Mango Memories & No Work Mango "Sorbet"

I think I ate my first mango in London.

We were there for two years in the mid-1970's. All sorts of imported "exotic" fruits and vegetables were available in Golders Green. Many were even from Israel. My Cousin Fran from Brooklyn visited us one winter day and brought a big bag of delicious fruit as a house gift:

"I figured that this was the best of kosher food for you, especially since I don't know what's kosher here."

Back to the mango:
Mango, avocado, artichoke and other Israeli staples weren't seen in New York when I was growing up. Certainly they weren't in our neighborhood stores, and my parents were pretty adventurous when it came to trying new foods.

It's not that mango wasn't for sale in Israel. During our early years in Israel, I was happy with the better than in New York standard high quality summer fruit like melon, watermelon, bananas and peaches. Davka, those weren't all that great in London. Imported lost some of the quality I had gotten used to.

I had read about the high healthy vitamin content in a mango so I bought some. They were a hit with me and our daughters, especially with the fussy eater. Mangoes are expensive, so I never used to buy them very often.

Now, when I buy mangoes for myself, I use them to "make sorbet."

• freeze ripe mango
• remove frozen mango from freezer
• thaw enough to cut slices
• eat
• One of my sons takes the chunks of frozen mangoes, mashes them by hand or in food processor and refreezes to serve more impressively as "sorbet."

Can anything be easier or more delicious?

Bonus:Totally healthy and no added sugar!

Mango, Apple, Prune Compote - No Sugar

This amazingly sweet compote doesn't have a drop of added sugar. Actually, almost all of the ingredients had been found hiding in the freezer when I began checking what needed to be thrown out or eaten before Passover.

FYI mangos freeze amazingly well. I have the super simplest way of making Mango Sorbet with just frozen mangos. But the mango I found tucked into the bowels of my fridge freezer had possibly been hiding there too long for me to just eat it raw. It looked and smelled perfect.

When in doubt about the freshness and safety of a food, frequently, all you need to do is to boil it for awhile. So, I checked about using mangos in cooked comptes, and discovered that it is done.

The usual partner for the cooked mangos is apple, and I just happened to have some apple slices frozen solid in the freezer compartment, too. Since there weren't too many apple slices I cut up a nice green one to add to my compote. I also discovered a bag of a few prunes, which joined the mango and apples in the pot. All I needed to add was water.

Ingredients:

• mango
• apple
• prunes

Yes, that plus water. The compote was amazingly sweet just from those three ingredients. Of course you can vary by using raisins, pears or other fruit. But I had needed to finish off the mango, apple and prunes. 

Your can't get simpler, tastier or sweeter, and not a drop of added sugar.

Breakfast Tweak Prevents Sugar Craving

Reporting on how my switching from a nice full vegetable omelet to fruit and goat yogurt has affected my food cravings. A few months ago I found myself craving sweets and fruit at best after eating a nice big vegetable omelet. And I also couldn't get the 3-4 kilo which had snuck on back off. So I decided to change my breakfast to fruit and goat yogurt. In the beginning I sometimes even added some oats.

apple, peach, ginger slivers and goat yogurt

Well, the results are even better than I had expected. I no longer crave something sweet, eat less fruit during the day and I lost the few kilo, thank Gd.

There are times that we must listen to our "cravings" and then use them as guides. If you find a way to prevent them, you gain control and can even lose weight.

Have you any easy diet tips like this one?

Easy and Healthy No Sugar Beef

If you check recipes in books and online for cooking beef, you'll see that so many require sugar, whether from jam, sweetened sauces, wines, juice or just plain sugar. You can cook a piece of inexpensive beef without any sweetener at all.

I buy an inexpensive cut of beef from the freezer section of the supermarket. I'm fussier about the price than the name of the cut. First, after thawing, I soak it in water to rid it of whatever salts and blood I can get out of it. Actually I use the pot for this, since health/hygiene experts say it's important to keep raw meat/fish/poultry off of eating and food prep surfaces.

Ingredients:
Beef, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, peppercorns, tomatoes or canned tomatoes preferably diced/chopped without added sugar or salt

Instructions:

• Cut up a large onion and some fresh garlic; store in a bowl on the side.  
• Cut about a pound of tomatoes or get a can/jar of diced or crushed tomatoes without added sugar; store in a bowl on the side.  
• Add a bit of oil in the cooking pot, (which should have a good cover)
• Turn on the heat and then add the beef. 
• Keep turning the beef so the outside looks cooked. 
• Add onions and garlic; continue turning for a few minutes.
• Then add the tomatoes and peppercorns, cover and lower the heat a bit.
• Let it cook for a couple of hours, checking periodically to make sure there's enough liquid. You may need to add some water.

That's it! Very no fuss and extremely healthy. No added sugar or salt is necessary. You can serve it with rice, pasta, vegetables, salad or whatever you like.

Revolutionary Health Diet Advice

Today as I was eating my breakfast, apple and fresh ginger in goat yogurt, I turned on the television and found myself watching a morning "health" show.

A woman in her late forties asked a doctor how to improve the health and weight of her family. She said that they, her children and herself, were always tired. The first thing the doctor asked was what they ate for breakfast.

"Sweetened coffee and cake."

The doctor replied that all that sugar has to go. They need to have something fatty in the morning, like real cream or coconut cream in their coffee, a slice of avocado, nuts, etc. He told them that he, too, has been working hard to remove sugar from his diet. Natural fats are healthy, much healthier than all of the sugar most people eat, whether added to coffee or within all sorts of prepared foods.

The doctor also said that he keeps a supply of nuts with him for quick energizing snacks. This all jives with what I've been hearing for years and suits my conclusions about which sort of diet works best. Anyone who carefully reads the ingredients of all the low-fat reduced fat foods comparing them to the full-fat varieties will discover that the fat is replaced by sugars and salts. That makes the low-fat reduced fat foods extremely unhealthy, much worse for us than the natural fat originals.

What's your experience with this sort of eating?

Easy to Make Non-Dairy Ice Cream

When I discovered that the coconut cream had separated into a pale liquid and a very solid "mass," I decided to experiment. I made Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

It was amazingly easy to make. All I did was mash up a very ripe banana, added the coconut cream to it.

Then for extra flavor I added some vanilla and cinnamon. I mashed all that up with a fork and then added chocolate chips. You may have noticed that I didn't add any sugar to this ice cream.

I served it on Succot, so there's no photo of it served in the pretty little glass bowls decorated with more chocolate chips. We all, my husband plus a guest and myself, finished our portions to the very last drop. I didn't hear any complaints about my latest creation.

IMHO this easy to make non-dairy vegan ice cream is much tastier than what most people make  with the commercial artificial "Rich's." I didn't need a mixer or any other kitchen tool. We all have forks; don't we? So, if you find yourself with thick coconut cream, you have the base for a very easy, simple and tasty ice cream. And as ice creams go, whether commercial or homemade, this one is pretty healthy.

Sweet Sugarless Dessert

This is the dessert, all the ingredients, just what you see here. Since we weren't too many for dinner I used:

• 4 small apples
• 1/2 medium orange

slices of apple, slices of orange and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon 

I didn't even add any water. I just covered the Corningware pan, which can be baked or on the stove top, and put it in the oven. I knew that the juices from the fruit would provide concentrated sweet liquid. If I had been making on the stove top, I'd need to add a bit of water, barely enough to cover.

When it began smelling "good," I took it out of the oven, put it on a heat-safe surface and covered it to finish the cooking process without burning.

It was absolutely delicious, as sweet as can be.

Craving Compote

The other day I got back from Jerusalem with a slightly upset stomach and a strong craving for apple compote. The craving may have begun a few days earlier when I thought of making baked apple for dessert. In the end I didn't, because the last time I did, my husband wasn't very enthusiastic. If I were to make baked apples, I'd have to supply him with a cake, so I ended up not having the apples.

But then I really found myself seriously needing cooked apple, so I made myself compote.

raw ingredients

There are just three ingredients besides water, as you can see in the photo:

• pieces of apples
• cinnamon
• fresh ginger

While it was cooking I had some nice mild tea, also with a bit of fresh ginger. After smelling that it was cooking, I turned off the flame and waited for at least ten minutes. And then finally I had the Apple Compote, and it hit the spot. Suddenly I felt so much better. I finished every single drop.

PS Correct, no sugar at all. It is so sweet on its own cooked/stewed in minimal water.