Easter Fun

This year is my families Off Year, meaning that my brother's and I miss each other's company but we are all freed up to be with our in-laws. We didn't make the trip to see the in-laws (sad face) due to work obligations as well as TrueLove and Jake's desire to serve with Father's House Vacaville in their Adopt-a-Block program. More on that later. 

So for Easter we shared just the four of us and it ended up being delightful in every way. Since TrueLove and I are on the homestretch of CLEAN it gave me an opportunity to make an entirely healthy holiday meal without offending anybody. No Easter baskets, no chocolate bunnies, no creamy spinach gratin, no traditional carrot cakes. To defend myself and my parenting I will say that I purchased goodies from Sweet Affair to spoil my kids with special treats too, just TrueLove and I abstained. People in my family love their traditions I've learned since I am a variety junky and look at holidays as opportunities to experiment, I have often been overruled in favor of traditions. Well, yesterday I had complete freedom to go way out into Crazyville and make an entirely CLEAN friendly meal.

So, I'll show you what we did and link recipes. I will say that we were all in HEAVEN! We all loved it. We all felt really good afterwards, even too stuffed for the Raw Carrot Cake with Cashew Vanilla Frosting afterwards. We all had plenty of energy to jump in the car and go see God's Not Dead, my FAVORITEST part of the day. It seemed very appropriate to see a movie with that title on the day that the world celebrates that He's Alive. So awesome.

clipped from my garden

So here are some pics and links. If you want more info or step by steps then let me know. I'm happy to share but don't want to bore you.   

Minty Lemonade from Clean by Alejandro Junger

Halibut Baked in Parchment with Olives and Thyme also from Clean. 
And AMAZING!!!!! I knew it was good. I had made it for TrueLove when he was on Clean program years ago and loved it. I only add minced garlic and capers to the recipe because, I just have to.

Marinated and Grilled Artichokes from Community Eats and Emirel Lagasse
Brown Rice with Coconut Oil and Chives

 Easter Salad ( I made it up)

Lemon Cashew "Cream Cheese" Dressing. 
The base is the Cashew "Cream Cheese" by Clean and I turned into a dressing.

And Raw Carrot Cake with Cashew Vanilla Frosting from Gimme Some Oven
Whoa. What a terrible picture. AND lacking the frosting. Truth is by the time I got around to this I was exhausted and ran out of gas. I promise you a better photo later. And I confess that the frosting required honey which is not permitted on Clean. I allowed myself a healthy, natural indulgence for our special day.