This is a sponsored post on behalf of HoneyBaked Ham; as always opinions are all of my own.
I love Easter – the days are longer, flowers are blooming, and
the kids are all excited to decorate Easter eggs and play outside while they
search for them.
This year Easter is creeping up pretty quickly (as every
holiday this year has!) and I’m actually planning a little ahead for this one!
The kid’s Easter baskets are already done (I’ll share them on here tomorrow)
and I've made a list for what we will be eating for Easter dinner. I’m all
about tradition for holiday meals, so naturally that means we’ll have a ham
dinner with all of the trimmings! Preparing for a big dinner or gathering can
get stressful at times (I speak from experience here!) so I wanted to share a
few tips that can help you make Easter Dinner easier - thus making it more memorable and less stressful.
1. Plan your meal ahead of time, and figure out how many people
you will be feeding. Write down what you’d like to make as well as a shopping
list.
2. Keep some cooking simple, by not cooking it all. I used to
have to make everything; it was like I was a glutton for over-achiever
punishment. I still make most of our meals, but sometimes I’ll let the pro’s do
some of the work: HoneyBaked. Their hams are literally all ready to go – all you
have to do is warm them and serve them! The HoneyBaked Ham Company also carries
a variety of side dishes that you can purchase and your guests and family will
seriously never know the difference!
3. Set the table in advance – and use what you have. I am
always a fan of a gorgeous tablescape, but I know personally my family is going
to be looking at the food, not the fancy china. It is okay to mis-match dishes
if need be, and you can even stack different sized plates on each other to
dress up the table a bit. Make sure you have fun pops of color like flowers or
candles – don’t worry about buying stuff though, get creative and use what you've
got!
4. Pass the buck on – or make it a potluck. Once again, I used
to be horrible with delegating. Friends or family would ask if they could bring
something and I would always tell them not to worry about it.
Don’t be me.
The more food the merrier – and it’s always fun to taste new
dishes. Ask them what they’d like to bring, or give them two choices of side
dishes and let them decide which one they’d like to make.
Make Easter more meaningful for the whole family by letting
them participate in creating it.
5. Send
food home so you don’t have to deal with it. Buy some Tupperware and let guests
pile up on leftovers so you’re not left packaging up food half of the night.
That is, of course if it’s not all devoured during dinner.
Right now you can save $5 off of $50 or more at Honeybaked –
just in time to help you make dinner easier!
Have any other Easter dinner tips to share? Comment below!
~Melissa
I saw that blackberry pie sneek in there! YUM! Your dinner looks amazing! You are so creative! Your family is really blessed to have you. I bombed at holidays as you well know. I'm glad you are making your own traditions. The kids won't forget!
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm visiting from the M&MJ link up! I love your ideas of planning ahead and having family members help. I think the less stressed the host is, the more fun to be had :)
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips. I always encourage my family to add dishes to the menu and I always send leftovers home with them! Thank you for sharing these great tips at the #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup!
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! Many of us need the reminder to take the stress out and put the meaning back in.
ReplyDeleteAllie | Happilyhanson.com