Good-bye Easter

I haven't posted my meal plan yet, so sorry.  I got sick this weekend and then we ended up with the leftover ham (which I am thankful for) and 2 dozen dyed hard boiled eggs, but now will have to plan our meals around that.  Right now I have my second attempt at soaked sandwich bread rising, and crossing my fingers we can have grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner.  Well metaphorically crossing them, because I am actually typing.
So once I know if I have bread I will post my Game Plan for this week.  For now, I'll share some pictures from our Easter festivities.  We had dinner with family.  I was planning on bringing broccoli salad, but on Saturday I found the cutest pasta on sale at World Market.  Bunnies and eggs.  I couldn't resist.  There are a million variations on Pasta Salad, but here's what I threw together for Easter dinner.

Here's my recipe:
1 box of pasta cooked according to directions
1 pint of grape tomatoes halved
1 yellow pepper diced
1 small head of red leaf lettuce chopped
1 can of black olives sliced
1-5oz package of shredded parmesean and romano
1 cup of homemade zesty Italian (recipe to follow)

Cook pasta according to box.  Rinse with cold water until cooled.  Drain well.  Mix all ingredients together.

Recipe makes 16 oz.
1 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs of water
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs onion powder
1/2 tbs of honey
1 tbs of oregano
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of dried thyme
1/2 tsp of dried basil
1 tbs of sea salt

Mix all ingredients in a mason jar.  Shake, and allow to set for 2 hours or more.  It gets better overnight.

For dessert I made some "Bird Nests With Eggs."  This is as "real" as I can get this recipe.  The cute factor outweighs the ingredients in the Chinese noodles.

Ingredients

1 jar of natural peanut butter

1 bag of dark chocolate chips

1 bag of Chinese noodles

Pastel M&M's or egg shaped candy

Melt peanut butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler or a homemade one (shown below).  Stir in Chinese noodles until covered.  Scoop onto waxed paper, press in candies to center.  Allow to cool, use the freezer if you are in a hurry.  Enjoy!!

Simmer 3 inches or so of water below.  Stir to constantly to melt.  Be mindful that the bowl will be hot.

Love and Butter,

Mishelle