Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

Just wanting to wish you a Chag Kasher V'Sameach. Have an enjoyable and meaningful Yom Tov.

I hope that you are entering into this Yom Tov at least a little bit happier and more organized than in past years.

After Yom Tov, I will go over some tips to make next year even easier while you are in the clean-up mode.

After that, by several e-mail requests, we will switch gears to meal planning.

In the meantime, savor each and every moment of Pesach. You all worked so hard to get to this point. Now it's time to enjoy!

See you when it's all over!

4 Days to Go

I have gotten the same question by e-mail several times over the past few days which I would like to pass on:


What do you feed your kids in the days leading up to Pesach???

The answer is...CHAMETZ.

There is this phenomenon about children and eating kosher l'Pesach food one moment sooner than required - starvation sets in. It's quite amazing. They eat (a lot), yet they claim they are starving. How to solve this problem? Feed them bread, bagels, pretzels...anything chametz.

After the house is "turned over", the chametz goes in a box and stays on the deck until the morning of bedikas chametz. The kids eat it as they please. Miraculously, there are no more "There's nothing to eat" complaints.

As much as we daven for rain everyday, these next 4 days are the ones where I beg for no precipitation. We eat outside as many times as we can.

Happy cleaning and cooking!

7 Days to Go

We are in the final countdown.

Some random tips:

• Take a picture of cabinets before you empty them if you are one of those people who feel as if you never know where to put things back once Pesach is over. Then you have to just scroll through the pictures on your camera after Yom Tov for a quick clean up. You can even delegate this job once they have a picture to follow.
• Don't forget about the good storage space in your dishwasher(s). Fill it up as you empty out cabinets - it doesn't have to be organized neatly as if you were running it. Pile and stack and shove some more things in there before you seal it up. (Don't forget to lock it, especially if you have a 3 year old like I have.)
• Make sandwiches for the next week and freeze them and double bag them. This way, you just have to pull them out of the freezer come lunchtime when everyone is hungry and send them outside to eat.

Keep smiling (even when you don't feel like it) and get your required sleep. I promise, they both make a huge difference.

Sleepless in Silver Spring

Good (early) morning. The night turned into the morning at some point with a tiny bit of sleep. My biggest request of the day is to make it through the day.

This is my last night of less than 6 hours of sleep (I hope...).

After a good Shabbos rest, my plan (we all know about making plans) is to make it my goal for the remaining 8 nights until the Seder to get 6 hours of sleep. It's not the ideal 7 for me, but it's enough for a good, functioning level.

My biggest piece of advice for this week is to get enough sleep. You may need more or less than I do, but find the number of hours that works for you and make it a goal. Set a timer. Make reminder notes. Whatever it takes - just get into bed at the hour that you pre-determined to be bedtime this week.

What happens if I am in the middle of such-and-such and the time has come for bed?

LEAVE IT!!! I promise you, it will still be there in the morning. Unless you are married to a saintly spouse who will finish it off for you, your cleaning/cooking/kashering will greet you when the sun comes up. By depriving yourself of your sleep, you will most likely be:

• less efficient
• more cranky
• more likely to snap at your spouse
• less patient with your children
• more overwhelmed
• not so joyful (putting it mildly) about preparing for Pesach

Another strong suggestion is to eat 3 balanced meals. Protein, carbs, fat at each one. This is another way to improve productivity and stabilize moods by keeping your "engine" properly fueled.

Have an enjoyable and restful Shabbos!

I have attached a great article written by a local woman here in Silver Spring. A loyal blog reader forwarded it to me from the Aish website. Thanks!


Ten Tips for Reducing Pesach Pressure

Where have you been?

SORRY! I disappeared for 2 weeks. I've gotten several "Where have you been?" e-mails.

I didn't mean to desert you at this most hectic and crazed time of the year, it's just that...

...I've been Pesach cleaning
...I gave a Pesach preparations class which required some preparation
...I've been cooking for Pesach
...I've given some "private tutorials" over the phone helping with Pesach preps
...I've been Pesach cleaning
...I went to Cancun
...I've been cooking for Pesach

(I tried to slip the Cancun trip in without much notice, but YES, hubby and I went to Cancun!!! It was a work trip, but not much work done. At lot of rest and relaxation.)

My freezers are filling up. My lists are coming along.

How are you all doing? Tired? Overwhelmed?

Hang in there! 2 days until Shabbos, and then you can catch up on some sleep. 12 days to the Seder...we're almost there!!!

SIMPLIFY. SIMPLIFY. SIMPLIFY.

Serve cereal for dinner tonight if you have nothing else planned.

After this Shabbos, don't use dishes. Just throw aways. Not so great for the environment, but very good for our sanity.

Use nice paper for this Shabbos so clean-up is a breeze.

Clean your dining room before Shabbos and eat in the kitchen this week (if that's at all humanly possible). Motzai Shabbos clean-up is so quick with no dining room to clean up, and its one less thing to do next week.

Bagels and eggs make an easy dinner as well.

Daven for good weather so you can feed the family outside next week.

Try to get no less that 6 hours of sleep each night. If you do get less than that, take a catch up nap the next day if possible.

SMILE. Your kids are taking sub-conscious notes on how you prepare for Pesach. Even if you are not so happy, fake it till you make it.

You are doing great! Keep it up.