EASTER SMEASTER..

Hope everyone loved the pics from Mardi Gras! It feels nice to be back and finally getting into the swing of our schedules again. The clothes are finally washed & put up, but the contents of our house is halfway boxed up/halfway spread out around the floor, and it's beginning to drive me insane. I'm one of those people who tends to either have things extremely organized or insanely cluttered, and right now.. it's CLUTTER LAND. Not to mention, all of the wall decor is packed up already, so not only do I look like a case from the show Hoarders, but I look like I have no style, as well.  That entire paragraph was worthless..just venting.

This is not my house. It's simple how I see it in my head.

Easter is a little over a month away, and it's definitely my favorite Spring/Summer holiday. I live on these two foods during Easter..

 

I'm sorry to all of you on diets.. that one had to be a killer! Anyway, as usual, I've been Easter festive lately, even through the busy move/cheerleading tryout season. After visiting New Orleans and eating out the entire time, Cash found a new love for coloring pages & crayons. To keep him busy after lunch today, I printed him an Easter coloring page so he could go to town.. Here's the cute bunny page I printed.. I'd post a picture of Cash's artwork he created, but he ran off with it, and I can't find it anywhere. Maybe he burned it like Picasso used to..

 

If you're wondering where I got the page, it was free on www.coloringbookfun.com They have thousands of cute pages like this one for any occassion, as well as any character you could imagine!

 

Here's some pics of Cash during last years Easter.. It's hard to believe he was THAT big a year ago! WOW. Both pictures are of him cuddling with two of his Aunts.. He was their property for a good hour while I enjoyed the Crawfish.. It was my first time to eat it since my pregnancy, and I needed a moment of bliss to myself..

 

Easter/Spring FASHION is also very dear to my heart. I love being able to whip out little, flowy dresses, wedges & my big sunglasses after a looong winter. Here's a couple of dresses I'm obsessing over for Spring..

Since the weather is heating up, here's a yummy recipe for the best grilled shrimp I'VE EVER TASTED!

BEST GRILLED SOY LIME SHRIMP
 

NEED:

- 2 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

- 3/4 cup soy sauce

- 1/4 cup Italian Dressing

- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

- 2 tsp. minced garlic

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- S&P

STEPS:

1. Combien all ingredients (minus shrimp) and blend until smooth.

2. Pour into casserole dish and add shrimp. Combine well.

3. Soak shrimp in marinade and refridgerate for 2 hrs.

4. Soak skewers for 30 minutes to keep them from burning on grill.

5. Skewer shrimp, * I fit 5 to each.

6. Grill until opaque & brown with black bits.

* Serve with white or brown rice, or as a side to another dish. ENJOY!

..and I couldn't leave you without a dessert! These are the cutest bunny cupcakes I saw in a magazine. The recipe originally calls for a coconut cupcake, but I used plain vanilla cupcakes (boxed mix!) and a can of vanilla frosting, because that's Cash's favorite. The decorating is the most important part, so use whatever suits your fancy as far as flavor goes! Here's my tweaked recipe.. Let me know how yours turn out!

CUTEST BUNNY CUPCAKES:

NEED:

1 12-oz. can vanilla frosting

12 vanilla cupcakes (BOX..HOLLLAAAA!)

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, chopped in food processor

1/4 cup pink decorating sugar (baking isle!)

12 marshmallows

24 thin pretzel sticks

12 mini marshmallows

24 brown M&M's minis

12 pink heart candies, such as Runts

6 black licorice laces

STEPS:

1. Spoon 2 Tbsp. vanilla frosting into a small ziplock bag, (or pastry bag!) Frost cupcakes with remaining vanilla frosting. Roll tops of frosted cupcakes in coconut to cover.

2. Place pink sugar in a small bowl. Using scissors, cut large marshmallows in half crosswise. Press cut side of each marshmallow into pink sugar to make ears. Insert a pretzel stick into 1 short end of a marshmallow ear. Insert pretzel-stick end into cupcake to make ear stand up. Repeat with another pretzel and marshmallow ear; place second marshmallow ear next to first. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and pretzels, placing 2 ears on each cupcake.

3. Snip a small corner from ziplock bag with vanilla frosting. Using scissors, cut mini marshmallows in half crosswise to make cheeks. Pipe small dots of frosting and attach the mini M&M eyes, heart-candy nose and cheeks. Cut licorice into 1 1/2-inch pieces and insert as whiskers. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.