Cuban Rice Bowls

Have you missed the grain bowls?! It has been awhile and I love love this format. We had these Cuban Rice bowls with inspiration from a cuban pressed sandwich – Pork, cheese, mustard, pickles. I didn’t have any ham but that would be traditional. These were fun for something different and have lots of ways to customize them.

The Three Bite Rule - Cuban Rice Bowls

Cuban Inspired Rice Bowls
Ingredients: (serves ~4-5)

1 1/2 cups rice
water/broth/bullion for the rice as dictated to prepare
1 1/2 cups pulled pork (or slices of cooked pork tenderloin)
2-3 pickle spears
1/4 cup white cheddar or swiss cheese
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup fried onions

Directions:
Cook the rice – mine was 5 minutes in the pressure cooker and uses 2 1/4 cups water + bullion.
Warm the pork in a pan until heated through.
Chop the pickles & the cheese.
Whisk or shake together the mustard and honey.
Warm the fried onions in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes.

The Three Bite Rule - Cuban Rice Bowls

Assemble the bowls with rice, cheese, pork, pickles, and the crispy onions.

The Three Bite Rule - Cuban Rice Bowls

Then drizzle with honey mustard mixture and enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Cuban Rice Bowls

I loved these! Add in some chopped ham! Swap for the cheese you like! Use any kind of pickles you like- I like dill and the rest of the fam likes bread & butter pickles! Go for any grain or rice you’re into! I added the honey to the yellow mustard to mellow it out a bit but you could skip that too. The inspiration is a Cuban sandwich but I’d be open to more veggies or the mustard mixed into the rice too!

These were fun and a great deviation from other ways we enjoy pulled pork. I put a pork shoulder into the crock pot for 6 hours and this was one meal and we have ~4 more portions in the freezer for BBQ pulled pork or tacos or quesadillas or on pizza…the list goes on.

March 2021 Recap

March felt so much brighter than February. I’m so glad people I know and love are getting vaccinated and I’m awaiting my turn. March had birthdays and spring weather both which make me so happy. February felt heavy and repetitive.

My fav thing to come out of the kitchen this month was this loaded Cobb Salad Turned Panini. So fun. I’ve not confirmed the difference between a cobb salad and a chef’s salad!

The Three Bite Rule - Cobb Salad Panini

I made some Churro French Toast Sticks which were fun, but I still prefer some baked french toast recipes I’ve made and like even better (like this Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast and this Fluffernutter Baked French Toast.)

The Three Bite Rule - Churro French Toast Sticks

To keep lunches interesting, here’s an English Muffin Turkey Melt with apples and arugula & sriracha aoli.

The Three Bite Rule - English Muffin Turkey Melts

These Chocolate Mint Energy Bites are good to not alwaysss be pb focused.

The Three Bite Rule - Chocolate Mint Energy Bites

I’m excited for Easter brunch and treats. April will also mean full-time at-school kindergarten for Thomas! I cannot wait to eat outside and I love the daylight! I got matched once for Lasagna Love and I packed up a few things for some new mommies.

The Little Girl:
She loves stickers and coloring. It was so exciting to get sandals out! She’s got sooo many stuffed friends in her bed- it is like flavor-of-the-week for preferences. She’s totally being 2.5 yrs old with some clapping her hands down and saying “but I got hurt” when she doesn’t want to hear or do something. We’re onto you little one. She is so happy to play in the sandbox again.

The Big Guy:
I love to see the creations he crafts. Often it is an animal or something he’s just seen or heard about. He’ll draw snakes/hawks/eagles then color them, and carefully cut out. He’s about to start 5 days a week to school. He will love it. We love love love seeing how much he can read. We just finished Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

Goals:
Year of the fun mail! I dropped a note to T’s fantastic kindergarten teacher.
More breakfasts: Churro French Toast Sticks!
Lunches coordinated or prepped in advance – Ehh. Not really.
I’d like to get the house a bit neater: I think I nudged some small spots – like the wet bar in the kitchen and my dresser top.
Bullet journal – I’ve been keeping a meals list.
What I’m reading: I read I know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Text Me When You Get Home and Bel Canto.
What I’m Watching: We loved Stanley Tucci’s series Searching for Italy! We watched Dark Waters and it was so impressive but disheartening.

Cobb Salad Panini

All the perks of a Cobb salad without any of the lettuce! Lettuce really gets in the way of the fun stuff in a salad, right??? This panini has Cheese! Chicken! Ham! Avocado! Tomato! Blue Cheese Dressing!

I loved this grilled cheese with all the things.

The Three Bite Rule - Cobb Salad Panini

Cobb Salad Panini
Ingredients:

2 slices sourdough
1 slice ham
1/3 cup chopped chicken
3 slices cheese
1 small tomato
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
2 teaspoons butter/olive oil/mayo

The Three Bite Rule - Cobb Salad Panini

Directions:
Heat a pan to medium heat.
Assemble the sandwich with bread, half the cheese, ham, chicken, tomato, sliced avocado, and the remaining cheese.
Spread butter or mayo or brush bread with olive oil.
Cook the sandwich and grill on each side for ~ 2-3 minutes. Cover to melt the cheese.
Remove from the heat and let sit for 1 minute before slicing. Dip into blue cheese dressing.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Cobb Salad Panini

This was so fun. There’s a lot happening and it is one of those messy-delicious sandwiches you can barely put down. Good bread is necessary to hold up, and nothing makes a panini/loaded grilled cheese better than cheese on each side.

The defining elements of a cobb salad to me seems fuzzy compared to a chef’s salad. I’m not entirely sure what’s in one and not in the other? Either way, in a salad the hard boiled egg is ideal – I figured it might be a little weird here. Bacon would have been lovely, sliced turkey could definitely swap for the chicken. Go for what speaks to you.

Special sandwiches are so great for dinner – or make salads one meal and paninis for another!

Chocolate Mint Energy Bites

The ideal snack! All my past energy bites were peanut butter based so I tried something new. We definitely eat our fair share of pb around here! I love these pb/coconut/choc chip ones and these pb & “jelly” flavored ones too. Snacks can reset us mid-morning between zooms or virtual kindergarten screen-breaks, or post-nap. I like the powerful, useful, snacks and that these can carry us to the next meal.

Chocolate Mint Energy Bites
Ingredients:

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
5 dates, chopped
1 tablespoon/scoop chocolate protein powder
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1-2 tablespoons Nutella
1/4 teaspoon mint extract

Directions:
Mix together the oats, flaxseed, dates, and protein powder.

The Three Bite Rule - Chocolate Mint Energy Bites

Add in the tahini, chocolate chips, nutella, and mint. Mix well, breaking up chunks to ensure mint is well incorporated.
Form into balls or disks. Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Chocolate Mint Energy Bites

I like these shaped as disks just for easier space storage. We all snack on these and they provide that great flavor with some good protein, fiber, and a little chocolate sweet boost.

The nutella was an afterthought – these tasted a bit too much like protein powder so I added that to sweeten it a bit. Mini chips are ideal so these don’t crumble apart. Careful of that mint- wowza. That can easily be wayyy too much.

My 2.5 yr old sous-chef looooved the dates so those will be a snack too for her now too.

The Three Bite Rule - Chocolate Mint Energy Bites

English Muffin Turkey Melts

I’ve been trying to give home lunches a bit of a face lift. These turkey melts on English muffins are just unique enough be exciting while keeping them a totally do-able weekday lunch. Somedays it is PB&J while doing 5 other things and then there’s a 5 minute special lunch with everyday ingredients like this!

The Three Bite Rule - English Muffin Turkey Melts

These have a nice kick with a spicy sauce and crunch from an apple (or there are lots of variations below)!

English Muffin Turkey Melts:
Ingredients: (for 1)

1 English Muffin
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or hot sauce)
2 slices turkey
1-2 slices cheese
1/4 apple (I used honeycrisp)
1 cup mixed greens

Directions:
Toast the English muffin (the toaster oven is perfect for this, or “griddle” it on a pan to use again soon).
Mix together the mayo and the sriracha in a small bowl.
Slice the apple and chop the greens if needed, while the muffin toasts.

The Three Bite Rule - English Muffin Turkey Melts


When the English muffin is toasted, spread the sriracha onto both halves, then top one half with greens, apple slices, turkey, and cheese.
Pop the assembled English muffin into a toaster oven, the regular oven, or into a hot pan with a cover to melt the cheese and warm everything through.

The Three Bite Rule - English Muffin Turkey Melts

Pop the top on and enjoy!

These are so fun and could easily swap with what you have. Honey mustard would be great, a pear would taste delicious, ham can swap with turkey. Go crazy! The English muffin definitely adds some variety, and the melty cheese + lunch meat + a fruit + a veg + sauce = is perfect. These can be open faced or popped together as a sandwich.

The Three Bite Rule - English Muffin Turkey Melts

I’m partial to these Fiber One Multigrain English muffins. They are much more fluffy than others and the higher fiber is just an added benefit.