A nicely cooked kosher breakfast is the best way to start your day because this is the fuel that carries you around, literally, for the entire day. No wonder they say that your breakfast is the most important meal of your day so you should never take it lightly.

With a dedicated assortment of dietary precepts the ancient and wise Jews wanted to make sure that the kosher breakfast you have gives you not only nourishment, but also protection from pollutants that are present in naturally appearing foods. (more…)

Are you worried whether your kids are getting kosher food at school or at places children often frequent? There are certain restaurants and food joints that either sell kosher foods exclusively or offer them as an option, but you do often have to make an extra effort to make sure you kids have healthy kosher food on a regular basis.

A great thing about kosher food is that it automatically turns your food healthy, and this is especially good for small children and young adults. Kids are more prone to getting infections and they can get lots of infections through non-vegetarian foods. Kosher food in itself makes sure the meat your children have is without infections and toxins. In kosher meat blood is completely drained out within 72 hours of the slaughtering and even the remaining traces are removed using special procedures. Blood is supposed to carry the soul of the slaughtered animal but even if you ignore this “spiritual” effect, lots of diseases are present in the blood.

Another requisite for kosher meat is that the animal is killed with minimum pain, so when your kids get the meat, it does not carry the toxins that are produced in traumatized animals.

Then there are many combinations that don’t go well if taken together. It’s not kosher to consume dairy products and meat products at the same time.

But children, of course, have different tastes and since they are always in a hurry, and spend most of the time outdoors, making sure they consume healthy kosher food can often be a challenging task. There are many packaged food providers that supply kosher foods and the packets carry a big K. Children too can have kosher burgers, pizzas and hotdogs. You can also prepare sandwiches and salads having kosher meat, fruits or vegetables. Most fruits and vegetables are kosher so you can safely provide juices and other fruit and vegetable based beverages. Just make sure you don’t mix things like milk, curd, butter or ice cream with meat products.

Kosher food in itself is healthy because the dietary rules mentioned in the keshrut were laid down to make your food fit to eat and in fact kosher stands for quality, purity, wholesomeness and truth. The kosher guidelines make sure that you consume food devoid of diseases and toxins, whether you eat meat, vegetables or dairy products.

Take for instance non-vegetarian food products. The animals, in order for them to be healthy kosher food, have to be slaughtered in the most humane manner causing minimum pain. Great amounts of toxins are released into the meat when the animals go through extreme pain and trauma while they are being slaughtered. Since lots of toxins and diseases may be present in the blood of the slaughtered animal, it is completely drained out before the meat is considered fit for eating. Similarly, animals that eat other dead animals and scavenge are not considered kosher animals and neither are animals who were injured or who were sick before they were slaughtered.

Dairy products and meat products generally don’t go well with each other and that is why while having a kosher meal you should avoid having dairy products and meat products at the same time.

When you purchase packaged kosher food it is prepared strictly according to the keshrut guidelines so even packaged kosher food is quite healthy to eat.

But then, are all kosher foods healthy? Some of them are not. For instance, cheesecake is kosher, and so can be the fat-laden mutton stew, but they are both unhealthy for regular consumptions.

Like any other food, you can prepare healthy kosher foods by roasting instead of frying, losing less fat and sugar, reducing the consumption of red meat, eating more fruits and vegetables at regular intervals and eating animals that are healthy, not old, and have been eating good, supervised food. A healthy helping of fruits, vegetables, natural and unprocessed grains, fish, dairy, meat and other foods that are low on fats and high on fibers is an ideal kosher food.

Major Kosher Foods

In spite of the relatively small size of the Jewish population, kosher food is big business worldwide, and especially in the US. The dollar value of the American kosher food market is some $10 billion, and the dollar value of kosher goods produced in the USA is $175 billion, according to a major kosher food survey conducted by Cannondale Associates.

The survey threw up some interesting revelations. Only 21% of Americans who buy kosher foods do so for religious reasons. Non-Jews who buy kosher food products tend to do so because they think “kosher” is synonymous with “healthy.”

Much like the Jewish people, Jewish cuisine is incredibly varied, and it is hard to single out a specific culinary tradition as particularly “Jewish.” Different Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi and Sephardic people cook very different foods, incorporating locally available ingredients and regional traditions. All Jewish cuisine shares the common trait of being kosher, meaning that it is made in accordance with Jewish dietary laws.

Some of the major kosher foods are:

Hummus

Hummus is a middle-eastern food composed of chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, and tahini, a paste similar in texture to peanut butter that is made from sesame seeds. Hummus is typically eaten with pita or other flat bread.

Blintz

A blintz is a thin pancake, often filled with cottage cheese or fruit. The blintz originates in Russia, where it may also be called blin or blini. The pancake is much like a crepe, but is cooked twice. It is first prepared as a crepe, then ingredients are added to the middle and the pancake is folded into a rectangular shape and fried in hot oil.

Borscht

Borscht, which is sometimes also spelled borsch and borshch and believed to have originated in Ukraine, is a vegetable soup that is almost always made with beets. The use of beets in this soup lends the dish a vibrant red color. There are some versions of borscht made with without beets. There is orange borscht, which is made with tomatoes, and green borscht, which has a sorrel base. However, beet borscht is the most common form of this soup.

Couscous

Couscous is a coarsely ground semolina pasta that is a dietary staple in North African countries. It is also widely used in Middle Eastern countries and has become popular in American dishes. It is made of semolina, flour, salt, and water. Similar to rice in shape, color, and texture, it is used in many. A grain of couscous is similar in size to a grain of sugar.

Goulash

Originating in Hungary, goulash is a dish that is prepared with a combination of different types of meat and an assortment of vegetables. The consistency of goulash is approximately that of a thick stew, which makes it ideal for serving over various types of noodles or rice. Often, the dish is served with a tablespoon of sour cream on the top of the mixture, adding a slightly creamy quality to the goulash.

Kugel

Kugel is a famous Jewish dish, made especially by the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. Evidence exists that the dish was made over 800 years ago, though it has gradually been modified and improved upon over time. Many are used to thinking of kugel as a dessert, and there are lots of kugel dessert styles. It can also be made as a savory side dish or entrée.