A realistic israeli diet for a family on the daily

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View latest: 24h 48h 72h

etky

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 7:11 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

When you start subbing all spinach, kale, and any leafy green for cabbage you start feeling at some point that every recipe tastes the same and you get sick of cabbage.

I suppose I could google lentil recipes, and learn about them on my own - but I'm just saying that I would love to not spend hours building my own recipes collection and schedule. It would be so much helpful if there was a recourse with matim recipes already.

Currently breakfast is cornflakes, omelets, and israeli salads and the afternoon dinner meals usually involve canned/steamed/or roasted veggies or a soup with place rice, pasta, or couscous.

I have some basics but I'm bored and want new things. But everything exciting and cool sounding has some ingredient or another that is just not something that is available here or realistic to buy on the daily.

Try this site: https://www.nikibfood.com/

and this one (my favorite recipe site, actually) http://www.10dakot.co.il/
which is in Hebrew only but you can use the google translate box on the bottom of the page which should at least give the the gist of the recipe.
Both sites are hugely popular among Israelis and utilize common, everyday ingredients.
Most of the recipes are pretty easy and quick.

amother

Aubergine

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 7:12 am

OP - it doesn't sound like the issue is recipes. You need to speak to people and familarize yourself with what you can buy here for good prices. Your diet is currently very limited, but it really doesn't need to be.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 7:13 am

OP wrote:

Quote:

Broccoli and Cauliflower and string beans are expensive. It's like 10 - 12 dollars for a small frozen bag of them. A bag that is like 2 -3 adult servings. They don't really have raw ones.

im not sure where you are buying veggies, but I just looked in my freezer at my frozen coliflower etc and its 700 grams for 22 shekels. Where are you finding fir close to 40 shekels? Thats crazy.
And of course those things are sold raw. I know many people who only buy raw, not frozen.

Quote:

We have lots of spices. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, squash, peppers, sweet potato, potatoes, onions, zucchini, carrots, celery, sprouts, mushrooms and some other greens like that and literally anything else is expensive or seasonal or BOTH. I recently saw cherries in our supermarket going around 48 shekels for 1 kilo aka 2.2 pounds. That's what I mean...by ridiculous prices.

cherries and strawberries are known to be insanely priced. Its seasonal Sad

banana123

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 8:24 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

10-12 dollars or shekels? We shop at Shufersal and just bought a nice-size bag for 10 NIS. Admittedly not cheap but certainly it's not 30-40 NIS.

My kids won't eat stir fry anymore.

banana123

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 8:28 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

OP wrote:

Quote:

Broccoli and Cauliflower and string beans are expensive. It's like 10 - 12 dollars for a small frozen bag of them. A bag that is like 2 -3 adult servings. They don't really have raw ones.

Quote:

cherries and strawberries are known to be insanely priced. Its seasonal Sad

A lot of this is really location-dependent. For example, where I live green beans are *only* sold frozen.

Amarante

Fri, Oct 04 2019, 9:28 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Broccoli and Cauliflower and string beans are expensive. It's like 10 - 12 dollars for a small frozen bag of them. A bag that is like 2 -3 adult servings. They don't really have raw ones.

The shuk you need to know where to go, where it's okay, how to check it - many rabbanim say it's impossible to check many of these items raw and many people don't live in Jerusalem.

Cheese is also expensive. Most israelis only have regular sliced cheese and cottage. Other types are expensive and not in the budget.

Fish is doable, there's cheaper types of fish but those types of fish are rarely used in the recipes I see. I don't even know what they are called.

We have lots of spices. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, squash, peppers, sweet potato, potatoes, onions, zucchini, carrots, celery, sprouts, mushrooms and some other greens like that and literally anything else is expensive or seasonal or BOTH. I recently saw cherries in our supermarket going around 48 shekels for 1 kilo aka 2.2 pounds. That's what I mean...by ridiculous prices.

Oh also nuts and seeds are expensive here. If something calls for pistachios or something - it's not a realistic thing I can afford on the daily basis. It's a treat. But again - there are things that are super affordable like sunflower and sesame seeds, and one or two types of nuts.

I get bored. I feel like I need a 2 weeks rotation at least - not one week.

I think most people who cook and have a limited budget wherever located deal with how to make interesting recipes from what is available at a reasonable price in the market when they go shopping. I am located in Los Angeles but even here fresh produce varies tremendously depending on what is in season and so most people on a budget buy what is on sale.

From what you describe the variable appears to be the cost of frozen vegetables since frozen vegetables are always available in the US at reasonable prices. However, personally I don't cook with frozen vegetables for the most part because I can't stand the texture of frozen vegetables when cooked as they are too mushy.

Cooking is one of my hobbies so I enjoy trying out new recipes and generally cook depending on what is nice in the market when I go shopping.

In my personal experience, youtube videos are NOT the best way to find decent recipes especially if you are looking for recipes using certain ingredients. I don't understand why you don't want to use the web to search for appealing recipes using the ingredients you have in hand. A little bit of time (and fun) and you have more recipes than you could possibly cook if you cooked a new one every day.

I have software that imports recipes quickly and then enables me to search for recipes in its database by various criteria including occasion and ingredients. It also lets me add notes and my rating.

Alternatively use this forum as a source - start a thread asking for recipes using specific ingredients and you will get more responses of possibilities than you could cook in a year. It is very easy to scan a recipe to see if it is to your taste and fits your need - save that recipe and then select as specific ingredients are affordable when shopping.

Sleepymama

Sat, Oct 05 2019, 4:54 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

im not sure where you are buying veggies, but I just looked in my freezer at my frozen coliflower etc and its 700 grams for 22 shekels. Where are you finding fir close to 40 shekels? Thats crazy
[quote]

Are you buying bodek cauliflower? I would love to find it that price! If it's the unchecked kind, how do you do the checking? Do you let it thaw out and then check?

Rappel

Sat, Oct 05 2019, 5:01 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I've never even seen that sold here. I've never seen turkey here that isn't cold cuts. People don't believe me when I tell them you can buy a whole raw turkey like a fresh whole chicken in America. Can't Believe It

I think you need to try shopping around. String beans are cheap and in large quantities where I shop, broccoli and cauliflower are reasonable, and ground turkey is ubiquitous, though the packages are smaller than in the US. And the only stores which carry whole fresh turkey that I've seen are Arab, and not kosher.

Where do you buy your things?

alibaba1

Sat, Oct 05 2019, 6:12 pm

what about making shakshuka? thats eggs and tomaties and a filling meal. at shaarei revacha u can get chicken sausages at a good price . superof sells whole chickens for 29 shekel. aubergine should also be your good friend. you can fry it in breadcrumbs instead of shnitsel . good luck!

amother

Copper

Sat, Oct 05 2019, 9:08 pm

If you made a weekly menu plan will that bore you?
Monday- lentils, rice, salad, yogurt
Tuesday- Tuna patties, mash potatoes, coleslaw
Wednesday-Falafafel, pita, Israeli salad
Thursday- Omelets, home fries, cut up fresh veggies

Also- you can have a huge vegetable soup always going

banana123

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 3:06 am

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

How do you make the lentils? Did you buy the yogurt or make it?
Do you have recipes for the tuna patties, coleslaw, and falafel?

amother

Maroon

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 3:11 am

[quote="Sleepymama"]im not sure where you are buying veggies, but I just looked in my freezer at my frozen coliflower etc and its 700 grams for 22 shekels. Where are you finding fir close to 40 shekels? Thats crazy

Quote:

Are you buying bodek cauliflower? I would love to find it that price! If it's the unchecked kind, how do you do the checking? Do you let it thaw out and then check?

One Israeli company (forgot which one starts with "s") started selling frozen broccoli and cauliflower with an eida charedis and its cheaper than bodek. BUT YOU HAVE TO CHECK EVERY BAG. Still pricey for me but cheaper than bodek.

Op- you have to go to the store, see what they have and then plan your menu, not the other way around.

amother

Maroon

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 3:15 am

JoyInTheMorning wrote:

Out of curiosity: What are the vegetables and fruits that are usually available and affordable in Israel? I haven't been to Israel in a very long time (don't criticize me: I can't afford to take any vacations because I pay full tuition), but I remember from previous trips that Machane Yehuda was always full of many types of vegetables and fruits at very reasonable prices. Of course, I realize that very few people can go to Machane Yehuda. I also remember that at, say, the local makolet in Bayit Vegan, there were only tired looking bananas and oranges along with a decent selection of the kind of vegetables you need for salad.

I have actually rarely been in an Israeli supermarket. What are they like? Are the produce sections as large as they are in American supermarkets?

1. 99% of the stores in Machne Yehuda don't have hechsherim that many people eat
2. In recent years the shuk has gone through a "revamping" and is more hipster etc. Prices have gone up tremendously. 7 years ago, prices were cheaper in the shuk. Now I find that yesh is consistently cheaper

Sleepymama

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 4:05 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

Thanks
Will look out for it!

chanchy123

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 4:20 am

OP you should shop in big cheap chain supermarkets, not at local makolets.
I understand that bodek or equivalent broccoli and cauliflower are expensive (usually less than 40 yea, expensive) but green beans are super cheap. I usually get them for much less than 10 nis. Buy store brands (but Sanfrost the leading brand) usually has great sales on some of their products, I stock up on the sale items.
Most Israelis never use canned vegetables. Look at the produce section in a large supermarket and buy what's cheap. I hardly ever use spinach in recipes - swiss chard is a great substitute and readily available from mehadrin brands for super cheap (usually it's 3 packages of mehadrin greens for 10 nis at my local vegetable store) buy it fresh.
Turkey is available everywhere (but you have to order a whole turkey at your butcher counter). You can find it under הודו אדום - or שווארמה הודו, dark turkey meat off the bone
, חזה הודו, turkey breast
הודו טחון,
ground turkey
שוקי הודו
turkey legs
, כנפיי הודו
turkey wings (I know a lot of people who use them in soup).
If you are very very specific in hechsherim chicken is expensive (to all you non-Israelis, most Israelis do not consider chicken expensive at all) but there are plenty of cheap vegetables. Just buy only what is cheap and look for a recipe that calls for the products that you already bought.
Learn how to repurpose shabbat leftovers. I make fried rice or stirfry with leftover chicken (sometimes I add leftover vegetables as well).

amother

Cerulean

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 5:12 am

OP, I don't know how big your family is. But I make meals for just me and DH like burritos. I use both the fake ground meat and three filets of salmon cut into cubes(in separate meals), and you get literally a ton of burritos out of it for relatively cheap. Stretch the ground meat with lentils and mushrooms, add shortcut Spanish rice (if you want to be fancy sautee onions and garlic but I just add tomato paste or sauce to it) and you get a feast for a lot of people for little. Shepard's pie made with ground chicken or turkey is also really cheap. I make tortilla soup - shredded chicken (even easier with leftover chicken from making with a can of corn and a can of black beans (can be whatever bean is cheapest) added to a base of thinned out tomato soup. Chili and meatballs can both be made from ground chicken/turkey and also make a huge pot full for very little. I make DH sometimes for lunch pasta with tuna (not the canned stuff) and two steaks plus veg like kishuim, eggplant, and tomato get him a full weeks' worth.

For just the two of us, a kilo roast lasts several meals so we still buy even if it's a little more expensive. But I try and stick with roasts under 40 a kilo if there's no sale going on. You get more bang for your buck with schnitzel cut chicken breast for the same reason, because you get more pieces for the same price than with thighs.

Please do your shopping at Osher Ad. They are over all the best price in terms of veg, both fresh and frozen, and most groceries in general. Lately though Shufersal has been having better sales on meat.

Teomima

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 5:32 am

I actually find it very easy to bulk cook on a cheap, vegetarian Israeli diet. I often make large batches of chili and rice, stir fries, breakfast burritos, crustless quiche (my favorite being swiss chard and whatever salty cheese is on sale), lasagna with (I love it with butternut squash and zucchini) using cheap cottage and yellow cheeses...these all freeze well, too.

Also, your mentioned turkey. I don't know where you shop but I once read Israel is the number one consumer of turkey per capita, thanks to shawarma. Because that uses dark meat, it's very easy to find turkey breasts. I've never had trouble finding it fresh at the butcher counter of any supermarket I've been to.

4pom

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 9:24 am

Aviva Werner has a ( by the way amazing ) blog. Not specifically about recipes and budget cooking in Israel . But she does share some entries on those topics too Check her out

dilego

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 9:48 am

If I remember correctly bodek is around26 shekel the bag but there are cheaper makes that are bugfree.stringbeans are very often on sale.it really depends where u shop

LovesHashem

Sun, Oct 06 2019, 10:11 am

Teomima wrote:

Any good recipes for stir fry, quiche, or your lasagna?

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