Looking to celebrate Easter? Have a chronic illness or six? I’ve got you covered! Chronic illness makes all aspects of life difficult, especially holidays, but individual holidays are easier to manage than the full holiday season. So let’s talk about how to celebrate Easter Sunday when you live with chronic illness. 

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Celebrating Easter with Chronic Illness: General Holiday Practices

At the end of the day, Easter is just another holiday, but with one big distinction: you aren’t guaranteed a day off after it. Sure, many companies across the world are closed on Easter Monday, but it really depends on where they are, even within the same country. For example, growing up in Maine, I had never experienced having Good Friday and Easter Monday off because only private Catholic schools do that. But then I went to Nashville where the public school system was closed on those days. 

For Americans, if we have Thanksgiving off, we generally also have until Monday off. 

For people around the world, if they have Christmas off, they often have Boxing Day off. 

For people around the world, New Year’s Day is generally off after the real holiday, New Year’s Eve. 

But Easter? Not so much. Which makes celebrating it a bit more difficult. 

When people celebrate Easter, if it’s the most secular celebration, it’s brunch and/or dinner. If it’s the more religious celebration, it’s church for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter morning, as well as breakfast and/or dinner. With little-to-no recovery time. 

So let’s talk about what you need to celebrate Easter with chronic illness. 

Take Care of Yourself

If you’re a chronic illness patient, it’s often too easy for us to overcommit ourselves. Which is why you should make fewer commitments in the first place. 

Think about it: how much does it SUCK to go to a less-important event only to be unable to attend the more-important one? How awful is it to overdo it because you went to one too many events in such a short time period and then you can’t go to an event that you really care about? 

The solution is to make fewer commitments in the first place. Give yourself the gift of proactively not overdoing it and of having fewer possibilities of canceling plans. 

So do fewer things, but do the ones that matter most to you. If that’s church over brunch or vice versa, do that. If it’s going to dinner instead of participating in an Easter egg hunt or helping your kids enjoy a hunt instead of having a big dinner, do that. 

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Continue To Manage Your Chronic Illness

This is a lot easier to do for single-day holidays than it is for a multi-week holiday season, but it’s still difficult. 

Don’t skip medication doses. Don’t eat your trigger foods. Don’t power through symptoms. Don’t do anything that will upset your body … unless you’re prepared to deal with the consequences. 

But if you’re ever going to do it, a one-day holiday is a pretty good time to do it. Just make sure that you know what you’re doing. 

Everything You Need for a Delicious Gluten-Free Easter

Celebrating Easter with Chronic Illness: Candy & Easter Baskets

Easter Basket Goodies

Looking for decor or gifts instead of candy for an easter basket? Here are some great ideas. 

Colorful DIY Bunny Mason Jars (Flaming Toes) – Makes a great vase!

LEGO Tape Bunny Jar (See Vanessa Craft) – Perfect for the LEGO lover in your life.

Custom Name Silicone Sippy Cup with Straw

Easter Playdough Mini Kit

Personalized Kids Sunglasses 

6 Pack Assorted Easter Peeps Bunny Bath Bombs

Chick Bath Bombs

Personalized Easter Egg Craft Kit

Easter Fidget Toy

10 Ideas for Self Care You Need This Holiday Season

Gluten-Free Easter Candy

And we can’t talk about Easter baskets without talking about candy! 

What the Fork has an AWESOME guide to a gluten-free Easter basket, which you can read here.

There are some brands that either produce things that are either entirely gluten-free or have lines of products that are gluten-free. Here are some of them:

• Enjoy Life
• Lily’s Worms
• Starburst
• Hershey’s
• Justin’s

But if you want to make a specific thing from scratch, or maybe the “Easter basket” you’re making is for a teenager or young adult, maybe you want recipes for Easter-basket-type foods. Keep reading to see some of those.

Homemade Dairy-Free Chocolate Easter Bunny (The Fit Cookie) – These are also dairy-free, and if you pick the right chocolate, they can be top 8 allergen-free. 

Easter White Chocolate Bark (The Fit Cookie) – These are also vegan.

Peanut Free Chocolate SunButter Eggs (The Fit Cookie) – These are also free of peanuts and soy, and they’re vegan.

Gluten Free Bunny Munch (iowa girl eats)

Tahini Almond Butter Chocolate Eggs (Feasting on Fruit)

Fruity Peeps (Feasting on Fruit)

Rice Krispies Easter Eggs (Abbey’s Kitchen) – These are also vegan.

Mini Egg Granola Cups (Abbey’s Kitchen)

Mini Egg Fudge

84 of the Best Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes

Celebrating Easter with Chronic Illness: Recipes

General Tips

Start thinking now: what dishes are important to me to have? What dishes can be made ahead of time, or prepped and then frozen? What dishes are difficult to make but not worth it, and what dishes are difficult to make but are worth it to have?

It’s also super helpful to buy ingredients ahead of time as much as possible. Have them on hand and put a post-it note on them saying “For Easter!” so it isn’t used. This can save stress and money down the road.

This is also important to do if you have food intolerances or allergies. Do you require special ingredients to make your favorite foods? You’ve got the picture by now: planning is key.

56 Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes To Make This Year

Easter Recipes

There are so many recipes out there! But I’m going to highlight some recipes that comply with common diets that chronically ill people follow. These include low FODMAP, AIP (sometimes considered Autoimmune Paleo and sometimes Autoimmune Protocol), gluten-free, and vegan. There are so many more, but these are some of the most common ones that chronically ill people follow.

Low-FODMAP Easter Recipes

Easy Low FODMAP Slow Cooker Maple Dijon Glazed Ham (Good Noms, Honey)

Low FODMAP Breakfast Casserole (FODMAP Everyday)

Low FODMAP Spinach Salad with Strawberries 

Low FODMAP Deviled Eggs (Fun Without FODMAP)

Low FODMAP Carrot Cake (The FODMAP Formula)

Holiday Survival Guide: Living Well with Chronic Disease

AIP Easter Recipes 

The Perfect Paleo AIP Carrot Cake (Our Grain-Free Life)

Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Maple Glaze (Heal Me Delicious)

AIP Focaccia Bread (The Honest Spoonful)

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus (Autoimmune Wellness)

AIP Sweet Potato Hash with Bacon and Kale (Heal Me Delicious)

50 Crafts, Recipes, & More That You Need for Easter

Gluten-Free Easter Recipes 

Keto Deviled Eggs Recipes without Mayonnaise (Organically Addison)

Keto Eggs Benedict Casserole (Peace, Love, and Low Carb)

Easy Crockpot Spiral Ham Recipe (This Mama Cooks!)

Super Easy Gluten Free and Vegan Cinnamon Rools (Casey the College Celiac)

Warm Roasted Asparagus Salad with Eggs (Maple + Mango)

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Vegan Easter Recipes

Easy Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip (Stacey Homemaker)

Arugula Pecan Salad (Stacey Homemaker)

Vegan Coffee Cake (Nora Cooks)

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes (Nora Cooks)

Vegan Lemon Pasta with Cashew Cream Sauce (My Darling Vegan)

14 Amazing Simple Healthy Recipes for Dinner

Like this post? Share it! Then check out: 

The Best Food Substitutions for Common Intolerances, 7 Yummy Crockpot Recipes, Tips To Make Independently Living with a Chronic Illness Easier, Self-Care Tips That Chronic Illness Patients Need