Happy Easter weekend! Because we spent most of our break traveling, I am focused on easy dinner and dessert options this year. Besides, with such beautiful weather and cherry blossoms at peak bloom, who wants to spend all day in the kitchen?
My family might have had ham when I was young (not my favorite, so I probably blocked that out), but what I remember is the lasagna and Italian bread. Now that dairy is literally off the table, we stick with the traditional (but slow cooker) ham and green beans dinner, though I try to up the flavor (and fiber) with fig dressing and mandarin oranges on the beans and a spinach and cranberry salad on the side. To get outdoors with everyone else as much as I can on the holiday weekend, I stick to make-ahead desserts, too. Today, here are two options for quick dinner desserts or brunch features, which should fit anyone's holiday plans---even procrastinators': For the planners, try my monkey bread/cinnamon roll. All of the prep occurs the night before, so the sticky goodness is only a 20-minute oven bake away for your brunch. If you get started in the morning, there is still plenty of time to feed the after-dinner crowd. If you'd rather wait until after dinner is in the oven to get started, here's a quick box mix--heavy recipe that can be customized for different flavor preferences or items on hand. This is not a healthy option, by any means, but it is a sweet treat wih minimal prep and oven time. My family requested lemon flavor this year, but chocolate + a cola or spice cake + pumpkin puree could work as well. The premise of my version is a mash-up of the widely mentioned 7-up box cake and an internet description of the Westporter pudding cake. No pictures today, because I am going with the last-minute effort. Enjoy! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray or grease a bundt pan or cake pan of choice. In a large bowl, combine 1 box safe lemon cake mix, 1 3.4-ounce box lemon pudding, 6 tablespoons flour, 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 cup oil, and scant 1 1/2 cups sprite (or 7-up or ginger ale). Stir for up to 2 minutes but not longer (even if still lumpy). Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake according to the box directions (here, 50 minutes). Cool in the pan for 20 minutes before turning the cake out to ice or powder and decorate.
2 Comments
Jean H
4/4/2016 11:41:08 am
What fun ideas and total on point for my lacking time management skills. Thanks, N!
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nicole van hoey
4/4/2016 11:43:18 am
you and me both :-) happy late bday, jean
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Hi, I'm Nicole. ABOUT THE BLOG An apothecary is a person or a place. Either one implies healing and relates to pharmacy in its truest sense, as a source of treatment and advice. This blog is my way of uniting my pharmacy training with my efforts to provide a healthy and safe lifestyle for my family. In true apothecary form, I research and prescribe alternative ingredients that work just right in each specific recipe, and I would like to share the results with anyone who needs help making their own family’s kitchen allergy safe and heart healthy. Categories
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