Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

7 Ways to use Leftover Easter Eggs.

Easter is over.  By now, your candy may be all consumed. However, what about all of those hard boiled eggs?  You know, the ones that your kids tenderly turned into the masterpieces of their lives. You obviously can’t let them sit in the fridge forever. 

There are a number of things you can do with hardboiled eggs.  In fact, I have a hard time deciding how I want to use my eggs because I love all the ways to consume them.  Here are 7 simple ideas.

  1. Eat them as is.  My son loves hardboiled eggs.  He is our “picky” child, so he eats them plain. However, it works for him.
  2. Use them to make a huge chef salad.  We love eggs on our salad.  It adds a punch of protein without much cost.
  3. Freeze them.  You can freeze hardboiled eggs?  Sort of, kind of.  You can freeze the yolks. You can use the yolks later to sprinkle on salads.  I honestly have never frozen my yolks.  We tend to be yolk snobs.  We consume mostly the egg white because that is the healthier of the two choices.  However, if you heart yolks, then go for it!
  4. Make a big ol’ pot of chicken noodle soup or chicken corn soup.  Egg whites can be superb in these soups.
  5. Deviled eggs.  Yum.  I love them.  However, then I would eat the whole dozen.
  6. Egg salad.  This is one of our “go to” lunches when nothing else exists in the fridge.  There are really fun recipes for egg salad. However, I keep mine simple.  I chop up the hardboiled egg and add just enough mayo to taste.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  I also only use 1/4 of the yolks.  Again, the egg purist thing.  It is delish on a fresh slice of bread, with lettuce.
  7. Red beet eggs.  They can also be called pickled eggs. These are our hands down favorite.  Many of you have never heard of red beet eggs.  It is because they are native to my area.  I grew up with strong Pennsylvania Dutch ties.  I detest the majority of Pennsylvania Dutch delicacies, except for Red beet eggs and whoopie pies.  That is all that made the cut in my palate.

Red beet eggs can be quite pricey to buy from the deli counter.  Making your own will save you a lot of 100_4909money.  It always saves you a lot of money to make your own anything.

  1. Peel the shell from the hard boiled egg.
  2. Throw the shelled eggs into a sealable container.
  3. Use one 15 1/2oz can of beets.  Of course you can use fresh beets too.  Drain the beet liquid into a pot.
  4. Boil the beet juice with 1/4 cup sugar (brown or white) and 1/2 cup vinegar. (I’ve used white and apple cider).  Simply boil until the sugar dissolves.  It only takes a few minutes.
  5. Pour the liquid mixture onto the eggs.
  6. Throw the actual beets (left in the can) onto the eggs.
  7. Store them in a sealed container in your fridge.  These things do stink. 
  8. Marinate them for at least 24 hours.  The longer they sit, the better they taste.  I will often shake my container through out the day to make sure all of the eggs are getting marinated.

When they are ready to eat, simply enjoy.  I put salt and pepper on mine.  It grosses my husband out.  However, they are yummy that way.  You can eat the yolks, or you can simply eat the egg whites. Don’t forget to eat the beets.  Beets have so much nutritional goodness.

So there you go.  Seven quick ways to use all of those Easter eggs!

*I do not recommend consuming eggs that were left sitting out or that you used to “hunt”.   We paint our eggs and then store in the refrigerator.  Just wanted to put that “disclaimer” out there.

This is being linked to Women Living Well Wednesday and Tasty Tuesday.

Friday, April 22, 2011

A few Easter Traditions

Easter weekend is confusingly late this year.  I am sure you have your own Easter holiday traditions.  However, I thought I’d share some of what our Easter weekend entails.    Due to time constraints my pictures are limited, but I know I have creative readers who can envision what I am suggesting.

100_4809Of course we paint eggs. I grew up painting eggs with q-tips.  I assumed everyone did 100_4805this until I found out that that everyone did not. That sentence just sounds far from genius.  I use food dye.  I mix 1/2 cup boiling water, 1/2 tsp of vinegar and as many drops of color as desired.

If you choose to use egg dying & decorating kits, I highly suggest buying them after Easter.  You will pay a quarter of the cost and they will store fine until next year.  I also have been able to find them at yard sales for only 10 cents.

If you have toddlers, I highly suggest this idea that I used for several years.  Skip the paint.  Instead use crayons.  It is pure genious I tell ya.  On a hot egg, the wax melts, but then quickly dries.  Yes.  I know.  You are welcome.100_4801

Usually, we make some type of goodie.  There are incredible ingenious ideas out there.  This year my idea was simple.  Mostly because it was spontaneous.

I created a bunny cake with a boxed cake mix and frosting.

I bought the cake mix and frosting at a surplus store for only 50 cents.  The comical part is that it is orange frosting: Fall Party Chip.  It’s all good.  It is for the kids and they do not care.  At. All. 

To make a bunny cake, bake your cake in 2 round pans.  One pan becomes the head.  The other one you use to cut out ears.  For decorations, I used what I had on hand.  I raided the Easter candy my kids got at school.  Perfect for eyes, nose and mouth.  The ears were sprinkles left from valentines.  The whiskers were spinach enriched spaghetti noodles.  With that kind of mishmash cake, I highly suspect you could surprise your kids with one tonight.

100_4804{I love this picture.  There is always one that does not want to participate.}

On Easter eve, we create resurrection rolls.  It is a tradition my kids love.  On Easter morning, we eat the resurrection rolls while again retelling the Easter story. 

We also celebrate with Easter baskets.  I keep mine very simple.  Each child will get gum and a few pieces of chocolate.  This year, I found Beanie Babies and books at the Salvation Army. Each basket will cost only $3. 

Our most important and favorite tradition are using resurrection eggs.   For one to two weeks before Easter, we use the eggs to tell the story of Christ’s death and resurrection.  You can simplify the story for 2 year olds.  The devotional included is wonderful for older children.  If you do not own a set, I highly suggest you buy one.100_4811

Of course our traditions includes  a wonderful Sunday Easter service, time with family and egg hunts. 

Traditions do not have to be complicated.