Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

There is something so amazing about using REAL FOODS to come up with beautiful colors. With Easter just around the corner why not try coloring your eggs from natural ingredients that are safe and even add a nutritious punch to an already nutrient dense egg?

Last year my kids and I decided to try our luck on creating Easter eggs with natural colors. We looked into purchasing a natural dye kit but those were a little expensive and we thought we could be even more creative than that. After reading a few other blogs and articles about successful natural dye experiments we settled on the fact that there were only 4 colors that would truly work successfully for our Easter eggs; beets for a pinkish color, black cherry juice for a purplish/violet color, turmeric for yellow and blueberries for a bluish/gray. I was pretty excited about this because these foods are packed full of super nutrition! Beets are high in immune boosting vitamin c, as well as vitamin A and B, potassium, magnesium and folate. Turmeric has been around for thousands of years and is known for its assistance in fighting disease. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is also a powerful antioxidant. Blueberries and cherries are also high in antioxidants which makes them great at fighting those free radicals (or bad guys) in our bodies. I would say these benefits are two thumbs up for parents all around!

So, head to the grocery and gather up these ingredients (or look to see if you have any of them at home already.

• 1/2 cup Blueberries (we used frozen because they give off a great juice when thawed)
• 1/4 cup Black Cherry Juice
• 1 TB Turmeric (we found a nice root at Whole Foods and peeled and chopped it)
• 1/2 of 1 Beet (chopped)
• 1 TB Vinegar per 1 cup liquid
• 1 dozen eggs *white* (you could pick these up from your local farm too!)

After you have gathered your ingredients just follow these simple steps to create your beautiful Easter eggs.

1. Boil the eggs until cooked. Cool and set them aside.
2. Add the beets, blueberries, cherry juice and turmeric to four separate cups. Make sure your cups or bowls can hold at least 1 cup of water.
3. Heat 4 cups of water. The water should be hot and close to boiling.
4. Divide the water into the 4 cups. Each cup/bowl should have about 1 cup of water in it. 
5. Stir each of the cups. Mash the blueberries to release more color.
6. Allow the food ingredients to sit and steep in the cups/bowls for about 10 minutes to help release the colors.
7. After 10-15 minutes, remove the beets and blueberries from their books and add in 1 TB of vinegar to each of the 4 bowls.
8. Set an egg into each of the cups and allow to sit until the desired color is reached. Colors will be pastel and lighter than what you would get from a kit. But just as beautiful!
9. Once desired color is achieved remove the egg from the cup and place in an egg carton or muffin tin to dry.
10. To make your eggs even more special you could draw with markers or stick festive stickers on them. Have fun hunting for them on Easter!