This is your friendly, annual reminder to make your notes for next year’s Pesach TONIGHT! Yes, do it as you’re packing up your Pesach items!
Here’s what I make sure to include in my notes every yaer:
- What recipes worked? {I made really easy sweet and sour meatballs this year – one part homemade duck sauce to one part tomato sauce. Kids loved it! I made our raisin & nut clusters as bark instead, and OMG, it was INPSIRED! And these almond cookies are a new family favorite. Oh — and we discovered [where have I been??] that Pesach crepes are a great alternative to pancakes for children craving them!}
- Did any of your recipes flop? Make a note so you don’t make them again next year!
- Did you pack away any unopened food stuffs for next year? {I keep my spices from year to year — I just tape up the lid and store the containers in a ziplock bag. They do lose a bit of potency over time, but just add in a shake or two more.}
- Did you overbuy (or underbuy) any particular ingredients? {Note to self: Three bags of matzah meal was excessive, while one bag of potato starch was insufficient.}
- Did you discover a new kitchen appliance, tool or item that you need? I also make a “to buy list” so I can keep an eye on sales throughout the year. {Next year’s list for us is pretty boring: A dish drain and a potato masher.}
As in year’s past, I make all my notes in a MASTER PASSOVER LIST, which I write in Google Docs.
Then I grab a copy of the link and set it in a reminder for myself in Google calendar — a month before NEXT Pesach.
That way, a friendly reminder from myself will pop up just as I start stressing again about the holiday!
And while you still have Pesach on the brain, I want to remind you to be sure to check the clearance aisles at your grocery store.
Many of you will be lucky enough to find non-perishable Kosher for Pesach items for 50% off or more. What a nice way to get a jump start on saving for your April 2019 food budget.
Do you make Pesach notes? What do you include in them?
So, we buy gefilte fish and matzo ball soup in jars and then “doctor” them up. I am wondering how long you think they keep in sealed jars? We have some left and I hate to get rid of them if I don’t need to. Thanks. I love the idea of making notes on the calendar for next year. My family uses Cozi online.
I have kept gefilet fish for at least a year to eighteen months. My daughter loves it year round. I buy it after Passover for very little and save it.
I had understood that matzo kosher for this year’s Pesach could not be held over to next year, that it was kosher only for this year.
If it’s kosher for Pesach this year and it’s unopened it’s kosher for Pesach for future years. Whole wheat matzah may turn rancid bur white matzah keeps forever. Seal it in plastic bags and if necessary put in oven for a couple of minutes next Pesach or the one after that. Canned non acidic products are good for several years. Now is the time to buy the matzah meal, potato starch etc for future years.
We always keep leftover Matzah from year to year–it stays Kosher for Pesach as long as you keep it stored away from Chometz.
I made my list of food that I am storing for next year…I am so pleased that I actually wrote it down and decided to save it instead of adding it to my already extensive spice collection for year round… I should save a lot of money writing this all down…since next year I will not need to buy Matza, seasonings, potato starch, matzo meal, cake mixes, and spices…I also plan to start putting aside money for next pesach… we literally spent over $1500 on Pesach this year…money we did not have for this! So crazy!!!
Canned and jarred foods generally tend to store well from year to year, so I stock up now on sale items. Also, some items are useful all year round, like canned mandarins and such, and the pesach discounts are fantastic.
Also, cake-mixes are fine from year to year. those do fine.
AYLOR, but my understanding is that matza is fine from year to year. In fact, so many of the pesach products we buy have an expiration date usually around….next March! Somehow, I doubt that 1 month before next pesach they go bad… We use the “old” matza for cooked dishes, like matza brei and matza lasagna, and no one notices any difference. Also, Matza meal is cheap now, which I use year-round for bread crumbs (whole wheat).
Any idea how long canned tuna and salmon can be stored?
Isn’t an expiration date printed on the cans?
Yes! We made a list and taped it to the front of our Pesach pantry on wheels. We roll it in from the garage every year before Pesach, and back out at the end of the chag. Changed my life 🙂
Tip: consider a tax deductible donation of unused matzah and matzah products with a long shelf life to local food banks or non profit schools that are required to have emergency food supplies for the kids.
I keep a spreadsheet for Year to year with what I bought sometimes how much it costs and the quantities I need and what I have left over. I also add my recipes to one worksheet and then another worksheet for all the days of Passover who’s coming and what food I am serving
Already here in Chicago the jewel grocery store had $.99 for almost everything on Friday afternoon and probably the rest of the stuff is gone. They donate the leftover food to the chesed fund
I see so many conflicting things online about how long jarred things can be stored–e.g. my husband found something that says mayo should only be stored 2-3 months. Do you have a reliable website to consult? And do you really think potato starch and cake meal if open are OK for another year?
Potato starch for sure. I keep potato starch, unopened confectioners sugar, canned goods, jarred goods, vanilla, unopened oil, and vinegars in my Pesach closet. Matza meal, spices, ground and whole nuts, opened confectioners sugar, baking powder, pesach crumbs, even Pesach mustard, I keep double bagged and labeled on a shelf in my freezer. I saved so much money this year by doing this.
I also keep track of how many disposable pans and dishes I have left, which cleaning supplies (dishwashing liquid, for instance) need to be replenished, and whether I need any new utensils or dishes. Then I can buy them during the year when I find them on sale. Boruch Hashem I have a Pesach kitchen to store it all in–I’m very grateful for this! But you can take advantage of this regardless of where you store your Pesach items.
Matza, matza meal etc can get infested even if sealed in zipper bags. Be careful!
Potato starch, matza meal, nuts, cake meal etc can be double wrapped and stored in the freezer, if you have the space!
Check cans and jars for expiration dates and use them as a suggested date!