Has Easter Come and Gone Already?

Thank goodness! Warm weather at last. Apparently the saying goes… ‘Warm weather waits until Easter has come and gone’ and for us that means practically May this year. With Easter also comes familiar faces’, smiling kids, chocolate treats and delicious recipes to try! I wanted to share the two successes from this year’s Sunday feast…

Green Bean Casserole with Almond Topping



2 lb. fresh Green Beans, trimmed, cut crosswise in half

½ pkg. PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup or so of Milk (you fill the above can full of Milk)

½ cup sliced Almonds

¼ cup Panko Bread Crumbs

4 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tbsp. crushed garlic (or 2 cloves)

1 package of sliced Mushrooms

1 cup of FRENCH’s French Fried Onions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Boil a pot of water big enough for the 2 lbs. of green beans, after trimming and cutting them crosswise in half. Boil them until they are soft and mostly cooked. While the beans are cooking, use 2 tbsp. of butter in a sauté pan with the garlic and mushrooms, until they are fully cooked (browned and softened). Add the mushrooms, drained and cooked beans, softened cream cheese, cream of mushroom soup, can of milk and ½ of the French fried onions to a baking dish. Mix the ingredients around so that it becomes a casserole mixture in the baking dish.

Before adding to the oven, in a small bowl add your almonds, panko and the rest of your melted butter to make your topping. Add to the top of your casserole mixture being sure to cover all areas. Bake for 30 minutes.

When finished, add the rest of the French fried onions around the sides of the casserole, and serve – only to loved ones :)



Broccoli Salad

I was tasked with bringing a salad - but I really wanted to do something different. This salad is typically paired with ranch or a mayonnaise based sauce, however, I chose to use Oikos Greek Yogurt and ranch seasoning to dial down the calories but pack in the flavor. Enjoy!



½ cup of Green Pepper

½ cup of Red Pepper

½ cup of Red Onion

1 whole glass container of Hormel Real Bacon Bits (or crumbled bacon)

2 heads of Broccoli

1 cup of Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 cup of half sliced Cherry Tomatoes

½ cup of chopped Green Olives

1 head of Cauliflower

2 cups of Oikos Greek Yogurt

1 package of Ranch Dressing Seasoning

Well – this one is super complicated. Chop all veggies. Add all ingredients into a bowl… and stir. Oh! And… ENJOY! :)





 

Easter Ideas for the Kiddies

I thought this was genius! All of the little ones spent their time decorating the cake while the adults got to either A) watch or B) kick back and relax. And the best part? We got to eat it at the end!

Things you need:

-White Cake Mix

-White Icing

-Green Coconut Flakes

-Pink Coconut Flakes

-Small Chocolate Kisses

-Jelly Beans

-Twizzlers





I hope everyone’s Easter was wonderful! Mine sure was. We celebrated at my boyfriend’s parents but my dad, his girlfriend and my little sister were able to come join us. She is 12 going on 25 – so it is great to be able to check in on her from time to time. They grow up so fast!

The 'big kids' had an Easter Egg Hunt too! We found the golden and silver eggs.

 

It was great to see my Daddio. He had a long day of driving just to have dinner with us!

These are my boys. This is perfection right here!