Easter Dinner Makeover

So Easter Dinner is usually at my house...well my parents house, but I still call it home :) Anyway, my mom and I for the last few years have had the same stand by Eater dinner. And let me tell you it isn't pretty! We've both been on WW to some degree for the past 6 years (my mom even a bit longer) but we've never bothered to worry about Easter. There's always a million reasons to make unhealthy food....people like it, it's easy, it's a holiday...etc etc etc but this year we decided enough is enough so now I'm going to share with you our Easter Dinner Makeover!

Appetizer:
My all time favorite appetizer in the spring or summer is something my aunt taught me how to make. You take a pizza crust warm it up, add some cream cheese mixed with ranch dressing and top with loads of veggies (peppers, onions, broccoli...) It's amazing but hard for me to resist! So this year we chose Weight Watchers 1 pt Spinach Dip (from the 12 week journal) with lots of veggies and wheat thins and also some fresh pineapple.

Protein:
Alright meat isn't a big one for me as a vegetarian but it's pretty important for my family and also my boyfriend :P Instead of ham we chose pork tenderloin. It's just as easy to cook and has less salt than the ham we usually buy.
I'm also going to make some quinoa with spinach cooked in vegetable broth for me and I'll share with anyone who is interested :)

Potatoes:
Possibly one of my favourite foods of all time is Schwarties Hashbrowns from the Best of Bridge. What's not to like? It's hashbrowns mixed with butter, mushroom soup, sour cream and cheddar cheese. They are amazing. The biggest problem is having a whole bunch left over that I just can't resist for the next few days! So this year we're going with garlic mashed - just your standard mashed potatoes with some garlic, low fat sour cream and skim milk. Not as exciting but I think they will be pretty good too!

Veggies:
Another favourite from best of bridge is Sweet Potato Supreme - mashed sweet potatoes covered in sauce made of brown sugar and butter and topped with pecans. I might have even made this one again and tried to cut down the sauce a bit but I found a recipe for Candied Sweet Potatoes on the Weight Watcher site and decided to give that one a go instead. I'll post reviews next week and hopefully pictures if I remember!

When I found the sweet potaote recipe, I also came across this recipe for green beans that I thought we should try. We've bought pine nuts instead of almonds for something a little different!

Dessert:
Well last year we started with the best intentions. We made angel food cake and proceeded to cover it in real cream we whipped outselves and mixed with chocolate pieces. It was good but not the best way to end a big dinner (tooo heavy) and I didn't feel so great afterward. This year we're going back to basics and having angel food cake again but with some frozen yogurt and fresh strawberries.

I'm also doing a little bit of baking. My dad's mom was a huge baker and she passed away 7 years ago. So I always try and make one of her recipes during the holidays. So hopefully I can keep the tasting under control!!

Well this was a long post! I'm pretty excited about dinner but it also means a lot of work in the kitchen! I know I still won't be perfect this weekend and I'm even planning for a few treats (Peanut buter egss!!) but I'm hoping to keep portions in check and really watch the mindless snacking.

I hope everyone enjoys whatever they are up to this weekend, even if it's just enjoying the extra day off. If you are having an Easter dinner I hope you enjoy it and don't worry too much about the food! If you don't do as well as you'd hoped just move on and get right back to it first think Monday morning. The beautiful weather is coming back so it's the perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy the weather!

Happy Easter!