A friend of mine from New York recently emailed me this recipe. She wrote, “Thought of you the other night. We made a delish dairy-free, sugar-free banana ‘ice cream’ with a bit of chopped salty almonds and maple syrup on top!! Yum-yum for sure. Gwyneth Paltrow recipe (of all things! I know) but it was actually super tasty.”
It’s definitely a QuickQuickYumYum recipe, and the best part, it doesn’t require an ice cream maker! Thank you, Lori! Continue reading
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With these five healthy breakfasts, you’ll definitely have a good morning, and a smooth day later on.
I know, Honey Nut Cheerios is easier, but when it comes to food and children it’s worth going out of your way. Not that these super-nutritious breakfasts require too much effort – not at all – just a bit of extra time and willingness.
I love knowing that my little, precious kids are off to school with comforting, wholesome food in their stomachs.
You can always resort to cereal on early weekend mornings while you are still sleepy and have zero motivation to get out of bed and prepare something better than a bowl of milk with Vanilla Puffs. (Now that Leo is ten, we don’t get up early in the weekends anymore. He “makes” cereal for his little brother and himself, and lets us sleep in! Hallelujah!)
1. Granola & Yogurt – 1 minute (assuming you prepared it the night/day before.) People always assume that making homemade granola is complicated. It is so NOT. It’s a simple and quick process. It is also cheaper and healthier than any store-bought granola, which I find MUCH too sweet. Why buy it when you can make it better and cheaper?
2. YAW – 5 minutes – is one of my husband’s accidental inventions. He made it one morning while I was pregnant with Leo, which was ten years ago, and, since then, this dish full of fiber, protein, and essential oils has become a morning ritual in our house. It’s basically a bowl with plain yogurt, diced apples, and some crushed walnuts, with a light drizzle of honey or maple syrup. The important thing is that the apples should be crispy firm & sweet. We like Fuji, Pink Lady, or Granny Smith. You can swap the walnuts with any other nuts you want. Kids love this combination!
3. Toast with Avocado & Paprika – 5 minutes. It doesn’t get any more simple and nutritious than this. It’s very much about the bread. A good whole-grained bread will make this breakfast more beneficial, rich in fiber, and delicious. Don’t skip the light sprinkle of paprika or cayenne pepper and sea salt. They will enjoy it more. I promise.
4. Quick Kale Shakshuka – 15 minutes including cooking time. This dish is something I make for myself as a late breakfast after a workout. (In case you are wondering, my workouts are 30 minutes, tops, and are usually before 9am.) My kids don’t favor this one at all, but I do.
5. Banana, Prune & Hazelnut Oatmeal – 12 minutes (including cooking time) For years I couldn’t enjoy oatmeal. Until one day, a couple of years ago, I discovered this combination that made my oatmeal creamier (remember? I don’t eat dairy) and crunchier, and, of course, richer and tastier.
Serves 2 adults and two kids
To serve with
Directions
Have an wholesome morning!
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There is an old pessach song that we sing in the seder, it basically suggests how you should feel around this time of year:
“Simcha raba, simcha raba” – Great joy, great joy
“Aviv hegia’” – Spring has arrived
“Pessach ba!” – Passover came! Continue reading
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Original Route – look at the time
Yesterday at 7:30am I joined a dear friend of mine for a one-day trip to Fresno (yes, it is in the middle of nowhere, 4 long hours from LA) to visit her children and run a few errands.
About an hour after we left Los Angeles, we reached Route 5 to discover that it was closed until noon because of snow. I didn’t understand what were they talking about. It was sunny and warm and there was no sign of snow, not even on the mountaintops. Because I was driving and Waze kept trying to take us back to the 5, we called my Googly husband to help us to find an alternate route. Google Maps said our only option is to take the 101, the coastal highway. Going back to LA wasn’t an option.
Alternative Route, half way to San Francisco
Taking the 101 would make our drive two hours longer, which is like suicide to an impatient, claustrophobic, Israeli mother. Most of the time I feel trapped when in a car for more than one hour, so I was amazed and very proud of myself for not freaking out when things didn’t go well. I was even more proud of myself for driving five hours with only two short stops, without a single panic or claustrophobia attack! When I go on road trips with my husband and kids, he does ALL the driving and I take twenty drops of Kava or Rescue Remedy. (I am happy to do all the urban driving.)
The View on The 101
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Last week, I was truly surprised by my mother-in-law Estee’s cooking skills. I knew she’s an excellent salad maker (she is Israeli, after all) and a master of small, light, beautiful, healthy meals that don’t require much effort — like Israeli roughly chopped salad as a main course served with some nice bread, olive oil, good cheese, and a few wrinkled black olives. I didn’t realize that this woman knows how to cook with fire! Using the stove in her house was always forbidden, she insisted to keep it looking brand new at all times.
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The idea of making this wickedly good snack came from Nature Vally. A couple of days ago, when I picked up the kids from school, I took the neighbor’s kids, too, and one of them pulled a Nature Valley granola bar out of their backpacks. Although they shared it with my kids, Alex wasn’t satisfied.
“It’s not fair! We never buy real snacks.”
“Those are not real snacks,” I said, “and they’re not very healthy.”
“Yes they are! It says 100% natural!”
Before I could respond, Leo, who hates it when Alex whines, snapped at him. “100% natural doesn’t mean anything! It can be 100% natural crap, don’t you know that?” That’s my boy!
When we got home, Sophia, the neighbor-friend , who is Leo’s age (9), and is always willing to cook something, asked if we can make something. I knew exactly what we should make.
“How would you like to make real granola bars? Less sweet and healthier than the one you had in the car.” I could see she was happy to make them, but a bit skeptical. For her, it was like making cereal. How the heck do you make homemade cereal?
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A while ago, my husband and I went to see a friend performance of some kind – something with lights. I still have no idea what kind of performance it was, because when we got to the bar where the show was to take place (somewhere in Echo Park), the bouncer told us that the show wouldn’t start until much later, after 11pm. Luckily both, my husband and I have a massive passion to food, so we both agreed not to wait (thank god, because I have no patience to wait and certainly not for a late night show in dive bar), because waiting means less sleep and more money (for babysitting). And we both agreed on doing something else instead, like exploring the area, finding a cute little cafe or a restaurant, or some place with exciting foods. My googley husband instantly googled the neighborhood on his celph. We had dinner earlier with the boys so we were not really hungry, but the two of us always have some room for something exquisite or delightfully sweet like a vegan carrot ice cream, based on coconut milk (which was excellent for me and my dreadful dairy intolerance) or unusual zesty herbed fruit salad. I wish I remember more often how satisfying a simple fruit salad can be, especially like the one we had in Sage Cafe, it was uniquely delicious! The combination of apple, pear, kiwi & rosemary with fresh pureed mango dressing was a blessing to my taste buds and to my craving. The rosemary is a killer! The vegan ice cream at Sage Cafe’ was also stunning. Continue reading
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