I got a great question earlier this week from Sheyna, who was looking for suggestions on meal plans for her kids in the days leading up to Pesach, once your kitchen is already Kosher for Passover.
What is everyone planning to feed their kids in those hectic pre pesach days where there is no more chametz but the pesachdiks arent set up yet?
I know this is one of the reasons we turn over our kitchen as late as possible. We’ll be mostly turned over by next Friday, so for the two days until Pesach starts, I know we’ll be eating a lot of scrambled eggs, baked potatoes and cottage cheese, and veggies with guacamole.
Can you help Sheyna out with your plans for your kids’ meals (and your own for that matter)? Let’s talk pre-Pesach meal planning in the comments section!
I premake a TON of boxed mac and cheese (publix of course) and nuke it throughout the week.
I am not sure about the Halacha on this – but if it’s OK, what about cranking up the grill a bit early and having a picnic or two? Could store bought buns, cookies etc. be eaten outside? have never heard of anyone cleaning the outside for Passover, but it would seem to be really simple.
When our children were younger, we used egg matza and kosher for pesach cookies as snacks.
Saw this in a Pesach cookbook. Great for before the Seder. boneless chicken breast dipped in egg then rolled in crushed potato chips. bake @ 375 about 15 minutes.My kids love it. I make it year round.
That is the greatest idea ever! my kids will love it during Pesach!
I budget for 2 take out meals, and I also make potatoe paprikash, where I fry up onions in some oil, add a bunch of potatoes, continue to saute gir a few minutes, throw in chopped hot dogs, add water to cover and add consomme and pepper. These meals need to be sanity savers more than nutritious. Plus, cereal, and frozen pizza eaten from our toaster oven that we move to the basement. Keep it simple, sweeheart..KISS
I make a few boxes of mac and cheese and a pan of tuna noodle casserole ahead of time. We don’t clean the dining room until last thing. That way we can eat indoors if the weather is chilly. I also switch the kids to gluten free Chex. Technically, they are kitniyos, and if I find crumbs of chex I don’t feel as bad as finding cheerio crumbs. Grilling is also a great option for meat and/or veggies. You can always make veggies for your family in your Pesach kitchen. Just make sure to not serve them on your Pesach stuff. We also will take our toaster oven out of the kitchen and warm up pizza slices, morning star burgers, etc. For actual Erev Pesach, cottage cheese, yogurt, tuna salad, eggs, fruits, cheese, macaroons, quinoa. I can’t wait to see some other suggestions!
It’s better to use the unenriched cereal (like from a health food store) than even the Chex, according to my teachers, because the B-vitamins from the Chex will most likely be chometzdik.
We eat Maple Buckwheat Flakes, 100% Corn Flakes (Kelloggs’ has barley malt in addition to the B-vitamins), and Gorilla Munch. And plain puffed rice. All from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. We also eat lots of 100% corn cakes and 100% rice cakes after the cleaning starts. And rice noodles from TJ’s., corn tortillas, and lots and lots of kitniyos (a couple times I’ve made millet or buckwheat). And baby carrots and grape/cherry tomatoes rock when the kitchen is completely upside down. And my kids like matzah year-round, and hubby’s family doesn’t hold by the no matzah during Nissan rule, so that’s helpful until erev Pesach.
We eat pretty much what Adrea does on erev Pesach. Baked potatoes or oven fries and bananas are nice and starchy, too. We’ve done hamburgers—I have friends who do salami and eggs. And hot quinoa cereal.
I move both the milchig and fleishig microwaves downstairs and bring in the outdoor plastic tables and chairs. The kids can have cheese melts, I make rice for dinner ( with chicken in the pesachdik oven), and we have a treat of frozen waffles as well. I also grill and buy buns. Also, all chometz snacks of pretzels etc. may be eaten at this table as well. Right before bedikas chometz we just move is all back outside and hose it off.
cook up all your “pantry chometz” now and “feed your freezer.” next week, your “tomorrow self” will thank your “yesterday self” for making dinner, lol. back up plan is kitnios cereals (and for breakfast) like corn flakes, rice krispies, chex, kix, etc. ppl often forget about using the lonely ricecake as a starch. top with pb n j, chummus, cream cheese, etc. And the most economical option for dinner in general (and can be put up in the crockpot!) is rice and beans (redbeans with taco seasonings, or chick peas with cumin, lentils with sloppy joes). creativity and resourcefulness is key. purim just flexed those muscles in preparation for pesach 😉
I’m making meat lasagna ahead of time so that it’s a filling and nutritious one dish supper which doesn’t make crumbs or anything to chometzi. I also use pasta, only big shapes not spaghetti or tiny pasta as those tend to fly all over the place. If you’re using bread, bruschetta is quick and easy with hard boiled eggs on the side. Burritos, pita cheese or pita with salad and falafel, pitas don’t leave many crumbs either.
I’ll be using the grill. get a plastic put it down on the floor or sit in the garage whatever and eat picnic style and when doen no one leaves the plastic without wiping off the crumbs and the cloth gets tossed. we’re be doing hot dogs, tuna casserole prepared in advance, pizza catered out one night
Also on the make-ahead, freezes well, doesn’t crumble list is shepherd’s pie. America’s test kitchen had a recipe that’s relatively quick and I’ve made with pareve ingredients just fine.
We also set up a table with small appliances in the living room by the patio, and eat mostly outside.
Super kid friendly but pesachdik idea my mom always used was french fries and hot dogs. U can make it in the kashered oven so everyone is happy.
We use our grill and we eat outside. I also have a 2 burner propane stove. It helps that we live in FL. I do clean my patio because we eat out there when the weather permits from November until April/May. We eat chumas and the like with whatever leftover bread there is. PB &J. Burgers, fish. yogurt, cereal. We also use our crockpot for stew or whatever.
Baked potatoes (sweet), roasted potatoes (white), cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, salads, vegetable soup, and trying out a zucchini lasagna (i.e. strips of zucchini instead of noodles).
We use our other appliances like our rice cooker, our toaster (waffles! – usually our Pesach morning last chametz treat), and crockpot. Some people we know have a single burner or a toaster oven and then just reheat meals they’ve already prepped: lasagna, baked ziti, chicken fingers, burritos. We eat out in our porch or have a picnic on the grass if they weather is nice.
You can do donuts or something else special, too. Bamba is kitniyot, and if you go for it, could be a good snack. And of course, fruit!
Remember that kitniyot isn’t chametz, so you can have a pot of rice made, and then make KLP stir fry or something else to go with it. Or make beans and rice or lentils and rice to serve sometime when kids are hungry.
Check out my post on this here: http://organizedjewishhome.com/2012/03/26/meals-around-passover/
Our pre-Pesach meals are similar to the above, but one thing I wanted to mention – our standard meal (which my mother used to serve as well when we were kids) for erev Pesach – when there is no bread and no matza – is hotdogs and mashed potatoes.
I would like some suggestions for something to feed the kids (and adults) late afternoon before chag, because otherwise when we start the Seder they are starving, and irritable.
thanks
I make eggplant lasagna, its a real hit. Similar to what Tali said with the zucchini. I layer relatively thick slices of eggplant, sauce, cheese, and bake. (Excellent also for dieters who want to leave out all the pasta) I also pack in the veg. like zucchini, mushrooms, onions.
Also potato pizza. Thick potato rounds baked with a little sauce and cheese.
So no kids yet… But what do I feed hubby and myself? Pb And j only go so far without bread. I make tuna croquettes with matzo meal and we eat them without bread (year round they do nice as sandwiches). We also cook tons for shabbos and then microwave or toaster oven (ones meat, the others dairy) them. Just nothing crumbly!
My family’s lunch on the day of erev Pesach is always baked stuffed potatoes. Yummy, filling, and not even kitniyot.
Great minds must think alike 🙂
I forgot that we use lettuce leaves for bread. It’s something I learned from The South Beach Diet. It’s very tasty. I don’t think it would go well with PB & J. I use apples for that.
We do that, too, Chaya! You’re right – it is yummy!
We eat mostly kitniot meals the week before Pesach (unless we have a picnic or a meal out). I use the rice cooker and make vegetable/tofu stir fries (in chametz pots, of course), serve hummus etc. I don’t use the oven at all once it’s been cleaned until the kitchen is turned over. I don’t make any hametz gamur meals the weak before — with small children, it’s just too nerve-wracking.
The other thing I do is have my kitchen set up so it can be turned over as quickly as possible. This way I can wait until the day before. I have my Pesach dishes in their own cabinets, not in boxes, and I cover my counter with a piece of plywood I keep in storage from year to year — much faster than cutting and taping foil or plastic. Painter’s tape is very good for taping cabinets closed — it doesn’t take the finish off when you remove it. And once you start to change the kitchen, try to get it done in one session. The goal is to minimize the “in-between” time when you don’t have a usable kitchen.