New Kitchen Progress, Gd Willing, After 9th of Av

For months, I've been working on getting us a new kitchen, and for years I've been talking about it. Honestly, I had no idea how complicated it could be. Somehow even building our house seemed easier. Then there was nobody around  to tell us that we were doing it wrong. We didn't comparative shop in terms of architect and cablan, builder. We just chose professionals who made us feel comfortable, neighbors, then planned and trusted them.

We didn't do that awful a job. None of us were terribly experienced, not the architect, nor the builders and certainly not us. Davka, the house has held up rather well. But to be honest, the biggest mistakes were in the kitchen planning. That's one of the reasons we need a new kitchen, and the other is that the plumbing needs replacement. Actually I'm keeping an entire wall of closets from the old kitchen and not changing them at all. The planning of those closets was mine alone. At first I thought that I'd get new doors for them, but then to save money, we're not. The formica on the new part of the kitchen goes well with it. Wherever we can save money, we will try.

A few months ago I thought I had it all wrapped up with the right plan, builder, color scheme etc. Then at the last moment, I canceled. One of my daughters helped me find someone else to do the work, and I'm much happier with this one, even though it'll cost a bit more.

The new kitchen contractor "tweaked" the plan in a great way. He's not pushing, which is good.

I took a couple of trips to Jerusalem to look at ceramics, colors etc, and things have changed enormously since my first plan.

Now since the 9th of Av is so soon, nothing gets signed until afterwards.

More Five Shekel Food in Jerusalem

For some strange reason, the only five shekel food places mentioned in the mainstream media here in Israel are those in Tel Aviv.  The day of municipal elections the television stations kept comparing the lines for ns5 coffee with the empty polling stations. I don't get to Tel Aviv much, so I can't say much about it, but I do get to Jerusalem at least once a week.

The first ns5 food place I know of in Jerusalem is by the main entrance to the CBS- Central Bus Station.  I haven't yet had a chance to see if the low prices have influenced the various food stands inside, but I did notice that one of the nosh places on Rechov Yaffo in the direction of Center 1 has begun offering five shekel food items.

Ken yirbu, may the trend spread.

PS I like this menu, very suitable for the people who pass by and don't read Hebrew all that well.  I've always been in favor of this sort of pictorial advertisements that require very little brainpower.

Reviews are welcome in the comments, thanks.

Being Prepared

I've found that the key to functioning is being prepared. And being prepared means making sure I'll have the food I need. So I prepare my food at home.

Here's my breakfast for my weekly study day in Matan.

It's a quick vegetable omelet, which I make the night before.  When I travel in the morning, I make my food to go before going to sleep.  That way it will cool well in the fridge, making it safer for traveling.

I also take fruit, water and sometimes coffee, too.

This method saves money and calories, and I function better when I eat the food which is good more me.  I also prepare my husband's food for work etc.  He has managed to lose and keep off a lot of weight since we started this routine.