Menu Plan Mondays - February 21 2011

For those of you, who do not know, about the holiday of Passover, I want to explain why I am starting to use every single bit of food, in the house, from today on.  For Orthodox Jews, Passover is a complete change of eating styles although eating tons of veggies make it less so.

We do not eat any food from the five grains, wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye.  We also do not eat rice and beans unless one is Sefardic.  I think you can imagine how limiting this is.  No corn either.... I am happy, I love potatoes because we eat grandiose portions of potatoes and eggs and some eat meat to the same degree. 

We may not own the food besides not eating it.  As a result, we clear everything out of the house the days, weeks and months before.  I am starting the process now and as I go around and see a particular foodstuff, I mentally add it to the list of ingredients for recipes, in the next month or two.  Passover starts around April 20th.  My goal is to use this all up by two weeks before Passover (Pesach).

The recipes, I am planning to make may change if I end up using something needed for it.  I hope to buy minimally eggs, fruits and vegetables, from now on.  Meat, which we do not eat more than once or twice a week, is pretty much in the freezer except for chicken.  I have 1 package beef stew, 1 package pepper steak, 1/2 pound chopped beef and 2 pounds (2 packages) of chopped turkey.  Then I have one large roast to deal with.  In the next month, you should see these being used up.

I am big on storing frozen vegetables especially when they are out of season.  Most of these can be stored in the freezer but not the corn, peas or beans.  They will also be in recipes.

I will attempt to keep you up to date, as the time progresses.  I am feeling confident that I can make this goal, but only if I don't buy anything new other than fruit and vegetables.  It means control when shopping.  Wait till I get to the canned goods.  I keep a back up for everything and I have several cans of diced tomatoes.  Oh dear.  Just remembered, one package of chicken cutlets.  What else will I remember?

This week, my plans include the following:

Sunday -Thai Turkey Basil over Curried Rice (Used rice and chopped turkey)

Monday - Vegetable Curry Biryani  (this will use rice and some frozen vegetables)

Tuesday - Pasta night - Penne with Peppers, Fresh Tomatoes and Basil (will use penne)

Wednesday -Ellie night - Wrap sandwiches

Thursday - Breakfast night - Sweet Potato Hash with Red Peppers


Friday -Creamy Peanut Pad Thai (I have three containers of peanut butter - peanut butter cookies, anyone?)

Saturday -Cholent (uses up beans and rice)
 

Comments

  1. Rivki LockerFebruary 21, 2011 at 3:15 PM

    I love your resolution not to buy anything other than produce from now until Pesach. I think I will do the same. We eat a LOT of pasta, but I think I have about 15 boxes in the pantry, so we better get started eating them FAST. Thanks for this inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  2. April J HarrisFebruary 21, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    I found this post so interesting Chaya! I did not realise you had to use everything up before Passover - that is quite a challenge. What a good way to start fresh and also really, most of us keep such a lot of food in our homes. I think I could learn from your journey to clear your larder! I will watch your progress with interest - I am sure you will come up with some wonderful recipes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Wonderful commitment and post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Creatively LisaFebruary 27, 2011 at 5:21 PM

    Oh no....its coming really fast. I am so not thinking about Passover yet. I like the idea of starting this early eating everything in the house.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments are a part of making my day bright and shiny. I value your advice, criticism and viewpoints.

Popular posts from this blog

Thai Chicken San Choy Bau

Image
It says, "thai" so I have to like the Thai Chicken San Choy Bau that we are making this week in our Donna Hay Wednesday group.  It was a bit spicy and the chopped chicken was a nice change of pace. Kayte selected this recipe from On the Shelf on page 124.   I tried it with the greens and it was very good and then I put it on spaghetti and it was spectacular.  My toddler granddaughter even liked it.  Must have been the hot sauce. I used romaine for the greens and I subbed in red pepper and added some Sirracha to spice it up to make up for the real chilis. Do check out the other cooks' dishes at our   Wednesday with Donna Hay site.
Read more

Brussels Sprouts - Power Food - Re-post

Image
Another week, another vegetable for our Power Food group, a bunch of women who strive for healthy eating with the most delicious dishes. Each blog is inspiration . Each week, we choose a recipe based on the power food which comes from the book, Power Foods, 150 delicious recipes with the 38 healthiest ingredients from the editors of Whole Living magazine. Brussels sprouts like broccoli and cabbage are cruciferous. This group offers a unique composition of antioxidants that may provide several health benefits. Brussels sprouts are low in calories and offer protein, vitamins and minerals to help build a healthy human. My first issue with brussels sprouts is that it took me years to spell it correctly. Each time, it came up, in writing, and I admit, that was not too often, I would stare into space asking myself does brussel get an S, at the end or is it sprout that gets the S. For some reason, I could not remember that both end with that S. I am happy to tell you, I overcame thi
Read more

Carrot Cake _ Power Food - repost

Image
Another week, another vegetable for our Power Food group, a bunch of women who strive for healthy eating with the most delicious dishes. Each blog is inspiration . Each week, we choose a recipe based on the power food which comes from the book, Power Foods, 150 delicious recipes with the 38 healthiest ingredients from the editors of Whole Living magazine. That week, we concentrated on carrots. I like to check out our vegetable, not only for health benefits, but also for the names of their sisters. Carrots are related to parsnips, fennel, parsley, anise, caraway, cumin and dill. I didn't have a clue about many of these. I, have never seen carrots of other colors or at least, if I had, I didn't know, they were carrots. I am going to a good produce store, looking for purple or red carrots, to start my search. It is fun, shopping when purposely looking for new vegetables. I have definitely expanded my horizons. When, I was thinking about what to make with carrots, I
Read more