Healthy jewish food- is it possible?

batya_d

Mon, May 22 2006, 3:35 pm

I love making traditional ashkenazi jewish foods like kugels, cholent, dips for challah... you get the idea.

But most of my recipes are not so healthy-- high in fat, sugar, carbs, MSG and everything else bad.

For example, we love kishke in our cholent; yesterday I made and froze a creamy spinach lokshen kugel using pareve creamer and onion soup mix, and a butternut squash kugel that uses sugar and mayo... and all my MIL's chicken recipes call for Onion Soup mix (full of MSG).

What can I make that will satisfy my longing to cook like my bubby, yet not make us FAT by the time our first anniversary rolls around??

granolamom

Mon, May 22 2006, 4:10 pm

first, remember moderation is key. one piece of potato kugel will not make you fat.
also, get rid of margarine, creamer and msg!!! you can still cook 'like a bubby' with safflower, canola or olive oil. instead of nondairy creamer (aka chemical waste) I use rice milk or soy milk.

replace white flour with whole wheat (or at least half of it). in many sweet kugels you can replace some or all of the sugar with honey.

instead of onion soup mix, sautee a bunch of onions

beware though...once you start eating really heathfully you might not want to cook like a bubby anymore!

chocolate moose

Mon, May 22 2006, 4:24 pm

That’s why the Shabbos food for us is JUST FOR SHABBOS. Not for Friday afternoon and not for dinner on Sunday night.

mumsy23

Mon, May 22 2006, 4:39 pm

GranolaMom - GREAT tips! I do most of the same things myself.

Also, instead of margarine, you can use smartbalance. It doesn't have hydrogenated oil and is low in cholesteral. It's great on baked potato with a fleishig meal!

batya_d

Mon, May 22 2006, 5:30 pm

mumsy23 wrote:

Thanks for all the tips!! Although sauteeing onions is more work than adding a spoonful of soup mix, it is SO much healthier-- I think I will definitely implement that right away!

Smartbalance sounds good too-- I actually have bought it from time to time and didn't realize it was healthier than margarine.

I think I will also take SaraG's suggestion and not eat shabbos food during the week (no kugel!) and stick to baked chicken, fish, and rice and salads for weeknight dinners, maybe some very lean beef stew.

chen

Mon, May 22 2006, 5:47 pm

sauteed onions are my mainstay. whenever I get a chance, I chop up anywhere from 1-3 lbs. of onions and saute in a big nonstick pan with no fat. the onions cook in their own juices --I just add some water near the end to deglaze the caramelized juices that are stuck to the pot and have all the flavor. after they cool, I freeze in big portions for onion soup or in small portions for other dishes. you could freeze in ice cube trays for when you really need just 2 tablespoons or so.

instant flavor, no fat.

miriam

Mon, May 22 2006, 8:23 pm

Sorry to tell you, batya_d, once you start cooking healthy, it's difficult to cook unhealthy for shabbos. We are vegetarian and I try to cook low calorie and cholesterol for some of the members of my family. Once in a while, I make a lokshen kugel but I rarely cook with potatoes. My meal consists of lots of veggies and some startches. I do miss all the fat, sugary, yummy foods but I think we are healthy for eating the way we do.

red sea

Mon, May 22 2006, 8:26 pm

miriam wrote:

So what kind of stuff do you make? I could sure use some more healthy ideas.

supermom

Tue, May 23 2006, 3:24 am

instead of onion soup mix try onion powder.

As for the non dairy creamy I use either milk, or soy milk though soy milk has a lighter taste but then again it is healthier. For sweet chicken I use to put onion soup mix but now I omit it not even using the powder. And it taste delicious taste barely changed in my opinion. As for kugels what margraine do you use I only use a little bit of oil. And to make it creamy use soy milk. All my dips are natural don't know what you can possibly put inside that could make it unhealthy.

As for using a ton of veg. my dh and kids joke with me that everything I make always looks like a salad!! Pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, cousous, eggs, pititim, you name it veg. are in.

elisecohen

Tue, May 23 2006, 7:39 am

I go with the "Just for Shabbos" mentality, though I've tried both ways. For example, last night was a typical vegan dinner here--home made whole grain bread, whole grain noodles and lentils, fresh napa cabbage salad, and home made biscuits and strawberries. All produce and herbs organic from our CSA, low fat, whole grains, etc. OTOH on Shabbos my kids eat cookies for breakfast, love kugels, roasts, shnitzel, pies, olive oil and herb dips, gravies, etc and I LOVE kishke. However, much of what we bake even then is made with whole grains, and I add a minimum of fats though I don't make myself crazy--kishke without oil isn't kishke, though I have a great oil-free apple kugel recipe. I can't bring myself to eat but so much shnitzel, but otherwise just about anything goes.

At least my baby loves lebkuchen--whole grains and dates, right?

granolamom

Tue, May 23 2006, 7:37 pm

elisecohen- I'd love to hear some more vegan menus. we're mostly vegetarian here, but without milk and sometimes meals start to get boring.
would you mind sharing your whole grain noodles and lentils recipe?

miriam

Tue, May 23 2006, 8:44 pm

red sea wrote:

So what kind of stuff do you make? I could sure use some more healthy ideas.

I can give you some ideas but I make not really kid friendly meals. My children have learned that they need to eat it or they go to bed hungry.

Saute onion with mushrooms and add spinach, salt and pepper. Let it simmer together until spinach is soft.

Saute onion and chopped up green cabbage. Add salt and pepper and cook until cabbage is soft.

Really easy soup: Saute onion and add 1 cup of red lentils. Add chopped carrots, water and spices; salt, pepper, garlic and parsley. Boil until lentils dissolve.

That's all I can think of now.

batya_d

Wed, May 24 2006, 3:20 pm

happymom wrote:

there is a new onion soup mix that I just bought that doesn't have any msg!

What's the name of the brand?? I've been looking for exactly that for a while now.

batya_d

Wed, May 24 2006, 3:22 pm

miriam wrote:

red sea wrote:

So what kind of stuff do you make? I could sure use some more healthy ideas.

Wow, if my mom had made that kind of stuff for me I probably would have gone to bed hungry! Confused

granolamom

Wed, May 24 2006, 9:33 pm

I cook healthy vegetarian meals for me and dh
I do cook 'regular' food for my kids, but I try to avoid anything prepared or processed and use whole grains
the kids see what we are eating and have begun to taste and enjoy 'non kid friendly' meals such as
rice and beans
bean burgers
lentil stew
rice and lentils
soups of all kinds
and I am not above serving oatmeal for dinner

they still won't taste fish though...

miriam

Wed, May 24 2006, 9:35 pm

red sea wrote:

No, if she had served you that from day 1 you would not have known different.

Exactly but sometimes the kids do go to bed hungry and then next night they know they need to eat what's on the table.

mumoo

Sun, Dec 24 2006, 5:32 pm

mumsy23 wrote:

Also, instead of margarine, you can use smartbalance. It doesn't have hydrogenated oil and is low in cholesteral. It's great on baked potato with a fleishig meal!

I use earth balance- same non-hydrogenated, can even make cookies with the stick form but it has natural non-chemical ingredients