A Grain-free experiment: Cinnamon-Apple & Coconut Waffles {Gluten-free, Paleo}

I've been experimenting with some of the protein-packed flours like almond and coconut flours. These are great options for gluten-free or grain-free eaters. We are not totally grain-free but we definitely have a sensitivity to wheat so we have backed off a lot, especially with our baked goods.

My hubby loves his hearty breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles. I knew I would have to tinker until we could achieve a light, yummy waffle recipe. We love these waffles because they don't leave you with that I-ate-too-much, heavy feeling. They are just superb after a long Saturday morning run. I make a double batch on the weekends and use them on Monday to make a creative waffle sandwich for my daughter's lunch.


Ingredients:

-4 eggs
-2 tablespoons raw honey (or maple syrup or agave syrup) + more for topping
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract

-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
-2 teaspoons cinnamon

-1 1/2 cups almond flour
-3/4 cup coconut flour
-1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
-1/2 cup coconut, shredded & unsweetened
-2 small apples or 1 large, grated
-1/2 cup water

-sliced strawberries or apples

Directions:

1. Heat waffle maker. Beat eggs until fluffy/foamy.
2. Mix in honey or agave syrup and vanilla.
3. Add in salt, baking soda, arrowroot powder and cinnamon.
4. Add flours, flaxseed, coconut. Quickly blend. To do NOT overmix. The coconut flour quickly soaks up liquid and will make the batter to thick if overmixed.
5. Grate apple and add to mixture.
6. Don't panic if it looks thick. Coconut flour soaks up the liquid quickly. Add water until desire consistency if need be. Pour onto waffle maker.
7. Serve topped with strawberries and a drizzle of real maple syrup, agave or honey.

 

Makes 6 heart-shaped waffles on our waffle maker, which would be the equivalent of about 10 square-shaped waffles on a regular waffle maker.

*The original inspiration of this recipe is from Multiply Delicious. 

100 Days of Real Food Challenge Week 7: Real food journey inspires new recipes

Homemade trail mix, including local raisins, raw almonds and gluten-free chocolate chips.

I can't believe we are winding down Week 7. I haven't had quite as much time for blogging as I would have hoped but our family has stayed pretty consistent with our commitment to the 100 Days of Real Food Challenge. The biggest personal challenge was to move my kids away from eating packaged snacks (even organic ones) throughout the day and to make more snacks from scratch or just incorporating raw veggies and fruits into their routine.

I'll admit there have been times where I've felt like cursing this challenge. It's so much easier to grab a box of crackers, a bar or Annie's Gummy Bunnies to-go. This type of real food snacking requires planning ahead, lots of chopping and a mama sticking to her guns even when she feels tired. I do believe my girls our in major growth spurts right now, which means they are hungry every hour; I need to be prepared!

Slowly but surely my kids are getting retrained to eat real foods as their mainstays. Some of our fave new snacks include homemade trail mix, carrots/zucchini sticks with homemade ranch, popcorn and hard-boiled eggs.

Community brunch, including fruit kebobs, buckwheat waffles with berry sauce and walnuts, pumpkin baked oatmeal, raisins and homemade mocha-honey coffee drinks.

Now that I have a first grader who needs to be at school by 8:05 a.m., I don't have time for my casual get-up-and-make-what-you're-in-the-mood-for breakfasts. I have to prep breakfasts the night before and even on the weekends to keep up with the new routine. This means boiling eggs, mixing muffin batter and freezing chopped fruit for the morning smoothies.

When we can afford the time, we love big brunches on the weekends. We've enjoyed some fun community meals, pooling ideas and resources like this brunch pictured above. A few families got together and we created these Buckwheat Waffles and brought the rest of the meal potluck-style. It's surprising what we can come up with when we have friends on the journey with us!

Our own version of a real food lunch includes a gluten-free almond waffle sandwich with peanut butter and a fruit salad made of seasonal fruits like grapes and pluots.

This is my first year packing a lunch for one of my kiddos. My Meilani brings her lunch to school every day. I've tried to enlist her help with the choosing and the prep so she feels excited about what she pulls out of her box. She has a "kid-safe" knife from Chefs Academy that she uses to help chop her own fruit for salad. We also stole an idea from the 100 Days of Real Food blog and now make waffle or pancake sandwiches. Meilani is a big fan! Since our family has shown a sensitivity to wheat, this is a great way to create a "gluten-free" sandwich for my girl.

The whole family can get in on assembling tacos using in-season veggies as the main and little meat for garnish. These Butternut Squash & Chipotle Chicken Tacos were a keeper.

Our dinners have also turned to focus on more veggies in season. Fall is just around the corner and we recently created these Butternut Squash & Chicken Tacos. We sauteed the chicken and chopped butternut squash in coconut oil with a little chipotle powder. Then we cut up butter lettuce and added our new favorite Cilantro-Lime Dressing. The kids had fun building their own tacos on Trader Joe's corn tortillas.

Over the weekend our friends made us Kale & Bean Tacos - a new vegetarian, protein-packed version of tacos that we all enjoyed. Last night my hubby made tacos while I was out for a long run. We called them "Everything Tacos" and used all the veggies we had in the fridge, including avocados (ok, technically a fruit), sauteed eggplant, onions and yellow heirloom tomatoes. One boneless chicken breast for all of our tacos when it wasn't the main focus. Those were some yummy, colorful tacos too!

Looking for some ideas on meal plans? Here are some of our October Meal Plans with links to our fave recipes to spark some inspiration. Bon appetit!

 October 1-7 Health-full Menu Plan

October 8-14 Health-full Menu Plan

100 Days of Real Food Challenge: Biting into Week 2

We are starting Week 2 of the 100 Days of Real Food Challenge with a group of more than 100 friends across the U.S who are trying out more healthy eats. Over the next 13 weeks, I hope to share our journey and post a bunch of new recipes that include real food.

My personal goal is to try to experiment with less wheat and utilize more natural sweeteners. I want to make more snacks and serve up more whole fruits and veggies for my kids rather than relying on store-bought bars (even organic ones!) and fruit snacks (Sorry, Annie.)

This week I made a few discoveries. When we are trying to eat more real foods, I need to think ahead, plan out my meals (and even snacks) and prep/cook ahead of time. My biggest lesson this week is that I need to go back to my "batch cooking" like making sauces that can be frozen and big batches of granola for breakfasts. I also need to prep cook when I am not tired and not in a rush. Otherwise, it's easy to get crabby and frustrated.

I've also been working on portioning our meat so it can be used for two meals. For example, this past weekend we grilled grass-fed burgers and I reserved some meat for taco salad today.

I love to share ideas with friends. Our friends, the Benedicts, had stuffed sweet potatoes on their meal plan and I stole the idea on Friday night when I realized I didn't have enough time for my planned pizza meal and dough rising and all that.

In the spirit of sharing ideas, this week's meal plans are linked here.

This week inspired some new recipes at our house as well. After a juicing session last Sunday, I used the carrot pulp for these Carrot-Oat-Raisin Muffins. I also encouraged my sometimes-picky 3-year-old to eat red peppers this week by mixing up a batch of homemade ranch dressing to dip the peppers in.

My biggest challenge was to think outside the box on desserts. I am a chocoholic so I tend toward chocolate when I need a sweet fix. I discovered that the first ingredient on my semi-sweet chocolate chips was sugar. I don't think chocolate is bad; in fact, studies show dark chocolate is full of antioxidants but I decided to take a break from chocolate desserts this week to push myself to more creativity with real foods.

My hubby is a personal trainer/coach and one of his clients gifted us with some figs from their farm. I've never tried cooking with figs before. I surveyed our refrigerator and found some mascarpone cheese. (That's a mild Italian cream cheese.) I mixed in a teaspoon of honey and some whipping cream and made a mascarpone cream. We cut the figs in half, added a dollop of cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Voila - yummy real food dessert!

Did you eat any real foods this week? Make any great discoveries on the journey to eat more healthy? Please leave us a comment!

What to do with extra carrots: Make carrot-oat-raisin muffins {Gluten-free option}

Our friend Forest brought over his juicer on Sunday and showed us how get our juicing groove on. We made a yummilicious cantaloupe-orange juice. We had a bunch, I mean a bunch, of carrot pulp leftover afterward. I couldn't bear to just throw it out. Instead, I created this muffin recipe and served it up for my kids lunches and one of our on-the-go breakfasts this week. They were moist and the kids gobbled them down.

Carrot-oat-raisin Muffins

Ingredients:

1 large egg
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 cup raw milk or almond milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt (for creamier, thicker batter texture)
2 cups oats, uncooked
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (Bob's red mill) or 1 cup gluten-free baking mix (Pamela's)*
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flaxseed, ground
1/2 cup honey (or coconut palm sugar)
2 cups carrots, shredded or pulp from juicing (could substitute zucchini or apples)
1/2 cup raisins (could substitute in chocolate chips and/or walnuts)


Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend together egg, coconut oil, milk and yogurt.
3. Add dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flaxseed.
4. Mix in honey/coconut palm sugar, carrots and raisins.
5. Grease muffin tins with olive oil spray. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into tins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on top and springy to the touch.

Makes 2 dozen mini-muffins or 1 dozen large muffins.

*Our family is increasingly trying out gluten-free recipes because we all have a sensitivity to wheat. I did use wheat flour in the first run of these muffins but my friend Brandy tells me you can always just sub Pamela's baking mix (basically a mix-up of non-wheat flours) when doing muffins. She tried these out and she said her 6 kiddos gobbled them down. I use Pamela's for our pizza dough now and we all love it!

Addicted to Ranch: A healthier homemade ranch dressing recipe

I'm a sucker for sauces. Salad dressing, dipping sauce, tapenades, you name it. I have been known to lick the masala sauce off the plate at Indian restaurants. That said, all these extra condiments can cost a lot of money. Store-bought sauces and dressings also contain a bunch of junk. Have you ever read the label of your favorite ranch dressing? Have you counted the number of ingredients in your barbeque sauce? I did, and I got discouraged. That's when my hubby urged me to start making my own. We discovered this recipe delectable Cilantro-Lime Dressing, which I make weekly. We use this one on tacos, salads, poured generously over steaks. I also started working on my own "healthier" version of ranch without all the MSG and other yucky additives. If you want to cut down the fat content, use yogurt in place of the mayo. We just loved the extra creaminess it adds. My Giada ate half a zucchini by herself yesterday because she was so excited about dippin'. She's her mother's daughter.

Healthified Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:

-1 cup plain or Greek yogurt
-1 cup mayonnaise (Love Trader Joe's brand)
-1/2 teaspoon crushed fresh garlic
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-1/2 teaspoon dill
-1/2 teaspoon paprika
-1/2 cup almond milk or raw milk

1. Combine all ingredients in a mason jar.
2. Shake and then stir until smooth.
3. Serve with your fave salad, veggie sticks or with pizza.

Always ready for a challenge: 100 Days of Real Food

We are embarking on a new food journey.

For the next 100 days we will be joining a community of 100-some friends across the nation who are committed to making changes in the way they eat to embrace more real foods.

Blogger Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food inspired this community challenge. Our friend Forest dreamed up the idea of uniting on a Facebook group and sharing our journey together. We've been sending out messages to friends for the last week to encourage them to be a part of the conversation and accountability.

Although our family pretty much eats according to the 100 Days "rules" already, we were excited to jump in, tweak some things (We are definitely not perfect!) and encourage others. This is also a great excuse to get back to my food blogging and cooking up some new recipes too.

We hosted a potluck at our house on Sunday for the 100 Days of Real Food friends. We had a yummy spread of summer-inspired food, including grilled corn with cilantro-butter, grilled garlic chicken, pita and hummus, tabbouleh salad.

 We served up a salad topped with sweet potatoes sauteed in coconut oil, honey walnuts and feta cheese. (It's one of our faves for parties.)

 

Our friend brought this "Sweet Potato Pie" topped with fresh pineapple wedges to go with our Flourless Chocolate Truffle Torte (recipe coming soon) to serve for dessert. The group shared different reasons why they were taking on the challenge and ways we could support each other. We perused cookbooks, web sites and swapped ideas for meal plans.

The group also inspired me to actually type out my meal plans this week. (I normally write out my plans in an old-fashioned calendar and do lots of erasing and scratching out through the week.) Hope this will be helpful to some of you as you plan as well. I know I love gleaning ideas from others and customizing them for our family.

Meal Plans - August 20-26, 2012

The good news: we all survived Day 1. The biggest challenge for me is to get the fruits & veggies & healthy snacks prepared before the kids and I need them. When it comes to dealing with a ravenous 6-year-old and a whiny 3-year-old and a mama who just worked out, I know I have to be able to "grab and go." This means doing some cooking the night before or prep work cutting up fruits and veggies in the morning.

My "yay moment" was when Meilani came home from her first day of first grade and asked for "the same lunch tomorrow" because she loved what we packed today! Big thanks to Heather Fenton for the tabbouleh, which I mixed with tuna then packed a container of carrots, broccoli and hummus and a separate bag of grapes and honey walnuts. Of course, mama forgot to pack a spoon and my girl was too shy to ask for one on her first day so she ate all this with her hands. Messy tuna salad. Sigh.

We are very interested to hear your tricks and tips for adding healthy foods to your kids lunches. Leave a comment.

Nutty chocolate chip cookies {Gluten-free, paleo}

We have been experimenting with some grain-free or gluten-free recipes over the last several months. My hubby caught a parasite when we were in Haiti last summer and we were advised a natural way to get rid of it would be to stop feeding it sugars and grains - even natural ones. Long story short, Ericlee tried out a grain-free diet (also called a paleo diet) and got rid of the parasite. Paleo is all the rage right now with the CrossFit community.

Serving up grain-free eats seemed impossible to me at first. I do like to bake and using some of the alternative flours like coconut flour and almond flour was frustrating. The flours did not behave the way I was used to.

I was determined to find a chocolate chip cookie that tasted decent. My friend Jen turned me on to this recipe by BakerGal and then I ventured out to create my own. My hubby goes nuts (pun intended) about these chewy cookies. I love that they are protein-packed and have that familiar nutty-melty-chocolatey flavor. You won't feel guilty about downing a plate of these babies!

We are not eating 100% paleo or gluten-free now but we do see a lot of benefits of this style of eating. I love that I have this dessert option to share with friends who are paleo or gluten-free. And my kids are choosing these over regular chocolate chip cookies so I'd say they are winner in our household. My kids were fighting me yesterday for a scoop of cookie dough even before they were baked up!

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups finely ground blanched almond flour*
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 cup raw honey
-1/4 cup raw virgin coconut oil, melted
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 cup chocolate chips (gluten-free)
-1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, sea salt, baking soda, honey, coconut oil and vanilla. Stir gently just to incorporate. You don't want to overwork the dough.
3. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Scoop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet.
5. Bake approximately 8-10 minutes until edges are just golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool a least 15 minutes without touching them. IF you try to take the cookies off the pan early, they will not set and turn out a gooey mess.

Makes 1 dozen.

*My favorite almond flour can be found in the nut section at Trader Joe's. This flour is more reasonably priced than other brands and is very finely ground for a smoother texture in the cookie.

The aromatic wonder of Coconut-almond Pancakes {Gluten-free}

My hubby loves breakfast foods, especially pancakes. I remember when we first got married how we he was absolutely appalled that I would just eat an apple for breakfast or grab a quick muffin. His mama made him a hot breakfast every morning when he was a kid!

Since those early days we have come to a compromise. He makes smoothies for our family every morning and on the weekends I make a "big man" breakfast for him.

Our family has been exploring new ingredients to eat less grains and more protein-packed flours like coconut flour and almond flour. These pancakes are light and fluffy and give the same satisfaction of eating warm pancakes but are not made with typical white and wheat heavy flours.

Coconut has such an aromatic wonder. I love just making these pancakes because I get to be in the kitchen and smell that coconut oil on the griddle.


Coconut-almond Pancakes

Ingredients:
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut oil or raw butter + more for cooking pancakes
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 almond flour
1 tablespoon flaxseed

Directions:

1. Blend eggs in mixer until foamy. Add vanilla.
2. Meanwhile, melt coconut oil/butter in a frying pan.
3. Add sea salt, cinnamon and baking powder to the eggs. Add flour and flaxseed.
4. Stir in melted coconut oil/butter. Do not overmix. If batter feels to thick, you can always thin out with almond milk or coconut milk.
5. Pour batter onto pan in silver dollar-sized pancakes. Flip when pancake is browned.
6. Serve with chopped nuts, applesauce, agave syrup or even maple syrup.

Makes 12 pancakes.

Our family loved this recipe so much I would definitely double it anytime I make it for the whole family because we were fighting over the last one.

We like to even make these Coconut pancakes for dinner and serve them with turkey bacon. It's a great quick meal - Breakfast for Dinner!

*Updated July 28, 2012

Christmas Favorite: Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread

It's pear season! This recipe has become one of our favorites for winter and the Christmas season. We first made it a few years ago with our Cooking Club when we had a "Green Christmas" cooking theme. When I start seeing pears at the market, I start craving Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread. The fun part about this dessert is that it incorporates a classic gingerbread cake with a flavorful twist of pears drenched in butter. Top the slices with Cinnamon whipped cream and you have an elegant dessert for any holiday party!

Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread

1 1/2 cup unsalted organic butter, softened
1 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
4 large Bosc pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 large cage-free eggs
1/2 cup organic dark molasses
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (a pinch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup boiling water

Cinnamon Whipped Cream
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 tablespoon organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a non-stick skillet, melt 1/2 cup of butter. Stir in 1/2 cup of brown sugar and stir until sugar melts. Add pear slices and cook, stirring occassionally until pears begin to slightly soften (about 5 minutes).
3. Arrange the pears (with all their juices and butter) in an even layer over the bottom of an 9x13 baking dish/cake pan.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat together remaining 1 cup butter with 1 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
5. Add the eggs and molasses and beat into mixture.
6. Add flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Beat until fully incorporated. Do not overmix. Turn on mixer and slowly pour in 2/3 cup hot water into the batter and blend until incorporated and batter is smooth.
7. Spoon the batter over the pears in the dish. Bake until springy to touch (approximated 35-40 minutes).
8. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on a rack.
9. While the cake is cooling, beat whipping cream. Add 1 tablespoon organic sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
10. Carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate (or invert individual slices with a spatula). Cut into squares and serve warm topped with cinnamon whipped cream.

Serves 10-12.

Recipe of the Week: Double Chocolate Almond Brownies

I have a hankering for chocolate all the time, but especially when I'm pregnant. Now that I'm in my second trimester I've got some of my cooking mojo back. The fun part is all these ingredients were in my pantry. My friend just had a C-section the other day so I'm bringing these babies to the hospital for her. Move over hospital food. Try these brownies with a healthy twist!

Ingredients:
-1 cup organic butter
-4 cage-free eggs
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (could use squares of unsweetened chocolate and skip the oil)
-4 tablespoons olive oil
-1 cup organic sugar
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
-2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

-1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
-1/2 cup sliced almonds (could use walnuts, pecans or even dried cranberries)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper or greasing with olive oil.
3. Melt butter and add to a large bowl.
4. Add cocoa powder, olive oil.
5. Whisk in eggs one at a time.
6. Add sugar, flour and baking powder.
7. Stir in flaxseed.
8. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth top of batter.
9. Sprinkle chocolate chips and almonds on top.
10. Bake approximately 20 minutes or until top of brownies is springy to the touch.

Recipe of the Week: Three-seed Whole Wheat Honey Bread {in the breadmaker}

For my birthday, my mom gifted me a gently-used breadmaker that she scored at a silent auction. I love homemade bread - and even more the smell of it baking. That said, this pregnant mama of two doesn't have much energy these days for mixing, kneading, waiting for rising and monitoring bread in the oven. The breadmaker is an awesome time saver and great inspiration to make homemade bread every week. The following is a recipe for a whole wheat bread that can be used for sandwiches or just eaten with butter or jam for breakfast and snacks. My friend Anne shared her recipe with me and I modified it.

Do you have a breadmaker? What are some of your fave recipes to make in the breadmaker? Ideas welcome.

Three-seed Whole Wheat Honey Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 cups warm water (80 degrees)
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1/3 cup honey
-2 teaspoons sea salt
-4 cups whole wheat flour (I like Bob's Red Mill or Trader Joe's brand)
-2 teaspoon yeast
-2 tablespoons flaxseed, ground
-2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
-2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Add water, oil and honey to the bottom of your breadmaker.
2. Sift flour to make bread lighter and add salt on top.
3. Create a well in the center and add yeast. Be careful not to dig well as deep as the liquids
4. Set breadmaker for whole wheat setting. (I also select light for mine but every breadmader is different.)
5. Add seeds when the breadmaker beeps for add-ins. (I've also just added the seeds from the beginning if I knew I was going to be gone.)

Celebrating Holy Week: Easter Menu Ideas

This week marks the most important holiday for Christians - Easter. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Holidays in our family mean a time for fellowship around the table and lots of food traditions. I can remember as a little girl how we always filled our house with friends and family for the Easter season. My favorite foods included Grandma Sara's homemade Easter bread and our own chocolate-covered eggs made with delectable fillings like peanut butter or mint.

This year we will be celebrating Easter with a supper at my mother-in-law's house. She will prepare the lamb Armenian style for us and I'm sure we will enjoy her famous Armenian Rice Pilaf. Since I'm not working on the main menu, I thought I'd take this opportunity to review some of my fave recipes to help you plan yours. Maybe you will happen upon one that will appeal to your family this season.

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!

Brunch ideas:
Breakfast Enchiladas - This is a fun recipe to make breakfast fancy with a Mexican kick. We even serve up these egg and bean enchiladas for dinner sometimes.
Farmer's Market Egg & Sausage Casserole - Spring has sprung at the local farmer's markets. Don't miss the chance to incoporate organic, in-season veggies in your family brunch.
Carrot Tea Party Muffins - If you're joining a family brunch and want something easy to pack into a festive basket, try out these fun muffins. They can easily be made a day ahead.
Cranberry-lemon Scones with Lemon Whipped Cream - My girls love to help me make these homemade scones. Make an Easter morning brunch into a fancy English tea party with a special touch like these scones.
Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese, Bosc Pears and Poppy Seed Vinaigrette - This salad is low maintenance but will wow guests and add something more hearty to your brunch menu.
Strawberry Dutch Baby - You can use any kind of fruit on this Dutch puffy pancake. Since strawberries are in season in our neck of the woods, we will be heading down to the local stand.

Appetizers:
Maple-Pecan Chicken Wonton Cups - This fun appetizer is bite-sized (well, maybe two) and eaters of all ages love the combination of savory chicken salad and wonton crunch. Great to bring to a party.
Zucchini Flat Breads - Simple ingredients transform into an elegant appetizer or a perfect accompaniment to soup or salad.
Warm Italiano Spread - Serve up this delectable spread on crackers or homemade bread.
Egg salad sandwiches three different ways - Wondering what in the world to do with all those hard-boiled eggs? Why not make them into appetizers for your family. Here are three unique recipes for egg salad. Cut them into tea sandwiches or use an Easter-shaped cookie cutter to make them more festive on the plate.

Spring mains:
Italian Chicken with Strawberry Salsa - I wait all year for the strawberries so I can make this strawberry salsa over chicken. It's also great over lamb or fish. Experiment!
Italian Wedding Soup - This soup is a great starter for an Easter feast or make it your main and serve it with hearty appetizers. Kids and adults love the meatballs.
Chicken Cacciatore - This is one of our favorite "company" mains. The colorful peppers and tender chicken will be a treat for your guests.
Maple-Apricot-Glazed Salmon - Ready to move the cooking outside. Fire up the grill and try out these easy salmon recipe. If you don't have the cedar planks, don't fret. It's still yummy without that more expensive touch.

Fancy Beverages:
Strawberry-mint Lemonade - I love to get out our fancy wine glasses and serve up this spring-inspired virgin beverage. It's colorful and speaks spring.

Easter desserts:
Carrot Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting - You can use this recipe in two round pans and create a bunny cake like we did above. The kids can have fun decorating with natural candies (check out Trader Joe's or Whole Foods) or even chocolate chips.
Chai Cheesecake - This is one of my fave cheesecakes because it combines warm spices with a light cheesecake. It's a fun twist on a traditional dessert. Move over, Cheesecake Factory!
Chocolate-Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches - If you want to make something fun the whole family can enjoy, try making these homemade ice cream sandwiches. You can make them Saturday afternoon and they will be frozen and ready for Easter Sunday Supper.