Tell me your Pesach shortcuts

amother

Wine

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 12:18 pm

This past year I had a baby and one of our children (my stepchild) got married (the first child to get married). BH I also have a very active (demanding) toddler. We have a few other kids (my stepkids) in between. Everyone will be home (my house) for Pesach. My dh and I have been married for 5 years (before this I was single/no kids) so hosting Pesach is still newish for me. I'm very anxious about all the work involved. Shabbos is hard enough with my two littles.

Please share with me your Pesach shortcuts. How do you simplify Pesach? I plan on cleaning according to Halacha and not go overboard. My house in general is kept neat. I should add that I only have a house keeper on Mondays for 4 hours. This year I plan to use disposable plates/utensils/napkins, etc. Where should I buy nice/attractive but not expensive disposable? I live in Los Angeles.

Are there any food dishes worth buying premade/precooked? I buy challah. Any simple/healthy/yummy recipes are welcomed too!

Thank you!

SuperWify

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 12:22 pm

Wow, you sound amazing! Hashem should give you lots of koach!

I hope DH knows how special you are and does his part to chip in!

Can your older kids help you with the babies? Can you hire a HS girl to help watch them?

Extra cleaning help is a must!

Cook easy and if your not makpid buy takeout or ready made.

Good luck!

amother

Cerulean

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 12:44 pm

First, enjoy all the wonderful stuff with your family.

I clean the kitchen first. Double layers of newspaper in drawers etc, then just whip off the top layer and you're ready to go.

This year, there's a whole week from shabbos to yom tov. That means you can move into toaster oven/microwave/bought food mode right after shabbos and have the rest of the kitchen ready for Pesach.

For the first days at least, make simple stuff - simple meat, chicken, fish, potatoes, roast veggies and salads. Make one pot of soup and freeze some for the second days. Weeknight suppers are quick - we kasher our BBQ grill and have grilled chicken with fries and cut vegetables. It's a quick, filling meal.

imasinger

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 1:30 pm

Can you get someone in to help clean up after the sedarim? I find even with disposables, the cleanup is one of the hardest parts.

Right now, figure out what can be delegated and assign tasks to DH and older stepkids. The ones that are old enough might be interested in taking on most or all of one meal preparation.

Easy meals:

Meatballs - balls of ground beef cooked in 1 jar of marinara plus one can cranberry sauce. Good over spaghetti squash.

Chicken

Hot dogs. Good on their own, or sauteed with roasted vegetables (your choice mix of onion, potato/sweet potato, squash, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, mushroom, carrot, parsnip, cauliflower, any other veggies you like, tossed w olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, roasted at 400 for about 30 min or until done).

Fish. Gefilte, or bake some salmon.

Soups. Easy to make ahead and freeze. Butternut squash soup is particularly easy -- roast butternut squash in the oven with a little oil, while sauteing some onion. Dump onion and squash in a pot, add water, blend.

I eat gebrochts, and get up early to make Pesach rolls, a favorite with the little ones, and easy to make.

Their other favorite is matza pizza or matza grilled cheese.

For those old enough and not allergic, trail mix of nuts, chocolate chips, and raisins.

Let's not forget matza and cream cheese, or hard boiled eggs.

Do NOT bother wasting your money on pesach cereals, pesach imitation pasta, or pesach premade cake mixes. It takes less than 3 minutes more to bake your own stuff, for half the cost.

Consider investing in a sous vide. Being able to plop your meat or fish in and walk away for hours is a huge time and energy saver.

Enjoy!

nicole81

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 3:24 pm

I don't clean out any cabinets or pantries. I use a rubbermaid rack storage unit that I keep in my basement year round as well as sets of rubbermaid drawers. All of my pantry items go on the shelves, and pots, pans, and plastics go in the drawers. It's a huge time saver and it makes both preparing and cleaning up from pesach much easier.

doodlesmom

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 3:31 pm

A crockpot is great especially for chol hamoed and erev yom tov. Every morning when you wake up put up something in there be it a goulash or yapchick etc. and when you are tired later on or coming home from after a long day there is something there to serve the kids (and adults) right away.

Teomima

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 4:00 pm

My biggest shortcut is that I don't bother with most of my kitchen cabinets. I wipe them out but that's it. Instead I clear off and kasher my entire kitchen counter save one corner where I pile away the appliances that usually live spread out on my counter (microwave, toaster, coffee machine, mixer, etc.) I close off all the cabinets and keep everything, dishes, food, etc., on the counter. It gives me limited work space but there's the bonus of added convenience by always having everything you need right at your fingertips.

amother

Wine

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 4:16 pm

Op here. Thank you for all your tips and keep them coming!

What is a sous vide? Is it a crock pot? What are some good recipes? I only use the crockpot on shabbos but always think about how I should use it more often.

I usually cook fresh - like meat, fish, veg, potato. Don't use a lot of the "imitation or substitute" Pesach stuff. But I'm open to freezing stuff this year!

I realize I put in my in my op that I buy challah - haha, that was a mistake - I don't serve challah in Pesach!

penguin

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 5:08 pm

If you can afford a cart with drawers like this only better with two drawers
then you don't need so many of your regular cabinets or drawers.

We put a plastic shelving unit in the room nearest the kitchen where we keep all bulk dry goods & paper goods.

If you don't have a second fridge or full freezer, you may be able to rent one, it's very worthwhile not to have to crowd things.

4kids

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 5:34 pm

I do a cooking marathon. I have 2 big pots ( believe it's 18 qt) and go from one dish to other without washing pot which saves a lot of time. in first pot I start with chicken soup when that's done I do in same pot a cream of chicken soup and when this is done I do either vegetable soup or another root veg soup ( will post recipe later). Get the picture, Chicken soup must be clear but cream of chicken can take the chicken soup leftovers and veg can handle the cream of chicken leftovers. As an added benefit the previous soup adds additional flavor.

In the other pot I saute 6 Spanish onions blend and freeze in small 8oz containers for later dishes such as with mashed potatoes. Then in same pot I add more cup up onions, shredded knob celery, oil ( you can add carrots too or use whatever veg your family liked) and cook French roast for about 4 hours, turning twice, ( be careful I once got a serious burn) during the last 1 1/2 hour I add chicken bottoms on top of roast, the meat adds a lot of flavor and I have another main dish to serve. Cooked chicken freezes very well, don't have good experience with freezing baked chicken. Once meat is Cooked I blend the onions and knob celery to be used as sauce over meat and mashed potatoes, then its time for next dish, I add more onions, circled carrots, oil and do chicken gulash, which also freezes very well. Then Its time to wash pot and do compotes, pear compote goes first, after this is done I do apple compote in same pot.

I rewarm everything on hot plate, to prevent burning I put water in large foil pan and add foil pan with frozen food.

Hope this helps you.

ra_mom

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 6:20 pm

amother wrote:

You can make meatballs in the crockpot ahead of time to freeze. Or freeze raw meatballs now and throw into the crockpot with sauce fresh the morning you'd like to cook it.

I like using the crockpot to make fresh meals. Maybe you can come up with a menu where you can prep food and freeze now, then assemble one every morning in the crockpot, set to cook anf serve in the evening?

A hearty meat stew in the crockpot is delicious. Freeze the raw cubed meat and defrost when needed. Assemble in the morning, set the crock to cook, and serve in the evening.

Same for chicken legs. Season, freeze. Then layer in the crockpot (no water, comes out like roast chicken), cover and let cook.

Do you have access to the oven and stove to freeze more ahead of time? Roasts and soups freeze beautifully.

saralem

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 6:39 pm

If you self clean your oven, you can make tons of roasted vegetables as side dishes. Way easier than kugels and patchkerei stuff. Beets carrots potatoes sweet potatoes butternut squash zucchini— so simple and good. I also just close off most of my cabinets: no cleaning what’s inside. I set aside a few days pre-Pesach for just cooking, after all the cleaning and Kashering is done. I agree that having a second fridge/freezer is a huge help. I clean that first, then do most of my shopping. I also map out every menu and cooking schedule. Sounds crazy but it reduces my anxiety so much!
Hatzlacha! And don’t forget that’s it’s your yomtov also, so enjoy!