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Sidewalk Chalk | Pajamas | Books | Bubbles | Toy Cars

There are some things, namely bubbles and sidewalk chalk, that I put in his Easter basket every year. They are items that we tend to use up through the Spring and Summer and we would need to buy new ones anyway.

And because he’s adorable, here’s a picture of Alex with his Easter basket last year.

 Basket from Personal Creations

Happy Shopping!

The post Easter Basket Ideas [That Aren’t Candy] appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Anywho, this weekend was a really good one. We started off with Friday on a Thursday, which should happen every week, if you ask me. Alex had his first baseball practice on Thursday and it was fun to meet his coach and teammates. He’s playing for the Mets!

On Friday, I did a whole lot of cleaning. I cleaned the house top to bottom and it felt great to relax with a cup of coffee in a fresh, clean house. Tommy called me in the afternoon to let me know that he had just gotten a phone call from a local Italian deli that Alex won a raffle for a 22 pound chocolate egg.

We picked up the giant egg and Alex was egg-static (pun intended). They took some pictures of him with the egg that they are going to post in the store.

After getting our prize home, we painted some smaller eggs.

On Saturday morning, we headed to church for the traditional polish Easter basket blessing. It is a Polish tradition to bless the food that you eat during Easter breakfast, and each thing in the basket has a symbolic meaning.

After church, the boys headed to the park to play some baseball and I headed to the salon to get a mani/pedi. The new Zoya spring collection is gorgeous! I got Laurel on my hands and Aster on my feet. Zoya is quickly becoming my favorite nail polish brand. I’ve chosen their shades at least the last 4 times I’ve gotten my nails done, and I swear it has better staying power than the other brands my salon carries.

We headed to the piers later that day to let the little man get some practice on a two wheeler. It was his first time without training wheels and he killed it.

We celebrated his successes over ice cream cookie sandwiches at Schmackary’s, also know as, the best cookie place ever.

On Sunday, Alex woke up to a surprise from the Easter bunny. We had to look for his eggs all over the house, even in the shower.

He was super excited about all the goodies on his basket.

We got dressed up and went to church for Easter Sunday mass followed by breakfast with my parents. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. Alex played with all the stuff he got in his basket including cool 3D chalk.

We watched some movies and just lounged around the house for the rest of the day. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.

What did you do this weekend? How did you celebrate Easter?

Linking up with Weekend Snapshots.

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On Friday, we did our traditional egg painting. Every year on Good Friday for a looong time now (since high school), we all go to my friend Paul’s house (Munchkin’s godfather) and paint Easter eggs. His parents have egg painting tools from Poland which you can use to make really intricately decorated eggs. Sadly I lack the skill to make such eggs, but its still a good time.

I was in charge of setting up the egg painting supplies this year, so it wasn’t done all pretty like last year. I also messed up some of the colors and we ended up with two blues instead of a purple, but we improvised pretty well.

It was the first year that Munchkin actually participated in the egg painting, and his hands were blue and green for two days because of it.

All in all, I think we did a pretty good job and got some good looking eggs. Munchkin even got his traditional Eater, not Easter, egg from Paul.

On Saturday, Tommy, Munchkin and I packed up our traditional Easter baskets and headed out to church to have them blessed. Blessing your Easter basket it a Polish traditional and you eat all of your blessed food for breakfast on Easter Sunday.

Dinner was up to me on Satruday, so I decided to make something Eastery. I was looking at Easter things on Pinterest when I stumbled upon this recipe for Mushroom Wild Rice Frittata from Eating Well.

Mushroom Wild Rice Frittata

• 1/2 cup wild rice (dry) and 2 cups water to cook it in
• 5 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 pound mixed mushrooms
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 6 thin slices prosciutto, chopped

To prepare wild rice: Combine water, rice and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the rice is tender with a slight bite, 40 to 50 minutes. Drain; you’ll have about 1 1/2 cups cooked rice.

To prepare frittata: About 30 minutes after you start cooking the rice, beat eggs and egg whites in a large bowl with salt and pepper. Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler. Heat oil in a skillet, over medium heat. Add onion and salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in rosemary, then add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until they release their liquid and the pan is dry, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in the rice.

Transfer the mushroom, onion and rice mixture into a Pyrex dish. Pour the reserved egg mixture evenly over the rice and vegetables. Partially cover and cook until set around the edges, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and prosciutto. Place the pan under broiler and broil until the eggs are set and the top is nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I also baked a Hummingbird Bundt Cake to bring to my aunt’s house for Easter dinner. Recipe will follow soon because this was so good!

We spent Easter with family at my aunt’s house. There was a lot of good food and desserts. I definitely overate, but it was all sooo good.

Munchkin also got super spoiled as usual.

Those are his various Easter baskets and treats that he got. Needless to say, he was on quite the sugar high yesterday.

Now we are off to have some breakfast and head outdoors to enjoy the weather. It supposed to hit almost 70 degrees today!

How was your Easter/Passover weekend? What are your holiday traditions?

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Since it is March and the month of St. Patrick’s Day and all things green, WIAW is going green! This month’s challenge is to add lots of green into your meals a.k.a veggies, not sour apple jolly ranchers (they were always my fav). BTW googling images of sour apple jolly ranchers will leave you with some strange results.

Keeping with the green theme, I tried to get my greens in and I think I did a pretty good job.

I started the day off with a big bowl of bananas. Just kidding, there is oatmeal under there, I swear! I also had the other half of the banana with a tablespoon of White Chocolate Wonderful PB. They aren’t kidding when the call the stuff wonderful, it’s so yummy!

For lunch, I went really green and made myself a big salad. Spinach, arugula, green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, broccoli and a mozzarella cheese stick topped with Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger dressing.

After work I came home and ate a grapefruit. Like I mentioned yesterday, I can’t get enough of them. Luckily, my dad replenished my stash so I have enough to last me through the end of the week.

Dinner came together with the joint efforts of my father and I. He made Goulash using pork tenderloin, broccoli and carrots with a side of rice. I cooked up my fav Brussels Sprouts and dinner was a go.

After dinner, I had my online class. For some reason the class makes me go into snack attack mode. Luckily, the snacking wasn’t horrible this time. I opted for an apple, which was kind of green, and a handful of (unpictured) craisins.

______________________

I got a glance of myself in the mirror while eating breakfast this morning to discover that I matched my bowl.

I may or may not have looked like a giant Easter egg at work today. At least my pants were blank and not pastel colored. Speaking of Easter, I am happy to report that I’ve been staying on track with my Lenten goals and have not had any chocolate or soda in two weeks. That is quite the accomplishment for me, so I am patting myself on the back. Only 26 more days until I can have a Cadbury Creme Egg. Hooray! I am expecting a big chocolate filled basket from the Easter Bunny (cough cough Tommy), or at least a few eggs for my patience and dedication. I hope not to drink soda regularly ever again. The stuff ain’t good for you, you know! Now that I’ve shared that newsflash with you, I think its time to skedaddle.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

What’s the best thing you ate today? Do you like to match your tableware?

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With Easter being 40 days away, that means that today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. I’ve decided that for Lent this year, I am giving up soda and chocolate. I’m going cold turkey with soda- all kinds, even diet. I’ve been trying to break my soda habit for a long time, so hopefully this will do the trick. As for chocolate, I had to give it some thought. I’m giving up chocolate, as in candy, but not other chocolate flavored things like cake and cocoa. I need some chocolatiness is my life!

Moving on to other Wednesday matters, its time for another edition of WIAW and this time I succeeded in packing in the veggies this time.

For breakfast I made a veggie scramble with spinach, tomato and peppers. I also topped it with ketchup after I took the pic and technically that’s a veggie, right? Just kidding!

Right after breakfast, I had one of the biggest scares of my life. I was in the kitchen making making myself lunch and Munchkin was in the living room playing. He started running towards me but was acting silly and ran right into the corner of the closet. The bump on his head grew in front of my eyes and I was terrified that he might have a concussion. Luckily we put some ice on it and Munchkin was ready to get back to playing. Not a fun way to start the morning!

For lunch, I made myself a sammich. Arnold’s Healthnut Bread with Prosciutto, American cheese, spinach and mustard. I brought a side of baby tomatoes and hummus to munch on throughout the day. I washed it all down with Honest Tea – my favorite iced tea ever! I also brought some almonds with me, but I never got the chance to eat them. There’s always tomorrow!

I came home after work with no idea of what to do for dinner. I was hungry and wanted something quick to eat before my class started so I made a wrap with a Morningstar Tomato and Basil Pizza burger, avocado, mozzarella cheese and spinach topped with salsa and warmed in a pan to make the cheese nice and melty. As my side, I had baby carrots, tomatoes and broccoli with some more hummus. I can’t get enough of the spinach artichoke hummus!

My sweet tooth kicked in after dinner so I made myself a pumpkin spice Vita Top and half a banana and a bit of chocolate syrup. Totally hit the spot.

Wish me luck on my first full day this week. Luckily, it’s the next to last full day so it makes it that much more barable!

Have a great Wednesday! Halfway to the weekend!

Are you giving up anything for Lent? What’s the best thing you ate yesterday?

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I totally overate yesterday, as usual during the holidays and this morning I couldn’t even look at the fridge full of leftovers. For breakfast I opted for a yogurt bowl. Nothing better than:

Deliciousness

  Definitely hit the spot after yesterday’s heavy food and desserts.

Best $1 I’ve spent.

Strikin’ a pose.

 

She knows the way to a mucnhkin’s heart – Goldfish! She also got him spill proof bubbles and tub crayons, both of which I enjoyed a great deal.  The tub crayons are a lot of fun and wash right off when bathtime is done.  And we can use the basket as a beach bucket because it’s plastic. She also got him two super cute summer outfits.  Can you tell she spoils him.

I got a super cool exercise ball which I’ve been meaning to buy for months now.  Isn’t my boyfriend, I mean Easter bunny great. I tried it out last night and it’s not as easy as it looks.  What are your favorite workouts that incorporate an exercise ball?

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