A Mom's Guide to a Stress-Free Easter Celebration

Sure, I enjoy the holidays just like the rest! A great time with family...who can beat that? But one thing that's inevitable as Easter rolls around, you've gotta decide whose house it will be held at...and it may end up to be yours! (Yikes!)

Along with good ol' fashioned hospitality comes good ol' fashioned holiday stress! Don't kill the bunny this year gals...instead let's explore some ways to make hosting Easter dinner a success story, so we can bask in the true meaning of the holiday.

"I've got babies and toddlers! How do I prepare a meal and get this house cleaned with these little critters running wild?"

I've found that the ideal times of day for schedule- filled moms to do their best work are before babies get up in the morning, nap time, and after babies are in bed. Remember, if you have babies and toddlers...everything is going to take you twice as much time and twice as much patience as it would have when you had no children. Be sure to factor your "disability" in when preparing for your Easter dinner.

Begin the difficult cleaning jobs in your home three days before the big day. Make a list of all areas that need to be cleaned (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, etc...), and split it up into three days worth of work. This way, you'll only need to tidy up to prepare for guests...the rest will be completed! This can save you from much of the anxiety that comes with entertaining.

Make dishes in advance and freeze them until ready to cook. You can begin cooking for Easter a week or two weeks before the event! Imagine how simple it will be to shove pre-made dishes into the oven come dinner time! Your guests will wonder how you did it all!

"Money is tight, and hosting this dinner is gonna break the bank!"

Hosting a holiday dinner can be an extremely expensive ordeal! If taking out a 401K loan to cover meal costs doesn't sound feasible to you, let's talk about some ways to cut costs:

Make it an Easter potluck! Ask guests to bring a dish to share. Most won't mind, and hey...they can even make their own favorite dish to bring along!

Grocery stores usually offer great discounts on ham this time of year! Stock up on as many hams as you can afford to last the whole year with these blowout prices!

Go for the untraditional! Don't make ham or turkey simply because everyone else does! How about a pork tenderloin, or boiled egg-stuffed meatloaf instead? Varying from the traditions could save you money.

Decorate your table with Easter basket treasures! If your kids opened their Easter baskets that morning...let them decorate your table with plastic grass, marshmallow chickens, and spread jelly beans about the center of the table for a fun and economical effect.

Less is more! Don't make or buy more food than you really need to. Inevitably...if you think you don't have enough...you probably already have too much!

Use leftovers from Easter meal to offset your food budget for the week. Find creative ways to disguise your leftovers for the week following Easter to offset your grocery budget. Ham soups, sandwiches, breakfast dinner (eggs and ham, eggs Benedict, etc...), and ham casseroles are great ways to live off of leftovers!

Start saving up now! Begin setting aside ten or twenty dollars a week in January, and when buying time comes...you'll be all set!