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Hello, friends! Is it green yet where you live? Here in my new state – Louisiana – spring has sprung, the grass is luscious, the trees and flowers are blooming, and pollen is in the air. 😛 I’m definitely looking forward to Resurrection Sunday (commonly known as Easter) when we commemorate the resurrection of our Savior. He is risen!
This year I’ll be enjoying a potluck dinner with my new church family (contributing a salad and a dessert), but in case you’re preparing to host the family for the day, I thought I’d give you some recipe suggestions so you don’t have to stray too far off the Trim Healthy Mama path. You have options, folks! In this post you’ll find a step-by-step planning guide for your Easter dinner. All the recipes in this post are THM S or FP recipes (and thus low carb) unless otherwise marked. If you add some of the Crossover or THM E options, your meal will be a Crossover – still healthy, but not as weight-loss-promoting as a single-fueled meal.
CLICK HERE TO READ MY HOLIDAY DINNER NAVIGATIONAL STRATEGY POST!
Pick a Main Dish
Go the traditional ham or turkey route…or pick something a little different!
“Brown Sugar” Glazed Ham
Deviled Turkey & Stuffing
- Maple Orange Glazed Ham (Joy Filled Eats)
- Baked Ham Glaze (Mrs. Criddle’s Kitchen)
- Perfect Roast Turkey Breast (Gwen’s Nest)
- Whole Roasted Chicken (Northern Nester)
- Simple “Brown Sugar” Grilled Salmon
- Greek Style Roasted Pork Loin (Nana’s Little Kitchen)
Pick a Side…Any Side (or Two or Three)
Go with one or two of my favorites below…or do something simple like green beans or cabbage sautéed with butter and garlic salt.
- Cheesy Party “Potatoes”
- Garlic Mashed Caulitoes (Necessary Food, pg. 121)
- Green Bean Casserole (Necessary Food, pg. 124)
- Sweet Potato Casserole (THM XO) (Necessary Food, pg. 125)
- Mac & Cheese (Necessary Food, pg. 123) (Use veggie noodles if you’re not comfortable with using Dreamfields pasta.)
- Special Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Pick a Salad
A pretty salad adds freshness to the table.
- Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Necessary Food, pg. 145)
- Italian Salad (Necessary Food, pg. 146)
- Special Occasion Salad (Necessary Food, pg. 147)
- Raspberry Italian Vinaigrette (Necessary Food, pg. 427)
- Seven Layer Salad (Necessary Food, pg. 149)
- Creamy Cucumber Salad (Necessary Food, pg. 143)
- Sweet & Spicy Cinnamon Gello Salad (THM E) (Necessary Food, pg. 135)
- Mandarin Orange Gello Salad (THM E) (Necessary Food, pg. 136)
Pick a Dessert
If you need a dessert for one or two…
5 Ingredient White Cake or 5 Ingredient Cheesecakes for Two topped with strawberries and a squirt of Reddi-wip!
(Necessary Food, pg. 261) and (Necessary Food, pg. 354)
- Black Raspberry Cheesecake (or any of my other cheesecake recipes, which you can see HERE)
- Turtle Praline Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 270)
- Blueberry Cheesecake Delight
- Strawberry Delight (Necessary Food, pg. 367)
- Briana’s Peanut Butter Cream Pie (Necessary Food, pg. 344)
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight (Necessary Food, pg. 370)
- Lemon Squares (Necessary Food, pg. 332)
- Lemon Fluff Bars (Necessary Food, pg. 331)
- Frosted Lime Cheesecake (Necessary Food, pg. 361)
- Mother’s Day (Lemon) Cupcakes (Necessary Food, pg. 280)
- Vanilla Custard Chia “Tapioca” with fresh berries
After Dinner
If you need to use up leftovers…
Add leftover ham or turkey to any of these recipes!
- Creamy Ham Soup (Necessary Food, pg. 100)
- Use leftover ham broth in this Ham & Bean Soup (THM E) (Necessary Food, pg. 101).
- Loaded Baked “Potato” Soup (Necessary Food, pg. 96)
- Use leftover ham instead of sausage patties in this Sausage Patty Quiche!
- Turkey Pot Pie Chowder
Attending an all-day family gathering and need finger foods for the evening?
- Little Saucy Smokies (Necessary Food, pg. 397)
- Pizza Appetizer Pinwheels (Necessary Food, pg. 398)
- Jalapeno Popper Dip (Necessary Food, pg. 399)
- Fiesta Dip
- Hot Crab Dip (Necessary Food, pg. 401)
- Spinach Artichoke Dip (Necessary Food, pg. 403)
- Spinach Dip (Necessary Food, pg. 405) or Veggie Dip (Necessary Food, pg. 406) with crudités
- Yummy Salmon Dip Salad
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip with strawberries (Necessary Food, pg. 409)
So What Is “Necessary Food”?
Necessary Food is my first cookbook, published in December 2016! It contains the recipes published here on my blog through July 2016, plus a bunch of cookbook exclusive recipes! (My blog recipes published after July 2016 will be found in my second cookbook, which I’m working on right now. No release date yet…I just got married and am taking things as they come so I can keep my priorities straight!) In total, Necessary Food contains nearly 400 RECIPES to jump start your healthy journey! You’ll find lots of our Thomas family church cookbook favorites made healthy in this easy-to-use, hard cover/spiral bound book. CLICK HERE for details!
This cookbook would make a great Mother’s Day gift – for a special woman in your life, or for YOURSELF! 😉
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He is risen indeed!!??
I’m a ketoer so I won’t be partaking, but your mandarin orange gello salad looks absolutely divine!
These are wonderful recipe suggestions!!
And welcome to the nearly year round green of Louisiana!
We love it, and hope you do as well. 🙂
Thank you! I’m enjoying it so far! When the real heat of summer comes…we’ll see. 😛
I’m Jealous Brianna, We have snow here in Ohio!:)
Curious where in Louisianna are you? We have 2 sons who were born in Baton Rogue!:) Yes they are adopted!:) Tina Zimmerman
Really? How neat! I’d love to visit Baton Rouge! I’m keeping my exact location private for now. 🙂