First time "making pesach"

miami85

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 2:57 pm

I put it in quotes because we live near family and will likely join for the day meals so I don't need "everything". Haven't decided what we are doing for the sedarim, on the one hand we've been doing them together with this family for years, but on the other hand its so late for the kids, but seems like it will be too quiet to do it at home. We are in a small community so while we have some pesach goods locally its cheaper if we can get it from a bigger city and plan in advance. We do eat gebroks. I have not cooked for pesach in a very long time.
What do I NEED to get? Family of 6-7, kids don't "eat anything"

amother

Silver

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 3:04 pm

The simplest way to do this, especially with children who don't eat everything, is to see what you eat during the year and replicate it as much a possible. Same with equipment. If you have a knife or a frying pan or some gadget that you use almost every day during the year, you can bet you will want one for pesach. Fill in with disposable pans.

amother

Amber

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 3:42 pm

I meant more food items. Keilim I have.
My kids eat "noodles" most of the year--so that won't work, last year I had like 1 kid who ate kneilach, but that child has gotten pickier. I have one kid who goes through pesach eating matza, matza with chocolate spread, hotdogs, fruits and vegetables.

Lets say for 2 meals with kneidlach (night=soup) 2-3 pesach desserts, being home for chol hamoed.

How many boxes of matza? matza meal? cake meal?

LittleDucky

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 4:58 pm

amother wrote:

I make a list each year to see what I use up and what I dont to see what I need to buy. Since you are cooking for the first time or don't have a list- I recommend working backwards. Take the recipes you want to make, do the math for your family (do you need it doubled per meal served? How many meals will you serve it?) And figure out quantities that way.

So I typically need X matzah meal for kneidlach each meal I serve soup. I plan to serve it twice. So Matzah meal: 2X
Then look at the cakes (I always make an extra 1 because they arent so filling). 3X +1. Then total all your Xs.

Then do potato starch, cake meal, eating matzah etc.
And plan for spilling, burnt cakes and last minute recipe additions. Good luck!

amother

Linen

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 6:53 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

This is what I do, then add an extra matza meal, etc. It’s hard to find here during chol ha moed.

We eat lots of schnitzel with matza meal, hot dogs, meatballs, meat in general. I don’t think we use potato starch or cake meal for anything. We use a lot of baking chocolate and cocoa powder. So, it really depends what your family likes. My big question is always how many eggs ....

imasinger

Mon, Mar 11 2019, 10:30 pm

I have picky eaters.

The one who won't eat any meat except hot dogs eats Pesach rolls, matza pizza or grilled cheese, raw cut veggies, fruit, eggs, and cheese. And sometimes nuts (or nut butter, if I buy it for him). Scrambled egg with fried potatoes and spices. Rebaked potatoes.

The one who loves meat and salad eats those. Schnitzel chicken or fish, any other meats I make.

For treats, I bake a huge batch of Pesach chocolate chip cookies and a big batch of Pesach brownies. And mix together dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate chips.

I'll often do at least one fancier patchke, but those are the standards that I always have every year.

I buy enough to get me through the first days. Chol hamoed, all the secular grocery stores think Pesach is over, and put lots of things on half price sale. That's when to stock up on matza cake meal, matza meal, etc. I use what ai need, and double bag and freeze the rest to get me through the first days the following year.