It is almost Easter 2016! And that means spring is officially here…

🌱

This Easter, I wanted to mix things up a bit. My preschooler is really into it this year so we have several Easter egg hunts lined up for her. Although my toddler is still oblivious to it all, I know she will enjoy the pursuit of an egg or two.

There is only one problem: my preschooler has a tree nut allergy. This means she has to miss out on participating in local Easter egg hunts unless they are completely nut free. And she often doesn’t get to enjoy the fruits of her labour (so to speak) post-hunt as a majority of the chocolate eggs can contain traces of tee nuts. We will obviously have a private Easter egg hunt at home with close friends and our family is wonderful at accommodating us at social gatherings where food tends to be the focus.

But it is still nerve racking nonetheless. So I felt better after reading This Happ-y Mumma’s post on A Safe, Allergy Free Easter Can Be Done. A fellow mom with an allergy affected daughter, her post was choc full of allergy-free inspirations and food ideas for the Easter holiday.

If you are affected by food allergies, be sure to read This Happ-y Mumma’s post here.

For Easter breakfast, I will be serving Grandma’s Buttermilk Pancakes. These are a family favourite and are literally the fluffiest, yummiest pancakes I have EVER had (even better than IHOP!). We usually whip up a batch once a week and top with fruit and Grade A Canadian Maple Syrup (why not, eh?). They are also perfect for freezing, just place a piece of wax paper between each pancake and seal the stack in a ziploc bag or freezer-safe container.

For Easter, we will have some fun with bunny faces using fruit, cheese and whatever else is in the fridge! The kids love getting creative and experimenting with some different animals and funny facial expressions. I will include the recipe for these yummy pancakes in a future post.

In addition to the pancakes, I want to make something savoury and protein-packed for a complete breakfast. Whenever in need of inspiration for healthy, fresh and fabulous foods, I always look to my cousin The Girl on Bloor, as she is always serving up ingenious and tasty recipe ideas. And for Easter, she didn’t disappoint. I instantly fell in love with her Crustless Jalapeño Mini Quiches.

I always make crustless quiche for the girls, but never thought of using my mini muffin tin – fun! These will be a great accompaniment to the pancakes as they are packed with powerful broccoli and red peppers. I will obviously go easy on the jalapeños 😉

Get the recipe for these tasty gems here.

Next, it was time to brainstorm some ideas for an Easter-related dish I could bring to our family gathering next week.

Then I came across the Almost Indian Wife’s post on How Can Your Family Blend Cultures for Easter? I was taken with her beautifully decorated Easter eggs, inspired by multi-coloured saris! I also loved how she was so intent on blending her and her husband’s cultures on this family-centred holiday. How inspirational! In our wonderful multi-cultural world, it is so refreshing to see families sharing the ways we can mesh our different backgrounds together.

She also gave me an idea for an appetizer to bring – Tomato Egg Curry! This is an innovative way to use up all of the hard-boiled eggs from our Easter egg hunt and turn them into an easy and tasty dish! See The Almost Indian Wife’s post including the recipe here.

We have also been busy completing Easter crafts in the lead up to the long weekend. I have been searching for great craft ideas and My Easy Easter Crafts for Kids Pinterest board has over 100 great ideas to do at home.

Maeve and I especially enjoyed making Forgetful Momma’s Cotton Tailed Easter Bunnies craft as it was super easy and used minimal supplies that we already had around the house! Thanks for the inspiration Forgetful Momma!

When it came to deciding on what to put in my daughters’ Easter baskets this year, I turned to Oh Happy Play! for some creative ideas. Her post on Easter Basket Basics for Babies/Toddlers was very helpful and I especially loved the idea of including Daniel Tiger finger puppets! My preschooler is really into this Mr. Rogers spin-off (it was one of my top 10 educational TV shows, see the post here).

Whatever you are doing, creating or giving this Easter, I wish you a safe, healthy and happy long weekend 🌼