Last year, I made a list of all the foods I bought for Pesach, and taped it to a box of Pesach dishes, together with a rough menu plan for the days of yom tov (not chol hamoed), and receipts for everything I bought (along with a list of reminders to myself of things to do this year).  It’s very nice to have, and I’m glad I did it.  I’m not yet finished with my Pesach shopping for this year – I plan to do the last of it later today, and I’ll probably get a few more veggies a day or two before Pesach – so I can’t share a list of what my exact shopping list for this year looks like yet.  But last year’s list is similar, so I think it can still be helpful.  And surprisingly to me, the prices from this year and last are very, very close.

General supplies:

• grape juice, 64 oz (bought 20, used 12)
• sugar (used 3 lb)
• 1 bottle lemon juice
• 3 containers potato starch
• 1 paprika
• 1 cinnamon
• 1 salt
• 4 cans tomato sauce (regular size)
• 4 cans pineapple, crushed
• 2 cans green olives, sliced
• 2 cans black olives, sliced
• 2 packages ground walnuts
• 1 container raisins
• 1 bottle apple cider vinegar
• 2 bottles of veg. oil, 48 oz.
• 1 bottle olive oil
• 2 containers sour pickles
• 1 3 lb. tab stack of cheese
• 30 dozen eggs
• 3 lb hand shmura, regular
• 1 lb whole wheat hand shmura
• 3 lb. machine shmura
• 3 lb. egg matza (can’t remember why I bought this – it’s not something I use on Pesach)
• 1 lb. whole wheat machine matza
• 3 lb. matza meal
• 15 lb. reg. machine matza
• 5 boxes quinoa (about 14 oz each)

Produce:

• 4 cantaloupe
• 8 lb grapes
• 100 lb potatoes
• 4 heads celery
• 4 lb turnips
• 8 lb beets
• 4 lb green pepper
• 1 bunch parsley
• 9 lb eggplant
• 10 lb green cabbage
• 3.5 lb. garlic
• 4 lb cucumbers
• 15 lb onions
• 1 head purple cabbage
• 100 lb carrots
• 5 lb strawberries
• 10 lb apples
• 6 lb oranges
• 15 lb bananas
• 15 lb pears
• 10 lb tomatoes
• 1 lb parsnips
• 4 spaghetti squash
• 4 butternut squash

Meat/chicken:

• 40 lb. chicken
• 15 lb. ground meat
• 1 – 12 lb turkey

I didn’t make notes about how much I had left over – but I’m sure that we didn’t eat all of the above foods in a week and a half (including the days before Pesach when we turned over the kitchen).  I made a note that I spent a total of $500 for the month of Pesach, which was the same thing I was spending for every other month, and the receipts back that up.

Here are some of the foods that I made for the days of yom tov itself – unfortunately I didn’t note the veggie side dishes or chol hamoed meals, since the purpose of making the list was just for myself to remember how many times I multiplied the recipes.  I make a variety of things in each category, and mix and match them for the various meals so we’re eating different foods each time, but I can still maximize my time in the kitchen and double up on recipes.  I make the vast majority of the food in the two days before Pesach, and then put part of the meat dishes, kugels, and desserts in the freezer for the second days.  For the marinated salads, I make a large amount of each at one time because it stays good in the fridge all week long.  Then I’ve got the bulk of yom tov meals out of the way by the time Pesach starts, which is helpful since I don’t like cooking on yom tov itself, and I do like to relax and enjoy the holiday when it’s here.  It can be hard to feel the joy of yom tov when it’s non stop cooking and dishwashing.  I make the cooked vegetable dishes and non marinated salads right before the last days so that they’re fresh.

Main dishes:

• roast turkey
• roast chicken
• meat and eggplant layers
• shepherd’s pie
• pinwheel meat roll
• meatloaf
• turkey salad

Kugels:

• potato – 4 – 9 x 13 pans
• royal carrot – 3 – 9 x 13 pans
• vegetable matza – 3 – 9 x 13 pans
• kishke – three rolls
• quinoa pilaf (two kinds)

Salads:

• beet
• coleslaw
• California pickle
• carrot
• health
• tomato bruschetti
• charoses (not a salad but it still kind of fits this category)

Desserts (we also had lots of fresh fruit, but this is only what I prepared):

• chocolate cake (4 – 9 x 13)
• mocha squares (2 – 9 x 13)
• banana ice cream (1 – 9 x 13)
• strawberry ice whip (3 – 9 x 13)
• grape sherbert (2 9 x 13)

If you look at my shopping list and then at the foods I prepared, you’ll see a lot of things that clearly weren’t used for any of the above dishes, and those were things that were used for breakfasts and chol hamoed meals.  But I don’t have a list of the specific dishes I made, though I have a general recollection.  I’ll try to share with you some of the foods we have for breakfasts and chol hamoed sometime before Pesach, once I get my menu for this year planned.

Avivah