Chocolate "Cheese" (Tofu) Cake

B"H

I have a subscription to Prevention magazine. I generally read it for the health articles (what can I say? I'm addicted to reading health information). But I also check out the recipes. Occasionally I'll find a recipe I can use as is, but more often I find recipes that will work very nicely with my current dietary needs if only I switch off a few ingredients.

I ran across just such a recipe in one of the recent issues. It's called "Triple Chocolate Cheesecake" (link to it here). In it are several ingredients I don't eat:

• Chocolate wafer cookies
  
• 50-50 butter blend spread
  
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
• Cream cheese
  
• Neufchatel cheese
  
• Sugar
  
• Eggs
  

I substituted for a few of them, just decided to leave out others. For the wafer cookies (which are to be crushed) I used 3 ounces each of cacao nibs and Ezekiel cereal. I put the nibs and cereal into the food processor with about a teaspoon of stevia (the stevia I use, a teaspoon is the sweetness of about 1/3-1/2 cup of sugar). Instead of the butter blend, I used 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. This adds beta carotene with a minimum of calories. I added the pumpkin and processed with the crumbs. I lined an 8" X 8" pan with parchment paper and spread the nib/cereal/pumpkin mixture on the bottom of the pan. I baked it in the oven at 245 degrees for about 20 minutes.

For the chips, I substituted 1 square of unsweetened baking chocolate (the one I used is 99% cocoa). I melted the square of chocolate in a double boiler. I put a container of tofu (which I substituted for the cream cheese) in the food processor with 2 teaspoons of stevia and 1 Tablespoon non alcohol organic vanilla. I started processing and when the chocolate was melted, I poured it in while the tofu was processing. I poured the mixture over the crust and baked at 245 for about 40 minutes (until set).

Check out my other blogs:

Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Israel and its Place in the World
Jewish Sandwich

Check out my squidoo lenses:

Eat a Healthy BreakfastWhy Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list

Compote

B"H

Over the course of my life, I've been put on diets for my blood sugar and other health issues. Because I'm a vegan I tend to eat high on the carbohydrate side and low on the protein side (and, if you're thinking "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", with fats usually "just right"). So a few times in my life I was put on diets where fruit was a no-no. Beside fruit being very healthy, I also happen to love fruit. So whenever I went from not being able to eat fruit to being able to eat fruit, I jumped in with both feet, so to speak.

Lately, I don't like to pick and choose which fruits I'm going to eat, so I make compote. The compote I make is based on what my Mom used to make when we had a plethora of fruit that was "going" (as in, raw fruit that is not quite spoiled yet, but not quite edible).

I can make a better compote in the summer because there are more fruits available -- plums, peaches, nectarines. But in the winter (like now????) I use a lot of frozen fruits -- I can get berries (mixed, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries), peaches, mangoes, pomegranate seeds, and cherries (among other things) frozen. I also like to add goji berries (which I found help with the normalization of my blood sugar). Apples and pears (I prefer both red) I can usually get all year round. I cut up what need to be cut up, add the frozens and the dried fruit (goji berries, sometimes dried blueberries or cranberries) and put it in with some stevia (I use as a sweetener) and pumpkin pie spices (1 teaspoon), turmeric (1/4 teaspoon) and some coriander (1/4 teaspoon), and sometimes a bit of cardamon (just a pinch).

In any case, I put the fruit (and spices, etc.) into a nice size pot with a good cover and put it on a low flame. Don't add water!!! The fruit makes enough liquid -- just make sure the pot is well covered and the flame is as low as you can put it without the flame blowing out (since you are going to leave it for a while). I check the fruit every 15 minutes or so, mixing it up when necessary (it has a tendency to cook from the bottom up).

When it's all cooked, turn the flame off and let it sit until it cools a bit, then put into containers of your choosing and keep in the refrigerator. I don't know how long it will stay -- I generally eat it within a week. (You'll figure out after some trial and error what works best for you and your family.)

By the way, I make my own pumpkin pie spice -- I use it in my breakfast cereal, so I make a lot -- I just made some this morning with 8 tablespoons cinnamon, 4 tablespoons powdered ginger, 2 tablespoons each nutmeg and allspice, 1 tablespoon cloves, and, since I like curries, I added 1 teaspoon coriander and 1/4 teaspoon cardamon.

Check out my other blogs:

Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Israel and its Place in the World
Jewish Sandwich

Check out my squidoo lenses:

Eat a Healthy BreakfastWhy Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list

Fake Chicken and Pasta

B"H

I guess you all probably noticed that I started this blog over a year ago but didn't quite know what to do with it. But tonight I threw some food together and made an interesting meal and I thought this blog would be a great place to share this sort of quickie recipe (it would also be a good place for me to write these sorts of recipes up so I wouldn't forget them either!)

When I was in Israel recently, I found some fake chicken which I really liked. I took some home with me and have been using it little by little. If you live in Israel, it's called "k'mo ohf" (as in "like chicken) -- it's dehydrated, soy and, IMHO, delicious. I think I bought it at the Anise in the Azrieli Mall in Modiin. (I didn't find it at the Anise I ran across in Jerusalem). I think there might be a product like this in the US (and probably in other countries). This is a link to their site -- even if you don't read Hebrew, there are pictures so you can get an idea of what it looks like.

So, I took 25 grams (this came out to about a heaping 1/4 cup) of the fake chicken, boiled it up to get soft (about 10-15 minutes). While I was waiting for this, I sliced up a red onion, sprayed a frying pan (using a pump sprayer) with olive/canola oil (it had both in it) and started sauteing the onion on a small flame. When the "meat" was ready (soft and drained), I added it plus a couple of handfuls of frozen shiitake mushrooms, frozen chopped spinach, and frozen mango. I added 1/4 teaspoon of each of these spices: turmeric (which I put in almost everything), cumin, coriander, ginger (I usually use ginger root, but I thought the powder would work for this), sweet paprika, garam masala, chili powder and stevia (or to taste -- you can use whatever sweetener you use -- honey, agave nectar, sucralose, etc. for a sweet taste). I also added a pinch each of cardamon and fenugreek and a couple of "squirts" of Spicy Brown Mustard (this is my favorite kind of mustard).

While this was cooking, I had boiled up some water and added 25 grams of black bean pasta (I guess you can use the pasta of your choice). When the pasta was done, I drained it and added it to the pan. I mixed it all up and, voila!

I'm sure you can substitute your own favorite spices, I just happen to like curry spices. If you make this, I'd love to hear about your experience -- did you like it? Were there any problems making it or finding the fake chicken? By the way, as I made it, this dish had about 24 grams of protein.


Compugraph Designs web site

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Star Trek Quiz
Hanukka Gifts Under $25
Jewish Wedding Customs
Going to a Wedding Single

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Strong Biblical Women 4: Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list