Cheeseburger Potato Skins

These cheeseburger potato skins were so fun, especially for a drizzly evening when grilling wouldn’t have been ideal. Mark these down for the next time you have just a liiiitle ground meat and want to make a meal for three out of one burger’s worth. The little one is obsessed with “helping cook” so we made these together. Plus, I taught him to say garnish, so there’s that.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheeseburger Potato Skins

Cheeseburger Potato Skins (meal for 3, or appetizer for 5-6)

Ingredients:

3 potatoes
1/4 pound ground beef/turkey/chicken
1 tablespoon hamburger seasoning (don’t buy this, I had a packet to use up, otherwise it is: onion powder; paprika; garlic powder; black pepper; dried basil)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
pickle slices for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees, and preheat a medium skillet.
Cook the potatoes until cooked through. (I microwaved mine for 5 minutes.)
Scoop out the insides of the potatoes, leaving about a 1/4 inch thick edge from the skin to the inside.
Brush with the olive oil & spices, then broil for 5 minutes (until crisp).
The Three Bite Rule - Cheeseburger Potato Skins
Whisk together the ketchup, mustard, and worcestershire sauce.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheeseburger Potato Skins
Cook the ground meat until no-longer pink in the skillet, then add in the sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 3 minutes or so.
Remove the tray of potato skins and sprinkle in a little cheese, then spoon the meat mixture in.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheeseburger Potato Skins
Top with more cheese & bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with pickles.
cheeseburg_pot_plate_590_390
Serve & enjoy!

These were fun bun-less burger, fit for inside eating. It is a tricky line of cooking food we’re all going to eat together while the little one’s has time to cool (usually a turbo cool in the freezer) while ours remains hot. Serve with a salad and poof, dinner’s done.

I’m looooving cooking with the little one. I did have to send him to tell Daddy “5 minutes” so I could quiiiiickly snap a pic before getting the hot pan out of reach. He loves spoons, spatulas, and the like. Sometimes his “helping cook” is to hold this unused, uncooked potato while I’m yielding a knife, but whatevs. He ate all the tomato out of our salad bowl which was kind of funny.

How to Build a Better Charcuterie Board

There’s zero cooking involved here but I was pretty into with my offerings for a charcuterie & cheese board. The reigning Queen of Cheese Boards is How Sweet Eats but here are my 2-cents. Mr. J and I enjoyed this for Valentine’s Day while the little one slept over with the grandparents. This was our meal, but now I’m itching to make one for a bigger crowd and to go all out.
The Three Bite Rule - Build A Better Charcuterie Board

Tip 1: Start at Trader Joe’s…seriously, the cheeses won’t break the bank, as in, I got 3 totaling about $12. I choose a smoked Gouda, a rosemary Asiago, and a pepper Taleggio. These aren’t widely different in texture, but we loved them. I hear Whole Foods will also cut any cheese wedge for you, so don’t get thrown by the whopping price, or if the size is too much. Maybe shoot for a crumbly, a softer, and a creamy one.  I went with  2 meats, prosciutto & salami, for saltiness, fattiness, and texture.
The Three Bite Rule - Build A Better Charcuterie Board

Tip 2: Variety is important. Multiple crackers/breads keep each bite feeling different. I choose multiple briney items (olives, marinated mushrooms, pickles, pickled fiddleheads) most of which I got in small quantities from the grocery store. Then I wanted different sweet touches (strawberries & jam), courtesy of our own regular fridge. I had nuts hanging around and more crackers than I realized which was perfect for all the toppings.
The Three Bite Rule - Build A Better Charcuterie Board

Tip 3: Crowd the platter. The plethora & bounty of offerings makes an impact. A few small dishes corralled a few elements, but for a bigger group, I’d totally pile everything up and sprinkle around for color.
The Three Bite Rule - Build A Better Charcuterie Board

Pour the wine and crack into it! My kitchen island was born to host a bigger and even better charcuterie and cheese board.

Meatball Sliders with Garlic Butter

I could slurp this garlic butter, but I won’t. I’ll save it for the sliders. It is so perfect with a juicy meatball, gooey cheese, and a sweet Hawaiian roll. Yesssss. We all ate these and love ’em. I would have liked a bigger meatball to match the size of the roll, but I used frozen meatballs making this 10x faster. The rolls were leftover and hanging out in the freezer from a NYE slider bar.

The Three Bite Rule - Meatball Sliders
I almost made the little one’s without the garlic butter. Then I stopped short, and thought: “Whattt are you doing???? You want the kid to eat all the foods, so give him exactly what the adults are having!” It might be from a running joke Mr. J has with the little one. When they couldn’t find it in the grocery store, they were saying “if you were minced garlic, where would you be?” The little one answers “no gar-ick”. He gobbled up his slider, so it was a good call to keep it the same.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Parmesan
6 slider rolls
6 meatballs
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.
Melt the butter and mix in the garlic, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and Parmesan.
Slice the rolls and spoon most of the garlic butter onto the bottom buns and bake for 10 minutes until they crisp a bit.
The Three Bite Rule - Meatball Sliders
Warm the sauce and meatballs. Place one meatball onto each bottom bun. Ladle sauce on top of each and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Meatball Sliders
Spread the remaining garlic butter onto the top buns and warm them in the oven too. Place the tops on and enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Meatball Sliders
I think the rolls & the garlic butter made these sliders. The rolls soaked the butter but then crisped so the sauce didn’t make them soggy. I’m so grateful that the 2-year-old eats everything and the garlic butter was a reminder for me to keep that going. Plus, he looooves meatballs so it wasn’t a hard sell.

Maple Bacon Baked Brie

For Christmas we had apps all day instead of lunch/dinner. I made this baked brie in puff pastry with a maple, bacon, and caramelized onion topping. It was good, but a touch too sweet. Do as I say not, as I do!
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
I love baked brie but it needs to be served hot, and had a chance to set for a few minutes…otherwise all the brie oozes and is gone in a second!

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry
1 wheel of brie
1 cup caramelized onions (made ahead of time)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs maple syrup
3 strips of bacon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.
Pan fry the bacon until crispy and let cool.
Mix up the onions, bacon, syrup, and brown sugar.
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
Unfold the puff pastry dough and put 1/3 of the filling in the middle, and put the brie on top. Spoon the rest of the filling on top of the brie.
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
Fold a corner of the puff pastry over the top, and keep folding around in a circle getting to the end.
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
Put onto a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Brush with maple syrup (or eggwash). Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with crackers to dip.
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
Enjoy!
Baked Brie with Maple Bacon & Caramelized Onions
I used a bit more brown sugar & syrup than I probably needed so I decreased it for the recipe above. I like the oozy cheese with the bacon and the onions. Anything in puff pastry is a winner in my book!

Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs

My MIL is the queen of stuffed eggs so I channeled her and put a twist on the traditional deviled egg. Work was having a 3-way baby shower for 3 mommas-to-be. They seemed ideal for a snack that didn’t need to be reheated, and was easy to bring, open, and serve without any assembly.

The Three Bite Rule - Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:
dozen eggs
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon Nutritional Yeast Flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon mayo (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives + some for topping garnish

Directions:
Hard boil the eggs then let cool for at least 3 hours before pealing.
Slice in halves, pop the yolks out and into a bowl. Add in the yogurt, mustard, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast flakes, onion powder, and mayo.
The Three Bite Rule - Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs
Mix well and add in the chives.
The Three Bite Rule - Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs
Spoon into a ziplock bag, push to the bottom corner, and snip of the corner with scissors.
Pipe into the egg halves and sprinkle the remaining chives on top.
The Three Bite Rule - Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs
Enjoy!

I liked these! The flavors were a bit subtle, but still there. The yogurt gave a little tang and I added the mayo for some creaminess. I added the nutritional yeast flakes because it kind of mimics cheese and I thought it’d help the sour cream & onion touch without dip mix or anything. I have a few more flavor options in my head. Stay tuned!