Leap Into Spring Photo Challenge: Eggs

This week’s Leap Into Spring Photo Challenge is Easter/Eggs.  Given that Easter was just a few weeks ago and I still haven’t shared those photos, I hopped on it.

Like most , our Easter our was full of eggs from decorating and dying…

…to four different egg hunts.  There was one egg hunt with Emmalynn’s class.  Chugging along with a train basket in tow, Little Lion Man tried to keep up with the big kids.

We always love our annual egg hunt with our Moms on the Go friends.

On Easter morning, the Easter bunny left some jellybean-filled eggs in the yard.  Did you know that dump trucks make better Easter baskets?

Then later that day, Grandma hid some eggs in her gorgeous garden, which is perfect for eggs hunts and wanna-be photographers.

After a long, “eggs”hausting hunt run in Grandma’s huge yard, we rewarded ourselves with the Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes I baked for dessert.

Yep, it was a truly “eggs”elent Easter.

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Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Heart-Healthy Spinach Avocado Egg Salad

PhotobucketAfter Easter Sunday, you’ll have a dozen or so colored hard boiled eggs hanging around and if you’re like me, you’ll want to make egg salad with them.  It sounds a bit like a children’s book, doesn’t it?  If you give a mom a dozen Easter eggs, she’ll probably make egg salad with them. 

Although traditional egg salad is delicious, it’s not the healthiest with all the mayo added to make it tasty.  Enter an avocado spinach egg salad made with half an avocado, spinach, plain non-fat yogurt and 1 hardboiled egg.

Every week, there is some study stating if eggs are good for you or not.  Eggs may be associated with high cholesterol but eggs are high in Vitamin D and Omega-3 and that’s pretty good if you don’t get enough fish in your diet, like me.  Toss in an avocado and spinach also rich in vitamins and lowering-cholesterol minerals and you’ve got a reason to celebrate all those left over Easter eggs.

I found this recipe on Pinterest pinned via We Are Not Martha.  The original recipe uses seven eggs, but I modified it for one serving.  If you want to make a big batch of it at once, follow We Are Not Martha’s recipe.  Since I’m the only one in this house that will eat this, I prefer to make it fresh each time and I always eat it right out of the bowl…even for breakfast.

Heart-Healthy Spinach Avocado Egg Salad

Ingredients

1 hardboiled egg, coarsely chopped

¼ cup baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 Tbsp red onion, finely chopped

½ Haas avocado, mashed

1 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt

Dash crushed red pepper flakes

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

 

Directions

Mash half a Hass avocado in a medium sized bowl.  Add all chopped ingredients, red pepper flakes and yogurt. Mix until well combined.  Add salt and pepper.

Serve as a dip, in a wrap or on toasted whole grain bread.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


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Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Dara Maclean Sings His Praise

With Easter less than a week away, it’s a perfect time to share one of my favorite Christian artists, Dara Maclean.  These songs are from her debut album, You Got My Attention.

When Dara sings His praise, it moves me.  Her soulful sound reverberates within me and opens my heart.  Dara’s voice has a mature Motown quality, an almost Adele-like tone and it’s obvious earned her musical chops in church.

 

Tune in Tuesday morning (April 3) at 8:30 ET to hear more from Dara live on The Morning Cruise on  Joy FM.

Does Christian music move you?

“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19)



Visit Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Easter Sunday in My City

Our church looked amazing Easter Sunday!

 I used the landscape setting on my Droid in an attempt to capture the whole stage and altar.

 

But I forgot to change the setting back to portrait when I asked a fellow churchgoer to take this photo of my girls and me.

 

 

And it was still set to landscape when I took this photo of the sunset, which actually worked out quite well.

 

 

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If I Knew You Were Coming, I’d've Baked a Peep Cake

The cake I baked for Easter wasn’t homemade, natural, organic, gluten free, sugar free, or even low fat.

 

Shamefully, I used a box of Better Crocker yellow cake mix to form two 8 inch round cakes, two packages of yellow Peeps, two tubs of chocolate icing and a bag of milk chocolate chips to create this sunflower Peep cake .  Nope, there was nothing healthy about it and it was damn good.  In fact, it was so good that I ate a slice for lunch the next day.

After I finished this cake, my oldest daughter suggested I pipe on some green icing to make a stem and a leaf on the side of the cake which was such a cute idea, but I was too lazy to mess with icing and a piping bag.  I’ll try that the next time I make this cute Peep cake.

Also, I think next time I make this cake, I’ll use white icing, white chocolate chips and pink or purple Peeps so the cake has a brighter springtime Easter flavor appearance.

 

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Now link up and see what treats If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.


 

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PhotoStory Friday

Counting My Blessings

In lieu of giving up something for my Lenten obligation, I decided to count my blessings.  To do so, I made a list of 40 items (one for each day of Lent) to which I am grateful for and consider a blessing in my life.

  1. A wonderful husband and loving father
  2. Three beautiful, bright, caring, kind children
  3. A roof over our heads
  4. My DH’s job that affords me to be a SAHM
  5. Chunky baby legs and dimpled knees
  6. Baby giggles
  7. Boisterous belly laughs
  8. A home filled with laughter
  9. A home filled with music
  10. A sense of humor
  11. A pantry, fridge and tummies full of food
  12. Gas in my car
  13. Loving parents/grandparents
  14. My sister and her wonderful husband
  15. My parents
  16. A good relationship with my MIL
  17. Loving extended family and cousins to play with
  18. Family living close by
  19. Fantastic friends
  20. Witnessing beautiful sunrises and sunsets
  21. Folders full of gorgeous photos
  22. Hubbie’s mack-daddy back-up system to protect our files and gorgeous photos
  23. Vacations and weekend trips
  24. My “Me Time” set aside for running
  25. A wonderful church to call home
  26. Our health
  27. Family get-togethers
  28. Moms on the Go, the ultimate moms group
  29. A mommy brain that can still hold the most magnificent memories
  30. A safe neighborhood
  31. Wearing flip-flops all year round
  32. A smiley tap-dancing dog and her wagging tail
  33. Doggie kisses
  34. Butterfly kisses and lullabies
  35. Cuddles
  36. The presence of God in my life
  37. Water under the bridge, repairing and rebuilding relationships
  38. Date nights
  39. The means to help others
  40. A blog that people actually read and leave wonderful, supportive comments (hint…hint)

Jesus Christ Superstar

PhotobucketXmas Dolly randomly selected me for the spotlight dance for her Monday’s Music Moves Me blog hop today.  With Easter rolling in next week, Jesus Christ Superstar is the perfect song to get everyone rocking.

 

Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favorite rock operas because I have fond memories of my family and me watching it every Easter. It’s hard to believe that this production is 38 years old now, although the costumes might give away its age.

 

 

Thanks for linking up and rocking with me in the name of the Lord this week!

 

Remember to visit AmandaXmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.