Easter Illinois Style

Well I never thought it would happen this quickly in life, but Chris and I experienced a holiday all by ourselves for the very first time in our lives.  Holidays are very special to both of us because it is a time where we get to enjoy the company of our family over great food and fun traditions. Holidays got kicked up a notch when we started dating and had multiple dinners to go to in a single day.  I think our standing record is lunch at one place, dinner at another, and dessert at a third.  Thank goodness for our over the top working out lifestyle!  Well the day came upon us where it was a holiday and it was just the two of us.  I wanted to make it special and homey still - so I found a few fun recipes, bought the groceries, and went to town!

Hmmmm...potatoes, bananas, dates, green beans, walnuts, coconut milk, and French's onions...whatever in the world could I be making?!

First order of business: Appetizer

Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:

Pitted dates

Crumbled chevre (goat cheese)

Bacon

Toothpicks

First, slit the dates along one side where you can stuff the cheese in.  Second, stuff the cheeses in. Third, wrap in bacon and spear with a toothpick. Last, place in baking pan and cook @ 400 for 20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Second Menu Item: Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

6 peeled and chopped sweet potatoes

1 Banana

1 can Thai Coconut milk

1 Tbsp Maple syrup

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Crushed Walnuts

First, boil the peeled and chopped sweet potatoes until they are tender and easily pierced with a fork. Drain the water and return to the pan.  Dump all remaining ingredients except for the walnuts and mash together. 

Make sure you taste test to see if you need to add more sweetener or spices. 

Pour mixture into baking sheets and sprinkle with walnuts and a tad more cinnamon. Bake at 350 for about thirty minutes.

Voila!

Traditional Menu Item: Green Bean Casserole

Instructions: buy French's Onion topping, read the back and follow accordingly.

Last Menu Item: Lamb Chops

Ingredients

Lamb chops

Marinade

BBQ

Muscular, shirtless Husband

Final preparations - set table, fill water glasses, and take pictures of the most delicious food ever!

Roth Family Easter

Omg everything turned out soooo good!  It was a success!

It was definitely different not being with our families, but we tried not to focus on that fact and instead focus on each other and have fun being creative with food and homey at the same time.  After dinner we enjoyed 80 degree weather outside for awhile, went on a leisurely drive, and had a fun skype date with our family back home :-) It was a great way to start to settle into our new home. 

Up next: Michigan trip, Chris' job, and my life changing decisions and ponderings!