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A Personal Note About Heartache and Truth

My grandpa died this past spring. Before that my godparents both died. It’s been a tough year. It’s been hard on a lot of people, but right now, for this moment, I’m going to focus on me.

I knew my Grandpa was going to die. I thought I was prepared. I thought I could handle it with grace.

I was wrong.

I don’t cry. The staunch German side of me dominates my exterior personality, but inside my passionate French side cuts deeply and bleeds hard, and the bruises linger. Still, I don’t cry.

But when Grandpa died, I cried.

I cried in front of my children. I cried in front of cousins and siblings and uncles. I cried in front of strangers. I stood in front of church and in the funeral home and in the cemetery and in the shower and I sobbed. Sometimes, months later, after social sympathy has diminished and people expect you to be “over it” and to “move on,” I have to stop singing a hymn in church, because I know that inhuman guttural sobs will rise from some deep hidden pit of human sorrow I didn’t know existed and force their way out if I don’t clamp my jaw shut with all my mortal strength. (That’s a little melodramatic, I know.)

When I see a full church parking lot and a funeral procession lined up, the empathy aroused by the communal grief of all those people nearly suffocates me. I still lie in bed in the dark when everyone else is asleep and let the pain and hurt of losing one of my very favorite people win out, and I cry. Nobody hears me then. Nobody knows…except now all of cyberspace–that irony is not lost on me.

My grandpa was always there. I know people say that all the time, but right now, remember, we’re focusing on me. My grandpa is the only man who has stood beside me my entire life, who has supported, scolded, trained, and loved me, regardless of circumstances. He was there when others gave up.

He was there to give me my first pony, to teach me to work hard, to let me be his shadow and have a hero. He was there when I showed my horse, when I added another candle to my cake, when I walked over fields and across stages and down aisles. In fact, he walked me down the aisle and handed me over to Steve and told him to take care of me…because that’s what Grandpa always did–take care of everyone. He was still there after years of marriage and children, when I wanted nothing more than to sit quietly on the couch and read the paper and not talk…he was there.

He taught me that love was an action, not just a word, a commitment, not just a feeling. He wasn’t big on emotion. When I told him I loved him, he said, “Yup,” and sometimes, “Same here, Kid.” A couple times in more recent years he opened up about how he felt about me, just a sentence or two–words that will never leave me.

But he left me.

Grandpa is gone.

When parents tell their children that someone who died isn’t really gone, because the love and the memories are still there, and that person will always be a part of them, that’s a bunch of empty malarkey. It’s hooey. It’s fluffy fluff. What comfort is there in memories? What hope is there for the future thinking all that’s left of Grandpa is a warm and fuzzy in my heart and a memory of his chocolate malts? What do fluffy bunny thoughts and meaningless trite phrases about love never dying give a child?

Zilch!

When I miss Grandpa, I’m sad, I’m hurting deeply, but I’m not despairing. I have hope. When my widowed grandmother no longer has a hand to hold and my children no longer have Big Bubba to sneak them candies, they are not despairing. They are sad, but they have hope–real hope.

My grandpa trusted Christ Jesus as his Savior. He knew he blew it over and over and over. He didn’t often say “sorry” in words, but he said it in other ways, in Grandpa’s ways. He knew he needed a bridge to close the gap between himself and God, between death and life. And he had that in Christ Jesus.

People tell me I’m doing my children a disservice by raising them as Christians instead of “letting them find their own truth.” I wonder what kind of parent I would be if I gave them fleeting fluffer-fluffs to chase instead of an ultimate truth to grasp. Warm and fuzzies didn’t pluck Grandpa from hell and place him in the arms of God in heaven. Fluffer-fluffs can’t do that. Only Christ can.

I found this on the pagan homeschoolers site: “What I hate about Christians is that they think they’re right and that everyone else is wrong. They can’t accept that we can all be right.”

Well said, Random Pagan; that’s exactly true. If I believe Scripture, and I believe God when He says there is One God, that God is I AM, and I AM is the Only Way to heaven, how can I say that your beliefs and your truth are also right? I can’t! That would make me a very bad Christian indeed. If as a pagan you tell me that my beliefs are true and your beliefs are true, then you’ve just acknowledged that Christ and salvation exist but that you choose not to believe them. That’s like acknowledging the Grand Canyon exists for me, but choosing not to believe it exists in your life, and expecting to be able to drive right over it without plunging to your doom. A good pagan should believe that Christians are wrong, not that we are all right, and that would make you just as hateful as those blasted Christians.

There is ultimate truth. Black is black. White is white. Sin is sin. Christ is the Way.

What does this have to do with Grandpa? He trusted that Truth. He closed his eyes in this world only to be born into the next. When we covered Grandpa with the dirt he worked his whole life, the dirt he taught us to love, that was not the end. That was only the beginning.

What does that have to do with me? The man I loved first and longest is there in heaven where time doesn’t exist as we know it, and I will see him again…him, my godparents, my father-in-law, and most especially Jesus.

When I cry in the middle of the night and shed tears in the shower, it’s because this world hurts. It’s not because I’m hopeless–let me rephrase that. It’s not because I’m without hope. In fact, there is joy mixed with my tears–joy for Grandpa, joy for our future, and yes, joy for the memories and love. There’s not a single fluffer-fluff. You can’t cling to fluffy feel-goods–they’re elusive. Christ is real.

I miss you Grandpa. And it hurts. It hurts a lot, Grandpa.

I will see you again.

Fight Summer Brain Drain and Illiteracy at the Same Time

Let’s cut right to the chase. Illiteracy is a huge issue throughout the world. “Summer brain drain” is also a problem–a first world problem, but a problem nonetheless.

Here’s a solution to both:

We Give Books is an organization that puts books in the hands of children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them. Right there they’ve won me over. Throw in cookies and I’m totally sold!

You can help fight illiteracy for free!

Join the We Give Books summer reading program, read books for free online from their rather impressive library (or read print books of your own), and We Give Books will donate real books to needy children.

I don’t have all the details figured out, but they do, so check them out here.

By the way, if you school year-round like we do, this program is still a nice shift for something a little different and to get the kiddos thinking about helping others. What a great motivator to get reading, and if that doesn’t work, bribe ’em with cookies or s’mores.

Check out more summer reading programs here.

By the way, there’s nothing in this for me–it’s simply a great idea that deserves a little more chatting up.

My Favorite Benefit From The Tummy Team

This post contains an affiliate link. Sadly, it does not contain cookies. It is my (and the government’s) policy that I disclose this information—the link, not the cookies.

I have already told you a couple times about The Tummy Team I participated in, and I hinted at a result of the core strengthening that was exciting for me. It begins with a loooooong story. I’d keep it short, but where’s the fun in that?

When my sixth baby was about three months old, I was doing a Pilates video that had me stick my big toes in my opposite ears while pointing my derriere up to the north star and scratching the back of my knees with my teeth. At least, that’s what it felt like. Something tweaked on my body, so I stopped, because I’m smart like that…but obviously not smart enough to not do the whole toe-in-ear thing in the first place.The next morning, after nursing my baby lying down, I rolled over and a severe pain shot through my ribcage.

I’m not a short term pain wimp, People. I’ve had seven children naturally. I can handle temporary discomfort. This pain was intense! And it was anything but temporary.

I sought chiropractic care. I took refuge in a bottle of Advil ( and I don’t do drugs). I paced the floor every night, unable to rest or get comfortable or control the pain until the medication dulled it enough that I could give into my exhausted stupor for three or four hours. I slept in another room with just baby (instead of the three other people that shared my room at the time) so nobody would touch me. I wouldn’t accept hugs, which, for this mama of seven, was a big deal. I became best buds with ice packs and hot water bottles. I could barely sit down, and lying down was out of the question. I was a mess, a great big in-pain sniveling grumpy mess. I wasn’t really sniveling, but I like that word.

I couldn’t even let these beautiful babies hug me! I was one miserable mama.

About five weeks later, it gradually went away. The chiropractor said it was likely a dislocated rib. Who knows? The point is that it hurt, and I never wanted to feel like that without getting a baby out of it ever again. Yeah, it was that bad.

It went away, and I never did Pilates again, but it didn’t completely heal. I had to be careful about the angles I nursed lying down, careful not to twist too far, careful to only get up certain ways, careful not to sit wrong in the van. That was five years of being careful and aware—I was on careful and aware overload, People!

I would still feel twinges like those I felt before the big BANG happened in my ribcage. I would feel the warning and I would carefully adjust my position or lie completely still and try to relax while internally freaking out like a crazy mama with no cookies in the cookie jar. I did not wanna go there again!

So here’s the exciting part of this story. I realized five weeks into The Tummy Team that I had shifted my awareness to engaging my abs the way Kelly taught me. I also realized that the warning twinges that had become a part of my life were g-o-n-e, gone! They took a hike to the Himalayas, a trip to Timbuktu, a trek to Tibet. Wherever they were, they were not a part of my life anymore, and that’s exactly how I wanted it.

Trekking through the national parks with 20 pounds of love strapped to my chest.

It makes sense. Kelly teaches that one of the various sets of abdominal muscles wraps around the ribcage. As you practice with Kelly over the weeks, you start to feel these muscles and control them. They’re like a big ol’ Gramma hug that holds everything together and makes your world feel just right.

I know you’re not as excited about this as I am, but, People, it was like my cookie jar was broken with huge gaping cracks and I was still required to fill it for hungry hands every day. I was holding it together with masking tape, when a perfectionist suddenly grabbed my cookie jar when I wasn’t paying attention and seamlessly gorilla-glued it back together so you can barely if at all see the once-gaping cracks. That’s what it’s like. I can do what needs to be done without the masking tape. It’s wonderful!

I want a cookie.

This is what my life demands of me, and it helps to have a strong core to live as pain-free and fancy-free as possible. What is fancy-free anyway?

Coming up: what happened when I fell off the wagon, why I’m gorilla-gluing myself back on the wagon, and a special surprise for you!

To hear more of my thoughts on The Tummy Team, check out these posts:

Click here to learn more about The Tummy Team from Kelly. Just do it.

Christy’s Simple Tips: The Easy Way to Shred Cheese With No Mush

One of the reasons I had seven children is so they can do the menial tasks I dislike, such as shredding cheese. I don’t like to shred cheese. I don’t like how it gets melty and mushy and sort of oozes into the grater after a few minutes instead of slicing off cleanly. Do you know what I mean?

The solution is simple. Pop the entire block of cheese into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. (Any longer and the cheese might thaw oddly.) It will harden enough to make the cheese grating process a thing of beauty. A thing of beauty, I tell ya!

Pop the grater in the freezer, too, and the process will be even slicker.

I know you’re wondering why I don’t recommend buying the already grated cheese to totally simplify the process. Oh, I have my reasons.

First, usually the shredded cheese is more expensive, but lately I’ve been noticing some shredded cheeses are cheaper than their block counterparts. Shocking, I know!

Another reason is that shredded cheeses do the whole melty mushy thing unless the manufacturer adds an anti-caking agent. That’s no big deal to most of you, but I have a daughter with Crohn’s Disease who can’t currently eat the potato starch and powdered cellulose (usually a wood byproduct) that are often used as the agents in question.

Finally, if you’re low-carbing it, that’s a little extra carb intake that isn’t as fun as, say, eating a cookie. I totally made that last one up—anything to promote cookies!

Reasons one and two are enough for us to force our kids to shred our own cheese.

Are you freaking out over wood in your cheese? Don’t freak out. The government says it’s just fine.

You can stop laughing now.

Seriously, the government says it’s fine, and even some organic companies say it’s fine. Others say it’s the spawn of Satan.

Do I know the answer? No. Do I care? I care enough to buy block cheese and make my children shred it at home. I don’t care enough to not eat Archway Windmill Cookies and Lorna Doones from Grandma’s cookie jar. (Those cookie links are affiliate links…and my favorite store cookies.)

I know. I have issues.

Preserve a Memory for Mom (and Maybe Win $2500 in the Process)

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I make a commission if you order through these links. My policy is that I’ve gotta like a company a whole lot to tell you about them. Any profit I make at TSHM buys homeschool materials for my seven “road scholars.” If you don’t want me to profit, delete your cookies before purchasing. Mmmm…cookies.

I’m always telling you to make everyday memories with your loved ones, to simplify your life so you have time to live your life, to prioritize people over possessions, over passions, even over popcorn and pie.

Today I’m sharing a company that can help you preserve some of those memories you create. Why now? Mother’s Day is just around the corner, Father’s Day and Grandparent’s Day are nipping at its heels, I’m sure your anniversary and a few birthdays are in there somewhere, and then, BAM, it’s Christmas!

The company I want to tell you about is called Blurb. I’ve been a Blurb affiliate for a while now, and I have always kinda sorta deleted all their emails as they came in. But then I saw a book that my cousin made through Blurb and wow-holy-cow was that ever gorgeous!

So I started paying attention to the Blurb emails, and wow-holy-cow-and-its-calf, those people are always having sales! They’re like Kohls!

Finally, I checked them out for myself, and wow-holy-herd-of-cattle, they are organized, user-friendly, and offer quality products.

What does this have to do with your Mama?

Mother’s Day and, BAM, Christmas are just around the corner. If your mama is anything like this mama, she doesn’t want stuff, except for maybe a new slotted spoon to replace the one small hands left behind in the sand dunes of Idaho where it masqueraded as a shovel for a day. Oh, and your mama wants chocolate, the 85% dark that doesn’t give her…ahem…aroma.

Why not give her a personalized book instead, like one of these:

Compile her favorite recipes and create a cookbook.
Gather memories from all her children and grandchildren with pictures and drawings.
Write a letter-book to her. It could be called, simply, “Dear Mom.”
Is she a poet or an artist or a great story teller? Gather her work into a book.
Make a photo album of something special to her–a wedding, a trip, time with you.
Select pictures of her favorite pet and write about him, or include blank lines for her to fill in.
Write a children’s book in which she is the star. Let your children illustrate it.
Put together a memory book of a missed loved one.

The sky is the limit. Well, actually, your imagination (with the creative help of Pinterest and Blurb) is the limit, which might be higher than the sky.

Remember, I said they’re always having a sale? Always may be a slight exaggeration, but only slight.

Here are the current Blurb deals:

Save a whopping 15% on printed books through April 30. That’s soon, I know, and you’re busy making memories, so I’ll update this with new deals as soon as I hear about them.
Save 30% on “My Favorite Person” books through May 31. If you write your own My Favorite Person book (why not Mom!) and enter it by the deadline (4/28 or 05/31, depending), you could win $2500.

Here’s a little video explaining the contest. Videos are fun, aren’t they? Make some popcorn.

Why are you still here? Go make your book…or popcorn..or both!

But first..what are your ideas for personalized books?

Creative Easter Eggs With and Without Dye

My kids love creating masterpieces on their Easter eggs. They each receive 18 eggs as their blank canvases, and they spend a couple hours meticulously manipulating the appearance of the egg until we have a barnyard of animals, a testament of Bible characters, a library of elliptical novellas, a museum of art, a secret test site full of aliens, and about three or four eggs reading “I luv Momy” and “Ur the bets Momy.” Those are my favorite.

Living in a travel trailer as traveling music missionaries, I’m not too crazy about the mess of egg dye, although it might be an improvement over the upholstery manufacturers put in RVs, if you know what I mean. Because I’m a dye-on-the-upholstery party pooper this year, but not an egg-fun party pooper, I researched some alternatives to the usual egg-in-cup method.

I also included some dye-related eggs for those of you who don’t have upholstery in your dining area, but who may be tired of the same old egg-in-a-cup dyeing method.

Creative Easter Eggs

We can’t start an Easter egg post without my daughter Hannah’s no-fail egg boiling method:

How to Boil Eggs: Making Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs: The truth is that this is “no-fail” when she does, it, but I have focus issues. I focus really well, but not on what I’m doing.

No-Dye Easter Eggs

These mess-minimized ideas are perfect for small spaces, mamas who don’t want a ginormous mess, or people looking for more than an egg in a cup. We recreated the eggs in this section so you could see the final results.

Sharpie Eggs: You really don’t need a post to tell you how to use a permanent marker to doodle on an egg. My family’s been doing this for at least two generations. Still, it’s the 21st century, and you can’t have any ideas without a link and a tutorial, so here’s a tutorial which basically says to doodle on the egg. Still, it’s a fun post and gives you blown egg techniques.

Thumbprint Eggs: What I love about this is the potential for only the children’s thumbs to be colorful on Easter morning, as opposed to their entire hands. It’s a break with tradition, but I’ll risk it. This egg by my son is not at all what I had in mind, but he did use only his fingerprints, which was the only guidance I gave. That’s the fun of letting them get creative instead of letting them “get creative” by “helping” them do eggsactly what you want. For the idea in my head, click through the link.

String Eggs: The creators use a blown egg, but you can do this either on a regular boiled egg, on an already-dyed egg, or on a balloon and pop it. Popping balloons is one of the joys (or pathological fears) of childhood.

Aluminum Foil Egg-Dyeing Technique: Super simple and significantly less messy than traditional dyes.

Melted Crayon Eggs: This idea from Family Fun would be great for the older kids. The eggs would be too hot for the littles unless they are closely supervised. Did you notice that remark about focus issues? We really enjoyed this method, and the final result is shiny, shimmery, splendid! (This picture doesn’t show the shine.)

Decoupage Eggs: Drag out the junk mail and the 25-cents after holiday napkins for this fun craft. The link uses blown eggs, but my young artist used hard-boiled.

Artist’s Choice: Set out crayons, paints, whatever, and let the kids have at the eggs!

Crayons:

Acrylics:

A very unfinished sequence painting on blown eggs, depicting Jesus’ birth and death:

Creative Egg Dyeing

These techniques all require some sort of dye, and most involve a cup and scooper-outer or colorful fingers unless you follow this simple tip. They are variations on the norm, and will yield some lovely eggs that, quite possibly, nobody will want to eat–because they’re pretty, not grody! For pictures and directions, click on each link.

Tie-Dye Easter Eggs: All the mess is contained in the sink! If we do dye this year, this is it!

Silk-Dyed Eggs: This is a little involved, including the involvement of a trip to the thrift store or the raiding of Dad’s old silk tie collection, but the results are beautiful.

Chinese Tea Eggs…or dinosaur eggs if you have little boys

Sticker Eggs: Save those star stickers!

Kool-Aid Eggs: Cheap, nostalgic…well, not for me, since we didn’t drink Kool-aid, but we did see plenty of commercials with the freakish giant Koolaid pitcher monster crashing through walls and passing out cups full of the liquid contents of its body for children to drink. Who thought of that nightmare scenario?!

Marbleized Eggs: Just add oil to what you’re already doing!

Watercolor Eggs: Technically it’s food coloring, which is dye and which is not watercolor paint, but it doesn’t involve dipping eggs in a tip-over-able cup, and the effect is charming. Great for any age.

Natural Easter Egg Dye: The sky’s the limit here, but this should get your creative “how can I naturally stain my eggs and my children” juices flowing. For more natural dye ideas, check out this post or this cute post.

If you did the math, you realize that I have seven children each decorating 18 eggs, plus the extra dozen I boil for crashes and creative parents, so that totals 138 hard-boiled eggs to consume. I’ve got you covered there, too.

How to Boil, Peel, and Use up Hard-Boiled Eggs

For more Easter fun, follow my Simple Easter Ideas Pinterest Board.

Happy dyeing! I can’t tell you how many times I wrote “happy dying” over the years before I noticed I was randomly wishing bemused readers everywhere a pleasant death by dropping that “e.” Spelling. It saves lives…and friendships.

What are your best no-dye or dyeing (with an “e”) tips ?

36 Easter Recipes–Create a Quick Easter Menu Here!

I love food. I can’t help it. When a holiday approaches, my first thought is “Bring on the grub!”

Easter is just around the corner, and my “What are we going to eat?” musings have led me to create this list of Easter edibles from around the web. You can plan your own menu by selecting an item or two from each category, and, voila, your work is done…except for the shopping, cooking, and cleaning up. If you really want to know, the asterisked items are on our menu if we have access to an oven on our travels.

Enjoy!

Breakfast or Brunch

Baby Frittatas: Aw, little babies. So cute in their muffin tins. Make ahead and reheat in the morning.

Breakfast Easter Baskets: Two things here: cuteness and bacon. My kids would love this, and I would accidentally make way too much bacon. Yum, bacon.

**Deviled Eggs and Stuffed Chicks: An adorable addition to the Easter buffet, or a quick breakfast before heading off to church or the egg hunt.

Chocolate Bunny Oatmeal: I don’t have a link for this recipe; I don’t even know how this idea leaped into my head. Still, it’s borderline genius if you have an eight-year-old boy, which I do, thank you God and hubby. Make oatmeal in the crockpot so it’s ready when you wake up. Spoon it out into bowls and put a small-ish chocolate bunny in the center of each bowl. As it melts, your children will have chocolate oatmeal. Genius…or is that too much like a cute little bunny in a pit of hot lava death? Whether it’s brilliant or psychotic, it’s a unique way to start Easter morning with a blast of sugar. Woo hoo!

**Resurrection Rolls: This starts Easter morning off with sugar and the empty tomb. It’s a cute way to help little ones remember the significance of Easter. We’re doing this mid-week, since Easter morning is busy busy busy.

Easter Overnight Breakfast Casserole: There are about as many recipes for make-ahead breakfast casserole as there are mamas who want just five more minutes in bed on holidays. I chose this one because it’s a 20-year-old recipe from church ladies–face it, church ladies make the best casseroles. Period. Adjust it by swapping meats, changing breads, adding more veggies–the kids will be too bleary-eyed to pick them out.

Easter Main Course

How to Cook a Simple Ham: This is our favorite way to prepare a simple ham. Sometimes simple is best. We set ours out on the buffet line, but it would do great at a sit-down dinner as well.

**Roast Pork Loin with Herb Stuffing: This looks so fantastic, I’m going to cry. Why does good food make me want to cry? Get help, Woman! I would totally simplify this recipe for the sake of my budget and my simple philosophy, but I can’t imagine how you could destroy the goodness unless you totally lit the whole kitchen on fire, in which case, I’d eat it anyway.

Garlic-Herb Roast Leg of Lamb: Still cryin’ here, People. Lamb sounds complicated and expensive, but this recipe from All You is simple and will run you under $4 per person. (That’s a lot of money in my book, but my book involves feeding nine people every day.)

Herb-Stuffed Roasted Cornish Game Hens: My kids love it when they get to eat their own bird without sharing! Look for a sale, and you’re set. You could also halve them, but that’s not quite as much fun as eating a whole hen.

Garlic-Herb Roasted Chicken: Here’s a cheaper alternative to most of the above. You can usually find a bird for under a buck a pound, or very near. Until I get my “I didn’t know chicken could be this good” recipe posted, I’ll direct you to this one. It looks good…but I’ve never made it, since mine is so juicy. Please remember to brine your bird first.

Easter Sides

Starches:

**Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes: What’s not to love about cream cheese and cream with a little tater thrown in? Yes, please! Prep your potatoes ahead of time and keep them from turning brown with my simple method.

Crockpot Wild Rice Pilaf: If you have sacrilegious people in your family who don’t particularly care for the amazing goodness of mashed potatoes (such as my eldest and hubby), here’s a crockpot rice dish that whips up quickly. Optionally, leave out the dried cherries and nuts to take the cost and effort down.

Easy Scalloped Potatoes: Easy. Yummy. Replace the milk with stock if you or your guests are dairy intolerant.

Cheesy Sausage Potatoes: Click the link and scroll down for a cheesy sausage crockpot recipe from my friend Stacy who will never steer anyone wrong with potatoes, cheese, and crockpots. Crockpot cooking frees you up for other things, like nibbling the ears off the chocolate bunnies while the kids are hunting for eggs. Wait…what? I didn’t say that.

Warm Veggie Sides:

**Zucchini Fettuccine with Rosemary Butternut Creme Sauce: This side dish looks amazing! It’s perfect for the gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, potato-free, etc-free crowd at your table.

**Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Garlic: Roasting any veggie is ridiculously simple and the taste is remarkable. My kids and even my husband will eat anything roasted (except that Lego dude–sorry about that, Kids). Swap out the cauliflower for absolutely any veggie–we’re using butternut squash and carrots on Easter, but our faves are cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts–crazy, I know!

**Sauteed Green Beans: Super simple, this is a weekly go-to for our family.

**Holiday Peas: This is ridiculously simple and tasty. My Mom did this with Ritz, browned butter, and broccoli and we kids never left a veggie on our plates. Use the veggies and crackers of your choice, even gluten-free.

Grilled Asparagus Wraps: Get the hubby involved in the cooking with these grilled asparagus wraps. They look really nifty. (Who says nifty? I do!) I know that hubby-doing-the-grilling remark may be considered sexist, but let’s face the facts–I blow up grills and singe all the hair off my arms, my man doesn’t. I birth babies and make milk, my man doesn’t. We all have our gifts–I’m cool with that. Gender differences are nifty. By the way, you could also throw these in the oven or replace with green bean bacon bundles.

Chilled Sides:

Deviled Eggs Pasta Salad: This is a brilliant and simple make-ahead alternative to deviled eggs. Noodles. I love noodles.

Spring Vegetable Salad: This is a great cold dish for the allergic crowd, although it does contain mayo which commonly has eggs and soy. You could swap it out for yogurt, or, hey, leave it out. It’s a good buffet dish.

Easy Coleslaw: If you’re hosting a simple buffet, try a simple make-ahead coleslaw.

Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing: This is a simple, fast make-ahead dish. My family would love this without the sugar, so don’t feel you need to use it…or at least all of it.

Bread-like food:

Easter Bunny Bread Recipe: Cuteness abounds with this bunny bread. If you don’t want to use frozen bread dough, you could try my popular super simple bread recipe or the bread of your choice.

Pineapple Stuffing: This is totally a dessert disguised as a healthy side dish, but if you ate the chocolate bunny oatmeal for breakfast, you probably don’t really care.

Simple Biscuits: Every occasion is an excuse to make biscuits. It’s Monday–biscuit time! It’s 2:00–biscuit time! I stubbed my toe–yes! Biscuit time!

Find your own yummy veggies here:

Simple Ways to Spruce Up Veggies: This is my all-time favorite Pinterest board and I have no idea why. If you need some simple but delicious vegetable side dishes for your Easter buffet or dinner table, or for any day of the week to make your family happier and healthier at the same time, check this out. Seriously good stuff on here–we eat many of them, especially the Brussels sprouts. You heard me.

Easter Treats

**Key Lime Pie: This has nothing to do with Easter at all. I can’t even remotely make a connection except God created key limes. Still, I’m going with it, because it’s what we’re having. There are two recipes to click on. We’re using the first one as opposed to the “lightened key lime pie,” because the words “lightened” and “pie” do not belong in the same conversation.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs: These “eggs” from my friend Stacy at Stacy Makes Cents are so good you’ll want to slap your mama! I can’t comprehend that expression, but at the writing of this we’re in the south, and Stacy’s a southerner, so, I borrowed that bit of southern love from her. You’re safe, though, Mom. I won’t be slapping any mamas…except maybe myself for eating way too many of these babies! If you feed your family only one thing at Easter this year, it should be this. That’s what I’d pick!

Paleo Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs: These will cost more than Stacy’s eggs, but they are paleo and other-diet-friendly. If you have some alternative eaters joining you, or if you are one yourself, give these a go. Drool!

Dessert Fruit Pizza: It’s a cookie and it’s fruit. I mean, a cookie…and fruit! Are we on the same page here? I’ve never tried this, but…it’s a cookie! It’s only Easter-y because it’s shaped like an egg, but, seriously, why is a ham Easter-y? It’s a dead pig shaped like…a butt cheek, when you think about it.

Coconut Cookie Chicks: A super cute dessert idea for the vegan or gluten-free crowd from Chocolate-Covered Katie who can do no wrong in the kitchen. (See the picture above, posted with permission.) Mine would never make it to the bird stage. I would eat the macaroons alone, and then drown my sorrows for having no macaroons left by eating the rest of the ingredients.

Easter Bird’s Nest Cookies: Just the word “cookie” should sell you on these.

Easter Kit Kat Cake: If you eat this, you will die. Before you die, however, you will hear oodles of “That’s too cute!” and “How did you do that?” and “Holy shmoly, are those Kit Kats?!” Shmoly isn’t really holy, just so you know.

Peeps Sunflower Cake: I told myself in my most authoritative voice not to post any recipes with peeps in them. Apparently self has issues with authority.

Lemon Chiffon Easter Cake: This dessert is a little–okay, a lot–more grown up than the other desserts, which means you probably shouldn’t grab a piece with your hands and shove it in your mouth and stick a second piece in your pocket for later and put a third piece on your plate ~~when people are looking~~. Don’t be afraid of chiffon cakes. They’re not as hard as people say they are. Of course, I said that about algebra, and now my firstborn has trust issues.

Some Totally Brilliant Easter Recipes: My daughter’s link-up to her favorite Easter treats.

Happy eating, and most importantly, have a blessed and meaningful Easter!