Thursday, March 31, 2016

Undisclosed Allergen Warning!

This warning is super important for anyone with a PEANUT allergy.

picture for illustrative purposes only
The following items are being recalled from store shelves in Israel because the Hebrew labels that were affixed to the packages DO NOT CONTAIN AN ALLERGY WARNING. In particular, the products may contain peanuts (which may not be obvious when reading the ingredients).

The recall affects the following products:

1. Chocolate Oreos (chocolate cookies with chocolate creme), 137 gram packages, expiration date 21-5-2016

2. Oreos (Chocolate cookies with vanilla creme), 137 gram packages, expiration date 19-5-2016

3. Oreos (Chocolate cookies with chocolate-vanilla creme), 137 gram packages, expiration date 19-5-2016

4.Oreos (Chocolate cookies with vanilla creme), 274 gram packages, expiration date 5-4-2016

5. OREO Double Delight Chocolate Sandwich Cookies With Peanut Butter & Chocolate Creme, expiration date 21-5-2016

The recalled cookies were produced in Mondelez Indonesia,Bekasi,Indonesia

Consumers with questions should call 058-447-5105



Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Book SALE!

Hurry, or you'll miss the Better World Books Spring Flash Sale!

Right now, you can get 25% off your purchase of 5+ used books!

And, as always, your BWB purchase ships for FREE!

But hurry, the sale ends at 3pm EDT today (10pm Israel time)!

(Sorry I've gotta go buy some books now...)

Click to shop the sale!

Sunday, March 27, 2016

One month (a bit less) till Pesach - Pantry Challenge Week!

Since we have a month to go till Pesach, I decided it is HIGH time we get a move on using up our pantry/freezer stash.

So the plan for the week is to use whatever we can from the freezer! But I will buy fresh milk and fruits and vegetables.

We have all sorts of random foods to use up, so that's what we're doing.

What about you?

(Some things we have are single servings of salmon, pans of pasta, containers of soup, and I'm sure plenty of other foods I will find as I embark on my archaeology expedition!)

Let me know if you're also doing a pantry challenge!

(We will have fresh food for Shabbat, though, I'm reserving my pantry challenge for weekdays only at the moment)

I'd love to hear about your pantry challenge!

Tonight I found a couple of packages of gnocchi hanging out in the pantry, some fried fish, some corn shnitzels, and served that with some of the veggies/salads we had in the fridge.

Tomorrow, we'll have another surprise for supper, and I'm making tomato-rice soup for lunch, using leftover rice from Purim seudah.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Discount Sightseeing Passes (New York City)

(this post contains affiliate links, thanks for your support!)



New York Pass is a tourist card created by real, life-long New Yorkers to save you time and money on sightseeing in New York City. With NY Pass, visitors get free entry to over 80 attractions and skip ticket lines at many of the busiest places. With NY Pass you can save up to 70% on gate prices when seeing just 3 attractions a day.

The New York Pass is a very exciting way to visit New York City. The New York Pass includes: entry to over 80 of New York's most exciting attractions, including The Empire State Building, The Guggenheim Museum, Circleline Sightseeing Cruises, The Statue of Liberty, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (just to name a few), a colourful, comprehensive 200-page guide book, and discounts at 25 other shops, restaurants, theatres, even helicopter rides. And, at many attractions, The New York Pass lets you skip the line!

Save 20% on your 3, 5, 7 and 10 Day New York Passes. Passes can be purchased up to 12 months in advance 

This sale ends March 28, 2016


Sunday, March 13, 2016

Menu for the week

This week's menu is going to be variations on the theme "Easy" - I seem to have a lot to do this week besides my regular routine (that already keeps me quite busy).

Lunches will be soups and pasta and sandwiches and whatever veggies we have on hand.

Suppers:

Sunday: Mushroom barley stew, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, cut veggies

Monday: Shabbat leftovers

Tuesday: Split Pea Soup, Roasted Vegetable Casserole

Wednesday: Scrambled eggs, Salad, Baked Potatoes

Thursday: Anything left from the week

Looks like Thursday I have a whole bunch of cooking and baking to do - we may be hosting a siyum/kiddush this Shabbat (local friends who read my blog, take note!)! If it happens, I will try to post my plan for that too!

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Homeschool Resources for a GREAT Price!

As some of you already know, our family homeschools our children. We put a lot of time and energy into our homeschooling, both with experiential learning and more traditional book-learning (as a matter of fact, we LOVE books). It can get quite expensive, with four children on different levels, so we always look for ways to get the best educational resources we can.  We especially like those that can be used on multiple levels, or can be used for multiple children over the years. 

This means I am usually on the lookout for educational deals, and one site I use is Educents. Here are a few of their great $20 and under deals, that are perfect for homeschooling or for supplementing your kids' school curriculum!

homeschool resources for a budget


Here's a list of the best affordable homeschool resources - all available for $20 or less on Educents.  

Helpful Resources

Homeschool Planner - This planner includes dated journal pages, practical forms, motivational quotes, and teaching aides to make your homeschool planning effortless and enjoyable.

Do-a-Dot Mega Bundle - 17 different activities that cover fine motor skills, numbers, letters, sight words, word families, shapes, colors, patterns, and early addition. All of these items are designed for us with do-a-dot markers, but they also come with a variety of suggestions for alternative uses.

Photography Lessons for Kids - Add some fun to your homeschool! Whether your kids have a point and shoot or a DSLR camera, the fundamental rules of photography can still be taught.  

Math Resources

Tegu Geometric Blocks - Here's a hands-on way to learn geometric shapes. These blocks come in many shapes and colors.

Educents Tegu Blocks Buy Now
Times Tales DVD - Kids can learn their times tables in a snap! Most homeschoolers say this DVD only takes about an hour to teach kids the upper times tables. There's also a downloadable version available.

Life of Fred Math Stories - After reading the Fred books, kids will never say "math is boring" ever again. These fictional stories weave in math concepts with real world examples. Start with the Apples book for early math, and follow Fred all the way to calculus lessons!

Tegu Geometric Blocks - Here's a hands-on way to learn geometric shapes. These blocks come in many shapes and colors.

Science Activities

Slimy Squishy Polymer Bucket - Learn, create, and play with your student. These polymers can help teach measurements, chemical reactions, and following directions.

slimy_squishy_polymer_gloopy_hands_mommywifelife

Buy Now

One Minute Science Mysteries - Each story, just one minute long, challenges students' knowledge in earth, space, life, physical, chemical, and general science.

Language Arts Games & Lessons

uKloo Early Riddle Edition Treasure Hunt Game -Disguised as a treasure hunt, this literacy game gets kids physically active as they strengthen reading comprehension skills while solving clues to find a surprise.

ukloo treasure set

Buy Now

Let's Get Reading Bundle - Play detective with this printable packet investigating CVC words, phonics, word families and more! Kids can even print & wear spy gear!

Cursive Writing Worksheets - Make handwriting practice more fun with these superhero-themed printable worksheets.

 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Shabbat Menu


This week's Shabbat menu will feature, once again, the produce I got for 2 shekels/kg. I mean, if you can get decent produce for low prices, why not make the most of it and stretch your budget, even for Shabbat?

Here are some of the items I got for approx 2 shekels/kg this week:

Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Carrots
Cauliflower
Oranges
Pears
Potatoes
Kohlrabi
Bananas
 

So here's the plan:

Homemade Spelt and Oat Challah

Split Pea Soup with lots of carrots

Oven-fried Chicken

(Tofu for the vegetarian)

Potato Kugel

Roasted Cauliflower

Pear Crisp

Cucumbers, Kohlrabi, and Carrots with techina

Tomato-Basil Salad

Black Bean Cholent for lunch 

For Seudah Shlishit we'll have challah and spreads and salads and banana muffins

There, it's all planned!
Now the hard part is going to be staying awake long enough to get it all done...

What are you making for Shabbat? Did you find any great deals that will help you keep your Shabbat budget under control?

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

U-Pick Tomatoes! (For FREE!)

Yesterday I got a message from someone on Whatsapp about tomatoes.
Yes, about tomatoes.

It seems that some farmers have too many tomatoes sitting in their fields, and now that the price has dropped, it's not worth their while to pay field hands to harvest the rest of the crop.

One farmer has announced that anyone who wants to come pick, can do so. Completely FREE. Just bring your own bags!

He says there are at least 30 tons waiting to be harvested. The farm is in the "arava" region. The harvest must be done between now and Purim (March 24th).

Please call to make arrangements - Meidan - 058-526-0760.
Please do NOT call on Shabbat.


Sunday, March 6, 2016

Recall! (Altman products)

Altman (a supplement company) is recalling the following products:



"Protec Essence", 50ml and 100ml containers, with batch code 35885 and expiration date 2/2018, and batch code 36834 and expiration date 5/2017

"Echinacea Essence", 50ml, batch code 36082 and expiration date 7/2019

"Propolis Essence", 50ml, batch code 36840 and expiration date 4/2020

Due to an error on the production line, some of the bottles have cracked caps. 

Consumers who have purchased these products and have found cracks in the caps should call customer service at *6505 to receive a replacement product.