FREE Sample - Truvia!

Free Stuff! 

Yes, we love free stuff (that we'll actually use).

So today's freebie is a Truvia (Stevia based sweetener) sample -- Sign up today to get your sample and a coupon towards your next purchase!

Click HERE to get yours!

Please note: quantities may be limited so this freebie won't be around forever!

The Best of Groo's Free Shipping Deals!

This post contains affiliate links, so if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. Thanks for keeping this blog afloat! 

Groo's added a lot of deals to their free shipping category, so I had to check it out! Here are some of the best deals - let me know if you found another "best"! 

Did you know that Groo takes Paypal if you don't have an Israeli credit card? (Well, now you know!)

Finish brand dishwasher gel: I buy the eco-friendly version all the time, and when there's free shipping it's the perfect time to stock up: 99.90 NIS (for 3 bottles)

Introductory subscription to National Geographic Kids+ (in Hebrew) including a Tishrei craft kit: 10.90 NIS

National Geographic Kids "Fun Stuff" activity book in English: 29.90 NIS

Eco-friendly "Camp & Go" dishes and utensils, made of BPA-free composite materials. Time to dis the disposables - and these are perfect for picky eaters who like to keep their food separate. I know someone I need to buy this for! :-): 48 or 98 NIS

Power bank for on-the-go charging: 49 or 59 NIS

Sanitizing cleaning products: 6 bottles for 55.90 (choose which types of cleaners go in your box)

Sanitizing wipes - box of 18 resealable packages: 99.90

Bedside table on wheels: 149 NIS

1000W Kenwood mixer with 5L bowl: 1199 NIS

Xiaomi Robot Vacuum-mop: 899 NIS

100 coffee capsules for LAVAZZA: 84.90 NIS

Set of 3 Carter's infant pajamas: 99 NIS

That's all I've got time for today! But look out for more next week!

Happy deal-hunting!

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iHerb sale code!

This post contains my iHerb referral link. You'll save money using it (even existing customers), and I may be compensated by iHerb. It won't cost you extra - but it WILL save you money! I love to share iHerb deals and I'm excited to let you know that right now you can save 25% off all Bath and Body items! Use this link to activate the sale: Click HERE If that doesn't load the sale for you, be sure to add these 2 codes for maximum savings: 25CARE and QEJ101 Sale ends Monday at 8pm Israel time, so hurry! יש עכשיו מבצע באיי-הרב וגם אפשר משלוח חינם! 25% הנחה על מוצרי טיפוח אישי תעלה לסל שלך - הקליקו כאן ותתחילו לחסוך   ההנחה בתוקף עד ליום שני בשעה 20:00 אם את לא רואה את ההנחה פשוט תכניסו את שני הקודים האלו - 25CARE וגם QEJ101 Some tips for ordering from iHerb: Boxit delivery to a pickup location is my current default delivery choice. Just note that this delivery option is only for orders that weigh a maximum of 5 kg (11 lbs). There are a few products that cannot be shipped this way, so if you discover at checkout that this delivery option isn't available, try removing one item at a time from your cart (I recommend moving it to "your lists" and then moving it back if it's not the one causing the problem). You can often score FREE Boxit delivery - for this, your order must be at least $60 USD. Whether I get home delivery or store pickup delivery, my iHerb orders have been coming really quickly, despite my location in the boondocks, closer to Damascus than Tel Aviv! *************** New to buying from iHerb? Here's a great guide to "recommended" Kosher symbols. It's not 100% complete but it's a great start! Don't get surprised by import taxes! If you're ordering items from overseas, be sure to familiarize yourself with the most recent personal import regulations! HINT: Keep your order under $75 (not including shipping). I've been consistently impressed with their service during the pandemic. I've been filling in some of the things I was not able to get in my regular grocery or pharmacy delivery orders, or simply things that turned out to be less expensive from iHerb. I order things like fragrance free laundry detergent, french roast coffee, and eco-friendly dishwasher detergent, allergen free chocolate chips (note: these only ship November thru May!), elderberry and zinc - just to name a few!  Let me know what your favorite deals are! Want more deals? Join my Facebook Group and/or my Whatsapp group!

Random Awesome Finds - FREE Shipping from Amazon!

 This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may get paid a commission, but it won't cost you extra! Thanks for your support!

Most people I know get a little overwhelmed shopping, especially on a huge site like Amazon.

So here's a list of some of the random awesome finds I've identified, for people who may not realize the extent of what you might find on Amazon for a fraction of the cost locally, and with FREE shipping!

Montessori Math "Hundred Board" for $14.99

Disc-shaped building toy set for $15.99

Remote control Robot building kit for $59.99

Melissa & Doug Building Block Set (100) for $16.54

Bristle Blocks for $15.50

Natural Cloth Napkins (set of 6) for $7.00

Stainless Steel Baking Pan set for $13.99

Heart Shaped Sequined Iron On Patches (48 pieces) for $10.99

Space themed Iron On Patches (35 pieces) for $8.99

Set of 5 Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls for $16.99

Pyrex Set of 3 Measuring Cups for $17.99

Tell me what you're looking for and I'll see if I can find it for you! :-)

Trying to get an order shipped free from Amazon can be tough. You have to hit that MAGIC sweet spot between $65 and $75 dollars to get FREE Shipping and ZERO taxes.

Here are some "Cart Filler" recommendations. These are cheap items that qualify for free shipping if you're placing a large enough order, and will help you get to the $65 minimum, hopefully without going over the $75 threshold. Prices were accurate at the time I posted this blog post, but they may change at any time, so always check carefully.

Crayola Crayons $0.87

Happy Rainbow Napkins $1.20

4-oz Tacky Glue for $1.27

Acrylic Paint for $0.87

Metallic Gold Paint for $1.97

Rainbow Ribbon for $1.97 

Sponge wand refill heads (20) -can also be used without the wand $1.99

Dinosaur Napkins $2.04

Construction Paper for $2.46

Crayola Washable Markers for $2.49

8-oz Acrylic Paint for $2.50

Gold Craft Ribbon for $2.97

10 Paint Brushes for $2.98

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets for $2.98 

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles for $2.99 

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons for $2.99

Cotton Crafting Cord $2.99

Silicone Spatula $3.00

Korean Flower Card Game for $3.00

50 Animal Stickers for $3.49

Craft Bond Glue for $3.69 

Necklace with heart and purple stone $3.79 

Stainless steel mug $3.80

Glass Flower Earrings $3.97 

Fake Nose Ring Set $3.99

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace $3.99 

Hammered copper mug $3.99

Zinga Card Game for $3.99

Banapples Junior for $3.99

Keychain Maker Set for $3.99

Paint by Number Set for $3.99

Sticker book for $3.99 

Stainless Steel Carving Fork $3.99

More coming soon (I'll update this list as I find more!)

Hope this helps! If it helped you, don't forget to share!

My Shabbat menu

 

I have not posted my Shabbat menu in a very long time. For a number of reasons, not least among them being that I was simply burned out. This pandemic time has kept us from having guests for far too long (we've had guests ONCE in the last 18 months or so)! So no, this week we're still NOT having guests. But our adult son will be home for Shabbat after several weeks away, and our soldier is on a little vacation from the army, so I'm pretending we have guests. I'm sure you're all laughing at me, but that's ok, I'm just fine with that!

And this week's menu will defy my usual "make enough food to serve for both big meals" strategy, because "boys" both requested a dairy lunch.

____

So here's the plan:

Friday Night

White Spelt Challot

Date Honey Chicken

Spinach Noodle Kugel (with GF noodles)

Roasted Cauliflower

Teriyaki Tofu for the vegetarians

Deconstructed Salad (so everyone can avoid their particular allergens or what-not)

Brownies

Shabbat Lunch

White spelt challah and rolls

Lemon-herb baked fish (I have a fillet of some sort of white fish in the freezer I need to use up)

Cheesy Broccoli Casserole

Cheese Platter (I bought some random cheeses in the grocery order, a minor splurge that I can't even personally enjoy but the rest of the family will)

Potato Salad

Pasta Salad

Deconstructed Vegetable Salad again

Brownies and Fruit (we've got watermelon, mangoes, and grapes - all were great prices!)

Now - here's the question of the day - do I have enough time to get this done and clean up from a crazy week? I have NO idea. I'll call this my "goal" and hope I get most of the way there! Gotta get moving and make some challah.

Shabbat Shalom!

UPDATED Amazon Cart Fillers!

 This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may get paid a commission, but it won't cost you extra! Thanks for your support!

Trying to get an order shipped free from Amazon can be tough. You have to hit that MAGIC sweet spot between $65 and $75 dollars to get FREE Shipping and ZERO taxes.

Here are some "Cart Filler" recommendations. These are cheap items that qualify for free shipping if you're placing a large enough order, and will help you get to the $65 minimum, hopefully without going over the $75 threshold. Prices were accurate at the time I posted this blog post, but they may change at any time, so always check carefully.

Crayola Crayons $0.87

Happy Rainbow Napkins $1.20

4-oz Tacky Glue for $1.27

Acrylic Paint for $0.87

Metallic Gold Paint for $1.97

Rainbow Ribbon for $1.97 

Sponge wand refill heads (20) -can also be used without the wand $1.99

Dinosaur Napkins $2.04

Construction Paper for $2.46

Crayola Washable Markers for $2.49

8-oz Acrylic Paint for $2.50

Gold Craft Ribbon for $2.97

10 Paint Brushes for $2.98

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets for $2.98 

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles for $2.99 

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons for $2.99

Cotton Crafting Cord $2.99

Silicone Spatula $3.00

Korean Flower Card Game for $3.00

50 Animal Stickers for $3.49

Craft Bond Glue for $3.69 

Necklace with heart and purple stone $3.79 

Stainless steel mug $3.80

Glass Flower Earrings $3.97 

Fake Nose Ring Set $3.99

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace $3.99 

Hammered copper mug $3.99

Zinga Card Game for $3.99

Banapples Junior for $3.99

Keychain Maker Set for $3.99

Paint by Number Set for $3.99

Sticker book for $3.99 

Stainless Steel Carving Fork $3.99

More coming soon (I'll update this list as I find more!)

Hope this helps! If it helped you, don't forget to share!

Amazon Cart Fillers (Items under $4 that ship free to Israel with a $65 order)

 This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may get paid a commission, but it won't cost you extra! Thanks for your support!

Trying to get an order shipped free from Amazon can be tough. You have to hit that MAGIC sweet spot between $65 and $75 dollars to get FREE Shipping and ZERO taxes.

So today's post is focused on my "Cart Filler" recommendations. These are cheap items that qualify for free shipping if you're placing a large enough order, and will help you get to the $65 minimum, hopefully without going over the $75 threshold. Prices were accurate at the time I posted this blog post, but they may change at any time, so always check carefully.

Happy Rainbow Napkins $1.20

4-oz Tacky Glue for $1.27

Acrylic Paint for $0.87

Metallic Gold Paint for $1.97

Rainbow Ribbon for $1.97

Dinosaur Napkins $2.04

Construction Paper for $2.46

8-oz Acrylic Paint for $2.50

Gold Craft Ribbon for $2.97

10 Paint Brushes for $2.98

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets for $2.98 

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles for $2.99 

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons for $2.99

Cotton Crafting Cord $2.99

Silicone Spatula $3.00

Korean Flower Card Game for $3.00

50 Animal Stickers for $3.49

Craft Bond Glue for $3.69 

Necklace with heart and purple stone $3.79

Glass Flower Earrings $3.97

Fake Nose Ring Set $3.99

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace $3.99

Zinga Card Game for $3.99

Banapples Junior for $3.99

Keychain Maker Set for $3.99

Paint by Number Set for $3.99

Sticker book for $3.99 

Stainless Steel Carving Fork $3.99

More coming soon (I'll update this list as I find more!)

Hope this helps! If it helped you, don't forget to share!

SALES and meal planning/budgeting

I know I haven't been talking about grocery prices much lately. Life kind of kept me too busy to focus on it. However, groceries often account for a large percentage of people's budgets in this country, and so this becomes the topic of many conversations, in person and online. In my town, there's a near-constant chatter about prices and where and how to shop, and I see it in all sorts of online groups as well. I get it - it's really challenging to keep enough food around for a large(ish) family, especially with teens in the house. But since the onset of the pandemic, I've been mostly ordering my groceries online, and supplementing from one or more of my local makolets, and just hoping I can get everything I need while sticking to the budget I set. Usually I manage, but sometimes I go over, especially when there's a lot going on and I can't focus on food prep all that much.

So what do I do when I need to be careful?

Generally, I shop for sales, which means I focus on the produce I can get for 3 NIS/kilo or less (usually veggies not fruits), and this week I found a whole bunch!

Here's my 3 NIS or less produce haul for this week:

Tomatoes - 0.90 agurot/kilo
Cucumbers - 0.90 agurot/kilo

Carrots - 0.90 agurot/kilo

Cabbage (Purple and Green) - 0.90 agurot/kilo

White Potatoes - 0.90 agurot/kilo

Red Potatoes - 0.90 agurot/kilo

Watermelon - 0.90 agurot/kilo

Light Green Peppers - 1.90 NIS/kilo

Kohlrabi - 1.90 NIS/kilo

Eggplant - 2.90 NIS/kilo

Summer Squash (Kishuim) - 2.90 NIS/kilo

So now I just need to make sure I make lots of food that these veggies star in. Oh, and we'll be eating lots of watermelon because the one we got weighs TEN AND A HALF kilo!!

**This is where that meal planning idea comes in. It makes all the difference between using this food or throwing out food. So I should start planning my menu now, while my fridge is full of these deals!**

Other deals:

I also somehow stumbled upon those fruit flavored yogurts that are usually about 4 NIS each for 1.70 NIS each!

(I also bought the rest of our necessities, but that's not nearly as interesting as these cheap produce deals.)

I know there's a lot of talk about the high cost of produce right now, and I myself was feeling it acutely when I spent a week in the merkaz recently, where I couldn't find fruit for less than double what I pay here in the Golan. It was crazy! I bought some fruit anyway, because I couldn't imagine a week with no fruit, but it hurt a bit to pay those prices.

So I'm pleased to report that upon my return home I happily stocked the fridge with peaches and nectarines this week for 9.90 NIS/kilo and mangoes for 8 NIS/kilo or so!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about food prices in Israel and how you keep your grocery budget in check. Please drop a note below!