If you want dye your Easter Eggs naturally, it is quite easy. Look no further than your pantry!
Yellow - Simmer 2 - 3 tablespoons of turmeric or cumin in a saucepan of water for 20 - 3o minutes.

Pale Orange - Simmer 2 - 3 tablespoons of paprike in a saucepan of water for 20 - 3o minutes.

Brownish Orange - Simmer several handfuls of yellow onion skins.

Blue - Summer 4 cups of chopped red cabbage in a saucepan of water for an hour.

Light Purple - Same directions as blue but use either frozen blueberries, grape juice concentrate, or hibiscus tea.

Green - Simmer 4 cups of spinach or parsley in water in a saucepan.

Pink - Summer beets in water in a saucepan, or use the juice from a can of beets or jar of pickled beets.

Red - Simmer red onion skins, pomegranate juice, crushed cranberries, or red wine.

As you can see, you pretty much simmer the spices in water until you have a strong color. Then you should add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, and hardboiled eggs. It can take several hours of soaking to get the color you want (and they tend to pastel). If you want a deeper tint, you can simmer the eggs right in the dye. However, I don’t suggest eating those!

Can you believe that tomorrow is Friday already? So here’s my installment of Four Foods on Friday:

#1. What type of m&m is your favorite? Just the plain chocolate ones.
#2. Peanut butter. Smooth, chunky, creamy. How do you like it? In a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
#3. Do you usually drink out of glass, acrylic, Tupperware type or paper cups? Glass.
#4. Share a chicken recipe.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

1 can diced tomatoes undrained (I personally buy the ones with lots of spices added, but you don’t have to do that)
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat over to 400 degrees F. Pour tomatoes with their liquid into a bowl. Add stuffing mix, 1/2 cup hot water and the garlic; stir until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside. Put chicken into 13×9 baking dish; sprinkle with basil and cheese, and top with the stuffing mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

1 can diced tomatoes undrained (I personally buy the ones with lots of spices added, but you don’t have to do that)
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat over to 400 degrees F. Pour tomatoes with their liquid into a bowl. Add stuffing mix, 1/2 cup hot water and the garlic; stir until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside. Put chicken into 13×9 baking dish; sprinkle with basil and cheese, and top with the stuffing mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 6 servings.

2 cups tomato paste
1 pkg chicken breast tenders (we cubed ours to make it easier for the kids)
2 cups Mozzarella cheese
8 oz uncooked spaghetti

Heat over to 350 degrees. Into a glass baking pan, spread 1 cup of tomato paste. Add in chicken and spoon remaining pasta sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 - 35 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and chicken is pink in the center. While that is cooking, make spaghetti like you normally do. Serve chicken and sauce over the spaghetti.

What it looks like when it comes out of the oven:

What it looks like over spaghetti:

(I would add some spices in next time)

2 Tbsp. Spinach & Herb Dip Mix (this is bought from Tastefully Simple)
Seasoned Salt to taste
1 cup crushed cornflakes
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

Combine first 4 ingredients in resealable plastic bag. Shake until well mixed. Dip chicken breasts into melted butter; place in bag. Shake until coated. Place chicken breasts on greased baking sheet; bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes or until no longer pink.

Makes 4-6 servings.