With Easter around the corner I wanted to share my tips on how I prepare for the celebrations in a way that is fun for my kids, but also as healthy as possible. Of course we have some shop-bought chocolate eggs, but generally I try not to buy too many. To help inspire, below you will find some ideas for a creative, fun and not too unhealthy Easter with the family!
Easter-themed recipes
Below I've shared some Easter-themed recipes that will appeal to kids of nearly all ages. Some of them double up nicely as party food for any spring-time birthday parties.
1. Fun Easter breakfasts Scrambled eggs can be turned into a bunny with a bacon for ears, chives or grated cheese for whiskers and blueberries or olives for a nose! I always get great ideas from from the wonderful Funny Food Art website by Bill Wurtzel.
2. Easter salad bowl
This is a great way to get some greens onto the Easter table and it's very simple. Place some lettuce leaves in a medium sided bowl. Add some carrot, red and yellow pepper sticks, some chives or herbs, slightly steamed broccoli and dot with a few radishes. A simple sour cream or yoghurt dip in an egg cup works well in the middle. Make the bowl look festive with some rabbits for decoration.
3. Healthy strawberry jelly
Did you know gelatin is collagen? I know I say this a lot but it’s because it’s not at all well-known; ditch the anti-ageing face cream and instead steal the kids sugar-free jelly! It is rich in protein and amino acids and has many health benefits. Read more below if you are interested.
How to make jelly: Place 400ml water in a saucepan and add 7 tbsp grass fed organic gelatin. Leave for a few minutes to absorb then gently heat and stir until dissolved. Pour into a blender along with 200ml water, 200g defrosted (or fresh if in season) strawberries and 200g defrosted (or fresh if in season) raspberries (you can sieve it for extra-smooth no-pips jelly but I don’t usually bother!). Pour into silicone moulds and set in the fridge for a few hours until firm.
Health benefits: consuming collagen is great as we get older as it can improve wrinkles and skin roughness and elasticity. It also helps with bones, joints, nails, weight loss and gut health. Collagen is naturally found in fish, chicken, eggs, beef and dairy products. However, having a little extra can help and especially if your diet lacks it.
4. Yoghurt dip with mini-carrots
Fill terracotta little pots with sour cream mixed with salt, pepper and a drop of olive oil. With a sharp knife twist a hole in the top of some baby carrots. Make sure to dip picked parsley in the sour cream and place in the hole (as this helps it not fall out). Place in the sour cream dip.
5. Fruit on a stick cut-outs
Cut slices of mango, melon or watermelon. Then use a cookie cutter to stamp out Easter shapes. Thread blueberries onto a wooden stick or metal skewer and top with the fruit cut outs. Little cookie-cutters can also be useful to stamp out mini rabbits in Babybel cheese (or just out of a slice of cheese).
6. Milk jelly sweets
These are a great replacement for shop-bought sweets. Below I've shown the larger jelly version but with smaller individual moulds you can create small sweets.
Instructions: Place 300ml cold water in a saucepan and sprinkle over 6tbsp of gelatin, leave for a few minutes. Then heat until dissolved. Add to 600ml whole milk, 200ml double cream, 2 tbsp xylitol or maple syrup and 1 tbsp vanilla paste. Pour into silicone moulds and put in the fridge until set (this normally takes 2 – 3 hours).
7. Sugar-free, dairy-free chocolate
These take literally five minutes to make and taste just like chocolate but are actually just good fat (coconut) with collagen and very low in sugar. They contain no nasties like most shop-bought chocolates. They can be raspberry or orange or just plain. Have a go! The recipe below makes about 15 small ones.
Ingredients:
60g coconut oil
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder or 1 tsp orange zest - this is optional but if you don’t like the taste of coconut this is a good idea
1 tbsp vanilla paste
Instructions: Place the coconut oil in a bowl and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients and spoon into small silicone moulds (sat on a tray or plate) and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Unlike normal chocolate, the coconut oil must be kept cold as otherwise it melts. Therefore, store in the fridge; they last up to a week if kept chilled. Enjoy!
8. Kefir yoghurt mango Easter bunny lollies
These look super cute and are wonderfully healthy. Blend together the following: 100g frozen defrosted mango cubes (or fresh), 100g kefir yoghurt, 1 tbsp vanilla paste, 1 tsp maple syrup (add for extra sweetness if your mango isn't very ripe). If you are using a hand-held blender use a high bowl or jug. Place in 3 bunny moulds and freeze.
9. Easter egg-shaped healthy ice-cream lollies
Mix together Greek yoghurt (or plain natural or kefir yoghurt) with some xylitol (or honey) and vanilla paste. Spoon into egg-shaped silicone moulds. Place a wooden or white thin stick in one end and freeze for a few hours.
10. Bunny-shaped hard-boiled eggs
This is a great way to make healthy hard-boiled eggs a fun thing to eat. Simply boil an egg, peel, place in the moulds and chill. Once chilled remove from the mould and serve, it will keep its shape. If you don't have moulds you can easily transform a boiled egg into a chicken with small pieces of carrot (photo below). These make great lunchbox fillers.
Fun Easter-themed games
In addition to the classic Easter egg hunt, which all revolves around chocolate, below are some great games to distract kids from endlessly opening and eating eggs.
1. Playdough
This is so easy to make (I use the amazing Imagination Tree website for her no-cook play dough recipe) and can be shaped or cut out (with a cookie cutter) into any festive/seasonal characters or item!
2. Smashing left-over egg shells This is a great way to reuse the two halves after breaking open an egg, and perfectly Easter-themed. Once dry, write words on the top (like age-appropriate spellings) and get the children to smash them with a spoon if they read them correctly! This was also really helpful when I was teaching my son to read.
3. Flower decorations
Collect daisies and buttercups from the garden and stick them on sticky-back plastic. Cover with more sticky-back plastic and cut into an egg shape. These make such pretty spring-time Easter-themed decorations.
I hope these tips inspire you and your kids to get in the kitchen this Easter. Wishing you all a special weekend celebrating with your friends, families and loved ones!
