Thursday night, Sept 8, 2011

I don't normally post on Thursday nights, but we ended up swapping pizza night this week - we had that Wednesday instead!
So here is my very simple plan:

Macaroni & Cheese
Cut vegetables (we have tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and carrots)
Some sort of dip for the vegetables
Watermelon

I'm hoping to get my Shabbat menu planned and posted very soon. What's your plan?

Vegan Carrot Muffins

I promised a few people that I'd share my carrot muffin recipe, so here goes:

1 c. pureed cooked carrots
1/3 - 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. ground flaxseed, mixed with 1/2 c. hot water, (allow to sit for 5 min. before mixing into the batter)

mix the above ingredients well.

Add:
1.5 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. whole oats (optional)
1/2 t. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix well, but don't overmix. spoon into prepared muffin cups (I use silicone muffin cups for baking these, although sometimes I'm lazy and just bake it in a loaf pan to make carrot "bread") and bake at 350 F for about 25 min. (check to be sure they are done!)

I usually double the recipe...

Enjoy! Let me know how they come out!

p.s. you can use other things in place of the 1 cup of carrots - applesauce, shredded zucchini, butternut squash puree, banana puree, any fruit puree (can be chunky puree!) to make other kinds of muffins. Enjoy!

Tuesday Night, Sept 6, 2011

Pressed for time, once again! We kinda had a "not-back-to-school" party at our house today with 4 other homeschooling families! It was great fun, but then I was so tired I fell asleep reading on the sofa to my little one...

Here's my last minute supper:

Couscous

Steamed broccoli and snow peas (found the snow peas on sale for a great price - frozen of course!)

Steamed Corn

Potato Bourekas (from a package, I know... but they were buy 1 get 1 free...)

Sliced Tomatoes

Monday Night, Sept 5, 2011

For some of you it's a holiday weekend, and chances are high you're not so interested in my run of the mill menus today, you're probably eating BBQ with a whole bunch of family and friends...

But for those of us for whom this is a regular monday, here's my regular frugal dinner:

Homemade Flatbreads


Houmus, Roasted Eggplant Salad (I found some eggplant in the fridge I forgot about!)


Make your own Salad


Omelets

Sunday, September 4, 2011

We had a great time at the beach! When we got there, it was pretty quiet; there weren't so many people around (just the way I like a beach). We left when the crowds started to show up...

When we got home, I threw together a really quick, easy dinner:

Cut vegetables (cucumbers, carrots)

Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Zucchini, peppers, onion, eggplant, and tomatoes, sauteed in olive oil, and spices (to serve over the spaghetti, although my kids opted for cottage cheese on the spaghetti and ate the vegetables on the side) (I found green peppers and eggplant really cheap last week (somewhere around 2 NIS/kilo), and today I even managed to score red and yellow peppers for 3 NIS/kilo!)

Shabbat Parashat Shoftim, Sept 2-3, 2011

Last week, in my excitement about having family visit, I made too much food. So I wrapped it up and froze it and this week I'm on easy street.

Here's what I'm making:

Homemade Challot (trying to get back to that!)

Butternut Squash and Apple soup (it may not feel like fall outside, but I found some cheap butternut squash this week so we HAVE to have this soup!) - saute onion, garlic, and a tart apple in olive oil. when lightly browned and soft, add a tablespoon of flour and continue to stir. Then add soup stock or water and bring to a boil. Then add cooked butternut squash, bring back to a boil. Puree. Add cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken with honey and ginger (from the freezer)

Carrot Kugel (from the freezer)

Something for my vegetarian child (haven't decided what, though. maybe he should decide)

Steamed snow peas

Make your own salad

If my kids are good and let me have a bit more time, I'll even make a chocolate cake, or I'll have them make one! I use the "Grand Fudge Cake" recipe from Ghirardelli Cocoa, but I modify it somewhat... (like oil instead of butter - and I only use 1/2 the amount, whole wheat flour instead of white, and rice milk instead of dairy milk...)

What are you making?
Shabbat Shalom!

While searching through my recipes for my Challah recipe, I came across an old version of my challah recipe. Of course, I've played with it and changed it, but I think this was the basis for our  current Challah! This one certainly looks well used, and I believe it dates back to my Texas days...


This post was linked up to the Hearth and Soul blog hop on Nov 22, 2011

Free Personalized Photo Calendar (just pay s/h)

New-Pharm customers can get a free personalized photo calendar thru the end of October!

I haven't tried it out yet, but their Facebook page explains exactly which size is free and how to get it.

S/H within Israel is 9.90 NIS. Offer expires 31/10/2011. More details available at funbooks.co.il

Let me know if you make one!

Tuesday Night, Aug 30, 2011

Today I decided I have to work on getting my family to eat more lentils - they are an amazingly frugal source of protein! My oldest son requested rice, so I figured it was a classic combination.


However, my family members don't really like rice and lentils together, so I had to get creative.
Here's what I came up with:

Choice of:
Brown Rice 
Whole Wheat Spaghetti


Sauteed vegetables with red lentils in tomato sauce


Fresh fruit

Amazon Mom Program - Saving money when shopping

I must admit, whenever we have family and friends come to visit, I beg them to bring stuff from the States for me.
We miss certain products, and even more, we miss some of those awesome sales. The fact is, we can't afford to buy so much in this country, and since we don't want to overpay, we still buy things in the States, using online deals, coupon codes, etc and eBay. I also use Amazon Moms to buy certain items and get extra discounts!

Click here to learn more about Amazon Moms!

I especially love their offers of extra discounts and free Prime membership!

Check it out for yourself!

Please note: You must use a shipping address in the U.S. to use this program. We have things sent to family stateside...

Feel free to ask your questions.

Shabbat Parashat Re'eh , Aug. 26-27

I'm so excited to be having guests (family) from overseas spending Shabbat with us! We have to deal with a whole bunch of food issues this weekend though, including the following allergies:
soy, fish, nuts, dairy
and the following restrictions:
1 baby under 1 yr old who is still learning to eat so doesn't eat eggs and I'm sure a whole host of other foods, but also refuses to eat baby food,
1 vegetarian

Here's my plan:

Red Lentil Soup
Roast chicken (very simple so even the baby can eat it)
Carrot kugel
Grilled Zucchini slices (using my stove top grill pan)
Roast potatoes
Baked Sweet Potatoes (I've been told the baby loves this)
Beets
Tofu-something for the vegetarian, haven't figured out yet how I'll prepare it.
Maybe I'll make a cholent for lunch, but it may just be too hot!
Make your own salad with whatever veggies I buy.
Watermelon
Popsicles

Not sure what else... haven't even thought about seudah shlishit...