Deal: Breakfast at Pesto, Katamon (Jerusalem)

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Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem!

Pesto (Katamon, Jerusalem - mehadrin & badatz) - Breakfast for 2 for just 59 nis (58 if you catch the early bird deal)! Voucher valid thru February 28, 2019. Redeem your voucher Sun - Thurs, 9am - 2pm, and Fridays 9am -2pm (reserve in advance for Friday). Limit one voucher per couple per visit.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Deal: Breakfast Buffet at the Leonardo Plaza, Haifa!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Haifa or visiting Haifa!

Breakfast Buffet at the Leonardo Plaza (Haifa) - 79 nis for 1, or 149 nis for 2! Voucher valid thru March 31, 2019. Redeem Sun - Fri, 7-10am. Reservations required. Bring your printed voucher. 

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Deal: Day off at the David Tower in Netanya!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're looking to relax in Netanya!

Have breakfast at the David Tower in Netanya, and then use the spa facilities for the rest of the day! 160 NIS for 1 person/319 NIS for two. Reservations required. Voucher valid for 60 days from date of purchase. Must be 16+ to use the spa facilities.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Deal: Breakfast for 2 at Paradiso in Sarona!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Tel Aviv or visiting Tel Aviv!

Paradiso Cafe in Sarona Market - buy one get one free breakfast deal (79 shekels for breakfast for 2!). 

Redeem Sun - Thurs, 9am - noon. Voucher valid thru January 29, 2019. The breakfast special includes: eggs (your choice of omelet, scrambled, hard boiled, or sunny side up), hot and cold drinks (choose from orange juice/lemonade/coffee/tea), Bread (choose from ciabatta/whole grain bread/gluten free bread), served with salad a a variety of dips and spreads.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Breakfast Buffet Deal: TRYP by Wyndham! (Jerusalem)

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

TRYP Batsheva Hotel by Wyndham - breakfast buffet - 69 nis for 1, 135 nis for 2! Voucher must be redeemed by Feb. 28, 2019. Reservations required. Limit one voucher per person. Anyone age 2+ must have a voucher.

(Who remembers what this building was way back when?)

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Breakfast Deal: Cafe Gourmand (Jerusalem)

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

Cafe Gourmand (at the Shani Hotel) breakfast vouchers - starting at 19 nis for a dessert-style breakfast, or 35 nis for one (65 for 2) for a full breakfast off the menu. Voucher valid thru January 30, 2019. Redeem Sun - Thurs, 8am - 2:30pm, and Fri, 8-11am (dessert breakfast ends at 1:30pm Sun- Thurs). Reservations required.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Breakfast Buffet Deal: Leonardo Jerusalem!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

Breakfast Buffet at the Leonardo Jerusalem, for 59nis per person or 115nis for a couple. Max 6 people at a table. Valid Sun-Fri, 6:30-10:00am. Reservations required. Valid thru February 10, 2019. Children under 2 eat for FREE. 

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Deal: Cafe Greg Maale Adumim!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

Cafe Greg Maale Adumim - breakfast for 2 for just 79 nis! Voucher valid thru February 28, 2019. Valid only at the Maale Adumim location. Blackout dates apply, including New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day. Redeem your voucher Sun - Thurs, 9 am - 10:30pm. Reservations required. Limit one voucher per couple per visit. 

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Breakfast Buffet at the Eyal Hotel (Jerusalem)

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

Eyal Hotel - Breakfast buffet - 59 shekels for 1, or 115 shekels for 2!

Valid Sun-Fri, 7:00am - 10:00am. Reservations required. Valid thru March 30, 2019.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Breakfast Buffet Deal (Jerusalem)!

(This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks in advance for your support!)  

Check out this Groo deal if you're in Jerusalem or visiting Jerusalem!

Breakfast Buffet at the Shani Hotel (center of town) - for 49nis (1 person) or 97nis (2 people). Save over 50%!

Valid for 60 days from date of purchase. Reservations required.

Groo deals often sell out quickly, so be sure to order before the deal ends!

Frugal Breakfast Ideas

I don't know about you, but with no holidays this month, I feel like it's time to get the budget in order. We want to make sure we're not overspending on food or other necessities, so I'm evaluating what we've been eating.

Really, we're doing ok considering there are 6 of us who rely on what's in the house for nearly every meal we eat. But lately - due to circumstances I felt were beyond my control - there's been a lot of cereal for breakfast.

So it's time to start encouraging everyone to find alternatives to cereal.

Here are some of my frugal, yet healthy-ish breakfast options I'll be offering my family

Oatmeal - I like to add things like tahini or peanut butter, and dried fruit and spices to it 
(Rolled oats and quick-cooking rolled oats are really inexpensive here, I get them for 4 shekels for 500g from Nizat HaDuvdevan. When we all eat oatmeal a few times a week, we use about 500g per week)

Muffins/Breakfast breads (made the day before or from the freezer)

Fruit and Leben (leben is on the price controlled list, and can cost as little as 1.44 per container, be sure to check it out!)

Leftovers from the day before (I've even eaten lentil soup for breakfast, I know that sounds pretty unconventional, but who needs to be conventional?! My daughter likes to eat polenta for breakfast sometimes!), or salad, can work as well!

Some people like to make things like pancakes, but I am not a big fan of cooking before I've had my coffee. But pancakes can be very inexpensive too. Since I have been known to serve eggs for supper or lunch, I'm not usually looking to make them a breakfast option, but at 1 shekel per egg, they can be part of an inexpensive breakfast.

Speaking of coffee, I am addicted to coffee, and if you are looking for some EXCELLENT, small batch freshly roasted coffee, please check out Zeh Cafe! I've even got a coupon code for you! They make some really great coffee!

What are your favorite, inexpensive breakfast options for busy mornings? I'd love to hear!

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins with Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin, while available mostly year round here, always makes me think of autumn.

In the past 40-something years, I've had quite a mix of autumn experiences, actually, from living in places with spectacular autumn color changing trees, with cool, crisp air, to living in places where the seasons barely change, to being in places where autumn seems to start in the summer...

Truthfully, I really like autumn when I don't have to be the one to rake the leaves (um, I'm allergic to trees!)! So for whatever reason, pumpkins and cranberries always brings me into an autumn place for just a few moments, which is a nice thing!

So here are my autumn flavored muffins. I have been eating these all week.
Let me know if you try them out!

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins with Sunflower Seeds

Ingredients

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 cup hot water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
dash of cinnamon
dash of ground cloves

Note: if you prefer your muffins with eggs, you can sub 2 eggs + 1-2 tablespoons of water for the flaxseed water combo


Directions

Mix flaxseed with hot water in a large mixing bowl. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, then add vanilla extract, sugar, oil, and pumpkin puree, and mix well. Add flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl, and mix gently till combined. Fold in cranberries, sunflower seeds, and spices.

Fill muffin cups, and bake at 180 C for 25-30 min (check with a toothpick to be sure they are done)

Enjoy your momentary foray into autumn!

Vegan Raisin Bran Muffins (with zucchini/kishuim)

These are my absolute favorite muffins to make when there is an abundance of kishuim around! I'm sure you all saw my post about how I got tons of kishuim (zucchini-like summer squash) really cheap from the sug bet rack. Well, there have been more there, day after day, and, well... it turns out I bought A LOT.

So, to rescue my overflowing vegetable drawer, I made these delicious, moist, whole grain, fiber-rich, relatively low sugar vegan muffins.

Ingredients

2 heaping tablespoons of ground flaxseed (I grind them in my Coffee Grinder but you can buy them already ground)
1 cup of hot water
1 cup orange juice or 1 cup of cold water + a splash of vinegar
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil, you can choose your favorite oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1 generously packed cup of shredded zucchini/summer squash/kishuim - I peeled it so there wouldn't be green flecks in the end result. Peeling is optional, however.
2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat bran
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Directions

Combine flaxseed and hot water in a large mixing bowl.  Mix and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add orange juice or water/vinegar mixture, oil, and sugar. Mix well. Add shredded squash. Stir to combine. Add flour, wheat bran, salt, baking powder to the bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine but don't overmix. Finally, fold in the cinnamon and raisins.

Fill the muffin cups all the way up, and bake at 180 C for about 25-30 minutes.
This recipe makes 12 generously sized muffins, if you want smaller muffins, fill the muffin cups halfway and make 24 small muffins.

Enjoy!

Whole Grain Breakfast Muffins (Dairy)

I know, I usually do a lot of vegan baking, but these have dairy. They are extra-moist and truly a great way to start your day, if you're ok with dairy. If you want to make them vegan, just substitute 1 cup of soy milk or other non-dairy milk for the leben. It will work. My kids preferred the dairy version, though, so I'm sticking with it for now!

Whole Grain Breakfast Muffins (Dairy, but no eggs)

4 T. flaxseed
1/3 cup boiling water
2 bananas, mashed (or about 2/3 cup of your favorite fruit, pureed or mashed)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 ml leben (I used Gil) or yogurt
1 cup orange juice or other liquid (I used the whey that was left after making cream cheese)
3 cups whole wheat flour (or your favorite whole grain multi-grain mix)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Start by mixing flaxseed and boiling water, and allow to cool for 10 min. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients, and mix well. Add the dry ingredients, mix, but don't overmix. Transfer to muffin tin, lined with baking cups. Bake at 350 F for about 25 min (although I suspect my oven may not be registering the temp properly, check yours at 20 min!).
Makes 12 medium size muffins.

Note: you can use 2 eggs instead of the flaxseed/water mixture if you prefer

Banana Coconut Cake or Muffins (vegan)

I promised I'd write up my banana coconut cake! It really is yummy, if you like banana and coconut (I do).

4 overripe bananas, mashed well
1/2 - 2/3 c. sugar (I've been going with 1/2 to cut back on the sugar...)
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 T. ground flaxseed
1.5 - 2 c. water + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or you can use half water/half orange juice to give it an interesting extra flavor)
combine well.

Add:
3.5 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. shredded coconut
                                                                                    1/2 tsp salt
                                                                                    1.5 tsp baking powder
                                                                                    Mix well 
Optional - 6 oz chocolate chips, folded in (last step)

Bake in a loaf pan if you like, or you can make 12 generous muffins out of this, or you can bake in your favorite cake pan. It's a really versatile recipe. (Bake at 350 F/175  C for 25-30 min for muffins, or about an hour for loaf or cake)
Optional: sprinkle more shredded coconut over the top before you bake it.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try them!

Breakfast Cereal

Ynet compared the price of cereal across 3 supermarket chains - Rami Levy, Mega, and Shufersal

מחירי דגני בוקר

	יצרן	מחיר ברמי לוי	מחיר במגה	מחיר בשופרסל	הפרש בין המחיר הגבוה לנמוך
קלוגס פרוסטיס 750 גרם	קלוגס	23.75	24.49	12.5	96%
פיטנס דגני בוקר אגוזי לוז 375 גרם	פיטנס	20.6	21.89	12.5	75%
ספיישל K פירות אדומים דגני בוקר 300 גרם	קלוגס	22	17.99	26.79	49%
דגני בוקר סיני מיניס	נסטלה	20.6	27.99	26.99	36%
קלוגס אול בראן פלקס 500 גרם	קלוגס	23.49	31.49	29.29	34%
האני נאט צ'יריוס 615 גרם	נסטלה	20.6	26.99	25.99	31%
דגנים כריות 750 גרם	תלמה	24.8	31.99	26.49	29%
צ'יריוז דגני שיבולת שועל	נסטלה	17.9	22.99	20.79	28%
קראנץ' דגני בוקר לילדים 500 גרם	נסטלה	19.4	19.99	24.79	28%
דגני ילדים קראנץ' רולס 450 גרם	נסטלה	19.4	19.99	24.79	28%
קורנפלקס 750 גרם	תלמה	16.49	19.99	17.9	21%
קלוגס קורנפלקס 750 גרם	קלוגס	18.49	21.99	19.39	19%
כריות מצופות במילוי נוגט 700 גרם	תלמה	25.3	29.49	29.99	19%
פיטנס דגני בוקר שקדים ודבש 625 גרם	פיטנס	24.3	25.9	26.89	11%
פיטנס דגני בוקר 625 גרם	קלוגס	24.3	25.9	26.89	11%

 
 To be honest, I really don't buy any of these cereals. What this price comparison told me is: Cereal is completely overpriced. People, let's all find a way to enjoy breakfast without buying these amazingly overpriced cereals! Not only do you get less-than-stellar brands, like Kellogs (I'm thinking about their reputation for using GMOs, too much sugar, preservatives, fillers, etc), but you get to pay more per box than I EVER used to pay for healthy, organic cereals!

Let's boycott cereal. For a whole month. I know, those mornings are tough enough. But here are some suggestions: Bake up a huge batch of muffins, enough for a week, and freeze whatever you won't use in the next 24 hrs. Take out muffins for breakfast before you go to sleep at night. Or make oatmeal. You can make oatmeal in your crock pot, and it WILL taste good (2 cups rolled oats + 4.5 - 5 c. water, try it. you can even add dried fruit or some coconut or almond milk to make it a bit different)! It will even keep your kids feeling full for longer than that bowl of cereal ever did. Or serve toast. Or fruit and a hardboiled egg. ANYTHING goes, just not cereal!

Can you tell I am getting fed up with the way we are being constantly overcharged?

Are you in?

Free vegetarian cookbook!

If you haven't already downloaded this one, here's another chance to get a vegetarian breakfast cookbook for free.
One day I will have time to review these before I tell you about them. For now, all I can say is, this is free today (this may be geographically restricted - apologies in advance if it is. Send me a message and I can lend it to you, or so it says...), so grab it! You never know when there will be a recipe that inspires you!


27 Delicious and Nutritious Vegetarian Breakfast Recipes (The Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Cooking)

 

Let me know if you find any winning recipes!

Wanted: Breakfast Help

What happened? It got so cold! I wake up in the morning and I am all warm and cozy under my blanket. Not just any blanket, my super extra-warmth hypoallergenic down comforter. I plan to keep it forever. It is my favorite object in the house right now. (Yes, I have supplied everyone in the house with one. So no one can complain that they are cold.)
The problem is that outside of my blanket, it is decidedly NOT warm. There is a heater in the room, but turning it on is decidedly NOT frugal. So I don't get up as early as I should, and by the time I push myself out of bed, I am being pounced upon by children who wake up so full of energy and "stARving".
I then regret not having gotten up to start the coffeepot earlier and I can't figure out what to do with starving children so early in the morning without any caffeine...
My kids have been eating kind of wacky breakfasts - whatever leftovers I pull out of the fridge and pretend are breakfast worthy. But I guess in the end, they eat breakfast and when they are cold too, they have a cup of tea with milk and pretend they are from some other country where they drink tea with milk (I only give them decaf tea, don't worry!).
So the question is, what to do about mornings, and breakfast? The kids complain that there is nothing "normal" for breakfast in the house (they want cereal, bagels, English muffins, and the like - really not foods that I buy here. And everyone says no to oatmeal these days. I think they are oatmealed out.). How much energy should I invest in breakfast? Should I make a batch of English muffins and fill the freezer? Buy a waffle maker? I can't quite figure this out. I think I used to bake breakfast breads and muffins... but stopped. For some reason.
What do you do about breakfast?