Saving money, a bit at a time...

So I just spent a ridiculous sum of money, since we are about halfway through our kitchen overhaul.

I figured it would be prudent to find a way to save a few shekels this week. That won't really make a dent in the thousands I have to pay, but it makes me feel better (a tiny bit) to say I saved money.

So here is what I did:

Found a place that had lots of produce priced between 90 agurot/kg and 1.90shekels/kg, and what we bought there (plus toilet paper at 63 agurot per roll and milk at 5 shekels/L) is the bulk of this week's grocery shopping, except that we do plan to start the Pesach shopping this week!

Found a place to buy goats' milk - organic even - for less than I've been paying, so I know where to get it from now on!

Found a place to buy specialty goats' milk cheeses for many, many shekels less than I've been seeing, so I'll be able to get some before Pesach!

Gave away a bunch of clothes to make us feel less crowded in our house.

Sold a bunch of nearly perfect condition clothes (for very little, but that's the way it is with second hand clothing).

Washed and set aside a few other things I'd like to sell.

Doesn't seem like much, but some days I just need to feel like "every drop counts"!

Did you save any money this week?

Deals at Home Center

I'll be near Home Center tomorrow, so I decided to check out their sales and see if they have anything on my list.

I discovered they have a  selection of small appliances on sale right now for 2/100 shekels. This sale includes:  a hand mixer, a sandwich maker, a toaster, a citrus juicer, and a kettle. 

They also have a selection that are on sale for 2/200 shekels, including: 6.5 liter slow cooker, an immersion blender (with attachments), a stainless steel kettle, a mixer with a stand (not exactly a kitchenaid, don't get your hopes up), and an iron.

They also have a selection on sale 2/300 and 2/400. You can check out  all their sales in their circular 

And they have steam mops starting at 300 shekels! I dream of having floors clean enough to justify having a steam mop!

Do you have any plans to buy new appliances this Pesach season?
 

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Pesach recipe round-up

So far, I have not cooked anything for Pesach.

I have not experimented at all to make up any new recipes for pesach, though I DO plan to. Just right now we are really eating chametz, chametz, and more chametz! (yes, we have too much flour in the freezer, didn't I mention that earlier?)

But I am sure some of you are more organized, and are busy prepping your menus, writing your shopping lists, trying to calculate just how much potato starch to buy this year, or trays of eggs...

So here are some of my favorite Pesach recipes!

Mandel Bread

Pesach Rolls

Carrot Muffins

Cashew Butter

Brownies

Banana Cake

Potato Kugel

(Oops, they are mostly dessert. Um, well, what can I say?)

There will be more coming. Just give me at least another week.

How I'm getting ready for Pesach

Pesach is coming! I know, you don't need me to remind you, but I thought I'd share with you what I've done to get ready for Pesach.

1. I have made myself a semi-promise not to buy any more chametz products until after the chag. Of course, this is not a full-promise, because you never know when I will be craving some really junky chametz food and I might give in and buy it. This does happen sometimes when I'm sleep deprived...

2. I am trying to use up the Chametz in the house. I have realized, however, that there is NO way I will use up all the flour I have on  hand.
I guess it's either going to have to be sold to a non-Jew or given away...

3. I am reorganizing my kitchen (just had a ton of cabinets and shelving added to it) so there will be room for the Pesach stuff to stay there year round.

4. I'm dreaming of buying new counters, sinks, oven, and cooktop. Don't know if it will happen. I'm going to try.

5. I keep doing "research" - trying to come up with some more Pesach recipes that will keep my family happy! Especially the one who is not eating eggs. And the vegetarian. And the one not eating dairy who's allergic to almonds. Sounds like fun, right?

6. I am going shopping for new shoes. I have not bought new shoes in a VERY long time!

What are you up to these days?

Books!

**GOOD NEWS!** This sale has been extended an extra 24 hrs! It will end on Friday, at 11:00 EDT (6pm in Israel)

To My Fellow Book Lovers,

There's another great sale going on at Better World Books!

Get 20% off 5 or more used books (from the bargain bin)!

That's a pretty awesome deal.

And of course, always free worldwide shipping!

Sale ends TODAY (Thursday March 27) at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (5 pm in Israel), so hurry and get those orders in!

Free Attractions For Pesach 2014

Bank Hapoalim does this wonderful service for the country:  They sponsor free days at attractions

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2013/03/free-attractions-for-pesach-2013.html --- all around the country for Chol Hamoed.
Here's the info for this year: Full days free are April 16 and 17, and April 18 and 20 are most likely shorter days, and you will need to check with the attractions regarding their individual hours of operation.
Here's the list of free attractions for this year. I have linked to websites in English, whenever possible. I hope you find this list helpful, and that you get to have some super-frugal fun over Pesach!
Please leave a comment with your favorite place to visit (from this list)!
If you haven't already, please like my Facebook page so you don't miss out!


North:
The Ghetto Fighters' House Museum 04-9958052  
The Galilee Sculpture Festival in Maalot 04-9578871 
The Deer Forest  0508723920  
The Golan Antiquities Museum  04-6961350  
Park Qatzrin 04-6962412
The Umm el-Fahem Art Gallery  04-6315257  
The Wilfrid Museum of Israeli Art  04-9899566  
The Robotic Dairy 054-4962656  
The Museum of Art at Ein Harod    04-6485701

Haifa and the Northern Valleys:
The Museum of the First Aliyah (in Zichron Yaakov) 04-6294777  
The Janco-Dada Museum (Ein Hod) 04-9842350
The Haifa Zoo - 04-8372886 (open 10am - 3pm)  
The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art 04-8383554 
The Haifa Museum of Art 04-9115997  
The National Maritime Museum in Haifa 04-8536622 
The Haifa City Museum 04-9115888  
The Mane Katz Museum 04-9119372  
The Herman Struk Museum 04-6359962
The Treasures in The Walls Museum (of Acco) 04-9911004  
Gan-Garoo 04-6488060

Central Israel:
Tel Aviv Museum of Art 03-6077000 
Beit Hatfutsot 03-7457808
The Igudan Visitors Center 03-9555222
The Khan Museum of Hadera 04-6324562
The Nachum Gutman Museum of Art 03-5161970  
The Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan 03-7521876
The Communications Museum at IDC Herzliya 09-9522795  
The Herzilya Museum of Contemporary Art 09-9551011  
The Rishon L'Tzion Museum 03-9598862  
The Design Museum - Holon 073-2151500
The Mikve Israel Visitors Center 03-5030489
The Rabin Center Israeli Museum *4585  
The Minkov Orchard 08-9469197
The Rubin Museum 03-5255961  
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center 03-5339278

Jerusalem:
Yad LaShiryon at Latrun 08-9784302  
The Bible Lands Museum 02-5611066 
Hasmonean Aqueduct Tour *6033  
The Temple Mount Sifting Project *6033  
The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens 02-6794012  
The Old Yishuv Court Museum 02-6281266  
The Menachem Begin Heritage Center 02-5652018  
The Ariel Center -Historic Jerusalem (First Temple Period) 02-6286288

South:
The Ashdod Art Museum Monart Center 08-8545180
The Museum of Water and Security at Kibbutz Nir Am 050-9672874  
The Joe Alon Center for Bedouin Culture  08-9913322
The Air Force Museum at Kibbutz Chatzerim 08-9906853  
The Negev Museum of Art  08-6993535  
Chai Negev - Ecological Village 08-6562688
The Eilat My City Museum 08-6340754


Have a great time! 

Shabbat menu

 

It's time again! The weeks keep flying by, and every time I turn around, I need to think about Shabbat...

Looking forward to the day of Rest!

Here's my super simple menu this week, focusing on produce I got for 2-2.5 shekels/kg and the chicken I got for 9 shekels/kg:




Challot
Vegetable Soup
Roast chicken
Potato Kugel
Apple Crisp (got some cooking quality apples for 2.5 shekels/kg, so I can finally make this again!)
Roasted Cauliflower
Israeli Salad

and maybe some cookies, since I should be using up my stash of flour!

And that is it. I should get started...

What are you having?

Caramel popcorn

I published my old recipe for caramel popcorn a while back, but I wanted to make it easier and skip the baking step.

The old way was just too liquidy and annoying, so I've been playing around with it and I now understand that I just wasn't "getting" the idea behind making caramel popcorn. But now I've got it.

THIS is the way to do it:
Pop some popcorn and set aside.

Then, take:
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/2-3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (I used coarse sea salt)
1/4 cup water

Place above ingredients in a pot and heat on the stove over med-high heat. it will melt and bubble and combine. Watch it so it doesn't burn, but let it bubble for a good few minutes.
Remove from heat. Add 1 tsp baking soda and stir and stir and stir. The mixture will get lighter and thicken up.

Pour over popped popcorn. Toss it with two spoons to coat the popcorn.

Eat.

I had to grab the bowl to get a picture before the kids ate all of it

My kids are nuts for this one. Seriously.

I'm trying to figure out if I can use more molasses and less sugar... The molasses gives it a really special flavor, as does that sea salt...