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This year the first holiday portion of Passover will begin on Friday night the 30th of March--check your local calendars for holiday times in your area
Passover can be overwhelming whether at home or away from home---there are nutritional advantages and disadvantages to being at home and or to being in a hotel. Wherever you are, you can make the correct choices that make your
Passover a nutritional success or disaster!
When away from home—all you have to do is mostly control yourself while you’re being served---see our section on eyeballing for portion size to help you get by. If something is really tempting—have a taste and then forget about it—take advantage of the free time and walk and enjoy!
Whether staying at home, entertaining or preparing food to take along as a guest, healthy menu planning for Pesach (Passover) can sometimes seem as challenging as crossing the Red Sea! However, equipped with leading-edge nutritional information, basic skills and a cache of Pesach (Passover) recipes from our EnLITEned Kosher Cooking, this year we can really sail through.
We at JDA are grateful for having been afforded the privilege of catering to the specific needs of the Jewish population world wide for more than two decades-- since 1985- We are a nation of highly traditional eaters. Every single celebration and landmark life cycle event, whether personal of historical, is established with festive meals.
“Our eating requirements are intimately bound up with our religion, culture, and ethnic identity. A Jewish person with diabetes needs to learn how to navigate their way through all these eating opportunities, and stay in control of their blood sugar levels.
Go and try to explain to a doctor why you absolutely have to have 4 cups of wine at one meal and a given amount of matzo. I do not know if anybody knew the carbohydrate content of matzo balls until we came along!
“Growing up in a wonderful warm Chassidic home of classic Jewish food, I was determined to learn how to create healthy gourmet food for the traditional Jewish lifestyle- cuisine for all occasions and Pesach (Passover) is no exception.
We are living in a time when, according to alarming new findings from the National Institute of Health, as many as a third of American adults with type 2 diabetes do not even know that they have the disease. There is increasing evidence that ethnic groups are at even higher risk than the general population.
With the re-construction of the food pyramid guidelines, and the information available about the glycemic index, we are now in a much better position to upgrade our daily diets.
So how do we put this information to work for us on Pesach (Passover)?
The Following are Nechama’s Tips for an EnLITEned Healthy Pesach (Passover):
TIPS TO HELP GET YOU THROUGH PASSOVER PREPARATION, THE HOLIDAY AND BEYOND
How do we eat erev (day of) Pesach (Passover)? I consider this one of the most challenging days of the year. My advice is to start the day early (before the time when we are no longer allowed to eat chametz (unleavened food not allowed on Passover)) with a good high fiber/complex carbohydrate like oat/wheat bran—psychologically it is important to eat something chametz and it will help you get through the rest of the day.
Continue your day with good quality proteins and vegetables (not a can of tuna); treat yourself to some of those yummy dishes that you worked so hard to prepare for the holiday.
Good substitutes for High Carb potatoes:
Kohlrabi in soup and meat stews is great---in place of fried or mashed potatoes try zucchini strips either roasted in the oven with good seasonings, non-stick spray and/or in a non-stick pan. For a mashed potato effect without the high carb content, string beans or broccoli and cauliflower are great for those that use them on Pesach.
Don't sacrifice Exercise time:
One of the beautiful parts of holidays is the family quality time that it provides us with. Make walks a part of that quality time---it is the beginning of spring---the flowers are blooming the birds are chirping---put your cell phones away and take walks—even 15-20 minute ones---with your kids or friends---you’ll come back invigorated and ready to continue working.
Never Eat Standing Up and Be Mindful about Mindless Eating:
You grab a handful of whatever. without taking it in to account. While cooking you taste the cakes, dessert, sauce etc and/or dig into a few bites of your hubby's, children’s dessert. Unfortunately, these little, hidden indulgences add up to weighty matters on the scale.
Be A Healthy Mom and Set Good Examples:
You love fish, veggies. Your hubby loves meat and potatoes. What gives? Your man wins, hands down. Always looking to please the kids with hot dogs, funny gifs hamburgers and French fries and they win out every time these habits are easy to fall in to especially during stressful times and when preparing for an important and busy holiday like Passover—unless you put on the brakes it can lead to trouble for everyone. Others around you will watch what you’re eating and take the example. If they see you take the time out to have a normal meal and get in some exercise they will only respect you more.
Be Honest about what you are eating:
“Most people are oblivious, not realistic or totally and drastically underestimate the number of calories they eat," says Cohen. We downplay our intake and play up our cardio workout. Know what you are eating and how much you are really exercising. There’s a lot of take out and restaurant eating during Passover preparation, especially the week prior to the Holiday, and with restaurant portion sizes on the rise, many of us have no concept of a "standard" USDA serving size. Eating out is OK just make wise choices and always go for a salad with dressing on the side or better yet a drizzle of oil and spritz of lemon is just fine. Cut out the fried foods and end with fresh fruit and you’ll be happier and healthier.
Watch your Portion Sizes/Double up on Fresh Veggies and Low Glycemic Fruits:
If you do nothing more than double your current intake of low glycemic fruits and vegetables, you'll be on your way to eating well. Go for smaller portions; if something is really calling you try a mint, some gum and sometimes just having a small amount will help you get by. But keep an eye on the portion sizes and read labels.
Stock up on good quality ingredients:
The better your food tastes the happier everyone will be The appendices {15 of them} in EnLITEned Kosher Cooking consists of lists that will help get you started.
Check out Part 2 for more tips and information to help you get by.
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