Bunnies like carrots! Carrots are loaded with Vitamin C and make a delicious dessert to satisfy any sweet tooth. Our Carrot Cake (recipe below) includes carrots (of course), applesauce, eggs, and walnuts, the perfect combination of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats like Omega-3. It’ll get you hopping with health like that Bunny!
Coloring Easter Eggs is also an Easter Bunny tradition. This year, give it a new twist:
Instead of using extra expensive real eggs, make colorful paper ones! They’re fun to make and are easy to use for either decorating or an Easter Egg Hunt.
All you need is a glue stick, scissors, squares of colorful paper, and a bit of time.
Gather together 10 squares of colored paper. (You can use heavy wrapping paper scraps or your kids’ construction paper. Use lots of different colors. The paper should all be the same kind.)
Cut out 10 egg shapes, all the same size
Fold each one in half, length-wise
Put glue on one half of the folded egg. Add another cut-out folded egg
Repeat until all the halves are attached. Glue the first egg half to the last one.
Open it up, and voilà, a beautiful egg!
You can make them fancier with “honeycombs.” Start a new tradition and skip those extra expensive eggs.
The Best Part: Top off your Easter dinner with a moist, delicious carrot cake decorated with a nest of coconut & jelly beans! Yummm!
Happy (and Healthy) Easter from all of us at Harvest Home.
Egg-citing Easter Eats
RECIPE: Carrot cake
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups of finely chopped carrots (about 6 large ones)
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
¾ cup of applesauce
¾ cup of salad oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
TO MAKE
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Chop the carrots and walnuts and combine them in a bowl. Use a food processor if you have one. Carrots should be finely chopped or shredded ( OR use a vegetable peeler to make strips & then chop)
Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
Mix apple sauce, salad oil, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Add the mixture to the carrots and walnuts.
Blend in flour mixture.
Pour into a lightly greased baking pan & place in the oven
If you are using a 9" x 13” pan, bake the cake for 1 hour. If you are using a tube pan, bake the cake for 1 ½ hours.
Let the cake cool and then decorate with Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix 4 0z 0f cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla & 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Tips & Tricks: healthy easter
Apple Sauce: Peel and slice 6 cooking apples, like Macoun or Pink Lady, in a pan. Add about a ½ inch of water and cook, stirring occasionally until apples are soft and mash easily. Add small amounts of water if needed. Ready to use in your favorite recipes!. If serving as a side dish, add a little sugar and cinnamon
Nest decoration for Easter Cake. Make a nest out of shredded coconut. Add the jelly beans in the middle. Coconut is deliciously sweet, full of vitamins C, E & B-complex & can help balance cholesterol.
Buy dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. It's healthier for you!
More Paper Eggs Ideas:
Origami Egg that opens! [Video]
Coloring real eggs:
Hard-boil eggs before coloring them.
Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking
Easy way to peel eggs: Run eggs under cold water, then roll them on a hard surface to crack the shells.