Easter 2014

    What a fun weekend!! Chris and I had so much fun with Bennett. He loved his Easter basket, especially Big Bird. For a child that has never really watched television he LOVES any Sesame Street characters. Later in the morning we had 2 families over that both have a child Bennett's age. I met the mom's through a mommy group I'm part of and I've really enjoyed getting to know them this past year. Our kids and husbands play well together too. This was my first big meal entertaining since trying to become "homemade". I did cheat on a few things but overall we had a wholesome delicious meal. Here a few recipes from our menu.





Kale & Raisin Salad
3 Cups of shredded Kale
1/4 Red Onion Diced
3/4 cup raisins
3 Tbsp Poppy seed dressing
(the dressing was my cheat I use Brianna's Naturals, this salads is a go to for us so I'm in the process of finding a good recipe)



Roasted Potatoes
6 small potatoes cubed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1/2tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Sea salt
pepper

preheat over to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Press or dice garlic cloves and put into a large mixing bowl. Add potatoes, olive oil, onion powder, sea salt and pepper to taste to the mixing bowl. Use your hands to toss in all around and every potato is covered in your mix. Place on baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes until slightly browned.

Cinnamon Chip French Toast
1 loaf Whole Wheat Cinnamon Chip Bread (purchased from Great Harvest Bread Company)

5 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp honey
1tsp Vanilla
1/4tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 250 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
In a mixing bowl (I use a rectangle Tupperware dish so that I can store the custard and only dirty 1 dish not 2) beat the 5 eggs on medium speed with your hand mixer for 2 min. Warm honey in microwave for 30 seconds and mix in. Slowly mix in milk, vanilla and finally nutmeg. Mix for another minute. This should not take longer than 5 min to put together.
While warming your non stick skillet, slice your bread into 1" slices. Place 1 slice into your custard for 20 seconds then flip for another 20 seconds.  Place on hot skillet and cook on each side for 3-5 min until brown. Then place on your baking sheet in the oven. I usually cook 2-4 slices at a time depending on the size of your skillet. After each piece is done put it in the oven. When the whole loaf is prepared I let it all bake for another 10 min.
  Serve hot with fresh maple syrup. Garnish with fresh fruit of your choice!
***Best when custard is prepared the night before***

Fruit Salad 
1 honeydew melon balled
1/2 a pineapple cut into small cubes
1 package of strawberries
1 package blueberries
2 kiwis peeled and sliced

Toss everything together and place in your serving bowl! This is also a great dish to prepare the night before, just make sure you store it in an airtight container.

Sweet Potato Chunks
The babies just loved these! See my post from yesterday for the recipe, it's quick and tasty.

Raspberry-Lemon Muffins
(I got this idea here, the original recipe is wonderful but we have a dairy sensitivity in our house so I've changed somethings out. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/03/25/recipe-whole-wheat-lemon-raspberry-muffins/)

What I did differently:
instead of milk, 1/2 cup of Almond Coconut Milk (Pure Almond Brand)
instead of butter , 1/2 cup Earth's Balance soy free buttery sticks

I'm so grateful to have good friends to spend such important holidays with. Please share what you like to eat for brunch. It's honestly my favorite meal of the week.

~Brooke