Celebrate the holiday with tasty desserts and time with family

(Family Features) Sweet, delicious treats make Easter celebrations magical, putting the final touch on brunch, lunch or dinner gatherings. Whether your crowd enjoys the sweet-tart combination of fruit-infused cakes, mini bundts with personalized decorations or rich, creamy cheesecake, the dessert table is sure to be popular.

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake and Carrot Cheesecake from “Cookin’ Savvy” are perfect desserts for sharing with loved ones, made with little effort and a lot of love. You can even let little ones help in the kitchen with Fun Mini Easter Bundts by allowing their creativity to run wild – just hand over the icing and chocolate toppers then watch the artistry unfold.

To ensure your feast goes off without a hitch, create these tempting cakes the day before for a no-hassle Easter.

Find more ways to elevate Easter celebrations with food by visiting Culinary.net.

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake

Recipe courtesy of “Cookin’ Savvy”
Yield: 1 cake

• 1 pint fresh blueberries, rinsed
• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk

Glaze:

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease bundt pan and place rinsed blueberries in bottom. Mix cake mix, butter, eggs and milk; pour on top of blueberries. Bake 35 minutes. Let cool and remove from pan.
3. To make glaze: Mix butter, sugar and milk then pour over cake.

Fun Mini Easter Bundts

Recipe courtesy of “Cookin’ Savvy”
Yield: 24 mini bundts

• 1 box confetti cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk

Chocolate Toppers:

• 1 cup each color melting chips of desired colors
• silicone Easter candy molds of desired shapes
• 1 pouch ready-made green icing

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix cake mix, butter, eggs and milk. Pour into greased mini bundt pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool and remove from pan.
3. To make chocolate toppers: In bowl for each color, melt melting chips in 1-minute intervals in microwave until thoroughly melted. Pour into baggies and snip corner. Pipe melted chips into molds and freeze 15-20 minutes. Pipe green icing onto mini bundt cakes for “grass” then place chocolate mold pieces on top.

Substitution: Save time on toppers by replacing with store-bought chocolate bunnies, eggs, crosses or marshmallow bunnies.

Carrot Cheesecake

Recipe courtesy of “Cookin’ Savvy”
Yield: 1 cake

Cake:

• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup coconut
• 4 eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2/3 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

Cheesecake:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Topping:

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped white chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. To make cake: Mix cake mix with carrot and coconut. Using hand mixer, blend in eggs, butter and yogurt. Pour mixture into greased springform pan and bake 30 minutes. Let completely cool in pan.
3. To make cheesecake: Using hand mixer, whip whipping cream and sugar to form whipped cream and set aside.
4. Using hand mixer, whip cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar. Add in whipped cream and mix. Pour onto completely cooled carrot cake in springform pan. Let set in refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight before unspringing pan.
5. For topping: Sprinkle chopped nuts and chocolate chips on cake before serving.

Tip: For extra festive appearance, add desired Easter candy on top.

SOURCE:
Culinary.net

(Family Features) When it comes to sit-down family meals, one thing is for certain: It feels like you never have enough time. With your hectic schedule – full days at school and work, afternoon sports practices for the kiddos and plans with friends on the weekends – preparing a home cooked meal everyone will love can be daunting.

Busy Families

However, that time together in the kitchen and at the table is valuable. It offers an opportunity to bond through shared meals and gives kids a chance to learn life skills, such as measuring ingredients, simple cooking methods and properly seasoning favorite dishes. Dining at home also promotes healthier eating habits like portion control.

By rethinking your approach to home cooking, you can bring back family meals for those special moments together. Call your loved ones together and plan for fresh, homemade recipes with these easy steps.

Plan the Menu in Advance
Thinking about the week (or two) ahead can help avoid last-minute decisions to hit the drive thru. Pick a day – many families opt for Sunday evenings – you can sit down together and schedule meals for the upcoming week. If you can, try and plan dishes little ones can help with so the whole family can get involved. Make sure everyone feels included by allowing each member of the family to pick a recipe for the week. Be flexible and keep in mind plans may change. Try to plan at least one recipe you can make in 30 minutes or less so you can be prepared for the unexpected, and remember to take advantage of hands-off cooking methods like the slow cooker.

Use Ready-to-Cook Ingredients
With fresh, flavorful ingredients from The Little Potato Company, busy families have more options to choose from for meals the whole family will love. For easy and delicious oven-roasted or grilled potatoes, A Little Garlic & Parmesan Oven or Grill Ready Little Potatoes deliver a classic garlic and cheese flavor. Perfect for those seeking plant-based options, they’re an easy side to serve with your favorite main courses.

Grocery Shop Online
If the thought of hunting the store aisles for that one missing ingredient keeps you awake at night, online grocery shopping can save you the time and hassle. While meal planning for the week, jot down a list of each ingredient you’ll need for those recipes then add everything to your digital cart in minutes. Some stores and services even offer delivery so you can collect groceries right off your front porch. An added bonus: Shopping online means you can mindfully plan your shopping list with groceries you actually need.

Take Advantage of Quick Cooking Methods
On those hectic evenings when you don’t even have time to let the oven preheat, look to the microwave for salvation. Combining the sweetness of honey with a little heat from chili, A Little Hot Honey Microwave Ready Little Potatoes provide a pop of flavor that’s ready in minutes. Simply heat the potatoes in the microwavable tray for 5 minutes, sprinkle on the hot honey seasoning pack and enjoy. Because they come pre-washed, require no peeling and are small enough they don’t need to be cut, you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time around the table.

Ask for Help in the Kitchen
Even the simplest of recipes is bound to require a little work in the kitchen. Make cooking at home a family affair by asking loved ones to help set the table, put away leftovers and wash dishes so you can focus on conversation instead of cleanup.

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Visit littlepotatoes.com to find a store near you and more quick, convenient family meal solutions.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock

SOURCE:
The Little Potato Company

With a family of adorable otters, a touch of whimsy, and delicious, kid-approved seafood, SeaPak is making meals easier and tastier for parents everywhere.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. /PRNewswire/ — When it comes to picky eaters, parents have tried almost every negotiation tactic to get their kids to eat something new. Now with SeaPak’s help, amplified through their Even the Pickiest Pick SeaPak campaign, there’s a delicious new way to win during meals. This fun and creative marketing campaign from America’s No. 1 frozen shrimp brand makes its debut just as Lent begins and right before the newly established National Picky Eaters Day on April 4.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/seapak/9309951-en-seapak-family-meals-national-picky-eaters-day

“With our Even the Pickiest Pick SeaPak campaign, we’re showing that shrimp and other seafood can be a real game-changer for families with picky eaters,” said Ciera Womack, Director of Marketing, Seafood at Rich Products Corp., parent company of SeaPak. “And with the launch of National Picky Eaters Day, we’re giving parents a reason to celebrate those little wins. SeaPak’s crispy, kid-approved favorites like Classic Popcorn Shrimp and Crunchy Shrimp Poppers are easy and delicious ways to make mealtimes a success.”

The new holiday, created by SeaPak, celebrates small mealtime victories and helps parents find stress-free ways to expand their kids’ food horizons. Backed by a national survey of 2,000 parents of school-aged children, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of SeaPak, the holiday taps into the universal struggle of picky eating — and offers tasty solutions that even the pickiest eaters will pick.

SeaPak’s survey revealed that parents spend an average of 67 hours a year negotiating with their picky eaters. It also highlighted some of the most common reasons behind food refusals:

• 37% of parents say veggies are the biggest source of food meltdowns for their children.
• 33% of kids reject foods based on smell.
• 32% say no just because of how food looks.
• 26% of parents used to be picky eaters themselves — and still are today.

While some foods may never fly with certain kids, the survey found that seafood is a real crowd-pleaser: In fact, 32% of parents say their kids always say yes to shrimp.

To help bring these insights to life, SeaPak partnered with creative agency EP+ Co and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to create The Otterfords, a family of lovable sea otter puppets who know all too well what it’s like to have a picky eater at the table. Sea otters eat 25% of their body weight in food each day, their diet consisting of a tasty seafood medley – that’s about 4 pounds of shrimp daily!  Designed by the legendary company behind the Muppets, these charming, shrimp-loving characters star in SeaPak’s latest campaign, proving that sea otters and humans can agree on one thing: Seafood is delicious.

“Our goal has always been to make mealtimes more fun and stress-free,” Womack added. “With The Otterfords, our Even the Pickiest Pick SeaPak campaign, and National Picky Eaters Day, we’re giving parents a lighthearted way to connect with their kids about trying new foods — and showing that seafood is something even picky eaters will pick.”

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SeaPak is inviting parents to join the National Picky Eaters Day celebration on April 4 by sharing their successes on social media using #PickyEatersDay, trying a “picky eater-approved” meal with their family, and swapping tips with other parents on how to make meals easier.

For more information on National Picky Eaters Day, visit nationaltoday.com/national-picky-eaters-day/, and to explore picky-eater-friendly seafood options, visit seapak.com.

SOURCE SeaPak