Pesach and nutrition

[cellio]

Notes to self for next year:

• Use fish, a lot, to make up the protein deficit (waa! no soy!) without driving calories through the roof. That much meat, cheese, and egg is bad for you.
• But not tuna salad. I mean real fish, several times during the week. Fresh fish freezes.
• Eat more fruit. Fruit doesn't have to come in cans, you know; there's this place called the produce aisle.
• Eat more veggies too. Buy a microwave-safe casserole for this.
• There's a vitamin-balance problem, but I don't know how to fix it when the balanced breakfast drink is off limits.
• Baby carrots are not the only convenient raw veggie -- just the most convenient one. 400% RDA on Vitamin A is probably bad for you, even if it's only a week.
• Maybe you shouldn't eat matzah after the seders. It's not required, and there are other delivery systems for cheese and jam. Ok, maybe not jam, but you shouldn't be eating much of that anyway.

Comments

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

Pardon me if the answer is obvious, but why "no soy"?

[cellio]

It's kitniyot, and the main thing that prompts me to rethink the whole kitniyot thing. But this would be the wrong time to make that decision; I need to have a conversation with my rabbi when I'm not in the middle of it and thus predisposed toward one answer.

Kitniyot is stuff that's not chametz but that the rabbis ruled is "like chametz", kind of the way chicken is meat not to be mixed with dairy even though you can't milk a chicken.

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

Thanks- I just looked up a list of kitniyot foods... I would be very unhappy about missing those. Quinoa was pointed out several times in my quick internet search- have you tried it?

[cellio]

I've never tried (or to the best of my knowledge seen) quinoa. Was it pointed out as an alternative or as kitniyot?

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

I noticed it because I love the stuff.
I leave it to you to decide the value of these links:

http://www.aish.com/passlaw/passlawdefault/All_About_Kitniyot.asp
http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_passoverkosher.htm

[cellio]

Aish is pretty mainline orthodox, so if they're eating quinoa on Pesach I'm not too worried about doing so. Thanks for the tip; I'll have to check our local co-op store for it.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

quinoa is fine on Pesach, with some caveats. It's tricky to find it kosher l'pesach, becaus it's usually refined (or just packaged?) in the same place as grains we can't eat. Star-K and CRC usually put notices out every year saying which brands are KLP with and without KLP on it.

[cellio]

Thanks for the tips.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've found quinoa locally at Whole Foods and at a cooperative supermarket. And here everyone accepts it as kosher for Passover (it was part of the dinner at the first seder I went to, and someone mention having been served quinoa at every meal on Shabbat, too.)

If you get some, do rinse it before boiling.

[cortejo.livejournal.com]

Quinoa is a staple in my house. It is FULL of protien. We use it instead of rice as well as making some wonderful meals like this one:

http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/1000/

I sub any kind of bean on hand (including chick peas) for the butter beans, leave out the honey and salt, and sub black peper for the cardamom.

[cellio]

That sounds yummy! Thanks for the pointer.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

yeah, but if I remember correctly it's got a ton of protein in it. Or some such minerally goodness.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

It's ONE week. Missing those foods for one week is not devastating for any healthy person. Pesach allows you to be creative and pick up new foods and preparations along the way. It's nice.

[geekosaur]

Soybeans are in the category of "kitniyot", banned by Rabbinical enactment because of a perceived similarity to "chametz" (wheat, oats, rye, barley, spelt — except when prepared as matzot according to very strict rules; but you can't use that to get around kitniyot, soy matzot would not be kosher).

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

Another rapid answer! Thanks.