Za’atar White Bean Salad on Malawach
05/03/17

 

How do you know when you’re done? Not done with eating, mind you, but done having kids? I thought I knew. I participated in a week-long Positive Psychology workshop last summer and spent the majority of my time digging deep and reflecting on the fact that I thought I was done. Gd had blessed me with two incredible children and that’s it. Leave the party while it’s not only good but great. I spent the many months since that workshop giving away all of our baby gear to various friends and colleagues who were not done and needed the support. “Put it to good use”, I thought, “cause I don’t need it anymore”. But then something happened (as it always does). My father-in-law died and I turned 37. Suddenly I found myself wrestling with my own mortality and with that, the questioning of whether or not I was really ready to close this chapter in my life.

My arguments for not having a third have always been the same: With the life we lead (the expenses of daycare costs, being a working-parent household, wanting to live an observant/kosher Jewish life), we can give two kids a great life but three kids? Three kids would be tough. Plus, I don’t know what you do for a living but I spend a lot of my day talking with adolescents with mental and developmental health struggles so that coupled with the statistics of giving birth after 35 (i.e. the rise of potential of certain developmental delays), I’m frikkin’ freaked. Again, Gd has blessed us with two healthy, developmentally-abled children. LEAVE THE PARTY WHILE IT’S GREAT. But what if it could be greater?

I still have no answer. We are in conversations, clearly. With baby one and two, we were closed up about our family planning but with the potential of baby three I’ve basically been polling everyone I know (and don’t know) on what their thoughts are on how many kids I should have. Yes, that means I sometimes accost strangers in the grocery store with awkward, inappropriate questions like, “Excuse me, hi, you don’t know me but, you have lots of kids. How’s that working out?”

That’s totally normal . . . right? HELP!

 

So since motherhoood and parenting has been constantly on my mind, I made y’all a Mother’s Day breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner recipe using some of my favorite ingredients. If you don’t know what malawach is you can read about it and get the recipe for this quick yet super fancy meal over at Interfaithfamily.com. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

Would not be able to parent without my besties!

 

Supporting our friends, Bear and Bud Bookclub, at the Babyccino event in LA last weekend.

 

 

 

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Tahini + Vanilla Ice Box Cake
02/10/17

Team. I’m editing this post from The Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica’s conference, The Roads to Respect. Headliner for this conference: The original bad b*tch, Jane Fonda. Goal of the conference: Learning how to help kids thrive as they transition into adulthood. Topics to be covered:

  • Child/adolescent development through a gendered lens – how it’s different for girls and for boys.
  • Instagram, Vine, YouTube, Ask.fm, Tinder, and more – how the pervasive role of social media in adolescents’ lives is impacting their relationships, communication skills, and self-esteem.
  • Why it’s important to talk with kids about Internet pornography, and how to have age-appropriate conversations.

I mean, exciting stuff, right!? And adding to the excitement is the fact that I was THIS close to getting a selfie with Jane Fonda but then her handler was all, “She’s gonna take a break now. Come back at lunch.” It will happen folks. IT. WILL. HAPPEN. (Update: It did not happen. We chatted, but I was too chicken to ask for a pic).

 

But in all seriousness, this conference is what I live for. It’s what I do and what I want to keep doing for as long as I can. As much as I love food blogging, my heart is in this work. I am inspired to be an advocate for young people. I was inspired before I became a mother but was exceedingly inspired when I became a mother; especially a mother of a daughter. It’s hard enough to get through the worries and angst of adolescence in a safe environment but if recent increases in hate speech and crimes tells usanything, it’s that empathy education and individuals who are willing to teach it are in need much more now than ever. This work is frustrating and sad, uplifting and motivating. It’s exhausting. It can be just as soul-crushing as much as it can be soul-enduring. My commitment to this work is why I rarely post on this blog. It’s absolutely why, when someone asks me where I want to see my blog go in 5 years, I think to myself, “I don’t know. It is what it is”. There are times when I wish I had more time to learn the art of monetizing my blog or creating those fun overhead videos showing how to cook something. But I just don’t have the time. Speaking of time, I gotta jet. Jane Fonda is talking about the role of patriarchy and it’s effect on developmental grown in adolescents.

For this full recipe of this easy but DELICIOUS tahini and vanilla ice box cake, head on over to Interfaithfamily.com.

P.S. I think I’ve lost count on just how many recipes of mine include tahini! I LOVE the stuff. Also? If you can believe it, there was a time when I didn’t actually like tahini. I didn’t even like halva! I remember visiting the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem and being offered free samples of the stuff, left and right, and saying ‘no’ to all of it! I said ‘No’ to free tahini and halva!! What the hell?! Who was that girl!? I don’t know but, needless to say, I’ve grown up a lot since then.

 

 

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Vegan Pasta e Fagioli
12/28/16

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and a belated Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I am currently mid-week through the second and last week of my winter break from school (day job is as a high school counselor) and I must admit, staycations in L.A. are pretty awesome. We were originally planning on heading to Ojai for a week during this vacation break but we cancelled our plans last-minute as we are actually moving soon so needed to save that cash money for the move. But, never fear! We live in an amazing city full of extremely expensive family activities so there are a lot of things to do . . . . only we haven’t done them because of the aforementioned expensive. Ok, that’s not true. We did ice skating one day, which cost so much money it’s embarrassing. So aside from the ice skating, we haven’t really ventured out much. It’s shockingly cold in L.A. this season so we’ve done a lot of family baking/cooking projects, at-home movie matinees, neighborhood exploring (going to other neighborhoods and taking nice strolls through them) and grocery shopping. Lots and Lots of grocery shopping.

vegan pasta e fagioli

 

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

Due to the fact that it’s the Chanukah season, we have also eaten our fair share of donuts and fried foods. That is, until one day last week I decided it was time for some vegetables. I scoured Pinterest for some inspiration and settled on soup. Soup! Yes! It rained 4 days in a row this break (Baruch Hashem) so we were in the mood for something comforting and healthy. Back in my non-kosher days, the soup that would bring me this type of comfort was, no joke, The Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli. The perfect combo of vegetables, greasy meat and pasta! It’s like a hug for your belly. The traditional Pasta e Fagioli is made with sausage so what’s a kosher lady to do? Use soy crumbles and lots of fennel seed, of course! You are welcome to omit soy crumbles and just season your veggies with the seasonings I’ve listed below or you can also get some vegan sausage meat and use that. I’ve kosher Pasta e Fagioli with unseasoned soy crumbles and seasoned vegan sausage meat and I actually prefer the unseasoned soy crumbles. Honestly though, both are delicious.

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

There have been donuts. LOTS and LOTS of donuts.

 

 

We did staycation right this Winter Break

 

We also ate the occasional dreidel toad-in-the-hole.

 

I joined Snapchat so that I could do a Snapchat takeover for The Feed Feed. Did you happen to see it? If not, it’ll be up on The Feed Feed’s site so check it out. But, do not look me up on Snapchat cause I deleted it yesterday. Not for me. No thank you.

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

 

Vegan Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup ditalini pasta
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups soy crumbles or soy sausage
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 cups veggie broth
  • 1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp dried fennel seed (1 tsp if using Italian-seasoned vegan sausage)
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tbsp black pepper
  • 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

  1. In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well and set aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add soy crumbles/sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Make sure to break up the soy sausage crumble as it cooks; set aside once done.
  3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the same stockpot. Stir in garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
  4. Next, add the seasonings to the veggies and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the spices are fragrant.
  5.  Add in vegetable broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy crumbles and 1 cup water; taste and add more salt if necessary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Stir in pasta and beans until heated through. Serve while hot!
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