By chana

Bread Machine Recipes

Gluten is the protein in flour that gives bread an airy, fluffy texture.  Adding gluten to bread recipes, especially those that include whole grains, (e.g. whole wheat bread) makes the bread much more palatable.  Gluten can be found in the baking section of many supermarkets.

White Bread

1 ½ cup water

1/3 cup oil

4 cup bread flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 ¼ tsp dry yeast

 

Place the ingredients in the bread pan, select the type of crust you prefer, and press start.  In some machines, the quick version of the bread cycle allows a bread to be ready to eat in under 3 hours.

Whole Wheat Bread

1 ½ cup water

1/3 cup oil

4 cup whole wheat flour

4 Tablespoons gluten

2 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 tsp dry yeast

Select the whole wheat cycle of the bread machine, and press start.

 

Expedited Challah Recipe

Unfortunately you cannot make a bracha on 4 cups of flour, but you can make several batches, combining them to make a large enough dough for the bracha.  Punch down each batch to keep it from rising too quickly while waiting for the next one.

1 ¼ cup water

1 large egg

1 /3 cup oil

4 cup bread flour

2 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 ¼ tsp dry yeast

1 egg for glaze

Put all the ingredients into the bread pan, and select the dough cycle.  When the cycle is finished, shape the challos, and let rise again.  Brush with beaten egg, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, more or less depending on the size of the challa loaves.

Chocolate Chip Yeast Cake

Many bread machines have a dispenser for adding ingredients such as chocolate chips, raisins, etc. at the right time in the cycle.  If these “add-in” ingredients are put in with the other ingredients, they get crushed into the dough, losing their texture.  If the bread machine does not have a dispenser, you need to decide when to add the ingredients yourself, close to the end of the knead cycle.

1 cup soy milk

1 egg

¼ cup water

4 Tablespoon margarine, softened (or oil)

3 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoon white sugar

2½ tsp dry yeast

1cup chocolate chips, to be placed in the dispenser, or added at the end of the knead cycle.

Place all the ingredients in the machine, choose the crust, and select white bread.

Soups

Near Instant Vegetable Soups

Works best with an immersion blender but a regular blender can also be used.

Quick, healthy recipe that lends itself to many variations, and may induce vegetable haters to give it a try.  It is also a satisfying diet soup when using a smaller amount of potato or even none.   It is also perfect for people with swallowing problems, from babies to elders.

1 or more packages of frozen vegetables: broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, butternut squash, etc.

1 potato per package of vegetables, peeled and cut up

1 onion per package of vegetables, peeled and cut up

Consommé powder and other seasonings according to taste.

Put the vegetables into a pot.  Add enough water to cover the vegetables, and salt to taste.  Cook the vegetables on low to medium heat until somewhat tender.  Remove from heat, immerse the blender in the pot and start blending until the vegetables are pureed to your liking.    Add water if necessary, till you have the consistency you desire. (Or, blend in batches in blender, pouring each batch into a large bowl.)   Put pot back on stove, add seasonings and cook for a few minutes longer.

 

 

Side dish/Starch Ideas & Recipes

Meals usually include a protein, say meat or chicken, and a starch to provide the carbohydrates.  For busy people, some obvious instant starches are instant mashed potatoes and instant (Minute) rice.  However, mashed potatoes have a lot of additives and Minute Rice does not compare to the real thing.  Fortunately, there are alternatives.

Instant Side Dishes

Instant couscous comes in large plastic containers or small packages in regular or whole wheat varieties. All that is required to prepare it is to boil some water with salt and a little oil, add the couscous, cover the pot, and turn the flame off.   The couscous is ready to eat in 2 minutes. You can also save time by pouring boiling water right in the bowl over the couscous. The taste can be varied by adding consommé powder or seasonings to the water.

The Lundberg brown rice mixes are also very good and cook in 10 minutes.

Other quick-cooking grains are whole kasha and quinoa flakes. They are very tasty but they have to appeal to your families.

Quick cooking pasta is also a possibility. These include orzo, pastina, farfel, small shells and bowtie noodles as well as angel hair spaghetti.

Vegetables and Salads

Instant Cabbage Salad

Uses the food processor

One package of pre-cut green cabbage

One medium white or purple onion or one shallot

Sea salt and oil to taste

Put the blade into the food processor, rather than the disk.  Chop the onion or shallot in the food processor very briefly, using the pulse button. Add the cabbage in one or two batches depending on the size of your food processor. Pulse a few times till the cabbage is chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add a few tablespoons of oil, sprinkle with salt, and mix well.

Daikon Salad

Uses the food processor

A daikon is an oriental radish with a relatively mild flavor. It looks like a long smooth white root. Mild black radishes can be substituted. It is preferable to  choose a slim daikon that will slide through the tube without having to cut it.

 

One daikon or other mild large radish, peeled

One medium white or purple onion or one shallot

Sea salt and oil to taste

Use the grating disk of the food processor to grate the onion or shallot with the daikon.  Transfer to a bowl, add a few tablespoons of oil, sprinkle with salt, and mix well.

 

 

Meat/Chicken Recipes

Crock Pot Baked Chicken

If your crock pot comes with a trivet, place it inside, or crumple some foil and put it in the bottom, so that the chicken does not sit in its juices. Layer the pieces of chicken (ideally with the skin removed) at the bottom of the crock pot and sprinkle each layer with a few tablespoons of onion soup mix and paprika. Smoked paprika adds to the taste.

Set the heat level according to how soon the food will be served.

Chicken Stew

Spray the crock pot.  Place the chicken pieces inside and sprinkle them with flour, preferably Wondra*, add paprika, so that the pieces are well coated, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and mix well.

*Wondra flour is a granular flour processed to mix well without lumping.  It comes in a small blue and white canister, stocked in the baking section of major supermarkets.


Beef Stew

Place pieces of stew or gravy meat in the crock pot after coating them with flour (preferably Wondra) and onion soup powder.  Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and mix well.  If you add plenty of paprika, the result is a Hungarian goulash.  Potatoes, other vegetables, or grains may be added to create a complete main dish.

 

Fish Recipes

Marinated Fish

An easy way to prepare frozen fish or fresh fish fillets 

In the morning, take a bag of individually frozen tilapia or flounder fillets. Open the top and pour in salad dressing (homemade or purchased) or any marinade, until the fish are mostly covered. Close the bag. Place it on a counter top on a plate and shake it gently occasionally so that the marinade is distributed evenly. The acidity of the dressing prevents the growth of bacteria.  You can vary the flavor of the fish by using different marinades.

At supper time, drain the marinade and place the fish in a baking pan. Bake it at 425 degrees in a preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes.

Alternatively, the fish can be poached in its marinade in a frying pan over low to medium heat.  Turn over when bottom looks done (no longer translucent).


Instant Fish Spread

Use the food processor to make the spread quickly and easily

2 5 oz. cans of tuna or other fish

½ large white onion

1 Tablespoon  or more of mayonnaise

1 teaspoon horseradish sauce

Put all the ingredients in the food processor bowl, and pulse.  Add more mayonnaise if needed until the spread is of the desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt.

Seeking Professional Help

Parents may need to find a counselor for a variety of reasons: a child may be struggling or a parent or the marriage may have trouble coping with the stresses of child rearing.

Psychiatrists are the doctors who specialize in medicating people with mood or self-control issues.  Parents may need to find a psychiatrist to evaluate a child who is not behaving appropriately.  A school may recommend that parents have a difficult or unhappy child evaluated by the psychiatrist to determine whether medications may  be helpful.

An initial evaluation may cost $750 to $1,000.  Some health plans cover the cost, at least partially.  Unfortunately, many well qualified psychiatrists do not accept many insurance plans.  Once the child has been evaluated, the psychiatrist may recommend a trial of a medication.

Psychiatrists usually see their role as  prescribing medication rather than as counselors.  Medication is generally more likely to be effective if it is accompanied by counseling, by a social worker or a psychologist.

Basic Kitchen Equipment

Food preparation is more efficient when the kitchen includes certain appliances.  In this post, we list those which we have seen to be most helpful, and why.

Large Freezer

Having a large stand-alone freezer confers these advantages:

  • It minimizes the number of time-consuming trips to the store. A large freezer has the advantage of keeping every-day staples available, such as meat, frozen produce, fish, and baked goods. In addition, a large freezer makes it possible to take advantage of sales on freezable items.
  • It enables one to cook and bake large quantities of soups, stews, compotes, baked goods, and freeze the surplus for future meals
  • It allows us to bake and cook ahead of time for Shabbos , Yomim Tovim, and Simchas.

Recipe for Marinated Fish straight from the freezer

Recipe for Rhubarb Compote straight from the freezer

Recipe for Instant Sorbet straight from the freezer

Crock pot

Most families who own crock pots use them only for making cholent. This is a pity.  This appliance allows a working parent to prepare and refrigerate a dish in the evening, placing it the crock pot the next morning, before going to work.  On returning home, the food is ready to serve.

Crock pots come in different sizes, ranging from 1.5 quarts to 20 quarts.  While the standard household size is 6 to 8 quarts, the miniature 1.5 quart version is great for couples.  Ideally they should have a programmable timer and three or four temperature settings. The removable insert can be filled in the evening and refrigerated.

Crock pot cooking allows children to participate in food preparation by peeling and cutting vegetables or fruit. They may invent their own recipes and cook them safely in this appliance.  In addition, crock pots are invaluable on a hot day, since they give off very little heat and allow one to bake roasts, for example, without having to turn on the oven.  There are many cook books devoted to crock pot cooking and the internet is a great resource for recipes.

It is a good idea to try out a new crock pot while one is at home and able to supervise the cooking, since crock pots vary in how fast or slow they cook.  Moreover, the earlier crockpots cooked much slower than later models, making recipe cook times potentially wildly inaccurate.  For example, a recipe for cooking a whole chicken was meant to take 6 to 8 hours; in fact, it was overdone in 4 hours on the low setting.

Recipes for: Crockpot Baked Chicken, Crockpot Chicken Stew, Crockpot Beef Stew

Instant or near instant starch side dishes to accompany the above.

Food Processor

Food processors speed up the tedious preliminaries to actual food preparation such as chopping, slicing, grinding and mixing.  Food processors are often used to prepare salads. However, they are invaluable for many other purposes including preparing sandwich spreads, fruit sorbets, chopping nuts and dried fruit, and mixing yeast and pastry dough.

When purchasing a food processor, make sure that it has the right capacity for your family, and also that it has a wide feed tube.

Instant Fish Spread

Instant Cabbage Salad, Instant Daikon/Radish Salad

Instant Sorbet 

Immersion or Stick Blender

The advantage of these portable blenders is that they save the trouble of transferring the content of a pot to a food processor or blender.  Immersion or stick blenders make it possible to puree soups or vegetables right in the pot where they have been cooking.

Near Instant Vegetable Soups

Stand Mixer

Few people would dispute the necessity of this appliance in any kitchen.  Most bakers would consider it unthinkable to beat egg whites or whip cream by hand. The challenge is to find recipes that require the least involvement of the housewife to produce the maximum results.

A hand held mixer can do the job of a stand mixer, with some advantages and disadvantages.  On the plus side, a hand held takes up much less space than a stand mixer.  Moreover, it can be moved from one bowl to another, rather than having the cook repeatedly clean out the mixer bowl or keep several bulky (and expensive) mixer bowls.  It can even be used in a pot.  And hand held mixers cost a fraction of the price of a good stand mixer.

On the other hand, the cook is tied to the mixer if it’s a handheld: a problem when whipping eggs for five minutes at a time.  Stand mixers are also more powerful than hand helds, an important factor for mixing yeast dough or other stiff batters.

Rachel’s cake

Strawberry whip

Bread Machine

If you have ever wished that you could wake up to the aroma of baking bread, knowing that you are also saving money and time, this appliance is for you.

Bread machines are available from $49.00 to $252.00.  In our experience, price does not correlate with  performance.  My low end machine which I have been using regularly for the past 15 years compares favorably with my friend’s top of the line. The only drawback for large families is that, so far, most machines have a maximum capacity of 4 cups of flour. This produces a 2 lb loaf, but one can bake several loaves during the day and even during the night. However, a new machine is now available that can bake a 3 lb loaf.

Features to look for: delayed start, dispenser for add-ins, dough cycle.

Bread Machine Recipes

 

Special Situations

Sometimes, a child or teenager’s situation requires a specialized school or program to fix deep or complicated issues.  Below are some resources parents may find helpful in their journey with their child.

Project Extreme
Camps, Miryam’s House, Mentoring, Weekend Retreats for at-risk teens
MASK (Mothers and Fathers Aligned Saving Kids)
An organization that helps parents of at-risk children

Natsap
National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs

Educational Consultants

These professionals help parents find the schools or programs most likely to fit their child’s needs.

Scott Hall, Hall Consulting

Parenting Resources: Websites

These sites have proven useful to parents.

ImaMother  Forum for frum women to relax, socialize, debate, share tips, and ask questions

BeyondBt  Jewish Spiritual Growth. Articles about issues relevant to Jewish adults

RabbiHorowitz  Articles and more by Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz (Monsey)

Echo Institute for Health  Expert, comprehensive free medical referral and guidance

Areivim Guidance and help for children who are not succeeding in the chinuch system.

ReliefHelp  718-431-9501   Brooklyn-based organization that recommends mental health professionals for the Jewish community.

FrumTherapist Mental Health Resources for the Frum community