Yes, I know it has been years since I posted. I haven’t stopped searching for new ways to Kosher-up my Treif favorites, but I did get a bit busy and forget about my blog … until a very nice woman inspired me to get back to it.

So here goes my attempt to blog through the backlog of Kosher Treif recipes I’ve been tweaking during the time I went “dark.”

First up is a favorite in my household. Even my picky 11 year old eats this chicken dish originally called “Crispy Oven-Backed Chicken.” I added that Parmesan part to the title because that’s where the magic of “fake” cheese steps in to un-Treif this chicken. Thanks to Mel’s Kitchen Cafe for this yummy recipe that inspired me to make-it-Kosher.

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter (I substitute pareve margarine, which I know isn’t the healthiest option but boy is it tasty)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced (We are garlic lovers so I generally double this part)
• 2 thick slices whole wheat bread / about 2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I use Panko bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (Substitute Follow Your Heart Dairy-Free Parmesan)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I generally flatten the chicken breasts a bit)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil  or parchment paper and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine margarine and garlic in an 8- or 10-inch skillet. Heat over medium heat until the margarine has melted. I leave the margarine/garlic mixture in the skillet to cool a bit before the ‘dipping’ step.

Measure out 2 cups of Panko bread crumbs and pour into a shallow pie plate or bowl and toss with the fake Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I’m guilty of adding a bit more than 1/2 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese … sometimes even a whole cup if I’m in the mood.

Dip each chicken breast into the melted, cooled garlic margarine mixture (I generally don’t wait until the butter cools so I burn myself a bit, but I’ve got no patience). Next, dip/roll the chicken in the bread crumb mixture to cover all sides. Arrange the chicken in one flat layer on the prepared baking sheet. Use a spoon or brush to spread any of the remaining melted margarine / garlic mixture over the chicken. Bake the chicken for 40-50 minutes.

I also broil the chicken on high for a couple of minutes at the end of baking to toast the “fake” Parmesan cheese and make it nice and crispy.

Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!

Zoe eating a s’more at Camp Young Judaea Texas

My daughter just came home from sleep-away camp where, according to her, the food she was served morning, noon and night was like a thousand times better than anything I make at home. Apparently, I need to step-up my game.

It’s only been a few days, but I made a list of the food she LOVED from camp and have started trying to make a few of the meals. I could use some input from those of you who are experts at cooking for picky-eating kids:

1. Waffles with whipped cream. I took the lazy-man’s way out and used frozen waffles and whipped cream from a can. She loved it.
2. Cinnamon rolls. Yes, I’m sure I could make these from scratch but don’t always have the time so fortunately I discovered OU Kosher canned cinnamon rolls from Immaculate. In the Dallas area, these rolls are available at Whole Foods and also at Walmart (much cheaper). Delicious and easy to make.
3. Pancakes, specifically chocolate chip pancakes. We make pancakes almost every Sunday morning using Bisquick, but I’d love to hear your ideas for adding a new spin on the standard pancake. Add a comment with your thoughts please.
4. Coffee Cake. Say what? My 10 year-old came home from camp raving about their delicious coffee cake and wanting to know when I could make one for her. I accepted the challenge, found a recipe on the Internet and made coffee cake last night. Sadly, mine did not live-up to the deliciousness of the camp coffee cake. And I have to admit, it was a bit dry. Anyone have a kid-proof coffee cake recipe you are willing to share with me?
5. Hot dogs. Pretty standard kid fare, but please let me know if you have a new spin on this family tradition. Any ideas?
6. Taco Tuesday anyone? I’ve made tacos in many ways – fake hamburger meat with real cheese; fake cheese with real meat and the list goes on and on. What’s your fav way to make kid-proof tacos?
7. Cheese Pizza. My daughter is fairly basic when it comes to her pizza. She’s happy with tomato sauce and one kind of cheese, but I’d love to come up with some creative ways to add some hidden veggies into the mix. Thoughts?
8. Grilled cheese and Tomato Soup. Well, here’s what I get for trying to be fancy. My hubbie and I recently watched a movie called Chef, where the main character makes this amazing looking grilled cheese sandwich. We tried it ourselves while Zoe was at camp … love at first bite. I tried said grilled cheese on Zoe yesterday … no love at all. But I don’t care. It’s delicious and I’m sticking with it. I’ll post the details of this worthwhile sandwich soon.
9. Burgers and Tots. Not even sure what to say about this one. Burgers I’m good with. Tots I usually buy frozen, but it’s difficult to find a Kosher version in Dallas. Anyone have a good recipe for homemade, healthy tots? Is that even possible?
10. Mac and Cheese. Now that camp is over, Wacky Mac is dead to Zoe. She told me she wants the same cheesy mac and cheese she had a camp, and she wants me to use the same “C” shaped noodles. Again, say what? A quick trip to Whole Foods revealed the secret of the “C” shaped noodle – Elbow Macaroni. So today I made a hybrid mac and cheese using the Elbow macaroni, powder from Wacky Mac, milk, butter and some shredded pizza cheese to add extra cheesiness. The dish got a thumbs-up from Zoe, which was much needed after her dismal response to the coffee cake. How about you, do you have an easy kid-friendly mac and cheese recipe that’s healthier than the standard fare?
11. Zoodles! Wow oh wow for coincidences. I recently came across a cookbook called Superfood Kitchen by Julie Morris. I had every intention to make some of the very healthy-sounding recipes but never got around to it. One such recipe was for zucchini fettuccine with mega marinara (Page 126). I read the recipe, was intrigued but didn’t think I could actually peel/slice the zucchini to resemble pasts noodles so I skipped it. Then, Zoe comes home from camp raving about the Zoodles they had for dinner one night. Out came the cookbook and to the store I went for supplies. The peeling process was much easier than expected and the sauce was out-of-this-world amazing. It was too spicy for Zoe so I’ll have to find a simpler recipe, but I don’t feel so intimidated since I’m made the zoodles before. I’ll post the recipe in the coming days. Have you made zoodles before? Do you have a killer, kid-friendly recipe you could share?

Apologies for the manifesto above but this camp food dilemma has me puzzled. If only Zoe’s camp had a cookbook : )

Again, I’d love to hear your experiences. Do your kids love camp food? If so, how do you replicate it at home in a healthy, Kosher way?

Happy Kosher Treif Camping and Cooking!

My hubbie is usually the one who ferrets out and brings home the Kosher Treif surprises from the grocery store but during a recent trip to World Market in Dallas, I discovered a fun treif snack – Microwavable bacon flavored popcorn by J&D’s complete with a Circle K Dairy symbol.

Of course, I couldn’t resist the chance to add this yummy item to my shopping cart, and we gave it a test drive as soon as I got home. I’d describe the taste as more smokey than bacon-like, but the popcorn was still delish, and I appreciate the fact that J&D’s is working to serve the treif-loving Kosher folks in the world.

This popcorn is the perfect accessory for a movie night with your Kosher treif loving friends. Enjoy!

Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!

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Kung Fu Purim Mishloach Manot ready to be delivered!

As is our Purim tradition, Zoe selects the theme for our Mishloach Manot (this year’s theme is based on the Kung Fu Panda movie), and I run around like crazy trying to find the necessary components and ingredients. This time around was only slightly different. Zoe really wanted a panda toy to add to the Mishloach Manot for her friends so she did visit 3 different Party City stores with me in search of said item.

And the results …

What’s inside our 2016 Mishloach Manot?

Here is a list of the items:

• Chinese food takeout boxes in white/16 ounce (ordered from amazon.com)
• Chopstix, wooden with decoration (ordered from Oriental Trading)
• Kung Fu Panda stickers for sides of the box (ordered from amazon.com and ebay)
• Green Tea by Bigelow
• Jewish fortune cookies (ordered from amazon.com)
• Panda toy (purchased at Party City)
• Chinese Noodle Candy (Recipe from cooks.com)
• Ramen Noodle Candy (Recipe from PinkCakePlate.com)
• Note including ingredients and Kosher information.

Ingredients list and Kosher info for our 2016 Mishloach Manot.

I knew the process seemed way too easy this year until … I started making the noodle candy. I’m not a regular candy maker and had no idea it would be as challenging as it was. It took the candy a long time to set, I’m assuming thanks to the humid weather in Dallas last night. I also needed 30 pieces of each candy type, and the first batch did not produce enough. So, back to the store I went for more ingredients.

Kung Fu Panda stickers from amazon.com and ebay.com

Now, we of course, have way more candy than we need but the showstopper this year is the Ramen Noodle Candy from PinkCakePlate.com. I almost skipped it but am so glad I didn’t. That stuff is so delicious and will definitely become a regular in our household. Who knew ramen noodles were so versatile!

Now the real fun begins … delivery with none other than Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter!

Ginny Weasley ready to deliver Mishloach Manot.

Happy Kosher Treif Cooking and Happy Purim!

I visited a local sandwich shop yesterday with a coworker who needed to get something for lunch. While I was waiting for her to get her food, I found the Utz Crab Chip, which is of course, OU Kosher. I didn’t try said chip but did have to snap this photo for proof.

I starting thinking of all sorts of things I could do this the Kosher crab treat. I’m pretty sure it could be crumbled-up to make a crust for most anything.

Has anyone tried this treif-like Kosher chip and if so, what did you think?

Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!

On New Year’s day (the other New Year), my husband and daughter came home from the grocery store and tossed a bag of black-eyed peas onto to counter.

“You always eat black-eye peas on New Year’s day,” he says.

“We’ll yes I do, but I’m generally not the one who cooks the black-eyed peas that I eat,” I respond back.

Time to find a recipe for black-eyed peas.

I browsed several options before selecting Slow cooker spicy black-eyed peas from Allrecipes.com.

I had to tweak the dish a bit to “kosherize” it but the switches were simple:

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• 1 pound dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed (I soaked mine overnight because I wasn’t sure how I was going to cook them)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
• 1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced (I skipped the heat because we are not lovers of super spicy food)
• Jacks Gourmet sweet Italian sausage (2 links chopped into small pieces)
• 8 ounces diced ham
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Pour the water into a slow cooker, add the bouillon cube and stir to dissolve. Combine the black-eyed peas, onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, Kosher sausage, cayenne pepper, cumin, sale, and pepper to blend. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours until the beans are tender.

I also made cornbread, of course, to go with the black-eye peas. I am from the South after all. I felt so lucky to find a cornbread mix at WalMart that was OU Kosher pareve – Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade baking mix.

Follow the instructions on the box and substitute 2/3 cup pareve soy milk for the real milk and use pareve margarine instead of butter. The cornbread was delicious and a perfect combo with the spicy black-eyed peas.

Happy New Year and Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!

It took me a while but I finally realized that some of the Jews I know typically eat Chinese food on Christmas. I was pulled into the Chinese food on Christmas tradition last year, but only realized it was a “thing” a few months ago when I saw the below sign posted on Facebook:

As a Kosher-keeping girl living in Dallas, there’s not a snowball’s chance in you know where that I’m going to find local Kosher Chinese food. And by the time I decided to host the “traditional” Chinese food dinner, it was way too late to order said food from a Kosher Chinese restaurant elsewhere. So …..

I decided to make my own food. The funny thing is that there just aren’t that many recipes out there for Kosher Chinese food so I had to wing-it a bit.

Here’s the menu for our Christmas eve festitives. I’ll try to get the recipes posted over the next few weeks so everyone can have them in time for next year’s Jews eating Chinese food on Christmas celebration:

• Hot and Sour Soup
• Egg drop Soup (Made by our cousin)
• Dumplings (or Pot Stickers) with dipping sauce, pictured above pre-cooked
• Chinese cole slaw salad (made by my Mother in law)
• Beef and Brocolli Lo Mein
• Sweet and Sour Sesame Chicken
• Tofu Fried Rice (recipe is for chicken but I used firm Tofu chopped into small cubes this time).
• Rugelach and something with pastry sheets and cream (Made by my cousin and both delicious)

For the Dumplings, I started with a recipe from a cookbook I’ve had for years: The Dumpling Cookbook by Maria Polushkin. I used the Fried Pork Dumplings recipe on page 68 and switched out the pork for ground turkey.

I’ll post the recipe in a few days but if you are into dumplings, wontons and such, you should order this cookbook. The food is not Kosher but there are lots of very good, Jewish-like recipes that can be made Kosher with just a few switches.

What’s your Christmas eating tradition? Do you have Chinese food or something else?

Happy Kosher Chinese Treif cooking!