Meg's Meal Planning

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day Brunch recap

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We had such a wonderful time celebrating Mother’s Day with our families. We are so blessed and fortunate to be able to celebrate with both our parents.  Two out of three of my brothers came home too, sadly my youngest brother, sister, and brother in-law were unable to make it.  So that left us with 8 people.  The menu came out great! There were a few variations and a few extra desserts – but you can never have too many of those!

For the orginal menu, you can click here to view it.

I ended up following a very similar recipe to the egg muffins I posted about a few weeks ago (click here for recipe). Except I didn’t add any ham or scallions this time, just cherry tomatoes, spinach, and zucchini. They were a big hit! And it worked out really well because I put them out as soon as they were ready, so they served as almost an appetizer, along with the gluten free banana bread.

I also didn’t end up serving spinach salad since spinach was going into the egg muffins. I thought that might be overkill, so instead I made almond green beans.  Again, I knew I didn’t want something that would take up precious oven real estate, so these green beans worked out well on the stovetop.

I had a ricotta cheesecake, but ended up buying it along with a fruit tart from a local grocery store, Highland Park Market. But I did make black bean brownies.  Please, before you knock them, you must try them! I’ll post about them later this week, so be on the look out for the healthist brownies you will ever eat!

Overall the day turned out great! And I’m so happy to be able to do this for our hard-working moms!

Mother’s Day Brunch

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My husband and I have yet to host a holiday. The idea of it makes my palms sweat! Between my very opinionated Italian grandmother and three picky brothers, I never hear the end of “This isn’t how mom makes it!” or “Your cookies don’t taste good, I like mine better,” whenever I try to bring a dish to a holiday gathering.  But I have to start somewhere, so my husband and I decided to host a Mother’s Day brunch for our families.  I figured this is a great starting point since we have no traditional recipes.  I have a blank canvas and can make whatever I want!  My mom is gluten free, but besides that, there are no special diets. My plan is to incorporate a lot of dishes she can eat and throw in some gluten-friendly ones for her too! We will be cooking for 8-9 people (depending on how many of my brothers come home).

Mother’s Day Brunch Menu:

Drinks

  • Mimosas
  • Red and white wine from Saltwater Farms Vineyard – This is where my husband and I got married; if you ever find yourself on the shoreline of Mystic, go for a wine tasting!

Main event

  • Baked ham
  • Spinach, cherry tomatoes, and cheese mini frittatas – I wanted to include an egg dish since it’s brunch, so my egg muffin recipe from last week inspired me to make mini frittatas for Mother’s Day too.  They are just as easy to make as a large batch of eggs but easier for guests to grab and eat.  I’m not following this recipe exactly. I’m going to use cherry tomatoes instead of sundried tomatoes and shredded mozzarella instead of goat cheese. And I’m not sure why it calls for soy sauce??  So I’m omitting that.
  • Fruit salad
  • Rosemary roasted potatoes
  • Spinach salad with walnuts, sliced strawberries, and blue cheese with a DIY strawberry vinaigrette dressing. I  want to serve some kind of green vegetable, but had trouble deciding on one because the oven will be busy in use.  Eventually I decided a spinach salad will be the perfect choice and I can make it ahead of time before any guests arrive.
  • Gluten-free banana bread – Using a box mix for this; since I don’t eat GF, I don’t have any GF flour.

Dessert

 

 

Snapped these photos on Easter. Hopefully the meal turns out just as good!