Kosher Families - come in pls!

[BrinaElka]

Hi!

I'm stuck in a rut of meal planning w/my current Kosher cookbooks. Everything is heavy and uses margarine or other fatty things. Kosher meat is also $$$$$ so we try to stick to fish and lean chicken/turkey once a week or so.

Do you have resources that are your go-to's for Kosher meal planning?

Thanks!

[Cynthia Mosher]

Just thought I'd bump your post up. 

Any kosher families around to contribute? 

[bec428]

Hi Kosher mammas!

I definitely don't use most Kosher cookbooks - they are heavy on meat, cheese, margarine, etc. We eat meat/chicken only on Friday night and Saturday lunch, and only during the week if we have leftovers from those meals. Other meals consist of fish or vegetarian food. Some things that have really helped me plan meals:

1. Get non-kosher cookbooks that are all vegetarian or mostly vegetarian. I LOVE Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. I also look at epicurious.com for fun veggie/chicken/fish ideas - they have lots of healthy options. The Meatless Mondays blog/website and all the supporting bloggers often have great veggie dinner ideas (that don't have to be used just on Mondays).

2. Make a vegetable at least 1/3 of your meal, no matter what. Cooked, salad, stir-fry, whatever. Make it a rule. When we eat pasta, 1/2 of the volume in the pasta pot consists of a veggie - peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kale - whatever you want.

3. Keep whole grains and legumes in the pantry. I personally could never be bothered to make legumes from dried, but love canned beans.

4. If you are going to use cheese, use a strongly-flavoured cheese, and use less - cheddar, parmesan, muenster, instead of mozzarella - your dish will taste cheesier with less fat!

5. North American diets often contain more protein than people actually need! If you are serving say, a stir-fry, over rice, resist the urge to grill chicken cutlets or steak with it - adding some almonds or peanuts into the stir-fry will likely give you enough protein.

6. If you are using non-kosher cookbooks, some substitutions I have found that work really well - soy/rice milk in place of milk - just don't boil the mixture after adding it. Coconut milk works in place of cream in most recipes. If making a pesto for a meat meal, I just leave out the parmesan cheese and add extra nuts, basil, garlic and salt to take the place. If cheese is used as a seasoning in a recipe, I find that adding a little extra healthy fat (like olive oil), and garlic, salt and pepper, often help make up the flavor.

7. Miso paste is a great food to use with a ton of flavor, and in small quantities can make up for the "umami" that bacon or cheese often is supposed to give you in recipes.

8. A great, interesting Kosher food blog is the Kosher Foodies. They get a summer CSA basket and cook with tons of veggies.

[Ragana]

My family does not keep kosher (we're not even Jewish), but I have found this site interesting and helpful in various ways:

http://kosheronabudget.com/category/kosher-cooking/menu-planning/  (link to the meal planning section)