January 2022 Recap

January went by quickly! The little boy is 7! I got to work remotely a lot and we were thrilled for some snow for sledding and ice skating. I had so much joy from one single trip ice skating. It felt like an awakening and that we were more solidly in a state of kids versus toddlers. Just going ice skating where each kid could kind of do the activity without as much from us as parents felt like a shift. Getting back to something we haven’t done in years, outside, on a pond….it was magical. I loved it.

My fav dish this month was a sweet potato and bacon hash with an egg and maple aoli on top. We had this for a weekend breakfast but it would be perfect as breakfast-for-dinner. I’ll bow down to you if this were to be a weekday breakfast in your world.

The Three Bite Rule - Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash

I’m in the minority for this dinner, but I stand by it. French Onion Manicotti was so good – I know, I ate the leftovers for days. The fam was not whole heartedly into this one but I liked the flavors and a twist out of the ordinary.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

I made a dessert too! Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Apple topping was delicious. I never really saw a cream cheese shortage around here so I went for it.

The Three Bite Rule - Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Apple Topping

Olympics and Superbowl snacks are ahead for me! I’m so excited. I have one sweet treat planned for Valentine’s Day.

The Little Girl:
She’s so hit or miss on meals. Either she’s all in or takes a few bites and doesn’t care about more. Cheese is always a safe bet. I couldn’t believe how much quinoa she ate one night. This girl powered through T’s birthday cake. She love love loves her babies and stuffed animals. She is going to loooove Valentine’s Day since she folding her pictures into “cards” is a pastime of hers and she loves envelopes.

The Big Guy:
He had such a fun birthday! We did a family party and his ideas as a chicken nugget eating contest. He ate 14! Claire ate 5! Wow! Grandma made a Pokemon logo cake. He got nerf stuff and is loving it. He’s still eating hard boiled eggs most breakfasts. He really loved sledding and he’s very into going to the library.

Goals:
Year of nail polish! I got a deep moody navy (this one)
More international food inspiration: nope – unless we count our homemade crunchwraps?
More soups/salads: We had cheeseburger soup and crescents with sesame seeds!
More apps: not really, but Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl are coming.
More fun drinks: tea!
Updating photos: not this month.
What I’m reading: I read Bad Muslim Discount and it was incredible. I slogged through Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty – I love Anderson Cooper but skip the book, or maybe listen to it. Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons was so fun for a perspective I don’t automatically see – a self-help writer for LGBTQ dating sites from small-town Oklahoma.
What I’m watching: Project Runway
What I’m listening to: I really missed all the podcasts who were on break for December.

Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Apple Topping

I baked! I had this idea churning and we were having cheesecake for Christmas day so I left some space after just having it – then I just went for it without an occasion. This has pretzel & graham cracker crumb crust with cheesecake topped with apple and salted caramel.

The Three Bite Rule - Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Apple Topping

The cheesecake is super fluffy and has a great balance of crumb to cheesecake to topping ratios – I pretty much want each in every bite.

Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Apple Topping
Ingredients:

(for graham cracker & pretzel crust)
1 packet of graham crackers
1/2 cup of pretzels
1 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
(for cheesecake)
16 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
(for salted caramel apple topping)
3 large cortland apples
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup caramel sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
In a food processor, blend together the graham crackers, pretzels, butter, and sugar and press into a springform pan sprayed with nonstick spray.
Bake for 8 minutes then reduce heat to 325 degrees.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and heavy cream.
Bake for 60-minutes until the edges are set and the middle is barely giggly.

The Three Bite Rule - Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Apple Topping

Let the cheesecake fully cool out of the oven, in the pan.
Peal and chop the apples to cook over medium-low heat in the butter. Add in the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for ~5 minutes until they soften but aren’t mush.
Add in a teaspoon of the caramel apple sauce and some salt. Taste and add in more of the kosher salt as you like. Refrigerate until serving.

The Three Bite Rule - Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Apple Topping

When serving, spoon apple topping over the cheesecake and drizzle with remaining caramel and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Apple Topping

I loooved this. I started with apple topping from just 2 apples then made more wanting there to be PLENTY. I love the little salt bits in the crust and on the topping. Cheesecake is so convenient to prep ahead of time and I liked the salted caramel apple topping even better when it was cool – just like the cheesecake.

French Onion Manicotti

French onion soup meets stuffed manicotti! It would have been stuffed shells but they were MIA at the grocery store. These were fun! I caramelized onions, added french onion soup mix to the ricotta filling, and topped it with an onion sauce with optional mushrooms. I’m the mushroom fan, and the rest of the family had without.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

French Onion Manicotti (or stuffed shells)
Ingredients (for ~5 servings)

1 onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 package manicotti (or jumbo shells)
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 packet of french onion soup mix
1 pint of mushrooms
1 cup veggie broth or golden mushroom soup
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup milk or half and half
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Slice the onion and cook in a large skillet over medium-low heat with olive oil and butter, stir often and reduce heat once the onions are translucent. Cook for ~30 minutes until caramelized, soft, and brown.
Boil a large pot of salted water for the pasta. Cook until al dente and drain.
Mix half the onion soup mix into the ricotta.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

Slice the mushrooms. Cook in a hot pan with olive oil and butter – not stirring, let them brown on one side and flip once.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees and spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.
Warm veggie broth, worcestershire sauce, and remaining onion soup mix over low heat. Cook for ~10 minutes to cook the soup mix. Then and add in the milk/cream and cook for another 5 minutes.
Spoon the ricotta into a zip-top bag (tip: put around a tall drinking glass with one bottom corner pointed down). Then snip the bottom corner and pipe into each end of the manicotti to fill. Place into the baking dish.
Top with caramelized onions and mushrooms.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

Spoon 1/2 to 1 cup of sauce over the top. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Bake for 40 minutes until warmed through and the cheese melts.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

I liked this one! I wouldn’t make it alllll the time, but it had good flavor and was fun for variety. I rarely make manicotti but they’re so good and piping in from a bag was great – I’d be pulling my hair out if spooning it in!

If mushrooms/onions aren’t your thing:
Make with pesto & sausage (here)!
Make like chicken parm (here)!
Make with butternut squash & alfredo (here)!
Make with spinach & cheese (here)!

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Manicotti

Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash

Happy 2022! We started the new year with this fun breakfast after getting to sleep in and it was great – a bit decadent from the bacon and the maple aoli but a bit smartly balanced from the sweet potato and egg.

The Three Bite Rule - Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash

Both the bacon and sweet potato can be made ahead – or cooked a few ways. That would even turn it into a speedy weekday breakfast too!

Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash
Ingredients: (for 2)

1 sweet potato
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons mayo
2-3 teaspoons maple syrup
2-4 eggs

Directions:
Peal and chop the sweet potato into bite-sized pieces. Then cook (bake ~20 minutes or airfry ~10 minutes or pan fry ~ 10 minutes & bonus points if cooking them in the bacon fat!)
Fry the bacon – ~20 minutes in the oven or chop into small pieces and pan fry for ~7 minutes.
Mix together the mayo and syrup together. Start with some of the syrup and add more to taste.

The Three Bite Rule - Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash

Mix together the sweet potatoes and chopped bacon and divide onto plates. Drizzle half of the aoli on top.
Cook the eggs sunny-side or over easy with salt and pepper.
Put the eggs on top and drizzle remaining maple aoli on top.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Sweet Potato & Bacon Hash

I loved this. The runny yolk is the best. The aoli could swap the maple with hot sauce instead! Add some onions and peppers. Add some garlic. Add in some black beans. Go for what you like! A shred of cheese would be delicious too.

Our bacon was leftover from NYE sliders. Sometimes I make it in the oven or anytime it is crumbled means pan frying in little pieces would be easy too. This would be ideal as breakfast-for-dinner too!