in the microwave for maximum yums.

If you make these, please let me know what you think in the comments. 

Delicious, Quick, and Easy Coconut Cookies - Gluten Free

I'm so pregnant I'm ready to pop, so Passover this year was pretty low-key. But my one crowning achievement was this recipe, which was based on another recipe, but honestly I didn't have enough coconut and I thought it had way too much sugar and I was missing one of the ingredients. So I took a swing and it was a huge home run with the family. Ready?

Ingredients

• 1 bag Trader Joe's Unsweetened Flake Coconut (8 oz)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or almond extract)
• 1/4 tsp salt (not the table variety)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prep two cookie sheets with parchment.
2. Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
3. Give it a good mix and add in the chocolate chips. 
4. Pop on some gloves and start gathering roughly 1/4 cup of "cookie dough" in your hands. Squish the mixture together in your hands to create a mound and pop it on the cookie tray.
5. Push it down just a bit. 
6. Continue with the rest of the dough. 
7. Bake for about 12 minutes, then switch the sheets and bake another 6 minutes until the edges and tops are browning. 
8. Take out of the oven and let cool completely. They'll harden and be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. 

Enjoy!

IKEA Sweet Potato Muffin Recipe

Once up on a time, I loved eating at the IKEA cafe. When I went kosher, this was no longer a possibility, until I lived in Israel, where, you guessed it, the cafe is kosher! I miss those inexpensive meals of salmon, green beans, and french fries ... ah, those were the days.

Now, my only peace of mind comes from being able to use the IKEA Cookbook to craft some delicious nosh that, honestly, you'd never find in their cafes anyway.

But, to be honest, this isn't necessarily a cookbook. It's more of a "how to have an amazing kitchen and respect the planet, yourself, and your kitchen" book. The tips in this tome are impressive, thoughtful, and universal.

The bummer is that it seems this book -- Our Food, Naturally -- is no longer available, and for that, I apologize to you, because you're missing out. The photography just jumps off the page at you, too.

And now? On to the recipe simply called ...

"Muffins"

Ingredients
7 oz roasted yams
1 cup soft butter (room temperature)
1/3 cup strained yogurt 10%
1 1/4 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 oz coarsely grated apple with peel
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs, whisked
melted butter for the cups

Directions
Put the yam flesh, butter, and yogurt into a food processor and blend. Put the mixture in a bowl and sieve in the flour and baking powder. Mix together and whisk the grated apple, sugar, and eggs into the dough. Divide the muffin mixture into cups (roughly 1/2 cup) greased with a little melted butter. Fill with mixture to 1/2 inch from the edge. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until they feel firm and are golden on top.

Notes:

• I ended up roasting two medium-sized sweet potatoes, which was actually enough to double the recipe. So one medium sweet potato should do the trick. 
• I used Greek yogurt in this recipe. 
• For the flour, I used Cup4Cup as a gluten-free replacement. 
• I very rarely mix ingredients separately, because I'm a lazy cook. I just there everything into the KitchenAid mixer and let the whisk attachment do the rest. 

Review and Giveaway: Pereg Gourmet Goodies

EDIT: In an attempt to take a night off from cooking dinner and cleaning up afterward, I asked the husband to make dinner. He did, making a nice tuna bake, but he took the fusilli pasta out of the giveaway box. Sigh. Husbands. Sorry, it'll be two boxes of the macaroni/elbow-style pasta.

If you've ever heard of KosherFest, you know that it is the biggest event where you can get the most amazing kosher food samples on the planet. But if you've ever tried to go, you probably also know that it's an industry event and you have to be media or a buyer/seller to get there. Well, lucky for you, even though I didn't go this year, I did get some delicious samples from Pereg Gourmet's gluten-free line to try and give away!

The products I received (and that one lucky winner will also receive) are:

• Quinoa with Lemon & Herbs
• Quinoa: Southern Style
• Quinoa Pasta: fusilli
• Quinoa Pasta: Elbow/Macaroni x 2
• Pistachio Mix (topping for salads, mashed potatoes, and more)

The quinoa mixes could use a bit more salt and pepper, but that's an easy fix and I tend to be a bit of a salt fiend. The pastas are really impressive and hold up well with cooking and reheating, even. I was really happy with them. The pistachio mix is also really versatile, and it was delicious on top of mashed potatoes (which I've been eating a lot of lately for some reason). I had also requested a box of their new quinoa-based gluten-free cereal, but, unfortunately, they never sent it so I didn't get to enjoy it. I have to assume it's pretty delicious, however. 

All you have to do to enter is COMMENT on this blog post, letting me know what your favorite Pereg Gourmet product is or which product you'd most love to try. 

One lucky winner will receive all the goodies in the picture and list above. Just comment by 11:59 MST on Thursday, November 19, 2015. 

G'luck!

At last! Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Um, it smells really good in here.

I can't tell you how long I've been craving cinnamon rolls. When I was living back in the U.S. I did the best I could to consume the closest thing I could find to classic cinnamon rolls, but unfortunately Udi's take on the gooey classic just didn't compare to anything I knew.

Living in Israel, you can't go anywhere without the smell of freshly baked pastries wafting every which way, which makes it tough for a gluten-free foodie. The benefit of being me is that I'm not constantly noshing the crap people buy at bakeries (once in a while is fine, but some people feed their kids this stuff daily). The downside is that it means I have to seriously muss up the kitchen to make something delicious to satisfy that fleeting desire.

So cinnamon rolls. I found this recipe over at Sarah Bakes Gluten Free and got a few recommendations for her recipes being very stand up, and it turned out to be a pretty easy recipe to follow and put together. I had to do some modifications because I didn't have any dairy-free milk on hand, just lactose-free milk, and it's tough to find honest vegan butter in this country (if I could import Earth Balance, I would). I also used her lighter version of the flour blend as she suggested, which seemed to be the best option available.

I'll was really surprised at how easy these were to roll, because my past attempts at cinnamon rolls using recipes from You Won't Believe it's Gluten Free! ended up in a mushy mess that was more like a coffee cake than cinnamon rolls. I'm super pleased with this recipe and can't wait to make them again.

These rolls proved perfect, absolutely perfect! Crisp on the top, and with that gooey center, they hit the spot in a way that no factory-produced gluten-free cinnamon rolls ever will.

The question is: Will these last until Shabbat ...?

Gluten Free in Israel

UPDATE (December 2014): 

Good news gluten-free foodies! If you're looking for gluten-free, ha'motzi challah in Israel, check out Challaluya in Jerusalem. Also, a new bakery has opened on Emek Refaim called Coney Island Bakery that has gluten-free pizza, cupcakes, cookies, and more! Although I haven't tried either location/product, I have to say the prospect alone is amazing.

On a similar note, while in Israel, I was really dismayed at visits to Cafe Cafe and Cafe Greg, two places that, previously, were amazing when it came to gluten-free eating. Now, it appears, that fear has grasped the chefs and they don't recommend anything from their kitchens, despite having gluten-free bread. In truth, they're just being paranoid, but please proceed at your own risk.

UPDATE (January 2014): 

Morgen's has closed and an amazing new restaurant has opened in Efrat, just 20 minutes south of Jerusalem, that offers not only Mexican cuisine, but gluten-free Mexican cuisine! See below.

Living in Israel as a gluten-free foodie, things have been going pretty smoothly. I've found a variety of local chains and some single-location haunts that offer up lots of delicious gluten-free-friendly options. These are some of my picks! I apologize that they're very Jerusalem-centric, but that's where I hang my hat.

I'm slowly discovering that more and more people are starting to offer gluten-free buns and bread, which is a huge bonus, because the truth is that you can eat just about anywhere these days! The places to avoid? Those classic, Israeli-style restaurants with meat patties (bread crumbs) and the heavy use of MSG- and gluten-packed soup mixes. Steakhouses and places that serve fish are always good bets, because the grill is a safe place and the fryer should be avoided. When in doubt, always tell the server that you can't eat gluten, and they will tell the chef and make sure you're set! (It's a very welcoming country!)

Aroma
Yes, I know, not the most exciting place in the world to eat, but they sell gluten-free cakes and bread, so you can get a delicious breakfast with a hot gluten-free roll to go with it. In a pinch, if you want bread, it's a decent option that isn't too expensive.

Ben Ami
With locations around Israel, this restaurant is known for their gluten-free friendly menu, chock full of sandwiches, toasts, breakfast, and even some pretty amazing desserts. This is always my go-to when friends come to town and want to eat out. I highly recommend the polenta!

Black Bar and Burger
This meaty restaurant offers up gluten-free buns and even gluten-free beer for their patrons. I ate here for the first time several years back when I visited as a non-vegetarian, but on days when I am jonesing for meat, I prefer BB&B because it's nice to feel like everyone else in the restaurant.

Bodega
This amazing little restaurant in Efrat sings to my heart by serving fajitas, burritos, nachos, and other delicious Mexican-inspired dishes. They've also recently added a bit of Mexican-Sushi fusion to their menu. Just mention to your server that you're gluten-free or celiac, and they'll make sure your meal is prepared accordingly.

Cafe Cafe
I don't know if this is normal at all Cafe Cafe locations, but I recently learned that they offer up gluten-free rolls with their meals if you ask! Although most of the options on the menu are not gluten-free friendly, there are plenty of salads, shakshuka, and even a gluten-free chocolate cake for your dining enjoyment.

Falafel
It's next to impossible to find gluten-free falafel in Israel, unfortunately. There is one location that I've found outside the shuk (Mahane Yehudah) where they stay true to the original recipe and use chickpea flour instead of wheat flour like everybody else. I want to say it's called Number 1 Falafel, but I can't remember the name exactly. It's a small cart, outside the shuk, next to the guys who sell the nuts and gummies. Get a falafel plate and avoid the pita!

Morgen's 
Although I haven't eaten here yet, the owners of this restaurant off Emek Refaim used to own the Village Green location. Now, they offer up gluten-free pasta, bread, wraps, and more on their cafe-style menu. I'm eager to give them a try!

Pera e Mela
Say hello to your best Italian friend. This restaurant is owned by two authentic Italians with a sensitivity to the gluten-free community. They offer gluten-free pasta, lasagna, pizza, and more. I ate here recently and the pizza crust was a little soft, but the ability to be able to go out to eat Italian style in Jerusalem? It's priceless, seriously. Try the garlic broccoli starter!

Pizza Hut
If you're jonesing for that classic Pizza Hut taste, the location in Jerusalem on Ben Hillel has gluten-free family-sized pies! I haven't, unfortunately, partaken, but it's on my to-do list.

Sushi Rechavia
The great thing about Sushi Rechavia is that they have lots of gluten-free liquor (try the plum wine) options and they will happily bring out a bottle of gluten-free Tamari soy sauce with your sushi. By and large, most sushi restaurants in Israel seem to be very gluten-free friendly, stocking Tamari!

The Village Green
With locations on Yafo and Emek Refaim (new) in Jerusalem, this vegan/vegetarian-friendly restaurant offers countless gluten-free options every day, from soup to quiche to their amazingly broad variety of options on their hot and cold bars. They also have gluten-free cookies! I always feel so full, but light after eating here.

If you're looking for snacks, sandwich bread, flour, crackers, cookies, and just about anything else under the sun, most health food stores have a healthy stock of gluten-free products. The best out there in the Jerusalem area is a store called L'Lo Gluten on Agrippas near the shuk. The store is full of gluten-free and sugar-free stuff. Oh, they have beer, too! It can be tough to find gluten-free beer in bars in Israel, but most stock plenty of naturally gluten-free ciders, so never fear.

If you want more suggestions from people who have tried out restaurants around Israel, please feel free to join the Gluten Free in Israel Facebook Group!

What's for Dinner?

When it comes to food, I'm a sucker for fresh, colorful, and healthy. For dinner tonight, I wanted to use up some of the greens from the CSA, plus a sweet potato I had laying around that looked like it was about to go south.

Tonight, I toasted some bread (gluten free for me, regular brown bread for Mr. T), topped it with diced roasted sweet potatoes (olive oil, pepper, paprika), some sautéed greens (any will do with olive oil salt and pepper), and a poached egg (Mr. T did these) with crumbled feta cheese.

Assuming this wouldn't be entirely satisfying, I also used up some of the cabbage and one of the zucchinis from the CSA to make a Dijon-Maple Slaw. The recipe was fairly quick and easy. I shredded the cabbage with a peeler and then with a knife for some chunkier pieces, used a peeler to thinly peel the zucchini, and then tossed in pumpkin seeds. I tossed in the Dijon-Maple Dressing (garlic, dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper, olive oil), and voila!

I love my CSA. iBoy loves the CSA. Mr. T loves the CSA. Life is good (and delicious).

Adventures in Pizza

I was really excited after a pretty craptastic day to make pizza for Mr. T, because we'd been lamenting for days (if not weeks) about how there's no place in the Gush where I can purchase pizza that's gluten free (there is a pizza place, but, come on, it's kosher pizza, which means it's extra greasy and chock full o' gluten!). Then I came to find out he went out for lunch in Beitar at one of these said greasy pizza joints. Major planning fail! Luckily, with my mad cooking skills in tow, I managed to blow that pizza out of the water, redeeming the pizza cravings that have plagued us for so long.

I have to say that I'm incredibly blessed to have a husband who is down with gluten-free eating, and with our CSA (community-supported agriculture) has been rocking our socks as of late, we've been eating fresh, healthy, and seasonal. Oh it feels so good!

So, I give you, the instructions to make this easy, quick Gluten-Free Roasted Beet and Beet Green Pizza with Feta. Let me know if you try it. Truth be told, the crust could be eaten as a flat bread, or even spread thinner and cooked longer to be an Italian cracker. You'll also notice I use parchment for everything. I like a clean cooking space and not having to scratch food off of my favorite baking sheets. If you have a pizza stone, use it. If you don't, don't. I'm pro-parchment, you should be, too!

The Beets
Yes, this is a popular band known on the hit Nickelodeon cartoon "Doug," but they're also an incredibly messy root vegetable. So put on your rubber gloves, and prepare to wipe down your counter every five seconds so that you don't dye anything red.

With roughly a pound of beets (for me this was three medium sized and two very small), peel them and chop them into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a bowl and toss with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Throw them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven for about 45 minutes until they're fork tender and aromatic.

While the beets are baking, feel free to move on to ...

The Crust
I decided to go with a mashup of several recipes I found online based on what I had on hand. This crust is shockingly stable, super delicious, and incredibly flavorful.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a KitchenAid (or with a spoon, to be honest), mix together the following:

• 2 cups almond meal/flour
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp olive oil

When the ingredients are full combined, throw the dough onto a piece of parchment and flatten out with  the palm of your hand (wet your hand to keep it from sticking) to about a 1/2-inch thick or however thick you want it. Place the parchment with the perfectly pizza-shaped (yeah, right!) dough onto a baking sheet (or, if you have a pizza stone, do it all on there) and place in the oven for about 15 minutes until the edges are brown. 

Thank you to Mr. T, the hand model. We were both blown

away by how stable the crust was. No bending, no flopping,

no soggy gluten-free crust over here!

The Other Toppings

I'm a big fan of using every last bit of produce in my CSA before it rots (so hard sometimes, honestly), so I was happy to make this pizza using every last inch of usable beet goodness. 

Grab a large saucepan, throw some olive oil in it, and prepare the following. 

• 1 small or 1/2 a medium/large red onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• The greens from the beets with the stems removed, chopped roughly, rinsed and dried

In the saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat, and saute the red onion until it starts to brown. Throw in the garlic and cook for another minute. Throw in the beet greens, mix around, and then place a lid on the pan for about 3-5 minutes until the beet greens are slightly wilted but still incredibly colorful. 

Assemble the Pizza!

Once the crust is brown around the edges, take it out of the oven and throw on the beet greens/red onion mixture first, then the roasted beet cubes, then top generously with delicious feta cheese. Yes, I took a bunch of Lactaid to be able to consume this pizza, but I guarantee you the beet/feta combo is unforgettable. 

Place the pizza back in the oven long enough for the feta to get soft and start to brown. Feel free to turn on the broiler to hasten the process. 

Then? Enjoy! Eat the heck out of this pizza. The great thing about it is that it's incredibly filling, doesn't have the greasy grossness of a lot of regular pizza (2 teaspoons of oil, people), and the nut crust and hearty topppings will leave you feeling satiated but not weighed down. 

This is healthy, kosher, gluten-free living. (It's kosher for Passover, too!) Now to find a vegan feta ... 

Wake Up! It's Sunshine Polenta Time

First of all, I have to apologize for the ch-ch-changes going on here on the blog. I wanted something new and fresh to go with my new and fresh existence in Neve Daniel with Mr. T and iBoy, but I'm working out some major kinks. You'll notice that at the bottom of this post from the homepage you won't see any comment link. Nope! You have to click on the title to get into the post and then comment. Argh! Sorry for the frustrating changes, but hopefully I'll get them worked out super stat. You will be happy to note that you can now easily email me through the little GMail envelope link over there on the right.

Now on to that delicious dish up there. The amazing bowl was a wedding gift set from the amazing Schleids, and I can't express how much I love them. We use them for everything -- prep, eating, serving, you name it. We now need to find more of them because of our intense love of said bowls.

I call this Sunshine Polenta because it'll smack you in the face with freshness and wake you up. There are a lot of ways to make it versatile, but it's gluten free, dairy free, and vegan. feel free to throw on some Greek yogurt or something else to make it your own, but this is how I do it.

On the stove, bring 2 cups of any combination of orange juice, almond/rice/coconut milk, and water to a boil. I used a 1 cup almond milk, 2/3 cup OJ, and 1/3 cup water ratio for mine. Once it's boiling, pour in 1/2 cup polenta and stir as the mixture comes back to a boil. Once it's boiling and bubbly in orange deliciousness, let it cook at medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Whisk it good, then take it off the heat, cover, and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.

Using an orange or a tangerine, zest the heck out of the polenta until you're heart's content. Slice up pieces of the orange or tangerine and top the polenta (it took about half a tangerine for me).

I topped mine with walnuts, flax meal, coriander, cinnamon, and a drizzle of Agave, but feel free to embellish yours with other fresh, healthy toppings.

And then? Devour! Devour it like you haven't eaten in days! Oh, and be sure to make yourself a cup of delicious Vanilla-Nut Coffee to go with it. If you don't have Vanilla Nut, any old cuppa Joe will do.

Betayavon! (That's Hebrew for Bon Appetit.)

Ask Chaviva Anything!: Packing a Kosher Lunch

There are dozens of amazing questions sitting in the Ask Chaviva Anything! queue, and I'm chomping at the bit to answer them all -- including some of the nastier ones! Oh wait, no I'm not. Listen, to whoever keeps posting questions about how miserable I must be making Mr. T's life, you're living in a dream world. We're genuinely happy, and if my word isn't good enough, then I don't know what to tell you.

Now, this is a question I received that I wanted to address because it's actually pretty timely with Passover coming up.

Any advice for a non-Jewish mom sending her kiddo to a Jewish preschool? I will be sending him with a packed lunch every day. I don't want to offend or break rules; I do want him to feel happy about his lunch.  (The school statement is that they are not strict, but ask that we send a kosher lunch and non-leavened bread at certain times.) On the tour lunch was a big point, and the word "compliance" was used.  Yikes! I don't know what I am doing.

How utterly exciting that you've got a little one heading off to preschool! When I was living in Colorado, the Jewish preschools there are some of the most highly rated and populated in the state because of the quality of education, and most of the student population believe it or not was not Jewish. The schools run on Jewish values and promote an understanding of the Jewish holidays and customs, but with a diverse population base, the goal is creating well-rounded participants of society. So to you I say kol hakavod! Way to be.

Now, as long as you follow the guidelines dished out by the school, you'll be fine. My advice is to find another parent at the school who you click with and bounce any questions or concerns you have off of them if you're not comfortable going to the school's administration.

Chances are, as long as you stay in the realm of "kosher style" -- that is, no pork or shellfish (how often are you sending shrimp cocktail with a preschooler anyway, right?) and no sandwiches that mix meat and milk -- then you should be fine. I'd suggest sticking to classic cheese sandwiches, yogurt, PB&J, doing vegetable sticks with hummus or peanut butter, chips, crackers, fruit, granola bars, and so on, avoiding meat all together in the lunchbox. It'll make your life a lot easier.

As for the non-leavened bread, that means that in a few weeks when Passover starts, do your best to send anything and everything but sandwiches. Consider rice or quinoa salad, lots of vegetables and fruits and nuts, take it as a chance to give the gluten-free or paleo diet a try for a week with your child, to branch out with the lunchbox experience (hey, maybe a great blog idea!). Send them to school with buckwheat pancakes and yogurt, some flavorful and yummy waffles, or Nut Crisp crackers and a bounty of veggie sticks with tuna or PB or hummus.

I hope this helps! I get to experience the lunch-packing thing now with iBoy, which has been a fun challenge because of what he will and won't eat and making sure he has shelf-stable food that will get him through lunch time and beyond.

Have questions? Just ask!

The Two Burner Superchef

A neighborhood doorway. 

There are many things that I cannot do in the meager kitchen that I have. Among those things is bake anything, or put anything under the broiler, or do anything that requires anything resembling an oven. I have no crockpot (but I'm okay with that because unless you're cooking meat, it tends to destroy the nutritional value in all veggies), no toaster (truth is I didn't use mine much except for late-night snacks), and no KitchenAid (which I only used for making my gluten-free challah).

I'm over all of these things. What really kills me, however, is not having a full-size fridge. Or, at that, a fridge with a working freezer. The college fridge is what I have, and all of us know that such fridges with freezers rarely "freeze" anything and keep it frozen. Add that that the door is broken, and it's serving as space to store more fridge-like things since, well, I have zero space in my fridge to begin with.

The benefit here is that I'm right next to the shuk, so I can go buy fruits and vegetables as I need them. The downside here is that I have a tendency toward laziness when it comes to cooking and because of my lack of fridge/freezer space, I can't really cook when leftovers are involved, making meal-planning a huge pain in my kitchen-loving tuches.

(May this be the worst of my problems.)

I'm considering starting a blog devoted to my ridiculous eating habits (yes, I spent one evening enjoying gluten-free crackers in dijon mustard), something along the lines of how I'm a Two-Burner, Kosher, Gluten-Free, Semi-Dairy-Free Ovo-Vegetarian Who is Willing to eat Chicken and Fish on Shabbat. I'm willing to take name ideas. Make it crafty, make it clever. Otherwise, it's going to be something along the lines of the The Two-Burner Superchef: Adventures of an Eclectic and Restricted Palette. Thoughts?

Anyhow, this is what I put together today. It included the leftover Breakfast Quinoa (golden raisins, cinnamon, coriander, walnuts) that I made over Shabbat, heated up in Almond Milk, topped with Flax Seeds, Walnuts, and Bananas served with some French Press Coffee.

I definitely feel like I'm in college again -- specifically graduate school, where I had one burner, a toaster oven, a few pots, and managed to eat lots of random nothingness. 

I suppose the upside is that there's a chance I might lose some weight, what with all the schlepping paired with all the eating of fruits and vegetables. I will admit that my fingernails seem to be very strong and thick these days, I'm sleeping well (when I'm actually sleeping), and I'm drinking a lot more than ever before, which is bueno for the dehydration. 

Know of any blogs or websites where I can find college-style super healthy, hippie-dippie recipes for someone like me? Share!

An Ultimate Hodge Podge Update

Holy wow, I haven't blogged since last Tuesday about aliyah. I'm guessing everyone is wonder what exactly has been going on, and my mind is blown even thinking about it. There have been phone calls in Hebrew with phone company, a visit to the bank (alone) to pick up my bank card, a visit to Misrad HaKlita to get my funds set up, and so very much more. I've been using my Hebrew like mad, which has been both exciting and intimidating.

Basically it goes something like this ... I walk into a store. I ask a question in Hebrew with my pretty okay Israeli accent. Shopkeeper responds with a really lengthy answer in Hebrew. My head explodes, but I nod and smile and say "okay" and "todah" (thank you in Hebrew) and go on my merry way. The thing that baffles most people is that I speak Hebrew much better than I understand Hebrew. Most people who grow up Jewishly hear Yiddish or Hebrew in some form, even if it's just in Hebrew School, so there's usually a gap in speaking but a decent semblance of understanding. I am an anomaly, but I think that's because I didn't start learning Hebrew until 2006 -- and then it was biblical Hebrew!

One gnarly thing about Israel is that I'm really living it up gluten-free style. You see, there are some things that are next to impossible to find in the U.S. both kosher and gluten free. One of those things? Rice noodles. Yes, something as simple as rice noodles, which essentially is rice and water, is impossible to find with a hechsher (kosher symbol). Here? Dozens of options. Curry paste? Easy. Fresh gluten-free bread? No problem. Gluten-free cakes? Delicious and less expensive. Here's what I nabbed for about 119 shekel last week (that's roughly $30).

That's fresh gluten-free sandwich bread, pita, a cake, two

packages rice noodles, and Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce).

Score! In the U.S. this would have cost me probably double. So when you're in Israel, look for this store on Agrippas in Nachlaot near the shuk.

As Chanukah approaches, these things are popping up all over the place. However, for me, these are a no-go. What are these? Sufganiyot, which are traditionally jelly donuts, but nowadays are gourmet and come in all sorts of exotic flavors. While the U.S. gorges on latkes, Israel gorges on donuts!

What else has been happening? Well, I spent Shabbat up in Ra'anana, which is a really nice little town outside of Tel Aviv that has a seriously amazing mall (yes, I went there, and yes, I bought kitchen gadgets and fresh, delicious coffee and loose-leaf tea). It was a huge blessing because I got to spend two whole days with my surrogate family! Good food, good company, getting to relax and see how grown up the kids are ... time flies when you're a world apart.

Finally, I was at the Jewish Agency for Israel's Board of Governor's meeting this morning as a "voice" for the generation of Jews that represent flux and fluidity and how JAFI can better engage and play to that audience. It was quite the excellent morning, and I got to catch up with a bunch of old friends from ROI Community and meet some newer folks, too. Networking is like coffee for me!

Mah od? (What else?) That's the quick and dirty. Life is still amazing, I'm working, I'm socializing, I'm drinking coffee, travelling, walking everywhere, waking up happy, and aside from a few annoying mosquito bites, I cannot complain about anything. I'd really wanted to write a Lech Lecha blog post since that was this week's Torah portion -- tying it to aliyah and how perfect and right it all feels -- but alas, time was not on my side this week.

Here is to another amazing week in Israel as an Israeli!

A Gluten-Free Manischewitz Review

The kind folks over at Manischewitz were kind enough to send me some amazing and delicious gluten-free treats around the holidays last month. Although I didn't have the time with my big aliyah move to cook with all of them, I did have time to sample a few items, including the Guiltless Gourmet All Natural Snack Crunches: Roasted Cashew Crunch, the Mishpacha Gluten Free Flavored Coating Crumbs, and, of course, the Manischewitz Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix.

My thoughts? Well, the first thing I dove into, of course, was the cake mix, which happened to come conveniently with the pan to bake it in and the frosting mix. Now, for someone who lives alone, this was the perfect size cake -- roughly the size of the box when made. Yes, I happened to indulge in the entire thing, and yes I got a little sick from the sugar, but honestly this was one of the better gluten-free cake mixes I've happened upon. It was incredibly moist, the chocolate was thick and dark, and it hit the spot. If I liked yellow cake, I probably would have made the other box, too, but my waistline thanks me for not enjoying yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Find all their sweet treats here.

The next nosh? The All Natural Snack Crunches: Roasted Cashew Crunch (yes, they come in other flavors). The first thing I did with this was look at the ingredients, because when you're eating something that says All Natural, you really want it to be All Natural. I think that Guiltless Gourmet does a pretty good job of sticking to it, and I appreciate them explaining what inulin is. The ingredients?

Dry roasted cashews, pure cane sugar, tapioca syrup, inulin (chicory root fiber), sea salt, natural flavor.

I'm not sure whether tapioca syrup, inulin, or "natural flavor" are good for you, but by and large for having no GMO ingredients and being vegan and gluten free, I'm hesitant to complain when they tasted so so so good. I topped off the package without batting an eyelash over a few days. It was the perfect snack to hit the spot -- the kind of thing you buy and keep in your car, because these are better for you in a million ways than stopping at Starbucks for a super venti mega sugar carb loaded beverage to hold you off until dinner.

And last, but not at all in the least, are the Flavored Coating Crumbs, which are surprisingly produced in Israel, my new home! I used these in making a batch of Spaghetti (Squash) and Bean "Meat" Balls as a binding agent. I've done these before, but never with a coating crumb (aka "bread" crumb) before, and the honest truth is they kept their shape a lot better than without. There wasn't a huge flavor shift, but I was extremely happy that they kept my delicious little Italian-style bean balls together in one piece for my makeshift vegan version of a classic. (And, if you're really, really religious, you'll be pleased to know there is not one but three hechshers on the package!)

Overall? I was pretty happy with the new gluten-free products out by Manischewitz  I really wish I had gotten a chance to try their gluten-free noodles, so I'll have to see if I can't manage to find them here in Israel.

If you hit the store and try out any of their gluten-free nosh, let me know what you think!

Best Dairy Meal Ever. Period.

No one is paying me to write this. 

I just want to get that out of the way right now, because I know sometimes when I do "sponsored posts" (a girl's gotta eat) people get all in a tissy about me selling out or working for the "man." No, this post is coming straight from the heart. Or, rather, it's coming straight from my stomach and eyes to your eyes. If that makes sense.

I think the pictures can speak for themselves, but just for your info, if you want to read my review of this delicious restaurant -- Ariel's in Englewood, NJ -- on Yelp, be my guest. Also? It's Chalav Yisrael, so I expect @mottel and @wifeofmottel to come enjoy a delicious meal and to bring Baby Boo with them. Everyone else is welcome, too!

Tomato Roasted Garlic Soup, Stuffed Flounder, Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

This was probably my last great meal before Israel. Not that I'm knocking Israel's restaurant stylings, I'm just not adept enough to know where to go and what hechshers make the most sense and so on. It's almost harder than keeping kosher in the U.S.

If you have suggestions of delicious kosher restaurants in Jerusalem that won't break the bank and beats this, be sure to let me know!

Styling for the Kosher Food & Wine Experience

(Clockwise, top left) Pomegranates from Pomegranate, my best pick for dessert ~ Mousse & Cookies from Basil, Treats from My Most Favorite, and the awesome face behind got cholent? 

Tonight, Tuvia and I hit up the 2011 Kosher Food & Wine Experience at Chelsea Pier 60, and wow was I blown away. It was like Kosher Fest with the pushing, shoving, and mass quantities of food, except that the people were dressed more nicely, the ambiance was more classy, and the food and alcohol was amazing and unforgettable. There were gobs of Twitter folk there, including @hsabomilner, @dovidlobl, @yeahthatskosher, @mottel, @wifeofmottel, @ohnuts, @koshertopia and ... man alive, I can't remember who else. A lot. We all gathered in front of the Shalom Bombay booth and schmoozed and kvelled about the goodies and the crowd. Yes, people were crazy rude and pushy, but for some reason, it wasn't nearly as offensive as folks were at Kosher Fest. Thank heavens for that.

My pick for best food? Subsantional. Yes, I know, it isn't a steakhouse or high-class restaurant, but the food was amazing and it was gluten-free. Chili, some delicious Latino pulled something or other, and, wow. It was amazing. *Edit: I have to mention the glorious Jack's Gourmet. I was so happy to finally meet the faces behind Jack's, and there was always a huge crowd around their table. Bravo!*

My pick for best dessert? Basil, without a doubt. They had a delicious, rich chocolate mousse and a meringue cookie that had this amazing hint of ... yes, you guessed it, basil! It was so delicious, that I think I've finally got a reason to force Tuvia to go to Brooklyn!

My pick for best alcohol (wine or otherwise)? Binyamina Sour Apple Liqueur! Oh my gosh it tasted like a Jolly Rancher.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of gluten-free food there. Tuvia had to do a lot of the eating. Maybe next year? Luckily, the chefs there knew what I was talking about when I asked if the food had gluten in it. Phew. Except that one Indian restaurant I've never heard of that said, "So you can't have white flour or whole wheat flour?" Oy.

And, of course, the real reason for this post: fashion!

I was perplexed as to what to wear to this event. The photos up on their website made the event appear to be a classy, dressy event, but from what I heard from other attendees, it wasn't as dressy as I was expecting. I couldn't choose between two outfits, so I asked the lovely Hadassah, and she and I agreed on the best outfit: Dressy Tzniut Librarian!

I was struggling with the outfit at first, but then the hair thing hit me up. I wanted to wear my sheitel, but it wasn't jazzing me. It's super straight right now and needs to be styled, so on a whim I decided to pull it back with a hairband and, well, I really love the way it looked.

I paired the 'do with ...

• School Marm Shoes from Kohl's with some Target "sweater" tights
• Looped earrings from Target
• Cardigan a la Marshall's (no clue when I bought it or for how much)
• Ruffled collar shirt from Van Heusen (Tuvia calls it my Pirate Shirt; think Seinfeld)
• Skirt from Dress Barn
• Headband from the Icing (yes, that cheesy jewelry store in the mall)

Let me know what you think of the look -- I'm still trying to decide how I feel about the hair and the ruffles. And, of course, I include Tuvia because he bent to my will and wore a pair of nice black slacks, a white button-down, and a black/white/gray checkered tie that I got for him from either Conway or Marshall's. I forget. Either way, he looks great, right?

Here's to delicious, classy kosher food from all over the New York area -- may next year's Kosher Food & Wine Experience be more amazing, more delicious, and bigger than ever!

A Gluten-Free Challah Worth Screaming About

I know, I know ... this blog is about all things Jewish. All things gluten-free belongs over at www.kosher-critic.com, but that is just how excited I am about this. Watch the video, love it.

PS: Tuvia and I agree ... if you threw some salt on these, it would be akin to eating soft pretzels. I don't know why, but this recipe screams "pretzel challah," and that is a-okay with me.




Best Gluten-Free Challah ... Ever from Chaviva Galatz on Vimeo.

The Great Food Dilemma

This is a rather odd post to be posting, but why not?

I've been a gluten-free vegetarian for the past month and a half, and at times it's gone great and at others I've felt like screaming, "what's the point?" The truth is, when I eat meat, I feel sort of heavy and weighed down, and after a schlep to a local farm, I decided to respect the food and my body and go vegetarian. The gluten free adventure started after someone suggested that I consider the diet in order to aid in the healing of a discombobulated stomach that perpetually gives me aches and pains.

So here I am, a month and a half later, and I'm not sure whether to continue forth. The first few weeks of the gluten free diet, I was feeling better and my stomach wasn't as grumpy with me. Then the wedding came, and stress destroyed any progress made. Now, I'm just unsure if it's doing anything. The vegetarianism is something that's a lot easier to carry on with, except for the fact that my husband is a meatatarian and I grow weary of making two main courses for every meal so I have something to eat.

The worst part about being both Gluten Free and Vegetarian, however, is Shabbat. At my own house, I can manage a delicious meal that gives me something to eat with both constraints in mind, but it's the eating out that gets me. At one recent Shabbat meal, I was able to eat the gefilte, the typical salad with some dressing, green beans, and potato kugel. There was a delicious-looking oreo dessert cake, chicken, a kugel with some corn flake topping, and more, but there I was, unable to explore any of them.

The upside to being Gluten Free and Vegetarian is that I probably eat a lot healthier, considering I can't eat a lot of the processed foods out there that contain boatloads of junk that people shouldn't be eating. I just can't figure out whether it's worth it for me to tell people who invite me over that I'm BOTH GF and Veg. Wouldn't it be easier on my future hosts to just throw one restriction at them? I mean, I can offer to bake and bring something that's me-friendly, but some people just aren't comfortable with that, especially when you're new in a neighborhood and people don't know what your kashrut standards are like.

Sigh. Food. I've always had a horrible, incompatible relationship with food. It just seems to get worse as I get older. It would be easier if I were cooking for one, but that's not my life now! So I suppose it's time to buck up and deal with it.

On another note: For those of you interested in Gluten Free food, I'm hosting a giveaway over on my Gluten-Free Kosher Critic blog of Cheddar Cheese Fries (just go look!).

The Liberated Me.

Liberating: Driving in my little Yaris (now deemed the Hot Temple Time Machine a.k.a. HTTM a.k.a. Carmine) with music blaring, singing at the top of my lungs. I. Am. Free.

Liberating: Signing up for a gym membership and actually going. Riding a bike and pumping my heart rate  while reading a new book. Sweating. Getting healthy.

Liberating: Choosing to go Gluten Free on my own accord, despite a failed blood test, because I have averse reactions to wheat/gluten. Feeling better, already. No stomach ache. Just me and natural goodies. Making good with my body.

Frustrating: Figuring out how to be kosher, vegetarian, and gluten free. Mad props to The Kosher Cupcake for recipes right up my alley. There's hope for me yet. I just need to figure out how to make some yummy kosher, gluten free challot (since they serve as mezonot and will allow me to make ha'motzi!), or maybe I'll just order some from Heaven Mills. YUMtimes. There's also some interesting stuff up on Gluten Free Mama, including a shopping guide. FTW!

Liberating: Emailing in my final paper for my M.A. in Judaic Studies at the University of Connecticut. Done and done.

Liberating: The consideration that I might post some of my poetry up here. Stay tuned.

Housekeeping

So I just realized that it was four years ago today (Gregorian calendar) that I converted to Judaism under Reform auspices. It's been just about four months since I converted under Orthodox auspices. Four seems to be the number of the day. To read about my experience four years ago, click here. To be honest, I have nothing to say at this point about the four-year anniversary of my Reform conversion, probably because my brain is fried!

I called the UConn Health Center today to schedule an appointment with a new doctor to get a Gluten Test for Celiacs or sensitivity. I realized that the nuts I've been eating all week have soy (read: wheat) in them, so that sucks. Comments on my last post lead me to believe that I should tough it out and get the test before going Gluten Free, and the depressing thing about this is that I have been feeling moderately better, but I've been feeling more exhausted than normal; it usually hits around 9 p.m. each night. It could be the last few weeks of school wearing me out, but who's to say. So I'm torn. I'm going to carry on with my meat-free efforts and eat as little gluten as possible (no bagels or bread for me), but I'm not going to get anal about it because I'm worried about never knowing whether it's the cause of my intestinal badness.

Sigh. I just want to feel better, get a little healthy in the process, and fit comfortably in my wedding dress in a month. I think I need a hug.

Food, the Source of All Evil

I try to stay on the derekh here with talking all things Judaism, but it's nice to diverge every now and again. So here goes!

I've been dealing over the past few years with stomach unsettledness. That's the best way to describe it. I'm perpetually exhausted, everything I eat upsets my stomach, and my doctor however many months ago suggested I hit up a therapist. Stress, she said, is the source of all my woes (weight, not sleeping, stomach issues). The thing is, I can usually tell when my stomach woes and sleeping woes are stress-related, and yes, that's probably about 40 percent of the time. But that other 60 percent, especially right now when I'm -- honestly -- not that stressed about anything, makes me wonder: What's my body telling me?

So I've decided to go gluten free. The National Institutes of Health (that's a .gov site) suggests continuing to eat gluten before and during your testing for gluten stupidness, but I just want to give it a go. We'll see how it works. I'm okay self-diagnosing on this one, because if I go back to my doctor she'll ask me if I saw a shrink yet, and I can't deal with that. Plus, more veggies = healthier Chavi. I'm also avoiding meat after watching Tuvia devour some chicken over Shabbat and after hanging out with some chickens and cows at Old Sturbridge Village on Sunday ...

So it's fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish for me. And I couldn't be happier. The difficulty will come when I have to eat by other people, when it comes to challah, etc. Does anyone have any advice on being a kosher, gluten-free consumer? Anyone?

In the meantime, I'm going to figure out a way to make all of the cupcakes over on Ming Makes Cupcakes in a gluten-free and low-sugar fashion. Go health!

Hat tip to @HeySuburban for posting this website (the cupcake one, that is) up on Twitter :)