Egg Salad, deviled eggs, or just hard boiled - oh what we all create after we dye eggs with our little ones! I don't know about you... but seeing the artificial dye on a white egg makes me wonder - do I really want to put this in my body let alone my children's?  

It turns out it's fun and easy to use foods and flowers to make your own natural Easter egg dyes. The two main ways to use your own dyes are to add dyes to the eggs when boiling them or to dye the eggs after they have been hard-boiled. It's a lot faster to boil the dyes and eggs together, but you will use several pans if you want to make multiple colors. Dyeing the eggs after they have been cooked takes as many dishes and more time, but may be more practical (after all, most stoves only have four burners!).

Try both fresh and frozen produce. Canned produce pales in comparison to the colors produced from fresh or frozen - funny how that's true with our bodies too! Boiling the colors with vinegar will result in deeper colors. Some materials need to be boiled to impart their color (name followed by 'boiled' in the table). Some of the fruits, vegetables, and spices can be used cold. To use a cold material, cover the boiled eggs with water, add dyeing materials, a teaspoon or less of vinegar, and let the eggs remain in the refrigerator until the desired color is achieved. In most cases, the longer you leave Easter eggs in the dye, the more deeply colored they will become.

Here is the preferred method for using natural dyes:

•  Place the eggs in a single layer in a pan. Add water until the eggs are covered. 
• Add approximately one teaspoon of vinegar. 
• Add the natural dye. Use more dye material for more eggs or for a more intense color.
• Bring water to a boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 
• If you are pleased with the color, remove the eggs from the liquid. 
• If you want more intensely colored eggs, temporarily remove the eggs from the liquid. Strain the dye through a coffee filter (unless you want speckled eggs). Cover the eggs with the filtered dye and let them remain in the refrigerator overnight.
• Naturally-colored eggs will not be glossy, but if you want a shiny appearance you can rub a bit of cooking oil onto the eggs once they are dry.

You can use fresh and frozen berries as 'paints', too. Simply crush the berries against dry boiled eggs. Try coloring on the eggs with crayons or wax pencils before boiling and dyeing them. Happy Easter!

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

We found this adorable recipe from our friends at Food Junction. They have the cutest ideas to help inspire the pickiest little eaters - and we will be posting more of our favorites in the upcoming months! This is such a cute idea for a healthy Easter inspired dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup diced ripe papaya
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup curd/ plain yogurt
• black grapes for eyes
• green grapes for nose & bow tie
  
• marshmallows cut and shaped for teeth & ears
• chocolate vermicelli  for whiskers and eyebrows

Directions:

• Blend 1/4 cup diced ripe papaya with 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• Add yogurt to ramekin or other small circular dish
• Cut 1 black or dark purple grape in half and place for eyes
• Cut 2 green grapes in half and place one half for nose and two other halves for bow tie (eat the last half ;0)
• Cut marshmallow in half and pinch into shape of two ears
• Cut bottom third off another large marshmallow then cut in half - flatten into rectangular shapes and place teeth below green grape nose
• Use scissors to cut chocolate vermicelli into 2 eyebrows and six whiskers - place and voila! hello Easter bunny!

Tips:

• For a cooler treat -consider freezing this after you've got your bunny all decorated
• Spray PAM on your kitchen sheers so they will easily glide through cutting up the marshmallows and vermicelli