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Tag Archives: summer

Easy No-bake Cheesecakes

Ingredients

2 ½ cups / 500 grams soft white cream cheese (the Gveena l’vana 5% for Israel)
1 cup sour cream (for Israel, use one container Shamenet)
1 cup sugar
¼ cup powdered vanilla pudding ; this is about a half container of one of those boxes of powdered pudding mixes
1 small Rich’s whip
¼ cup cocoa
Plain cookies, ie, tea biscuits – some in plain vanilla, some in plain chocolate, to be able to make the contrasting colors
3 T. cocoa, reserved

Method

To make the ‘batter’, mix as follows:
Add together the soft cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, pudding powder and mix together well until it’s smooth.
In a separate bowl, whip up the whip and then fold that in as well.

Take out two disposable aluminum baking pans, something a tad smaller than a 9×13.
If you plan to make both colors on one day, you will need to double the cheese batter recipe, if you want to have two full 9×13 pans’ worth of each color.

Now simply layer the ‘cakes’.
Put down a thin layer of cheese on the bottom of the pan to keep the cookies from sliding around.
Layer on one layer of cookies, and then a thick layer of cheese mix.
Keep doing this until you end off with a top layer of cookies.

For the vanilla cheesecake, you can then melt 100 grams / about 4 oz. dark milchigs chocolate and using a spoon, just drizzle it all over on top of the cake.

Another topping idea:
Take some of the cheese mixture, and mix in by hand the cocoa listed above.
Then, after it is smooth, simply smear it all over the top of the cake.
It will turn into ‘frosting’!

Let the cake sit in the fridge, covered, overnight.
By the next day, the cheeses and cookies will have soaked into each other, thereby creating a real cheesecake texture. And best of all, no worrying about a milchigs oven!

Here’s a topping for the finished “cake” EVERYONE is sure to love – buy a packet of chocolate/white candies, like “Clicks” and put them on all over the cake or adding some to the top of each square as you cut them. Really fun and delicious!

Fruited Spinach Salad

This is so colorful and healthy!
Serves 6–8

44_FruitedSpinachSalad
image-1981

Ingredients

8 romaine lettuce leaves
2 lbs. / 1 kilo / an entire box of fresh spinach, washed and spun dry
1 can mandarin oranges
3 large green apples, chopped
1/2 cup craisins
1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
3 kiwis, sliced into circles

Method

Arrange the salad in the bowl as follows:

Tear or cut up the romaine lettuce leaves and toss them together with the spinach leaves. Arrange the mandarin oranges, apples, craisins, and pomegranate seeds all over; toss this together lightly by hand so it looks nice. Drizzle the dressing all over. Arrange the kiwi slices decoratively on top and serve.

Citrus Mayonnaise Dressing:

1 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate or fresh orange juice with pulp
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix the mayonnaise together with the juices until it can be poured or drizzled and serve.

Variation: Substitute the following fruit combo instead of what is listed above:

5 ripe pears, cubed
4 peach halves, canned or fresh, cubed
2 bananas, sliced, with a bit of lemon juice added to them so they won’t turn brown
1/2 cup toasted almonds, crushed

Peanut Butter Crunch Ice Cream

Ingredients

Crunch

300 grams OR 10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
½ cup peanut butter
Melt these two items together. While it is still warm, stir in 1 and 1/2 cups
cornflakes or rice krispies. Mix this well.

Ice Cream Base

6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
2 packets of vanilla sugar (2 Tablespoons of vanilla sugar)
2 Rich’s whip, whipped

Method

Crunch:

Line a flat baking tray with baking parchment paper and spread the chocolate peanut butter mix on it. After it has hardened, break the chocolate into small bits and then it is ready for use in your ice cream. Small bits are important or else it will be hard to bite into when it’s frozen!!.

Ice cream base:

Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, beat the yolks with the sugar until it turns thick and yellow. Pour this out into the whites. Using the yolks’ bowl, beat up the Rich’s whips. Fold all mixtures together and then add in the pieces of hardened chocolate/ peanut butter crunch and fold this in as well. Pour the ice cream mix into 9×13 pan or large plastic container and freeze until solid.

Blended Fruit Soup

A delightful summertime treat that I specifically save it for seudas shelishis (the third meal of Shabbos afternoon)

serves 8 to 10

My neighbor Esther shared this with me. It is a variation on an otherwise typical fruit soup, and it is such a delightful summertime treat that I specifically save it for seudas shelishis/ the third meal of Shabbos afternoon. It also is such a refreshing treat in the Succah. Here in Israel, Succos is still very warm in the daytime, unlike most of the East Coast of the US of A! My kids love it; they don’t see or taste any pieces and the color is very attractive. For those who DO like texture in a fruit soup, you can just puree it half way.

Ingredients

each of assorted overripe fruits, such as seedless grapes, plums, peaches,
nectarines, and apricots, or even a glass jar of red cherries
1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar (optional)
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons agave syrup (a natural chemical-free sweetener available in health-food stores)
** You can use 2-4 tablespoons of apple juice concentrate instead if you don’t have access to the agave syrup

Method

Wash all fruit. Slice and dice (if you are not pureeing all the way, be sure to cut each grape in half to prevent small children from choking G-d forbid) and place all fruit in a large pot. Fill the pot with water halfway up to the height of the fruit.

When the water boils, turn down the heat and simmer until fruit is completely cooked, about 40 minutes. Cool and add orange juice and agave syrup. Taste the liquid. If it is too tart for your taste, add sugar (but I never need to). (Or more agave if you want to keep the sugar out completely.)

Puree the fruit soup with a stick blender and chill thoroughly in a glass or plastic container, covered. Serve in small dessert bowls or pretty glasses and watch your family enjoy it to the last drop!

Soft Fruit- What to Do with It All?

This is part 2 of a two-part series. Find part 1 here.

I bought such beautiful fruits, but a good portion of them became too soft to enjoy before we could finish eating them. I am loathe to throw them out; however, there is not enough for me to make a fruit soup out of them. Any ideas about what else I can do with it all?

Another idea I find works very well for soft puréed fruit is to simply make healthful muffins out of them. Here’s a muffin
ratio I use all the time, and whatever choice of fruits I use to bake these with, they’re always appreciated:

Fruity Whole-Wheat Muffins

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
3 cups light whole-wheat flour
1 cup oil
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups puréed fruit

Method

Beat the eggs in your mixer, no need to separate them. Add in everything else in the order listed, except the fruit. You should have a nice thick batter that is still pourable.

Pour in the puréed fruit and swirl it in by hand with a spatula. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cups, and fill each one with batter until nearly the top. If you like, you can sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top of each one. Bake for 18–20 minutes until they test done. Remove from the oven immediately. These freeze well, and they make a very nice, easy lunch, together with some fresh vegetables and cottage cheese.

The muffins also make a great, nutritious lunchbox treat, just in time for the back-to-school season!

Soft Fruit- What to Do with It All?

This is part 1 of a two-part series. Find part 2 here.

I bought such beautiful fruits, but a good portion of them became too soft to enjoy before we could finish eating them. I am loathe to throw them out; however, there is not enough for me to make a fruit soup out of them. Any ideas about what else I can do with it all?

Yes, it can be rather upsetting to see our produce go to waste.

Here are some ideas for your soft fruits:
Wash the fruits and take out any pits. Purée them in your food processor or blender. Using a measuring cup with a spout, pour the puréed fruit into ice cube trays. Freeze until solid.

Now you have several options for using this fruit:

1. These make perfect “ice cubes” for cold fruit shakes or cold fruit drinks. When they defrost, they won’t make your shake
watery the way ordinary melted ice cubes do.

2. These cubes make great non-dairy fruit shakes. Put four them at a time into your blender, together with 2 cups of any
fruit juice of your choice, then blend. To make the shake thicker, add one frozen banana, cut into chunks, before blending.

3. Your family can enjoy the frozen fruit cubes as they are; they make a refreshing (and healthful!) treat in hot weather.
However, if you are going to use them as ice pops, I suggest tasting before you freeze them. Sometimes the fruit can become
rather tart when blended. If so, add date syrup (or sugar) according to taste and then freeze. You can put a toothpick into
each cube for easier handling when you want to remove them later on. Or splurge on popsticks, found in all craft stores.

4. You can make fro-yo ice pops out of them. Add some honey and then mix with plain, non-sugary white yogurt. Taste to
ensure the mixture is sweet enough, and then freeze in ice pop containers. These make a great and healthful frozen snack
during the hot summer months.

Applesauce Cranberry Ices

So refreshing at the end of a seuda…

Ingredients

1 ½ – 2 cups applesauce
2 cans cranberry sauce (the one without the whole berries)
1 cup Sprite soda
1 cup orange juice
Optional (I did not use it): 1-2 Tablespoons fruit flavored liqueur

Method

Mix this up by hand in a bowl, or beat it with a hand beater for a minute or two to make it smooth. Pour it into a flat large plastic square container and freeze overnight. (Right, this took you about 4.5 minutes so far? Now comes the next 5 minutes or so!) The next day, remove it from the freezer. Cut into it; if you can, then cut it into four or five pieces and put it into your mixer bowl. Beat it slowly with the flat metal hook (ie, NOT the egg beaters!) until it resembles sherbet consistency. Refreeze. Remove from the freezer about 5 minutes before serving. Scoop into dessert bowls and serve.

Salmon Burgers

These go so well with typical hamburger buns and make a great weekday, easy meal.
Look how delicious and inviting they are–the day we shot these photos, everyone wanted to eat them just as soon as we finished shooting the pics!

Ingredients

1 – 14.75 oz / about 420 grams can of salmon
1 large onion, diced
½ cup breadcrumbs or matzo meal
2 eggs
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup mustard
½ tsp. pepper, optional

Method

Sautee the onion in a bit of oil. I use either canola or olive oil. Flake the salmon into a bowl, and if you don’t like the taste or feel of the little bones, then remove those as well. If you do like them, they provide some extra calcium. Add in all else, mix well, and just form into generous sized patties. Pics # 2553, 2554, 2555. As you can see here, this one can made quite a lot of burgers, and with some good buns, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onion rings and even a few pickles, this is a really nice meal!

Flax ‘n Fruit Milkshakes

The best way to prepare for these, is to keep a constant stock in your freezer of frozen bananas, strawberries, and other fresh fruit. When strawberries go on sales, I buy lots of them and then wash and freeze them. They keep for literally months this way, and then when I want to add a few to milkshakes or smoothies, I just reach into my freezer and take some out. Same goes for bananas. When they are very ripe, peel them, put them into individual bags, tie a knot on it and then leave them in a pile in the freezer. Then they are ready for use. If you freeze them with the peels on, it is difficult to remove the peels properly when they’re frozen and often turns out to be more work than it’s worth.

Ingredients

For about four hot and grumpy kids, place into your blender:

2-3 medium sized frozen bananas
6-8 frozen strawberries
1-2 tsp. GROUND flaxseed
3 cups of milk
Note: flax can only be digested when it’s ground. But it’s very hard to grind it in an ordinary food processor, so it’s best to buy it freshly ground or vacuum packed. Once you have it, make sure to store it in your freezer. It can go rancid very quickly in your cabinet. Flaxseed has important Omega-3’s in it and is very helpful to the digestive system as well. Just be careful not to overdo it; otherwise it can be bitter and be ‘too much’ of a good thing for the digestion!

Method

Layer in the bananas, then strawberries, ground flaxseed, then pour in the milk until the blender in 3/4 of the way full. Don’t fill it to the top because it will foam and rise and you don’t want it to leak out of the blender. Turn the blender on high, let the whole thing liquidize and serve. Thick, cool, refreshing, healthy and fun!