What I Ate: Nectarine & Feta Salad

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

It was an anything-goes dinner night here…I think we ate too much guac & chips after swimming that afternoon to warrant wanting dinner. I wanted something. But what? I ended up tossing together a really quick salad and it was just such a reminder that the simplest salads can be the best…either that or the salads with all the stuff.

The Three Bite Rule - Nectarine Feta Salad
Ingredients:
greens
cukes
feta
nectarine
honey mustard dressing

Directions:
Chop, dress, toss, and enjoy!

Make your own honey mustard…it’ll take 2 seconds and you can make just enough for this or you can have it around for your next salad.

Peaches will work, if you can stand the fuzz. I cannot so I’ll stick with my nectarines. #thankyouverymuch I loved the combos here. I made my honey mustard heavy on the mustard so it had quite a zing! The lettuce was from the farmers market, the feta was leftover from a Greek-ish salad and the cuke was from our garden. It was perfect. A restaurant would charge $18 for this guy.

I threw it together on a whim and it was everything I wanted. Sweet (nectarine), tangy (honey mustard), salty (feta), and crunchy (cucumbers).

Breakfast Burger Bagel

My ratios were a touch off, but his breakfast burger was so fun. What’s more breakfast than bacon, an everything bagel, cheddar cheese, and a sunny side egg?! The bagel is pretty huge making an already small-ish burger look tiny but this one is a winner.

The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bagel Burger
I mixed up some maple mustard for a touch of sweetness and a little mustardy tang. That and the egg yolk are the only condiments needed!

The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bagel Burger
I made breakfast burgers on english muffins with bacon jam that were really incredible. Breakfast for dinner is the best!

Rosemary Hard Lemonade

Get ready for some herby cocktails! Thanks to the family in Florida, we got a great spread of different herbs which are flourishing in our garden! I’ve been using them to cook with but there’s plenty so now I’m introducing a few cocktails! This is perfect for your labor day menu! Make a pitcher!

The Three Bite Rule - Rosemary Hard Lemonade
I started with lemonade and citrus vodka, and then added a sprig of rosemary and dropped a few frozen blueberries on top. So good!

Ingredients:

1 shot citrus vodka
4 shots lemonade
ice
1/2 shot lemon juice
1 sprig fresh rosemary
frozen blueberries

Directions:

Add some ice to a glass with a sprig of rosemary.
In a cocktail shaker, add 2 ice cubes, lemonade, vodka, and lemon juice.
The Three Bite Rule - Rosemary Hard Lemonade
Shake shake shake.
Serve over the ice and rosemary. Top with a few blueberries.
The Three Bite Rule - Rosemary Hard Lemonade
Enjoy!

I loved this. The lemon juice really balanced the flavor from being too sweet since my lemonade was Crystal Light, not a tart lemonade. The rosemary was perfect. It wasn’t too much…I didn’t want it to become woodsy. I might not buy rosemary just to make this, but it is a perfect use for rosemary if you have it from something else.

The Three Bite Rule - Rosemary Hard Lemonade
Get your hands on some rosemary to make these…just not all at the same meal with the cocktail:
Rosemary in white beans, then top with something deliciously grilled
Rosemary in the Parisian Burger, seriously favorite burger of all time
Rosemary & Truffle oil on some baked french fries or homefries

August 2016 Recap

I’m never sad for August to be over. I really love September so I’m ready, bring it on. I really had a lot of favorites this month so it was a good month in the kitchen while still keeping most meals quick, flavorful, and fresh. The babe is so active and the bewitching hours are 6-7:30 so dinner is sometimes a scramble right now.

Some of my sangrias have been hit or miss in the past but this insta-sangria really was awesome with barely any time required! I think my Quick Sangria white cranberry strawberry juice was the right sweetness with a touch of tart to then pair nicely with white wine.
The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria
I try to bring out the panini press during the hot nights that I want something quick without heating up the whole house. I made a ham & havarti melt that was perfect and just a touch more special than the average ham & cheese.

Pair that sangria with a burrata bar and poof, instant party.
The Three Bite Rule - Buratta Bar
Yum. I’d be happy eating grilled bread, burrata, tomato, and basil daily. Daily. Day-ly.
The Three Bite Rule - Buratta Bar
Then I tried a new grain and I’m so glad I did. I made Cracked Wheat with Greek Flavors Topped with  Grilled Chicken.  It was awesome and I’ve already made more since then. It cooks quickly, similar to rice but with much more nutrients. Cracked wheat is a wheat berry “cracked” into smaller pieces for quicker cooking, bulger is the next step being par-cooked.
The Three Bite Rule - Greek Grain Salad

The Little Man:
This guy. I can’t believe how big he is. He’s crawling and standing. Craziness. Where’d my little baby go? This month more than ever I feel like he’s a little person instead of a baby. The monthly photos might go by the wayside. This one took 2 days of outtakes. He just wants to move. He’ll be on his back for .5 seconds and then he’s rolling over and up to crawl away.
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He loves swimming and crawling. He’s so proud when he pulls up to standing. He eats anything we give him and is 4th tooth is on the way! Thomas LOVES straps: the adjustable straps on his highchair, his backpack for daycare, on our totebags, anywhere. He sleeps like a champ at home and less so at daycare.

Progress on this year’s goals: 

The Year of the Earring:  Yup! Got ’em in August with an instagram discount code 

make more salad dressings: Yes! Make honey mustard and you can thank me later.

factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: 
I’m doing OK. Getting things ready in advance is becoming more of a habit.

recreate restaurant menu items: 
ehh. not this month I guess.

be more adventurous with my reading selections: 
I was a bit over eager for the beach and loaded up 3. Well, with the baby at the beach I didn’t quite read much. I read Mrs. Hemingway and looooved it. Now I’m into Flight Behavior which is turning out to be captivating after a slowish start. 

use the crockpot more:
Nope. I do have my next plan though! 

seafood once a month: 
I made some lobster cakes that were really good. The breading is only on the outside so the inside is all lobster!

Lobster Cakes

I made some lobster cakes as a play on a crab cake. They were so good and though I plopped mine onto a salad, they would be great as an appetizer too!

The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes

Ingredients:

1 cup lobster meat, chopped
2 tbs mayo
1 tbs grainy mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
4 chive sprigs minced
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions:

Mix together the lobster meat, mayo, mustard, and garlic gently to not pulverize the lobster.
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
Add in the chives and green onion stirring gently.
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
Heat a large skillet with vegetable oil to medium heat.
Form the mixture into 2-3 patties and roll them in the mixed breadcrumbs.
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
To check the oil temperature, drop a few breadcrumbs into the oil and see if they sizzle immediately. If they do, then add the patties in to cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Try to let them really crisp on the bottom before flipping so you only have to flip it once.
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
Remove from the oil and let them drain on paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
Serve on their own or on top of salad! Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
This is the best lazy-man’s lobster. It gets crunchy on the outside but is all lobster on the inside. There really isn’t much filler in these bad boys. I ended up adding a 2nd to my plate. I couldn’t resist!

Can you believe I fried them? I never fry things! They’d be good in the oven, if it isn’t too hot to have your oven on. 😉

I served it with honey mustard dressing that is just so easy and worth making yourself:
2 tbs honey
2 tbs dijon mustard
tiniest dab of butter (tiny as in 1/2 teaspoon – this makes all the difference)
shake it up and enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Lobster Cakes
Make your own honey mustard dressing. It is perfect to make a tiny bit for one or two servings or double/triple/quadruple this and have enough for a while.