Homemade Crackers!

 I can't be the only one who's family has got the munchies! The people around me are constantly checking the kitchen for food, and they were complaining that nothing changes from one foray to the kitchen til the next. (Weird, isn't it?!)

So I dug up this old post of mine, in which I shared my method for making homemade whole wheat crackers, and now that I'm off wheat, I'm making them with spelt flour.

Click here for the original post with the recipe!

Have you ever made your own crackers? 

I know it sounds crazy but these were actually pretty simple and flew out of the bowl!

POOF! They were gone in NO TIME!

Enjoy!

Quarantine Friendly Deals!

 this post contains affiliate links. this means that if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission, which helps me keep this website up and running! Thanks for your support!

Is your bestie in quarantine? Wish you could go over and give her a hug and help out, but obviously you can't, right? I've got some ideas for sending a gift over, which will make anyone in quarantine feel loved and cared for!

Here are some deals, and I'm sure there are more:

Send a Shabbat gift basket filled with Challah and other baked goods to someone who needs a pick-me-up. The package costs 174 NIS and includes delivery to select areas.

Free delivery to: Netanaya, Kfar Sava, Raanana, Herzliya, Ramat Hasharon, Hod Hasharon, Petach Tikvah, Biq'at Ono, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Rishon Letzion, Holon, Bat Yam, Nes Tziona, Rechovot, Gedera, Yavneh, Gan Yavneh, Ashdod, Rosh Ha'ayin. Order by Thursday at 1pm for Friday delivery!

Olam Helechem also offers a weekday baked goods basket, starting at 129 NIS!

Pizza Donatelo in Tel Aviv: this delivery deal has a very limited delivery area, but if you're in Tel Aviv, worth checking out! Yes, you can send it to a friend stuck in quarantine too! Regular price for this package (2 XL pizzas with toppings, dessert, and a drink) is 183 NIS, but this deal is just 149 NIS

Send a catered meal! This offer has delivery in the Merkaz/Sharon area. It's 179 NIS for a meal for 3, and you can add additional meals for 65 NIS apiece.

Just want to send some snacks? Here's a deal for 10 boxes of granola bars. Including home delivery, it comes to 144 NIS!

This cheese basket is well-loved! You can choose the basic basket for 189 NIS, or upgrade to include wine.

More food delivery options are available on Groo - there are so many to choose from, including DIY kits for desserts and pizza, sushi delivery, drinks - alcoholic and non-alcoholic, chocolates, and more! Check them out!

If you don't want to send food, I also have a great option for you to send some fun! You can gift your bestie or loved one a game from Bagels & Locks Studios! No need to worry about whether it's appropriate for them - it's appropriate for all audiences! Pick an Israel or Jewish themed game and play together with them with new Quarantine Special we've arranged. Check it out - this option gets you 2 connections to a game, so you can play together even when you're not able to be together. (Other options are also available!)

 

Other stay-at-home entertainment options:

Online "Matnas" - 3 months for 79 NIS

Online courses starting at 10 NIS

Hope these deals are helpful! Don't forget to join my Facebook group for more deals! I also have a Whatsapp group!

Deal: Granola Bars!

(this post contains affiliate links. When you click and make a purchase, I may get paid a commission. Thanks in advance for your support)

Shop from Home!

Here's another deal for people who like to stock up when there's a great price! 10 boxes of Nature Valley Granola Bars, for 125 NIS, with FREE Shipping!

Click here to go to GROO to buy this deal! This deal won't last, though - so if you want it, you've got to grab it TODAY!

Stock up and now you'll be set for a while! 

Don't forget to follow my page on Facebook and join my Facebook Deals group or my Whatsapp Deals group! Thanks!

Frugal Snack: Roasted Chick Peas

Spicy Roast Chick Peas.
Crunchy. Savory. So Satisfying.





 


And easy. And so frugal, too.
A real crowd-pleaser.
 
They go SO fast every time I make them!

You'll need:
Chick Peas (already cooked and drained)
olive oil
Spices
Salt

Preheat Oven to 200 C

Pour cooked chick peas into a large baking pan (I usually make at least 2 cups of chick peas. Add spices to taste - for 2 cups chick peas I use about 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1-2 tsp granulated garlic, and 1/8 tsp ground turmeric. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Gently mix the whole thing together till well mixed. Adjust the spices to your liking, use whatever combination of spices you like best. My kids like it this way, so that's what I do.

Place pan in oven and roast till everybody is demanding to know what you're making (check on them every so often, I think mine were in the oven about an hour but I'm drawing a blank on the times now! And my oven is cooking slowly right now. I should get that thermostat checked).

Serve when cool enough to eat. Even my pickiest eater literally gobbles them up!

("This is the only way I'll eat chick peas, and if you make them every day I will eat them every day." - picky eater quote.)

Budget-Friendly Snacks

If your kids are anything like mine, you'll hear "I'm hungry" a LOT this summer. It seems the business of being a kid really works up an appetite!!

So I'm trying to figure out how to keep our snacks healthy and filling, and inexpensive.

I find this much more difficult here in Israel than I did in the USA. There, I'd find healthy-ish crackers, pretzels, granola bars, and other convenience foods for truly ridiculously low prices - I used coupons, shopped sales, shopped at Big Lots and the "scratch n dent" food store. I always, always checked Target's clearance shelves (and almost always found an amazing deal - yes, even in the grocery section), and was not embarrassed to stock up on foods at Walmart when there was a great sale. When we lived practically next door to Aldi - I shopped there. Never once did I bump into anyone else from our little Jewish community at Aldi, though. I guess there was a stigma I did not care about, I preferred 19 cent deals!

But here - well, to be honest, the deals are harder to find. TRULY hard up here in the Golan with limited shopping options.

But - despite that, we still need to eat and most importantly, we need to feed our children!

So here's what we try to keep around for when the kids start the "I'm hungry" chorus:

Fresh fruit - we try to only buy the less expensive ones, so right now, pickings are slim. But since this varies week to week and season to season, we usually manage to keep somewhat of a variety of fruit around (right now we have apples, watermelon, and cantaloupe in plentiful quantities, other summer fruits are still a bit pricey).

Carrot sticks - carrots are usually one of the least expensive vegetables, and require no cooking. They can be dipped in something like techina or chummus or some other dip, or eaten plain

Cucumbers - same deal as the carrots, only they tend to be a bit more expensive than carrots.

Popcorn - we have a Popcorn Popper  so it's super easy to pop up a bowl of popcorn, and a bag of popcorn should cost less than 10 shekels/kg. I'm sure I paid 8 for a kilo last time I bought it. (I've seen some great deals at The Hut on small appliances like popcorn poppers, be sure to check them out!)

Homemade Crackers - very yummy, but a bit of work. Much less expensive than store bought crackers

Roasted Chick Peas - these are an amazing snack. Just toss chick peas (cooked and drained) with olive oil and spices. Place on a baking pan and roast in the oven at 200C till they are crispy. They are super-addictive, so don't say I didn't warn you!

Roasted lentils - same idea as the chick peas above, and even cheaper! I like the chick peas better though.

Banana chips - in general, dried fruits are pricey here, but I'm finding banana chips to be surprisingly affordable. And since I can only eat bananas that have been cooked, it's one of the few ways I can enjoy a banana!

Muffins, of course. I buy fruit from the sug bet rack regularly and make muffins. Lately I've been getting kishuim from the sug bet rack too, and we really like muffins made with them!

What are your go-to snacks? I'd love to hear!

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!

Shavuot Snacks

Shavuot in Israel is just one day. It is SUCH a short, sweet holiday...

We tend to stay up late into the night learning and talking and noshing. For some reason, NO ONE ever stays up late learning without noshing. (In our family, we usually do not stay up through the night, for a number of reasons.)

So I figured I'd share some of the noshing things I will be keeping around...

This year will be a little different than previous years, primarily because I'm not eating cow's milk, but I'll probably still get some Ben & Jerry's for the rest of the family.

Other noshing menu items:

Caramel Popcorn, lots and lots of caramel popcorn (this stuff flies!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Homemade Crackers

Vegetable Sticks

Chummus

Watermelon

And anything else I find myself inspired to make. I'm leaving my oven on for yom tov, so I'll bake even on a whim!

What are your favorite snacks?

Crackers

Just a quick reminder about snack foods!

If you really want to stretch your shekels, don't buy snack foods.

I know, you still need to feed the kids snacks, and fruits and veggies are not the only thing they want to eat.
And you don't want to serve cookies or muffins every day. Too much sugar.

So what do you do?

Go ahead! Make your own crackers! It sounds hard, it seems intimidating, but really it is simple.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Click here for the recipe 

 

Homemade granola bars

Do your kids complain that they are bored of being told to take some fruit for snack? Mine are. They want all the usual junk!

So today I decided to throw together a batch of granola bars.

*Feb 2013 - I changed the recipe a bit

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2/3 c. oil
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. water 
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well.

Add:
1 c. oat bran
3 c. rolled oats
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix to combine

Add:
1/3 c. ground flaxseeds
1/3 c. shredded coconut
1/3 c. sesame seeds
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Mix one more time.

Press it all into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. It seemed a bit dry - so I used a pastry brush to brush the whole top with a little water. I didn't want to add too much water, as granola bars should bake pretty quickly! 10-15 min in the oven at 190 C should do it. Cut into bars and enjoy!

I'm really hoping to hide some away so the kids don't eat them all in one day...

Whole Wheat (or other grain) and Flaxseed Crackers (vegan)

I haven't been buying crackers. My cracker standards are high, meaning I expect a good cracker to be all natural, made of whole grains, and free of trans-fats. I can't find any affordable crackers that meet these requirements. I had been bending the requirements for a while, but lately I decided it just wasn't a good decision. Expensive AND unhealthy.

So I stopped buying crackers.

And the complaints haven't stopped. I didn't realize just how often my boys were eating crackers dipped in or shmeared with something.

I had to fix the problem, just because I was sick of hearing, "there's nothing to snack on!"
I don't want to hear it anymore...

So we tried making homemade pretzels. Delicious! But a lot of work. Too much for me, in fact.

The cracker requests haven't stopped, but I was intimidated by all the cracker recipes I found. It seemed they had to be unhealthy and a lot of work in order to taste good. And then, I discovered this recipe, that made it sound like healthy crackers could be easy!

So of course I changed the recipe a bit, as I can't get whole wheat pastry flour here. And it seemed like it was missing something. And I wanted to cut back on the oil... In other words, I totally changed the recipe!

Here's what we did:

2 cups stoneground whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup water
somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 cup olive oil

Mix well, but not for a long time. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough out thinly to cover (I made 2 pans with this recipe) baking sheet and cut into squares/whatever shape you want with a knife. Bake at 190 C for about 12-15 min.
My oven baked them slightly unevenly. Oops

But they were delicious. We'll be making more!
Tip: You can use other kinds of flour, they work really well with spelt flour, or with a mix of various grain flours together! Find your favorite and let me know what you do!

Shared with the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop on June 5, 2012

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!