Hello!! Happy Tuesday!! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!! This weekend in the past would’ve been filled with watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade in person with extended family and lots of cooking and baking, but we haven’t attended the parade in a few years, so we tackled some home projects, caught up on some binge watching on tv and reading. I also made an irish stew on Sunday with oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert.

We’ve been still tackling our kitchen reno, a bit at a time and have been slowly cleaning up the yard and gardens for Spring. I am loving the warmer, longer and sunnier days lately!! My husband,son and I went through our winter clothes and packed them up, leaving a few light sweaters just in case. I am ready for brighter days ahead!! 🌞🌞🦋🦋

I’m preparing my to-do lists for spring cleaning and have decorated for spring and Easter!! I am so excited for Easter!! This is my Easter menu this year:

EASTER MENU

Appetizers:

Deviled eggs

Fresh Vegetables and dip

Mixed Nuts

First Course:

Fresh Fruit 🍓 salad with homemade sorbet

Main Course:

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

Quiche

Ham for the meat- eaters

Rolls (Texas Roadhouse rolls for the gluten eaters & Gluten free homemade rolls for us gluten free eaters)

Dairy free whipped potatoes

Roasted asparagus

Sauteed peas with onions

Roasted carrots

Herbed corn

Dessert:

Carrot bundt cake – Gluten Free

Macarons

Homemade PB cups, gluten free & dairy free

Beverages:

Pineapple juice

Cocktail: Pineapple Rum slushie or Pink rose Mimosa

wine

variety of coffees and teas

🐇🥚🐇🥚🐇🥚🐇🥚🐇

and now for the recipe from this past Sunday…

Irish Stew

Ingredients:

Large crockpot

Lentils (3/4 of small bag of), rinsed and drained

12 red potatoes or 10 small russet potatoes, cut in small chunks

small bag of frozen kale

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

5-6 carrots, medium size, cut in coins in bias shape

1 shallot, chopped small

1 red onion, chopped small

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 box of organic vegetable broth

1 -14.5/15 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes

3 Tbspns coconut aminos

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

s & p to taste

1 tsp celery salt

1 Tbsp mustard powder

1 tsp dried basil

1 Tbsp fresh parsley, flat leaf or curly (your choice)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

This recipe cooks all day for about 6 hours in a crockpot. I started cooking it at noon, so it would be ready by 6/6:30 p.m.

1. Rinse and drain lentils. Place in crockpot. Rinse and dry potatoes. Chop potatoes into small chunks. Place potatoes in crockpot.
2. Put kale and peas in crockpot. Peel carrots and rinse and chop into coins on a bias cut. Place in crockpot.
3. Chop up shallot, onion and mince garlic. Place in crockpot.
4. Pour in vegetable broth.
5. Pour in tomatoes and put in coconut aminos and nutritional yeast.
6. Add in the herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Pour in the olive oil and sugar. The oil will give it a buttery taste & the sugar will cut some of the acidity from the tomatoes.
8. Turn on the crockpot and cook for about 6 or so hours or until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
9. Serve with gluten free biscuits or beer bread.

My apologies that I forgot to take pictures of the process or in the crockpot, but here it is up close in a bowl, so you can see the textures. This is an affordable and cozy meal. It’s easy to make and it cooks for you for hours until ready to eat. I love crockpot meals! So much easier on busy days!!