Thursday, April 2, 2015

Easter Special 2015

One day while browsing on Facebook I came across a post that showed an individual coloring Easter Eggs using rice in cups and food coloring and how it kept the mess down, plus gave the eggs a really nice texture.

Well, I figured I would give it a try this year with the kids since it seemed so easy.

I went to H.E.B and bought some little snack containers that were around $1.97 for six, some food coloring, and two dozen white eggs for a total cost of around $12.00.  We already had the white rice where we bought a 50 lb bag a while ago.
Our supplies to color Easter eggs this year.
The kids and I then put about an inch of white rice in the bottom of each container and then added the food coloring.  We started off with purple.

We also started a pot of water to boil to cook the eggs.  We always get our salted water boiling and then drop the eggs in with a ladle which we think makes them easier to peel.  Not 100% if that really works, but all of the eggs we have hard boiled do seem to peel easier since we started using that method.  Once we add in the eggs to the hot water we let them boil for twenty minutes, remove them from the heat, and run cold water over them until they are cool to the touch.
Hard boiled eggs.
Now it was time to add the rest of our colors to the rice and start dying eggs.
Pink
Orange
Green
Since we only had six containers the colors we used were blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and yellow.  The ratio of food coloring to rice was probably important, but we just winged it.

In the video I watched, the rice did not stick to the eggs quite as bad as it did with our eggs.  I added a little bit of water to some of the containers to try and thin it out so the rice maybe would not stick to the eggs as bad.  It helped some, but also messed up the shade.
Add one hard boiled egg.
Close the lid and shake until the egg is completely covered.
We may have too much food coloring in this one.
Waiting for the eggs to dry so the rice will fall off.
As far as not being as messy as the traditional method used to color Easter eggs, well I'll let you be the judge of that.  We really tried to do it a clean as possible, but fell short of our goal.

As you can see below, there was a mess after we were done with food coloring all over the place not to mention the rice.  
The after mass of dying our Easter eggs using the rice method.
This was after brushing off the rice clinging to the eggs after they had dried some.
This does not wash off easily, so I guess my hands will be stained for a few days.
After we were done, I just threw all of the containers away.  If you use good plastic containers, they may stain and with the kids I do not like to use our glass cups or containers due to them maybe breaking.
All of the containers in the trash.
All in all I would say that it was not any easier using this method over the traditional method of dipping the eggs in the liquid coloring solution.  Maybe if you bought a kit it would have everything proportioned out properly so that you would have better results.  If so you could comment and let us know.

We think our eggs turned out OK, but really they are not so special that we can say the rice method is best.  You can judge for yourself.
Our finished product using the rice method to color our Easter eggs.
We do need to remember that the eggs are not the important part of Easter, but the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and saved us from our sins.

All of our kids know there is no Easter Bunny and that Easter is not about the candy, the outfits, or the eggs, but about how we are saved by Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us.

We tell our kids not to let other children know there is no Easter Bunny because some parents want to keep up that tradition, but as for our kids, they know the truth because we never want them to grow up and question whether Jesus was also a made up story. 

We also still let them participate in Easter egg hunts and get them candy on Easter, but remind them, that is not what it is really about.

I love the below cartoon, which sums it up pretty good.
So true!
So we had our fun coloring our eggs and will have just as much fun eating them on Easter Sunday or after.  Next year we may do it the traditional way or maybe I will find another way of coloring our Easter eggs and try that.  

But we will always remember that we are blessed that God saved us by sending His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us.

God bless you all and may you have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...


States we have visited so far.