How I'm getting ready for Pesach

Pesach is coming! I know, you don't need me to remind you, but I thought I'd share with you what I've done to get ready for Pesach.

1. I have made myself a semi-promise not to buy any more chametz products until after the chag. Of course, this is not a full-promise, because you never know when I will be craving some really junky chametz food and I might give in and buy it. This does happen sometimes when I'm sleep deprived...

2. I am trying to use up the Chametz in the house. I have realized, however, that there is NO way I will use up all the flour I have on  hand.
I guess it's either going to have to be sold to a non-Jew or given away...

3. I am reorganizing my kitchen (just had a ton of cabinets and shelving added to it) so there will be room for the Pesach stuff to stay there year round.

4. I'm dreaming of buying new counters, sinks, oven, and cooktop. Don't know if it will happen. I'm going to try.

5. I keep doing "research" - trying to come up with some more Pesach recipes that will keep my family happy! Especially the one who is not eating eggs. And the vegetarian. And the one not eating dairy who's allergic to almonds. Sounds like fun, right?

6. I am going shopping for new shoes. I have not bought new shoes in a VERY long time!

What are you up to these days?

More Chametz!

Lunch... still have to eat lunch even while getting ready for Pesach!

So we're eating things from the freezer (malawach, bourekas, bagels) and the leftover soup. Now to get some fruits and veggies into everyone at some point today...

How are you doing with your Chametz cleanout? Pesach cleaning? Please share your tips here!

My tip of the day: when you don't feel like cleaning or organizing for Pesach, go outside and work in the yard. The fresh air is GREAT! (Or was I just procrastinating?)

Chametz!

Oh my goodness. It has been a long time since there was so little food in my house. We literally had NOTHING "ready to eat" today, except hardboiled eggs and some fruit, that became breakfast!
I decided if ever there was a time to bake, now is it. It's so easy to use up our chametz this way!

Today I made apple-cinnamon oatmeal muffins, and whole wheat-flaxseed bagels.

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal muffins

5 T. ground flaxseed
1 c. whole  oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups boiling water
1/4 c oil
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 apple, diced
4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt 

Mix the first 4 ingredients together, and let sit for 10 min. Then add everything else, and mix well. Pour into muffin pan (lined with muffin cups, if you don't want to grease your pan). Bake at 175 C for about 25-30 min. watch them, though, my oven seems to bake slowly, not sure why (at least when I use the non-convection oven. I have a double oven, one is convection but it is large, and I only like to use it when I'm filling it, the other is a small, regular oven.).

This post was shared with the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop on March 21, 2012

Post-Pesach

Well, we worked late into the night motzaei pesach and got everything back in order, more or less. (Still don't have a place for my beautiful turquoise Dutch oven to call home though. It is sitting, quite unceremoniously, under the kitchen table again. So sad.)

Today, everybody just wanted bread and cookies, and crackers too. Somehow though, my little girls were still willing to eat the leftover Pesachdik baked goods!

So I sent my hubby to the store and he came back with tons of chametz, including a couple of long, fresh, baguettes.

Here's what we had for supper:

Pizza baguettes (made with homemade tomato sauce - see the "Homemade Alternatives" page for my super easy, cheater recipe)  - My oldest child suggested we also make a couple of matzah pizzas - he was feeling nostalgic. We skipped the matzah pizzas.

Fingerling potatoes with ketchup (over Pesach, I discovered that my children who do NOT eat potatoes all eagerly eat fingerling potatoes! very interesting discoveries...)

Sliced cucumbers