Category Archives: Pesach

My basic Pesach cleaning schedule

homemaking, Pesach

This week I’m officially getting started on my Pesach (Passover) cleaning! I generally don’t do more than two hours of cleaning on any given day except when we turn over the kitchen.  It’s too easy to get worn down by all the work; I find breaking it into manageable pieces makes it possible to enjoy this time of year and all the attendant preparations as much as any other time of year!  The kids do a lot to help, and I don’t want them to get burnt out, either.  Some people like to start way in advance, but I’ve never found it beneficial to start too much in advance, since then you have to keep it in Pesach ready condition.  Our house isn’t large enough that I can easily limit areas for a long time in advance!

I feel that each holiday is best enjoyed when the focus is on that holiday.  That means that I don’t do any planning for Pesach until Purim has passed – I focus on Purim when it’s Purim and don’t think about Pesach until it’s over, and all the Purim stuff has been cleaned up and put away.  I try not to drag out Pesach cleaning, but I also don’t like the pressure of having too much to do, too close to Pesach, so this schedule works well for me.    I clean mostly in the afternoons on Monday through Weds (sometimes Thursday, but I prefer to keep that time available for Shabbos preparations), so we can continue our regular homeschooling schedule until the week before Pesach.  I also use part of Sundays.

Here’s my basic schedule:

Week 1 (March 2 – 4):  I inventoried chametz (leavened foods) and clothing/shoes, and made sure everyone has what they need for the upcoming holiday and spring season.  It was the week of shopping, lol!   I still have a couple of things I need to get (including my personal big purchase that I’ll get today), but I’m waiting for a good sale to come along for the couple of other items. 🙂

Week 1: The week after Purim I do my planning – along with things like I mentioned above.  It’s preliminary kind of stuff that allows me to focus on Pesach cleaning without having to stop and start knowing it’s done.

Week 2 (March 8 – 11):  We’ll clean the top two floors. That includes all the bedrooms, the attic, linen closet, and two bathrooms.  We have a homeschool gathering on Weds. as well as an eye doctor appointment to take ds16 to, so I’ve scheduled that as an off-day so we can all enjoy hanging out without feeling like we should be cleaning.

Yesterday I bought our matzas and some other Pesach staples – I don’t like shopping when it’s crowded and I avoid the rush by doing it now.  It also spaces out the cost – six cases of grape juice, meats, and matza were all paid for with my Feb. budget.  My March budget will cover everything else.  My food budget is the same at this time of year as any other month – $600.   If I have to, I’ll stop in at the kosher supermarket a few days before Pesach when everything else is done to pick up any small items I don’t yet have.  Unlike the vast majority of people in the very long lines at that time, I’m relaxed and cheerful; I consider it almost a public service to share some positive energy when everyone is dripping with tension.  🙂

Week 3 (March 14 – 18): At this point I do the basement and laundry room.  This year I’m slightly adjusting our schedule to accommodate the home repairs the  kids want to do.  They want to  some spackle a little, paint a little, fix some things that don’t look so nice (like the hole in the bathroom door created when ds2 used a screwdriver to screw into it!).  So on Sunday and Monday, we’ll do the basement and laundry room, and then will have the following three days to do the desired visual improvements. 🙂

Week 4 (March 21 – 25):  I’ll do the living room, dining room, and kitchen (we have an open layout so it’s easiest to do them all about the same time).  This is the most intensive time, since it’s a lot of work in just three days.  I like to finish cleaning about a week before Pesach so there’s plenty of time to cook in advance, do all the laundry, etc, without a feeling of pressure.  I plan to turn over the kitchen on the 23rd, and that day we’ll shift out of hectic mode and can all relax – I plan to take the family to the duck pond for his birthday – we did that last year and he requested to do it again, with the same refreshments as last year.  Then on the March 24, I’ll do my monthly shopping, and Thurs. I’ll unpack, plan my Pesach menu (to be determined after I see what I buy), and cook for Shabbos.  At that time the house is entirely ready – the only thing left to do the following week is cook for Pesach.

So far the challenge this week is that the best time to clean is when the littles are napping, but they each nap in a differentbedroom, so not much can be done on the top two floors since it will wake them up!  That means cleaning with them awake and involved.  The biggest challenge is the attic, since I keep all the clothes storage there.  Since everyone is going through all of their drawers, I have a lot of clothes that need to be cleaned and then packed in the appropriate boxes.  Once I get past this area of the house, it will get easier since I can use the time the kids are sleeping to work.

I also want to find some time to plan my garden.  I don’t know if I’m going to get myself together enough to plant fruit trees – this is such a hectic time of year!  I need to go through all the seeds I have, see what else I need, but the most time consuming thing of all is to make a plan for where everything will be planted.  I have a feeling that I’m going to have to accept that I can’t make the more involved garden that I would like.  Oh, well.  At times like this I remind myself that I can only do so much, and to look at what I do accomplish instead of what is left undone.

Do you have any tips that help you stay relaxed and enjoy this time of year?

Avivah

Twice Baked Potatoes

Pesach, recipes, ,

I’ve made these a number of times, always varying the recipe according to what I have on hand.  It’s very inexpensive, easy to adapt, and it always tastes great!  We make double this amount for a lunch meal, but a smaller family would probably do better to halve it.  🙂

Twice Baked Potatoes

  • 8 medium potatoes
  • 1/4 – 1/2  c. butter or coconut oil
  • 1 c. chopped onion (any kind – white, green, or red)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • optional – 2 c. shredded vegetables (carrots, broccoli, spinach, napa, cauliflower, zucchini or whatever you have on hand)
  • 1/2 c. milk/cream/sour cream
  • 2 c. cheese (hard cheese or cottage/ricotta, or combination of )
  • salt and pepper to taste

    • Wash the potatoes well, prick them with a fork, and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until tender.

    While the potatoes are baking, saute the chopped onions and garlic in butter.  When they are soft and translucent, add the finely chopped/shredded vegetables of your choice.  Cover them and continue cooking on low until they are soft.

    When the potatoes are done, scoop out the insides, and mash them with milk, cream, or sour cream.  Mix in the sauteed vegetables, then the cheese.  (If you’re using hard cheese, reserve some to sprinkle on top at the end.)  Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well.  Then add the mixture to the empty potato shells – it will be overflowing, especially if you add the optional vegetables.

    Sprinkle some hard cheese on top, then pop them back into the oven for another 10 or so.  Serve warm.

    (This post is part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.)

    Avivah

    Delicious Cabbage Soup

    frugal strategies, Pesach, recipes

    Cabbage is a wonderful winter vegetable – it’s inexpensive, stores well in a cool room, and can be made into a huge variety of tasty dishes.  I created this soup a couple of days ago, and though I thought the twelve quarts I made would be enough for two lunch meals, it got gobbled up at one sitting!  The amounts below should work well for a smaller family than ours  – I made about three times this amount.

    Delicious Cabbage Soup

    • 2 medium onions, chopped
    • 2 – 3 cloves of garlic, diced
    • 2 – 4 T. oil (I used rendered chicken fat)
    • 1 – 2 lb leftover turkey or whatever meat you have from making broth (you can use ground meat instead if you don’t have any leftover meat to use up)
    • 1 large head of cabbage (purple or white)
    • 1 T. sweet paprika
    • 2 t. thyme
    • 8 c. broth
    • salt to taste

    Heat the oil in a pot, and add the chopped onions; cook until translucent.  Add the soup chicken and saute it until it’s warmed through.  Then add the cabbage, spices, and broth.  Cover the pot and cook on medium until the cabbage is so soft it’s almost melting.  Taste it and add salt according to your personal taste – I’d estimate I used about 3 T. sea salt for my large pot full (12 quarts).

    This recipe is super inexpensive and it’s a great way to use up your leftover chicken from making broth.  The cost for me to make 12 quarts was under $5: the onions were .29 lb (I used approximately two pounds – .60), the cabbage was .39 lb (I used about 8 – 10 lb/3.90), and since I got the turkey carcasses for free, the broth and turkey were free.  It’s packed with flavor and nutrients, and is very digestible.  Perfect to warm you up on a cold winter day!

    (This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.)

    Avivah

    How to render animal fat

    frugal strategies, nutrition, Pesach, recipes, ,

    >>How do you render animal fat?<<

    Sometimes I forget that many things I do that have become second nature to me need explanation!   Rendering fat is very, very easy, and it’s a frugal thing to do since most people tend to throw away the skin and fat; you can save money while simultaneously benefiting your health.

    Take the fat of your choice (chicken, duck, beef), and cut it into chunks if it’s large.  It doesn’t need to be ground or minced, but if you have big pieces from beef, cutting it into 2 inch chunks will help it melt faster.  I don’t usually have any pieces big enough to cut.  You can separate any flesh from it, but I don’t bother since that’s more easily done at the end.  Put the chunks of fat into a pot on the very lowest flame/heat setting on your stovetop so that it will very slowly melt – if you put it too high, it will burn.  As the fat melts, it becomes clear.  Keep the pot covered to keep the heat in, and after a few hours (sometimes significantly less) on low, the fat will be totally liquified.  Be sure to take a look at it every once in a while to be sure it’s not cooking too fast.

    Once it’s fully melted, you can do one of three things, depending on how you’re planning to use and store the fat once it’s rendered.  1) Carefully pour the liquified fat through a fine mesh strainer/cheesecloth to catch the little drippings.  This will give you the best result in terms of asthetics; additionally, by straining out all of the protein sediment, it will stay good for a very long time.  2) Use a slotted spoon to take the cracklings out, saving them to use in a savory dish.  3) Don’t bother straining it because you’ll be using the rendered fat in cooking (vs baking) and you don’t care about if there are a few little pieces. Whatever you choose, store it in a container with a tight fitting lid.

    I tend to go with option 2 or 3, since I only use animal fat for sauteeing, not baking (coconut oil is my ‘go to’ fat for baking).  And I use it so quickly that it doesn’t matter to me if it will only stay good for a few weeks vs a few months.  If I’m doing a huge batch, though, I’ll take the extra few minutes to strain it out.

    I also reserve the liquid that is left at the bottom of the pan after roasting poultry or meat.  When it’s refrigerated, it naturally separates, with the fat rising to the top and the gravy sinking to the bottom.  I scrape off the fat layer to saute with and add the congealed broth that is left to  a stew or casserole – it packs in a lot of flavor.  When I make broth and refrigerate it overnight, the fat will congeal on top.  If it’s a very concentrated pot of broth (ie large amount of bones to water), then I skim the fat or the broth tastes too greasy.  This is particularly important when I do lamb broth, since it tastes like drinking oil if you don’t skim it first.

    Is anyone familiar with gribenes? My mother used to make these on Pesach (Passover).  Gribenes are a traditional Jewish food, the kind of things people now consider a heart attack waiting to happen, but if you know about saturated fats and why they’re so important to your body, you can enjoy them with a clear mind.  🙂

    Gribenes are basically just crispy fried chicken skins.  To make them, you take some unrendered fat and chicken skin (cut it in strips).  Chop up an onion, and put it together in the pot with the fat and chicken skins.  Keep the flame on low until the fat has melted, then turn it up to medium and keep cooking until the onions and skins are golden. Sprinkle with a little salt, and enjoy!  My kids like these hot from the pan as is, but it’s a nice addition to chopped liver or any mashed potato dish (on Pesach, you know that means you can put it into everything :lol:).

    Note: kosher supermarkets sell chicken fat around Pesach (Passover) time, not so much the rest of the year.  Our local store sells schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) throughout the year, but it’s way more expensive than making your own (I haven’t checked for a long time, but I think it was over $5 lb).

    (This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday.)

    Avivah

    (My apologies for mentioning Pesach when Purim is still over two weeks away; everyone who felt anxious at the mention can now stop hyperventilating. :))

    Nutty Pizza Crust (grain-free)

    Pesach, recipes,

    In our family everyone enjoys pizza; for the last few months we’ve been serving two versions on pizza night to accomodate those who prefer grain-free/GAPS.   This crust has a nice flavor – and though it doesn’t taste like your typical pizza dough, it’s very tasty.

    I made some very slight adaptations to the recipes of Sierra and SOG , and this is what we use now when we want a gluten-free pizza crust.

    Nutty Pizza Crust

    • 2 c. nut flour (I prefer hazelnut, but have used almond meal successfully)
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 t. coconut oil (I use expeller pressed)
    • 1 t. salt

    Melt the coconut oil, let cool slightly.  Beat the eggs, add in the coconut oil and salt. (You don’t want it to be boiling hot or it will curdle the eggs; if you don’t melt it, it’s hard to mix in evenly.)  Then stir in the nut flour; mix thoroughly.

    Form it into a ball, and then pat it out on a greased pan or cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes until browned.  Then add the toppings – sauce, vegetables, and cheese.  Bake another 10 – 15 minutes until it looks ready.

    Enjoy!

    (This post is part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.)

    Avivah

    Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (gluten free)

    Pesach, recipes

    I’ve been enjoying learning to bake with nut and coconut flours.  The consistency is different but it’s nice to know that there are ways to make baked goods that are typically not gluten free.  These muffins are so good you could call them cupcakes and serve them for dessert!

    Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

    • 1/2 c. melted butter or coconut oil
    • 1/4 c. applesauce (we used the applesauce we preserved from the apples we gleaned last fall)
    • 1/4 c. honey
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 medium zucchini, grated and squeezed dry
    • 1/4 t. baking soda
    • 1 t. vanilla
    • 1 c. almond flour
    • 1/2 c. coconut flour or finely grated dried unsweetened coconut
    • 1/4 c. cocoa or carob powder

    Mix the butter, applesauce, honey, eggs, zucchini, baking soda, and vanilla well.  Mix the nut flours and cocoa/carob powder in a separate bowl; then mix into the zucchini mixture.  Pour into a muffin tin or muffin liners, and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.  Yields 12 muffins.

    When kids get yummy stuff like this for breakfast, you don’t hear complaints from them about having to eat healthy food. 🙂

    Avivah

    Mock Larabars (grain free)

    Pesach, recipes, ,

    This is delicious enough for a snack and nutritious enough for a quick breakfast!  This is our adaptation of this recipe, which was an adaptation of yet another recipe!   There are endless ways to play around with this basic recipe.

    Mock Larabars

    • 2 c. sliced almonds (ideally soaked and dehydrated- can use different nuts according to your tastes), processed finely
    • 1/2 c. shredded coconut
    • 3/4 c. coconut oil
    • 2 t. vanilla
    • 2 T. cocoa
    • 1/2 c. pecan meal (you can use any nut flour)
    • 1/2 c. raisins
    • 1/2 c. dates

    Melt the coconut oil, add in vanilla.  Mix all dry ingredients, then whiz in a food processor with the coconut oil.  Add the dried fruit, and whiz again.  (You might find it blends up better if you process the dried fruit alone, then add it in again and the end and process it again.)

    Press the mixture firmly into a greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes.

    When ds16 first mixed these up, he didn’t process the sliced almonds, which was why he initially thought they were a failure – they didn’t look like they’d hold together.  He added eggs and more nut flour to compensate, but if you do what you’re supposed to in the beginning, you won’t have to.  🙂

    Thanks to the dates and cocoa combination, these have a sweet, almost chocolatey flavor.  At least that’s what someone like me who has hardly had any sweeteners in my food for two years thinks!  Seriously, though, my kids all loved these.  The biggest challenge is to wait after eating one to realize you’re satiated before gulping more down – they’re packed with healthy fats and are extremely satisfying.  If you want it to be sweeter, use a cup of dates instead of half a cup of raisins and half a cup of dates, or you can double the amount of dates/dried fruit. Or you could add some honey.  🙂

    (This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays.)

    Avivah

    Pear Crisp – Grain free

    Pesach, recipes, ,

    >>Would you be able to share your recipe for grain-free pear crisp, and the pecan pie crust? I’m trying to cut down on flour and grain products as well, and it’s challenging to adapt my favorite recipes to this new way of eating.<<

    I can relate to the challenge of adapting to a new way of eating!

    The pear crisp was more of a concept that I tried out than a recipe, so I don’t have exact measurements.  It’s the kind of thing that will turn out however you make it, though!  Here’s what I did:

    Slice up a bunch of pears, and put them into a greased baking pan.  Pour thick coconut cream (or dairy cream) over the sliced fruit and mix so the pear slices are thoroughly coated.  In a separate bowl, mix coconut oil, ground nuts, shredded unsweetened coconut, and some spices – ground cloves are good with pears.  This will be the topping; sprinkle it on top of the sliced pears.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until the pears are soft and the topping is crispy.

    You can use other fruits for this, also.  The main difference would be in the spices you use.  If I were using apples, for example, then I’d use cinnamon and nutmeg. Summer fruits like peaches, apricots, and plums would also go well with cinnamon.

    I made the coconut cream from scratch that I used for this; I’ll share the process sometime in the next couple of weeks.  If you can’t find kosher coconut cream, you can boil down coconut milk until it gets thick and rich.  How long you boil it down will depend on how high fat the milk that you’re using is in the first place.  You can also make this dairy by using heavy cream instead of coconut cream, and using butter instead of coconut oil for the crumb topping.

    My family is used to less sweeteners than most, so I didn’t add anything to this.  But if your family is used to more sweetness, then you’ll probably want to add something to enhance the natural sweetness of the pears.

    Avivah

    Lasagna – Pesach

    Pesach, recipes

    It’s erev yom tov, and since we did so much cooking before Pesach, we’re able to pull a number of kugels, main dishes, and desserts out of the freezer.  We adapted our menu plan for the last days to have some more variety, so we added roast turkey, farfel stuffing, gravy, ratatouille, sweet potato wedges, and carrots with pineapple to the other things planned, but that’s made already.  We only needed to make two salads, two roasted vegetable dishes, and bake some butternut squash today, so we’ve all been able to enjoy a relaxing day.  But – because I know that days like this can end up with the most rushing at the end (because everyone assumes there’s nothing to do until an hour before it’s time to light), I want to be careful to avoid that frustrating scenario.  There’s a saying, ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’, and if I didn’t learn something from the past and plan around that, I’d be inviting myself to have a frustrating late afternoon today.

    I didn’t invite guests for this part of yom tov, since I was hesitant to invite people in advance, just in case I gave birth early again.  But we really enjoy having company!  Today I hopefully called a neighbor and invited her along with her visiting extended family for lunch tomorrow.  We have enough food made that an extra ten or fifteen people for lunch is no big deal, but they couldn’t come – their cooking is all done.  Since so many people cook on yom tov and either don’t yet have their cooking done or wouldn’t mind putting whatever extra they had into the freezer, plus she would be working all day today, I thought it was worth asking.  Her 9 year old niece visiting from NY and my dd8 have really hit it off and spent hours together during the time they’ve been here, so even though they can’t come, I know they’ll still end up enjoying each other’s company over the next couple of days.

    Here’s the last recipe I’ll be posting for Pesach this year.  My kids love this recipe, but in the end I didn’t make it for this year – too many other tasty things to make!  I’ll probably make it for the coming Sunday, though, assuming I have enough matza left – my kids will be happy to have it even after Pesach!  A couple of years ago I made it for the first time for guests who don’t keep kosher or Pesach traditions, and they enjoyed it, too – so I guess that’s saying something for it!  It’s an easy recipe, and it makes a generous amount.  Some people find that a dairy meal on the last day breaks up the long stretch of meat meals, and this is a nice dairy main dish.

    Pesach Lasagna

    • 4 eggs
    • 2 lb. cottage cheese
    • 1 t. salt
    • 1/4 t. pepper
    • 1 lb. shredded cheese
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 t. basil
    • 32 oz. tomato sauce
    • 6 whole matzos

    Soak matzas in some milk for less than a minute – they should be wet, not soggy.  Beat eggs, and add cottage cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil.  Mix well.  Pour a little sauce on the bottom of two 9 x 13 pans.  Layer the matza, then the cottage cheese, then sauce, then shredded cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes.  Let cool ten minutes before slicing.

    You can also saute some onions, garlic, and any shredded veggies of your choice, and add that as another layer.

    Enjoy the last days of Pesach – so much work goes into preparing for this week, and then it zooms by so quickly!   I’ve enjoyed our Pesach so much and hope that all of you have, too!

    Avivah

    Pizza Pie – Pesach

    Pesach, recipes

    Since I ran out of matza meal by the time yom tov started, thanks to all of the cake and kugel making that’s been done, I’m committed to using only what I have on hand.  That means being a little more creative about what to make for some of the chol hamoed meals.  This recipe for pizza fills the bill since it uses matza farfel instead of matza meal, and I still have three boxes left of that.  This will be for chol hamoed lunch tomorrow.

    Pizza Pie

    • 3 c. matza farfel
    • 2 1/2 c. boiling water
    • 5 eggs
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • 8 oz shredded cheese
    • 1 can seasoned tomato sauce (I use tomato paste, thin it with water, and season it myself)

    To make the crust, pour the boiling water over the farfel to soften.  Drain well.  Beat eggs with salt and pepper, and mix with drained farfel.  Cover a large pan with this mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then remove crust from oven and cover it with the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 – 8 minutes.

    Avivah