Meals Around Passover

Electric rice cooker including scoop, containi...

 

A hungry family is a grumpy one. And one that doesn’t get as much done as they could.

In the past, it seemed like if I didn’t plan for each meal before Passover, it would end up being something like fruit, or maybe cereal and milk. Several times a day.

So part of my planning for Passover now includes the meals around Passover. Starting last Sunday around here, in fact! (Check out the OJH Passover Super Page for more Passover helpers!)

While my kitchen is being turned over (not yet – but just thinking ahead!), I utilize the other work horses in my kitchen: microwave, toaster, rice cooker, oven, crockpot, and freezer. So depending on what part of the process I’m in, I still have other options to get my family meals – one that doesn’t include cold food like sandwiches all day or (expensive!) restaurant pizza or falafel. (And who can sit in those lines for takeout, anyway?) We’ll usually eat outside for the last few days, but it’s a family adventure. Since our tummies aren’t starving, everything seems better.

Some guidelines: List what devices you have available (we even use our toaster up to the last morning – waffles, anyone?) Make sure to save a few “good” things for close to the end, and don’t schedule too tightly because schedules always change. When you thought your oven would be available, it might not be, and you’ll have to be flexible. And understand that things will be different from the norm – that’s part of the Passover magic!

Ideas:

  • Cold items: cereal, donuts (Shabbat treat here), fruit, yogurt crackers and cheese, sandwiches (pb, cheese, deli meat, egg salad, tuna…), granola, nuts, veggies and dip, chips and salsa, pasta (can be reheated, but my kids eat it cold, too)
  • Freezer to Oven: Challah, kugels (like spinach/broccoli), chicken, deli roll (pizza dough crust freezes well), roast,…
  • Microwave: Burritos, scrambled eggs, quesadillas, reheating things like pasta and frozen french toast casserole
  • Toaster: bagels, toaster pastries, waffles, cinnamon and sugar toast
  • Crockpot: Lots of good possibilities here, and you can even prep a day – or three – in advance, just put it in, and go!
  • Rice cooker: rice, steamed veggies, and although we’ve never done it, our instructions also say you can steam meat and fish, too!
  • Oven: pizza, pizza bagels, roasted chicken and veggies, bread sticks, french toast casserole (use up leftover bread!), and anything you’ve made ahead of time – in a disposable tin is easiest! I know some people who have a toaster oven they use for this, and they cook pretty much all of their meals in tines  in their toaster oven while the rest of the kitchen is turned over: lasagna, chicken, casseroles, kugels…whatever you like in a pan!

Do you plan your menus right up to Passover? What do you include?

 

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2012/03/26/meals-around-passover/

1 comment

    • Leora Hecht on March 12, 2013 at 5:58 pm

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