If you don’t have a pesach kitchen and start cooking early

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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach

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amother

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 11:47 pm

When do/did you begin?
I’m trying to finish up my kitchen because I really want to start cooking but it’s so hard to still have to deal with the chometz!
How do you do it??
Is starting to cook this Thursday just too early?

dena613

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 11:54 pm

I need a few days to cook. In those few days I spend the whole day cooking
Why do you need 2 weeks?

For a few days I just cook and cook.
Desserts, kugels, chicken, meat, sauces...

amother

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 12:09 am

dena613 wrote:

I need a few days to cook. In those few days I spend the whole day cooking
Why do you need 2 weeks?

For a few days I just cook and cook.
Desserts, kugels, chicken, meat, sauces...

How many people are you cooking for?
Does anyone help you?
Do you buy many kosher for pesach products in the store?

I’ll be cooking for 11 people.
No one helps me
I have to make many things from scratch including Chrain and Gefilte fish.
I don’t like the pressure of being stuck in the kitchen until the last second.. and all chol hamoed. I figured if I start early and do a little every day, it might be easier for me later on.

mom of three bh

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 12:18 am

Following

ra_mom

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 12:24 am

My MIL starts early without a pesach kitchen. She kashers and lines loosely (not as locked and lined as during pesach) and starts cooking. She leaves the dining room for chometz eating. Sometimes she turns the kitchen back (and forth), and sometimes she leaves it.

juggling

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 12:31 am

If you do the kitchen early your family still needs to eat. When I did this I set up a chometz "kitchen" in another part of the house, with a toaster, microwave, etc. And used lots of paper goods. It's not easy to manage, which is why I generally prefer to turn over the kitchen way closer to pesach.

Maybe consider if you can simplify your menu a bit? Make things that need less hands-on time to prepare? Plan to cook some things on Yom Tov?

Good luck!

amother

Wallflower

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:24 am

I'm cooking for 20+ people this year. We do use processed items so I'm not making mayo or anything like that from scratch. I'm turning over on Wednesday, a week before Pesach.

Bnei Berak 10

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:37 am

This is why a Pesach kitchen is my number one dream. You can cook and bake whenever you want/can.

amother

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:40 am

Yes, I definitely plan on setting up a table in the dining room with a toaster, microwave, urn and an electric burner. I’ll do the dining room last.

amother

Pistachio

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 4:07 am

I crash cook everything 3 days before pesach

jd1212

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 10:58 am

amother OP wrote:

Why is no one helping you is the first question here?

amother

Skyblue

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:01 am

The thing is with pesach turning over and cooking early comes with its own set of stressors. So it doesn't necessarily make things easier.

Rubber Ducky

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:08 am

The milchik and fleishik runs in my kitchen are completely separate, so I can kasher the meat area early and still prepare chometz milchiks.

amother

Violet

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:13 am

amother Pistachio wrote:

I crash cook everything 3 days before pesach

This.

I’ve tried changing over earlier but it was a disaster with the kids. Toaster over dinners just won’t do and they wanted to buy takeout every night. I take 3 days- do baking and stovetop items first. I’m very calculated with what goes in the oven when and which pots I need for when. It’s exhausting but worth it for me. I will prob change over motzai Shabbos/ Sunday. All my groceries, meet, chicken etc. will be fully unpacked and ready to go. Turn on some music and boom boom boom

amother

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:20 am

I just hate that overwhelmed feeling I have on erev pesach when there’s still so much to do and everything is a mess… I don’t even enjoy the first seder. I just want to sleep. My bones are aching. Who needs that?? I want to do whatever I can to have an easier erev pesach. I know it will be hard to feed my family. They aren’t toddlers… they are teens. It will be difficult in that aspect but the pesach cooking might be easier.
Does anyone have plans of cooking early without a pesach kitchen (and a family to feed)? Am I being unrealistic. It’s not like pesach is in a few months… it’s in 2 weeks.

jd1212

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:21 am

Why can’t your teenagers cut/peel vegetables, check lettuce, etc.?

newinbp

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:27 am

I feel like the statement of the post title is an oxymoron. In my space turning over early means we are eating pesach food early...and 2 weeks before pesach is too much for me to handle cooking that much pesach food. Already after this shabbos I'm only planning to cook veggies proteins and kitniyot so I can clean the kitchen and my apt doesn't get chometzdik but I plan to turn over after shabbos hagadol. I do understand you are cooking for more people. I guess I just can't imagine how chametz toaster oven in one room of my house won't translate to the kitchen...I wish you so much ease hatzlacha and menuchas hanefesh in your prep. I'm sure Hashem will give you the answer most appropriate for your situation.

amother

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:30 am

jd1212 wrote:

Why can’t your teenagers cut/peel vegetables, check lettuce, etc.?

I’ll answer you because you asked but I really don’t need to explain why it’s like that in my house-
One is a troubled at risk teen so nothing doing…
One is a very low muscle tone girl who can’t seem to do anything right but I still do ask even though it’s usually not a help-
One has no patience and gives me a hard time- I make that child do something anyway but it’s a fight and ends up being easier to do things myself because the jobs get done very carelessly by that child who makes it clear that they think it’s dysfunctional that I’m asking for help-
One is a boy in elementary school who has school till right before yt
No one else is capable
So I’m basically on my own-

To my children’s credit they all came through 3(?) years ago when I was very sick with covid the week before pesach. Every single one of them really did a lot.

amother

Skyblue

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:32 am

Earliest I would do is middle of next week

amother

Daisy

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:35 am

amother OP wrote:

I understand you OP-I do this! I work full time, right up til erev yomtov. Pesach is my vacation from work, and I do not like cooking on yomtov (its my vacation!) so for the past few years ive turned over my kitchen only, 3 weeks before pesach. Yes, I have young kids, and yes, BH this method works SO well for me. People tell me they think im CRAZY but I really dont think so.
I am BH BH BH one of those women who totally do not relate to those threads on imamother every year, complaining that they go into the seder dead tired (the few days before pesach are usually very chilled. Most stuff are done, we just make the kearah items or other little things), or complaining on chol hamoed how all they did on yom tov was cook and serve. Its not my reality at all.
I turn over kitchen 3 weeks before.
Every evening after work and after the kids are settled, I cook a little bit, without any pressure at all.
It is a lot to cook because I do host family, and I cook for the entire yomtov in advance.
But by erev tomtov I have all of the food all ready.
We make the dining/living room the chametz area. We put the milchig and fleishig microwaves, toaster oven, sandwich maker etc out, with lots of plastic cutlery. Fresh bread, cereals etc. We eat lots of cereal, sandwiches, deli sandwiches, toaster oven blintzes, waffles, pizza, proteins and food that are kosher for pesach like eggs, chicken, hotdogs, hamburgers....french fries. No one goes hungry. And theres no stress!
Then on yomtov, I can really relax!

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