Category Archives: Feast

Spice up your family’s health with these flavorful recipes

Getting kids to eat healthy is a battle I know all too well. From artistic uses of fruit, to “hiding” vegetables, parents seem to have to go through extreme lengths just to add some nutritious foods into our children’s diet.

While eating produce is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and sometimes we do need to get creative with our recipes, there is an even easier way to add nutrition to your family meals, and chances are, you already are doing it.

Herbs and spices, the stuff you pull from your pantry to add flavor to your favorite dishes are packed with the vitamins and minerals our families need to promote healthy living. From improving digestion, reducing inflammation, to boosting immunity, just a pinch or two of these small, but mighty spices cand do wonders for your nutrition.

Read on for some delicious ideas to add flavor and health to your family meals.

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An epic Chanukah starts with PJ Library and Manischewitz

My kids love cookies (who doesn’t?), and have enjoyed making holiday-themed cookie houses at school and elsewhere. And, while those are a lot of fun for children, they tend to be more Christmas themed, which can make Jewish kids like mine feel a bit excluded. So, when our family got the opportunity to test out Manischewitz’s new Chanukah cookie decorating kit, they could not wait to get their hands (and mouths) on this fun and tasty project.

The Chanukah House Cookie Decorating Kit comes with pre-baked cookie walls and roof pieces, ready-to-use frosting and decorations, to make building an enjoyable and easy process. You can choose to follow the design pictured on the box, or you can get creative and decorate the house any way you like.

My kids got creative with their design, and had a little trouble getting everything to stick at first, but once they got the hang of it, they really enjoyed putting the house together and putting their own spin on the decorations.

Of course, the best part about building the Chanukah Cookie House was getting to eat it. Ours wasn’t up long before my boys went right for the delicious, frosted cookie pieces. As you can see in the picture below, my kids couldn’t wait until Chanukah to give the cookie house a try, so you can believe us when we say that this project was both fun and yummy.

Kids of all ages will love building this tasty treat this Chanukah (which begins on December 10), and families will love that each kit comes with a PJ Library subscription card so that families raising children with Jewish values and traditions can sign up to receive a free expertly curated, age-appropriate children’s book each month.

For even more Chanukah fun, check out PJ Library’s “Hanukkah Hub” for recipes, stories, games, gift ideas and more.

The Manischewitz Chanukah House is available at retailers nationwide and on Amazon.

Disclaimer: As a PJ Library influencer, I am compensated for promoting this program. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sisters “Challah Back” in the name of social justice

The Challah Back Girls are on a mission to fill hearts and tummies with their unique cause-centered business that delivers delicious challah (a traditional Jewish bread used on the Sabbath and holidays) to your doorstep and gives back their profits to a deserving charity each month.

Ahead of the busy Rosh Hashana rush, I was fortunate to connect with this incredible business and learn how this company — run by four sisters — got started and how they became so committed to the mitzvah, or good deed, of giving back.

As part of our Blogging for Better series, I am proud to feature Challah Back Girls as our featured organization for September.

BFB: When you started your business was it always your intention to have a donations element to it?

CBG: Initially, the donations came in challah form, but as this project grew we decided to incorporate a fundraising donation element. When Hannah [one of the Challah Back Girls] was forced home from Binghamton University, during her final semester in March she blessed the family with delicious challot each week. Through family friends,
we learned that our neighboring town’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps (BVAC) had potluck Shabbat dinner and lunch every week, and so we offered to contribute to their meals with challah.

During the peak of the pandemic, we then expanded our efforts and brought challah to healthcare heroes and frontline workers working day and night, and found that while it was the least we could do for those putting their lives on the line. Challah Back Girls grew when we realized there were more cooks in the kitchen (literally). The high demand of challot we were making for frontline workers required all-Loffman-sister-hands on deck, and the four of us figured out where each was able to contribute
something unique while working towards the same goal.

After weeks of preparing challot to give away, we started to wonder how we could contribute to both epidemics plaguing our country: COVID-19 and anti-black racism. As protests erupted around the country, and our own town of Teaneck was challenging how racism still exists in our community, we realized the importance of supporting the movement in the ways we could.

We all attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Teaneck on June 6 to speak out against police brutality and anti-black systemic violence. It was important to us that the community send our money and support to organizations and communities who were leading the charge.

Simultaneously, we were receiving a lot of inquiries through our family’s Instagram account (@WeLoffToTravel) about if our challot were for sale. We didn’t feel right selling our challot just because they tasted like heaven. We wanted to find a way to combine spreading the challah love each week while supporting the work being done right now to address discrimination, poverty, racism, etc.

It was then that we marginally shifted our focus and after much thought and feedback, decided to start selling the challot and donating the profit we made each week to a different organization promoting social justice and supporting at-risk or disenfranchised communities.

Traditional and adventurous ways to make Shavuot the delicious dairy holiday of your dreams

Shavuot, the Jewish festival that commomerates the receiving of the Torah (Old Testament), was one of my favorite holidays as a child.

I would love to tell you my appreciation of this holy day was because of a deep spiritual connection to my ancestors, and maybe it was a bit, but the real reason I adored Shavuot was the food.

Unlike other Jewish festivals with their gefilte fish, chopped liver and other traditional ashkenazic foods I disliked, the holiday of Shavuot was a dairy-filled wonder of cheesey goodness.

From blintzes to lasagna, I loved all the lactose-laden meals I indulged in during the holiday. Continue reading

5 Kid-friendly foods you can make at home

Feeding kids is expensive and never-ending. You buy a box of snacks at the store, only to find them wiped out by the end of the day.

Sure, it is easier, to whip up a box of mac ‘n cheese or open a package of cookies, and believe me, I do that often, but, if you have a little time, there are plenty of kid-favorite foods which can be made easily, while saving you a few bucks at the grocery store. Continue reading

Nutella, white chocolate bring fun twist to traditional hamantaschen

Purim is almost here, and that means hamantaschen.

Yum!

So what is Purim anyway?

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Well the story is a bit more complicated than this, but essentially the holiday celebrates the freeing of the Jews of Persia from a hateful decree by the king’s advisor, Haman.

Haman? Hamantaschen? Are they related?

Yup!

Hamantaschen are filled, triangle-shaped cookies, which, supposedly look like Haman’s hat.

Why would we want to eat a cookie shaped like the hat of a man who wanted to destroy the Jewish people? I’m not sure. But, they are delicious and super fun to make. Continue reading

Simple, flavorful roasted cauliflower

I eat a (mostly) vegetarian diet, which means produce plays an important part of my diet. Living with a bunch of meat-loving boys (my husband included), meant that I was often left eating my veggies on my own.

Over the years we’ve been together, I have shown my husband that many of the vegetables he thought he didn’t like could actually be very tasty, if cooked the right way.

For me, roasting vegetables is almost always the best way to bring out their delicious flavor — with the help of a good blend of spices, of course.

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One of the easiest, and tastiest, vegetable dishes, I love to make, is roasted cauliflower.

Cauliflower provides a neutral palette for a variety of seasoning options, but my go-to is turmeric. Not only does this spice give the cauliflower a beautiful color, it adds a nice smokey undertone, and has lots of nutritional benefits to boot.

Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower head chopped, or one bag pre-cut cauliflower

3 Tbsp – Olive oil

1 Tsp – Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

1 Tsp Turmeric

Directions:

Toss cauliflower in olive oil, than mix in the salt, pepper and turmeric.

Place cauliflower in casserole pan, baking sheet or whatever else you have on hand, just be sure it is large enough to spread out the cauliflower pieces.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes (or to desired crispness).

And that’s it. An easy dish that is healthful and flavorful

This cauliflower dish makes a great side, or even a good snack. Even my four-year-old enjoys it.

So whether you are going meatless or just want to eat more veggies, this dish is a simple, tasty addition to your rotation.

 

Elevate your cookie game with these Nutella ganache-filled hamantaschen

Jews around the world are preparing for one of our faith’s most fun holidays. Purim is the celebration of the Jewish people’s triumph over an evil tyrant, hell-bent on our destruction (yes, I realize this sounds like most of our holidays).

Purim is often celebrated with costumes, games and, of course, food.

Elevate your cookie game with these chocolaty hamantaschen

Traditionally,  on Purim Jews will consume a triangle-shaped treat known as hamantaschen. These delicious cookies are commonly filled with apricot, strawberry or other fruit jams. However, if you are chocolate lover like me, ordinary jelly isn’t going to cut it.

This year, I wanted to take my hamantaschen to another level, so I decided to experiment with a Nutella ganache filling. I won’t lie, there was a lot of trial and error, but I think the final result turned out delicious (even if not every cookie turned out picture perfect). Continue reading