Pesach Seder Menus!

I love getting creative in the kitchen on Pesach.

Most of these recipes are not especially Kosher for Pesach, and since we all have our own customs in regard to what foods we do or do not eat, you can really custom makes these recipes to your liking by omitting or adding certain ingredients.

Click on each dish for the Recipes and have fun!

First Night Seder

Seared Ahi with Kula Greens

Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad

Garden Vegetable Soup

Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Roasted Carrots with Ginger and Orange  

Crispy Potato Leek Kugel

Italian Roasted Vegetables

Lemon Gelato

Coffee Meringues

Second Night Seder

Mahi-mahi Gefilte fish with mango jalapeno salsa

Apple Kale Cabbage Salad

Roasted Italian Sweet Potato Soup

Lemon Rosemary Roast Chicken

Italian Roast Potatoes 

Grilled Eggplant and Spinach 

Watermelon Sorbet

Happy Cooking!

Always,

Pesach Dollars, Pesach Jobs

Ah, that time of year where its so easy to get overwhelmed with the mere thought of cleaning, cooking and planning for Pesach.

Last year I came up with a system that was so fabulous and have started using it again this year. I needed to share it because if it helps you as much as it helps me, it will make me very happy!

Step 1:

Print out these Pesach Dollars on card stock and cut them out.

Step 2:

Tell your kids that for every Pesach job they do, they will get one Pesach dollar.

Step 3: 

Tell your kids that on Chol Hamoed Pesach, they get to cash in their dollars and go to the store and buy whatever they would like. Pesach dollars expire on Yom Tov so they only have 3 weeks to start earning.

Step 4:

Watch and smile as your children happily help clean the house for Pesach!

At present, my kids, including my 5 year old, have cleaned their entire bedrooms for Pesach on their own. They emptied their drawers and closets, cleaned with a spray and a wipe and put everything back.They have started on the playroom, different shelves and also the bookshelves.

Our kids are SO capable, just make it exciting, give them some time every day to go on Amazon to see what prize they plan to buy, something to really look forward to. If you would pay $ for cleaning help, you can use that $ towards these gifts. Its a win win.

Good Luck!

Its a Giveaway! *** Dubys Pesach List***

Okay everyone, its that awesome time of year again, where we get to scrub our homes from top to bottom, plan meals, Seders, guests, trips and ALL that super fun stuff!

I am so excited to share with you a review as well as a Giveaway of Duby's Pesach List. Click Here to check out her website and take a peek at what its all about.

Here is the table of contents to give you a really good idea of what is inside this fabulous Pesach Planner:

And now, in honor of all of you being such awesome readers of this blog, Duby is giving a 10% discount to you using the code JHS613. So RUN on over to her website DubysPesachLists.com and buy a copy for yourself, your mom, your sisters and your best friends. They will love you and you will love the Planner.

And while you're at it, enter the Giveaway below so you can have an extra copy to save for your daughter when she grows up and makes Pesach on her own... Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wishing you a wonderful week and Happy Pesach Cleaning!

Always,

Pesach Resources

An Absoluely Gorgeous Pesach Pillow Case for your Seder 

You can bring order and elegance to your Seder table with these gorgeous and practical Pesach pillowcases. These Pesach pillow covers will really make your family and guests feel like the chosen people. Pillowcases are a cotton/poly blend with embroidery and rhinestones, and fit standard-sized bed pillows. Free Shipping on every order!

Click Here to acquire these gorgeous pillow cases for the Kings and Queens at your Seder!

A Pesach Workbook for Preschoolers

Click Here to download and to buy yourself 30-45 minutes of sanity :)

And last but not least, Click Here for some tips on how to keep kids busy before Pesach.

Good Luck with all the Pesach Preps and remember:

Play happy music, be joyful, spread the good mood 

and everyone will feel it!

Shabbat Shalom,

Always,

Pesach Letter Matching

Here is a cute activity I made for my little one who loves letters,
both Hebrew and English.

Cut out each card and have your sweetie match the correct Hebrew or English letter with the card that each picture begins with.
I recommend printing it in color on card stock or laminating it for longer use.

Click Here to download it and Have fun!

Have a great week,

Always,

Pesach, Pesach, What Do You See?

Pesach, Pesach, What Do You See?

 A cute Pesach coloring book for your little ones to enjoy!

Click Here to download Pesach, Pesach, What Do You See?

Have a great week!

Always,

LISTS!!!

As each year goes by, I am not sure about you, but my list of lists for Pesach seems to grow and grow. I feel like I am constantly writing things down so not to forget things and end up with a bunch of scrap papers that I need to go through at the end of the day to sort out what needs to get done and when.

And so, my dear friends, this year I created this...

Click here to check it out...

I printed it out and put it in a binder. It is literally a bunch of blank lists that I fill in for Pesach through out the month and it gives me a lot of sanity. I have it on my kitchen counter and as things come along, I plug it into the appropriate list. If I think of a good idea for a meal, I stick it in one of the menus. You get the idea. Now all my lists and ideas are all in one place, and so is my mind.

The Simple Pesach Planner includes:

*A one month calendar for the month before Pesach

*A one week calendar for the week before Pesach

*A Kids Menu for the week before Pesach (so our kids don't starve while we stress out)

*A cleaning list

*A shopping list sorted by types of products

*A guest list

*Seder preparation list

*To Do list for day before and day of Seder

*Table setup

*Yom Tov preparation list

*Delegation lists to give out to those helping you

*Seder Menus

*Yom Tov lunch Menus

*Chol Hamoed Menus

*Shabbos Menus

*Last day Yom Tov Menus (Dinners and Lunches)

Feel free to print out whatever lists work for you- 

Enjoy your week, dont get over whelmed and dont forget to breathe...............

Always, 

Let the Pesach Fun Begin!

Okay ladies, we have a WEEK before Pesach- how awesome is that?

I have been spring cleaning my house for the past 2 weeks and I can safely say that I have filled up a very large amount of garbage bags as well as boxes to be thrown out, donated or recycled and it feels GREAT!

Now that the bulk of the cleaning is done, this week I plan to Kosher my kitchen and turn it into a Pesach kitchen... we are aiming for Wednesday if all goes according to plan- and on Tuesday I will have help in vacuuming  sweeping and mopping the entire house (under beds and couches etc.) to make sure all crumbs have safely left the building.

I have my little clipboard with all my lists of everything that needs to get done between now and next Monday but the one thing we often forget about is feeding our kids proper wholesome healthy meals which will prevent them from getting cranky and give them energy to keep busy so we can get on with whatever we have to get on with!

Nows the time to make a food plan for the kids for this week as well as activity/child care plan so we can actually accomplish everything we need to accomplish...

While my kitchen will not be entirely Kosher for Pesach until Wednesday, I need to make sure that nothing crumby will be around as we have lots of little ones who like to wonder off with their bags of Cheerios or peanut butter sandwiches. By now, we have pretty much finished up most of our Chametz so tomorrow morning I will take about 20 minutes to make sure I have a few of the following snacks stocked in the fridge  in tupperwares or ziplocs, making it easy for the little ones to just grab a piece or two when feeling hungry:

Fruits & Vegetables peeled and cut into bite size pieces:

watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, kiwis, carrots, papaya

Fruit in a big bowl on the Kitchen table, ready to grab:

bananas, apples, pears, oranges, plums, peaches

Next we need breakfast ideas- no more crumbly cereal or french toast- or any toast for that matter... so this is what we will be having:

Fruit smoothies, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs, vegetable omelets, cheese omelets, yogurts, cottage cheese with fruit, apple sauce

Below are a bunch of ideas to mix and match for lunches and dinners-

chicken soup, vegetable soup, butternut squash soup, cabbage soup, zucchini soup 

grilled chicken breast, grilled salmon, roast chicken, chicken kebabs, fish sticks, chicken fingers

grilled zucchini, carrots, eggplant, butternut squash, sweet potatoes

These are just a few easy and simple dishes to make ensuring your family are fed and well nourished~

May this be a smooth and accomplishing week!

Always,

Jewish Holidays in a Box

I have been in touch with a wonderful woman who runs Jewish Holidays in a Box. 

This is such a fabulous website, take a quick jump over there to check it out- http://jewishholidaysinabox.com/

I was also given the opportunity to review this adorable Passover Seder guide. The 3-part downloadable package comes with a 36-page PDF + 2 audio tutorials. It is filled with very clear and simple instructions on how to run the perfect Pesach Seder. It includes all the Passover Basics, Passover FAQ's, Shopping list, Setting up the Seder, Kids activities to keep them engaged in the Seder, Pre-Seder activities, Passover arts'n crafts and more.

It is on sale now for $2.99 until March 15th, and after that it will be $4.99--

so head on over and pick one up!

Click Here to Purchase "Celebrate Passover- How to Plan a Fun, Simple Seder"

Happy Pesach prepping!

Always, 

Pesach Activities for the Kiddos

Here is My Pesach Activity Pack:

{Click Here}

My Pesach Book of Shapes:

{Click Here}

Pesach Activities we have done in the past:

{Click Here}

Pesach Prep post will be up this week- have a good one!

Save 15% on CAP IT from now until Pesach using code HS15  at check-out!

My Pesach Book of Shapes

I was just introduced to this fabulous blog by the BJE in Chicago, they have some really great ideas- check it out!

I took the idea of "My Jewish Shapes" and made our own "Pesach Shapes".

You can download it here- My Pesach Book of Shapes

Enjoy!

Chol Hamoed Menu and Pesach Shopping List

Many years have gone by where I have made these incredible Pesach Seders for over 100 people, tons of delicious food and everyone walks away happy and full.

Comes Chol Hamoed and the next thing I know, my family are all hungry and I have to figure out what to feed everyone.

Well my friends, this year, I am gonna be one step ahead of the game! Tonight I made my Chol Hamoed *tentative* menu, and I say tentative because I know that some of my kids will be eating the same things every day for a week no matter the options- but I say better have and not need, then need and not have! I tried to include as many fresh fruits and veges where ever I could... so when they're snacking on all that yummy chocolate and those Pesach brownies, I won't feel so guilty;)

So here it is- click here for the pdf version:

and I have uploaded my clear Pesach shopping list template as well as my clear Chol Hamoed Menu template for you to use and enjoy~ Click here to download it and print for your personal use.

Who says Pesach needs to be stressful? As my very wise father in-law always says,

"Proper planning prevents poor performance."

I think this will make him proud:)

Some Pesach Activites

I'm back with my baby wipe caps again:) This time, we made the 10 Makos (10 Plagues):

We have these adorable 10 Makos finger puppets that fit inside each one perfectly:

Here is a Chametz/Kasher L'Pesach sorting tray- find the Chametz and put it in the basket (you can also write "Chametz" and "Kasher L'Pesach" on 2 pieces of paper and have the kiddos sort the foods into the correct columns):

A Pesach Sensory Table:

Here's an adorable project we are working on- in my Pesach cleaning I am coming across many treasures (aka- garbage) that I keep thinking how I can use it for the kiddos... I found a bunch of empty DVD covers and we are making lapbooks of the 4 sons out of them (we also learn about the 5th son not mentions in the Haggadah, the son who doesn't even know what Pesach is).

I made pictures of each son and had the kids color them. We're going to slide it into the plastic as the cover of the lapbook. We are then going to make pictures and write about each son and stick it inside the cover. How fun? Will post the finished project once completed. This will really give the kids a very clear understanding of the 5 sons.

Below are some links to where we got some of the things we are using to learn about Pesach:

Parshas Va'eira- first few plagues

Some things we have been up to this week:

Super cute makkos (plague) puppets. I found these printables here, printed them out, laminated them, cut each one out and glued it to a Popsicle stick. One kiddo had the "let my people go" sign, and I had the "no". We acted out the whole scene of Moshe going to Paroah and each kid got a chance to hold up a new makka (plague) and describe what happened:

We then made 2 cups, one of water (for the Jews) and one of blood (for the Egyptians) using foam with a sticky back. I used a knife to carve out 2 cups and using colored sand, the kiddos did the rest. It's really great using this foam since their is no messy glue involved and the sand sticks to it really well:

I made a few printables which you can find here of the first 4 plagues, this is the first one of a Jew drinking and an Egyptian drinking. The kids can use paint, marker, crayons, stickers etc. to color the drinks of the Jews and the Egyptian:

We then went on to Frogs. I found this fabulous lesson plan on Frogs from this website which the kiddos LOVED. I cut out the pictures of the metamorphosis of a frog and made little puppets on Popsicle sticks (what can I do, my kids love puppets:) and this was a great way to learn about it:

Then using the same lesson plan, we made a little tad pole and watched how a tadpole turns into a frog. The kids painted the legs and tail, cut it out and attached it to our frogs body:

Just some frog math- behind each frog is a number and they stuck the correct amount of stickers on each frog. (Just numbers 1-10):

Classic Montessori counting:

This was just a very cool learning moment- the sun was streaming into the room and happened to hit our globe just so--- it was so clear to my little guy how the sun shines on one side of the world (day) while the other side is dark (night time)...

Will work on the rest of the makkos this week- its a 'fun' Parshah in regard to the different science experiments and projects to do. Click here to see what we have done in the past with the 10 plagues.

Wishing all a great week,