My Favorite Time of the Year . . . Easter Menu Inspiration plus a treat from MealEnders!
This week leads up to my very favorite day of the year and most favorite holiday. The Easter Season is such a special, beautiful celebration. I just love it all! I've said that before here, here and here. As my boys have gotten older I miss some of the fun Easter traditions like decorating the eggs, hiding and finding eggs and dressing my boys up like little Easter eggs themselves.Easter Sunday also brings about the end of the Lenten season and the end of my Lent sacrifice. I gave up Facebook for the Lenten Season and I will confess it hasn't been that difficult of a sacrifice. I'll talk about it more later.
One of my favorite thing about a Holiday is the meal planning. That's one of the things I grew up discussing and reviewing with my mother. Although, she would have had her own Easter menu planned weeks ago and I'm just now getting to it. I love holding on to some of our tried and true recipes but also love finding and introducing new recipes to the table. Where I used to get out a stack of recipe books and flip through pages looking for ideas, this morning I flipped through Pinterest. You can check out my boards here. I think I might have replaced some of my "Facebook" time with getting sucked into Pinterest! While this Easter I will definitely have my old fashioned deviled eggs on the table, I am also looking at these recipes for inspiration:
Rosemary Balsamic PorkIngredients
- 3 lbs boneless pork loin
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary (divided)
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme (divided)
- 2 tbsp steak seasoning
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 6 slices bacon
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°.
- Brush the pork loin on all sides with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Cut six slits in the loin to make a nice little home for the crushed garlic.
- Use a garlic press to crush one clove of garlic into each slit, then push the crushed garlic well into the pork.
- After the pork is all garlic-ed up, put the spices together and get ready to rub!
- Place the steak seasoning, black pepper, 4 sprigs chopped rosemary and 4 sprigs chopped thyme in a small bowl together.
- Rub the spice mixture on to the loins, making sure to cover both sides evenly.
- Place 2 sprigs of rosemary and 2 sprigs of thyme on the loin.
- Wrap the loin in bacon, making sure to wrap up those sprigs of rosemary and thyme.
- Place in the oven to roast. After 40-45 minutes, place a meat thermometer into the center of the pork.
The pork will register at 165° F when ready.Check out the full recipe with delicious photos on Little Leopard Book.
SKINNY BROCCOLI SALADIngredients
- 2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
- 1 head fresh cauliflower, chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
- ½ red onion, chopped
- ½ cup green olives
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup reduced-fat, shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup reduced-fat ranch dressing
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and toss with reduced-fat ranch dressing.
- Refrigerate until serving.
Check out Skinnymom for the recipe.I'm not quite sure what the dessert will be. I am still mulling over that one. It has to be yummy enough for four big boys. They don't care how pretty the dessert looks. I do. And I think this is just beautiful!
Skinny Coconut Cupcakes Ingredients:For the Frosting:8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese (not fat free)3/4 cup powdered sugar2 tsp natural coconut extractFor the Cupcakes:2 egg whites1 cup canned light coconut milk (Thai Kitchen)1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce2 tsp natural coconut extract18.25 oz white box cake mix (Duncan Hines)1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes72 Cadbury mini chocolate eggs (optional)Directions:In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and coconut extract with a mixer. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 cupcake tins with liners.In a large bowl combine egg whites, coconut milk, apple sauce and remaining coconut extract. Mix well, then add cake mix and mix until combined.Pour batter into lined cupcake tins about halfway and bake 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.Top each cupcake with 1/2 tablespoon of cream cheese, then top each with 1 tsp coconut flakes. For an Easter theme top each cupcake with 3 mini chocolate eggs.Note: If you make these a day ahead, don't frost them. Keep the frosting refrigerated and frost them the day you plan to eat them.I'm not sure of the final menu for Easter lunch, but these three delicious looking recipes have given me some ideas and inspiration! I hope I've also given you some inspiration for your own table and some fabulous Food Blogs to peruse!You can also check out all of these and more on my Pinterest Boards!I've included some Throw Back photos that I love. These were taken 10 YEARS AGO! How does that happen? Those were the fun days of spending Easter with my parents, hunting eggs in their big ol' backyard and going to church at the same place I grew up going each Easter. I loved those days and miss them so much!Especially scenes like this one. . . . 
AND using Random Number.org, the MEALENDERS GIVEAWAY WINNER, goes to Carla P. Check your email for instructions from me! PLUS, if you're still with me at the end here, hooray for you holding on! MealEnders wants to put an end to overeating and believes the more people its 15-calorie signaling lozenges can help, the better! For TWO WEEKS EACH of YOU will receive 30% off your purchase of MealEnders. Just use the code WINNER-TOO AT CHECKOUT. TO PLACE YOUR ORDER AND LEARN MORE, GO TO www.mealenders.com!Where do you get your menu inspiration? What is on your table for Easter? Do you cook or go out? What are your traditions? Any you miss, like me? 