Orlah Update - Iyar 5779

Here's the latest Orlah update, so you can shop for fruit in Israel with confidence!

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). Without these basics, these fruits and vegetables are NOT acceptable in a kosher kitchen!

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familiarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of orlah (from the first 3 years after the tree was planted). I try very hard to post a monthly update here on my site with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah). This orlah issue is a serious issue for kosher consumers:

ORLAH Update for Iyar 5779

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Haas and Reid varieties
• Blueberries
• Peach (Omer, White)
• Grapefruit (White)
• Olives for curing
• Olives for oil (Barnea)
• Lemon
• Apricot (large red. Ra'anana)
• Nectarine (Red, White, Gali-Binyamina, Snow -red speckled, Yellow)
• Grapes - SBS 125+, oval green grapes, red, dark red, Big Pearl green varieties
• Pitaya
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Plum - large yellow, green-yellow
• Oranges - Choice Valencia
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Almonds
• Figs

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold, and there are differences of opinion about certain fruits and whether they are subject to Orlah. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow or like my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Orlah Update: Cheshvan 5779

Sorry for being late! I'm trying to get back into a blogging routine after a crazy few months. I really appreciate your bearing with me on this!
Here's the latest Orlah update, so you can shop for fruit in Israel with confidence!

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). Without these basics, these fruits and vegetables are NOT acceptable in a kosher kitchen!

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familiarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of orlah (from the first 3 years after the tree was planted). I try very hard to post a monthly update here on my site with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah). This orlah issue is a serious issue for kosher consumers:

ORLAH Update for Cheshvan 5779

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Ettinger, Haas varieties
• Blueberries
• Annona
• Grapefruit (White)
• Guava
• Strawberry Guava
• Olives for curing
• Olives for oil (Barnea)
• Lemon
• Seedless grapes: Autumn Crisp, Melissa, Sultanina, Scarlotta
• Seeded grapes: Muscat, Autumn Black
• Papaya
• Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) (Pri Eden variety)
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Clementines - Michal, Rishon, Satsuma varieties
• Oranges - Newhall variety
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Almonds
• Figs
• Apples - Grand, Granny Smith, Natan, Pink Lady, and Brookfield

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold, and there are differences of opinion about certain fruits and whether they are subject to Orlah. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow or like my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Orlah Update: Sivan 5778

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I have recently begun to post a monthly update on my website, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah):

ORLAH Update for Sivan 5778

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Haas, and Reid varieties
• Blueberries
• Peach - Flat Yellow, "White Spring", Oded, Large Round White
• Lemon
• Apricot
• Nectarine - several varieties of yellow and white
• Seedless grapes: Green
• Seeded grapes: Black, Muscat
• Papaya
• Pitaya (Dragon Fruit)
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Plum - Wickson variety
• Valencia Oranges

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold, and there are differences of opinion about certain fruits and whether they are subject to Orlah. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

ORLAH Update for Iyar 5778

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I have recently begun to post a monthly update on my website, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah):

ORLAH Update for Iyar 5778

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Haas, Ruti, and Reid varieties
• Blueberries
• Peach - Yellow, "White Spring"
• Lemon
• Apricot
• Nectarine - Yellow: "Omer", "Red Glow" (I think); White: "Gadi"
• Seedless grapes: Green/Black 
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Valencia Oranges

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold, and there are differences of opinion about certain fruits and whether they are subject to Orlah. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Orlah Fruits - Update for Kislev

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I have recently begun to post a monthly update on my website, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%, so should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah) that should really help everyone avoid the orlah problem:

ORLAH Update for Kislev 5778

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Ettinger variety, Haas variety 
• Blueberries
• Lemon
• Lemon-lime
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Clementines - Rishon variety, Hadas Variety, and another obscure variety - sorry I don't actually know it's name!! -- this actually represents the vast majority of the varieties being sold besides the "Or" variety.

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, this list does not apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Discount Veggie Haul

It's been a while since I posted a "haul" - mostly because I usually forget to take a picture of my finds!

But today, I had an errand to run, so I went hunting for food deals that will help us keep our bills down this week while was out, as usual, and I actually thought to take a picture before stashing everything in the fridge!

Some of you may know that certain stores mark down produce that is older or not perfect, and they sell it as "sug bet" - Grade B. (If you didn't know, now you do!) Some of it is actually Grade B, and some is Grade A that is no longer as fresh as that particular store sells produce for. I try to stretch my shekels by buying these deals whenever I can, and I highly recommend this strategy to others who also need to stretch their shekels! You'll find you save a fortune this way.

Here's what I found:

The cashier originally rang my purchase up at the non-discount price, and the total came to close to 50nis. There are 3 big bunches of celery, lots of summer squash, some large radishes, some fennel, and 2 varieties of kohlrabi in there.
There's at least 5 kg of stuff there besides the celery.

After I pointed out to that these items came from the mark-down rack, my total came to 13.20 !!

That's really an impressive discount, and there's a lot of food here to work with!

Just keep in mind when you are shopping, that if you are buying discounted produce from a seller that doesn't have kosher certification (the place I go to DOES have one), you'll need to be up-to-date with issues of trumot, maasrot, and orlah. Please read the brief summary of Kashrut Issues for New Olim if you need clarification!

Hope you all are finding deals too - please let me know what you've found - I'd love to hear about it!

Important information about Israeli Produce

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out!

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date. There's a phone number to call for the new orlah list every month - 02-648-8888, ext. 3.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I am going to try to post a monthly update here, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%, so should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah):

Update for Tamuz 5777

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

Reid Avocado
White Nectarine
Lemon
Papaya
Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
Starfruit
Passionfruit
Seedless Grapes (Green)
Blueberries

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, this list does not apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is!

More Label "Decoding"

Have you ever seen a microscope symbol on a package of lettuce, potatoes, or other produce?

Wondering what it might mean?

Well - let me reassure you that it does NOT mean that the lettuce you just ate was grown in a lab. Nor does it mean it is GMO or anything along those lines.

The symbol belongs to a company called Lab-Path.

Lab-Path audits and certifies growers to be sure they are not using excessive amounts of pesticides, are free of bacterial contamination, heavy metals, and other dangerous substances.

Produce with the Lab-Path symbol on it is therefore assumed to be safer than other, non-certified produce. Lab-Path uses European safety standards in their certification process.

Lately, I have noticed a lot of potatoes, and lettuce in various stores with the Lab-Path symbol. Since both of these foods are often found to have high pesticide residue, I'm glad to buy the certified ones that assure me that legal pesticide residue levels haven't been exceeded. And they don't seem to be any pricier than non-certified ones, either!

(For more information about pesticides in Israeli produce, please see the article I wrote about it. Unfortunately, up-to-date information is hard to find.)

In addition, they offer an organic certification for those looking for certified organic produce.

This is what it looks like:

Hope this helps you make good consumer choices!
For more useful information, be sure to like my Facebook page!

Sug Bet Haul!

I was passing by the makolet, and as I approached, I had few hopes of finding anything good on the sug bet rack.

From afar, I saw mostly empty boxes, as the top layer of boxes was deceptively empty.

When I got closer, I found full boxes of produce, stacked at ground level instead of on the racks. Some of the produce was not useable at all, but I managed to pulled out plenty of decent produce in the end!

I know I said I was sort of doing a pantry challenge, but I am always ok with buying some fresh fruits and vegetables (especially fruits!!), especially when it's a great price, and we can either use them this week or prep them and freeze for some other time!

Here's what I got for a total of16.70 NIS:

The breakdown is (approx weights):

850g artichokes (4 of them)
600g assorted peppers
200g not-yet-ripe tomatoes
2 kg cauliflower
200g carrots
900g kishuim
140g pears (actually 1 pear)
250g shesek (loquat)
290g lemons (2 lemons)
180g fennel
1.2 kg peaches and a nectarine
1.3 kg eggplant 

And now, I must go fit it all into the fridge (except the tomatoes) until I get back to them later!

Have you found any deals this week that were too good to pass up? 

Organic fruits and vegetables for 5.99/kg

Eden Teva has a special for Moadon members - today thru Friday, a variety of organic fruits and vegetables for 5.99/kg! They are now offering a Moadon membership for 10 shekel/yr (I seem to remember it costing much more, which is why I had not ever joined).

Included in this sale: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Red/Yellow Peppers, Cabbage, Kohlrabi (white or purple), Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Beets, Watermelon, Mini-watermelon, Pomelit, Onions, and Tomatoes.

Sale price is available in-store AND online, but not in Eden-Mega stores.

Not sure if I'll be ordering, but I figured some of you would want to give it a try!

Happy saving, and healthy eating!

Affordable organic veggies!

Just wanted to let all of you, my readers in Israel, know about this great deal - too good to pass up - from Eden Teva Market online this week!
(I don't get any commission from them, just announcing this as a public service)

That's right! Organic tomatoes for 2.99/kg! And also other vegetables, including:

Organic Cucumbers
Organic Potatoes
Organic Carrots

If you live in their delivery area, this may be a great week to place order!

Here's the fine print I found: Minimum order is 150 shekels, not including delivery charges. Limit of 3 kg per sale item. Sale prices valid thru March 5, 2013.

Organic Produce Sale

Just wanted to give everyone a heads' up about Eden Teva's Chanuka sale.

Right now, you can get organic produce for 5.90/kg from Eden Teva Market Online.

Included in the sale:

Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Potatoes
Eggplant
Pumpkin
Butternut Squash
Red Peppers
Yellow Peppers
Beets
Cherry Tomatoes
Zucchini

Check if they deliver to your area!
(Delivery charges usually apply, minimum order for delivery usually applies)

The Pesticide Problem

Last week, I posted about the newly published "Clean" and "Dirty" Lists for Israeli produce.


These lists  are meant to help shoppers make choices about which produce items are safer to buy and which are not (among conventionally grown produce), similar to the list for the USA that is put out by the EWG.
I have been bombarded with questions since I posted the list, so I decided to do some research and try explain more.



I cannot, however, take any responsibility for what you do. I am merely sharing my personal thoughts regarding the produce lists, and my opinions are not meant to be understood as scientifically accurate, nor is this meant as medical advice. (Or advice at all. Just my thoughts.)

Regarding pesticide levels - Once upon a time, I tried to feed my family a mostly organic diet, as I am wary of chemical exposure, especially for young children. I was able to do this with careful planning, in the U.S.A. I have not been able to do the same here in Israel, as the cost of organic produce is so much higher compared to conventional produce here, and salaries are not equivalent.

I believe that G-d created our bodies with the ability to get rid of many toxins, (and we develop this ability as we grow) and the presence of a toxin in someone's urine is evidence that our bodies are able to remove it, at least partially, so when there are reports of such-and-such a compound being found at detectable levels in urine, yes, that means we are ingesting it. But it means we are also removing it from our bodies. I DO believe, however, that for very young children, reducing their chemical load is important. If I had a baby or a toddler I would probably be buying specific foods organically just for the baby, even while feeding the rest of the family the conventionally grown equivalent.

I also believe that eating fruits and vegetables of any kind is important. Eating a junk food diet in order to "avoid" pesticide exposure will not solve any problems. Eating conventional fruits and vegetables is STILL healthier, despite pesticides, than not eating fruits and vegetables.

That being said, I still would love to take some precautions to reduce our exposure.

I know it's not perfect, but I scrub all of our produce before cooking or eating it. I use a commercial fruit and vegetable cleaner, because that is my preference. Pesticides are made to stay on a fruit/vegetable (they adhere to it in order to work even after rain or crop irrigation), and are usually not water soluble, so in order to remove them, some scrubbing, and a cleaner (soap of some sort) are most effective. But I only wash produce in cold water.

Some people recommend peeling fruits and vegetables. I am torn on this one, as we know that often vitamins and minerals are stored in the peel of a fruit or vegetable. I usually opt not to peel, knowing that I've scrubbed the peel, and that there are plenty of benefits to consuming the peel...

On the other hand, I want to send a message to the growers and chemical companies that we don't want toxic overload in our food.

I plan to scrutinize the list carefully and pick a few items I can reasonably cut back on and find suitable replacements for.


Here are my first thoughts about the some of the produce specified on the list:

At the moment, even when grapes are in season, we rarely buy them, as they tend to be pricey. Same goes for celery, I rarely buy it, except the ones that are certified lower in pesticides (the non-organic, certified lower in pesticide ones are sold at Shufersal and Yesh).


Apples, sadly, are a staple in my house. In the U.S. I only bought organic ones; here the price for organic apples is usually 8X higher than conventional. In the U.S., the difference was not as pronounced... But I am going to try to find a cleaner alternative to our daily apples. Or perhaps make more baked apples, as I have read that a large # of pesticides break down when cooked...

As far as the rest of the items on the list, I am considering cutting back our potato and pepper consumption as well. We won't be cutting them out completely, but I do think it's important to consume less of them, even if for no other reason than to send the growers a message. Potatoes are easy, we can substitute other carbs like rice... peppers, well, those are harder to replace. But we may try growing our own! If we can't, we'll still buy them, but in moderation... (And, come to think of it, we only eat cooked potatoes, so hopefully some of those pesticides are gone by the time we eat them!)

And those are my first thoughts on the matter. How you choose to feed your family is, of course, a very personal decision. (But I'd love to hear your thoughts , too!)


Here are some other sources for fruit and vegetable cleaners:

Produce Wash from iHerb.com

Produce Wash from Amazon.com

Produce Wash from Amazon.co.uk

Limiting Spending

Do you have limits for how much you will spend per kilo on a specific fruit or vegetable?

I do. Mostly I limit vegetables to 3 NIS/kg (although I am always thrilled to get them for less, and there are a few that I will pay a bit more for - like summer squash/kishuim). And I try to limit fruit to 5 NIS/kg but there are the occasions I will splurge for something really wonderful (remember those cherries?) and pay 8 or even 10.

Of course, I try to minimize waste. I don't let my kids eat apples if I haven't cored them for them. They will leave behind too much edible fruit if they just take bites out of an uncored apple! I love to eat a good navel orange or pomelo, but of course I hesitate to buy them because so much of it goes in the garbage...

In comes my blogger friend, Penny. She made these awesome charts so you can see how much of that fruit or vegetable you are buying will end up as usable, edible food.

It will help you figure out what you are REALLY paying for the edible portion of your food. Check it out! My guess is you will be surprised by the scope of her research as well as by her conclusions.

Have you ever wondered how much of that produce you buy actually just ends up as waste? Now you probably understand why I refuse to throw out all the "waste" bits of soup vegetables, and instead, make vegetable stock! Do you make anything out of the normally wasted part of a fruit or vegetable? I'd especially love to hear ideas for fruit scrap uses, besides the compost pile...

Let me know what you do!

My Thanksgiving Menu

I'm really serving my Thanksgiving menu on Friday night, instead of Thursday. Pretty standard practice here among the ex-pats, I think!

Here's what I think I'm making:

Vegetable soup (heavy on the carrots, since they are 2 NIS/kg at mega!)

Roasted Turkey Legs

Pomegranate Chicken

Grilled fennel (in my stove top grill pan) (2 NIS/kg at mega!)

Roasted potatoes (2 NIS/kg at mega!)

Stuffed peppers (green peppers are on sale for 2 NIS/kg at mega!) - stuffed with rice and vegetable pilaf

Breaded Eggplant with tomato sauce (eggplant is on sale for 2 NIS/kg at mega!)

Avocado - my kids like them plain, and all the ones that were left from that sale a couple of weeks ago are suddenly ripe!

So - in short, our Thanksgiving dinner is a celebration of all the local in season produce I can find!

Shabbat Menu

This week's Shabbat menu is built around the produce I got at Kim'at Chinam for 1 NIS/kilo, and the produce I got at Yesh for 1.99 NIS/kilo. Both really great deals! I just have to learn how to figure out how heavy 3 kg is, as the maximum you can usually get when they have these sales is 3 kg per type. Unfortunately, I lowballed all my purchases, and could have easily come home with twice as much produce for these awesome prices...

When we don't have guests, I try to keep my menus simple - that means fewer courses and fewer dishes, but still plenty of good food to fill everyone up! Since we have no guests this week, here's my plan:

Vegetable-Noodle Soup
Pomegranate Chicken
Pan-Fried Tofu Steaks for my favorite vegetarian (my 12 yr old - yes, a boy!)
Carrot Kugel
Oven Roasted Beets
Oven Roasted Cauliflower
Toasted Barley with Mushrooms
Salad - lettuce, purple cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and avocado
Lentil-Barley Stew (in the crock pot, for lunch)


Some notes about these dishes:

When making a vegetarian vegetable soup, I always sautee all the veggies in extra virgin olive oil, then cook, covered, to reduce, for 10-15 min. before adding any liquid. I don't know, I just think it tastes better this way in the end. I use onions, garlic, celery, tons of carrots, zucchini, and other veggies as the mood hits me. It's a really easy soup.
I also save all the trimmings from vegetables (don't use potato peelings or beet trimmings, though!) in gallon-size zipper-close bag in my freezer. when the bag is full, I simmer the trimmings in water for many hours in my huge stock pot, to make vegetable stock. Just make sure you strain it well when it's done. I then use some for the day's cooking, and freeze the rest in pint-size containers for later use.

Carrot Kugel - I usually make 6 of these at a time, and freeze for later. My 3 year old can't get enough of them, so I serve carrot kugel almost every week. I use a modified muffin recipe, bake in loaf pans, wrap well, and freeze.

Oven-Roasted Veggies - what could be easier!

The toasted barley recipe is new for my family, but I have promised them that we'll be trying out new dishes, in order to find some new favorites (this is what I need that vegetable stock for this week)