Sunday, August 29, 2021

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!

Some things I found for GREAT PRICES:











Pyrex Set of 3 Measuring Cups

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 an order, and want to maximize your free shipping 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.


Things I found for under $5:

Crayola Crayons

Happy Rainbow Napkins

4-oz Tacky Glue

Acrylic Paint

Metallic Gold Paint

Rainbow Ribbon

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

Dinosaur Napkins

Construction Paper

Crayola Washable Markers

8-oz Acrylic Paint

Gold Craft Ribbon

10 Paint Brushes

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets 

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles 

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons

Cotton Crafting Cord

Silicone Spatula

Korean Flower Card Game

50 Animal Stickers

Craft Bond Glue 

Necklace with heart and purple stone 

Stainless steel mug

Glass Flower Earrings 

Fake Nose Ring Set

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace 

Hammered copper mug

Zinga Card Game for

Banapples Junior

Keychain Maker Set

Paint by Number Set

Sticker book 

Stainless Steel Carving Fork

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

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

Friday, August 20, 2021

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 under $1

Happy Rainbow Napkins  under $1.50

4-oz Tacky Glue   under $1.50

Acrylic Paint   under $1

Metallic Gold Paint  under $2

Rainbow Ribbon   under $2

Sponge wand refill heads (20) -can also be used without the wand   under $2

Dinosaur Napkins  under $2.50

Construction Paper  under $2.50

Crayola Washable Markers  under $2.50

8-oz Acrylic Paint  under $3

Gold Craft Ribbon  under $3

10 Paint Brushes  under $3

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets  under $3 

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles  under $3 

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons  under $3

Cotton Crafting Cord under $3

Silicone Spatula  under $3.50

Korean Flower Card Game  under $3.50

50 Animal Stickers  under $3.50

Craft Bond Glue under $4

Necklace with heart and purple stone  under $4

Stainless steel mug  under $4

Glass Flower Earrings  under $4

Fake Nose Ring Set  under $4

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace  under $4

Hammered copper mug  under $4

Zinga Card Game  under $4

Banapples Junior  under $4

Keychain Maker Set  under $4

Paint by Number Set  under $4

Sticker book  under $4

Stainless Steel Carving Fork  under $4

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

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

Monday, August 16, 2021

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 under $1.50

4-oz Tacky Glue under $1.50

Acrylic Paint under $1

Metallic Gold Paint under $2

Rainbow Ribbon under $2

Dinosaur Napkins under $2.50

Construction Paper under $2.50

8-oz Acrylic Paint under $3

Gold Craft Ribbon under $3

10 Paint Brushes under $3

10 Chalkboard Sticker Paper Sheets under $3

48 pc Plastic Sewing Needles under $3

160 Colorful Wooden Buttons under $3

Cotton Crafting Cord under $3

Silicone Spatula  under $3.50

Korean Flower Card Game  under $3.50

50 Animal Stickers  under $3.50

Craft Bond Glue  under $4

Necklace with heart and purple stone  under $4

Glass Flower Earrings  under $4

Fake Nose Ring Set  under $4

Fandom Ring of Runes Necklace  under $4

Zinga Card Game  under $4

Banapples Junior  under $4

Keychain Maker Set  under $4

Paint by Number Set  under $4

Sticker book  under $4

Stainless Steel Carving Fork  under $4

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

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

Friday, August 13, 2021

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!


Thursday, August 12, 2021

Amazon Free Shipping Deals

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission, which helps me keep this blog going. Thank you for your support!

Did you hear? Amazon is offering FREE Shipping to Israel on orders of $65 and up. Not everything qualifies, but A LOT of their goods do. So go check it out! It's a great day to get that hard-to-find item!

I often keep my orders under the $75 taxable threshold, but sometimes I'll buy a more expensive item and prepay the taxes (yes, it can be worth it!!)

I've been researching, and now it's time to share some of the great free shipping deals I found! So, go ahead and read on!


Select Deals you may be interested in:

Corelle Dishes: Service for 4 with FREE Shipping (about half the price of local stores)



Some Prismacolor brand art sets have free shipping, and other art sets too!

This set of 3 cast iron skillets is so cheap and qualifies for free shipping! (you'll have to kasher and then reseason them as they are preseasoned)

Cast iron Bread Pan (this one I want - anyone want to send me a gift?)



Garmin watch (you'll pay an import fee but shipping is FREE and this is so much less than local store prices!) 


Hats with SPF 50+ protection (amazing deal compared to what I've seen locally!)


What are you looking for? Let me know and I'll see if I can find it for you!

What great deals did you find? Let me know in the comments below or on my FB page or Instagram channel

Find more Shopping deals when you follow me on Facebook or join my Whatsapp group!

Amazon: FREE SHIPPING is BACK!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission, which helps me keep this blog going. Thank you for your support!

Maybe you've already heard that Amazon has resumed FREE shipping to Israel? I actually never stopped ordering the items I needed, and had been averaging $25 shipping per order. But this deal is for sure going to save me money! (I order from Amazon once every couple months when I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else!) I often keep my order to under the $75 taxable threshold, but sometimes I'll buy a more expensive item and prepay the taxes (yes, it can be worth it!!)

Anyhow, starting today, Amazon is offering FREE Shipping to Israel on orders of $65 and up. Not everything qualifies, but A LOT of their goods do. So go check it out! It's a great day to get that hard-to-find item!

What great deals did you find? Let me know in the comments below or on my FB page or Instagram channel!



Find more Shopping deals when you follow me on Facebook or join my Whatsapp group!

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Bugs in Israel: Time to deal with the bug situation!

This post contains affiliate links. So if you click on a link here I may receive a small commission but it won't cost you any extra! Thank you!

It's that time of year when some of us find the bug situation in Israel a little overwhelming.

It's a hot climate, and many places in the country are muggy. And you know what? That means bugs love this country! So much! All kinds of creepy-crawly things that we desperately want to keep out of our homes are just hiding away, waiting for their chance to take over.

It is really really hard to keep our Israeli homes bug-free but I thought maybe I could help a bit, after having lived through several traumatic bug infestations in my house.

Here are some of the most useful products I've found:

Sticky boards you hang up to catch flying bugs. I buy them at Max Stock in a pack of 10 or so (they are sticky on both sides) for about 10/11 NIS. Or you can buy them from eBay here!

Pantry Pest/Moth Traps - these are a must for every pantry. Stop an infestation quickly if you have these in the pantry already! Click here to shop for them on eBay!

Cockroach Gel - Advion Gel is the best one out there. It works. So much better than anything else, and it's fume-free. Just put out a few dots about 4 times a year. It's the best. Click here to shop for this on eBay!

Ants. We know how quickly they can take over! The simplest and least toxic solution is Terro. Unfortunately, I have NEVER found it or similar for sale in Israel. So glad it's available on eBay too! Click here to find it on eBay!

That usually takes care of our issues!

If we find a cricket, we try to catch it and release it back outside. Same with spiders and geckos. But if you prefer, you can buy sticky traps and put them in the corners of your house to catch any random bug that finds itself there. They are non-toxic, so that's my preference. Here are some simple glue traps that are inexpensive. 

I hope this post helps you!