Recipe - Homemade BBQ Sauce

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You've probably stumbled across this blog post because you're trying to save money, or because you love Israel, and I'm so glad you're here - welcome!

Here we are, in late May of 2025, and I can't possibly be the only one noticing those grocery bills creeping higher, right?

It seems like each week I have to adjust my expectations - item after item, prices are going up, and I adjust my shopping. And I'll be honest, I don't want to spend every moment of my day doing food prep, but I also don't want to spend more than I've budgeted, and I don't want to have to give up too much to stick to the budget! It's a tough spot to be in.

So while I've always made some things from scratch, I have begun to make a few more things from scratch.

This week, I made a large batch of chummus with a high percentage of techina, and stashed a lot of it in my freezer packaged in convenient portions for single-meal use. And you know what? I really don't think I'm going back to supermarket chummus - this homemade stuff is so much better (and healthier!), and the hardest part is remembering to put some chickpeas up to soak the night before. 😆

But this post isn't about chummus, it's about another favorite that I have stopped buying: BBQ Sauce. The supermarket options that are affordable have ingredients I don't actually want to eat, and we didn't love the way they taste, either. So I decided to make my own.

Using tomato paste, brown sugar, maple syrup, spices, and vinegar - I think it came out good!

Here's what I did:

Take out a mixing bowl and silicone spatula. Put the following in the bowl:

240g of tomato paste (this is the larger tub option in the supermarket, not a big can) half a cup of water 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons maple syrup, but you can use honey if you prefer 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 1.5 teaspoons granulated garlic pinch of salt (or more!), to taste hot pepper flakes and/or smoked hot pepper, to taste All amounts are approximate, and can be adjusted!

Mix well. If you're using this as a marinade before cooking, you don't even need to heat it up before using it. If you want to serve it as a sauce at the table, I recommend heating it in a pot on the stove until it's been heated all the way through. Don't use a high flame, it will bubble and make a mess! You can throw in a pinch of baking soda when warming it if you want to reduce the acid a bit.

Use a silicone spatula to help scrape it out of the pot into a jar or bowl for serving or storage.

Enjoy!

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Very simple chocolate yeast cake (vegan)

It's baking shortcut time!

Who loves chocolate yeast cakes (think: Chocolate Babka and the like)?!

Well, we're big fans of them around here, but sometimes I have no time or patience for kneading and rising. 

That's where this super simple, cheater version of a chocolate yeast cake comes in!

It's so easy and I even avoid making dirty bowls -  I just mix it AND bake it in a baking pan!

Recipe:

1 3/4 cups flour (I used white spelt)

1 Tablespoon dry yeast

4 Tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

2.5 Tablespoons oil (I used sunflower oil)

3/4 cup warm water

Your favorite chocolate spread (small jar - I use anywhere from 1/2 - a full jar, depending what I have in my pantry)

1/3 -1/2 bag chocolate chips/chocolate chunks

oil for the pan

What you do:

Oil a 9 inch round baking pan or something that holds a similar amount (there are medium size - long but narrowish, not as narrow as "English cake" disposable foil pans - that work) - I used sunflower oil spray.

Place flour, yeast, sugar, and salt into the pan and mix. Make a well in the middle and add water and oil. Mix everything together with a spoon until well combined - it will be a very sticky dough. Spread it out in the pan. Scoop chocolate spread on top of the dough and then use a spatula or spoon to swirl it into the dough. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.

Put the cake into a cold oven and then turn the oven to 175 C. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting it!

Enjoy with coffee and please let me know if you try it out. I love to hear from you!

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What you REALLY need for Pesach

 Pesach's almost here! And the stores are getting full of special foods for Pesach. And isn't that so exciting?!
But then, you start to pile them into your shopping cart, and you suddenly realize that the cost really ADDS UP FAST. Uh oh. What about that little thing called "a budget"?

Here's the thing. Pesach is ONE week. So if you can make it one week without buying premade cakes and cookies and crackers and who knows what else, you'll save a lot of money.

There are some things you really do need for Pesach:

Matzah

Grape Juice or Wine

Maror (this can be lettuce! But I also bought a small piece of horseradish for about 6 NIS at Yesh)

Karpas (Potatoes or Celery)

Charoset (I always have to improvise this one because of my nut allergy and other family members' uncooked apple allergies. (So much fun!) Last year I made a stewed fruit charoset - chopped apples stewed with cinnamon, raisins, dates, and grape juice. I might have put some dried apricots in there but that's no longer an option for me due to another allergy popping up. It worked out well, though, so I'll probably do something similar again.)

Salt

Other basics for things you like to eat.

I make sure we have these foods available:

Chicken (whatever's on sale leading up to the holiday)

Beef if there's a good sale or if I stocked up another time and there's some in my freezer labeled Kosher for Pesach

Fish fillets if there's a good sale or if I stocked up another time and there's some in my freezer labeled Kosher for Pesach

Eggs

Oil

Butter

Jelly

Cream Cheese

Basic fruits and vegetables (including potatoes and onions because we MUST have potato kugel)

Ingredients for brownies not already listed above: potato starch, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips

If we buy tomato paste and cheese, we can make matzah pizza or matzah lasagna, so we try to make sure there's some of that around.

I like to make a HUGE vegetable soup at the beginning of the chag and use it for the chag and also several days of Chol Hamoed - this way there's food around.

I am committed to avoiding making anything that takes too much time or energy so that also will keep my expenses down.

Everything else is extra. My family really likes eating kneidlach and pesach rolls so having a couple packages of matzah meal on hand is good - but I don't personally make these anymore because my wheat allergy gets activated when I touch wheat-based products and any matzah meal dust in the air is hazardous to me...

I personally stock up at Pesach on things that are not going to contain traces of wheat at this time, but you don't need to if you don't have a reason to! So don't go crazy. 

If it's been a tough year for you financially, you can do this simply. Just make sure you have brownies on hand to keep everyone happy - make the recipe I posted and you can't go wrong! Warning: You may have to make a batch every day😀.

Do you have other "must-haves" for Pesach? Let me know!

Shortcuts: Cooking quickly and cheaply

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During these trying times in Israel, we've all been forced to give up so much. It's unfathomable how much the people in this country have sacrificed. It's heartbreaking and gut-wrenching whenever we stop to think of the hostages and the murdered and the soldiers who've given their lives (which, frankly, is all the time).

And so, it seems trite to worry about my finances, and some days - I honestly don't want to worry about it. I just want to do whatever I feel I need to do - to give, to support, to survive, and even perhaps bring a smile to the face of a loved one.

And yet, it would be irresponsible of me to not acknowledge the severe economic crisis that we're facing or will be facing. On a personal level, our main source of income is not operational at the moment, though we do hope it will be able to get back to some level of functioning soon. And while we are trying to make sure we have some income during this time, it's not exactly the financial upswing I was hoping would end the fiscal year. (If you want to be supportive at this time while our main business is closed, please check out our Bagels & Locks Studios games and curriculum! I hope you'll like it!).

And besides the finances, let's face it - it's just plain hard to muster up any energy some days. My desire to cook can be completely nonexistent on any given day! And while some of my family members don't mind spending time in the kitchen, they only have energy for baking cakes and cookies.

Don't get me wrong, cakes and cookies are GREAT. But after too many cakes and cookies, I start to feel guilty, and eventually decide we need a healthy-ish, balanced-ish meal.

Of course, there are certain requirements for these meals, including minimal cost and minimal time spent prepping. Also, it's always best if it can be popped into the oven - I don't have any energy for dealing with stovetop cooking, and many people I've spoken to are feeling the same way. 

If you need some good baking pans, and ant to order from a local store, be sure to check for deals on Wallashops! I live way out in the boondocks, but my orders have always arrived quickly!

So here goes - some of the foods I've been making home-cooked, minimalist meals:

Some of you asked for 5-minutes of prep. So here are my ideas for that:

1. Spicy Rice & Beans - in order for this to be a true 5-minute prep, you'll need to keep some shortcut ingredients on hand. Like these:

I used 1.5 cups of brown rice, 2 small cans of chili beans, and additional spices, including the fried onions and dried garlic chips pictured above (I added some smoked paprika and coarsely ground black pepper, you might want some salt too), and 3 cups of water, all combined in a casserole dish, covered tightly with foil, and then set it in the oven to bake for about 1 hour. (Oven 200C) 

Came out great. And in a pinch it's practically a full meal. And the cost is minimal - I got those beans on sale for ahout 2 NIS per can.

Note: I make this with long grain brown rice, but really you can use any rice.

2. Baked Pasta dish:

You'll need 1 bag of pasta (any kind), 1 can crushed tomatoes, dried spices (garlic, salt, pepper, basil flakes, and whatever else you want like oregano, parsley, hot pepper flakes), 1 container of cottage cheese, and about 250g of shredded cheese.

In a large pan (lasagna sized), mix the crushed tomatoes, spices, and cottage cheese. Fill the crushed tomato can with water and add that too. Now carefully mix in the dry pasta. Make sure it's basically covered - add more water if you need. Top with shredded cheese. Cover with a sheet of baking paper (I usually tear 1 sheet in half, actually) and cover that with foil. Bake at 200C for 45-55 minutes.

Note: I have made this with white pasta, whole wheat pasta, and whole spelt pasta. GF pasta is an option, too. 

Cost: This is definitely more expensive that the rice and beans, but I don't think it's exorbitant.

3. Ptitim with chicken: 

This could potentially take a a little more than 5 minutes - depends on how fast you are at cutting up chicken. You'll need: 1 tablespoon or so of oil, 500g chicken breast, half a bottle of BBQ sauce (or a small can of tomato paste, sugar, and spices, including those fried onions and dried garlic pieces mentioned above), ptitim (called "Israeli couscous" in other countries), and about 1 cup of water. First dice the chicken - you'll want small pieces. Put everything in a casserole dish - the oil goes in last. Add more water if your ptitim aren't all covered. Lay baking paper over the top and then cover tightly with foil. Bake at 200C for about 45 minutes. 

If you prefer spicy flavors instead of BBQ sauce flavor, you can use a small container of spicy matbucha instead of the BBQ sauce.

Note: Use any ptitim - regular, extra fiber, or spelt ptitim all work.
Cost: Depending on where you shop, chicken prices vary. I try to stock up when it's 20 NIS/kilo and keep it in my freezer. So 500g of chicken breast can be 10 NIS, and the rest of it - the BBQ sauce is the biggest splurge! I still think the cost is reasonable for feeding 4 or more people.

4. Ptitim with chick peas and vegetables: You'll need a bag of ptitim, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, 1 full size can of chick peas,1 tablespoon of oil, salt, pepper, turmeric, and any other spices you like, including and the onion and garlic pictured above. First, drain the can of chick peas. Mix everything together in a large casserole dish. Add water till it's covered. Bake at 200C for 45 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed.

Note: I prefer the mixed vegetables for soup (that is sold under Rami Levy's private label) for this recipe, but any mixed vegetables will do.

Cost: frozen veggies are likely the most expensive part of this - so the cost is probably similar to the chicken and ptitim above. I think it's reasonable and goes a long way - the frozen vegetables at Rami Levy are usually about 10 NIS per bag.

Also check out my super easy lentil soup recipe!

Now, please tell me about your 5-minute meals! I'd love to get some fresh ideas!

Stay safe and strong everyone.

 

Deep discounts!

this post contains affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission when you click on a link and make a purchase, but this will never cost you anything extra!

Rosh Hashana is around the corner, and in Israel that means every store is trying to get you to spend your shekels with them! So sales are everywhere!

You all know that I'm not a fan of just buying things for the sake of buying things - I've been really trying to only buy things we actively decide make sense to buy - that means NO impulse shopping!

And that means that when I do decide I need something, it's usually time to shop around and find the best quality I can afford for the best price I can find.

Ok so with that explanation out there, I just want to let you know about one of the awesome sales I found: you can get a whole lot of Soltam kitchen items for DEEP discounts AND free shipping. That's definitely one of my favorite kinds of sales - the kind where I don't have to do the heavy lifting. 

Check out this sale HERE  

The screenshot you see here is nowhere near all the items on sale! There are just SO many things for your kitchen with free shipping right now! Definitely time to buy if you were missing something.

One of my favorites in the selection is this pizza stone set. Check it out!

I'm a big fan of only buying things when there's a sale. I really don't recommend paying full price if you don't have to. It's just really no fun to watch the shekels flow right out of my bank account, ya know?

Do you need a particular item? I'd love to help you find it! Just join my shopping group on Facebook and post your request!

See you there!

Pesach Preparations!

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We've just hit that point when the countdown to Pesach is truly on! There's no more room for denial, no more time to waste, no more keeping my head in the sand - Seder night is officially less than TWO weeks away!

excuse me while I scream (AAAHH)

This is going to be the first time since 2019 that anyone outside of our immediate family joins us for Seder. Not just for Seder, actually. We have 11 guests joining us for the first 4 days of Pesach (which includes 1 day of Yom Tov and 1 Shabbat)! And I feel extremely out of practice. Especially because we've barely even been having guests on regular Shabbatot (lately we've done a bit more hosting, but seriously - we got kind of stuck in the mindset that set in in March of 2020 and our home became much more of a private haven just for us).

So to get myself into the Pesach mode I started cleaning. But I jumped from one task to the other because I was feeling so anxious about "how on earth am I going to get it all done!" So today I did a little spring cleaning, a lot of laundry, a little pantry sorting, and started to clean all the scary things out of the back of the fridge. I also confronted one of my children who told me that yes, they'd seen some of those scary things and decided to leave them for me to deal with instead of actually removing them from the fridge! Maybe we need to find a way to make the back of the fridge easier to get at?

(Do your kids do that too? I mean, I remember telling them to use up the leftover pasta that was in the fridge. So why did I have to take out a whole science experiment and toss it today? Couldn't they just use it up? Or when they discovered they waited too long - couldn't they throw it out? I really will have to speak with them about this again.)

Another task I managed - I ordered new gas balloons. I was going through a phase in which I didn't want to use the gas powered stove. (Long story but I think my asthma is happier when we don't use gas.)

HOWEVER, it's just not practical to cook for 17 people for Seder the way I'd been cooking. And my kitchen would need to be rewired if I want to run more than 1 electric burner at a time, so in order to facilitate normal cooking for a crowd, I have to revert to using gas. After all, it's not like we uninstalled the gas stovetop(s), so it's easy enough to go back. And then we'll know if it actually affects my asthma, right?

I also placed our shmura matzah order, and my husband went out and found some spelt shmura matzah for me. So we'll be FINE, right? Note to Katzrin people reading this: if you want good shmura matzah get your orders in ASAP!

I've got to make my menus and make sure that most of the shopping gets done soon. I will admit to having started shopping last week in an effort to calm my anxiety about having 17 people for Seder, and we have a nice stash of shelf-stable Pesach items and some meat and chicken already, plus plenty of wine and grape juice.

But now chicken prices seem to have gone CRAZY! Please tell me it's not just here, because if it is, I'll be really unhappy with the store manager who told me that they went up everywhere and he expects they'll come back down after Pesach and Ramadan both end. Of course they will. It's always like this, and I know that it is, but I didn't manage to stock up on all the chicken we'll need before prices rose (I did get 3 kilos of chicken for Rami Levy's sale price this week. But I'll be using some of that for this Shabbat, so it's definitely not enough if we're going to have chicken over Pesach!). I also really have no idea how much chicken and meat we'll need for a group of 17 people for First day of Pesach and Shabbat Chol Hamoed! Anyone who knows how to get it right, please let me know how much I need to cook!

So where does that leave me? I think it leaves me trying to get a handle on things. So if I seem out of it, now you'll know that I am simply overwhelmed by everything I need to do right now - there is truly a lot to take care of (and I didn't list anywhere near the half of it here!). But I'll try to be friendly and make time for you too. Just please forgive me if I don't have a lot of time. Believe me, I'd love to just sit and chat and catch up. And we will. One day. But not right now!!

But I will admit to you, that I am REALLY looking forward to Shabbat and the break it brings. I plan to read the new book I just got. It was written by someone I know, which is so, so much fun! I also plan to be a little social, we'll see how that goes.

What are you up to in your Pesach prep? Let me know!

Great Deals from Groo!

(This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission when you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!) 

It's time to get ready for Pesach. If you don't have dishes yet, I'm going to recommend going with space saving Corelle. Here's a deal available on Groo's PesachShop right now:

Choose an 18 pc set for 479.90 (and free shipping), or a 36 piece set for 958 (and free shipping)

So, go ahead - CLICK HERE to go to Groo for this deal!

How about a 12 liter air fryer? This thing looks like it could serve as an everyday cooking appliance for a small family. And it's a lot less than some of the others I've seen this size! So check it out! (It's 699 NIS and cheetah delivery to your door is 35 NIS!)

Click here to go to Groo for this deal!

Let me know what you're looking for! I'd be happy to help you find it!

Find more deals here

Follow my blog (or like or follow me on Facebook) and join my Facebook group or Whatsapp deals group!

Happy savings!

Shabbat Menu

It's Thursday night again, and that means I have to put up my challah dough - I've found that Spelt Challah really works better when it rises overnight.
For those of you who are wondering why I've been making spelt challah even though spelt flour is so much more expensive than wheat flour - I guess I owe you some sort of explanation!

For years I maintained that I wouldn't jump on the spelt bandwagon because it is so much more costly than wheat flour. Really, I'm paying about 3 times as much for whole spelt flour right now (13 shekels/kg) than I used to pay for whole wheat flour (abour 4 or 4.5 shekels/kg). So it's not that it's a frugal move. It's just that I discovered that when I stopped eating wheat, my thyroid started working better - prior to that switch, my thyroid was being chronically sluggish, and I was feeling the effects of that. 6 weeks after I stopped eating wheat, I had a bunch of bloodwork done, and lo and behold, my thyroid was back to functioning normally! AND I felt so much better - my energy came back! So, while it's not always a frugal move to buy spelt flour for baking, in this case, I think it actually is, as it's keeping me from going on daily thyroid medication!

And with that in mind, here's my Shabbat menu:
(You can find our favorite Shabbat recipes by clicking here)

Whole Spelt and Oat Challah 
Vegetable Soup
Roast Chicken
Stir Fried Tofu for the vegetarian kid
Brown Rice
Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli
Lettuce Salad with Honey-Cinnamon Oranges
Black Bean Cholent for Lunch 
Baked Apples for dessert

What's on your menu this week? I'd love to hear!

Menu for the week!

Hi everyone, it's that time again. The time on a Sunday when I wonder what I should make for supper... and then I realize it's time to make a menu for the week so I don't do this every day! It's so much easier for me to feed my family when my menu is already planned out! That way I can go about my day, and when I need to cook, I just cook! Without having to rummage thru the freezer and pantry and wonder what to make. Instead, I do all that rummaging on Sunday at some point and then I plan out my menu based on what I see I have (or what I plan to buy).

So, here's the plan:

Sunday night: Black Bean and Tomato Soup, Quick Garlic Bread

Monday night: Shabbat Leftovers

Tuesday night: Split Pea Soup, ???

Wednesday night: Steamed or roasted veggies, Macaroni and Cheese

Thursday night: Scrambled eggs, ???

OH MY. I really haven't figured out my menu very well. I guess it will be ok, there are always going to be days when I don't feel inspired to cook, and I guess this is just one of them. It doesn't help that there are hardly any vegetables in the house, I think! If I pick up some vegetables tomorrow, maybe I'll be more inspired and I'll update this menu. (Watch this space for updates!) 

And now, I'm off to bake some muffins with those bananas I threw into the fridge before Shabbat so they wouldn't get moldy!

Shabbat menu!

Suddenly, at least half the family is "under the weather" and that is so sad. It's hard when the kids are sick, and if I were to be super honest, I'm not 100% myself either. But Let's Pretend I never said that, because I a NOT giving in to being sick this week!

But keeping in mind this dragging feeling, and the fact that our vegetarian son is not home this Shabbat, I am going to try to keep our Shabbat menu ever-so-simple. And I'm even going to do the cooking tonight!

So here's the plan:

Challah rolls from the freezer
Some sort of one-pot wonder dish: I have turkey breast and plan to make it with rice and vegetables, haven't yet figured out the recipe (turkey breast was on sale this week)
Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Potato Kugel
Black Bean Cholent for lunch

Cake from the freezer
Melon

Seudah Shlishit - whatever I can find. I'm not cooking specially for it.  

What do you plan to have this Shabbat?

Shabbat Menu

Time to cook for Shabbat!
Shabbat is special, and we like to eat our special Shabbat foods, with little variation, week after week...
Sometimes things get "changed up" because of seasonal prices. This week there weren't any super amazing deals to be had in our neck of the woods, though, so I'm working with whatever we managed to get...

Anyhow, here's the plan.

Challah: It may be obvious by now, I always make my Whole Wheat and Oat Bran Challah. It's always a hit, and I like making whole grain breads, especially ones with extra fiber and omega 3s from flaxseed!

Soup - not this week!

Salads: homemade chummus, eggplant with techina, vegetarian liver, cabbage salad, kishuim, peppers, and garlic roasted in balsamic vinegar, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, probably olives and pickles (canned) as well

Cholent - I almost always make a Black Bean Vegan Cholent, sometimes with Vegan Kishke. I'll try to make the kishke - not sure if I'll get to it. (Still haven't posted the recipe, sorry!)

Main Dish: Oven Fried Chicken and Baked Shnitzels, Tofu Shnitzels for the vegetarian(s)

Side Dishes: Butternut Squash Kugel, Potato Kugel, Apple Kugel, Brown Rice with Wild Rice

Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Seudah Shlishit: Challah rolls, PB&J, egg salad, grapefruit halves, Carrot Muffins

Breakfast and Snacks: Banana Muffins, Popcorn, Spicy Roasted Chick Peas, perhaps popsicles

What are you making for Shabbat?

Shabbat menu (pantry challenge style)

This has been one roller coaster of a week. We had most of the week with my hubby out of the country, but he should arrive home soon. We had a leaky roof repaired. We had the fiery death of the transformer so I need to buy some new kitchen gadgets. We found out about the death of my father's cousin. My sister had a baby girl. Another sister is making a bat mitzvah this weekend, but the family things are all 6000 miles away. The country was shocked by terrorist attacks. We celebrated our youngest child's loss of her first tooth. And more.

So it's been quite a week, and to be honest, I just want to go to sleep. But I will have to cook...

Still trying to stay out of the supermarket, so here's our pantry challenge Shabbat menu:

(I DID buy some sug bet produce this week, so we've got some sort of vegetable selection)

Challah from the freezer, probably 

Split pea soup (with carrots and celery)

Spicy Roast chicken with rice

Vegetarian Fried Rice (for the vegetarian child)

Potato Kugel

Roasted Kohlrabi

Spicy Roast Sweet Potatoes

Butternut Squash (not sure how, roasted or kugel?)

Cucumbers and other veggies

Black Bean Cholent

Cake from the freezer for dessert

The clock change has made Shabbat afternoons really short, so at this time of year, we finish lunch and have dessert as seudah shlishit.

How do you handle short Fridays and long Friday nights?

Shabbat Menu

Deep Breaths. It's our THIRD Shabbat in our new home, and we're nowhere near unpacked, but the kitchen is functioning!

So we're having a quiet family Shabbat this week, which I hope is good for all of us. Tensions have been running a bit high around here and the kids need to re-set a bit. Also our 8 yr old daughter is running a fever, so eating out or having guests is completely not an option. It's so sad when kids are sick.

Here's my easy menu - the goal is not to cook on the stovetop if it's not 100% necessary! I have no idea how much gas is left in my gas balloons! Watch - it will be just my luck to discover they are empty on erev Chag or something!

Roast chicken
Oven-rice
Butternut squash
Roasted veggies - whatever we have (I think it'll be onion, garlic, summer squash, and red peppers. Maybe some carrots)
Make your own salad
Melon and grapes for dessert

Seudah 3 will be sandwiches and cut veggies. Maybe some hard boiled eggs?

How are you handling this late summer heat? Is it driving you out of the kitchen as well?

Minestrone Soup Recipe

I had a request for a minestrone soup recipe, and since it's a favorite around here, I figured I will share mine today!

It's not so much a recipe though.

I truly feel like cooking is so much more interesting when you don't have to follow someone's rules, instead you can be as creative as you like in the process of creating delicious food...

So here's what I do:

Heat 1-2 Tbp. olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot.
Add diced onion, chopped garlic, diced peppers, zucchini/kishuim, and any other veggies you want to use (I usually add celery, chopped tomatoes, broccoli stalks, eggplant, mushrooms... really whatever I feel like).
Cook over med heat, stirring occasionally. You want the veggies to brown somewhat. The key here is to really use a lot of vegetables.
Add soup stock to mostly fill the pot, and about 500g tomato paste (unless of course you are using a much larger/smaller pot than mine! I usually make a 5-7 quart pot)
Add black beans or lentils (if you want - my kids prefer when I leave them out).
Add seasonings - salt, pepper, basil, parsley and whatever else you want (I throw in a little cayenne pepper even)!
Stir, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 min. Add 1 cup of p'titim (a.k.a. Israeli couscous) or whatever small shape pasta you like to use, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, till the p'titim/pasta is cooked.
Serve hot!

My favorite heavy-bottomed pot. Ignore the messy kitchen, please!

Weekly Menu

I'm trying to get organized and I decided to make lunch AND supper plans this week. I highly doubt I will actually stick to this plan 100% of the time, but at least it got me thinking about what I have in the house and how I will use it this week!

Sunday:
Lunch - split pea soup from Shabbat, salads from Shabbat, PBJ sandwiches using the leftover challah
Supper - pizza, baked french "fries" and roasted cauliflower (roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. inspired by Busy in Brooklyn. Really delish!)

Monday:
Lunch - bagels with cream cheese, cut veggies, red lentil soup
Supper - whatever is left from Shabbat

Tuesday:
Lunch - Potato and vegetable stew, grilled cheese sandwiches
Supper - Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, steamed squash, garlic bread sticks

Wednesday:
Lunch - Leftovers from anything made this week so far
Supper - Red lentil soup, stuffed baked potatoes, salad

Thursday:
 Lunch - green lentils, roasted potatoes, tomato soup, salad
Supper - spaghetti, garlic bread sticks, salad

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?

Cooking with Gas - Question

A few weeks ago, my gas balloon ran out of gas. I haven't ordered a new one yet, though. I know I SHOULD, I don't want to be stuck unable to cook and it's late Friday afternoon... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

But, I was curious, how often do you order a gas balloon? We have two of the small size ones. My neighbor has 2 of those extra large ones, I'm guessing they have a gas dryer though - we know THEY don't hang out their laundry! (My neighbor on the other side started hanging out some of their laundry after seeing that we hang out ALL of ours...)

So, if you use your gas balloon just for cooking, how often do you have to get a new one?

(Ok, yes, I will order a new one ASAP! Just. In. Case.)