Easter egg decorating: Homemade egg dyes, Easter baskets, Easter eggs recipes

Waited till the last minute to color Easter eggs, did you? Need to pull a rabbit out of a hat (pun intended) and come up with your own Easter egg decorating stuff? Take it from this parent of four--

been there, done that. Never fear--last-minute Louise is also super DIY mom! Here are for Easter eggs recipes and homemade egg dyes. These Easter egg decorations use recycled and on-hand materials. And best of all--homemade egg coloring is cheaper and safer than store-bought Easter egg decorating kits!

Easter egg recipes

Do you need to do Easter egg coloring on a time crunch? Then skip blowing eggs out and do Easter egg coloring on hard-boiled eggs. Blowing eggs is a tedious, messy, unsanitary exercise in frustration. Easter egg coloring on hard-boiled eggs is less wasteful, plus these Easter eggs recipes may be eaten. Cook eggs in boiling water for 15 minutes (about six eggs per child). No matter how you prepare Easter eggs recipes, follow USDA Food Safety Guidelines for tips on handling, storage and expiration of eggs.

Homemade egg dyes

If you have no egg dyeing kits for Easter eggs, don't worry. They don't work very well

anyway. Here are safer homemade egg dyes. Food coloring and vinegar make great homemade egg

dyes. Write on Easter eggs using food markers and cake decorator pens. Dip eggs in Kool-Aid or

colored soda like orange or red pop, Baja Blast Mountain Dew for blue, Mountain Dew for green.

Make homemade egg dyes with colored gelatin or dissolved colored candies. Use natural food

coloring for homemade egg dyes. Soak an onion skin for yellow, blueberries or purple cabbage for

purple, beets for red, use juice from spinach for green.

Easter egg decorating supplies

Unless you're blowing eggs out, skip egg glitter or swirl coloring kits. They're sticky, messy and

contain chemicals that render Easter eggs unfit to eat. Instead, use non-toxic markers or crayons and

watercolor paint, but check ACMI (Arts and Crafts Materials Institute) guidelines for craft product

safety. Write messages and draw designs with white crayon or food-grade paraffin wax. Then dip

Easter eggs in egg dye. Wax will resist food coloring and show design.

Recycled decorations for Easter eggs

Make your own Shrinky-dink egg wraps. Draw pictures on plastic food wrap or recycled food-grade

clear plastic (from produce). Cut strips the width of the egg. Wrap around egg and dip in boiling water.

This shrinks plastic wrap to fit Easter eggs, just like store-bought Easter egg decorating kits. Plastic

can be removed and eggs eaten using shrink wrap. Use free printable egg decorations printed on

recycled paper. Here are free printable Easter egg decorating patterns, stencils, templates, and

stand-up egg holders. Ukrainian pysanky egg patterns are included.

Easter grass

No Easter grass? No problem--it's not good for kids or pets. Shred construction or colored paper.

Make crepe paper egg nests. Use green colored shredded coconut. Snip recycled green paper and

cardboard scraps. Use cloth scraps or make a "bed" with a reusable towel or washcloth. Use leaves

from safe non-toxic plants or trees. Have children trace and cut handprints from green construction

paper and arrange to resemble grass.

Repurposed Easter baskets:

There's no need to buy Easter baskets, if you haven't already. Here are free printable Easter baskets

kids can make. Or make homemade Easter baskets from a sand pail, tote bag, craft basket, jewelry

box or gardening bucket. These double duty baskets serve as useful containers after Easter. Or make Easter baskets from a recycled plastic milk jugs and decorate. Here are free printable Easter egg basket templates from Made for Mums. 

Don't leave Easter eggs unrefrigerated for more than two hours if you're going to eat them. Don't eat

eggs you've hidden outside. Hide plastic ones outside. Before coloring eggs, check the FDA website for recalled egg dye kits or products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists safety warnings and recalled Easter decorations, too. But the best practice is to use homemade egg dyes and egg decorating supplies and household products listed. Your kids won't ever go back to bought decorations, promise!

The cute  little bunny image is from Marilyn the Toymaker. You can find lots more free printable holiday crafts at her website. 

Valentine's Day recipes, homemade decorations, heart-shaped cupcakes, cookies

Arrgh! Your child did it again. She volunteered you to make three dozen cupcakes (pink, heart

shaped, with sprinkles, please) for her class Valentine's Day party--tomorrow! And when does Lil Miss

Cupid spring this news? 9 p.m.--no time to go to the store for supplies. Well, have no fear, Mama

Been-There-Done-That has super-fast, last-minute, homemade treat recipes made with on-hand

ingredients. You get bonus DIY heart-shaped snacks and improvised frosting, sprinkles and

decoration tips. 

DIY heart-shaped cookie cutter--Murphy's Law will have it that if you need heart-shaped cookies you

won't be able to find your heart-shaped cookie cutter. If you ever had one. So, here are quick,

homemade ones. Bend a coat hanger or large paper clip into a heart shape. Or draw a half-heart on

the folded edge of a piece of sturdy paper. Cut out the heart and place on rolled out cookie dough.

Trace around it with a butter knife, toothpick or metal skewer. Or just freehand it! The kiddies will

never know!

Heart-shaped cupcakes--Make paper cupcake holders shaped like hearts by folding in half. Open

and fold top point inward to form rounded sides of heart. Place folded cupcake paper in cupcake tin

with three marbles: one between the halves of the heart to keep it open and one on each side to

support the point.

Homemade pink frosting. Mix three parts red and one part blue food coloring and dye vanilla

frosting. No food coloring? Use these mix-ins: red juice (grape, cherry, cranberry or beet), red pop,

strawberry jam; strawberry ice cream syrup or red gelatin dissolved in a little hot water. Or melt red

hard candy in the microwave. No frosting? Blend a stick (or 8 ounces) of margarine with powdered

sugar and milk to desired consistency. Add a dash of salt and vanilla or almond flavoring. For

chocolate, add baking cocoa, melted baker's chocolate or melted chocolate chips. No powdered

sugar? Heat granulated sugar in sauce pan to make glaze? No margarine? Use milk for icing.

Homemade Valentine decorations. Fresh out of requested sprinkles? Shave chocolate pieces. Crush

hard candies in the blender. Form heart shapes with tiny candies: M&Ms, Runts, Nerds or other small

candy. Use mini-marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate, cherry or vanilla chips, Snip fruit snacks, jelly

beans, gum drops, red licorice into small pieces. Cut letters from gum strips or Fruit Roll-Ups. Kid's

favorite: decorate with breakfast cereal: Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Trix, Fruity Pebbles.

DIY Valentine decorative frosting. To make icing you can write with, place frosting in small plastic

bag. Squeeze frosting into corner, tie end closed and snip the tip off the corner. Use like decorator

icing to write Valentine messages, like "These cookies brought to you by a creative mom who's kid

forget to tell her till the last minute!" (Probs too long, but tempting).

DIY Valentine sentiments. Add messages to cookies and cupcakes with valentine conversation

hearts. Write valentine words with Alpha-Bits cereal or letter-shaped pretzels. Cut letters from Fruit

Rollups. Write on cookies with diluted gelatin water in a turkey baster. Form letters from thin cut strips

from licorice or use string licorice, also called licorice laces.

Let little last-minute Lucy help and you'll get some fun bonding time, too. Your emergency Valentine

treats may turn out to be the most popular yet

CNY foods, recipes from China's regional culinary cuisines for Spring Festival

Chinese New Year of the Sheep kicks off Feb. 17, 2026. CNY (Spring Festival or Lantern Festival) celebrates an animal of the zodiac each year and 2026 is Year of the Horse. CNY anticipates good fortune. How better to celebrate than with food? Here are recipes and tips to eat your way through China's eight culinary regions and cuisines. Start with a virtual tour of China's food regions. from Travel China Guide.

Shandong (Lu or Mandarin cuisine) comes from north China, Beijing and Jinan City. Dishes focus on duck, carp, chicken and seafood, particularly abalone (shellfish). Shandong food emphasizes garlic, shallots and sea pumpkin. For a simplified Shandong dish, stir-fry prawns (shrimp), asparagus spears and chunks of squash or pumpkin in garlic, shallots and peanut oil.

Chuan (Szechuan cuisine) is eaten in Sichuan province. Food is very spicy and hot, using chilis, peppercorn, peanuts, sesame, garlic and ginger. For easy Szechuan, steam or boil cellophane, ramen or lo mien noodles or rice. Make a thin sauce, mixing crunchy peanut butter, garlic, sesame or peanut oil and minced ginger. Toss noodles with sauce, sesame seeds, sliced scallions, and peanuts. Offer red pepper flakes for students who wish to try it, but warn them that it's hot.

Hui (Anhui cuisine) originates in the Huangshan mountains. These foods employ vegetables, mushrooms and rice. For a Hui dish, steam jasmine or basmati rice. Make egg foo yung by mixing chopped bok choy, napa cabbage, mushrooms and bean sprouts in egg mixture and frying. Make gravy by simmering soy sauce with corn starch dissolved in cold water. Eggs are a Chinese New Year ceremonial food and symbolize fertility.

Min (Fujian cuisine) comes from the coastal region. Min cuisine specializes in soup. Using chicken broth, add any combination of sliced bamboo shoots, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, bean sprouts and shitake mushrooms. Set out wonton chips for garnish.

Yue (Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine) comes from Hong Kong. It's what most Westerners think of when they think Chinese food (Chinese buffet foods, for example). For an easy Cantonese sampler, set out assorted Chinese dumplings (potstickers), rice rolls (sushi) and dim sum. Asian Online Recipes has easy dim sum recipes. Serve with Chinese five-spice (cinnamon, anise, cloves, pepper and fennel seed).

Xiang (Hunan cuisine): Like Szechuan, Hunan food is spicy. It focuses on the "five elements": lychee fruit, longan berries, red dates, lotus seeds, and medlar fruit. The others might be tricky to find, but Lychee aren't too difficult to find canned. They can represent Hunan food. 

Jiangsu (Shanghai, Su cuisine): This cooking style uses many techniques and flavors. For a student Shanghai sampler, serve cubed tofu or dried tofu.

Zhe (Zhejiang cuisine): Stir-fry is a common technique. Students may enjoy a cooking demonstration using a wok. Cook whole smelt in oil with lemon. Toss in chopped vegetables (celery, carrots, broccoli, onions, green peppers). Serve with jasmine or oolong tea. This is perfect for Chinese New Year, as whole fish is one of the traditional foods. Sweet and sour pork is also popular.

Other Chinese New Year ceremonial foods include mandarin oranges, fat choy (algae), dumplings, noodles and dried fruit. To wish a happy new year, say "Gung Hay Fat Choy!"

Pancake Day recipes, Shrove Tuesday pancakes, waffles for Mardi Gras feast

Happy Pancake Day! Also called Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, it's the day Catholics celebrate in preparation for Ash Wednesday and the sacrificial Lenten season. Catholics give up

things for Lent. Traditionally that meant abstaining from meat, dairy, eggs, fat and sugar for 40 days till Easter. So they would use up or "shrive" the house of those foods and make them into pancakes. A

house shriven (purged) of temptation symbolizes a soul purged of sin (Catholics also to confession before Lent to ready themselves for the penitential season). There are probably as many types of pancakes as cultures in the world. Here are good ole American pancake and waffle

recipes for Pancake Day. You can cheat and use pancake mix--the best is Kodiak or Krusteaz Honey Wheat with high protein goodness. 

Flapple Jacks

Blend Kodiak buttermilk pancake mix with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, vanilla, milk, eggs and

applesauce. Add melted butter. Fry till golden brown. Top with sliced Michigan Macintosh apples,

whipped cream, butter and pure Michigan maple syrup. Serve with fresh breakfast sausage patties.

Indian Corn Pancakes

There's an old cafe in Muskegon, Michigan called Cherokee Restaurant. In the early 1970s, my mother

and I breakfasted there on Sundays after church. The Cherokee Restaurant was a pancake purveyor

long before IHOP. The specialty of the house was Indian Pancakes. Mix Krusteaz Honey Wheat pancake mix, eggs, corn meal, one can creamed corn, or whole kernel corn and melted butter. Cook bacon. Fry pancakes in bacon grease till browned. Serve with melted

butter and maple syrup. Top with bacon and eggs for a pancake sandwich!

Behemoth Belgian Berry Waffles 

Mix into pancake batter, vanilla, lemon curd or lemon juice and granola. Fold in Fresh or frozen berries: blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, raspberries, strawberries or cherries. Top waffles with butter, cream cheese, fresh berries and syrup. Melt berry jam and pour over waffles. Garnish with whipped topping. Toss in a slab of ham or maple sausage.

Chocolate Cataclysm Pancakes

Add to Kodiak dark chocolate pancake mix, unsweetened cocoa powder, cold black coffee, vanilla, sugar and chocolate chips. Adjust to preferred level of sweetness. Blend with eggs, milk and oil. Fry in melted butter. Top with melted butter, maple and homemade chocolate syrup, and shaved dark chocolate and whipped cream. To make homemade chocolate sauce, blend half stick of butter with one cup sugar, dash of salt and 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa. Melt and blend with one can evaporated milk. Stir till heated and blended (add a little cornstarch to thicken if desired).

Bon Appetit! 

Healthy brunch recipes to use up leftover stale bread, holiday leftovers

Hosting a New Year's Day brunch? The last thing you need, after the spending extravaganza that was

Christmas, is something more to spend money on. New Year's Day is the time for resolutions to cut

back. So how about recipes to use up holiday leftovers, particularly stale bread, rolls, muffins and

baked goods. Don't pitch stale bread. Put leftover stale bread in a bag in the fridge (separate sweet

bread from savory). Gather up holiday leftovers of meat, sausage, cheese, dried fruit, nuts and eggs

(don't forget the separated egg yolks and whites leftover from recipes). Use up leftover vegetables

from veggies trays and holiday cooking (bits of onion, green pepper, mushrooms, etc.). When you

have enough. repurpose holiday leftovers in yummy recipes that use up leftover stale bread so it

doesn't go to waste. Remember these use up recipes won't have exact measurements and maybe

not even specific ingredients. It all depends on what leftovers you have and how much you have

leftover.

Brunch bread salad. Or, said fancier, Pan Ensalada. Use up any kind of stale bread, bagels, English

muffins, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, rolls, toast, you have. The only thing you can't use are sweet

breads or raisin bread. But don't worry--there will be other brunch recipes to use up leftover sweet

breads and rolls. Mix and match flavors of bread: onion, garlic, cheese, focaccia, pumpernickel, rye,

whole wheat and white.

Tear stale bread into bite-sized pieces and place in large salad bowl or mixing bowl. Clean the fridge

and gather leftover raw vegetable scraps. Chop and add any combination of onions, scallions, green

peppers, tomato, spring mix lettuce, cilantro, herbs. romaine or leaf lettuce, baby spinach, celery,

leeks or mushrooms. Toss with leftover Greek or Italian salad dressing or vinegar and oil. Add lemon

zest, salt, cracked pepper, oregano and basil. Season with gumbo file and pepper blend for a Cajun

twist. Shred and add leftover cheese bits if desired. 

Breakfast or brunch casserole: Here's a great way to use up holiday leftovers. Use any combination of stale bread, except sweet breads or bread with fruit. You can use seed or nut bread if you like. Omit the vegetables if desired. Use up leftover sausage, summer sausage, bacon or ham cubes if desired. Spray a 9x13 or 11x15 glass baking dish with olive oil. Place a layer of dried bread, broken into pieces, in the pan. Finely chop leftover onions and mince garlic and sprinkle over bread.  Beat six eggs with a cup of milk until smooth and pour over bread.

Slice mushrooms and green peppers and spread over egg mixture. Use up any vegetables desired. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, whatever sounds good. Shred leftover cheese chunks and use up leftovers from bags of shredded cheese. Sprinkle 4-8 ox shredded cheese over egg mixture. Sprinkle ground pepper on top. Bake until bubbly (about 30 minutes at 350 degrees). Top with fresh cilantro and leftover diced tomatoes or grape tomatoes. 

Vegetarian brunch casserole. Make as above only swap out meat for nuts or nut bread. 

Brunch bread pudding with lemon sauce. Bread pudding is the quintessential New Orleans leftover

stale bread use up recipes, perfect for brunch. Use any kind of stale bread, bagels, English muffins or

rolls except savory (onion, garlic), cheese, rye or pumpernickel bread. Use any sweet bread like Hawaiian, cinnamon or raisin bread. You could even use muffins, pancakes, waffles, rolls or unfrosted cake. 

Tear bread into bite-sized pieces. Arrange in 9x13 glass pan coated with non-stick cooking spray and flour. Dot bread cubes with a half cup butter or one stick of butter or margarine. Drizzle with maple syrup, about 3/4 of a cup. Mix in any combination of chopped apples, dried fruit, figs, dates, cranberries, raisins, nuts or seeds. You can even add leftover citron or cinnamon red hots. For a super healthy brunch bread, add almonds, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and chia. Blend together 2 cups of milk, 6 eggs, half cup of brown sugar, two teaspoons each vanilla and cinnamon and half a teaspoon of nutmeg. 

This is a great way to use up leftover nuts, fruits from fruit baskets, holiday leftovers of dried fruits left from baking before they get stale. You can even add in that horrible fruitcake Auntie Mildew insists on sharing every year. Toss in any leftover fruit going stale, like bananas or the cranberry sauce you made too much of. Bake 30-40 minutes at 325 degrees until bread pudding has set. Serve with lemon sauce--1 stick melted margarine, 1 cup powdered sugar, dash of salt, 2 T. lemon curd or lemon juice.

Christmas diet tips: Holiday recipes to curb sugar cravings, tame sweet tooth

Parents, are you and/or your children trying to lose weight? The holidays are the hardest time, aren't they? Halloween candy, Thanksgiving pies, Christmas cookies, holiday baked goods and desserts, Hanukkah treats, Three King Cake--from Halloween to Epiphany, the Christmas season equals sweets. And it's so hard on the poor kids--so many goodies, so little time! So here are Christmas diet tips to curb sugar cravings and holiday recipes for sweet tooth tamers.  

It's appropriate to raise diabetes awareness around the holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, New Year's Eve, Epiphany, whatever festivals you celebrate, they all involve food and especially desserts and sweets. Get-togethers can be really hard for diabetics and dieters. Here are ways to cut sugar and fat in recipes, so diabetics and dieters can have their cake and eat it too! 

Swap out oil and sugar in baked goods and replace with unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin (homemade preferred). You get antioxidants and fat burners. Use in cakes, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, brownies and bars--yes even chocolate kinds. Boost flavor in calorie free ways. Reduce sugar and add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves or extra vanilla. Add cold coffee to chocolate baked goods to give chocolate a nice bite. 

Bake with milled flax seed instead of eggs and oil. Flax seed is full of good MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids). Substituting flax seed reduces cholesterol, saturated and transfats and adds omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. One tablespoon flax seed plus three tbsp. water equals on egg. Three tablespoons flax seed and water equals one tablespoon oil, butter, margarine. Trade wheat for whole grains. Bake with oats, chia seed, cooked quinoa and whole grain flours. You'll get the most fiber and omega fatty acids for your calorie investment. 

Swap out milk. Cut calories, fat and sugar substituting almond, flax and coconut milk for dairy in foods. Plus you get fatty acids. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk has the best taste and lowest calories. Substitute Greek yogurt for dairy. Use plain nonfat Greek yogurt in place of cream, cottage cheese, ice cream, cream cheese, milk, sour cream and some cheeses. Sweeten healthier. Use fruit and 100 percent juice, pure maple syrup. 

Avoid artificial sweeteners except for Splenda, stevia, monk fruit and xylitol. Ideal sweetener (xylitol) has zero calories, is safe to use and doesn't taste bitter like stevia can. Swap alcohol for tea or coffee. Booze is an appetite stimulant and metabolism depressant. Tea and coffee do the opposite. But watch the sugar. Eat This Not That says coffee is a sneaky source of added sugar. Brew your own. Add fat-free, sugar-free non-dairy creamer. Freeze and slush for an iced coffee treat. You can bake with non-dairy creamer, too Swap ice cream styles. 

Enjoy frozen yogurt, Skinny Cow and Weight Watchers frozen novelties. Top desserts with light whipped topping. Look for lowfat and low sugar ice cream varieties. Hudsonville vanilla has only 130 calories per serving. Have some candy. Seriously. But make it dark 70 percent cacao or higher chocolate. Dr. Oz says high cacao dark chocolate is a fat burner. Please pass the Ghirardelli Intense Dark!

Bake with almond butter, Or try PB2. a fat free peanut powder. Use PB2 chocolate for a light Nutella alternative. Mix with yogurt for a fruit dip, trifle or torte filling or cake frosting. Blast fat with a Molotov Fruit Cocktail. Try this antioxidant-rich fat blaster fruit grenade. Mix chunk muskmelon and honeydew, grapefruit sections, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and sliced bananas. Top with Greek yogurt, shaved 70-percent cacao dark chocolate, sunflower seeds, milled flax seed, pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds. Make desserts multitask, burning fat while satisfying your sweet tooth

Ketogenic diet: High-fat, high-protein, low-carb diet aids fat burn, weight loss

Originally. the ketogenic diet was used only to treat epilepsy. Now, thanks to advocacy from celebrities who've had surprisingly high weight loss with it, the ketogenic diet is in vogue. Medical experts are finding the ketogenic diet--which is essentially a high fat, high-protein, low carb diet--burns fat and aids weight loss. And not just a little weight loss. Results from the ketogenic diet have been dramatic. Following a keto diet is part of how I lost 100 pounds without weight loss surgery or drugs. 

 Some experts question whether ketosis is dangerous for the body. But it may actually be healthy. What's ketosis? It just means the body no longer gets many carbs and so doesn't depend on carbohydrates for energy. Needing fuel to burn, the body seeks out deep tissue fat that is buried in cells, around internal organs and in the belly, thighs, buttocks, hips and under the arms. With 2/3 of the U.S. overweight and 35-percent obese, maybe it's time to rethink some of these less traditional diets, medical advisers say. 

How is weight loss achieved eating a high-fat, high-protein, low-carb diet? Well, first of all it forces the body to seek out stored fat for fuel.. This burns fat stuck in fat-prone places. Further, a high-protein diet curbs hunger, fills you up faster and keeps you full longer. Carbohydrates burn off very rapidly and you feel hungry more quickly. And as any dieter will tell you, feeling constantly hungry is the worst part of dieting. Curbing hunger and cravings was how I lost 100 pounds. 

Diets that provide too little nutrients--the fad and crash diets--crash because people can't exist in constant hunger and will eat if food is available. Also, and perhaps most important, interesting and ironic of all: good high-fat diets burn fat in the body. Eating good fats--MUFAS (monounsaturated fatty acids), MCAs (medium chain triglycerides) and essential omega oils, also called CLA, GLA and ALA (conjugated linolenic acids, gamma linolenic acids and alpha linolenic acids)--all aid in breaking down bad fat stored from over consumption of carbohydrates, sugar, saturated fats and transfats. 

The ketogenic high-fat, high-protein, low-carb diet reduces lipogenesis (manufacture of fat) and increases lipolysis (fat burning). It also increases gluconeogenesis ( manufacture of blood sugar which has a thermic effect on proteins). The ketogenic diet isn't just a fad celebrity diet, experts are finding. And, though concerns about its safety have been raised, it's actually one of the most researched meals plans for safe and rapid weight loss. The ketogenic diet aids in prevention and treatment of MS, seizures, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease and even some types of cancers. Doctors recommend that because the ketogenic diet is so specific, it achieves best weight loss under medical supervision. That may be even more true for obese, severely obese and morbidly obese patients. It's a whole new way of eating, that's for sure. Some ketogenic high-protein, high-fat, low-carb foods are: fish, nuts, Greek yogurt, avocados, coconut oil, almonds, nuts, seeds, flax seed, chia seeds and zucchini. High-fat, fiber-rich foods, like nuts and seeds, also help flush fat