We always serve crab imperial with asparagus almondine. That’s a French style of asparagus that you often find at high-end restaurants.

It takes less than 10 minutes to make, which means you can keep almost all of your focus on the crab.

Crab Imperial Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Crab Imperial Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Mayonnaise – The mayonnaise is the base of the imperial sauce that coats the crab. Any mayo works, but Japanese mayo would add a nice sweetness to mimic the sweetness in the crab.
• Egg – The egg acts as a binder so the crab stays together.
• Worcestershire sauce – This adds a depth of flavor and cuts through the mayo.
• Seasoning – Old Bay seasoning is used in traditional Maryland-style seafood dishes. It adds a spicy and very familiar seasoning. You also want to use salt to bring out all of the flavors and dried parsley to add an Earthy balance. Fresh parsley adds too much moisture and, depending on who you ask, isn’t traditionally used but dried is.
• Lemon – The acid from fresh lemon juice brings out a brightness in the dressing.
• Crab meat – Traditionally, jumbo lump crab is used to make crab imperial. But, crab special works as well and is a third of the price of jumbo lump crab meat.

How To Make Crab Imperial:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Put the mayonnaise, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning into a large bowl.

I use a metal bowl because it keeps the crab cooler, which reduces the chance of it falling apart.

Squeeze in the lemon.

I say this every time we talk about citrus, but here’s Pete’s hack: Microwave the lemon on high for 15 seconds. Take it out of the microwave and roll it, very hard, on the kitchen counter. This will break up the pulp and get more lemon juice than if you tried to squeeze a cold lemon.

Stir until everything is combined.

Add in the refrigerated crab meat.

Use a fork to slightly break apart the crab.

When you pour the crab from the container into the bowl, it’ll hold together in the shape of the container. So that’s why you want to break it apart.

However, crab is really delicate and crab special is already pretty flaky, so you want to be careful when you’re separating it.

You want to take it out of the container shape, but you don’t actually wanna pull apart any of the crab.

Gently folk the crab in until it is completely coated in the mayonnaise dressing.

You want to do this gently because, again, you don’t wanna break up the crab. Plus, overmixing can result in mushy crab.

Put the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill and allow the flavors to come together.

After 20 minutes, take the bowl out of the fridge.

Separate the crab mixture into quarters and add each quarter into its own ramekin or small baking dish.

Any oven-safe small bowl works, but we love using cuter ones for a fancier-feeling presentation. I use 8 oz. Le Creuset cocottes.

Spread it just a little bit so it’s flat on top.

Sprinkle some Old Bay seasoning on top for color.

Some recipes will add breadcrumbs on top along with the seasoning to add texture. You can do that if you want.

I don’t because I think any additional ingredients take away from the crab. The beauty of this recipe really is that every bite tastes like crab without any fillers. And I think, if you spent that much money on crab meat, it should be the only thing you taste.

But, a thin layer of breadcrumbs on top would also be delicious.

Bake for 25 minutes until the crab is cooked through and the mayonnaise-based dressing is not bubbly.

Turn the oven to broil and broil for two minutes to add a nice golden brown crust on top.

Quick note: Crab should be cooked to 140 F.

Let it sit for a minute before serving.

We serve it with asparagus almondine and risotto, but you can add whatever sides you want. You could also serve it as a hot crab dip with saltine crackers too.

Crab imperial: Frequently Asked Questions

Tax Day Freebies And Deals For 2026

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

All deals are happening on Wednesday, April 15 unless otherwise noted.

Also, we kept this list to large regional and national chains only. Your local restaurants may be offering something for tax day, but if we included every small shop, this list would be way too long.

Buca di Beppo

Look for an email with an offer for BOGO free pasta valid through April 19.

Burger King

Royal Perks members can get a Whopper for $3.99 with the offer in the app.

California Tortilla

Get a free small chips and queso with any online or app purchase when you enter the promo code GOVCHEESE. If you order in store, just say “Government cheese” when you order.

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop

Get a free combo upgrade (chips and a fountain drink) with any sub purchase.

Checkers/Rally’s

Get a Big Buford for only $3 from April 15 to 17.

Church’s Texas Chicken

Real Rewards members can get an 8‑piece leg and thigh order for $4.99.

Corner Bakery Cafe

Get 15% off catering orders from April 10 to 15.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

Get $10 off a purchase of $50+ with the code WRITEOFF. This is valid April 14 and 15.

Fazoli’s

Get a free baked spaghetti with the purchase of one.

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Rewards members can earn 250 bonus points on all purchases.

Maple Street Biscuit Company

Get 3 free bonuts with any purchase when you mention the offer.

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Bundtastic Rewards members can get 50 bonus points with any cake purchase.

Paris Baguette

PB Rewards members can get a free pastry with the purchase of any beverage.

Petco

Bring your dog in for a free treat from the treat bar.

QDOBA

Head over to www.taxdayguacrelief.com by the end of the day, if you’re a QDOBA rewards members, and get a coupon for $5 off a full-sized entree, valid through April 20 to 26.

Round Table Pizza

Get 15% off all orders from April 15 to 19 when you use the promo code RTP978 at checkout.

Shake Shack

Get a free Pimento Cheese Burger or Chicken Sandwich when you buy one with the code PIMENTO from April 9 to 12.

Shipley Donuts

Loyalty members can get a half-dozen of our glazed doughnuts for just $4.15 from April 10 to 15.

Smoothie King

Healthy Rewards members can get $3 off a purchase.

Sonny’s BBQ

Get St. Louis Rib Dinners for $10.99.

Subway

Sub Club members can get BOGO footlong subs with the code FLBOGO.

The Cheesecake Factory

Rewards members can get a free slice of cheesecake with the coupon in the app, valid through April 30.

Uber

Book an in person tax appointment with Turbo Tax and get a $25 Uber credit to take you there via this link.

Ziggy’s Coffee

Buy a coffee on Tax Day, then receive a $2 bounce back coupon to use between April 16 and 22.

Save On Filing Your Taxes

Tax Day is the deadline to file your taxes. If you haven’t done that yet, you have until 11:59 pm on April 15.

If you still need to file, you don’t have to pay a premium for it. You can actually save on Tax Software with Groupon.

Personally, we use H&R Block for our taxes, but we go into the tax office because that’s easier for me and the guy who does our taxes is fantastic.

There are a few other tax deals on Groupon, so if you’d rather use a person to help you file, you can find that as well.

We love making these for Sunday Funday or whenever we have friends over to watch the game. But, they’re not the only thing we serve. And you’re probably the same way.

If you’re looking for more finger foods to go with this, we have a great list of Game Day Bites, filled with tons of ideas.

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers With Brown Sugar Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers With Brown Sugar Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Bacon – We use low-sodium bacon because bacon is salty enough. We do not recommend thick cut bacon because it will not get crispy before the crackers start to burn.
• Club crackers – Club crackers are rectangular butter crackers. You don’t have to use that brand, but the only similar generics we’ve found are Great Value from Walmart or Savoritz from ALDI. Other brands sell butter crackers, but they’re usually shaped differently and it’s not as easy to wrap the bacon around them.
• Brown sugar – We prefer light brown sugar because it’s a lighter taste, but dark brown sugar works if that’s all you have.

How To Make Bacon-Wrapped Crackers With Brown Sugar:

Preheat the oven to 250 F.

Put a wire rack on top of an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

Quick note: I don’t have a problem with these sticking to the wire rack, but if you’re worried, you can use a little cooking spray on the rack first.

Cooking these on a wire rack means that all of the bacon grease will fall through the grates and your crackers won’t be sitting in soggy grease.

When the fat renders out of the bacon, it gets absorbed into the cracker and gives it that crunch you’re looking for. But, too much of that will make the crackers soggy.

Using foil is optional, but it will catch the grease instead of it pooling on the tray, making for really easy clean up.

Cut the strips of bacon into thirds.

Wrap one piece of the bacon around the center of a cracker, running across the shorter side.

It may overlap a little. That’s good. That will help the bacon stay around the cracker while it bakes.

Place the cracker, cut-edge down, on the wire rack.

Continue until all of the crackers are done.

Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the bacon-wrapped cracker.

It should be about a half teaspoon per cracker.

You want to be generous with the sugar. It caramelizes and adds such a great sweetness to the appetizer. If you don’t add enough, you’ll get some really good bites and some mediocre bites.

Bake for 1.5 hours until the crackers are golden brown and the piece of bacon is cooked through and crispy.

Let these cool completely before serving. That will give the crackers a chance to harden up again and they’ll have a nice crunchy to them. If you eat them while they’re warm, the cracker will be soft and crumbly, making a big mess.

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers With Brown Sugar: Frequently Asked Questions

More Bacon-Wrapped Recipes:

Wrapping food in bacon is a great idea. If you’re looking for some more bacon-wrapped ideas, check out our Bacon-Wrapped Cocktail Wieners, which is a very similar appetizer, and Bacon-Wrapped Egg Cups, which is a fun breakfast idea.

Asparagus: Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Asparagus Pair Well With?

Asparagus is an easy way to make any protein feel special. Some of our favorite dinners to serve with asparagus are:

• Grilled chicken (like Chicken Oscar with lump crab meat and Hollandaise sauce)
• Fish, steak, or pork chops
• Pasta (like Linguine with Clam Sauce)
• Fun weeknight dinners (like Pork Rind-Crusted Chicken Fingers)
• Summer grilling meals (like Grilled Shrimp Kabobs)
• And budget-friendly recipes (like Tuna Cakes)

No matter what you’re making, there’s an asparagus side dish to go with it.

Quick Info:

Dates:
This year’s festival is taking place April 8 to 12, 2026.

Location:
The North Carolina Azalea Festival is held in downtown Wilmington, NC. The majority of the festival will be held in downtown historic Wilmington with the concerts being held at the Live Oak Bank Pavilion.

There are a few other events at other venues throughout Wilmington.

Is it free?
Most of the festival events during the weekend, like the parade, street festival, and Tunes & Blooms concert are free to attend.

The main stage concerts — Lil Jon and Dustin Lynch are playing on the Azalea Festival Main Stage at Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park — require tickets.

Parking + Road Closures

Where To Park

There are a few public lots in downtown Wilmington (including the Convention Center at 10 Convention Center Drive and Skyline Center parking deck at 155 Brunswick St) and they’ll be a $10 flat rate for the festival.

The city, which runs the lots, said the 2nd Street lot will be closed for festival use, but didn’t specify if it’s the lot off Princess Street or off Grace Street.

Be really careful that you’re parking in the public lots if you want that rate. There are a ton of private lots downtown and those are really expensive.

Street parking is free all weekend, beginning at 6:30 pm on Friday. Street parking is always free higher than 3rd Street (unless marked as permit parking).

Road Closures

The Azalea Festival’s street fair is on Front Street between Orange Street and Red Cross Street with the Children’s Area and Performing Arts Stage in the parking lot on 2nd Street between Market Street and Dock Street.

Because of it, there will be the following road closures from 7 am on Friday to 6 pm on Sunday:

• Front Street from Orange Street to Red Cross Street
• Market Street from N. Water Street to N. 2nd Street
• Dock Street from N. Water Street to N. 2nd Street
• N. 2nd Street between Market Street and Dock Street

The Azalea Festival parade is Saturday from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. It runs along Third Street from Market Street to Brunswick Street. Because of it, every street along that path from 2nd Street to 5th Street will be closed at that time. So if you’re planning on driving downtown for it, you want to come early or make sure you park on 6th Street or higher.

Best Reasons To Attend The North Carolina Azalea Festival

The Azalea Festival’s schedule is long (you’ll see that later) and it’s really hard to get to everything. So, to make it easier, we’re listing out favorite reasons to visit the festival here.

Eat The Street Food

My favorite reason for going to the Azalea Fest is to get a corn dog. I tend to limit my corn dog consumption to street fairs in Wilmington and rest stops on long road trips.

That’s not the only food available, though.

Each year, there are food vendors selling ribbon fries, gyros, sausage and pepper sandwiches, snow cones, deep fried cookies and candy bars, soda, ice cream, and more. It’s all your favorite street fair food.

Shop The Street Fair

A ton of food and vendor tents make up the street fair. There are some salesy vendors — like the local newspapers and banks — but there are also artists. It’s amazing to see the creations they can make. I’m crafty, but these people are on another level.

Every year, I end up walking away with something special and unique. A few years ago, it was a hand painted sign for my aunt’s beach house. A few years after that it was a watercolor print for our bathroom.

Check Out The Bands

This year, there are two concerts on the main stage: Lil Jon and Dustin Lynch. Those are ticketed concerts, which will be held at the Live Oak Bank Pavilion.

We had pit tickets for the T-Pain and the Chase Rice concerts a couple years ago, and those were amazing. I’ll be honest, though. That venue is really bad when you sit on the lawn. So, if you’re going to go, the more expensive tickets are better.

But you don’t need to shell out money for a big ticket to enjoy some tunes.

The Tunes & Blooms Music Festival on Sunday at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater and is free to the public and filled with 10 hours of music from local bands.

Watch The Azalea Festival Parade

The Azalea Festival Parade gets crowded. We went a few years ago for the first time, and parking was crazy. But the parade is so good, and you get to see the festival Queen at the end, so it’s worth it.

If you don’t want to go, you can actually stream the parade live town website, so that’s much easier. You’ll just miss out on the opportunity to catch candy thrown from cars and floats (which you’ll miss out on anyway, honestly, if you’re an adult).

Play In The Children’s Area

If you’re bringing the kids, they can’t run through the festival unattended. There are so many people, it’s just not safe for them.

When they’re ready to run, find the Street Fair Children’s Area. There are bounce houses, arts and crafts, touch-a-truck with the Wilmington Fire Department, mini golf, and more.

Marvel At The Fireworks Show

On Saturday night, there will be fireworks shot over the Cape Fear River. You can get a great view of them for free anywhere on Water Street, so be sure to keep an eye out for them.

If you want to get a better seat, you can buy tickets to watch from the Battleship as part of the Battleship Boom & Bloom. Ticketholders have access to sit at the Battleship and watch the show from there.

See The Belles

This is an honorable mention.

In the past, when you took the Garden Tour, you were greeted at each garden by the Azalea Belles. The belles were dressed in antebellum attire (those beautiful huge dresses that you associate with Southern Belles). To see the Belles in real life at the gardens, or standing at the gardens, it’s so special.

A few years ago, the Cape Fear Garden Club decided to end the Azalea Belles program, much to the dismay of a lot of the residents of Wilmington. There are some details about that here.

Full North Carolina Azalea Festival 2026 Schedule

This schedule is in alphabetical order, by day. So, just scroll down to the day that you’ll be at the Azalea Festival and you’ll see what events are happening that day.

Saturday, Janury 31

Chefs’ Showcase: A 5-course meal with wine pairings and light entertainment will be held at Hotel Ballast at 1 pm.

Thursday, April 9

Juried Art Show: The Wilmington Art Association’s juried art show will be held at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center.

Lil Jon: The recording artist’s concert begins at 7 pm at Live Oak Bank Pavilion. The Ying Yang Twins are opening. This is a ticketed event.

Friday, April 10

Airlie Luncheon Garden Party: Celebrity Reception: A private event for festival sponsors, the Azalea Queen, and others at Airlie Gardens. The event starts at 11 am.

After Garden Get Down: The official after-party of the Airlie Luncheon Garden Party. This event is held at Bluewater Grill starting at 2 pm and is open to the public.

Azalea Festival Garden Tour: A self-guided tour of home gardens. Tickets are required and are $50. Self =-guided tours are allowed between 10 am to 5 pm.

Dustin Lynch: The concert begins at 7 pm at Live Oak Bank Pavilion. Noah Rinker is opening. Fun fact: We saw Dustin Lynch play the Grand Ole Opry last year and he was amazing.

Juried Art Show: The Wilmington Art Association’s juried art show will be held at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center.

Queen’s Dance Party: A ticketed event held at the Embassy Suites Hotel at 6 pm.

Street Fair: A street fair with over 250 vendors will be set up in on Front and Water Streets in downtown Wilmington. Hours: 6 pm to 10 pm (food vendors).

The Wizard of Oz: The play will be performed at Thalian Hall in conjunction with the Azalea Festival. This is a ticketed event taking place at 7:30 pm.

Saturday, April 11

America250: One Day Wonder: The one-day exhibition featuring North Carolina’s constitutional history will be presented at the Cape Fear Museum from 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is free.

Azalea Aviation Static Military Displays: Displays will be set up at the Wilmington International Airport from noon to 5 pm. Food trucks will also be on site.

Azalea Festival Garden Tour: A self-guided tour of home gardens. Tickets are required and are $50. Self-guided tours are allowed between 10 am to 5 pm.

Azalea Festival Home Tour: A self-guided tour of various homes. Tickets are required. Self-guided tours are permitted from 12 pm to 5 pm.

Azalea Festival Parade: The parade will begin at 9:30 am. It runs on Third Street, starting between Dock and Market Streets and ending on Bladen Street.

Battleship Boom & Bloom Bonanza: You can watch the fireworks from the USS Battleship North Carolina. Tickets are required and do include a pink folding chair that you can keep, popcorn, a self-guided deck tour, and more. This starts at 7:30 pm.

Boxing Tournament: The boxing tournament is free for spectators and starts at 2 pm.

Coin Show: There will be a coin show at the Elks Lodge from 10 am to 5 pm.

Fireworks: Fireworks will be shot off over the Cape Fear River at 9 pm.

Juried Art Show: The Wilmington Art Association’s juried art show will be held at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center.

Patron’s Party Gala: The party for the festival’s sponsors will be held at the Cape Fear Country Club at 7 pm.

Street Fair: A street fair with over 250 vendors will be set up in on Front and Water Streets in downtown Wilmington. Hours: 10 am to 10 pm (food vendors).

Street Fair Performing Arts Stage: A stage will be set up near the street fair. It will host performances from different musical and performance groups from noon to 5 pm.

Street Fair Royalty Performances: The Azalea queen and royal court will be performing their talents on stage at 1 pm. This should take about an hour.

The Wizard of Oz: The play will be performed at Thalian Hall in conjunction with the Azalea Festival. This is a ticketed event taking place at 2 pm and 7:30 pm.

Sunday, April 12

Azalea Aviation Static Military Displays: Displays will be set up at the Wilmington International Airport from 10 am to 3 pm. Food trucks will also be on site.

Azalea Festival Garden Tour: A self-guided tour of home gardens. Tickets are required and are $50. Self-guided tours are allowed between 10 am to 5 pm.

Azalea Festival Home Tour: A self-guided tour of various homes. Tickets are required. Self-guided tours are permitted from 12 pm to 5 pm.

Boxing Tournament: The boxing tournament is free for spectators and starts at 2 pm.

Cape Fear Corvette Club Car Show: The show will take place at 9 am at Jeff Gordon Chevrolet.

Coin Show: There will be a coin show at the Elks Lodge from 10 am to 5 pm.

Juried Art Show: The Wilmington Art Association’s juried art show will be held at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center.

Street Fair: A street fair with over 250 vendors will be set up in on Front and Water Streets in downtown Wilmington. Hours: 10 am to 5 pm.

The Wizard of Oz: The play will be performed at Thalian Hall in conjunction with the Azalea Festival. This is a ticketed event taking place at 2 pm.

Tunes & Blooms Music Festival: A free music festival from noon to 10 pm at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. Food and drink will be available for purchase.

Visitor’s Tips

Transportation

Wilmington doesn’t offer a lot of public transportation options, like you get in large cities. So, your best bet is to drive yourself to the festival. Just leave early because parking fills up quickly.

You can take a rideshare service, but know that those are limited and you’ll have to pay surge pricing because of the festival.

Weather Tips / What To Wear

The weather in Wilmington in April is really unpredictable. It goes from lows in the 40s in the mornings to highs of 80 in the day. So, you’ll want to dress in layers and bring a light jacket.

The Azalea Festival gets really crowded, so we suggest you wear closed toe shoes in case people drop things or step on your feet accidentally. Good sneakers are recommended because the festival is a lot of walking.

And, since you’ll be outside, make sure to put on sunscreen. No-see-ums are a problem in Wilmington, and the only thing we’ve found to work is Buggins spray, so you’ll want to use that too.

The festival and concerts are rain or shine. The concerts have been delayed for weather before and may start really late, so keep that in mind if you have tickets.

What To Bring

If you’re going to the parade, you’ll want to bring a chair to set up on the sidewalk. There is some bleacher seating, but you need to reserve that for a fee ahead of time.

You’ll want to bring cash, as some vendors charge a 3% fee for credit card purchases. We have seen portable ATM machines downtown for the festival, but those will charge fees. Some vendors may only accept cards, though, so bring your whole wallet.

Nearby Restaurants

If you don’t want to eat greasy fair food, there are a ton of local restaurants around the festival. Fun fact: Chains aren’t allowed on the first few streets in Wilmington, so downtown is filled with mom and pop shops.

We have a huge list of Wilmington restaurants and another with Wilmington breweries to help decide where to eat and drink.

This isn’t our only asparagus recipe on Drugstore Divas. So if you bought too much, and you’re looking for ways to use it, check out our list of easy asparagus recipes.

It’s filled with ideas for side dishes, sauces, and dinners using asparagus.

Asparagus Almondine Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Asparagus Almondine Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Asparagus – You need fresh asparagus for this recipe.
• Unsalted butter – Using unsalted butter means you can control the amount of salt. Since you’re also adding Parmesan cheese and salted almonds, which are salty, it doesn’t need any additional salt.
• Almonds – Roasted and salted almonds add texture and salt.
• Parmesan cheese – The cheap, canned grated cheese works best because it doesn’t clump like freshly graded Parmesan, which has more moisture, does.
• Lemon – Juice from a fresh lemon adds a little acid and adds an extra depth of flavor.

How To Make Asparagus Almondine:

Wash your asparagus and break the tips off at the natural break.

If you’ve never made asparagus before, know that you need to break off the pale-colored bottoms of the asparagus, known as the woody ends. If you look at an asparagus spear, the bottom third will be discarded because it’s too tough to eat.

When you start to bend the asparagus around that spot, you’ll feel it naturally flex. You want to snap it there and discord the bottom portion.

Pat dry the asparagus.

You’re going to be adding it to melted butter and any water droplets can cause the butter to pop and potentially hurt you.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

When the butter is completely melted and the skillet is coated, add the cleaned asparagus.

Sauté the asparagus, rotating it frequently so that the entire spear is coated in melted butter, for seven minutes until it starts to soften.

While that’s cooking, chop the almonds into very small pieces.

Add the chopped almonds into the pan with the asparagus.

You don’t need to save any of the chopped almonds for garnish. While this cooks, the almond and Parmesan cheese sticks to the asparagus, eliminating the need for a garnish.

Add in the grated Parmesan cheese.

Toss the asparagus in the chopped almonds and cheese.

You want to do this quickly so the cheese doesn’t burn and get stuck to the bottom of the pan. But, if it does, it will easily come off the pan because of the butter.

Cook everything together for about a minute until the Parmesan cheese is golden brown and toasted.

You don’t want to cook this for too long because the chopped almonds will get soggy. You want them to stay hard, but toast slightly, to add texture and a nutty flavor to the asparagus.

Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in juice from half a lemon.

Quick note: I give Pete’s hack any time you’re juicing citrus. Microwave the lemon in the microwave for 15 seconds. Take it out and roll it, really hard, on the counter. This will break up the pulp and will give you more lemon juice than if you try to juice cold citrus.

Toss everything before serving.

Asparagus Almondine: Frequently Asked Questions

What To Serve With Asparagus Almondine:

Even though asparagus almondine is a really simple recipe, it tastes fancy so I always make it when I’m cooking a holiday or date night at home dinner.

I serve it with crab imperial, which is basically a ramekin of crab meat in a mayo based dressing. It’s also great with steak or salmon.

If I serve it with crab, I also make risotto. And if I serve it with another protein, I make mashed potatoes.

This isn’t the only sweet treat we have for Easter. For more, check out our list of fun Easter dessert ideas.

There are ideas for mini cakes, homemade peanut butter, eggs, and more.

Chocolate Covered Brownie Eggs Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Chocolate Covered Brownie Eggs Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Boxed brownie mix – We use a boxed mix for this because it’s easier. You can buy whatever brand you prefer. If you have a homemade brownie recipe you love, you can use that too.
• Oil – Most boxed brownie mix needs oil, but check your package for the exact amount.
• Water – Most boxed brownie mix needs water, but check your package for the exact amount.
• Eggs – Most boxed brownie mix needs eggs, but check your package for the exact amount.
• Vanilla almond bark – Vanilla almond bark is the best choice when you’re coating anything. If it cools, you can always reheat it. You can’t do that with white chocolate chips. And it tastes a lot better than candy melts, which taste like wax.
• Oil-based food coloring – Oil-based food coloring will dye the vanilla almond bark. Water-based food coloring will cause it to seize. So, if you do want to dye these different colors to look like Easter eggs, make sure you’re using an oil-based food dye.

How To Make Chocolate Covered Brownie Eggs:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F (or whatever temperature is suggested on the back of your brownie mix).

Start by making your brownie batter.

Add all of the ingredients from the package directions in a large bowl.

Stir until everything is combined.

Set the egg-shaped silicone baking molds onto a baking sheet.

Silicone baking molds are very flexible and if you try to move them from the counter to the oven when they’re filled, there’s a good chance they’ll flop around and the batter will spill out of the cavities.

So, if you put them on a cookie sheet first, then fill them, you can just pick up the sheet and put it in the oven without worrying about the batter spilling.

Small aside: We use these egg-shaped silicone baking molds. They make this recipe so much easier because you don’t have to shape the brownies into eggs. This mold does it for you. Plus, it has indents that look like decorations, which means you don’t need to buy anything extra to decorate these.

Use a cookie scoop to fill the cavities of the egg shaped silicone mold about three-quarters of the way full.

You don’t have to use a cookie scoop, but if you do, it assures you are putting an even amount of batter in each mold, so the brownies will bake evenly, and all of the brownie eggs will be the same size when they’re done.

You should be able to make 24 brownie eggs from one box of mix.

Bake the brownies for about 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oven temperatures can vary, so your cooking time may be a little different.

Remove the silicone baking molds from the baking sheet and cool the brownies on a wire rack.

If you’re making these with lots of time to spare, you can let them cool to room temperature by sitting on the kitchen counter. But, if you don’t have that much time, you can cool them in the refrigerator.

The colder these are, the easier they’ll pop out of the silicone mold. If they’re warm, the tops of the eggs will get stuck.

When the brownies are completely cool, remove them from the silicone molds.

Wash and dry the mold completely, making sure that you don’t have any water droplets left behind. Those will cause air bubbles to form in the chocolate coating. They’re fine to eat that way, but they don’t look as pretty.

Melt the almond bark according to the package.

If you’ve never used almond bark before, the easiest way to do it is to cut it into smaller pieces and put it in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave it on high for one minute, then take it out and stir. Continue microwaving and stirring at 30-second intervals until it’s completely melted.

Pour about a tablespoon of the white almond bark into the egg-shaped silicone mold.

Spread it around with a spoon.

You want to make sure that you’re going up to the top of the silicone mold and that you can’t see through it. If you can see through the chocolate, that means the brownie will be able to poke through and won’t be covered.

I do four of each color, but you can do however many you want.

Take one of the cooled brownies and gently place it back into the silicone mold, on top of the melted chocolate.

You don’t want to push it too far because you don’t want it to go all the way to the bottom. You want to leave some chocolate between it and the mold.

After you’ve done some of them, add a drop of red oil-based food coloring to the white almond bark and stir until it’s pink.

Add some of the pink tinted chocolate to some of the egg-shaped cavities.

Again, I do four of this color.

Add the cooled brownies to the pink-covered molds.

Finally, add a drop of blue food coloring to the pink chocolate and stir until you make purple.

Quick note: If you took your time and the almond bark has started to harden, remember you can put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds to remelt it. That’s the benefit of using almond bark.

Alternatively, you can melt more white almond bark and dye it a different color.

Fill the remaining cavities with the last colored chocolate.

Add the rest of the brownies to those as well.

Let the chocolate harden completely.

Quick note: I let the chocolate cool on the counter. If you put it in the refrigerator when the chocolate is still warm, that can cause it to bloom and that creates crackles in the chocolate.

So definitely cool it at room temperature. Depending on how cold your house is, this should only take about 30 minutes.

When the chocolate is completely hardened, pop the brownies out of the mold and set them out for your guests.

Chocolate Covered Brownie Eggs: Frequently Asked Questions

More Ways To Use An Egg-Shaped Silicone Mold:

I have a ton of reusable holiday silicone molds (and two that are owl shaped). And I’m still always tempted to buy new ones.

Buying and storing a ton of silicone molds that you use for just one recipe isn’t ideal or budget-friendly. But, if you buy the silicone egg molds for this recipe, you can also use them to make our homemade peanut butter eggs and homemade smash eggs, which are great Easter treats to gift.

I’ve used it to make marshmallow eggs as well (although I still have yet to blog that recipe).

We are huge fans of saving money when we’re on road trips. Yes, we’re even frugal on vacation. For more tips, check out our How To Save Money On Snacks For Road Trips post.

How To Save Money On Gas On Your Next Road Trip

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Gas prices are expensive, so you really want to get the most miles out of each gallon. Smart driving habits, like using cruise control, plus good travel hacks, like not overpacking, really help with that.

Don’t Overpack The Car

When you’re going on vacation, you want to be prepared for everything. So you pack clothes for warm weather and cold weather, way too many pairs of shoes, and lots of bathing suits. And if you have kids, you end up throwing half the toy chest in the trunk, just in case.

But driving with that much in the car isn’t a good idea.

Weighing down your car reduces the miles per gallon that a car can get. And less weight means your car goes farther between gas station stops, so you stop less and spend less.

Frugal tip: When you’re leaving extra items at home, that includes what’s usually in your car too. If you work a job where you always have tools in the trunk, or you’re like Pete and have all your farmer’s market supplies in the car all season long, leave those at home before your road trip.

Use Cruise Control On Highways

If your road trip is taking you on a highway, cruise control will be your best friend. Set it and forget it, as they say.

But actually, cruise control helps immensely with your gas.

Since you’re not accelerating and decelerating to maintain your speed, your car doesn’t have to burn extra fuel accelerating.

So overall, you’re using less gas, which means less gas station stops to plan, and less gas to pay for.

And, a bonus tip: Cruise control just gives you a smoother ride, without sudden acceleration to get back up to speed, which makes for a nicer road trip overall.

Don’t Idle At Fast Food Restaurants

If you’re stopping for food on a road trip and you decide to go through a drive through, don’t. Get out of the car and walk inside.

That’s a good excuse to stretch your legs and go to the bathroom, but it also means you’re turning off your car and saving gas, not wasting gas on the car sitting there idling.

If you don’t have time to order with a cashier or the kiosk, you can always mobile order (as long as you’re not the driver) and walk inside or sit in a curbside pickup spot and have your food brought out to you. Just, remember, when you’re in curbside pickup, turn off your car. Leaving the AC on while you wait defeats the purpose.

Little habits like this seem, well, little, but they add up over time and end up saving you money in the long run.

Take The Scenic Route (Sometimes)

I took a road trip with my parents once where my dad kept taking the scenic route. On the way home, my mom and I were yelling, “Don’t take the scenic route. Just get us home.” But actually, the scenic route can save you money on gas depending on when you take it.

If you’re driving through a tourist area, or somewhere with a lot of traffic, you don’t drive smoothly. There’s so much stop and go. That’s not great for your gas mileage.

So, take the long way — where your car can sit on cruise control and where you can discover some potential hidden gems off the beaten path — for better miles per gallon.

Frugal tip: This is a good hack as long as you’re not driving completely out of the way. Adding too many miles, especially if you’re adding time to your trip, might not be in your best interest.

Consider Early Morning Or Late Evening Driving

When we were young, my family would drive from New York to Florida every Christmas. And my parents always left in the middle of the night.

They said it was so the three of us kids would sleep most of the way down, but it’s also actually really good for gas mileage too.

It’s usually cooler in the early morning or late at night, after the sun goes down, because of the denser air (You can read more about that here).

Also, cooler air means you won’t have to run the AC, which uses gas and forces you to fill up more often.

And, because there are less people on the road then, you have a smoother drive, which is better for gas mileage as well.

How To Plan Gas Stops On A Road Trip To Save Money

Now that we’ve chatted about the best way to drive in order to stretch your miles per gallon, we need to cover stopping for gas. That’s where the real savings is.

Knowing where to stop, which gas stations offer loyalty programs for the best savings, and how to stack rewards programs on top of gas discounts can cut costs even more.

Choose Cheaper Stations With the Upside App

Anytime I’m getting gas, either in general or on a road trip, I use the Upside app. It’s an app that offers you cash back for purchasing gas at specific gas stations.

The cash back amount back varieties per gas station. But, you’re able to see that within the app, so you can choose which gas station you want to go to based on the price after cash back.

The gas station we used to go to doesn’t participate, but the station across the street does. So guess where I go? Yup. I’m loyal to the station across the street now.

Using Upside helps you plan out your gas stops while you’re traveling too. When you open the app, you’ll see a map of participating gas stations. So if you know you’ll need gas in about 50 miles, you can zoom out on the map, choose the station with the highest cash back in that area, and set it in your GPS.

That’s so much easier than reading highway signs and hoping a gas station pops up when you need it.

Find Stations That Accept Your Grocery Store Gas Points

There are some grocery stores that allow you to earn gas points. Here, Harris Teeter is a big one. On Fridays, you earn 4X points, plus there are additional bonus days during the month.

If your grocery store does that, you get the points every time you use your phone number or loyalty card at checkout.

Don’t let those points expire. Head to the pump. For us, we can use Harris Teeter points at BP, Amoco, and Harris Teeter pumps. Even if it’s only enough for a few cents off, it’s still worth it.

And, even better, if you don’t have any points to redeem, just for having a loyalty number, Harris Teeter gives 3 cents off every gallon, every day.

So, when you’re planning to stop for gas, look for the closest gas station that accepts your points.

Frugal tip: Grocery stores are super regional. So, this tip is super helpful if you’re taking a local road trip. If you’re planning on driving hours, you’ll want to use your gas points when you’re still close to home because you won’t be able to use them when you get outside the grocery chain’s region.

Stop At Highway Chains With Loyalty Programs

There are a lot of gas station chains that you mostly see on highways. Those appeal to long-distance drivers (some, like Pilot and Flying J have showers and spaces specifically for truck drivers), so you mostly see them on the interstate.

But, they’re good for casual road trippers too, especially because they have great loyalty programs. If you’re a part of one, make sure to plan your gas station stops around them to maximize your savings.

Circle K

Circle K has two free loyalty programs: Easy Rewards and Inner Circle.

Easy Rewards gives you 10 cents off per gallon when you use your registered credit card, plus an additional 20 cents off per gallon for your first 100 gallons (or the first two months, whichever comes first).

With the Inner Circle Rewards program, you enter your phone number at the pump to save an extra 5¢ per gallon.

Frugal tip: You can sign up and save instantly, so if you happen to see a Circle K when you’re on your trip, you can join and save on that fill up. Then, plan your next stop around other Circle K locations to keep saving.

Pilot / Flying J Stations

Pilot and Flying J gas stations (they’re sister stores) have a myRewards Plus program with a loyalty card that saves you 3 cents per gallon.

If you’re a Good Sam member, you can link that to your myRewards Plus program for even more savings.

Frugal tip: The rewards program has coupons and bonus offers, like free snacks every month, which you can see in the app. There are loyalty programs, like earning a free coffee when you buy a certain number of them. So definitely check out the offers and see if you can get a freebie while you’re filling up.

Plan For Iconic Road Trip Stops

We’re talking a lot about the best way to save, but, depending on where your road trip lands you, you might be able to save and take in some sights when you check out one of these fun stops.

South Of The Border

If you’ve ever driven I-95 from North Carolina to Florida, you’ve seen the iconic South of the Border billboards, counting down to the giant Mexican-themed tourist destination.

There’s a restaurant, mini golf, souvenir shop, hotel, and, of course, gas. Gas isn’t the best price there, but you can get really cheap fireworks and tchotchkes, so it makes up for the gas prices.

Read more about South of the Border here.

Buc-ee’s

Buc-ee’s is America’s favorite gas station. And, it’s a gas station, not a rest stop. Despite having a full barbecue carving station in the middle, the beaver does not want you to stop.

There’s no overnight parking, no seats to eat your meal, and no WiFi. Get in, go to the cleanest bathroom you’re gonna find on the highway, and get out. And, on the way out, get gas because it’s always a good price.

Read more about Buc-ee’s here.

Stuckey’s Roadside Stores

There’s a good chance that the word “Stuckey’s” means little to you. But if your parent or grandparents took road trips when they were young, there’s a very good chance they stopped at Stuckey’s for gas and pecan log rolls.

The chain is making a comeback, thanks to third-generation owner Stephanie Stuckey. So, if you’re road tripping with your parents, stop for gas and snacks there.

Read more about Stuckey’s Roadside Stores here.

This is just one of the days that chains celebrate with free food and other deals. To make sure you mark your calendar and don’t miss a thing, check out our Top 20+ National Days For Freebies And Deals list.

National Burrito Day: Freebies And Deals

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

All deals are valid on April 2, 2026 only unless otherwise noted.

Quick note: We are limiting this list to national or large, regional fast food chains. Your local restaurants may be doing something to in celebration of National Burrito Day, but this list would get far too long if we included all of them.

Baja Fresh Mexican Grill

Club Baja Rewards members can get a Baja Burrito with Chicken for just $5.

This is valid in store only and is a limit of 1 per customer.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle had a digital burrito vault game from March 31 to April 2 that Chipotle Rewards members could play for a chance to win BOGO codes, double meat, or burritos for a year.

If you got a code, you can redeem it via the Chipotle app or online today.

Chronic Tacos

Buy one burrito and get a second free when you order through the app.

California Burritos and Surf and Turf Burritos are not participating, FYI.

Del Taco

Del Yeah! rewards members can get a free classic burrito with any $3 purchase. The offer will be in the mobile app and you have to save it before ordering.

El Pollo Loco

Loco Rewards members who Buy a burrito, get an à la carte burrito free.

Freebirds World Burrito

Get Freebirds-Sized Burritos for $5.95 in store. It’s a limit of 1 but if you’re a rewards member, you can get two online when you enter the promo code FREEBIRDS.

Hot Head Burritos

Rewards members can get BOGO burritos when they order through the app or online.

Moe’s Southwest Grill

Buy one burrito or bowl and get a second burrito or bowl for free. This is valid from March 31 to April 2.

You can also enter for a chance to win burritos for a year here.

Pancheros Mexican Grill

Follow the restaurant on social media. It will be posting coupon codes four times during the day. The codes will be valid for a free burrito.

QDOBA

Loyalty members will get a free burrito or bowl with the purchase of an entrée and drink.

Taco John’s

Taco John’s rewards members can get a free bean burrito with any $3 purchase via the app.

Tijuana Flats

Every Thursday, you can get a burrito or bowl, chips and a drink for $8.99. And, coincidentally, National Burrito Day falls on a Thursday this year.

Order Burritos Online:

If you don’t feel like cooking and you forgot to stop by one of these places on your drive home tonight, you can order burritos online with the following delivery services: Goldbelly, Grubhub, or Instacart​.

You may not be able to get the deals when you order use third-party delivery, but you will get burritos, and that’s what matters.

This is just one of the days during the year when you can score fun freebies. To make sure you don’t miss any, check out our list of the Top National Days For Freebies And Deals.

April Fools’ Day: Freebies And Deals

All of these deals are happening on April 1 unless otherwise noted.

Arby’s

Get a box of fries (equivalent to three large fries) for only $5.

Avelo Airlines

Get 50% off flights when you bring a friend with the code FRIEND50. The code is valid on travel from April 21 to June 9, 2026.

Avelo is a budget-friendly airline. You can read more via that link.

Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar

Select beers are $4 from 3 pm to 6 pm (4 pm to 6 pm in South Carolina).

The restaurant is also launching a Ballpark Burger on April 1.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

You can get the Sweet Heat Pepperoni Pizookie for $4.01 if you dine in. This pizookie will only be available on April 1.

Burger King

Royal Perks members can get a Whopper for just $3.99 with the coupon in the Burger King app.

Checkers/Rally’s

Get a Big Buford for only $3.

This offer is valid April 1 and 2.

Chipotle

From 9 am to 8:59 pm, Chipotle Rewards members can play the Burrito Vault game for a chance to win double protein, BOGO burritos, or free burritos for a year.

Rewards for the first two are redeemable on April 2, National Burrito Day.

Dairy Queens

Rewards members can get a Blizzard Treat for $.99 with the purchase of one at full price.

This is happening through April 28.

Del Taco

Get an Epic Grilled Chicken Fresh Guacamole Burrito for only $5 when you order through the app.

Dunkin’

Dunkin’ Rewards members can get a free coffee when they enter the promo code STILLNOTAJOKE in the Dunkin’ app.

Dutch Bros Coffee

Get a free sticker with every drink purchase, starting at 5 am, while supplies last.

Ordering ahead does not guarantee a sticker.

Family Dollar

App users should have a coupon for $5 off $25, valid today only, to clip in the app.

Family Dollar is also kicking off a 4-day-sale today with tons of in store and online deals.

Hallmark

Hallmark Crown Rewards members can get 20% off Shoebox products to celebrate Shoebox’s 40 year anniversary. The deal is valid on select Shoebox gifts, cards, ornaments, gift wrap, and stationery. That’s valid today only.

Rewards members should also have a coupon for a free Just Because coupon in their accounts today. That’s valid until April 30.

Hardee’s

The first 1,000 rewards members who enter the code NOJOKESHERE will get an offer for a free large iced coffee with $1 purchase in the app. The offer is valid until April 8.

Hooters

Get 10 wings for just $3.99. You can choose either boneless or traditional.

KFC

Rewards members can get 5 wings for $5 when they order through the KFC app.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Rewards members can get a dozen original glazed doughnuts for $4.01 when they purchase any other dozen.

Insomnia Cookies

Buy 12 classic cookies, get 4 free.

Marco’s Pizza

Get a Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza for just $12.99 when you enter the promo code GOTCHA at checkout.

Panda Express

Rewards members get a new reward every Wednesday and April Fools’ Day happens to fall on a Wednesday this year.

Panera Bread

My Panera rewards members can get $5 off any purchase of $10 or more with the coupon in their app (unless they’ve used it previously).

Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Rewards members can get a small drip or cold brew coffee for just $.60.

It just so happens that April 1 coincides with the coffeeshop’s 60th anniversary.

Playa Bowls

Rewards members get double points all day. Plus, you can get the brand new sticker of the month.

QDOBA

Rewards members can get a free medium (4 oz.) Queso & Chips with purchase of an entree.

This is a promotion the restaurant does on every full moon, and there happens to be a full moon of April 1 (because of course there is).

Scooter’s Coffee

Rewards members can get Double Smiles on app orders that contain a Caramelicious drink.

Shipley Do-Nuts

Loyalty members can get four Kolache Dippers and Rowdy Ranch for free with any purchase in shop, while supplies last.

This is valid one time per customer at participating locations.

Slim Chickens

The first 10,000 people who click this link will get a code for a free 2 piece tenders and sauce. It’s valid at the drive through or for dine in, but not at the kiosk. You have to request it today, but you’ll have until April 4 to use it.

Subway

Sub Club members can get BOGO sandwiches with the promo code FLBOGO.

The BOGO offer starts today but is valid through April 28.

The Cheesecake Factory

Rewards members who log in or sign up for a new account will receive a reward for a free slice of cheesecake.

The free rewards is hitting accounts starting today, but it’s valid until April 30.

This isn’t our only sheet pan dinner recipe.

For more, check out our list of easy sheet pan dinners. We have ideas like sheet pan chicken vesuvio (which is similar to this in that it has sausage and potatoes, but also adds bell peppers and chicken), sheet pan chicken fajitas (one of our favorite easy weeknight dinners), and more.

Sheet Pan Sausage And Potatoes With Green Beans Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Sheet Pan Sausage And Potatoes With Green Beans Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Potatoes – Any potatoes work for this. I prefer yellow potatoes because the skin is really thin, but Russet potatoes or even mini potatoes work fine. If you do use Russets, we suggest you peel them first.
• Green beans – Fresh green beans work better than canned green beans because the crisp green beans can hold up to being in the oven for a while. Frozen green beans have too much liquid to work.
• Sausage links – We use Italian sausage because it adds a lot of flavor, but you could use a mild sausage if you prefer.
• Seasoning – We use salt, Italian seasoning, and lemon pepper seasoning. If you have other seasoning combinations that you prefer, you can use those.
• Unsalted butter – There is enough salt in this recipe that you don’t need to add anymore with your butter.

How To Make Sheet Pan Sausage And Potatoes With Green Beans:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Wash the potatoes and peel them if you are using a type with a thick skin. Cut the potatoes into medium size cubes.

You don’t want the pieces too large because you don’t want to end up with raw potato. But you also don’t want them too small. Whatever size you cut them, make sure they’re all uniform so they cook evenly.

Put the cubed potatoes on one side of a silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet.

We use an 11- x 17-inch sheet pan because it’s the largest we have.

I prefer a silicone mat because it’s reusable so it’s better for the environment and for your wallet, but if you don’t have one, you can use parchment paper instead.

Clean the green beans.

Fresh green beans sometimes have some of the stem on them. You want to cut those off so they don’t burn in the oven.

Put the green beans on the opposite side of potatoes on the baking sheet.

Chop the sausage into rounds.

I try to keep mine around 1/2- to 3/4- of an inch. Like the potatoes, make sure you’re cutting them uniform so they cook evenly.

Put the sausage into the center of the pan between the green beans and potatoes.

Quick tip: You want to make sure everything is in a single layer and isn’t overcrowded in the pan. This way, the ingredients roast. If they’re too close together, they’ll steam instead and you won’t get the nice browning you want.

Evenly sprinkle the seasoning on top of the green beans and the potatoes.

Like I said above, we use salt, Italian seasoning, and lemon pepper seasoning.

For more spice, you can add red pepper flakes, cayenne, or paprika. For a more rustic taste, use dried rosemary or a garlic and herb all purpose seasoning.

Side note: We don’t put seasoning on top of the sausage because the hot sausage is already very flavorful. If you’re using a mild sausage instead, you may want to add seasoning to that.

Cut the butter into eight pieces.

Put four butter tabs on top of the green beans and four on top of the potatoes.

Quick note: The butter melts as the food cooks. It coats everything in the pan, helping it cook, and keeps everything moist. Since the sausage will release some juices as it cooks, you don’t need to add butter to it for moisture.

Some sheet pan recipes add a drizzle of olive oil on top because it has a higher smoke point than butter, but we don’t use it in this recipe.

Once everything is on the pan, it’s ready to put it in the preheated oven.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Quick note: Oven temperatures vary and cook time can change based on the size you cut the potatoes and the size of your pan, so just keep that in mind the first time you’re making this.

You want to flip the potatoes and sausage halfway through for more even browning. You can give the green beans a little shake too so they don’t get too charred on one side.

It’s done when the potatoes are fork tender and golden brown, the sausage has a nice brown edges, and the green beans are slightly blistered.

Sheet Pan Sausage And Potatoes With Green Beans: Frequently Asked Questions

If you’re looking for some other frugal ways to enjoy the holiday, making dessert at home is a great one. Get some ideas with our Easy Easter Dessert Recipes.

Before You Buy Anything, Check This First:

Check your pantry for snacks you can repackage. Sure, grabbing a chocolate bar that’s already in the pantry can feel like cheating. But, take that chocolate and wrap it in paper to make it look like a bunny, like our Easter bunny chocolate bar post, and the snack suddenly feels brand new and perfect for a basket filler — and didn’t cost you anything.

Look at the toys you already have at home. This works much better for younger kids rather than older ones who have a mental inventory of all their stuff. But, if you have any unused or forgotten toys, add them to the basket. Your kids will get new surprises that cost nothing.

Check your craft room for supplies you can turn into DIY kits. You don’t want to just take your kids’ markers and stick them into the basket.

Instead, draw (or print) a bunny template on printer paper. Then, go through the craft supplies and look for items to decorate the bunny with (googly eyes, cotton balls, pompoms, etc.). Stick them all in a bag, call it a “Build Your Own Bunny Kit,” and it’s perfect — and free.

Upcycle Or DIY Easter Baskets

If you make Easter baskets for your kids every year, you can keep reusing each child’s Easter basket annually. That will save you money because you only have to buy one once.

But, if you’re having guests for Easter, or you don’t have baskets from last year, you can make an upcycled Easter basket from items that you might already be throwing away.

Every year, I save a couple 8 oz. plastic mushroom containers, wash them really well, and use them as Easter baskets. When they’re done, they can be recycled.

You can also turn empty cereal boxes into Easter baskets. With a little creativity, anything can be turned into a basket.

And, if you have last-minute company, just grab some paper bags and turn them into a paper bag bunny. Since you probably already have these at home, it’s the perfect no-cost solution.

Frugal tip: If you don’t already have baskets and aren’t up for a DIY project, you can purchase reusable Easter baskets online and use them every year. Be sure to check the size, though. Smaller baskets need less items to feel full, which will save you more in the long run.

Reuse Paper Shred Or Make Your Easter Grass

Paper shred is really cheap at the local dollar store. But it’s free if you get it in packages you order during the year (which I get a lot of). So, any time you get something with paper shred, save it in a bag in your gift closet.

Then, when you’re making Easter baskets, instead of buying Easter grass, just go into your bag in the closet and grab some paper shred. It looks so similar to Easter grass that your kids won’t know the difference and your baskets will still be super cute.

If you don’t get any paper shred during the year, grab a couple pieces of colorful paper (like construction paper, card stock, or scrapbook paper) and run it through your paper shredder for easy homemade Easter grass that’s so much cheaper than any you’d buy in store.

Pick Up Some Free Candy

If you’re shopping at the last minute, you’re at the mercy of what stores have left in stock and have to pay whatever the Easter candy costs.

But, if you plan ahead a little, you can save some money and grab free or cheap candy. In year’s past, we’ve found offers for free Nerds at Circle K, Flipz bars for a quarter, and free Snickers at Walmart. Any time we find these deals at the drugstores or grocery stores, we post them on our social media pages. So, definitely follow us.

Set the free candy aside as you “buy” it, making sure not to eat it, and you’ll be able to fill those Easter baskets for a fraction of the cost.

Reuse Plastic Eggs

If you have Easter eggs left over from last year, or if you went to a local egg hunt this year and collected plastic eggs, don’t throw them away. Reuse them. That saves you from having to buy plastic eggs. 

Fill them with jelly beans or small candies. Then, have an Easter egg hunt at home or you can use them in your Easter baskets this year. 

If you really need to stretch your budget, put one small piece of candy in each egg, then put them in the Easter basket. Doing it that way will take up more space than just putting candy in there, making the basket look fuller.

Plus, kids will love the surprise of opening the eggs to find candy. So, more eggs means more surprises, which is more fun.

Frugal tip: If you don’t have any leftover eggs, you can buy cheap plastic Easter eggs in bulk on Amazon this year, then reuse them next year.

Add Some Non-Candy Easter Basket Stuffers

Easter baskets don’t have to be filled solely with candy. You can stick in some toys and other items that take up some space.

The age of your recipient will determine what type of toys to add to the basket. For a young child, art supplies like sidewalk chalk are great. So are Easter books. Anything to keep them off tablets and away from the television.

For an older kids, like your teens with a new car, towels for washing the car and Rain-X for the windshield are helpful.

For your mom, think about her hobbies. If she likes gardening, go with gardening gloves.

Small gifts take up a lot of space in an Easter basket, but not in your gift closet. So, while you’re out doing your regular shopping during the year, check out the Target dollar spot or clearance aisles of your local stores for cheap Easter basket filler ideas. You can pick up inexpensive items during the year, then use them to fill Easter baskets.

And by that logic, you actually end up spending less on the Easter basket than if you filled it with a bunch of last-minute toys from your local Dollar Tree.

Frugal tip: If you need help coming up with fun ideas, we have a great list of Non-Candy Easter Basket Fillers For Kids. 

Avoid Pre-Packaged Easter Baskets

It’s so easy to grab an Easter basket off a store shelf and be done. But those pre-packaged Easter baskets are so expensive because they charge for convenience.

You can, however, use those for inspiration.

Take a peek inside to see what the basket is filled with to get some great ideas for your kids. Maybe it’s sports equipment like a soccer ball. Or maybe it’s a stuffed animal. Take notes of what you like about the basket and what drew you to look at it in the first place.

Then, head around the store and pick up those items. Assembling a similar basket yourself will be a lot cheaper than purchasing it already made.

Shop After-Easter Sales

When Easter ends, stores want Easter merchandise off the shelves as quickly as possible. So the day after, Easter items are on clearance. Usually, items start at 50% off and go as high as 95% off. The biggest the discount now, the bigger the savings for next year.

Some stores even start sales before the holiday. Easter items are 40% off at Hobby Lobby nearly a month before the holiday. So you can still shop there and fill your baskets at a discount.

When the sales are huge, like 75% to 90%, pick up small, non-perishable items for next year’s baskets. Don’t pick up clearance chocolate for next year (but, definitely pick it up for yourself), but toys, coloring books, and other small Easter basket fillers are worth grabbing at a discount.

Then, next year, your future self will be able to put together heavily discounted Easter baskets.

How to Make a Cheap Easter Basket Look More Expensive:

The reason pre-packed baskets are so appealing is because everything is one color. So, to make your DIY basket look more expensive, stick to a color theme. This is really easy if you have multiple kids.

Pick a color for each kid, then, buy or make paper shred in that color. Separate the plastic eggs into piles that match those color and buy candies that match too.

Also, make sure to limit clutter. If you’re trying to add a bunch of items to make it look filled, that sometimes comes across cheap looking. So, instead, add a few nicer items rather than a lot of cheap ones.

And, try to avoid plastic (besides the eggs). Plastic toys scream cheap, dollar store purchases. Wooden or fabric items make the Easter basket feel more high-end.

These little choices help to really make the basket look and feel expensive while still sticking to your budget.

More Easter Basket Ideas:

Need a little more help putting together a great Easter basket? We have a few more posts that can help.

Check out our Fun Easter Basket Ideas For Teens, Fun Easter Basket Ideas For Adults, and Non-Candy Easter Basket Fillers For Kids lists for creative ideas.

This isn’t the only fun idea we have for Easter. For more, check out our list of Easy Easter Crafts for inspiration.

How To Make A DIY Easter Bunny Gift Basket:

Start by filling your Easter eggs with small Easter candies.

We suggest using wrapped candy only because not all plastic Easter eggs are food grade. So, you don’t want to put something like an open marshmallow Peep into a plastic egg. Instead, choose the individually wrapped Peeps.

Put your paper shred in the bottom of one of the bigger plastic bowls.

You want to put enough to make the bowl look full, but not too much that your Easter treats won’t fit.

Fill the bigger bottom bowl with some of the candies, small gifts, and plastic Easter eggs.

Make sure to save some of the candies and gifts for the smaller bowls.

Place the other larger bowl onto the top of the filled bowl. Tape the two bowls together.

If you place the tape horizontally, it will give the tape a better grip on the two bowls and will hold them together better.

Also, you don’t have to tape the entirety of the bowls. A couple strategically placed pieces of tape will work and will also make it easier for the gift recipient to open.

Set the bowls aside.

Fill one of the small bowls with the white paper shred.

Add the remaining plastic Easter eggs, candy, and small toys.

Place the other one of the smaller bowls on top. Tape the two bowls together.

Take your smaller bowl and stick it to the top of the bigger bowls.

​Now, you have two options for this. You can either hot glue them together or you can use packing tape to stick them together.

Of course, the hot glue is going to be more stable. But the packing tape means your recipient can reuse the bowls.

Now it’s time to start decorating and turning these bowls into a bunny.

Use hot glue to stick your bunny ears to the top of the basket.

The easiest way to do this is to line the inside of the headband with glue, then just stretch it over the top of the top bowls.

Take your pink foam ball and glue it, using hot glue, to the center of where the two small bowls are touching. 

Quick note: If you can’t find a foam ball, you could use a pink pom pom instead.

Cut off the end of your zip ties and use the hot glue to glue them under the foam ball to create whiskers to complete the bunny face.

If you can’t find white zip ties, you can paint some white. Alternatively, you could use white pipe cleaners.

Hot glue the bunny feet to the front of the bottom bucket.

Quick note: The bunny feet in this post are from a bunny decoration. You can use whatever you find. If you’re feeling creative, you can make bunny feet out of construction paper.

Use the sticker letters to spell out the child’s name on the front of the bigger basket.

Finally, take your Easter ribbon and place it around the neck of the bunny to create a bowtie between the top and bottom bowls.

DIY Easter Bunny Gift Basket: Frequently Asked Questions

More DIY Easter Baskets:

If you want to put together a fun Easter basket but this is above your skill level, that’s okay. Just grab a bag and make our Paper Bag Bunny Craft instead. And, if you love upcycling, our DIY Cereal Box Easter Basket is for you.

If you really want to celebrate, check out our Dr. Seuss Party Ideas to make the day something special.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

• It’s a fun, educational book, filled with rhyming and fun wordplay.
• Young kids who are learning colors and numbers love this.
• Since there’s no story to follow, it’s perfect for the littlest of readers.

My take: If you’re shopping for kids who love the cadence of stories more than the plot, this book is the best choice.

Green Eggs and Ham

• Green Eggs and Ham is the perfect way to encourage your kids to try new things.
• The repeating words and funny story are great for new readers.
• Everyone remembers “I do not like them, Sam I Am” from their childhood.

My take: This is one of the most classic Dr. Seuss books. Plus, if your kids read this one a lot, you have the perfect breakfast for Dr. Seuss Day or April Fool’s (green eggs, maybe not the ham).

Fox In Socks

• This is a silly book filled with tongue twisters (and no real plot).
• Kids will love trying to say all the silly words (this book needs to be read aloud).
• It’s better for older kids who will laugh at trying to read this, rather than younger kids who won’t get the humor in it.

My take: Fox In Socks will have older kids laughing with whoever is reading the story and getting excited over it (so it’s maybe not best for bedtime). Younger kids will get frustrated at the reader for tripping over his or her words.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

• It’s about the journey of life and the ups and downs that go along with it.
• It’s one of the more serious books by Dr. Seuss.
• Oh, The Places You’ll Go is one of the most popular graduation gifts.

My take: For years, Oh, The Places You’ll Go has been a great high school graduation gift, sending students off into the world with a little encouragement and a little whimsy.

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now

• A really silly story about a boy who just won’t leave.
• Kids will love how the pointing finger grows as the book goes on.
• It’s good for little kids who will love the repetition and laugh at the increasing absurdity.

My take: The Irish goodbye is so popular with adults but kids sometimes want to wear out their welcome. So, this might be a good one to keep in your pocket when they don’t want to go home.

The Cat in the Hat

• It’s a fun story about a mysterious cat turning a boring day into one to remember.
• This is one of the most whimsical of the books
• This book is the first one everyone thinks of when they think of Dr. Seuss.

My take: I always buy this one to kick off someone’s Dr. Seuss collection because it’s the most well known and classic.

The Cat In The Hat Comes Back

• The sequel to The Cat In The Hat is filled with new hijinks and antics.
• It’s really funny, especially to kids who have read the first book.
• If you have a pair of kids to gift, give The Cat In The Hat to one and The Cat In The Hat Comes Back to the other.

My take: I love to gift this to siblings when I’m trying to gift similar but different gifts.

Hop On Pop

• Filled with easy rhymes, this book helps teach phonics.
• It’s really quick and filled with repetition.
• Hop On Pop is perfect for really young kids.

My take: If you’re gifting someone who is learning to read, rather than someone who is having books read to them, this is a really good one.

The Lorax

• The Lorax is about the environment and conservation.
• It’s a more serious book than most of the others in Dr. Seuss’ collection.
• It’s better for older kids who can follow a plot.

My take: Honestly, The Lorax is a classic but it’s not one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, so I don’t usually choose this one to gift.

Horton Hears A Who!

• Horton, the elephant, discovers Whoville (which is the same Whoville that’s also in The Grinch).
• This is a more story-driven book than some of the others.
• It’s best for kids who are a little bit older and can follow a plot.

My take: If your kids like the movie Horton Hears A Who, you definitely want to introduce them to the book version as well.

Dr. Seuss’s 123

• It’s a counting book, filled with illustrations from the Dr. Seuss universe.
• Kids can learn to count up to 20.
• It’s best for young kids who are learning their numbers.

My take: This is one of the more educational books for little kids.

Dr. Seuss’s Book Of Colors

• The book, filled with illustrations from the Dr. Seuss universe, help kids learn their colors.
• It’s filled with rhyming, which helps kids learn.
• It’s best for young kids who are learning their colors.

My take: This is another educational book for little kids and would make a great gift with the 123 book.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book

• The alphabet book is filled with illustrations from the Dr. Seuss universe.
• It helps kids learn their letters by introducing them to whimsical characters.
• It’s best for young kids who are learning their letters and sounds.

My take: Pair this book with the colors and numbers books for the perfect gift.

The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss’s Wacky Book of Opposites

• The book is filled with opposites, really helping kids learn the concept.
• It’s filled with rhymes and easy opposites (like “wet foot / dry foot”).
• It’s perfect for preschoolers.

My take: If you’re shopping for a precocious kid who is about to enter preschool, this one is perfect.

The Sneetches And Other Stories

• There are four stories in the book: The Sneetches, The Zax, Too Many Daves, and What Was I Scared Of?
• The stories focus on overcoming our differences.
• It’s best for kids who are older and can understand prejudices and acceptance.

My take: Honestly, I never even knew this collection existed until I was putting this list together. It sounds great, but it’s not one of the most popular of Dr. Seuss’ books.

What Pet Should I Get?

• It’s about being indecisive and helping kids make up their minds.
• It’s filled with characters from Dr. Seuss’ world.
• Fun fact: The book was discovered and published posthumously.

My take: If your kid is whishy-washy, this is the perfect book to help them learn how to make a decision.

Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book

• A tiny yawn is contagious and puts everyone to sleep.
• It’s really funny and relies on humor.
• If your kid is tough to get to sleep, a book about contagious yawns might help him catch one.

My take: I remember this book, and catching the yawn, when I was young and think about it anytime someone yawns close to me.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

• The Grinch steals Christmas and its material possessions, but can’t steal the town’s joy.
• It’s such a good story about how people are more important than possessions.
• Kids who are just starting to learn the meaning of Christmas would love this book.

My take: If your kid doesn’t have How The Grinch Stole Christmas! yet, it’s the best stocking stuffer.

Dr Seuss’s If You Think There’s Nothing To Do

• The book is filled with lots of funny ways to kill time and boredom.
• It’s completely impractical (like balancing cats on your head).
• The book is best for kids who won’t actually try out these boredom busters.

My take: If your kids are always complaining they’re bored, this book will give them really silly ideas that may help them imagine actual things to do.

Yertle the Turtle And Other Stories

• The book is filled with three stories: Yertle the Turtle, Gertrude McFuzz, and The Big Brag,
• The stories are pretty serious, focusing on concepts like greed and pride.
• It’s best for older kids who can follow the plots and understand the meaning.

My take: Most of the Dr. Seuss books out there are silly and fun. This … is not.

The Tooth Book

• It’s an educational book about teeth.
• It’s filled with both facts and rhymes.
• If your kid is going for his first dentist appointment, this is a good way to introduce him to why he has to go.

My take: This would actually be a fun gift to give from the Tooth Fairy after your kids loses his first tooth.

Dr Seuss’s Book Of Animals

• It’s an animal book, filled with illustrations from the Dr. Seuss universe.
• Both real and fictional animals find their way onto the pages.
• It’s a good book for kids who are interested in animals.

My take: You don’t have to read this start to finish to grasp it, so it’s great for little kids who just want to flip around the book.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

• The book is filled with animal sounds and onomatopoeic text.
• It’s really interactive and encourages kids to make noise.
• It’s perfect for young kids learning animal sounds or just ones who need to get out some wiggles.

My take: This is one of the more interactive books, so it’s definitely up high on my shopping list.

Ten Apples Up On Top!

• This is a silly book about three friends adding more and more apples on their heads.
• This is a fun way to learn counting.
• It’s great for little kids since it teaches them to count to ten.

My take: If you’re shopping for a really young kid who is learning to count, this is a great choice.

Purchase Dr. Seuss Books Online:

These aren’t all of the Dr. Seuss books out there. There are more, including Happy Birthday To You, a perfect birthday gift.

To purchase those books, check out the stores below:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-A-Million
• Target
• Walmart

Don’t forget to check a store’s minimum cart total to qualify for free shipping. Also consider instore or curbside pickup to avoid shipping charges.

How to Save Money on Dr. Seuss Books:

If you want to pick up a bunch of Dr. Seuss books at once, that can honestly get a little bit expensive. So, we have a couple tips to help you save just a little bit.

Check seasonal displays

I found a huge display in Walmart, right in time for Read Across America Day. When the March holiday is over, Walmart needs to clear out this display to make room for other seasonal items. So, Dr. Seuss books get clearanced.

Look for box sets

If you’re buying a few books, look for boxed sets, like the The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library Boxed Set, which comes with 10 books, or the Dr. Seuss’s Beginner Book Collection Boxed Set, which comes with five classics.

Buying that way is cheaper than buying the books individually.

Compare Hardcover vs. Mini Versions

Most Dr. Seuss books are hardcovers, which are always a little bit cheaper than paperback — but I’ve never seen any paperback Dr. Seuss books. What I have seen, though, are mini versions. Those are perfect for little hands and may save you money too.

Check Thrift Stores Or Library Sales

Anytime I’m looking for a book for a craft, I check the thrift store. And the shelves are filled with Dr. Seuss books. If you’re buying as a gift, I wouldn’t suggest this. But if you’re buying for your own kids’ home collection, thrift stores (or a library’s annual sale) will have the books for a fraction of the retail price.

Traveling is expensive, but it’s so important, so we have to figure out how to do it. For some help, check out our How To Travel On A Budget guide, filled with ways to save money on your next vacation.

Hotel Amenities That Save You Money When Traveling

This list is filled with hotel amenities to look for to get the most out of your hotel stay. They’re grouped into four categories: food savings, transportation savings, hidden fee avoidance, extra savings and credits, and then a section with additional amenities that can stretch your dollar.

That way, you can either read the full post or jump to the section that you need most.

Hotel Amenities That Save You Money on Food

Free Hotel Breakfast

Booking a hotel with a complementary breakfast is one of the best ways to save money on your trip.

If you go out to breakfast, that’s at least $15 per person, if you’re getting a meal and a drink. For a couple, that’s $30. Multiply that by every day you’re on vacation, and that’s a huge part of your travel budget.

A full hot breakfast buffet, which has hot items like breakfast meats, eggs, and usually has a pancake or waffle maker, can offer more value and savings overall than a continental breakfast, which is mostly just cold items like pastries.

As long as there’s some sort of free breakfast, you pocket that savings.

It saves you more than just the breakfast tab, too, because you’re not paying to go anywhere.

Since you don’t have to leave the hotel for breakfast, you don’t have to pay for rideshare or gas to get there. And you don’t have to find and pay for parking near the restaurant.

All those savings add up.

So, if you’re debating between two hotels, and one is a little more expensive but offers a free breakfast, we suggest the one that includes breakfast.

In-Room Coffee Maker

Coffeeshops can get so expensive. If you head out for coffee every morning you’re on your trip, that daily $5 cup of coffee really cuts into your budget.

So, instead, book a hotel room with an in-room coffee maker.

The hotel usually has a single-serving bag or two of regular and decaf waiting for you in the room. If you drink more than that, stop at the front desk on the way back to your room and ask for more. They’re usually more than happy to give you a couple extra instant coffee packets.

What I really love is when a hotel has coffee in the lobby when you walk in. That means it’s always available. So if you want a cup of coffee when you’re checking in (and tired from traveling) or at night after your spent all day sightseeing, you can run down to the lobby rather than running to the closest Starbucks (and spending another $5).

Fun frugal tip: If your hotel has hot chocolate in the lobby too, you can make a hotel mocha.

Hotel Happy Hours

Hotels with happy hours, which can include either drinks (if you’re 21+) or full meals can save you a ton of money.

We once stayed at a Kimpton hotel that had a daily complementary happy hour each night with free beer, wine, coffee, and tea. My parents stayed at another of the hotel chain’s properties that a hot chocolate happy hour, complete with a huge toppings bar.

If the happy hour fits into your schedule right, you can pre-game there and save about $15 a person per night (if you drink two drinks) before you go out. That way, you can spend less on drinks and the local bars and breweries.

For our wedding, we room blocked the TownePlace Suites Marriott, which offered free drinks and free appetizers from a local restaurant a few times a week. I know the Drury Hotel offers something similar daily too.

So, if you need to stretch your budget, you could actually eat a full meal at the hotel, saving yourself at least $20 a person.

Kitchen / Kitchenette

If you book an extended stay hotel, like the Hyatt House, it usually has a kitchenette area with a refrigerator, microwave, and stove top.

You may not want to cook a full meal while you’re on vacation, but, having a kitchen or kitchenette saves you money because you’re able to save your leftovers.

Since you’re bringing them back to your hotel, you’re not throwing money away by throwing them away. Then, on the last day of your trip, you can heat up all the leftovers in the fridge rather than going out for one more meal. That will save you close to $100 (as long as your entire family has enough leftovers for a full meal).

Hotel Amenities That Save You Money On Transportation

Complementary Parking

Parking can be so expensive in hotels in big cities. Those cities don’t have the room for large parking lots, so hotels end up charging a lot of money for parking.

If you’re debating between two hotels, and one is a little more expensive but offers complementary daily parking, go with that one.

If parking is included in the hotel price, that’s great. But, if it’s not included, it can cost upwards of $50 per night … just to park in the hotel’s lot.

A $50 a night charge really adds up over your trip. And then it’s not really a frugal hotel anymore. So, a hotel with a higher nightly rate, but free parking, might actually be a better deal.

Complementary Airport Shuttle Service

One of the hotel amenities to look for to save money is a complementary airport shuttle service.

That can be a huge savings because some airports have additional fees for using rideshare. So, your trip is more expensive. Of course, this varies by airport, but just a quick example: When we flew into like Nashville International Airport, there was a $5 airport fee plus a $2 city fee for airport pickups.

So, if you don’t have to pay for taxis or rideshares to get from the airport to the hotel and can use a hotel’s free service instead, you can save a lot of money.

Shuttle To Attractions

If your hotel offers a shuttle to popular attractions, use it. It can save you so much on rideshare costs and is especially helpful if you don’t have a rental car (which is another travel expense).

There are a lot of complementary Las Vegas shuttles for hotel guests, which will bring you between casino properties. That way, you can see a bunch of different properties without having to take taxies or rideshares to get to them.

In Nashville, there are hotels in midtown that will take you to Broadway for free. The hotels in midtown are cheaper because they are away from the honkey tonk bars everyone wants to go to, so now you’re saving on the hotel and rides.

And, when my parents stayed at the Best Western Plus Humboldt Bay Inn in Eureka, CA, there was a complementary limo service that drove guests from the hotel to restaurants downtown, then pick them up.

So, you’ll want to ask a concierge or the check-in desk about these services because they’ll vary by hotel.

Hotel Amenities That Help You Avoid Hidden Fees

Free WiFi

With remote work getting so popular, we all need internet at all times. Most, but not all, hotels will offer free WiFi. Some only offer it for a specific number of devices, though, which is not great if you’re traveling with kids who each have their own device.

So, make sure that your hotel offers free WiFi. If not, internet usage is usually $14.95 a day, and that can really add up.

No Resort Fees

Some hotels, especially on the strip in Las Vegas, add resort fees onto your hotel stay. Resort fees are a mandatory, daily surcharge that cover things like pool usage, shuttles, WiFi, etc. even if you don’t use them.

They’re in addition to the daily rate and can be over $45. Hotels in downtown Las Vegas heavily lean into their no resort fees advertisements because, even if you’re going to Vegas for a long weekend, the resort fees can be $200 total.

Since resort fees can vary greatly by hotel, you definitely want to compare them before booking.

Frugal tip: Certain hotel chains waive resort fees if you’re at a certain level in the hotel’s loyalty program. So, check that out before you book too.

Bonus Ways Hotels Help You Save Money

Benefits For Not Using Housekeeping

I always say my favorite part about staying in a hotel is that I don’t have to make the bed. So any time I stay at a hotel, I never put up the do not disturb sign. Please, housekeeping, come make my bed.

(And yes, before you even worry, I do tip housekeeping daily for making the bed.)

But there are hotel chains that offer you perks for not using housekeeping. Some casino hotels will offer you free play, which is free money, so that’s worth it.

A resort we stayed at on Hilton Head Island offered us a $5 credit for the hotel’s sundry store if we skipped housekeeping. And a hotel we stayed at in Charleston offered us 250 loyalty points if we didn’t have our room cleaned.

Those little perks can add up … unless you’re like me and always appreciate when someone else makes the bed.

Amenities That Add Value to Your Stay

Pool

If you’re on vacation, your trip can get expensive. Dining out, sightseeing, and transportation all cost money. So you might be looking for a day where you can stop spending but still have fun.

If you book a hotel with a pool, it indirectly saves you money because you can spend an entire afternoon there for free.

Be sure to check the rules at the pool because some will let you bring food and drinks down, so you can plan lunch by the pool and not have to pay to dine out that day.

Plus, if you don’t have a pool at home, swimming in one at a hotel is such a treat.

Fitness Center

When Pete is on vacation, he loves booking a hotel with a fitness center so he can keep up with his workout routine. Because yes, it’s nice to exercise on vacation.

If a hotel doesn’t have a fitness center, and you’re traveling with someone who needs to work out daily, that person may look into a day pass at a local gym, which costs money and cuts into your vacation budget.

So, a fitness center at a hotel doesn’t directly save you money, but it does stop you from extra spending.

If you love your slow cooker as much as I do and you want more ways to use it, we have a great list of recipes using the slow cooker.

There are recipes for appetizers, dessert, and everything in between.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken With Corn And Beans Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken With Corn And Beans Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Canned corn – I use no salt added canned corn in this recipe because even though I also use lower sodium taco seasoning, there’s plenty of salt to season the entire dish.
• Canned black beans – If you don’t have black beans, you can substitute kidney beans.
• Chicken breast fillet – Fillets work better portion wise than tenderloins.
• Salsa – Any type and spice level works. I prefer red salsa because it adds more color than a green salsa it does, but you can choose whatever you think tastes the best.
• Cheddar cheese – Buy a brick of cheese and shredded it yourself. Pre-shredded, bagged cheese has a preservative added to it so it doesn’t melt in the bag, but that means it also doesn’t melt in your recipe.
• Seasoning – I season the chicken with Adobo and cumin and everything else with low sodium taco seasoning. You can use regular taco seasoning, but it already has plenty of salt.

How To Make Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken With Corn And Beans:

Drain your corn and add it to the bottom of a slow cooker.

Drain and your beans and add them to the slow cooker as well.

Sprinkle the taco seasoning on top.

You don’t have to worry about stirring it in. As this cooks, the taco seasoning will get absorbed into the vegetables.

Season the chicken generously on both sides.

Put the chicken fillets into the slow cooker.

You can just set them on top of the beans. They don’t need to be incorporated any further and actually if you put them too low, they could over cook and dry out.

Pour the salsa all over the top. Close the lid and click on the low for six hours.

The salsa will act as a liquid, so you don’t need to add any additional liquid like you often do with slow cooker recipes.

If you do add more liquid, you’ll end up with a broth at the bottom of the slow cooker that you don’t want.

When the time is about finished, shred the cheddar cheese.

I say this every time there’s a recipe where you want melted cheese, but you want to shred the cheese rather than buying bagged, shredded cheese.

The bagged cheese has a preservative coating on it so it doesn’t clump together in the bag. That same preservative stops it from melting properly. So anytime you want that nice melty cheese, you want to shred it yourself.

Please equal amounts of shredded cheese on top of each chicken breast.

Put back the lid and cook for just another five minutes until the cheese melts.

Serve the salsa chicken over either white rice or cilantro lime rice, then garnish with cilantro.

An alternate way to serve this, is to shred the chicken (it’s easy with two forks), then use it to stuff tortillas to make a burrito or use it as a taco filling. Add your favorite toppings to make it complete.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken With Corn And Beans: Frequently Asked Questions

More Ways To Use Taco Seasoning:

This is just one of our recipes that uses taco seasoning but isn’t tacos. I actually really like taco seasoning packets because they have so many different flavors in it so you don’t have to worry about having a ton of seasoning jars in your cabinet.

Although, if you came to my house, you would be shocked to see how much seasoning, including finishing salt and sugars, that we have. But I digress. Back to the taco seasoning.

If you bought a couple packets because it was on sale and you’re looking for more recipes to use it in, check out our list of recipes using taco seasoning for more ideas.

Amazon

Amazon is running a Spring Sale with deals on spring cleaning items, fitness and outdoors items, festival fashion, and more, starting on March 25.

Head over to Amazon to scroll the sale.

Dairy Queen

The first day of spring is usually Dairy Queen’s free cone day, but this year, the ice cream chain is celebrating it the day before, on March 19.

Anyone can get free small vanilla cone at participating non-mall locations of both Dairy Queen and DQ Grill & Chill locations. You can get it dipped for $1.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Get three free Original Glazed doughnuts for $2 when you buy any dozen. This is valid March 19 to 22.

Moore County, NC

The Pinecone Pathways Program in Moore County, NC kicks off on the first day of spring. Glass pinecones will be hidden throughout parks in the county (which includes the towns of Pinehurst, which people know because of golf, and Southern Pines, which people know because of beer).

You can keep the pinecones and scan a QR code on them for a chance at additional prizes.

Panera Bread

MyPanera rewards members can get a free tulip cookie with a delivery purchase. This is valid until March 22.

Parlor Doughnuts

Parlor Perks program members get double points on savory doughnut purchases.

This is valid from March 18 to 22.

You’ll sleep better in a calm, uncluttered space, so keeping your bedroom is clean is really important.

We have a great post on things you forget to clean in the bedroom. Check it out to make sure everything is perfect for a good night’s sleep.

Frugal Ways To Unwind Before Bed

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

These are just ways that we’ve found that work for us when we’ve had long days. But, these aren’t tips to get your best sleep.

For that, The Mayo Clinic suggests tips like creating a sleep routine, with a set sleep time and waking time every night, avoid caffeine and heavy meals in the evening, limiting daytime naps, using blackout curtains to create a relaxing space, adding physical activity into your day, and managing your worries.

Read a book or magazine

For Pete, reading is basically a tranquilizer. As soon as he opens a book or magazine, he gets so tired, he usually falls asleep with the magazine open on his lap. It makes it hard to get through a book, but it’s a great way for him to unwind and fall asleep.

It’s a good idea to keep a book or magazine on your nightstand. That way, when you’re in bed, you can just reach over and grab it. If it’s in another room and you have to get up to get it, you probably won’t.

To keep this even more budget-friendly, though, head down to your local library and borrow a book. That way, you always have something to read without constantly spending money on books.

If you have an e-reader or tablet, you can take out ebooks and audiobooks for free via the Libby app. You just need to have a library card to access the system.

And, if you want something shorter and easier, we’re constantly posting free magazine deals on our social media pages, so request those and you’ll always have something free to read.

Put on a podcast

I used to never be able to fall asleep with any sort of noise, and Pete really loves having it when he falls asleep.

At some point, he changed from playing music to listening to podcasts before bed. Some of the hosts have such soothing voices that no matter how interested I am in in their content, their voices are a lullaby for me.

We used to listen to a specific scripted series at night. I would fall asleep shortly after it started and wake up after it ended.

That meant the next day, when I was awake and working, I would actually have to re-listen to the podcast to see what I had missed.

What’s great about this is so many shows just want you to listen, so they offer their podcasts for free via apps like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. So you don’t have to pay anything for them, which makes you feel better about sleeping through them.

Plus, you don’t need to purchase any types of devices to listen to these. You can just stream for free on your phone or tablet.

Turn on the television

My grandma’s favorite way to fall asleep was with the television on. She would set the sleep timer for two hours or so and fall asleep while it was on.

If you’re using television to unwind before bed, be sure to set a sleep timer. You don’t want the television on until morning (because that’s not good for your electric bill).

If you’re like us and don’t pay for cable, that’s fine. You can still set a sleep timer and watch local channels with a digital TV antenna. That way, you’re just falling asleep to whatever’s on in the background rather than actually staying up late streaming your favorite shows.

If you do want to watch something specific before bed, we suggest something you’ve seen before that’s a comfort show or something lighthearted. I always say, “I don’t want chaos in my entertainment,” but you definitely don’t want something with high adrenaline when you’re trying to unwind.

Shower

Lowering your body temperature helps you fall asleep. So a warm shower before bed is a great way to help your body unwind and get ready to sleep. If you don’t like showers, a warm bath would work too.

Okay, I know that sounds counterproductive. But, if you raise your body temperature in the shower, your body will naturally start to cool itself off. And that will help tell your brain it’s almost bedtime.

If you want, you can turn this into a whole nighttime routine, complete with DIY shower steamers. Since you’re making them yourself, that’s more budget-friendly than buying expensive ones.

Instead of expensive exfoliating creams, use a Japanese washcloth. I’ve used those my whole life and I’m obsessed. The fabric it’s made of is a little scratchy, so they scrub away the day (and any dead skin), and just get you relaxed and ready for bed.

We actually have a whole post about having an at home spa day. You’re not going to go through that full routine every day, but on days when you’re really having trouble getting to bed, the tricks in that post may help.

Play games on your phone.

My favorite way to unwind is to play games on my phone. I know, people say that it actually keeps you awake because of the stimulation and the blue light, but it’s so good for me.

Quick note: But if you’re worried about blue light, you can always use your phone on night mode or with blue light blocking glasses.

When I’m playing a strategy game, I stop thinking about the day and start thinking about the level I’m trying to beat. My absolute favorite game is Two Dots, which I have had on my phone for over a decade. It’s a free puzzle solving game, so definitely try it if you like puzzles.

I would recommend staying off social media though. You might see something that makes you angry or upset and gets your brain going. You’ll be thinking about it all night long and won’t be able to fall asleep.

Plus, social media is filled with targeted ads, so you’ll be scrolling and next thing you know, you’ll be adding all sorts of nonsense to your cart. And spending money on things you don’t need late at night is not a frugal way to unwind.

Have some tea.

Tea in the evening is so good for the soul. Tea, like the drink, not gossip (although that kind of tea is good for my soul too, just maybe not in the relaxation way).

A couple times a week, Pete will make a teapot filled with some sort of tea. The type doesn’t really matter, but it’s usually something like chamomile that I got on sale with a coupon. He’ll cut the teabags up and steep the loose tea in a Japanese teapot that he bought me for one of our first Christmases.

If you don’t have something like that, a simple tea infuser that you can add the tea bag contents into works.

Sitting and drinking tea is so soothing in itself. And spending that time with him at the end of the day is just so calming, it really does just get my body into night mode.

And, side note, if you want to get into that ritual with your loved ones, we have a list of tea lover gift ideas for inspiration.

Write a gratitude journal

We (and by we, I mean people in general), very often, spend a lot of time going over the bad parts of the day, thinking about everything that we did wrong, and that keeps us up at night.

So, a really good habit to get into is gratitude journaling.

All you need to do is write down three things that happened that day that you’re thankful or grateful for. Doing this helps you appreciate your days (even the bad days) more, makes you more optimistic, and helps you focus on positive emotions.

Gratitude journaling helps you get better sleep because it puts your mind in a better place and you avoid pre-sleep anxiety. You can read all about that here.

The best part? It’s so cheap. You can write in an old notebook or even just use a notes app on your phone (that way, you don’t even need paper). Or, there are actually specific gratitude journals out there that you can buy (which might be helpful if you’ve never journaled before).

Try some deep breathing

This one might feel a little funny if you’ve never done it before, but stick with me.

Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, breathe it out through your mouth for six seconds.

That very specific deep breathing is so good for your nervous system. It’s similar to box breathing, although that uses the same interval so you form a box.

I feel like deep breathing is a lot easier for people to do than meditation. With this, you just have to focus for a few seconds. With meditation, you really have to concentrate and that can be hard for people.

Being mindful of your body when you’re doing this, feeling your chest as it goes up and down, really helps to calm you down. And, even better: breathing is free.

If you want, you can spray some lavender essential oil mist into the air before you start any breathing exercises because the scent helps relax your body and get it into sleep mode.

Listen to nature sounds/white noise

Before we had a white noise machine, I was so skeptical of them. I told you earlier, I need the room to be silent in order to sleep. So I couldn’t imagine how eight hours of background noise would improve anyone’s sleep quality.

And then we got a sound machine. It’s amazing.

The first night we used it was on a blog trip where our hotel room faced a very noisy parking lot that faced a highway. And I slept so soundly. The noise machine covered all that outside noise, plus the sounds were so calming that we got such good sleep that night.

You can find free white noise apps online that you can play straight from your phone for free. Also, don’t stop at white (it’s just the most common ambient noise).

There are other types like pink noise, brown noise, green noise, plus ocean sounds and other nature sounds. Try them all out until you find what’s best for you, then create an entire playlist of that sound to get you through the whole night.

Declutter

If you’re in bed and can’t fall asleep, get out of bed. If you’re lying there for more than 20 to 30 minutes, get up. You’re confusing your body and it’s not associating your bed with relaxation anymore.

So, what can you do instead?

Clean a little. Declutter. A clean space helps to create a clean mind. So, clean.

This is a little hard if you share a bedroom with a spouse because you don’t want to be reorganizing your closet when someone else has figured out how to rest. But, you can go downstairs to another room and tackle something like the junk drawer that has been bothering you since you moved in.

The best part about this? You’ll end up with a clean home. I mean, no. The best part is that it doesn’t cost any money to clean. The clean home thanks to that night’s insomnia is a bonus.

How Free Hotel Breakfast Can Save You Money On Vacation

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How Much Breakfast Costs When Traveling

Dining out is inevitable when you’re going on vacation. And that can get really expensive.

How expensive depends on where you go for your meals. But, let’s stick with breakfast.

Most people start with a cup of coffee. Even if you end there, that’s $5 — even before they flip that screen around and ask you for a tip. If you want a pastry, that’s another $5. And so now, you’re caffeinated and carbonated and paid $10 for it.

If you go to a fast food restaurant (which I don’t recommend you do on vacation because you can get that at home), you’re paying a little less, but still around $8 or so for a meal with coffee.

And, if you go to a local restaurant (maybe one that’s a tourist trap but is on your list because you’re a tourist, like the Pancake Pantry in Nashville, you’re paying at least $11 for a meal and more than that for a Bloody Mary (it is Nashville, after all). So that’s $25 before a tip.

At the Carolina Dining Room at Pinehurst Resort, dubbed “The Best Breakfast In Golf,” I paid $40 a person for breakfast — and that’s not including any additional drinks.

Now multiply that by the number of the people you’re traveling with and that’s a really big chunk of your daily budget.

That’s why we like booking a hotel with a free breakfast. It saves that entire cost (which, for a couple is at least $20 and for a family of four is at least $40).

And now that you didn’t spend that $5 on coffee first thing this morning, you have that $5 to spend on a coffee when you’re sightseeing downtown and stumble over the cutest coffeeshop (which happens to me all the time).

Why A Free Hotel Breakfast Is One Of The Best Frugal Travel Hacks

The most obvious reason to look for a hotel with a complimentary breakfast is so you don’t pay to have breakfast out in town. So right there, you’re eliminating an entire meal that you have to pay for.

But, it saves you more than just money. It saves you time.

When you wake up, your morning has a little more flexibility built in. You can just mosey on to the hotel’s lobby and get your first cup of coffee. Or get your full breakfast if you’re ready to eat.

You don’t have to worry about figuring out where to eat, getting your car in the parking lot or ordering a rideshare, waiting on a line to get in, reading a menu, ordering your food, then waiting for it to be made and served.

That’s all too much for me to do before I drink any coffee.

Plus, everything at breakfast is included. So if you’re in the mood for eggs, breakfast meats, a pastry, and yogurt, you can just pile that all on your plate. Can’t decide between hot chocolate and juice? Have them both. There’s no extra cost.

If you want multiple drinks at the local breakfast spot down the block from your hotel, you’re getting charged for multiple drinks.

Not at your hotel.

Ways To Stretch A Free Hotel Breakfast

You May Be Able To Skip Lunch

If you eat a large breakfast at the hotel, you might be able to skip lunch later on (and that helps you save at least $15).

When we were in Santee, SC, we stayed at the historic Clarks Inn & Restaurant. Restaurant is in the name, so of course, breakfast at the restaurant was included in our stay.

It wasn’t a buffet breakfast. It was a voucher with six different breakfast options on it that you could choose from daily. The breakfast choices were so hearty and filling, we weren’t even able to finish them. So we had our leftovers packed and brought them back to our hotel room.

That’s lunch right there at no additional cost.

Even with a continental breakfast, if you eat enough to fill yourself, you might be too full to even want to have lunch, which saves you from paying for it.

Frugal travel tip: If you don’t or can’t skip a meal, but you still want to save, we have a great post with ways to save on food when you’re on vacation.

You Can Save On Snacks

If your hotel’s breakfast has fresh fruit, you can take a piece of it to go. That’ll save you about $3 to $5 when you’re looking for a snack later.

When my mom and I were on a trip together, we both grabbed a piece of fruit to take with us on a hike we were planning on doing. When we were in the middle of the hike in the wood, obviously with no stores around, we were able to take a break.

This is good when you’re sightseeing too because now you have a snack — a free snack, mind you — handy rather than trying to find a grocery or convenience store to buy something to eat.

If you don’t like fruit, you could take a bagels with cream cheese to go instead (that’s my aunt’s go to) and eat that when you’re hungry.

Frugal travel tip: For more ways to save on snacks, check out that linked post.

You Can Grab A Coffee To Go

Many complimentary breakfasts will include coffee and other hot beverages. If you’re checking out after breakfast, you can always grab a coffee for the road.

If you’re driving home or to the airport, you might want that extra jolt of caffeine. So grab that at breakfast instead of the closest coffeeshop to save yourself at least $4 — and to save yourself some time on the road since now you don’t have to stop.

I you’re like me and you enjoy coffee when you’re strolling around town, this is perfect too. Grab a to go cup of coffee and go explore. That’s better than spending time walking around town, trying to find a coffeeshop.

Fun travel tip: I actually make a hotel mocha instead and take that to go. That way, I feel like I’m having a coffeehouse drink without the $7 price tag.

Hotels That Usually Offer Free Breakfast

Holiday Inn Express is our go to hotel because it always has a free breakfast included. Holiday Inn does not.

We’ve found free breakfast at the TownPlace Suites Marriott, Embassy Suites, Home2 Suites, Hyatt House (the one we stayed at in Charleston even had a made-to-order omelet station), and the Best Western. We got it once at the EconoLodge too, although that was not our favorite.

I know Staybridge Suites and Homewood Suites usually offer them as well, although we’ve never stayed at those.

Most high-end hotel chains don’t offer a complimentary breakfast (which is wild to me because you’d expect a higher price tag to come with more perks than budget hotels have).

Some higher end chains will offer complimentary breakfast or a breakfast credit to higher tier guests.

But, of course, this can vary by location as well, so you definitely need to check the hotel’s website before booking.

And, just keep in mind that there’s a difference between a full hot breakfast buffet, which includes hot items and breakfast meats (usually a choice of bacon or sausage, plus eggs, potatoes, waffles, oatmeal, toast, etc.), and a continental breakfast (a light breakfast of cold, mostly shelf-stable items like pastries, baked goods, fruit, yogurt, and coffee).

When Paying More For A Hotel With Breakfast Is Worth It

Before you book the hotel, look under the amenities to see if a complimentary breakfast is listed.

The hotel might be a little more expensive than another option, but let’s do the math. Breakfast for two at a diner is about $30, including food and a coffee. So even if the room rate of the hotel you book is $5 a night more than another hotel without breakfast, it’s worth it. You’ll be saving $25 a day.

When we were booking our hotel in San Antonio, I paid an extra $9 a day for vouchers for breakfast at the hotel. I figured even if we just got a nice cup of coffee in the hotel before starting our day, that was worth the $4.50 each.

Well, it turns out that the breakfast vouchers were actually good for a coffee and full, hot breakfast entrée at the hotel’s restaurant. We got $20 breakfasts each every morning. Eggs, waffles, toast, meat, and coffee.

And the coffee was so good. We each had a cup, and a refill, and the waitress even offered us a to go cup of it so we could take coffee back to the room while we were getting ready for the day.

More Frugal Amenities To Look For:

Staying at a hotel with free breakfast options is such a good travel hack. But, it’s not the only thing we look for when we’re booking a hotel.

For more, we have a huge list of Hotel Amenities That Save You Money When Traveling to help your stretch that budget.

Even though these are my favorite, they’re not the only treat we make for the holiday.

For more fun treats, check out our long list of St. Patrick’s Day desserts.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats Recipe

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Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

Butter – We prefer unsalted butter because the cereal already has plenty of salt in it.
Mini marshmallows – The mini marshmallows melt quicker and are easier to incorporate into your treats than full-size marshmallows. But if all you can find are large marshmallows, those will work. They’ll just take a little longer to melt.
Lucky Charms Cereal – You can use the brand or the generic version. You can also use the chocolate version if you prefer.

How To Make Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats:

Making these is the same as making rice cereal treats, so if you’ve ever made those before, you know exactly what to do. But if you don’t, I’m here to help.

Melt the butter in a large pot on the stovetop over medium low heat.

The larger the pot, the easier the rest of this will be for you. I love using a Dutch oven in general because of how it heats, but it doesn’t have enough room to stir all of the cereal.

And I think that’s the biggest problem people make when they’re making marshmallow treats. They don’t use a bowl that’s big enough for what they need. So stirring becomes frustrating and then people don’t want to make these.

So, heed my warning, and use a bowl that’s large enough.

Add in the mini marshmallows.

Stir constantly with a bamboo spoon until the marshmallows are completely melted. This should take about five minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat.

Two quick tips. One: Marshmallow sticks less to a bamboo spoon than it does to a metal one, so using a wooden spoon makes stirring a little easier.

Two: Add a little bit of butter onto the spoon first, especially if you’re using something other than a wooden spoon, like a rubber spatula. This will help the sticky marshmallow slip off.

Quickly pour in the Lucky Charms cereal into the melted marshmallows.

Stir until the Lucky Charms are completely coated in marshmallow.

You want to make sure that you’re getting the marshmallow on the very bottom of the bowl incorporated into the cereal as well. If not, you’ll end up with large, sticky pockets of marshmallow in your treats.

Lightly coat a baking dish with butter.

Here’s a fun tip. Save the wrapper from the butter that you melted before. Then, use the butter residue that’s left behind on that wrapper to grease pan.

That’s a good way to stretch your budget because you’re not using additional butter.

Pour the cereal and marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan.

Flatten it so it’s an even layer.

You want to flatten it a little bit so that everything sticks together after it cools. But, you don’t want to push it down too much because that makes the marshmallow treats very dense, breaks up the cereal pieces, and you lose that beautiful airiness that marshmallow treats are known for.

You can either push it down with the back of your bamboo spoon or with your hands.

Many people suggest putting that in a sheet of parchment paper down and pushing on top of that to keep your hands clean.

Here’s a quick tip. As soon as you get the marshmallow treats into the pan, add dish soap and hot water into the bowl. Let that sit for a little. The sticky marshmallow will wash right out.

If you don’t let it soak in hot water, the marshmallow will be a pain in the neck to wash out.

Let the marshmallow treats cool completely before removing them from the tray and cutting them into pieces.

After I cut them, I stick some extra marshmallows on top for a garnish. If you didn’t reserve any extra marshmallows for this, you could use St. Patrick’s Day sprinkles instead.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats: Frequently Asked Questions

More Lucky Charms Treats:

Lucky Charms cereal is on sale everywhere in the first half of March.

So, if you found a buy one get one free deal and now you have an extra box of cereal, use it to make our Lucky Charms chocolate bark. That’s a really fun way to showcase the marshmallows.

Fun fact, though. If you just want the marshmallows, you can actually buy Lucky charms marshmallows online. They come without the cereal, which is perfect if you just want the marshmallows for your baked items this season.

St. Patrick’s Day is just one of the days during the year when restaurants and shops offer fun freebies and deals to celebrate. To make sure you don’t miss any, check out our list of the list of Top 20+ National Days For Freebies And Deals.

St. Patrick’s Day Freebies And Deals

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

All of these deals are happening on March 17th only unless otherwise noted. Anything with an * is a 2025 deal.

Also, we kept this list to national and large regional chains. Your local Irish restaurant may be offering some special deals today, but if we included every local haunt, this list would definitely be too long.

7 Brew Coffee

Buy one Lucky Seven 7 Energy (original or sugar-free can) or 7 Fizz Soda (any size), get one of equal or lesser value for free.

This is valid all day.

7-Eleven

Get $17 off a $30+ delivery order with the promo code LUCKY.

Applebee’s

If you’re 21+, you can get a $6 Tipsy Leprechaun drink (with Jameson Irish Whiskey, melon liqueur, blue curaçao, premium lemon sour, lemon lime soda, and a gold sugar rim).

Avelo Air

Get 35% off round trip base fares on select flights taken between April 21 and June 15 when you enter the promo code LUCKY at checkout. The code is valid on March 15 to 17 only.

Biggby Coffee

Get 50% off any Irish Cream beverages and get a festive sticker.

Burger Boy

Get a Mint Chocolate Chip Shake for $1.99.

Burger King

Royal Perks rewards members can get an order of onion rings for $2.

Checkers & Rally’s

Get a Baconzilla for only $4.

Cinnabon

Get a lemonade (lem o’nade, they’re calling it) for $1 with any baked goods purchase from March 14 to 17.

Crumbl

Nothing yet, but there was a deal last year.

Dave’s Hot Chicken

Frequent Fryer members have a reward for a free upgrade to a Mint Oreo Top-Loaded Shake.

If you’ve never been to one of these, you can find out more in our Dave’s Hot Chicken review.

Del Taco

Del Yeah! Rewards members can get BOGO Epic Fresh Guac Burritos on March 17 and 18.

Hardees

Rewards members can get BOGO 3-piece chicken tenders with the offer in the app.

This isn’t specific to the holiday. It happens every Tuesday and St. Patrick’s Day happens to fall on a Tuesday this year.

Huddle House

Get $1 off any $10+ purchase.

Jacksons Food Stores

Get a free big size Cafe Tango frozen coffee. You can also get a free pack of Sour Skittles.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Get a free o’riginal glazed doughnut (it’s the regular original glazed, but green) if you show up to your local Krispy Kreme location in green. Valid from March 16 to 17.

You can also get a dozen of these for $12 on March 16 and 17.

Krispy Kreme also has a St. Patrick’s Day doughnut collection available in shop and in select grocery stores, although those aren’t free.

Lowe’s Foods

Check your Lowe’s Foods account for a digital coupon for $10 off $50, valid on St. Patrick’s Day only.

Marco’s Pizza

Get $3 off any size specialty pizza when you enter the promo code LUCKY at checkout.

McAllister’s Deli

McAlister’s Rewards members can order a $1 Lucky Lemonade for $1 with any entree purchase.

McDonald’s

The Shamrock Shake is back at the fast food restaurant.

While there’s no specific deal for it, be sure to check the McDonald’s app for deals to pair with it (like free fries with any purchase on Friday and more).

Outback

Get a 16 oz. beer and a Bloomin’ Onion for $10 when you say “$10 Bloom and Beverage”.

Panera Bread

MyPanera rewards members get $2 off macaroni and cheese with the coupon in the app. This is valid on March 16 and 17. You can also get 20% off gift cards too.

Paris Baguette

PB Rewards members can get a free pastry with any beverage purchase.

Potbelly Sandwich Works

Get a free fountain drink or bottled water with the purchase of a Pick Your Pair with the promo code FREEDRINK.

This is happening March 16 to 22.

Randy’s Donuts

The doughnut shop’s St. Patrick’s Day doughnuts are available from March 13 to 17.

Rewards members who purchase it will get double points.

Raising Canes

Rewards members can enter the Lucky Swipes giveaway for a chance to win one of five prizes, including a free 22-ounce Leprechaun Lemonade.

Red Robin

If you’re 21+, you can get $5 Coors Light pints and $8 margaritas.

Starbucks

Starbucks rewards get 25 bonus stars with any order.

Target

Target is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day even on March 14, where you can try Dubai-style cookies from noon to 4 pm.

Plus, there will be a giveaway (for a keychain and either stickers or temporary tattoos, the photo isn’t clear), while supplies last.

TGI Friday’s

If you’re 21+, you can get the Lucky Henny cocktail for $7.

Walgreens

Get a free 8×10 at Walgreens with the promo code PRIN4YOU through March 17.

White Castle

Get $5 off a Crave Case of 30 sliders with this coupon (valid through April 5).

Order St. Patrick’s Day Food Online:

If you don’t feel like cooking and you forgot to stop by one of these places on your drive home tonight, you can just order St. Patrick’s Day food online with the following delivery services: Goldbelly, Grubhub, or Instacart​. Just keep in mind that Goldbelly won’t get to you in time for dinner tonight, but the other two will.

Make St. Patrick’s Day Food At Home:

If you want to make some food at home to celebrate, our Green SunButter Cookies are always a big hit. They’re made like regular cookies but naturally have a green center due to a chemical reaction between the sunflower seed butter and baking soda.

That’s just one of the great Irish and Green Foods we have for St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to serve your regular menu but with a special drink, check out our list of Irish and Green Drinks For St. Patrick’s Day.

Which of these St. Patrick’s Day deals and freebies are you going out for? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Pi Day is just one of the fun National Days that restaurants and shops celebrate annually. Check out our list of the Top National Days For Freebies And Deals to make sure you don’t miss any fun days and food deals this year.

Pie Deals For Pi Day

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All the deals are valid on Pi Day (March 14) only unless otherwise noted.

Blaze Pizza

Buy one 11-inch pizza and get a second for $3.14. This is different than in the past where everyone just got a $3.14 pizza.

This is for the original crust and unlimited toppings. Different crusts will have an upcharge.

Guests who visit on Pi Day will also get a digital code for a BOGO 11-inch pizza in the Blaze app.

If you’ve never been before, be sure to check out our Blaze Pizza review.

Chuck E Cheese

Get a personal one-topping pizza for $3.14 with this coupon.

Food Lion

Four-inch bakery pies are $1 (until March 17).

Goldbelly

The site is having a Pi Day sale on pizzas and sweet pies with 31.4% Off Lombardi’s, Giordano’s, Di Fara and more here.

Harris Teeter

All large pizzas and pies are only $5.85 (because they’re $3.14 off).

Take and bake pizzas are $7.99 and flatbreads are $3.14 too.

Perkins

A portion of the sales of the Banana Cream Pie on March 14 will go to Punch the Monkey, supporting animal care efforts.

You can read about Punch the Monkey here.

Pizza Hut

DoorDash users can get a free medium or large Create Your Own pizza with the purchase of one.

Round Table Pizza

Royal Rewards members who buy a large or extra large pizza can get a personal one-topping pizza for $3.14.

Schlotzsky’s

Rewards members can get Core Pizzas for $5 (Double Cheese, Pepperoni & Double Cheese) or Premium Pizzas for $7 (Meaty, Supreme, Veggie, BBQ Chicken & Jalapeno). Add-ons are extra.

Voodoo Doughnuts

Rewards members can get two banana cream pie doughnuts for $3.14.

WinCo

Get 8-inch fruit and holiday pies for only $3.14 (while supplies last).

Keebler

Head over to Keebler’s Instagram page for a chance to win a Keebler Pi(e) Day Prize Pack with Keebler Ready Crusts.

Wilmington NC St. Patrick’s Day Festival & Parade Info 2026

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More St. Patrick’s Day Events In Wilmington, NC:

Eagle’s Dare

Location: 420 N 3rd St
Date: March 14th (after the parade)
Time: 11 am

Details: The Eagle’s Dare, one of the cooler places in Wilmington because it’s a gas station that’s converted into a bar and performance space, is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration after the parade.

The NC State Pipe and Drums band, The Blarney Brogues, and Folkstone String Band are performing. There will be food trucks, drink specials, and green beer from Leland Brewing. Plus, all the Jeeps from the parade (arguably the best part) will be there.

We went here after the parade a couple years ago and had a really good time.

Irish Food In Wilmington:

Jus a quick note: This post is about the planning process. We’re not planning the actual trip for you and not helping you pack your bags.

We have a lot of 24 hours in … posts, which basically take you through a full day in a new city. We have some for Nashville, Wilmington, NC, Charleston, and more. So, check those out if you’re looking for help planning a trip in a specific city.

And we do have a lot of packing lists to make sure you don’t forget anything.

How To Plan A Birthday Getaway

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Start with a guest list

The most important place to start is deciding who you’re going to invite on this birthday getaway. Everything else is kind of dependent on that.

So, are you going on a solo trip? Is it a couple’s trip with you and your significant other? A couples’ trip with other couples? A family trip? Girls trip with a bunch of your friends?

Who you’re going with determines the flexibility you have with everything else.

Decide on a date

You have to decide who’s going with you before you can decide when you’re going.

It feels nice to say you’re going on a birthday vacation on your birthday, but sometimes that’s just not possible. Group travel means you have to travel around the group’s schedule.

Pete’s dad‘s birthday is in February, but that’s a terrible time to visit Washington DC. It’s cold and not really walkable then.

So, we went for spring break. That was partially because Pete was working in the school district at the time and had spring break off and partially because the cherry blossoms are bloom then and we knew it would be really special to see them.

My parents celebrated their birthday in October, but we’re not going to Japan until July because we’re going with my nieces and nephews who are in school. So, we had to plan our trip around their school schedules.

When we went to San Antonio for my birthday, it was just me and Pete, so it was super easy to go on my birthday. But actually, we went a few days before my birthday and flew home on my birthday. With the time change (Texas is an hour behind North Carolina), I was gypped and had a 23-hour birthday that year.

Fun fact. When we went to Japan for my grandma‘s birthday, we flew back on Pete‘s birthday. Because of that time difference, Pete ended up having a 36-hour birthday. Most of that was spent on an airplane and recovering from jet lag, but still, it was his longest birthday ever.

Choose the type of vacation you want

Some people like to go on vacation to relax. Some people, like me, want to do everything and eat everything and see everything on vacation.

When I was planning our Nashville trip, I figured this would be the only time we’d be in Music City. So, we absolutely wanted to see everything.

And we did. If you see the list of things that we did in Nashville, you’d be shocked.

But, that’s the type of vacation I want. So if it was my birthday trip, I’d pick somewhere with a lot of activities, restaurants, ride chairs, and things to do. It would be filled with sightseeing.

But, the next birthday trip I’m planning for Pete will be at an all-inclusive resort. He wants to relax, sit by the pool with a cocktail, and not have to leave the resort to go out to eat.

So, the next time he has one of those milestone birthdays, that’s what we’re gonna do.

Both vacations are great. It really just depends on the vibe you want and if you want to prioritize new stimulation or relaxation.

Decide on the destination

Now that you know who is going, when you’re going, and the type of trip you want, you brainstorm destination ideas.

If you’re hoping for an outdoors adventure in the winter, skiing in Vermont during winter break sounds great. If you want something filled with family-fun, a Disney cruise during spring break is a good idea.

For something with a lot of nightlife, go with New York City: the city that never sleeps. For music and movie, check out Austin during South by Southwest.

Be mindful of the general activities you feel like doing on your trip and find the best space to do them.

Set a budget

Vacations are expensive. And birthday vacations are a little more expensive because you want to treat the birthday person and make them feel special. And special dinners are more expensive than regular ones.

But, you don’t want to go into debt just because you went on vacation. So, set a realistic budget.

You may get sticker shock from the price tag of some cities, especially if you’re going somewhere popular and staying downtown, like Boston. For whatever reason, Boston has the most expensive hotels in the US. So, for that trip, you may need to set a higher budget than if you traveled to a small town.

So, be realistic about setting your budget. Make sure it includes airfare, accommodations, food, and entertainment. You don’t want to get to your destination and start penny pinching.

I am the queen of being frugal. I mean, my full-time job is as a frugal lifestyle blogger. But, when I’m on vacation, I want to experience where we’re at. So, I’ll let myself eat whatever I want , regardless of the price.

In Nashville, that meant I spent $13 on three Goo Goo Chocolates. Would I have spent that much when I was at home? Absolutely not. But my vacation budget is totally different than my daily budget.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a budget.

When we travel internationally to somewhere with different currency, we allot $100 for each of us per day. We can use that for food, souvenirs, admission, whatever we need to spend for the day. We’re not allowed to borrow money from future days, but we can carryover money from past days.

We do that because we bring a finite amount of cash with us. So, using an envelope system (yes I literally put our money in an envelope) helps us to stay within that very strict budget.

Make a Google Doc

My family loves a good Google doc for planning a trip.

You know that “I excel in the sheets“ shirt for people who love spreadsheets, if there was a Google doc version, I would buy it for my entire family for our next group trip.

But, honestly, they’re really useful.

Google Docs exist in the cloud and anyone who has access to it can view and/or edit it, depending on the settings. So, when we’re going on a group trip, even just the birthday trip to Vegas that my mom and I took a couple years ago, my mom will make a fresh Google doc.

Everyone who’s invited to the trip gets access, and we use it to start filling in the activities that we want to do on the trip.

It helps to get all the ideas written down and to see what other people want to do, what their preferences are, and what they’re anticipating from the trip.

You may not be able to do everything on the list, but it’s a good place to brainstorm. It’s also a good way to see where everyone else is at. Because if one person is typing a lot of late night stuff and barhopping, you know to anticipate those type of evenings. And if someone is putting on a lot of relaxing spa days and couples massages, you know that person is expecting a more chill vacation.

So this gives you the opportunity to flesh out people’s expectations before you leave.

You also want to add everyone’s flight itinerary on it too, so you can all see when everyone is coming and going. That way, you might be able to coordinate travel to and from the airport.

Book your trip

If you’re planning a group trip, it’s much easier to have one person as a point person who kind of wrangles everybody else.

That is a headache and a privilege.

Default to that person when making decisions about things like lodging (Airbnb, hotel, where to stay, etc.). If you’re booking an Airbnb, that person will be in charge of laying out the money and collecting it from the entire group.

So if this is your birthday trip, you should be that person. Don’t put one of your friends in charge and have them chase down your other friends. That responsibility should fall on you.

But besides an Airbnb, or maybe rental cars, everything else should be booked individually. Let people book their own flights, rideshare to and from the airport, etc. You don’t wanna lay out all the cash for someone and then get stiffed and have your birthday trip ruin your friendship.

Make sure that the birthday experiences, whatever they are, are non-negotiables. And explain that to all the guests. That way, you make sure that they have the funds to afford that dinner or book the admission ticket ahead of time. If they miss out on that event, it wouldn’t be catastrophic, but it would be a huge bummer.

Throughout the rest of the trip, you need to build in plenty of time where people are able to explore on their own. You don’t want to make it a requirement that every single second has to be spent with the group. But things like these special event activities really need to be attended by everybody in order to feel like it’s a birthday trip.

Coordinate any decorations/rentals

If you’re going to be celebrating in a common area, like an Airbnb or an event space, you want to make the space feel festive.

When we had a party for my grandma’s 90th birthday, we rented a hall at the Gold Coast hotel in Las Vegas. The staff there was in charge of the tables and linens, but we were required to bring anything we wanted that.

I bought a bunch of party supplies from Oriental Trading that had balloons and the number “90” on them and made sure to pack them in my suitcase before I packed anything else to make sure I didn’t forget them.

If you’re worried about someone forgetting things, don’t put them in charge of the most important decorations. But, a single person doesn’t have to be in charge of all of it. Designate who can bring a birthday crown or special shirt or happy birthday banner. If a lot of people are in charge of one thing, it will be fine if someone forgets something.

Start a group chat

I’ll be honest; I really hate group chats. The last time we went to Japan and we had about 25 people in the group chat and it was a lot of back and forth.

But, it was worse for my cousin who, originally, was going on the trip and then became pregnant and wasn’t able to go. You know where else she wasn’t able to go? Out of the group chat. She was stuck.

But, when I was on a girls trip over the summer, the hostess started a group chat with all of the other girls and that was really nice for me because I didn’t have any of their numbers prior to the trip. So this group text was nice to be able to coordinate timing of things.

After the birthday trip, feel free to delete that text thread and never look at it again. But it is helpful when you’re planning group getaways and don’t want a ton of separate threads with the same conversation.

Manage your expectations

This entire post is to help you plan your trip. Once you get to your trip, you’re own your own. But, I did want to add this last section here because it is a little piece of planning too: manage your expectations.

You can’t do everything you want on your trip. Dragging your friends in and out of every bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter, just to say you did, isn’t fun for everyone. It might not actually be fun for anyone. So just know that what you want to do and what you can do might not be the same thing.

When we were in Nashville, I really wanted to go to a restaurant I saw on Instagram that had a conveyer belt of cheese. It looked like so much fun when I saw it on social media.

When we got to Nashville, though, I realized it was so far from where we were staying, so I had to decide to skip it.

Was I disappointed? Yup. But, it would have taken up a full day of our trip, just to eat some cheese, and it wasn’t worth it. So, I let myself be bummed for a little, but I didn’t let that disappointment ruin my whole trip.

And you have to be that way too. If someone says no to something during the planning, or someone has to cancel unexpectedly last minute, or it rains when you’re there, you can’t let it ruin your trip. You have to roll with the punches.

If you bought too many packages of refrigerated biscuit dough, and you’re trying to figure out other ways to use it, check out our list of canned biscuit recipes.

It’s filled with ideas like mini pot pies, pigs in a blanket, and more.

Mini Meatball Sliders With Canned Biscuits Recipe

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Mini Meatball Sliders With Canned Biscuits Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Frozen meatballs – I use the Italian seasoned meatballs because it adds a little more flavor without you having to do anything. You could use plant-based meatballs to make these vegetarian.
• Canned biscuits – The homestyle biscuits, not the flaky biscuits, work best. I use the butter biscuits to give this a little more flavor, but you can use the original.
• Marinara sauce – Any brand of marinara sauce works. You can also use homemade if you have that handy.
• Mozzarella cheese – Use a block of mozzarella cheese that you shred yourself because that will melt. Pre-shredded, bagged mozzarella cheese has preservatives on it, which keeps it from clumping in the bag, which is good, but it also doesn’t melt well, which is bad.
• Parmesan cheese – Because every meatball sub needs a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
• Butter – We use unsalted butter to brush on the biscuits for the final bake to give them a really great flavor. Because the frozen meatballs and jarred sauce already have enough salt, we don’t recommend salted butter.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic gets grated into the butter mixture you brush onto the biscuits. If you only have garlic powder, you could use that too.
• Seasoning – You’ll need onion powder and Italian seasoning for the garlic butter, plus a little extra seasoning to sprinkle on the top as garnish.

How To Make Mini Meatball Sliders With Canned Biscuits:

We use frozen meatballs that are defrosted when we make this.

So, the night before you want to make these sliders, put the bag of frozen meatballs into the fridge to defrost overnight.

Quick note: Those meatballs are meant to be baked from frozen, though, so you may be able to do this with frozen meatballs. I just haven’t tried it.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.

You could use butter if you wanted, but cooking spray is a little bit easier.

Open the canned biscuits.

Cut each biscuit in half. This will give you 16 total biscuits.

Form a circle from the canned biscuit. Then, flatten it a little and put it into one of the cavities of the muffin pan.

You can figure out the easiest way to do this however, if you want a little help, what I do is I take the two points from the cut ends and put them together

Then, squish the cut portion to form a circle.

Push down on the center to stretch it and create sides that go up the walls of the muffin cavity.

Continue until each biscuit piece is in the muffin tin.

You’ll need two muffin trays.

Scoop about a teaspoon of marinara sauce into the bottom of the muffin cup.

You don’t really want the marinara to go up the side of the biscuit because it could leak out and burn while these are baking.

Put a frozen meatball in each of the muffin cavities on top of the marinara sauce.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While that bakes, we’re going to quickly make some garlic butter.

Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave for about 45 seconds until it’s completely melted.

Grate in the garlic cloves.

We use a microplane grater for this and it works so well. If you don’t have one, you can chop the garlic instead. Just make sure it’s as small as you can chop it.

Add in the seasoning and stir.

Set aside.

After 15 minutes, remove the muffin pans from the oven.

Push the meatball down a little bit into the partially-baked biscuit.

Pour the garlic butter around the edges of the sliders.

Quick note: You may want to skip the garlic butter, just to make the recipe easier. But, the garlic butter adds extra moisture to the biscuits, assuring that they won’t dry out when they’re put back into the oven.

Sprinkle some of the mozzarella cheese on top of each meatball.

Sprinkle a little bit of the Parmesan cheese on each of them.

Put the trays back into the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the mozzarella cheese is melted and the biscuits are a golden brown.

Sprinkle them with a little bit of dry Italian seasoning for garnish.

You can serve this with extra marinara sauce for dipping or just serve it as is.

When we have these for dinner, we serve them with a side of leftover pasta and a green salad to make it feel like a complete meal.

Mini Meatball Sliders: Frequently Asked Questions

More Recipes Using Frozen Meatballs:

This recipe uses about a third of a bag of frozen meatballs, so if you’re looking for ideas to use up the rest, try our sweet-and-spicy jelly meatballs.

We have a version of that you can make in the slow cooker or that you can make on the stove.

This is just one of the days when restaurants have food deals. To make sure you don’t miss any, check out our list of The Top National Days For Freebies And Deals and mark your calendar.

National Meatball Day: Freebies & Deals

We only included national and large regional chains on this list. Your local sub shop might be doing discounts on meatball subs today, but this list would be too long if we included all of those.

All these deals are happening March 9 unless otherwise noted.

Buca di Beppo

Get 50% off an order of spaghetti and meatballs.

This actually happens every Monday at the restaurant.

Captiotti’s Sandwich Shop

Rewards members can get a Small Meatball Combo (a small meatball sub, chips, and a drink) for $9.99.

Firehouse Subs

You can get BOGO meatball subs when you order online or via the Firehouse Subs app.

This is valid for the Pepperoni Pizza Meatball sub or Sweet & Spicy Meatball sub and the offer must be clicked before checking out.

Five Guys

March 9 through March 12, you can get BOGO burgers via the app or online with the code FGAFTERPARTY.

This isn’t meatballs, but isn’t a burger basically just a flat meatball anyway? Well, since the deal starts on National Meatball Day, we’re including it.

Potbelly Sandwich Works

From March 9 to 15, when Perks Members buy a big or original size meatball sandwich, you can get any sandwich or wrap for free.

Choose from the Wrecking Ball or Mama’s Meatball.

PrimoHoagies

Primo Perks members can get half-off primo size Old World Meatball Hoagies.

Sheetz

From March 9 to 11, you can get a half-size meatball sub for 99 cents with another purchase.

Shipley Do-Nuts

Loyalty members can get a free glazed doughnut tonight.

This promo is actually for Daylight Saving Time, but it’s happening on National Meatball Day, so it got added here.

Subway

Buy a six-inch meatball sub (which just so happens to be the Sub of the Day today) and upgrade it to a footlong for free.

Just mention the deal when you get there.

National Meatball Day: Sweepstakes

Mama Mancini’s

Head to shop.mamamancinis.com to enter for a chance to be one of 100 winners who win a 3-pack of Mama Mancini’s signature Jumbo Beef Meatballs.

The intention is that you keep one, give one away to a neighbor, and give one away to a location hero.

There’s a good chance that you found this post because you’re spring cleaning. We tried to make that season a lot easier for you with our Ultimate Guide To Spring Cleaning.

It’s filled with things you miss in specific rooms (like the bathroom, bedroom, living room, etc.), cleaning hacks, and more.

Things You Forget To Clean In The Kitchen

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Don’t look at this as a checklist and start with the first item of the list, then clean the second in the future. Do them all the next time you clean your kitchen. Please.

Also, make sure you have everything you need to clean. We use dish soap, mostly, because it’s effective and already in the kitchen. Some tasks need distilled white vinegar.

Of course, if you have a homemade cleaning solution (a lot of people make a solution with part vinegar and part baking powder to use as a paste or in a spray bottle), have that ready too.

The aerator in the sink’s faucet

The aerator in the sink’s faucet is so disgusting if you don’t clean it. But guess what? So many people don’t even think about cleaning it.

Honestly, people don’t even know what the aerator is.

So, if you think about your faucet, think about where the drops of water come out. Now, look at it (mostly in your mind, but also, when you’re cleaning). There’s so much gunk and water buildup there. And it’s gross if you don’t clean it.

Especially when you think that all your clean water comes out through that area and cleans your dishes — or goes straight into your glass of tap water. So clean it.

So clean it often.

The best way to clean the aerator in the sink’s faucet

Personally, the best way I’ve found to clean the aerator in the sink’s faucet is to first use the blunt end of a toothpick to clean any grime that’s left between the spouts where the water comes out.

Then use a soapy cotton swab to clean around the aerator. Finally, use a dish cloth with dish detergent on it to wipe it all down.

Range hood filters

We cook a lot. I work at home, so I cook breakfast and lunch for myself daily, and then every night I cook dinner. And of course, Pete makes huge pots of marinara sauce here. So we really put our oven through a lot of work.

We clean our stovetop every night, which I’m sure you do too. But how often do you clean your range hood filters? Did you even know they exist?

If you look above the stovetop, under the range, there are filters there that capture and remove debris, grease, and smoke, preventing them from going into the air ducts.

Without the filters, you greatly increase the chance of a fire. So they’re important. And it’s important to clean them.

The best way to clean range hood filters

Remove the range hood filters. Soak the filters in a mixture of water, dish soap, and baking soda for 10 minutes. Use a dish cloth to scrub any remaining grease or debris, then dry them completely before returning them.

Bottoms of the cabinets and drawers

Every Sunday, I clean the cabinets in our kitchen. Like deep clean them, not just the daily wipe down (we have white cabinets in the kitchen, which look beautiful but require a lot of cleaning).

Every couple days or so, I wipe the front of the cabinet door, the handles, and the top and bottom of the doors with a microfiber cloth. I think most people do.

But, how often do you clean the bottoms of the cabinets?

I don’t mean the underside of the cabinets. I mean the floor of the cabinet and drawers. Crumbs and dust accumulate on the bottom, as well as drips from spills, but no one thinks to clean in there.

The best way to clean the bottoms of the cabinets and drawers

Remove everything from the cabinet (all pots, shelf liners, silverware holders, etc.). Use a small brush or handheld vacuum cleaner to sweep the bottoms of the cabinets and drawers and remove dirt, crumbs, debris, etc.

If you don’t have a handheld vacuum, a brush attachment for your stand up vacuum will work.

Dip a rag in a solution of water and dish detergent, then wash the floor and sides. Be careful not to oversaturate the rag. Dry with a towel.

And, if you’re doing this to your junk drawers as well (because we all have at least one), go through it and throw away anything you don’t need in there.

Dish rags and sponges

You wash your dishes with your dish rags and sponges. So, since they’re always covered in dish soap, you just expect that they’re clean. And no one thinks about cleaning the things that clean things. But you should.

Bacteria loves things that are wet, and your dish rags and sponges are often wet. So they can be home for bacteria. And that’s not exactly what you want to be washing your forks and plates.

The best way to clean dish rags and sponges

You can throw dish rags in your washing machine with other towels. Wash them on hot and then dry them completely, also on hot. Don’t let them air dry.

For sponges, put them on the top rack of the dishwasher and they’ll get clean during the dishwasher’s cycle. We suggest using the sanitizer cycle if you do have your sponges in there (although, honestly, I use the sani cycle every time).

Dishwasher filter

The filter in the bottom of the dishwasher is so disgusting. Just thinking about people not cleaning it on a regular basis is making me gag.

But it’s one of those things that people don’t even think about cleaning. Like, your dishwasher cleans your dishes. So shouldn’t it clean itself at the same time? No.

You need to clean your dishwasher monthly — and that includes handwashing the filter because it gets a ton of food residue buildup in it.

The best way to clean the dishwasher filter

The dishwasher filter is located in the bottom of the dishwasher, under the spray arm. So move the bottom rack and you’ll be able to access it. Unscrew the filter and pull it out. You’ll see gunk and food particles inside.

Wash the dishwasher filter using hot water and dish soap, making sure to clean the outside and inside of the filter, plus the plastic pieces of the filter.

Garbage disposal splash guard

Every place I’ve lived in on my own has had a garbage disposal, but I didn’t grow up with one. So I generally don’t see the point of using one. Just scrape your food into the garbage itself.

But, our home has a garbage disposal, as most homes do now, and you actually need to run it often in order to not ruin it. Always run cold water down the garbage disposal while you’re running it to keep in properly.

The point of the garbage disposal is to break up large food items so they don’t end up clogging your pipes. There’s a splash guard there so any loose debris hits the bottom of that guard doesn’t fly back into your face (because eww).

And, if you don’t clean it, it starts to trap kitchen sink odors.

The best way to clean the garbage disposal splash guard

Put gloves on. Grab an old toothbrush and dip it in a degreaser. Then, scrub the underside of the garbage disposal splash guard with the toothbrush. Rinse it, and then do the same with the upper side of the garbage disposal splash guard.

You want to be really careful though. The device doesn’t have sharp blades (despite everyone thinking it does), but it has blunt metal paddles on a spinning plate so you want to be mindful of that.

On top of the fridge

You know you need to clean on top of the fridge, but you’re probably just lazy about it. I mean, no one sees the top of the fridge, so why do you have to clean it?

But it can get gross up there. The top of the fridge in our house just gets dusty. But, in our old apartment, it would get sticky and covered in a layer of grease. It was so gross.

The best way to clean on top of the fridge

Use a dry cloth or duster to dust on top of the fridge. Personally, my go to is a used dryer sheet. It’s such a magical cleaning tool for dust (try it on baseboards).

Then, spray disinfectant on top of the fridge and wipe that down with another dry cloth.

Under the oven

We all know we should clean the oven. I don’t know how often you scrap the burnt stuff out of the bottom of your oven or how often you run the self cleaner. That’s between you and God.

But, what’s on this list is under the oven. You want to remove the drawer that holds all your pans from its track and clean the kitchen floor that’s under the oven.

That’s what people forget, but not me. Honestly, I clean that floor more often than the oven door.

The best way to clean under the oven

Completely remove the bottom drawer of your oven. Take it off its track and set it aside. Sweep the floor with a broom.

If you feel compelled, wash the floor with a floor-safe cleaner and wait until it’s dry to return the drawer.

Also, while we’re talking about the oven, we have a grill mat at the bottom of ours to catch any food. That’s so much easier to pull out and clean than cleaning any stains on the oven floor (shout out to my dad for that hack).

And, to clean the glass of the oven door, I swear by the ScrubDaddy Scrub Paste, which you use with the Scrub Mommy. I know. All those words are very silly and gimmicky, but it’s the only thing to ever clean my oven door and make it sparkle.

Under the crisper drawer

I don’t know how often you deep clean your fridge, but you really should pull out all your food and drawers and clean your fridge often. That’s a really good time to make sure you’re not hoarding any old or expired food.

It’s also a good idea pull out your crisper drawers.

Small aside: The crisper drawers are the ones at the bottom that pull out, where you put your vegetables.

Go through the food in those and clean under them. I assure you, the floor under where they rest is filled with crumbs, no matter if you ever put crumbs in the fridge or not.

The best way to clean under the crisper drawer

Pull the crisper drawer out.

Use a handheld vacuum to suck up any crumbs that have fallen. Take a cloth, dip it in soapy water, and wipe under the crisper drawer.

Dry with a dry cloth.

Microwave ceiling

We wipe down our microwave all the time. Plus, we use a microwave plate cover every time we microwave something, so it really reduces the splatter.

But I’ve seen some microwaves where people haven’t cleaned the microwave ceiling in ages.

And all I can think is the microwave heating up, heating that dried food on the ceiling, and then droplets of it falling into your food.

Is that how physics works? Maybe not. But it’s how my brain works.

The best way to clean your microwave ceiling

Put one cup of water in a bowl with a few tablespoons of distilled white (“cleaning”) vinegar.

If you don’t have vinegar, a few slices of squeezed citrus (lemon, lime, or orange works). Microwave on high until the water boils and steam forms. Let the microwave sit closed for five minutes. Wipe down everything with a damp cloth.

More Kitchen Cleaning Tips:

You do need to do a little more cleaning, even if you’ve gotten through this list. Sorry. But don’t worry, we can help with that too.

We have a post about How To Clean A Dishwasher In Three Easy Steps and one about How To Deep Clean Your Fridge.

And, just because you know we love a home that runs smooth, check out our Six Tips To Keep Your Kitchen Running Effectively. Buttoning up a few things in your kitchen might help you save some money too, which is always a good thing.

Wear Green

If you’re going out to St Patrick’s Day parades to celebrate the holiday, you wear the color green to prevent a leprechaun from pinching you. Keep that “green for good luck” mentality at home too.

Grab a green shirt or leggings and get into the holiday spirit. Just because you’re not on display doesn’t mean you can’t dress the part.

Even something fun like earrings with four leaf clovers would be a subtle way to be festive.

And if you have kids, you definitely want to dress them in green for school so they’re not left out.

At home, have some plastic St. Patrick’s Day hats and glasses for them. Maybe temporary tattoos (or stickers or their hands since they don’t last as long).

If you head to stores the day after the holiday, you can score items for 50% off and save them for next year.

Because this stuff is cute and fun but definitely not worth paying full price for.

Cook Irish Foods

St. Patrick’s Day is the one day a year when I make Shepherd’s Pie. I absolutely love it, but it’s a lot of work.

Most people will make corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day instead. Pete likes that, but I don’t. So if my parents are in town for St. Patrick’s Day, my mom will make that for the both of them. Or, if he really wants corned beef, I’ll make him a corned beef grilled cheese.

Fun fact: Corned beef and cabbage isn’t actually a traditional Irish meal. It’s Irish American.

If you’re looking for a side to serve with either of those main dishes, these authentic Pureed Carrots And Parsnips are a great go to.

And of course, your meal wouldn’t be complete without Irish Soda Bread.

Irish Soda Bread is a great breakfast too, so definitely make a loaf (or two) a couple days before St. Patrick’s Day to have it ready to serve that morning.

If you didn’t, but you still want something for an Irish breakfast, our Irish Potato Bread recipe is great.

Make Some Green Foods

Maybe you don’t want to eat anything Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but you still want to get into the spirit of the holiday. If that’s the case, just go with some green foods.

Salad, avocado, asparagus, anything green is a good choice.

And, for dessert, make a sweet treat like our Shamrock Pretzels or our naturally green SunButter cookies, which are a really cute festive treat.

Or, you can make anything off our list of St. Patrick’s Day desserts.

And, if all else fails, just buy some green doughnuts from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. The shop makes the original glazed green every year.

If you want some other ideas of what you can cook, check our our list of Irish and green food for St. Patrick’s Day.

You’re bound to find something to make on that list.

Sebring is a small town in Central Florida, which means if you’re in Florida for the festival, you’re probably not spending all your time in Sebring.

Orlando, home of Disney World, is a short distance away. Our things to do in Orlando besides theme parks post can help you figure out what to do when you’re there.

Sebring Soda Festival History

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The Sebring Soda Festival is located in Sebring, Florida, in Central Florida, about two hours south of Orlando.

It began in 2018 as an idea from Jeff Cannady, the original owner of Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works (201 Circle Park Dr.).

He brought the idea to the town’s Tourist Development Council, who helped him bring it to the Sebring Chamber of Commerce and the fizzy family festival was born.

The festival has been held annually since then (with the exception of when the world closed), and some of the events change each year. Like, there’s no Soda Pop Princess Pageants this time. So, even if you’ve gone before, it’ll feel different this year.

It features vendors, live entertainment, and food trucks — but the highlight, of course, is the chance to taste countless unique sodas (like, over 200!).

You have to purchase a tasting card, which ranges from $8 (for 10 tastings) to $30 (for 48 pours). Even though 48 sounds like a lot, you’ll still have to be a little picky because 48 is just a quarter of what’s offered.

That sounds hard, if you ask me.

There will be traditional sodas, like Coca Cola and Sprite, so of course, I would skip those. Anything you can get in the grocery store would get a pass from me.

But there are a ton of uncommon sodas like Cicero’s Peach Cobbler, Bacon Cream Sodas (OMG!), and Caramel Apple (yes, please!).

And — AND — there will be Triple XXX Root Beer. Which, small side note, was served at the Triple XXX Root Beer Drive-In restaurant I went to in Issaquah, Washington. There used to be a ton all over the country, but there’s only one left now.

Visitors Info:

Parking

There’s parking on the street and in a lot, which is designated as Event Parking. If you follow the yellow signs leading there, parking is free.

What To Wear

We suggest wearing comfortable shoes because you’ll be walking around the festival. It’s also Florida in the spring, which usually means sun but can also mean a light shower during the day (because it seems to rain every day in Florida). So, because of that, we suggest wearing closed toe shoes. Flip flops are fun, but not if it rains (and not if someone spills soda).

You also might want to bring a light, long-sleeved shirt because it gets a little chilly as the sun goes down.

What To Bring

It’s an outdoor festival, so definitely bring sunscreen. You may also want to bring a cooling towel (which we got at a spring festival years ago and Pete brings everywhere now)

You’re also encouraged to your camera (still or video) and take photos of the event. Share them on social media with the hashtag #SebringSodaFest.

Lawn chairs are allowed and even encouraged, too. They’re a great way to sit and enjoy the music and your drinks.

At a festival a few years ago, we saw someone who had a small folding camping table (like a captain’s chair, with a bag, but in table form). We immediately bought one and it’s so handy. So, if you do plan to sit and sip your sodas, bring one of these too.

Kids Info

The festival is super family friendly and definitely geared towards kids. There’s the Kids Zone, which has a bunch of rides, and a magician performing. Plus, there’s a giant soda bottle-shaped mascot you can take photos with that kids will love.

Pet Info

As long as your pet is on a leash, he or she is allowed at the craft soda festival.

For years, we worked at farmers’ markets where dogs are invited, so I feel like I need to add “well behaved pets” are invited. (Side note: I wrote that sentence in this post in 2019, and the Sebring Soda Festival FAQ page literally added “well behaved pets” in 2020, so if you ever wanted to see me make change in this world, there you go.)

If you know your pet is skittish around people or other animals, you should probably leave him or her at home.

Sebring Soda Festival: Frequently Asked Questions

If you’re looking to add more seafood recipes to your menu, we have a great list of fish recipes with a ton of ideas.

Also, don’t mind that the photo says Lent. You can make those fish recipes anytime.

Pan-Seared Tuna Teriyaki Recipe

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Pan-Seared Tuna Teriyaki Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Teriyaki sauce – We make a homemade teriyaki sauce with honey, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. We’ll walk you through making your own teriyaki sauce for a marinade, however, you could just use store-bought teriyaki sauce if you wanted.
• Tuna steaks – We use ahi tuna steaks that are about an inch and a quarter thick. If yours are thicker or thinner, you may need to adjust your cooking time.

How To Make Pan-Seared Tuna Teriyaki:

Add the honey, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar into a small bowl.

Whisk it together until the ingredients are combined.

Pour the mixture into a large ziptop plastic bag.

Take the tuna steaks out of the packaging and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Drying the tuna will help the marinade stick to it. If the tuna is wet, the moisture will wick away the marinade and you won’t have well seasoned fish.

Put the tuna steaks in the bag with the marinade.

Gently swoosh the marinade around, so it gets on both sides of the tuna steaks.

Place the tuna, in the bag, in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Halfway through, flip the bag over so that each of the sides of the tuna are sitting in the marinade for an equal amount of time.

You don’t want to marinate these for too long because that starts to break down the tuna steaks and makes them mushy. You also risk the salt in the soy sauce making your tuna overly salty.

If you don’t have 30 minutes, you want to at least marinade this for 10 minutes. Anything less than that and the fish won’t absorb any of the flavors of the marinade.

If you wanted, you could crust the tuna with a spice blend of salt, black pepper, sesame seeds, and garlic powder after the fish is done marinading.

We don’t because, in my opinion, it takes away from the teriyaki taste, but it does look pretty.

Heat a large skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat.

A non-stick pan or a cast iron skillet are best for cooking tuna.

You want the skillet to be really hot because you’re just searing the tuna. A cool skillet won’t give you the nice crust that you’re looking for.

Place the marinated tuna steak directly onto the skillet.

It will sizzle when you drop it down. That’s what you want to hear. If it doesn’t, the pan isn’t hot enough.

Quick note: If you’re not using a non-stick pan, you might want to put the tiniest drizzle of olive oil down so tuna steaks don’t stick to the pan. However, I always worry about the oil making the fish oily, so I don’t do that.

Cook the fish for 90 seconds on one side.

Flip the fish over and cook it for an additional 60 seconds. This gives you a really nice even sear on both sides while cooking the fish to a medium-rare and leaving the middle perfectly pink.

Don’t mind if the fish looks a little dark. That’s from the soy sauce in the marinade cooking, not because you cooked it too long and burned it.

Quick note: If you want to cook the tuna all the way through, you can cook it for three to four minutes on each side (although anyone who likes tuna will tell you that’s too long, but you should absolutely cook it the way that tastes best to you).

We serve pan-seared tuna teriyaki over a bowl of white rice with steamed vegetables on the side. I also add a dash of sesame seeds on top because it looks pretty (and because, as I mentioned above, I don’t crust this in a spice blend before I sear it).

It would go really well with a spicy kani salad (which is a Japanese imitation crab salad) as well.

Pan-Seared Tuna Teriyaki: Frequently Asked Questions

The Ultimate Guide To Spring Cleaning Your Home

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We put each room in alphabetical order to make it a little easier for you.

Bathroom

There are some things you need to clean often in the bathroom, like any water buildup on the shower head or in the sinks. And of course the toilet. But you want to do some deep cleaning in the spring, too.

Ten Things You Always Forget To Clean In The Bathroom

Bathrooms can get gross and harbor a lot of dirt, germs, and bacteria if they’re not cleaned properly and often. And since no one likes cleaning the bathroom, there are probably things you miss when you clean, like the bathroom fan and the dust on top of the door.

Check out this list, with 10 things you always forget to clean in the bathroom, and start your cleaning with those things next time.

Power Clean Your Bathroom In Only 10 Minutes

If you only have ten minutes to clean, you can still clean your bathroom. You have to use your time wisely, like clean the sink while the toilet is soaking, but you can do it.

Bedroom

Spring is the perfect time to go through your closet, declutter it by removing any clothes that don’t fit or that you didn’t wear last spring, and put together a large donation box. That’s what we do and it feels really good.

Ten Things You Always Forget To Clean In The Bedroom

You spend a lot of time in your bedroom, recharging yourself from the day. So you really want to make sure it’s as clean and relaxing as possible.

Even if you clean it well, there are probably things you forget to clean in the bedrooms, like the mattresses and any picture frames on the walls. So double check our list before you start.

Kitchen

A couple years ago, I cleaned our oven door with the Scrub Daddy Power Paste and it was the most thorough cleaning that glass every got. It’s not mentioned in the post below, but I wanted to mention it here.

Ten Things You Forget To Clean In The Kitchen

Between spills, raw food, and crumbs, the kitchen can get so gross. That’s why you need to clean it on a regular basis. And, even if you do, you probably forget to clean a few things.

Our list of 10 things you forget to clean in the kitchen will help you to remember the grime off spots like the range hood filter and the pantry’s doorknob, places you often overlook.

You also have to clean the appliances too, but we have a couple posts about that below to make your life easier.

How To Deep Clean Your Fridge

Things spill in your fridge, food expires, and people put away items that drip onto themselves. Overall, your fridge is pretty gross.

So, every once in a while, you need to do a deep cleaning of your fridge and freezer.

How To Clean A Dishwasher In Three Steps

When I’m cleaning, my motto is, “Don’t forget to clean the things that clean your things.” With that in mind, don’t forget to clean your dishwasher. It’s so easy to do, although it takes a little while because you need to let it sit between steps.

But, once your dishwasher is clean, you’ll feel better about your plates and cups being clean too.

Laundry Room

No one wants to spend too much time in the laundry room, especially if it’s not clean and organized. So make sure to straighten up the laundry products on the shelves and keep it smelling nice so it doesn’t feel so bad.

Ten Things You Always Forget To Clean In The Laundry Room

Your laundry room houses the items that clean your clothes, but how often do you clean those items? Or the rest of the room for that matter?

Check out this list with the ten things you always forget to clean in the laundry room, start cleaning, and be sure to check these items off your list.

How To Keep Your Laundry Room Smelling Nice

No one wants their laundry room to smell like a locker room, but when it’s filled with laundry, it can. So you really want to focus on keeping it smelling nice.

Living Room

You spend a lot of time in the living room, so you want to keep it clean.

Ten Things You Always Forget To Clean In The Living Room

You probably clean the living room all the time, but you probably clean the same things in the living room all the time.

Don’t forget to clean the things on our list, like the ceiling fan and remote controls.

Spring Cleaning Tips For Your Makeup Products

Even if you clean your skin before putting on your makeup, you can still get dirt and oils into your makeup and makeup tools. Find out how to clean those things and when to clean them.

What To Clean After The Flu

If someone in your home has the flu, you want to open all the windows to let it fresh air and get the germs out, plus clean anything the sick person may have touched, like any kitchen countertops or drawers, plus handles.

And this list will assure you don’t.

It also comes with a free cleaning printable, which makes life easier.

How To Clean For Guests

We have honestly had more unexpected guests show up to surprise us than scheduled visitors. We love the surprise visits — especially because we keep our home clean always prepared for friends to show up.

7 Ways To Prepare For Unexpected Guests

Unexpected guests can stop by anytime. Hence the unexpected part.

Keep your home ready for guests at all time by doing simple things like keeping the guest room bedsheets washed at all times, cleaning the shower curtain and liner (with bleach) after every visit, and keeping the clutter in your common areas to a minimum.

Tips For Stocking Your Guest Bathroom

Keep your guest bathroom clean and stocked with essentials, like extra toiletries and toilet paper, so you’re ready for unexpected overnight guests.

You also want to make sure to always stock the guest bathroom with fresh towels too.

Let’s be honest. Pasta is often a go to weeknight dinner because it’s easy, inexpensive, and cooks quickly. But it can be boring too.

So, if you’re looking for a new recipes, check out our long list of budget-friendly pasta recipes. They will definitely inspire your next meal.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Lemon ricotta pasta ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Pasta – I like fettuccine noodles or linguine because the thicker pasta holds a lot of the sauce so you get a lot of the lemon flavor when you eat it. You could use any pasta, including something like a penne which has ridges to hold the sauce, but I don’t feel like that holds the sauce as well as a thick noodle does.
• Ricotta cheese – Whole milk ricotta cheese gives this a much more robust flavor than part-skim ricotta cheese does.
• Lemon – Look for the largest fresh lemon at the grocery store. Since you’re zesting the rind, you may want to look for an organic lemon because the outside is less waxy.
• Parmesan cheese – We use the grated parmesan/Reggiano mix in the plastic container because it’s budget friendly.
• Seasoning – We use salt to bring out the flavor and lemon pepper seasoning because it makes sense. Pete likes to add a crack of fresh black pepper on top of his.

How To Make Lemon Ricotta Pasta:

Start by boiling your pasta according to the package’s directions.

If you like your pasta al dente, you’ll want to cook it one minute less. Personally, I love a softer texture, so I cook it the full amount of time.

Usually when I do a pasta dish, I boil the pasta in a large stock pot. But, when I’m making a recipe like this, I boil it in the Dutch oven.

Then, I build the sauce in the Dutch oven because it retains heat and cooks the sauce evenly. So, boiling the pasta in the Dutch oven first allows us to just use one pot for this meal.

Of course, if you need to save on time, you can boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water and build the sauce in another stockpot. That just means an extra pot to wash after dinner.

Make sure to reserve a cup of pasta water before draining the pasta. You’ll need this later.

Add the ricotta cheese into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Mix the ricotta up a little bit.

When ricotta cheese comes out of the container, it has a film around the outside. So, you want to mix this just enough to get that film incorporated into the cheese before adding the other ingredients. If you don’t do this, they’ll slip off and won’t evenly season the cheese.

Zest the lemon into the cheese using a microplane.

Be careful to only zest the yellow portion of the lemon. The white portion, which is called the pith, is bitter and you don’t want that bitterness in your sauce. You just want the brightness from the lemon zest.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the ricotta cheese.

Quick note: Anytime we add fresh citrus into a recipe, I gave you Pete’s hack. So here it is.

Microwave the lemon for 15 seconds.

Take it out and forcefully roll it on the countertop to break up the inside.

This makes the lemon so much easier to squeeze and gets out so much more fresh lemon juice, so you can get away with using less lemons if you use his hack.

You want to do this before you zest the lemon into the cheese.

Add the seasoning to the bowl.

Add in the Parmesan cheese.

Stir until combined.

Heat the Dutch oven over medium heat on the stove.

Add the ricotta mixture.

Add in half a cup of the reserved pasta water.

Cook the sauce for about 10 minutes until it thins out to an Alfredo-like consistency.

If the sauce is too thick, you can add more of the pasta water to thin it.

Put the cooked pasta back into the Dutch oven with the sauce and toss until coated.

Since the pasta is cooking just a little longer now, that’s why you can get away with cooking it al dente.

Serve with a lemon wedge and a sprinkle of Parmesan on top.

This goes great with garlic bread and a side of roasted broccoli.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta: Frequently Asked Questions

This is just one of the days during the year when restaurants and shops celebrate. To make sure you don’t miss any, we have a huge list of the Top National Days For Freebies And Deals.

Check that list out and add those days to your calendar.

National Strawberry Day: Freebies & Deals

All of these deals are happening on February 27th only unless otherwise noted.

We’re only including national and large regional chains on this list. Your local shops may have some fun things planned in celebration of National Strawberry Day, but if we included all of them, this list would be way too long.

Burger Boy

You can get a Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Shake for $1.99 at the San Antonio-based chain all day.

Casey’s

Casey’s rewards members can get a free frozen drink.

This isn’t specific to National Strawberry Day. It happens every Friday and National Strawberry Day happens to fall on a Friday this year.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

Big Yellow Cup rewards members can get a free Miss Ollie’s Secret Strawberry Ice Cream cup with the purchase of any Classic Sandwich or Smoke & Cheddar sandwich placed via the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit app.

Classic sandwiches include Brisket, Pulled Pork, Smoked Chicken Breast, Polish Kielbasa Sausage, Jalapeño Cheddar Kielbasa Sausage, or Crispy Chicken.

Florida Strawberry Festival

The Florida Strawberry Festival, which happens annually in Plant City, runs from February 26 to March 8 at the fairgrounds at 303 BerryFest Place.

Over 650,000 visitors attend the festival in Central Florida. If you want to go, you can get discounted tickets at over 250 Publix grocery stores.

And, on National Strawberry Day itself, guests who bring a Publix- or GreenWise-branded non-perishable food item will receive a $5 discount on a $30 ride wristband.

Ibotta

Get $.05 back on any brand strawberry purchases at a ton of stores (like Walmart, Food Lion, Dollar General, and more) when you submit your receipt via the Ibotta app.

It’s a limit of one redemption per account.

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Bundtastic Rewards members get 100 bonus points with the purchase of any size Strawberries & Cream cake.

Parlor Doughnuts

February 28 is the last day to purchase the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Doughnut.

Smashburger

Rewards members can get a free strawberry shake with a $15+ purchase.

You can redeem it in store by scanning your app at the register or by giving the cashier your phone number. Online, you can go to “Redeem Rewards” and apply it that way.

Nashville is really well known for celebrity bars and the bands playing in them. But, there’s so much more to do in Music City than drink your way up and down Broadway.

For more, check out our long list of non-celebrity bars and restaurants in Nashville. They all have either a rich history or delicious food that you should check out while you’re in town.

Nashville Oktoberfest History

Nashville Oktoberfest began in 1980, which made last year’s festival, which we attended, the 45th annual iteration.

When it began, it was spread throughout the streets of Germantown, a Nashville’s oldest neighborhood (established in the 1850s). Assumption Church and the Monroe Street United Methodist Church did most of the heavy lifting, like the street festival, until the Historic Germantown Nashville association stepped in to help around 2000.

There were tents selling German crafts and food, German dances, and more.

And then there as a riff between the two. You can read all about it here because that article does more justice to the story than I can.

What you need to know is the festival seemed to splinter and now is in the hands of Monell’s owner Michael King. Instead of taking up a few blocks in town, it’s completely contained within Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park (600 James Robertson Pkwy).

The setting is interesting because the Tennessee State Capitol building overlooks that park. So the juxtaposition of the Capitol building against a giant inflatable Jägermeister bottle is phenomenal.

Where we live in Wilmington, there used to be a weekly free concert where attendees could drink alcohol on the courthouse steps. Nashville Oktoberfest gives me that kind of same lawful, but lawless feeling.

Is this better or worse for the neighborhood? Well, Reddit has a lot of opinions on that.

But still, over the course of the four-day festival, Nashville Oktoberfest hosts over 250,000 attendees. Many are probably tourists, like you and me, who have never been and don’t have any nostalgia tied to the good ol’ days of the late 90s festivals.

And so, it’s easier for us to appreciate it for what it is now because, well, we have no idea what it used to be.

Nashville Oktoberfest Review

National Oktoberfest happens in the Germantown portion of Nashville, so we decided to rent BCycle bikes, ride from downtown Nashville to Germantown, and spend the day there.

We ate at Monell’s for lunch, which is a really popular family-style southern restaurant with fried chicken and some of the best biscuits I’ve ever had.

We rode over to Monday Night Brewing, which is in the Neuhoff area, in a building that used to be a meatpacking plant.

Eventually, at 5 o’clock, we ended up at Oktoberfest.

I’ll say this here just to get it out of the way: Nashville is super safe.

There is an entrance to the festival at Jefferson Street and another at Harrison Street and the area is completely blocked off.

It was heavily patrolled by police officers, which we actually really appreciated. We just felt very safe with their presence there.

Nashville October is huge. It takes up the entirety of the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

It’s a full city block with food vendors lining one entire side. We had a giant pretzel with hot cheese and stoneground mustard from Bavarian Bierhaus, which felt like the most Oktoberfest offering. There were snow cones, and some Mexican Italian fusion mozzarella tostada that looked equal parts amazing and horrifying.

There is also all the regular street food fair that you would imagine.

We were actually stuffed from going to Monell’s for lunch so the pretzel was enough for us.

But, in case you don’t end up there for lunch, Monell’s is actually a sponsor of the event and has a tent set up amongst the other vendors.

There is a ton of tables and seating where you can enjoy your food.

There’s also a tented off VIP area. We didn’t have VIP tickets, so I’m not quite sure what the seating is like in there.

When you get to the grassy area of the park, there are a ton of vendors set up in Artisan Alley. There’s also the official merch tent, in case you need a t-shirt or baseball cap to take home.

In that same area is the Adult Playground, with cornhole, a bounce house, and other fun activities. Plus the aforementioned giant Jäger bottle is there along with a spot to buy Jäger shots. And there’s a huge screen streaming college football too.

Also, within that area are two large beer tents where you can choose one of four Oktoberfest beers, if you’re of age. There’s also a beer tent as soon as you walk in at both entrances.

And, there are two stages for bands. Because it’s Nashville, so of course one stage of live music isn’t enough.

The Roundabout Stage is at the Jefferson Street entrance and the Party Stage is in the grassy area.

The band on the Roundabout Stage played more of Oktoberfest songs, and also a polka version of Sweet Caroline because what is a festival without Sweet Caroline? The band we saw at the Party Stage was playing more of 90s rock, which I really enjoyed.

But what I enjoyed most was there was Oktoberfest staff hired strictly for dancing. They were in Oktoberfest t-shirts and some were carrying inflatable beer steins and they went from stage to stage to hype up the crowd.

Getting a crowd to dance on a Thursday after work is hard. So I can only imagine the bands having a rough time playing to tired faces. Having this Nashville dance team there, dancing their hearts out and living their best life just gave me so much joy.

Not enough joy to join them in dancing, but still joy.

The rest of the weekend, which we were unable to attend because we were leaving Nashville that Friday, is filled with other events like a 5k bier run, pup parade (where the dogs and humans dress up in adorable costumes for a chance to win prizes), dachshund derby, brat eating content, and beer stein holding contest.

I can see those events being a lot of fun and a big draw.

Maybe we’ll have to put that on our list for next trip.

Visitors Info:

You’re starting the day while it’s light out, so make sure to wear sunscreen. There are beer tents, but you’ll be spending the majority of the festival without shade.

We suggest dressing in layers. It’s warm in Nashville in October, but you’re spending the entire time outside and it can get cool when the sun goes down. And wear comfortable shoes. The vendor tents and one of the beer tents, plus the adult playground area, is all on grass, so you want sneaker-like shoes. Flip flops aren’t best because people will be drinking and may be spilling and you don’t want beer all over your toes.

You’re allowed to bring your own stein to be filled there, but you’re not able to bring your own beer. You’re not allowed to bring in any glass containers, so that doesn’t exclude a reusable or disposable water bottle. Water is available for purchase on site, but I like having my own bottle too.

More Things To Do In Nashville:

Nashville October happens every fall, but it’s not the only annual fall festival in town There are more, like Artville, which is an art festival at the Music City Walk of Fame, which we actually stumbled upon on our first full day in Nashville.

For more things to do when you’re there, check out our full list of fall things to do in Nashville.

Some of them, like Oktoberfest, are free so you don’t have to worry about spending extra money. And some of them, like Kidsville at Centennial Park (where the Taylor Swift bench is), are geared for children. So that list will help you out no matter what type of vacation you’re taking.

Nashville Oktoberfest: Frequently Asked Questions

We usually serve this spicy kani salad when we make yakitori or chicken teriyaki. Anything Japanese is perfect.

If you’re looking for some more Asian recipes to make to go with this salad, check out that linked post for a bunch of ideas.

Spicy Kani Salad Recipe

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

Spicy Kani Salad Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Cucumber – You could use either a regular or English cucumber.
• Carrots – Smaller carrots work best because they’re easier to cut.
• Imitation crab meat – This is the traditional meat in a kani salad. You could use real crab meat if you wanted, but you won’t get the traditional flavors. Plus, imitation is so much more budget friendly.
• Mayonnaise – Japanese mayo (also known by its brand name, Kewpie mayo) is sweeter than regular mayo. We prefer the Japanese mayonnaise in this, but if you’re using regular mayo, you’ll want to add a little sugar to it.
• Rice wine vinegar – This adds a light acidity to balance the richness of the kani salad dressing. Rice wine vinegar is also called rice vinegar, depending on the brand. They’re just different names for the same product.
• Sriracha – This adds a spice to the dressing, plus it adds a nice color too.
• Seasoning – You need a little salt to balance the dressing. You also need sugar, but only if you’re using American mayo.
• Spicy panko breadcrumbs – This is a nice garnish on top, which we use instead of tobiko (a round, fish roe garnish often found on kani salad).

How To Make Spicy Kani Salad:

Julienne the cucumber into thin strips using a sharp knife.

Quick note: Julienne cuts are also known as a matchstick cut because the pieces are cut about the size of matchsticks.

Put the cut cucumber pieces into a large bowl.

Peel the carrots, then julienne them to be the same size as the cucumber pieces.

Add them to the bowl as well.

Yes, it’s a bit of work to cut the vegetables that small, but it’s worth it.

Use a fork to shred the imitation crab meat sticks.

You want the crab to be shredded and irregularly cut. It’s easiest to do this with a fork.

If you don’t want to shred it, you could buy the flaky imitation crab meat, but I like the balance better when it’s shredded. That’s just a personal preference, though.

Add the shredded imitation crab meat to the bowl with the veggies.

In a small bowl, add the mayo.

If you’re not using Kewpie mayo, you’ll also want to add some sugar. Kewpie mayo is sweeter and tangier than American mayo, so you need to add that sweetness back.

Although, if we’re being honest, if you’ve never had this at a Japanese restaurant, you won’t notice a difference with your mayo choice.

Add the sriracha and salt.

Stir until the mayo dressing is combined.

Small aside: Taste the dressing now. It’s going to mellow out a little when it combines with the vegetables, so keep that in mind. If it’s too spicy, though, you can add a little more mayo to tame the spice.

Pour the mayo dressing over the vegetables and crab.

Stir until everything is combined.

Quick note: You can try to stir it all with a spoon, but I actually find it easier to toss with a pair of tongs.

Add in the spicy panko breadcrumbs and stir again.

When you’re serving, you’ll want to add a sprinkle of the spicy panko on top. You can also add white or black sesame seeds or tobiko as garnish.

Spicy Kani Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

More Uses For Imitation Crab Sticks:

If you bought too many packs of imitation crab sticks and you’re wondering how to use up the rest, we also use these in our air fryer crab rangoon recipe.

Sure, you can use real crab meat in that recipe, but it’s more affordable to use the imitation crab sticks (and what Chinese take out restaurants use as well).