EGG-CELLENT APPETIZERS FOR YOUR EASTER GATHERING
We're just days away from one of the most sugar-filled days of the year. Here’s how to pick and choose what food to serve at your Easter celebration, and how to be mindful of added sugar intake during your egg hunts. If you're going to enjoy some Easter candy for dessert, it's important you eat a filling meal or provide nourishing options if you're hosting an Easter get together. Here are FOUR easy recipes, whether you're the host providing food for guests or if you're the guest bringing a dish.
AVOCADO DEVILED EGGS
Ingredients
6 hard boiled eggs cut in half
2 large ripe avocados
2 tablespoons of lime juice (1-2 limes)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Garlic salt and tajin seasoning (Tajin) to taste
Garnish with paprika
Directions
Slice peeled hard boiled eggs in half and carefully remove cooked yolks and place in a medium-sized mixing bowl or mortar.
Add ripe avocado and mash with fork or pestle until it's reached a smooth consistency
Add remaining ingredients (lime juice, cilantro, garlic salt, optional Tajin seasoning)
Dispense the egg mixture with a spoon or icing dispenser into the egg boats. Garnish with paprika.
Serve cold. Bonus points: serve in an Easter basket :)
BELL PEPPER "CARROTS"
Ingredients
Mini bell peppers cut in half and seeded
Tzatziki sauce (here's an easy recipe if you want to make it from scratch)
Parsley leaves
Directions
After slicing mini bell peppers in half and removing any seeds, add tzatziki sauce.
Add parsley leaves to the top to make the bell peppers look like a carrot.
FRUIT PEEP KEBOBS
Ingredients
Mixture of colorful fruit
I used blackberries, strawberries, pineapples, green grapes)
Peeps
Kebob spears
Directions
Spear peeps and fruit mixture until the kebob spears are three-quarters filled with fruit.
CARROT VEGGIE DISPLAY
Ingredients
Baby carrots
Broccoli florets
Cherry tomatoes
Celery
Ranch dressing
Directions
After washing produce, assemble to look like a very large carrot. The baby carrots and cherry tomatoes will be the orange part of the carrot, and the broccoli an celery will be the carrot's "leaves."
Serve with ranch dressing or other sauce of choice.
EASTER BASKETS
Easter is around the corner, and that means giant chocolate bunnies, cream-filled eggs and jellybeans galore. The good news is that it's perfectly fine to enjoy easter candy just make sure you do so in moderation. Courtney shares tips for other ways to fill Easter eggs and Easter baskets and what to do with all that candy after Easter is over.
Easter eggs and basket options:
Stickers
Bubbles
Pens, pencils, markers
Journals
Erasers
Costume jewelry
Play-doh
Bath bombs
Mini book
Scrunchies
Toy car
Money
TIPS
Instead of eating all the candy and added sugar in a matter of days or even throwing everything away, here are some ideas for what to do with all that leftover candy:
Bag and store your Easter candy for upcoming trips, events, future snacks, and movie nights. Divide in pre-portioned amounts and seal with a plastic bag. Store in the pantry or on a high shelf in your kitchen. If you have the candy sitting on the table, you're more likely to eat more of it. When it's out of sight, and nourishing options like fruit are in sight on the kitchen table, you're more likely to choose the one you can see.
Make recipes with leftover candy for special occasions. Here are some ideas. You could even save your leftover peeps and chocolate for a S'more's night with the family.
Freeze chocolate candy to be used in the summer for an ice cream topping.
Arts and crafts: make jellybean art. You can paint, color, or even glue jellybeans together to make artwork.
Turn your candy into a science experiment. Here are some ideas.
If you have an idea you want Courtney to cover on KTBS Health Watch, ask the dietitian HERE.
