Spoil Mom with a Mother’s Day Brunch At Home

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. There will soon be ads galore for Mother’s Day meals or celebrations at local restaurants and stores. While the ads are touting the “deal” that they are offering, the reality is that many restaurants actually upcharge on Mother’s Day. Avoid the extra cost but still spoil mom this Mother’s Day with brunch at home.

Décor

One budget-friendly way to add décor is to make it your own, or reuse what you have. Easter-colored items with their pastel colors will add a beautiful accent to the table – add the easter colored grass to a cleaned-out beach bucket and add a sign around the bucket or in it that says “Mom, we love you buckets and buckets!” or “Buckets of Love For You Mom!” You can also reuse Valentine’s Day decorations using the hearts and heart garland around Mom’s chair – even better, make hearts with sweet messages on it! You can use the made hearts as placemats, place cards, and menu lists. Anything that is homemade is a hit with moms – and if you do it with handprints – even better!

Don’t Forget A Card!

Make handprint hearts or handprint cards. Use a handprint and add a cut cupcake wrapper to the bottom of the handprint with the words “you are the sweetest mom” as a card. Or cut out handprints for ladybugs or butterfly wings for cards. There are so many awesome ways to give something sweet to mom that also memorializes the small handprints as the kids grow. Don’t forget about your pets – pet paw print card ideas are all over Pinterest.

Drinks

No special menu is complete without a signature drink. Consider these mocktails so the whole family can enjoy them!

Grapefruit Mocktail

Make grapefruit and honey syrup by mixing equal parts juice and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let thicken.

To a drink shaker filled with ice, add 3 TBL grapefruit-honey syrup and 1 1/2 cups of grapefruit juice. Shake well, pour into your desired glass, and add fresh rosemary sprigs to the cup to dress up the drink.

If your family is not a fan of grapefruit or sweets, consider making some blackberry lemonade.

Blackberry Lemonade

The first step is to make a blackberry-lemon syrup – stir together 2 cups of cold water with 4-6 tsp of sugar with the juice of one lemon.

To a pitcher, add ice and lemonade.

Muddle 10 blackberries, and once they are coarse, add 2-4 sage leaves to muddle together. Add this combination to the lemonade with thinly sliced lemons into the lemonade. Mix together, and voila!

Meal

Fruit Salad

Make this with any fresh and seasonal fruit that is available to you. You can leave the chopped fruit alone or add on a honey-lemon dressing.  One favorite topping in our house is adding some shredded coconut – it adds a variety in texture.

Eggs Benedict

This is the ultimate luxurious meal. It takes a lot of effort and planning. If you need some shortcuts, consider getting a Hollandaise sauce packet and precut Canadian Ham and English Muffins or toast. If you have all these items, all you need to do is poach the eggs.

The easiest way to poach the eggs is to heat about 2 inches of water in a 10-inch skillet, and add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Crack an egg into a custard cup or small bowl. Once the water is at a simmer, not a boil, slowly add the eggs. Each egg will take about 3-5 minutes to cook. Gently remove the eggs and place them on the warmed English muffin and ham. Top with the hollandaise sauce, and enjoy!

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

If poached eggs aren’t your thing, try a Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole. Casseroles are great because you can prep them the night before, put them in the fridge overnight, and they are ready to go in the oven the next morning. You can make it with whatever your preference is – chorizo, or turkey sausage or no meat at all and all veggies. Use your favorite cheese. The base of hashbrowns will take on any flavors you add.

Thaw shredded hash browns and place them in the bottom of a 9×12 greased baking dish.  Mix in 1-2 cups of your choice of shredded cheese, one diced red bell pepper, one diced green bell pepper, and ¼ cup finely diced onion to the hashbrowns. In a bowl, mix 1 cup of milk of choice with eight eggs – or swap for egg whites. To the eggs, add ½ tsp salt, ¼ – ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ tsp Italian Seasoning and mix. Once the egg-spice mixture is combined, pour it onto the hashbrown-pepper-onion-cheese combo. If you want to add meat, add the cooked meat to the hashbrown base.

Once you are ready to make it, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake uncovered to 55-60 minutes, until totally cooked through.

Relax

Don’t make Mom clean up after the meal – make a plan for who will do what. Younger children can bring the dishes to the kitchen, and older kids can wash dishes and put items away.

Moms generally don’t need or want gifts, but they do want time together where they don’t have to plan or cook or stress- this provides that for moms.