Pesach countdown -- 19 days to go!

About two and a half weeks left before the first seder and there's still so much to do. Up to this point, the focus has been primarily on food. And this may be an unnecessary digression, but I thought I would spend a few minutes just talking about why so we obsess about food while preparing for Pesach. (Some of this obsession is detailed in the post titled "What is this Chametz stuff anyway?" which should immediately follow -- or proceed this post.)

Here's what I wrote about the preparation process in the family's old web site:

We probably spend more time thinking about and preparing for Pesach than any other holiday in the Jewish year. There are a number of reasons for this, but we chose two to expound upon:

Everything is different. It's not until Pesach rolls around each year that we realize how much of our life revolves around preparing, eating, and cleaning up after food. We empty our cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator and re-stock them with Pesach dishes and supplies. Every time we get a glass of water or a piece of fruit, we are reminded that it is Pesach.

Pesach commemorates the events that made us a people. We spend two evenings each year talking about how we were slaves in Egypt and how G-d delivered us. Each of us, in every generation, is commanded to feel as if he or she personally was delivered from slavery and brought to freedom. Two nights are not enough, so we study beforehand to prepare ourselves for discussion, and the thoughts we digest afterwards often carry us well beyond the end of Pesach.

Pesach therefore requires both  physical preparation and spiritual or intellectual preparation. We clean our house from one end to the other, top to bottom, more thoroughly than at any other time of the year. We study the Haggadah so that when that first seder begins, we can add our thoughts to the discussion. We plan our meals carefully, and begin shopping.  We try to learn some new tunes each year and make sure that everyone is familiar with them so that we can sing together during our seder.

So, as far as the physical preparation, I've been sorting through food. I do this every year and end up with lists that look something like this (only scribbled in my handwriting instead of neatly typed):

Meat
11 hot dogs (freezer)
Brisket (garage freezer)
1 whole chicken (garage freezer)
1 pkg. Hamburger meat from kosher.com (garage freezer)
1 rib-eye steak (garage freezer)
ground turkey (freezer)
turkey cubes for stir-fry (freezer)
chicken thighs (freezer)
chicken breast cubes for stir-fry (freezer)

Could be kept if not used
4 things pesto (freezer -- plus 7 in garage freezer)
Dried chile peppers (freezer)
Chile powder (freezer)
2 lb. Butter (freezer)
4-3/4 lb. Earth Balance margarine (freezer)
Open jar Nescafe instant coffee (freezer)
Whole bag orange roughy fillets (freezer)
1 cup tomatoes from garden (freezer -- plus lots more in garage freezer)
Big bag frozen fruit -- Miriam's (freezer)
2+ bags blueberries (freezer)
4+ bags strawberries (freezer)
1 bag cranberries (freezer)
1 bag peaches (freezer -- plus 3 more in garage freezer)
GS cookies (garage freezer)
3 pkg. Paskesz cookies (Garage freezer)
1 bag salmon fillets (garage freezer)
2 pkg. Greens from CSA (garage freezer)
4 big, 1 small package yellow squash from garden (garage freezer)
Dog meat (garage freezer)
Frozen juice concentrate (garage freezer)
Green chiles (garage freezer)
6 containers homemade applesauce (garage freezer)
Juice boxes (both refrigerators)

Try to use up in meals or otherwise
1 pkg. Smart dogs (freezer)
2 Italian sausages (freezer -- plus 3 boxes in garage freezer)
2 pkg. Smart Ground Mexican style TVP crumbles (freezer)
1 bag Morningstar Farm crumbles (freezer)
3 pkg. Mon Cuisine stuffed cabbage -- meat (freezer)
4 pkg. Cohen's mini franks in puff pastry (freezer)
1 pkg. Other Cohen appetizers - meat (freezer)
Fudge ripple ice cream (2 more in garage freezer)
Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
Mint chocolate chip ice cream (1 more in garage freezer)
Vanilla ice cream (garage freezer)
Ben & Jerry's half-baked ice cream
Maccabee mozzarella sticks -- toss (freezer)
Alexia mozzarella sticks --  (freezer)
Yeast -- probably toss (freezer)
Open pkg. Morningstar Farms Chik'n grillers (freezer - plus 1 pkg. in garage freezer)
1 bag chik'n strips -- (freezer)
1-1/2 boxes puff pastry (freezer)
Open bag salmon burgers -- 8 left (freezer)
Pinon nut barley bake (freezer)
1 pkg. Light Life fake sausage (fridge)
1 pkg. Light Life fake ham slices (fridge)
1 pizza shell -- Simon's (freezer)
Bag of chocolates -- (freezer)
Kong dog treat filled with peanut butter (freezer)
2 boxes chik'n nuggets (Garage freezer)
3 boxes Chik patties (garage freezer)
2 boxes Grillers prime (garage freezer)
1 box BBQ riblets (garage freezer)
1 box Garlic Naan (garage freezer)
3 big boxes Morningstar Farms sausages (Garage freezer)
2 jars enchilada sauce (garage fridge)
2 quarts zucchini soup (garage freezer)
1 quart broccoli soup (garage freezer)
1 quart cantelope-peach soup (garage freezer)
2 bags not-chicken soup (garage freezer)
2 salmon pieces (freezer)
2 pieces frozen cod (freezer)
Peanut butter cups -- (garage fridge)

Frozen Vegetables
Greens from CSA (garage fridge)
5 zucchini pie fillings plus 1 small filling (garage freezer)
1 pkg. French-style green beans (freezer)
2 bags frozen greens from CSA (freezer)
1 bag frozen broccoli from CSA (freezer)
2 bags store-bought broccoli (freezer)
2 pkg. Cas. Frms winter squash (freezer)
1 bag eggplant from CSA (Freezer)
1 bag frozen peas (freezer)
3 bags tater tots  (freezer)
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables  (freezer)
1 bag frozen cauliflower  (freezer)

Pesach-dik or could be used for Pesach
Eggs
Cheese (unopened only)
Elite chocolates (garage freezer)
Pesach spices, etc. (garage freezer)

From lists like these, I create menu plans to use up as much stuff as possible without buying any new ingredients. For example:

Monday 3/8 -- chicken for meat eaters with rice and mixed greens w/garlic; People's Choice for others
Tuesday 3/9 -- Broiled Tofu sandwiches
Wednesday 3/10 -- eggplant parmesan, salad
Thursday 3/11 -- pasta and seitan, garlic bread, salad
Friday 3/12 -- broccoli soup from freezer, winter squash souffle, salmon and/or cod, sweet & sour tofu
Saturday 3/13 -- enchiladas
Sunday 3/14 -- seitan and broccoli stir-fry, fried rice, salad
Monday 3/15 -- spaghetti with meatless crumbles
Tuesday 3/16 -- pinto beans with rice, chile rellenos casserole
Wednesday 3/17 -- cauliflower and cashew croquettes, green salad, peas
Thursday 3/18 -- southwest "beef" stew (uses up taco not-meat), cornbread, sald
Friday, 3/19 -- cantelope/peach soup from freezer, "sausage" and bow-tie pasta florentine, green beans
Saturday 3/20 -- enchiladas
Sunday 3/21 -- pinon nut barley bake, crustless broccoli & cottage cheese pie
Monday 3/22 -- possibly eggs ben davis (family name for an egg and cheese bagel with fake meat)
Tuesday 3/23 -- lentils & rice?
Wednesday 3/24 -- People's Choice for non-meat eaters; probably chicken from freezer for others
Thursday 3/25 -- broccoli and mushroom tart
Starting with the next meal, our college students will be home:
Friday 3/26 -- zucchini soup from freezer. small lasagne, tofu sticks
Saturday 3/27 -- enchiladas
Sunday 3/28 -- either cold sandwiches or eat out because
Monday 3/29 -- First Seder!!

Well, so far so good. Monday night, some of us did use up the unfrozen chicken and mixed greens and some rice. On Tuesday, no broiled tofu sandwiches because I should have put those down for a Sunday night when the person who really wants them will be home. Wednesday (tonight), I made a wonderful Eggplant Parmesan with organic eggplant that I got from our CSA last November and froze.