Showing posts with label baskets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baskets. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Primal Easter Baskets


So we're nearing Easter, the end of Lent, and a time of major celebration in the Church. We typically celebrate by attending Mass, the Easter Bunny leaves a basket, and later in the day, the kids hunt eggs. (Tom and his mother do this weird tapping eggs thing... I don't know why.) And the girls wear brightly colored dresses. 


Mass, I've got a handle on.
Dyed eggs? Check.
Pretty dresses... almost. 

But Easter baskets? ACK!  How do I build a Primal-friendly Easter basket?!  


Now some people may say "Oh come on, they're kids, they can have a "normal" Easter!"  And I would partly agree with these people. 

My goal in life is NOT to be the perfect Primalist. One of my goals as a mother is to teach my kids to make better choices when it comes to eating. I think we (Tom and I) started this early on in their lives. And I have no doubt they'll grow up to understand food and lifestyle and how it makes a difference in one's quality of life. (Now that's not to say that they will decide to keep Primal once they are on their own, or driving and can do whatever they want food-wise, but I can rest easy knowing I've done all that I can to give them a good grounding in food.) So I'm okay with them having an occasional cupcake, or ice-cream, or even jelly beans.


Having said that... it still makes me slightly uncomfortable (okay, more than slightly) with the idea that they'll have a huge basket of candies that are not only filled with sugar, corn syrup, and grains, but also all the different dyes. I think putting all of that together makes for a nightmare. 


I've watched the kids carefully after they've eaten a cheat food (which is not often), and I've noticed that Regina tends to have intestinal issues. Veronica has emotional issues. I don't notice anything with the baby. And Amy seems to handle it very well. So my hesitating to give them the traditional Easter treats really has to do with the ill-effects they suffer, and how it seems to take a few days for them to fully recover, which leaves me looking for more healthy/primal options. 

We have the obvious: more toy like items, books, religious items, etc.... But I do want them to have something fun to snack on.
So I thought I could make the easy Primal Brownies (recipe below), make into 1x1 inch squares, and fill some eggs that way. 
Dark chocolate (the good stuff).
Chocolate covered goji berries.

.... what else?  

Of course for Easter I'll be doing some baking (without coconut flour) and making cookies and bread. I may even make a Primal Cheesecake. 

Anybody have any other ideas for basket fillers?

I did find this one blog with a bacon basket. Totally awesome. 


Brownie Recipe:

 1 cup Nut Butter  (I wanted to use cashew butter, but I didn't have enough, so I went with Sunbutter)
1/2 Cup Honey  (you could use less, I think)
1/4 Cup Coconut oil 
1 Egg


Mix all ingredients together.


Pour into an 8x8 dish. 


Bake* at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  


*I sprinkled a few dark chocolate chips on top before baking.