Stir It Up Holiday Mixology Challenge

We had family was here for New Year’s Eve which seemed the perfect opportunity to whip up some holiday cocktails! Stirrings offered some mixers and rimmers. Cheers! I used Peach Bellini Mix with sparkling wine and then swapped it out with ginger ale to be the mocktail version. I loved this and would totally make these again.

I hope your “resolution” was to spend more time with friends, or treat yo’ self, or eat more brunch, or host more often. This cocktail totally fits into all of these! I think a pitcher would be perfect next time!

Holiday Cocktail Challenge - Bellini
I love Peach Bellinis and I wanted to bring them into the evening…they seem to always be stuck at brunch! I rimmed the glass in lemon drop sugar and featured Peach Bellini mix, a splash of pomegranate juice, and sparking wine. It was so good! I made 2 drinks and this was definitely the winner!

Holiday Cocktail Challenge - Bellini

Ingredients:

lemon drop sugar
2 oz Peach Bellini Mix
1 oz Pomegranate Juice
6-8 oz Sparkling Wine or Champagne

Directions:

Wet the glass with simple syrup or a sliced lemon and then rim it with the lemon drop sugar mix.
Mix together the Peach Bellini Mix and the juice and pour in to the glass.
Top with the sparkling wine.
Enjoy!

I loved the peach and pomegranate together. Both flavors got to shine. I liked the not-super-sweet wine with some bubbles, but go as sweet or dry as you like. There are also a ton of variations on this:
Peach Bellini mix + cranberry juice + sparkling wine
Peach Bellini mix + pomegranate juice + club soda
Peach Bellini mix + peach puree + ginger beer or ginger ale
Peach Bellini mix + Polar’s Pomegranate Dry Soda

Holiday Cocktail Challenge - Bellini
Mixers totally elevate the cocktail from my norm concoction from the liquor cabinet! I didn’t go all out with garnishes but drop a slice of peach or frozen peach in, and maybe a drink umbrella. You deserve it! I have another one I was into, but was a bit too boozy for the others. I’ll share that one another time too!

Follow Stirrings on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest for fun recipe ideas. Did you MA folks know Stirrings was founded in Nantucket? Find them at liquor stores & grocery stores like: Roche Brothers, Hannaford’s, Kappys, Yankee Spirits, Wines & More, Total Wines & More, Lukes!

Full 3 Bite Rule Disclosure: Stirrings offered me 2 mixers & 2 rimmers to enter a cocktail challenge for a monetary prize. My thoughts, opinions, words, and love for a fun cocktail are entirely my own. Fingers crossed!

Nutella Cafe Au Lait at Home

Early last weekend when I was the first one up, I felt like messing around with my normal black coffee. I considered a doughnut excursion, though the little one dozed until 9 and I wasn’t going to interrupt that! After a quick google to sort through how to steam milk without some fancy contraption. I went with this shake-milk-in-a-jar method.

Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule

Ingredients:

8 oz coffee
2 tbs nutella
3-4 oz milk (suggested lower fat milk)

Directions:

Brew hot coffee.
Add the hot coffee to a small pot over medium heat. Add nutella to the coffee.
Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule
Stir well while allowing nutella to melt.
Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule
Add milk into the jar (not more than half full).
Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule
Shake for about a minute. The milk should double in size.
Microwave in the jar for about 30-seconds.
Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule
Pour the coffee into a mug. Gently pour the milk over the coffee, spoon any remaining froth out of the jar onto the coffee.
Enjoy!

I loved this. It was seriously nutella flavored. My ratio of nutella to coffee is definitely hefty but I was serious about this drink being a treat. I normally drink my coffee black.
Nutella Cafe Au Lait - The Three Bite Rule

Green Smoothie Challenge – Halfway

I’m just getting on the podcast bandwagon. I started listening to The Lively Show and I’m obsessed! Love it. I binge-listened to it and now I have to wait for new ones. I love her guests and who doesn’t need to add a little more intention to their lives?

This one episode was about green smoothies. I was really enchanted by one of the founders of Simple Green Smoothies and loved that it wasn’t a weirdo cleanse. The 30-day challenge is a way to encourage people to consume more greens and for it to become a habit. I’ve been making smoothies regularly, but never daily, so I thought this was great! And 30 days of October sounds perfect, just in time for Halloween candy!

green_smoothie_apple1

Before you keep reading:
1- they aren’t sludge, the fruit provides flavor much stronger than the greens.
2- again, these smoothies aren’t a crazy detox they’re just part of creating a healthy habit.
3- does anyone actually think they get enough veggies?

So far so good! I like the challenge to keep me on track!

Dan’s famous apple pie – This was my first one. I loved the date in there. The cinnamon was so great. Why have I never included spices into mine before?
Green Smoothie - Apple Pie
The tip to blend the greens & almond milk was hugely helpful. Blend them first and then plunk in everything else and blend again.
green_smoothie_apple_blend_590_390

Cherry on Top – I love the cherries with blueberries in this one. How beautiful is this? I added in some flax seeds. This would be a good starter if the color would scare you on the others.
Green Smoothie cherry
U Pick Me Up – This one is has a green tea base which is totally different than any smoothie I’ve ever made. I liked it, but it seems a bit watery. It was refreshing but didn’t quite feel like breakfast.

Almond Blueberry Peach – This one is is kind of a muddy purple one but it seems really different from the others because of the almond/peanut butter.
Green Smoothies

Shauna’s Carrot Cake – I don’t really cook carrots very often so putting them into a smoothie seemed like a good way to eat more colors. Green + Orange was a nice way to start the day. I don’t have a million-dollar blender so I steamed my carrots so they’d puree better. I was afraid the ginger might be too much but it was great!
Green smoothie - carrot cake

Check out the Simple Green Smoothies. How stunning are these?

I learned I like smoothies to be milk based so I’ve tweaked a few and made them with unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of water or coconut water. I used spinach and then found a mix of “juicing greens” that has a mix of spinach, chard, and beet tops. The smoothies have been my breakfast with another something else…1 slice of wheat toast or a hard boiled egg or a spoonful of peanut butter.

The recipes make 2 but I haven’t gotten Mr J on board yet so sometimes I’ll save one for the following day. More often, I half the recipe and make it 2 days in a row. My cousin jumped on so it is nice to know somebody who is also making them!

So, podcasts. I blew through Serial and I’m up to date on the Lively Show. What should I listen to?? I listen during my evening commute to pick up the little dude – my morning commute is for the news. I like learning something or following a story. What do you suggest?

Almond Joy Smoothie

I haven’t made a fun smoothie is such a long time. This was so different than my other smoothies purely because I didn’t use fruit in this one! I went light on the coconut and chocolate and moreso focused on the almond/oaty flavors. The mini chocolate chips were the perfect ending fitting nicely with my aluminum straws.

The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie
I put in a bunch of grains and ice…it worked out really well! I used coconut yogurt but it’d be so great with coconut almond milk. I only used chocolate as a tiny touch but it was all the smoothie needed to also function as breakfast.

Ingredients:
5.3 oz coconut Greek yogurt
1 cup ice
3 tbs oatmeal
3 tbs almonds
1 tbs flax seed (optional)
1 cup milk
1 tsp mini chocolate chips

Directions:
In a blender, add in the yogurt, ice, oatmeal, almonds, and flaxseed.
The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie
Add in the milk and blend until smooth.
Top with mini chocolate chips (or a swirl of chocolate sauce).
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie
I wonder what my 75-year old neighbor things when I’m outside on the deck photographing a smoothie on a random weekday morning. Ohh well, this one was worth it.

Quick White Cranberry Sangria

I saw a video on instagram for white sangria and knew exactly what to do with an opened bottle of white wine hanging out in my fridge. It was a sweet Reisling and it wasn’t my favorite. Perfect for sangria! Most often when I make sangria it has to hang out so long that it isn’t amazing but the day after I serve it, voila! It is amazing and it’s just me with the leftovers. This sangria is quick and really only needed to chill together for 2 hours or so.

My pitcher is dimpled, so it is wicked hard to photograph. Also, there were only 2 of us drinking it so I didn’t make a ton. 🙂

The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria
Thanks to Ocean Spray’s instagram video, I sought out the juice, but didn’t buy theirs, oops. I saw White Cranberry Peach and White Cranberry Strawberry. This one was pinkish so that’s what sold me. It is verrrry mild cranberry flavor – I would have liked more cranberry tartness.
The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria

Ingredients:

1/2 – 2/3 bottle of sweet white wine
~4 cups White Cranberry Strawberry Juice
2 tbs fresh mint
splash of lime juice
1/2 peach or nectarine, sliced
splash of limoncello, lemon vodka, or ruby red vodka

Directions:

Add the wine into a pitcher and drop the mint in. Use a wooden spoon to muddle it a bit squishing it against the bottom and stirring the wine.
The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria
Add in the same amount of juice for a 1:1 wine to juice ratio (or less juice than wine if you want it a bit stronger)
Slice a nectarine or peach and add that in as well with a splash of lime juice, or fresh limes.
The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria
Refrigerate for 2+ hours or until serving. Give it a stir, and a splash of lemoncello, then serve over ice and enjoy!

The nectarine slices might not fare too well over night so if making it wayyy in advance, drop them in a little while before serving. It also could be served with a splash of club soda or swapping the wine for a sparkling wine, sparkling rose, or champagne would all be great!

The Three Bite Rule - Quick White Sangria
I loved this. There was some taste of the wine but the fruit and the mint plus the juice made it really easy to sip. I mean, really easy. We had this with dinner of BBQ but it also would a great day-drinking option since it isn’t the strongest drink. 1 glass is like 1/2 a glass of wine! #winning

Mmm. I want to drink this on a beach. I’m heading to the cape in a few weeks. Maybe I will!