Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags Tutorial

To cut back on our use of plastic, I 'upcycled' these bags from ripped jeans. I began collecting post-wearable jeans for the aprons I was making. This is a great way to use smaller pieces of material.

Why these are better than the alternatives:

• Put food in while hot - it won't get soggy or melt the bag
• No worries about BPA's and the like leaking into your food
• Sanitary - machine washable in HOT water, unlike plastic-lined alternatives
• Cute and stylish
• Easy to make
• No 'Velcro' means they last much longer, however you wash them.

You will need:
Denim - You can usually make at least 8 bags from one pair of old jeans. (Note - stretch denim is more difficult to sew on a machine.)
Strong thread - a contrasting color is nice.

Food Rescue in Israel

This Saturday is Tu B'Shvat, the birthday of the trees. On Tu B'Shvat we eat fruits and nuts, plant trees, discuss mitzvot (Jewish laws or good deeds) related to trees, and other environmental issues.

A Mitzva Primer:
There are several Jewish laws prohibiting food waste, for instance you can not simply throw food away because something got in it that you think would make it un-kosher. A rabbi must be consulted, and in most cases, the food is permitted. (This applies after the fact; it does not make it permissible to purposely add something not kosher.) 

It is generally prohibited to throw away or ruin good food. This can include rendering food inedible by doing craft projects from food (bread, pasta, seeds) that would otherwise be edible.

There are also agricultural laws that relate to helping the needy. Farmers in Israel must leave the corners of their fields unharvested, and any produce that drops or is missed in the process of harvesting must be left for the needy. 

There is a wonderful organization that takes care of these important mitzvot while protecting the dignity of the needy. Leket Israel, Israel's National Food Bank, is an exceptional organization. Unlike other food banks and charities, it provides nutritional food like fresh produce (not canned and packaged foods) and it helps other businesses fulfill the mitzvah of avoiding food waste. Win-win! Leket Israel also has some new projects that use their organizational scale to help other non-profits improve efficiency.

The Giving Tree: A Lesson to Take to the Market

In honor of Earth Day, I wanted to share a little something I wrote a while back. Below is a brief recap followed by my personal thoughts on Shel SIlverstein's The Giving Tree. If you haven't seen it, check out the original motion picture narrated by Shell Silverstein (below).

“There once was a tree… and she loved a little boy.”  The little boy played games in and with the tree, napped in her shade, and ate her apples.  “And the Boy loved the tree… very much. And the tree was happy.”  The boy grew and had different needs as he aged.  The tree is always happy after giving, but the story never again mentions the boy’s love for the tree.  Eventually “the boy,” now an old man, wants a boat to sail far away.  The tree selflessly suggests he cut down her trunk to make a boat.  (He has already taken her apples and her branches in his younger days.)  Here the narrator admits, “And the tree [now a stump] was happy… but not really.”  He eventually returns as a very old man, and lucky for the tree, all he wants is a place to rest. 

Shel Silverstein clearly left the story open to interpretation.  After my husband read the book to my children, my daughter said “It’s a mitzvah tree,” a tree doing good deeds.  I had so many other ideas; I had to write some down.  Maybe this story illustrates that we should do good deeds and charity work until it hurts a little, but stop before we have nothing else to give. 

The story got me thinking about renewable resources.  As soon as my daughter made that comment, I wanted to say, “Stupid tree!  Had she quit after only giving her apples, she would have had more next year!”

Pan Seared Salmon

We have a little issue with the electricity in our apartment.  If we have more than three major appliances on besides the fridge, we overload the circuit and half to go outside to the fuse box.  So we can't have the washer,  heater, hot water heater, and oven on at the same time.  This has caused me to cook more things on our gas stove top.  I recently made this delicious and very easy salmon from some odd shaped fresh salmon steaks.

I used my silicon brush to paint both sides of the salmon with a squirt of Hellmann's Mayonnaise garlic sandwich dressing, some dill, and coriander.  I cooked it in a non-stick pan until the flesh was light pink and opaque.  Then I removed the meat from the bone to make it easier for my family to eat.  I transferred the boneless, skinless fish back to the pan and reheated before serving.

You may also like Tarragon Salmon.

Make Pre-mixed Bulgur Salad

The end of summer is a busy time.  Everyone I know seems to be moving, having a baby, taking a last minute vacation, or getting ready for school to begin.  Busy times can lead to poor food choices, so I want to take this post to remember an old favorite - instant bulgur pilaf.

Bulgur wheat is pre-boiled, dried, and cracked.  It cooks as easily as instant oatmeal, is faster and healthier than instant rice, and fit for lunch or dinner.  And, it's a whole lot cheaper than pre-packaged grain mixes.

You will need a clean container that closes tightly.  I'm using the jar from instant coffee.  Before you begin, check all your ingredients and spices for bugs.  (One wormy walnut will ruin your whole batch.  Ew.)

Fill about halfway with bulgur wheat, then add whatever you like.  The bulgur will double in size, so season accordingly.  Don't be shy!  Have fun, be creative, mix and close tightly.  Here is what went into my last batch:

• bulgur
• sun-dried tomatoes (not marinated) chopped small
• dry shitake mushrooms, broken small  
• pine nuts
• dehydrated onions
• whole mustard seeds 
• dry thyme
• dry basil
• ground coriander seed
• garlic powder
• ground red pepper flakes
• citric acid 
• salt

For a single serving, poor 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mix into a bowl or hot cup, add twice as much boiling water, stir, cover, wait for grains to absorb all water.

Featured in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; 8/16/11. 

Barley Casserole with Mallows, Tomato, & Basil

Last week I made Stinging Nettle Soup with nettles I picked near my building.  This week I collected large, round mallow leaves on the way home from dropping my daughter off at kindergarten. 


If you don't have mallows available, one thing you can take from this post is that barley can be used in casseroles like you might use noodles.  This could have been a casserole with thin layers of barley, spinach, basil, tomato sauce and cheese.  Either way, barley is a very healthy alternative to pasta, and even white rice.

Stock Pile - or - What I Learned from My Snails

our pet snail, "Gal" eating a carrot peel

I temporarily adopted two snails for four weeks in January.  I found one in a driveway on my way home one morning.  I thought my daughter, who was home sick, and I would take care of him until my son came home.  We learned about caring for snails and the next day decided to buy a little tank, find him a friend, and keep him for a bit.  I found that while I was gathering food for our snails, I was learning about conservation.  I could give them peels of carrots and ends of veggies that might have otherwise been thrown away.

my stock pile with peels, stems, and greens

And that is how keeping snails led me to begin making chicken and vegetable stock from food scraps.

For some time I have been meaning to start saving vegetable scraps that could be used to make soup stock.  However, it wasn't until I started keeping snails that I really started paying attention to what was worth saving.

Stinging Nettle Soup - Picking Edible Weeds

The second time I met Hannah K. of Cooking Manager, we were walking home from a class last winter and she started pointing out all these edible weeds along the side of the road.  I wasn't sure what to think.  Was she a new-age hippie?  Did everyone in Israel eat weeds?  Miriam Kresh of Israeli Kitchen had just taught Hannah about edible weeds and her eyes were peeled for the species she learned to pick.  Now I've known Hannah a little over a year and I've come to learn that she is quite balanced, most Israeli's buy their produce in a store, and weeds taste great!

For the last few weeks I've been noticing many edible-looking weeds as I walked around town, and I kept meaning to look at Hannah's old post on Green Prophet "Five Edible Wild Plants You Can Pick Yourself".  The last time she came by, I mentioned it to her, and she showed me lots of edible mallows, nettle, chick weed, and one "chamtzitz" flower, right around our building!

Make eggs in an Electric Kettle

When I was in college, I used my inexpensive electric kettle (of the brand pictured below, from Amazon) to make everything from tea to mushroom barley soup, to mac and cheese.  I think an electric kettle is an excellent high school graduation gift for a young adult moving into a college dormitory.

Today, I mostly use it for tea, coffee, reheating the bath, and... EGGS!

Do you want eggs with silky, tender whites and pure yellow yolks in about 15 minutes start to finish?  Use an electric kettle!  (Also known as a "kum-kum" in Israel.) 

Birthday of the Trees

Tomorrow (Wednesday) night begins the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the birthday of the trees. This is a great time, not only to eat fruit and plant trees, but also to celebrate the environment!
Today, "Kitchen Tips Tuesday", and in honor of the upcoming "Biblical Earth Day," I'd like you to look around your kitchen and home and do two things:

1. Replace one disposable item with something reusable.