Passover Foods

[sandiw]

Is there a way you can survive this holiday without killing your diet? I'm looking for healthier recipes to help my family enjoy this holiday.

[chefbec]

I know how you feel. Try lots of fresh veggies and protein foods (fish, meat, whatever). Avoid the matzah day in and day out. I've had whole wheat matzah which at least has a little nutrition. We usually indulge the first night and then cool it!

[sandiw]

Thanks for the support. We spend the first two nights with my husbands family in New York (fairly traditional foods) and try to get back to some better eating when we get back home.

Have a Happy Passover!

[chefbec]

Thanks! You, too!

[Julia1Pin]

IMHO, Passover is the original "zone" diet. Even though I'm not very observant the rest of the year, I am super observant, regarding what I eat, on Passover. Example, most chocolate is not "kosher for passover". I don't have time to drive to a kosher market to pick up chocolate. Ergo, I don't eat chocolate. Additionally, I eat nothing with any of the 5 grains you're not supposed to eat. And how much Matzah can one person eat. So, I usually end up loosing weight on Passover, because the only food left is MEAT, VEGETABLES, FRUIT, POTATOES AND MATZAH. And since, I cook with very little oil, it works out that I loose weight.

[SusieO]

Light and Passover are really tough, I think because you feel so deprived anyway. And because we eat so many eggs. In the past, just my husband and I could go through 3 dozen eggs in that one week. This year it may be more like 4 or 5 dozen since we mostly eat the whites. Yikes!

Chefbec has the right idea: lots of veggies. I also think it's important to have plenty of food and lots of variety, even if you end up throwing a lot of stuff away at the end of the week.

I'll look through my cookbooks at home later to see if I can offer you any Passover recipes that are especially light.

Good luck, and enjoy the holiday!

[mb]

I agree with Julia1Pin. Passover is not really my favorite holiday because of all the restrictions. These days, we just avoid the 5 grains that are forbidden. Everything that's left is very healthy - and we end up eating good-for-you things all week (well, except too many eggs - that can't be good!)

Also, we try to avoid all those products that are kosher for passover, but behave like foods you can't eat (like kosher for passover cereals and bagels). something just doesn't seem right about that! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[Julia1Pin]

MB - I agree with you, about the KFP bagels and cereal. It's like chicken, a grey area in kashrut halacha. IE, if I consider chicken a meat (child in mothers milk) and don't eat that with milk, because of those around me seeing, then I shouldn't be able to eat bagels or cereal during passover. Am I just over-analyzing?

[mb]

julia1pin - i think overanalyzing a big key to following halacha!! i was trying to explain to a non-jewish friend today how you're not supposed to eat wheat, barley, oats, rye, or spelt - and then you have to explain why it's ok to eat matzah even though it's made of wheat! it's kinda funny.

i wouldn't worry about it too much though. from what i've seen, unless you are ultra orthodox, everyone just kinda does their own thing. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif personally, i just think that we can go a week without bagels and cereal, and the KFP stuff is just a gimmick!

actually, it's sort of like people who are purposely vegetarian (not b/c religious reasons) but then eat vegetarian/soy burgers, sausage links, hot dogs, etc. i certainly don't mean to offend anyone - it's just funny to me that people give up meat, and then eat products that are so meat-like!

[SusieO]

Even if you're tempted to buy that cereal, don't do it. It's disgusting. (I do have a farfel granola recipe that's pretty good if anyone wants it.)

I do my best at Passover, but if I want to eat something I'm not sure about, I just don't read the label. As long as I don't know it has corn syrup in it, it's okay, right? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[Julia1Pin]

SusieO-

LOL. I am similar all year 'round - I don't mix meat and dairy, but I eat apple pie for desert because I "assume" that it isn't made with dairy.

[karen w]

O.K., as long as the subject is Passover, I just thought I'd share my success!!! I took a stab at making gefilte fish from scratch yesterday using my nana's recipe. It turned out fabulous!!! And boy was I nervous. I did not want all that fish to go to waste. My husband proclaimed it better than my mother's too!!! Now I can make it for company next year!!!

[Julia1Pin]

Karen w - you've got guts. After seeing my grandma do it old school, and for that matter what went into it, I knew I would never make it (or eat too much of it).

[sandiw]

You guys are great! I especially like the "don't ask, don't tell" theory. We do the same. Last year I let my girls eat yogurt - they just think dairy, they don't think about the corn syrup. I bought some passover yogurts in the market while in NY last year and they hated them.

Happy holiday to all.

[mb]

just want to add my .02 again... TECHNICALLY, corn is okay to eat. Law says that you should avoid wheat, oat, barley, rye, and spelt. everything else is just a 'custom', not a 'law'.

so for example, while ashkenazi jews avoid corn, rice, etc. on passover, sephardic jews eat corn, rice, etc. and avoid potatoes. (but that should be no major surprise - think of the mediterranean diet vs. eastern european diet...)

we only avoid those five grains and anything made of them. honestly, it makes passover much more enjoyable. you should not have to suffer or fast for a week - passover is not meant to be a punishment, just a reminder of sorts.

and not to rain on anyone's parade http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif, but i don't think that the don't-ask-don't-tell policy really flies well with more religious folk! i think one should just be honest with themselves and do what is comfortable for them.

for example, we eat shellfish, but we won't touch pork. i will mix milk & meat after the meat is cooked (like a cheeseburger), but for some reason i can't bring myself to add dairy products to uncooked meat (like how some people add a little milk when preparing hamburger meat). but then again, i don't claim to anyone that i keep kosher either.

my grandmother keeps kosher, but she still eats out in non-kosher restaurants, ordering only fish. but really, TECHNICALLY, if she was strictly kosher, she shouldn't even eat in a non-kosher restaurant, because the kitchen, plates, silverware, etc. isn't koshered! so it all depends where you draw the line. i say just be honest with yourself! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

sorry to bring up 'technical' points; again, i certainly don't mean to insult anyone... this topic can spark a lot of debates! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

mb

[chefbec]

Yes, I agree. I never understood why many people who keep kosher in their homes will eat everything when they go out. Sort of defeats the purpose to me.