We decided we like the 7:00 am mass because it’s just as hectic getting everyone ready and out the door for 7am as it is for 8:30 am. Sure you get to sleep in a little longer, but it’s also nice to take a little Easter nappy nap, too.
I OD’d on sweets yesterday.
Gave up all desserts and diet soda for Lent.
I must say the soda part was much harder and my Diet Coke tasted much better than my Cadbury Creme Egg did.
And guess what…didn’t lose a single pound due to giving up sweets for 40 days. What does that tell you?
A.) Made up for it in other forms of calories.
B.) Wasn’t as active as I should be.
Shame on me.
*****
I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. Please forgive me.
Hopefully this sugary sweet pic will help my cause…
This little ladybug was under the weather all weekend with a low grade fever and sore throat.
I think the worst part for her is that she missed out on a Chuck E. Cheese birthday for two little friends.
Therefore, our Easter included {Tangled} and {Yogi Bear} courtesy of Red Box. Gramma sat with her while the rest of us went to mass.
{the loot}
{new jams & a lolli}
{the Easter Wiener ~ how can you say “no” to this face?}
{with her Lolo}
{waiting for the pews to fill up}
{a quick backyard egg hunt before returning to the infirmary}
*****
Aside from a couple underarm thermometer readings, a dose of children’s Advil and some non-Chuck E. havin’ tears, the weekend was nice with my in-laws here from the Carolinas and a quick visit from Gramma K.
They were able to see her arabesque, passe and shuffle step at dance on Friday so all was not lost….
At Easter, we are blessed with renewed HOPE and FAITH.
Hoping yours was filled with the same….sans any long-haired princesses or Jellystone livin’ bears.
E.B. has a sweet tooth like no other, loves to bake and can go through a box of Chewy Lemonheads in no time flat.
But, when it comes to filling baskets E.B. tries to make some better choices than just Peeps, Cadbury Creme Eggs, jelly beans, speckled robin’s egg malt balls, chocolate bunnies and bubble gum.
Generally, our Easter baskets are filled with useful goodies rather than a boatload of candy and little unnecessary toys.
Here are some suggestions for Easter basket stuffers with less sugar and less likely to end up on the floor after a day…..
Sunglasses for the upcoming summer months
Flip flops
Tooth brushes
Band-aids {our household goes through these like they’re goin’ out of style!}
Summer jammies
{both from oldnavy.com}
Reusable water bottles
Sugarless gum
{Washable} crayons or markers
Coloring books
Bubble bath {we don’t use this regularly so it’s a treat}
Of course, it’s OK to throw in a few Dum Dum lollipops or some chocolate eggs. We don’t want the Easter Bunny to be a total buzz kill.
After all, that’s why he put a new toothbrush in the basket!
I came across a recipe for almond bars on the back of the Market Pantry (Target brand) almond extract box. Random, huh?
Since I LOVE almond, this was a no-brainer.
I was going to make them yesterday, but forgot that I hard boiled the last 4 eggs in the fridge for dyeing last weekend.
Then I forgot to pick some up at the store.
Getting back to the hard boiled ones…we never got around to coloring them last weekend. Terrible, I know. Elliott has asked me a MILLION times if we can dye the Easter eggs! She doesn’t care that it’s almost a week later. We still had quite a bit going on this past week, so we FINALLY got around to coloring our 4 measly hard-boiled eggs this morning.
Dropping the eggs into the dye:
Simmering:
Still waiting:
The expression on her face = pure guilt for not doing this LAST weekend:
More guilt:
We did FOUR eggs people…can you imagine the excitement and glee a whole dozen would have created?
Next year, kids. Next year.
I really do love to dye eggs. Really. It’s just I need a controlled environment to do so. All that dye makes me a little nervous. But next year I am going to pick up my favorite cheap Paas dye, vinegar, a dozen and a half eggs and let them go to town.
OK, now getting back to the almond bars…
I’ve been dreaming about these since I discovered the recipe around Valentine’s Day. They really are very easy to make even though there are three steps: crust, filling and glaze.
Trust me, they are a hit. Imagine a light, crumbly shortbread crust married with a smooth, cheesecake filling only to be finished with crunchy toasted sliced almonds and a drizzle of sweet almond icing.
Sound like too much almond? Well, it’s not. They are perfection.
For the glaze, I mixed it up and transferred to a zip lock, snipped off the tip ever so slightly and drizzled over the uncut bars:
Perfection on a pedestal:
Here is what you need…..
Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Filling:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure almond extract
3/4 cup sliced almonds
Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure almond extract
4-5 tsp. milk
Heat oven to 350*F.
Combine crust ingredients at low speed until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden.
Meanwhile, beat filling ingredients, except almonds, until smooth. Pour over partially baked crust; sprinkle with almonds. Bake 15-2o minutes or until set. Cool.
Mix glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars.
Enjoy!
Store in refrigerator. (If there are any leftover!)
I think these would also be delish with some apricot preserves spread in between the crust and the filling. Whatcha think?
Here are a couple more random snapshots from our Saturday morning:
We ended the day with Jay & Lolo driving U Rod to catch his flight out from Long Beach and Lola preparing beef & broccoli and tons of lumpia for din din. Our friend and neighbor, Scott, came up to sip on mojitos and dine with us.
T’was a wonderful Easter Sunday. Thanks Easter Bunny!
Kicking Easter Weekend off with some Cinnamon Almond French Toast:
I just added some sprinkles of cinnamon and about a 1/4 teaspoon of pure almond extract to 4 eggs (or 6 egg whites) and a splash of milk. Soaked 4 pieces of Oroweat Double Fiber bread and…voila!
Drizzle with a little syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar and you’re off to a sweet & healthy start to the holiday weekend!
I hope your weekend is filled with vibrant colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, Peeps and that annoying Easter grass from the baskets that ends up all over the floor!
The Albertson’s down the hill was having an Easter egg hunt ~ the “golden egg” being a pass to Disneyland along with some other goodies for the little ones hidden inside certain eggs. Mr. Easter Bunny made a brief appearance which I was thrilled with because that saved me a trip to the mall and $25 for a photo!
The “hunt” took place in the produce section and it was hardly a hunt at all….just piles of candy filled plastic eggs under the apples, lettuce and potatoes! Super duper obvious and lasting a grand total of 3.5 minutes! My little chickens only walked away with mini Twix bars, Reese’s and mini Hershey’s bars…thank goodness the candy was good because I would’ve been real disappointed. But they had a great time and Albertson’s was nice enough to serve FREE hotdogs and sodas so this Mama didn’t even have to fix lunch ~ gotta love that. Here are some photos from the eggstravaganza…
Elliott gathering eggs:
The find:
Holden post hunt searching for the rabbit:
Emilie & Elliott with Mr. Easter Bunny:
Holdy with his new BFF:
Enjoying lunch:
Then, we organized a last minute redneck block party where a few neighbors parked their lawn chairs in the guest parking across the street, prepared some appetizers and enjoyed wine and chit chat while the kids ran amok, chalked the you know what out of the street and rode various modes of transportation including scooters, tricycles, bikes and the ever popular Disney Princess ride.
Here is the spread (yes, complete with boxed wine!):
This is my new fave $3.99 TJ’s wine find (and it’s organic!):
Holden decided to don a plastic bowl helmet:
Checking out the stars:
This morning we were up bright and early to head to a Scooter’s Jungle (bounce house place) birthday party for a little friend in E’s dance class, ran some errands to finish up shopping for Easter outfits, pick up some hand weights for my boot camp which starts tomorrow and then enjoyed an al fresco dinner of homemade crispy chicken tenders and mac n cheese (NOT homemade!).
I discovered this recipe in Parents magazine years ago and it is so easy and delish. I feel like I feed my kids dino chickens from Costco on a daily basis, so it’s nice to make them from scratch once in awhile. The recipe calls for corn flakes, but I used my leftover rice crispies from the treats earlier this week and those worked just fine.
Here is what you need:
12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I use frozen chicken tenderloins)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 cup packaged cornflake crumbs or 2 cups cornflakes, finely crused (or crushed rice crispies!)
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash ground black pepper
Dipping sauces: BBQ, Ranch or ketchup
1. Heat oven to 450F. Cut chicken into 3/4-inch strips. In a shallow dish, combine the egg, honey and mustard. In another shallow dish stir together cornflake crumbs, salt and pepper. Dip chicken strips into the egg mixture and then roll them in crumb mixture to coat evenly.
2. Arrange the strips on a baking sheet. Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Makes 4 servings.
I sliced mine and put them into a salad…still desperately trying to recreate the CPK bbq chicken salad!
Finally, I will leave you with this cute image:
Future blogger?
Here’s to another busy week ahead…2 boot camps, mammogram, bro-in-law coming on Wednesday and then the in-laws coming on Good Friday to celebrate Easter with us. Egg coloring and frosted Easter sugar cookies to be made in between. Oh, and sloppy joes (not from a can!) on the menu for tomorrow.
Hope you have all sorts of good stuff on the agenda this week, too!
