Saturday, September 29, 2012

Yom Tov Menu Planning

Yom Tov in Israel is so much less work than in other parts of the world. After all, each time, it's just one day of chag (except for Rosh Hashana), when in the Diaspora, there are two days... So I've gotten kind of laid back. Especially this year, without lots of guests descending upon us!

Today, my youngest was begging to eat outside. As everyone was telling her, "no, we don't like to eat outside. Too many bugs," I told her, "tomorrow." So she's excited about Sukkot, even if no one else wants to deal with bugs!

So the plan is:

Homemade Challot
Vegetable Soup (I made a HUGE pot on Friday)
Oven-Fried Chicken (yup, Shabbat leftovers. Is that sacrilegious?
Apple Kugel (I used ALL the green apples in the house on Friday and made 3)
Spicy Roast Potatoes
Sweet Potato and Carmelized Onion Kugel (I'll post the recipe soon!!)
Salad

Chocolate Cake or Chocolate Chip Cake, haven't decided yet.

I'll serve basically the same for the night and day meals. Why mess with success? I know everyone will be happy this way!

Style J skirt Sale!

Style J has a great sale going on thru Oct 2!

Use code SE20P for your discount! (Discounts range from 20 - 70%)

Hurry!







This is an affiliate link, so when you start your shopping here, I get a small commission. Thanks in advance!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Cooking Marathon

This is the month I know as the cooking marathon.

It reminds me of when I was pregnant with my 3rd child, and, around 4 months along, I panicked. I thought perhaps I would end up on bed rest again, 1500 miles from family at the time, and with no good support system. I started this frantic cooking marathon. Every time I planned a meal, I doubled SOMETHING, and put it in the freezer, just in case. Because the 2nd pregnancy had not gone well. I found myself on bedrest at 11 weeks, before anyone knew I was pregnant. That was when we lived in Riverdale, and had no good friends there, evidenced by the fact no one ever called to find out why they never saw me anymore. Not one meal was offered, aside from a couple from family members, who did not live anywhere nearby. Can you say nightmare?

And when I gave birth at 30 weeks I still felt isolated and ignored. It was hard. It was lonely. It was traumatic. So I was determined to fix the problem and make sure I could take care of my family's needs, even if the worst were to happen again...

The cooking marathon intensified, and one weekend when my parents were visiting us in Texas from NY (state), I convinced my mother to stay up late with me and cook and cook until we either ran out of food or ran out of freezer space.

So this time of year reminds me of that. Only now my family is larger, and there is a teenage boy to feed. I feel like no matter how much I cook, I rarely get to stock the freezer! And with Yom Tov, Shabbat, Yom Tov, Shabbat, I can definitely call this a cooking marathon!

So how are you handling your cooking marathon?

I've been making big pots of soup, enough for 3 meals from each pot, and lots of steamed and roasted vegetables. Making enough challah is difficult, but every batch I've made lately was 5-6 challot, so I could stash some in the freezer. I made 4 chocolate cakes at one time, so we have desserts for chag (and used up all the cocoa in the house. oops)...

What are your cooking marathon strategies?

Monday, September 24, 2012

Printable Coupon (Israel)

Right now, Meshek Tzuriel has a printable coupon available for Facebook fans!

It is for a container of their Goat's milk Gevinah Levanah for 10 shekels.

So go ahead and print the coupon if you'll buy this product!

Coupon expires December 31, 2012.

(Not every supermarket accepts these coupons, please read the fine print)


Discounted Sefarim from Koren

Right now Koren Publishers has a great 30% discount available!

Just use code RF5773 at checkout.

Happy savings!

Hurry! Code is valid only until Sukkot begins.




Then End of Endless.com

You all know how much I loved Endless.com for their great selection of shoes, and most importantly, cheap or free international shipping!

Well, Endless is merging with Amazon this week, and while you MAY still be able to order using Amazon Global Shipping, this seems to be the end of their cheap shipping.

So if you want to get a pair of great shoes, do it quickly! The last day to order from Endless.com is Sept. 26th.

Here's of my favorite deals right now. My girls LOVED, LOVED these shoes.
This is an affiliate link, so even if you don't love this particular shoe, if you click thru from here, yours truly will get a small commission, and it won't affect your final purchase price. Thanks in advance!



Post Fast Menu

I haven't figured out my pre-fast menu, but I am going to share my post-fast menu, since I already planned that one!

Fruit Salad (using whatever fruits I have in the house - mostly apples and plums, that we managed to find for under 5 NIS/kg. So many fruit prices have skyrocketed lately, and the quality is questionable too, so we've had to skimp a bit on fruit, sadly. We love fruit. Hopefully there is something else here to jazz this up. Maybe I'll hide away that last cluster of grapes I just spotted!)

Homemade Whole Wheat Sesame Bagels, with cream cheese (well, shamenet with the whey drained off. Is that cream cheese?), tomatoes, cucumbers...

Split Pea Soup (? I hope. The store had NO carrots or celery, and I ALWAYS put carrots and celery in my split pea soup. Maybe I can find a substitute?)

Honey Cake, of course! (I have one in the freezer for this occasion)

Now, to plan the pre-fast meal...

I'm open to ideas!

What are you making for Pre- and Post-Yom Kippur?






Tapugan "mashed potato waffles" - RECALL

Tapugan announced a recall of their mashed potato waffles, due to a production error.

They may have pieces of plastic mixed in. The batch in question is marked with an expiration date of 31.1.2014

Consumers are advised not to purchase the existing stock in stores (it hasn't yet been removed from store shelves).

 If you have this product in your freezer, call Tapugan at 08-6808331 to arrange a refund/replacement.

מיוחדים תפוגן
Image source: http://www.tapugan.co.il/special9.html

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Coupon (Israel)

Right now, you can sign up for a 20 shekel discount coupon for "Femarelle" from Teva.

I really am too young to know anything about this product, friends. So you're on your own. Sorry.




More free e-books!

Prices on Amazon can change really quickly. These books are free RIGHT NOW. But they could cost a lot in an hour, so hurry and grab them while you can!


!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

More free e-books!


Please note: if the links below are missing, check if you have an Ad-blocker installed. They often block Amazon links! You may need to allow ads on my site, or allow ads in some way, in order to see the freebies! Thanks for understanding!

Free e-books

A few more freebies for you! I now have several hundred free e-books waiting for me... one day I'll be happy I download freebies...

Enjoy!

 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

More freebies!



Here are a bunch more food-related e-books!

No idea how long they will stay free, so grab them fast!




Free e-books!



Quick! Grab these now, before the price goes back up!

Enjoy your post-chag freebies!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Oatmeal and Honey Cookies (egg-free)

I may be using up my honey too quickly! I managed to buy some for less than 30 shekel/kg and I got some for free as well (sorry, that deal is long gone). So I felt like I could indulge. I made honey-teriyaki chicken, honey-sweetened challot, honey cakes, and now, oatmeal and honey cookies.

I kind of winged this recipe today, using my Oatmeal-Molasses Cookies as an inspiration, but really it needed a lot of changing it up!

Here's my recipe for these delicious confections! They are 100% whole grain! And are only honey sweetened. And are delicious. (They are not super-sweet, but they have a great honey flavor, if that makes sense to you. If you want them sweeter, roll them in powdered sugar before you bake them, or add 1/2 c. sugar or so to the recipe.)

1 T. ground flaxseed
1/4 c. boiling water
2/3 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
dash of ground cloves
dash of ground ginger

Mix well.
Add:

4 c. flour
2 c. rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Combine well. If the dough is too sticky to form cookies with, gradually add more flour as needed. A lot depends upon the humidity in your house and the origin of your flour... I added about 1/3 cup more.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

I used my fingers to form cookies, slightly flattened. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 190 C for about 12 min.

Enjoy!
Shana Tovah!

I filled up my cookie jar. I rarely use my cookie jar, but today I thought, "Why have a cookie jar if I'm never going to use it?!" So now we have a jar full of cookies.

I used the old camera and it's really not working so well these days. Sorry.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Sweet potato muffins (vegan)

Before everyone goes crazy that sweet potatoes are outrageously priced here in Israel, I want to tell you that Eden Teva Market has a whole bunch of ORGANIC produce offered for 5 shekels/kg, for their online customers. So my sweet potatoes were only 5 shekels/kg, which is looking pretty good for just about any fresh produce right now!! (hint: pay using Paypal, and save 20 shekels!)

I had one baked sweet potato, all lonely in the fridge. I decided I needed to use it up, and was going to make sweet potato bread, but I don't have any pecans in the house. I figured I would make do without the nuts. Then the day got later and later...

I decided to bake muffins instead!

Batter:

3 T. ground flaxseed
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 mashed sweet potato
1 cup lukewarm coffee
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
sprinkle of ground cloves or allspice

Streusel topping:

I had made a large batch of streusel topping earlier in the week, so I just used it. My standard is 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and some oil to make it crumbly, combine with fingers, they just work best! (yes, wash your hands first!)

And now my house smells like autumn, even though it's pretty hot out...


Smoked Salmon Recall (Israel)

This recall involves smoked salmon, sold frozen, by Neto under the name brand name "Sterling".


The smoked salmon in question may be contaminated by Listeria, and should not be consumed.

Check your freezer for the following:

100 g packages, barcode 7290003821754

200 g packages barcode 7290003821761

the recall ONLY involves those products with a production date of 31.7.2012, and an expiration date of 28.2.2013

If you have these products, please call the manufacturer at 1-800-50-40-50 for instructions.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Skirt Savings!





By now, you all know how much I LOVE the skirts at Style J!


Right now use coupon code KT25N to get 25% off your entire order!

But hurry - the code is only good Sept 12-13.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Rosh Hashana

Rosh Hashana is Sunday night.

I am so not ready, but I'm trying.

I do not want to be in the kitchen all week, so I'm *trying* to keep it simple. My menu is far from gourmet, so if you're looking for gourmet, you're going to have to look somewhere else!

Here's the plan:

Pareve Foods: 

Round Honey Challot (hopefully I'll get the round weaving thing!!)

Split pea soup (I happen to still have a lot of split peas in the house...)

Maple-roasted pumpkin (my girls LOVED it last Shabbat!)

Apple Kugel (already made)

Roasted potatoes

Make-your-own-salad

Grilled zucchini

Toasted Barley with mushrooms (I have some frozen, sliced mushrooms I got on sale a LONG time ago hanging out in the freezer)



I'm making at least one milchig meal -


Spinach lasagna

Some sort of quiche - we'll see what is affordable later in the week

Desserts:

Honey Cake (already made)

Brownies

Molasses Cookies

Apple Pie

Now, I just need to print this out, hang it up on the fridge, and get to work! Some of these things I will double or triple so we have for other meals as well...

Of course, we'll be having apples and honey, and a new fruit as well.

Shana Tova!

Please let me know what you're making!


Homemade granola bars

Do your kids complain that they are bored of being told to take some fruit for snack? Mine are. They want all the usual junk!

So today I decided to throw together a batch of granola bars.

*Feb 2013 - I changed the recipe a bit

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2/3 c. oil
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. water 
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well.

Add:
1 c. oat bran
3 c. rolled oats
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix to combine

Add:
1/3 c. ground flaxseeds
1/3 c. shredded coconut
1/3 c. sesame seeds
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Mix one more time.

Press it all into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. It seemed a bit dry - so I used a pastry brush to brush the whole top with a little water. I didn't want to add too much water, as granola bars should bake pretty quickly! 10-15 min in the oven at 190 C should do it. Cut into bars and enjoy!

I'm really hoping to hide some away so the kids don't eat them all in one day...


Sunday, September 9, 2012

Weekly Supper Plan

Oh, I am craving those crisp fall days, the ones when I can just make some sort of hearty stew or soup, and pair it with a fresh loaf of bread, something to spread on the bread, and call it supper!

I'm having a hard time getting motivated in the kitchen these days. The Jezreel Valley seems especially hot and humid to me right now, so cooking and baking just seems like a chore! HELP!

Anyhow, I know I'm more likely to actually feed my family real food when I plan a little in advance, so here goes!

Sunday: Leftovers from Shabbat + extra veggies

Monday: Orzo (oops ran out of rice!!), black bean "meatballs", make-your-own-salad (we have lettuce, cucumbers, avocado, and carrots aplenty this week!)

Tuesday: Spinach and cheese pancakes, roasted carrots, orzo (planned leftovers), make-your-own-salad

Wednesday: pizza, cucumbers and carrots with dressing

Thursday: Pasta with tomato sauce and vegetables, ??

Also planning to bake: several loaves of whole wheat oatmeal bread, honey challot for Rosh Hashana, honey cakes, apple muffins, molasses cookies, and homemade granola bars (haven't made granola bars in a LONG time)... all of that needs to be done before Thursday night, when I will need to cook for shabbat.

Last Friday we got a late start to our tiyul, and we got home VERY late and VERY tired - just one hour before Shabbat. It was a little nutty, but thank G-d I had done a decent job cooking and cleaning in advance! I don't think we're doing a Friday tiyul this week - maybe Friday arts and crafts instead. Sounds less stressful, doesn't it?


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Shabbat Menu planning

I can't believe it's time to cook for Shabbat again! This week flew. Really. I don't know where it went...

So, taking stock of my pantry, fridge and freezer, here's my Shabbat menu:

Challot from the freezer

Soup - not sure yet what kind

Teriyaki/Honey Chicken

Rice (finishing off the rice in the house. oops, I hate having no rice left!)

Roasted Pumpkin with maple syrup (just a drop of maple syrup, really!)

Roasted Potatoes (I wanted to make potato kugel but I still haven't replaced my food processor!)

Make your own salad

Black Bean Cholent for lunch

Banana muffins

Chocolate chip cookies

And that is all I am cooking!

Ok, now I will be up all night. But the house is clean, so tomorrow can be a FUN Friday!

Shabbat Shalom!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Printable Coupons (Israel)!

NewPharm has some new printable coupons up!

They are good thru Sept 18, limit one per person.

Coupons include:

Pampers diapers

Huggies diapers

Materna formula

Similac Comfort formula

Axe body spray

Molett toilet paper


Printable Coupon (Israel)!

Shufersal has a new coupon up on their Facebook page.

This one is for their frozen bourekas: 650 - 700 gram packages for 11.99

Valid Sept 4 - 20

Limit of 2 packages for the coupon price.


Free honey!

Yad Mordechai Honey is giving away free bottles of honey in honor of the upcoming holidays!

Quantities are limited.

Please note: In order to get your free bottle of honey, you must like their page and then design a custom label. Also you will be asked to share your name, mailing address, and email address.

They will send your honey to you!

Enjoy!


Printable Coupons (Israel)

Strauss Group is offering printable coupons for Facebook fans!

Just like their page, choose your coupons, and print them.

For some reason mine didn't format properly. I now have a bunch of printed coupons that are half on one page and half on the next. Probably something with my printer settings. Oh well. I suggest you print it to a PDF file, as my friend Janice recommended (thank you Janice!), and then print it from there. You are only allowed to print one copy, though.

Good luck! I hope yours print properly!

Coupons include:

Flavored olive oil
Instant coffee
Chocolates
Yogurt
Milk

Printable Coupons (Israel)!

SuperPharm also has another page of special coupons for the chagim!

They say that each set has a unique barcode.

You can either print them once, or show the cashier the coupon on your smartphone at the checkout!

These coupons include:

24 pack "Lily" toilet paper for 12.99

Special-K cereal for 9.99

750 ml "Osem" ketchup for 8.99

200g Taster's Choice instant coffee for 19.99

250g honey in a squeezable bottle - Emek Hefer - for 5.99 (!!!)

AND MANY MORE including infant formula, diapers, feminine protection...

Monday, September 3, 2012

Chunky Tomato Soup with Rice

I had to make some of my son's favorite foods for his birthday supper.

He loves cheesy broccoli pie, so I made that. But it is so not frugal, since cheese AND broccoli are ridiculously expensive, so I won't share that recipe here.

He also loves chunky mashed potatoes, but I would hope everyone knows how to boil potatoes and mash them.

I also made a sweet potato, fig, craisin, and pistachio salad, but that was for me (yay for cheap sweet potatoes last week!)!

SO... I will share the chunky tomato soup recipe.

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil in a nice, thick bottomed soup pot, till browning

Add:
4 tomatoes, chopped
Continue to cook, stirring frequently for about 10 min.

Add
500g tomato paste
6 cups water
salt, pepper, and ground allspice to taste.

Bring it to a boil, then add (already cooked) brown rice. (I cooked my rice pareve the other day, with a leftover remake in mind!)

Heat thoroughly.

Serve generous portions, my kids all really loved it. 



Printable Coupons (Israel)!

Superpharm has a TON of new printable coupons up on their site!

Just be aware, you MUST use their "print" button. Don't just print out the page, or they won't have a valid barcode on them.

These coupons include:

1.25 kg bag of "Sunday" laundry detergent for 4.99

8 pack of "Life" paper towels for 8.99

500 ml spray bottle of "Vanish" stain remover for 8.99

"Sanobon" toilet cleaner for 8.99

750 ml bottle of "Ajax" window cleaner for 8.99

3-pack "Life" liquid hand soap for 8.99

725 ml bottle of "Vaseline" moisturizing lotion for 16.99

3-pack "Colgate" toothbrushes for 14.99

"Old Spice" body spray for 9.99

"Pedilady" for 139.99

8 pack Duracell AA/AAA batteries for 9.99

375 g "Life" granola for 9.99

400g "Osem" soup nuts (shkidei marak) for 7.99

9-pack "Beigel Beigel" pretzel snack bags for 7.99

"Hellman's" salad dressings for 8.99

"Patit" crispbread for 11.99

"Olivia" chicken marinades for 7.99

5-pack "Life" baby wipes for 14.99

"Life" baby cereal for 7.99

750 ml bottle "Life" baby wash for 6.99

"Hab'chira Ha'organit" baby food jars, buy 1 get 1 free

AND MANY MORE!!

Check them out! You just may save big on something you've been planning to buy!

More free e-books!

Last I checked all of these books were free on Amazon.com right now! They often pop up in price very quickly, so hurry and check them out!


 

Great Deal!

Are you really busy? Have you thought about doing your grocery shopping online?

From experience, it is wonderful, but often comes with a great, big markup that doesn't always make it worthwhile (although in certain circumstances, it still is!)!

Right now, you can get a "deal of the day" for Mega's internet supermarket. Pay 60 shekel for a 120 shekel voucher!


This deal expires tomorrow night (Sept 4th) and must be redeemed for delivery by Sept 12th. So only buy this if you really will shop online soon!

Limit one per person. Minimum purchase of 180 on Mega Online to redeem this coupon. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

(Please read all the fine print, I'm just summarizing!)

Free e-books!

I am way too tired to finish combing through the hundreds of free e-books available on Amazon right now! Here are a few food-related ones to get you started though! Enjoy! 


Sorry about the wacky formatting. I am too tired to fix this. Please just go get your free books!

 





Sunday, September 2, 2012

Printable Coupon

New Skinny Cow coupon available!

Get 5 shekels off your purchase of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches!

Expires Sept. 30, 2012

Print yours now! You must be a Skinny Cow Israel Facebook fan to access the coupon!

Enjoy!

NEW Style J Coupon Code!

Time for everyone to finish up back-to-school shopping!
Sometimes, you just HAVE to have a new skirt. And Style J has them all. All kinds of styles, colors, sizes... they have expanded their selection well beyond jean skirts. Of course, the jean skirt is my daily uniform, so that is the only kind of skirt I need to buy right now. And Style J has the perfect one! And you can save at least 30% off your purchase with code KB30F!
 
Now thru Sept 4th, get 30% - 70% off your Style J purchase! Great skirts - something for everyone! Use code KB30F!
 










This is an affiliate link, please don't be shy to use it. I won't know who bought what, I just get paid a small referral commission! Thank you!