Last Minute Easter

I had big plans for this Easter.  However I ended up getting sick last Friday, started feeling better Monday only to feel worse than ever Tuesday.  It turns out the cold I had turned into a sinus infection.  I've never had one before, but it is AWFUL!  I've never been sick this long in my life!  I'm still recovering despite all the home remedies and juicing (which I've become obsessed with and will probably post about later).  I resorted to prescription meds a couple days ago, but I still haven't had a night of sleep without waking myself multiple times from the incessant cough.

My poor kids were stuck at home with me all week, and probably watched 10 hours of TV more than they should have.  And I didn't accomplish any of my Easter plans.

This morning was the first I didn't feel completely horrible.  I took the kids to CVS to use up some ECB's.  The egg dying kits were already on sale so I let them each pick one: Spiderman and Disney Princess.  We went over to my grandma's, and they played outside while I boiled a dozen eggs.  Grandma helped us dye our eggs. 

We came home and had our eggs for lunch... No Easter egg hunt, just egg salad sandwiches. (It's all about the egg dying experience anyways, right?)  I had some plastic eggs and candy stored away for an Easter egg hunt tomorrow anyway. 

Tomorrow we're going to our church, The Cross, at 10 where my grandpa will be the guest speaker.
Then at 4 we'll be at my brother-in-law's church, City Peace Project, where I'll be helping in the childcare.

So we won't even be having a proper Easter meal tomorrow, but at some point in between I'll hide some plastic eggs in the backyard for the kids.

So on the way home from Grandma's house we stopped at the store to pickup some goods for the one things I absolutely wanted to try for Easter: Resurrection Buns!
I had seen a bunch of recipes for these on Pinterest, and they looked so delicious I'd been thinking about them for weeks!
Here's what I did:
Ingredients:
- refrigerated dough (biscuits or the like)
- large marshmallows
- cinnamon sugar (I mixed about 3/4 cu sugar with 3 TBS of cinnamon)
- melted butter (I used 1 stick)

Here's the dough I used, and I was very pleased with my choice... Especially because they were on sale for $.99 at Safeway (with Just 4 U coupon).

I peeled the biscuits apart in the middle so they were half as thick and let Naomi flatten them a little.
She took a marshmallow, dipped it in butter, then in the sugar mixture.  Then placed it on the dough.  I then wrapped the marshmallow, pinching the edges together.  Then I dipped the whole thing in butter and sugar... (sounds healthy, right?)... and placed it on a baking sheet.

As we assembled the buns we talked about the metaphor.  Jesus, because he was without sin, was the pure white marshmallow.  The butter and sugar were the spices and perfumes prepared for Jesus at his burial.  And the dough was the linens he was wrapped in.  After baking, the bun represents the tomb.  And if all goes well when cut open the marshmallow will have disappeared and the tomb will be empty!

There were 8 biscuits in the can so this made 16 buns.  I baked them at the recommended 350 for 15 minutes.  At first glance I thought this was a Pinterest fail because the whole baking sheet was covered in carmalized marshmallows and some of the buns had holes in them.  But it turned out most of them looked great. Some of the marshmallow goo had just oozed out onto the pan.  Even the not-so-pretty buns were even more delicious than I had imagined!  Definitely a new Easter tradition for this family!

Upon cutting them open we found that indeed the tomb was empty!  Naomi understood the metaphor, but she still needed and explanation of what happened to the marshmallows.  Her theory... "The angels ate them."

"He is not here, but He has risen." Luke 6:24

Also, if you're looking for Easter ideas for next year I can't help but share this post from my friend's blog... She planted grass in an Easter basket and took pictures with her bunny in it! So cute! She also has a post about live chick pictures!

Meals for New Moms

When Judah was born our church meals ministry provided dinner every night for 2 straight weeks.  Other friends and family provided meals for us as well.  It was the biggest blessing to me!  My friend told me about Meal Train which is an easy way to organize meals for someone. So I joined the meals ministry and told them about Meal Train. 

Ever since then I'm always looking for good recipes to bring friends an family after they have a new baby.  The last few friends who have gotten meals from me have asked me for recipes so I figured I post it here, and maybe it will help someone bless someone else with a meal!

Tips for dropping off meals:
- Try not to use anything they'll have to return.  If it's a really close friend or neighbor I might use one of my Pyrex dishes, but otherwise I try to buy aluminum foil pans and use mason jars for sauces or dressings.  That way the new mama doesn't have to worry about making sure you get your dishes back.
- While you're making the meal, make a separate one for your own family.  This way after you drop off the meal you can come home and sit down to a nice dinner with your own family.
- If you're not on Meal Train be sure to ask ahead about any allergies or food preferences.
- Include instructions - If they'll have to bake or do any preparations just include a sticky note with simple instructions.

Meal #1 - White Pizza & Apple Gorgonzola Salad
Here's the recipe I used for the pizza.  I like Trader Joe's pizza dough so that's what I used for ours, but my pizzas always come out oddly shaped so rather than dropping off a misshapen pizza to my friend, I used a Boboli thin crust for hers.  Also, my husband is not fond of white sauce so for us I made 2 pizzas.  I used the same ingredients for both, but I put white sauce on mine and BBQ sauce on his.



My slice of white pizza

For the salad and homemade dressing I used this recipe.  I used the Applewood smoked bacon from Trader Joe's.  (Rather than cooking bacon in the frying pan I cook it in the oven! Place the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet; place in the oven THEN turn the oven on to 400.  Bake about 20 minutes.)  And I think gorgonzola is a much better choice than feta for this salad so that's what I used.  I followed the dressing recipe exactly, but if I were to do it again I would probably cut the amount of sugar in half because it was really sweet, and that's just a lot of sugar.

 

Overall this is probably one of my new favorite salads of all time!

Meal #2 - Green Enchilada Pie and Mexican Rice
The Green Enchilada Pie is my own recipe I kind of made up by trial and error.  I've never written it down, and I don't measure anything so you'll have to use your judgment when making it.  It's super simple and yummy though!
Please use Las Palmas green enchilada sauce... It's the only respectable store bought enchilada sauce in my opinion!
1) Pour *some* sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 pan... Enough to coat the bottom.  (If you get a large can of sauce you will have PLENTY so don't worry that you're going to run out.) 
2) Next I use Guerrero white corn tortillas.  You can lightly spread butter or oil over them on each side.  Then I cut them into quarters and cover the bottom of the pan with them. 
3) Next layer in your chicken (I like using a Costco rotisserie chicken, but if I don't have one on hand I just boil a couple chicken breasts and shred them.) 
4) You can add whatever you like here.  I top the chicken with frozen white corn, chopped green onions and sliced olives. 
5) Pour *some more* sauce over the chicken mixture.  Then top with cheese... I'm pretty sure you can't have too much cheese.  Use Monterey Jack or a Mexican Blend. 
6) Then cover with more buttered, quartered tortillas. 
7) *More sauce* *More cheese*  And you're ready to bake it! 
8) 425 for 20 minutes should do. 

(For red enchiladas substitute red for the green sauce, and I like to use ground beef instead of chicken. )

The rice recipe I learned from my sister who I'm pretty sure learned it from my dad's girlfriend who is pretty much the master at making it.  But I'll do my best to transcribe it, at least the way I've been making it the past few years.

2 cu rice
2 tbs oil  canola or vegetable will do just fine
*garlic, onion* (If I don't have them or am worried about time I just add dried onion with the seasoning instead)
4 cu water
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2 tsp Cumin*
3 tbs Chicken Flavor Bullion*
1/2 tsp Salt*
Pepper - just grind a little in there*
sprinkle in some dried onions if you haven't already used fresh*
* Sorry for the guesstimates... I will try to measure next time I make it and update with more accurate measurements.
(Usually I cut this recipe in half if I'm making it just for my family.  So if I'm making it for another family I'll do the full recipe and each family can have half!)

Lightly brown the rice in oil. Add *some* chopped onion and garlic if you please.
Add water and tomato sauce.
Mix in seasoning
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat to low and cover
Simmer about 30 min - Stirring and scraping the bottom just once about halfway through

This stuff can be found in the Mexican section of most grocery stores - Basically this along with the cumin are the secret to the rice.

Meal #3 - Chicken Fajitas with Avocado Dressing,  Rice & Beans, and Cookies

Here's the recipe for oven baked chicken fajitas.  I've made this a couple times, and really like it.

Same rice recipe as above.

For the beans I just used the instructions on the bag of dry pinto beans.  Since they take at least a few hours to make I made them the day before and had them ready in the fridge.  I just put them in a 8x8 foil pan and put them in the oven while the chicken was cooking.  That way they were hot and ready when I dropped them off.

This Avocado Dressing is a Pinterest gem... I make it every time I make chicken tacos or the like.

And my chocolate chip cookie recipe is a favorite from Betty Crocker.  I skip the nuts.  And try to set the butter and egg out ahead of time so it's room temperature when you bake. 

Note: I make dessert first and set it aside so that it's cooled down and the meal is hot when I deliver it.

Turn an Old Sweater into an Updated Cardigan

I bought a black and white striped sweater a few years ago, but after wearing it when I was pregnant with Judah it just never fit right again.

Here I am in the sweater just weeks before Judah arrived

I don't know why I just didn't want to let it go so it hung in my closet for quite some time.  Until finally I decided to cut it down the middle and turn it into a cardigan. This was the most simple project and an easy way to update a shirt or sweater in your closet.

Just cut the sweater down the middle.

If you're really savvy you can sew the edges, but I just used my nifty iron-on seam tape.

The rest is up to your creativity. I added contrasting elbow patches and a button.  (There's no buttonhole; the button is purely aesthetic.)