I’m not usually one to preach “doing without” – unless you really and truly can’t afford it. I’m more of a “be strategic and you can probably get it for pennies on the dollar” type.
Except for during Passover.
You see, while there are some things I won’t be compromising on (yes, my KLP coke with real sugar is one of them), I stand firm by my “do without… or get creative” mantra.
Because really, when it comes to KLP cereal and mayonnaise and powdered sugar (and don’t get me started on the fruit jelly candies)… all the coupon ninja strategies in the world probably aren’t going to let you pay pennies on the dollar.
Which is why one of my quick money saving tips for Passover is to simply do without.
I’m not saying “starve”. I’m saying “alter your expectations”. For example…
KLP cereal? Do without. (It’s pretty gross anyway.) Eat eggs, fresh fruit, matzah with cream cheese (my favorite!), or matzah brie instead!
KLP mayo? Do without. (It’s really bad for you anyway.) If you can’t stand a week without the creamy white stuff, make your own mayo. I like to add some fresh herbs to mine.
KLP powdered sugar. I love a good dusting of powdered sugar on my flourless chocolate cake, so rather than do without, I’m going to get creative. I’ll be sticking a cup of regular sugar in my blender. (Remember, cane sugar doesn’t require a special KLP hechsher so no mark-up there.)
Tell me: What will you be doing without this Pesach? Or perhaps you’ll be getting creative. Do tell!
No KLP baked goods for us. We make our own cakes or eat chocolate an fruit. Great post. Thanks!
You can’t go wrong with chocolate and fruit!!!
No kosher l’pesach “noodles” for us – those just turn into potato starch mush. Great time to try different quiche recipes.
I hate the high mark ups of everything during Passover…it is almost like gas prices spiking during peak travel seasons!
If you’re really craving that bowl of cereal, the best substitute I’ve found is a bowl of matzah farfel with milk and some honey drizzled over the top. Cheaper, and in my opinion, much better tasting then the KLP cereals.
I grew up eating matzah farfel with milk during Pesach! I’ve never found anyone else who has. I’m not sure my kids would go for it, but we’ve given up on the cereal. It’s not worth it.
I also grew up with farfel and milk “cereal” on Pesach. And I dearly love it. Looking forward to it again this year. Some years the farfel has been expensive (living in KS), so I crunch up my own.
The only KLP cereal that is good is Fruitys.
Avoid the Pizza too. Put sauce and toppings on matza and pop it in the oven.
Agreed – dessert = pesach brownies (matzah meal, cocoa powder, etc). and i’m very against pesach salad dressing – balsamic vinegar (that i use the rest of the year after buying on pesach) + olive oil + sugar is better!
no KLP Coke in CA due to some new law concerning the caramel color being a carcinogen (also applies to Pepsi)
Well – I love the idea and have been applying it for years. It works! Can’t (won’t) go w/o the mayo, so that’s one of my big spend items, as is Starbucks Coffee, but apart from that, fruits, veggies, meat and lots of baked veggie dishes are the norm. For the sweet tooth, baked apples (can be micro’d) whole or largely diced w raisins and cinnamon and a little sweet (sugar/honey) makes a great snack or dessert. A couple of Elite Chocolate bars for the week will also do the trick as will bazooka bubble gum – both reasonably priced comparably. I’ve come to realize that Pesach is a great time for a few special treats, but realistically, it isn’t necessary to spend a fortune buying things I wouldn’t eat during the rest of the year anyway.
We eat close to the earth year round making it easier (and much less expensive) to go through 8 chametz free days.
I had the good fortune of getting married a week ago, aka just under 3 weeks before Passover. This means that the first big decision my new husband and I are having is how to handle pesach.
We have done all of our pesach shopping outside of the produce. First and last days will be at my in laws, so we are handling chol hamoed exactly as you describe. Less is more!
We bought two processed essentials because the alternative would have been more expensive. We bought one BBQ type sauce for BBQ chicken and a salad dressing. We have chicken and steak in the freezer. We plan on making meals of salad, meat, chicken, and matzah pizza(not at the same time of course!). we are gonna nab a box of matzah from his parents who get the free 5lb boxes and ALWAYS have too much. It’ll be nice to just have lots of fresh veggies and go te healthy route instead of the oily kugels and processed crap!!
mazal tov!
B-b-q Sauce (variation from Barbara Kafka’s Microwave Gourmet):
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Mix all ingredients in a 4-cup glass measuring cup; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for five minutes.
Idk if liquid smoke is K4P, you can sub some smoked paprika for it. If you don’t use your m/w on Pesach, you can just cook this on the stove … You still have to buy K4P ketchup and vinegar …
What kind of salad dressing do you buy? I make 1000 Island, French, and Garlic Mayo (oh, well I do buy the K4P light mayo, I gotta have some store-bought mayo lol).
Or you could just live on love for the week. 🙂
I’ve written about this myself: http://okmoreh.com/2009/04/simple-food-for-passover.html. Even the most basic cooking from scratch is likely to be better than the overprocessed packaged things, many of which come across as “edible foodlike substances” rather than as food.
The trick with pesach is “keep it simple” – make simple foods, skip the processed junk, and eat real foods – like veggies, salads, fruits, potatoes, eggs, chicken soup, etc. combos of all those, of course.
I grew up w. no pesach cereal, and we always loved just some matza meal or farfel (or crumble our own matza into a bowl) sprinkled with sugar & cinnamon and then w. milk, eaten like cereal. My kids love this too.
Nothing beats matza w. cream cheese, or butter, or butter & sliced cheese (double goodness), or an omlette, or cottage cheese w. fresh fruit (berries, melon) for a delicious breakfast.
I try to make Pesach shopping to be lots of fruits & veggies and few processed foods. Okay, the occasional marshmallows are a great treat (and they make terrific Barad for the makos!). And chocolate.
If you have to have them, the pesach cake mixes, salad dressings, canned foods, always go on major clearance sale AFTER pesach. buy them then and save for next year – we’ve done this several years in a row and they come out just as moist and delicious (and yes, processed…).
Also, what helps me avoid most processed foods on Pesach is that I refuse to bring in products w. cottonseed oil into my house (even oil sold as “pesach vegetable oil” is cottonseed) – so that also simplifies my choices and brings me back to basics.
Cereal tastes yucky since it’s made of potato starch, but last year I came across a real yummy one made of matza meal, and very expensive too! Now I am debating whether I should get this treat… Pesach prep so scares me that in my wish to make everything simpler for myself I forget to be frugal… Try again next year…
One treat I have always made on Pesach is frozen chocolate covered bananas on a popsicle stick covered in nuts coconut or whatever. I made them ahead and they are treats at the best of the worst times – I have been making them for my children and grandchildren and they never seem to go out of favour.
Yummy! That sounds like such a special treat. We make chocolate covered strawberries!