Easter 2017: My Turn to Cook a Holiday Dinner [FINALLY!]

An inside look at my family’s Easter 2017 celebration. From food to family and much, much more!

Call me crazy, but I’ve always wanted to host a major holiday meal! And this Easter I got my wish. I called dibs on Easter dinner and my Mom couldn’t have been more grateful. In fact, I’m hoping Easter gets designated as MY holiday to cook. I know my Mom and mother-in-law read the blog occasionally; So, ladies, what do you think?! The other meal-focused holidays in our family, Thanksgiving and Christmas, are alternated between my parent’s and in-law’s house. I only contribute a side dish or dessert— which has worked out perfectly because I’ve either a. just had a baby or b. had been about to have a baby when it came to those holidays and timing during past 3 years. This year I’m feeling more like myself [nope, not pregnant and getting a decent amount of sleep], so Easter was all mine!

To make things a lot easier on myself, I purchased most our groceries ahead of time using Kroger’s Clicklist online grocery shopping program. In fact, I’ve been using Clicklist every week since early March because I’ve found it THAT much easier to purchase my groceries. Not only did Kroger have everything on my grocery list for Easter dinner, I could get some of our weekly must-have items so I didn’t have to make a second trip during the week.

I spent much of the day before Easter [Saturday] cleaning, finishing laundry, getting Easter baskets and eggs prepped and hidden. That way when we came home from mass on Easter Sunday I could start cooking! I also made sure my dinner menu was simple. Lord knows one of the three kids would need me once I started cooking, so simple was key! Even with help from Dad, plus Nana and Grandpa hanging around, the kids still always want Mom. Remind me I’ll miss that in 10+ years!!!!

Here’s what was on our Easter menu:

• Grilled ribeye for the guys and filet for the girls
• Balsamic Mushrooms and Onions [for the steaks]
• Lemony Asparagus [instead of cooked on the skillet I roasted the asparagus]
• Parsley Parmesan Potatoes
• Herb Roasted Carrots
• Rolls [purchased from a local bakery]
• Appetizers: Hummus, veggies, and mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls [my Mom always makes this one]
• Dessert [from Nana]

While I know brunch or early dinners are commonplace for Easter meals, my family celebrates almost every holiday with a dinner. A LATE dinner [those of you who know my Dad will snicker–the man eats dinner SO late! And no, he won’t read this blog post or be offended for me calling him out on his crazy nighttime eating habits]. Not that it’s a big deal, but while most people were winding down from their Easter celebrations, ours was just beginning! We started our festivities around 5pm and everyone was fed, bathed and in bed by 9:00pm.  The kids, not Nana and Grandpa.

We have leftovers which means I won’t have to cook on Monday. And I have a husband who put the kids to bed and a Mom who helped with clean-up. I guess you could say I had it easy!  Just don’t except much more from me this week, my kitchen might be closed!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter celebration! I’d love to hear what was on your menu. It could be inspiration for Easter 2018 at the Serbinski’s!

Disclosure: This post was developed in partnership with the Kroger Company of Michigan. As a loyal Kroger customer for over 30 years, I am so thankful to be able to partner with brands my family has used for generations!