Our Paleo Family’s Easter Menu

I realize the menu I’m about to give you is a little less than traditional, but we actually go to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for Easter dinner so I’m just responsible for a light lunch for my little family of four plus my parents. The Easter Bunny will most certainly deliver lots of chocolate goodies to our house, which we we will naturally be munching on all morning, so we don’t need a great big meal.

This is what’s on tap this year:

A big green salad with lots of fresh veggies and a light lemon vinaigrette. You have to make this dressing according to your taste, but here’s what I make for a great big bowl of greens:

  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp. good quality olive oil
  • 1 tsp. dijon mustard
  • 1/8 tsp. sea salt
  • dash of black pepper
  • a little drizzle of honey or a few drops of liquid stevia

If I can find good, local, organic strawberries, I’ll make this salad instead. It’s one of my favorites. I could eat it every day during strawberry season.

In addition to the veggie salad, my parents will bring a big fresh fruit salad which the kids will devour because Nana and Granddaddy buy the expensive fruits (berries, pineapples, etc.) that cheap-o mom will only buy on occasion.

Easter wouldn’t be Easter without these heavenly eggs. Any favorite deviled egg recipe will do, but do yourself a favor and make some homemade mayonnaise. It makes all the difference! I have two recipes for you: this regular one and this version made with bacon fat. If you make your heavenly eggs with the bacon mayonnaise, you better eat one while you’re cooking because they will literally fly off the table. Well, I guess not literally because I suppose deviled eggs don’t fly, but you get my point.

We’re also having pigs in blankets because I found mini hotdogs at Whole Foods a couple weeks ago and couldn’t pass up buying some. They’re sitting in the freezer just waiting to be enjoyed. So enjoy them we will!

Here’s a tip: ask for fresh lard from your butcher counter. I’ve said before that my favorite lard comes from US Wellness Meats, but you have to place a pretty big order from them and the lard was all I needed at the time. So while at the meat counter at Whole Foods one day I noticed they were selling the Epic fats in 11 oz. jars for $9. They were sitting right on the meat counter. Honestly, they looked terrible. The fat had separated and there was this orange layer on top. So I asked if they had any fresh lard. And sure enough, they did! The butcher said they always have it and it costs $1.99/pound! Lesson learned. It never hurts to ask for what you’re looking for if you can’t find it in the case.




And last, but certainly not least, I will be making my new favorite dessert, this key lime cheesecake. This is an amazing treat if you can go primal occasionally and enjoy some dairy.

We may not need the pie with all the other goodies, but I’d rather have extra food than not enough. And if we don’t eat it Sunday, then I guess we’ll just have to eat it the rest of the week. Such sacrifice! To those of you following along with my Insulin Resistance saga: I’ve not fallen off the no-sugar wagon. This cheesecake is made with stevia for the sweetener and has a special low carb crust so it’s extremely low in carbohydrates/sugar.

On Saturday, we will continue our tradition of dying Easter eggs and decorating sugar cookies. I may get kicked out of the paleo club for this, but I buy the regular egg dying kit and just use that. You know the one I mean. We simply must draw the line somewhere and preserve our budget. We peel the eggs anyway so I figure there’s little to no harm done.

As for the sugar cookies, these are the best paleo sugar cookies out there. They’re super simple to mix up, roll out, cut and bake. Then you can decorate any way you like. See these two sugar cookie posts here (New and Improved Sugar Cookie Recipe) and here (Tackling Cut Out Sugar Cookies Paleo Style) for recipes and details on decorating options. In my opinion, there is no good paleo icing option. The simplest version would be the egg dye with some sugar sprinkles. Or you can go all out with powdered sugar icing. All the creamy type icings just make a mess. 

If you’re hosting a brunch, I’d recommend these treats:

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However you choose to celebrate this Easter, and no matter what you munch on, I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends.

In our house, we love Easter for the fun of goodie baskets left by a sneaky bunny rabbit, hunting plastic eggs filled with goodies hidden around the yard, getting dressed up and taking lots of pictures (well, the adults like this part), and eating lots of delicious, spring-time treats. But what we love the most is being reminded of just how much we are loved by our Amazing Creator. He sent His very own Son to die for us and then rose again, just as He said He would, so that we can one day spend eternity with Him. Now that’s a reason to celebrate! Bring on the cheesecake!

Happy Easter!

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