Monday, April 6, 2009

Two Ways with Eggs and Easter Fun!



Easter Anecdote


Ok, I confess. I took Griffin to see the Easter Bunny, TWICE! Yes, I am nuts and YES my husband wanted to kill me but I am a sucker and this is Baby’s First. Why did I go twice you ask? Well, because the first picture wasn’t so hot. I schlepped all the way out to Long Island for the perfect bunny, in a nice clean mall, only to come out with 40 dollars worth of pics where my kid looked like a flea on the lap of Peter Cottontail. I was pissed! So, one of my first orders of business (I’m not kidding) after we returned from our trip to Italy was to march to our local dingy mall in Brooklyn and get a new bunny pic. Sure I am grossed out by the idea of placing my baby on the lap of a strange costumed character. Especially when that costume has probably been pooped-on, peed-on and barfed-on all at the same time and never washed. And yes, the idea of standing in line behind dozens of screaming kids and angry parents in a sweltering mall isn’t the most appealing idea. But that didn’t stop me from going twice. A mama does what shes gotta do for the kiddos. Ok, Ok I admit it, this was actually for me because Griffin is only 7 months and won't remember a thing. For some strange reason I am sentimental and silly now that I am a mommy, sue me! All of my efforts were not in vane, Griffin cooperated, Mommy was happy and Daddy managed to deal. Crisis averted and I got my friggin’ picture! Hallelujah!

The above story is entirely true and posted to make you laugh and also to let you know you are not alone if you too are a nut like me. Please, share your stories (if you have any like this one) in the Comments Section below. I mean, who knew that the girl who was a goth rocker with pink hair in High School would go from chasing The Sisters of Mercy to obsessing over a large fuzzy fictitious rodent. The again, both the band members and the bunny are grown men in costume and make-up. So really, what's changed? I love my new life!


Easter Crafts

If you are looking for some fun Easter crafts that are made out of recycled plastic bottles, check out the make your own milk jug or soda bottle Easter Basket crafts on Sheknows.com. If you are like me and don't tend to buy milk in plastic jugs, feel free to apply the same strategy using a regular paper carton of milk. A square Easter basket is just as fun as a round one!



Easter Eats

Easter is coming so of course I have eggs on the brain. Eggs are super nutritious and a very inexpensive way to get some protein into your diet. In our house we eat eggs for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My husband and I grew up eating Eggs in a nest. It's a fun way to get the kids excited about breakfast and they can help cut out the holes for the egg. Eggs in ham cups looks fancy but it's a cinch to prepare. It's a great recipe for when you are hosting a breakfast or brunch and need a large number of eggs to be ready at the same time.

For the nutritional profile of eggs and some info on why they are so good for you, go here.


Eggs in a nest


Eggs in a nest
Serves 2

2 tbsps butter
2 slices of bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices (any kind will do but I like a sturdy rustic country loaf)
2 large eggs


Using a shot glass , small round cookie cutter or even a knife, cut a 1 1/2-inch circle in the center of each piece of bread.

Preheat a large non-tick frying pan over medium heat.

Place butter in the pan and allow to melt. Drop slices of bread into the pan and toast one side of the bread (abut 30 seconds). once the first side of the bread is golden brown, flip the bread over.

Adjust the heat of the pan to low and crack each egg into the hole in each piece of bread.

Cover the pan and cook the egg until it's reached our preferred level of doneness. (For little ones you might want to cook it all the way through but for me, I like it slightly runny in the middle).

Serve immediately.



Eggs in ham cups with buttered toast dipping sticks




Eggs in ham cups with buttered toast dipping sticks
Serves 4

Cooking Spray
4 pieces of deli ham, sliced thin but not paper thin
4 eggs
2 pieces of bread, toasted
1-2 tbsps butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a non-stick muffin pan with cooking spray.

Line 4 of the muffin cups with ham so that they look like little cups.

Crack an egg into each of the ham lined muffin cups.

Cook until the eggs have reached your desired level of doneness. For almost fully cooked through eggs, cook for 25-30 minutes.

Butter your toasted bread. Cut toasted bread into sticks.

Use the toast sticks to dip into eggs.

Enjoy!

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