renewed interest.

once upon a time, i was an avid reader of cooking light magazine. long before the days of facebook and twitter and blogs, i hung out on the message boards of the cl website. i made online friends, adopted some good eating habits and even joined two supper clubs. one of the clubs i helped found was even featured in the washington post, way back when. and then came kids, and somehow a shift of priorities. this new weight loss journey is partially about setting those priorities straight. while i would do anything for my children that somehow spurred the shift those priorities, i am learning now that i need to make myself a priority again. i want to be a healthy mom, not one who cringes when i hear my son say the word "fat." i want to keep up with these three active boys and run with them until we are all run ragged. i want us all to sit down and enjoy food as nourishment in a healthy way.

admittedly i have allowed my children to become horrible, picky eaters. i know the blame rests solely on my shoulders. part of this new lifestyle i am undertaking will be to get my children to become healthy eaters too. ultimately i will begin to make one meal for dinner, not three or sometimes four to appeal to the pathetically limited tastes of the shorter people in my life. i figured easter dinner was as good a time as any to give it a shot. admittedly, i did whip up the blue box for the boys, but they were served some of what we ate as well. baby steps, people.

when planning the menu i was not overly excited about the recipes i found on the ww site for easter. so i turned back to an old friend, cooking light. nearly all of the recipes came from cooking light for our meal and i thought it all turned out great. here are some of my favorites.

prosciutto and melon salad with cantaloupe vinaigrette
this salad was outstanding. easily a 5 out of 5. i had never served a salad with all arugula before, and while i enjoyed it, i might try more of a spring mix next time to please more of the crowd (read hubby). this salad was soo refreshing and it will be a repeat in this house. it is very impressive for entertaining and i can not wait until the local melons are in season to see how much more i am going to love this recipe.

shrimp and bacon deviled eggs
i would give these a 3.5 out of 5. however, i should mention that everyone who tasted them went back for more. its hard to turn down shrimp and bacon. i think my hang up with these was the potato filler. if i hadnt known it was there i might have rated this one higher. but somehow i tasted the potato a bit more than i would have liked, which might have totally been in my head. it was easy to make, and seemed to be a crowd pleaser.

lemon-chive roasted vegetables
a solid 4 out of 5 for these. they were super easy to make and great for entertaining because they look a lot more impressive than the amount of effort that went into them. i couldnt find fingerlings in my local grocery, so i subbed baby golden yukon potato. the lemon made this dish feel light, even though it was made with starchier veggies. it was perfect for a spring dish.

lemon blueberry bundt cake
i would also give this recipe a 4 out of 5. my only complaint is that each piece weighs in a 6 WW points. a lot more than i normally expend on dessert. so while i wont be making this one all the time, its a nice treat for a holiday where i am not left with too many tempting leftovers. my icing was pretty much all absorbed into the cake, or left inside the center ring of the cake. but it still tasted great.