BLT Quiche

I was striving to shake up lunches a bit. Somehow during this time home I began eating the same thing everyday: turkey, arugula, & provolone. I do want to get some variety going with the same “no thought required” as that daily sandwich so I made quiche! Poof! One hour of prep/baking time in advance and we have about 4 servings of lunch!

The Three Bite Rule - BLT Quiche

I went to make this and was out of tomatoes. I thought there was one left soooo I substituted a few tiny dollops of tomato paste from a tube I keep in the fridge. It was good! Go with real tomatoes but in a pinch, I’m here for ya!

BLT Quiche
Ingredients (for 4-5 servings):

1 pie crust
4 strips of bacon
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk/cream
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1 cup spinach
1 teaspoon tomato paste (or ~6 cherry tomatoes, halved)
1 cup fontina cheese, grated
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
salt & pepper

Directions:
Bake the pie crust in a pie plate, as instructed. (Mine was ~10 minutes)
Chop then pan fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain excess grease.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream of tarter, and salt and pepper.
In the baked pie crust, add in some cheese, some some bacon, some spinach, and a few dots of tomato paste. Repeat to fill it up.

The Three Bite Rule - BLT Quiche

Bake for 35-40 minutes. It should puff a bit and not giggle in the center.
Let fully cool, then slice and enjoy!

I’d totally go with tomatoes but it worked so well in a pinch! Have some sun dried tomatoes in a jar? Use those! The flavor theme would have been wreaked without any and I liked it! Tomato paste is concentrated so really don’t go overboard!

I love the buttery and crumbly crust. The bacon is the star but the spinach is there to make you feel good about your life choices.

The Three Bite Rule - BLT Quiche

Quiche is such a great and balanced lunch – I went back for seconds so this will end up being 4 servings for us- a quarter of the quiche. That’s 1 egg, 1 slice of bacon, and about 1/3 of a cup of cheese per serving! There’s really not much of a veg serving here so add some salad on the side but overall that’s what I call balance!

I’ll probably tuck one into the freezer for the next time I need some variety!

Funfetti Waffles

Comfort food month continues with these funfetti waffles! I made mine as waffles but the same works for pancakes! These have waffle mix plus funfetti mix plus a little vanilla protein powder.

The Three Bite Rule - Funfetti Waffles

Funfetti Waffles
Ingredients (for 4)
1 cup pancake/waffle mix
1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
1 egg
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla protein powder (optional)
1 tablespoon sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
Mix everything together.

The Three Bite Rule - Funfetti Waffles

Pour into the waffle iron and cook! Keep them warm between rounds.

The Three Bite Rule - Funfetti Waffles

Serve with syrup & whipped cream!
Enjoy!

I loved these! The extra sprinkles were for the kids, the protein nudge was for me. Sometimes I’m hungry shortly after a sweet breakfast of waffles or pancakes!

The Three Bite Rule - Funfetti Waffles

Make extra and freeze them! They reheat well in the toaster or oven!

When you make these, you’ll have leftover funfetti mix which you can use for Dunkaroo Dip! I might put some of the remaining funfetti mix into energy bites!

Orrr you could skip the funfetti mix completely and go with more vanilla protein powder and extra sprinkles into pancake/waffle mix for the same effect!

Up next I have a comforting dinner! Stay tuned!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Energy Bites

I crowdsourced what to do with freeze dried raspberries nobody was into. The kiddos like freeze dried strawberries & mango & blueberries but the raspberries were a no-go. I put some into ebelskivers but it didn’t use too many. Now I put them into energy bites, which was a genius idea from Jess www.jessfuel.com!

The Three Bite Rule - PBJ Energy Bites

PB&J Energy Bites

Ingredients: (for about 12 golf ball sized bites)

1/2 cup ground flax
1 cup freeze dried raspberries
4 dates
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon raspberry jelly
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
sprinkle of salt

Directions:

Grind the flax seeds, if whole, and the freeze dried raspberries in a food processor or spice grinder or coffee grinder. Chop the dates and the peanuts.
Add everything to a bowl & marvel at that great red raspberry powder!
The Three Bite Rule - PBJ Energy Bites
Stir well. Add in more jelly if needed to keep it together.
Form into balls.
Refrigerate and enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - PBJ Energy Bites

These are delightful! I love peanut butter and jelly flavors – hello, the only smoothie I seem to ever make is this healthier peanut butter and jelly smoothie! These have good chew and sweetness from the raspberry powder. The dates make it sticky and sweet without a separate flavor. A wise Registered Dietician told me to always grind the flaxseeds and that our bodies don’t do much with them whole.

Here’s hoping the little gal likes these. We’re trying to get some dense nutritional foods into her. She hasn’t grown a whole lot so I thought these might be good snacks- for any of us!

They last about a week in the refrigerator or can be frozen too. I used some ratios from these energy bites I made forever ago.

Fluffernutter Baked French Toast

There’s nothing better than melty peanut butter. I made this Fluffernutter Baked French Toast for Easter and thought it was so fun, especially since my fam love peanut butter and fluff flavors! Baked french toast is super handy since it gets all mixed and goes into the oven as one fell swoop! I used mini marshmallows, making this super easy and it would be a great one for kids to help with! I was making it early morning before little ones would check if the Easter bunny came! Plus, I was blogging so that’s definitely a solo project!
The Three Bite Rule - Fluffernutter Baked French Toast

Peanut Butter & Marshmallow French Toast

Ingredients: (for ~5-6 servings)

1/2 loaf Italian bread
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup (more for serving)
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Slice the bread into ~1 inch slices and 1 inch cubes. (I did this the night before- when it gets a bit stale it is better!)
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
The Three Bite Rule - Fluffernutter Baked French ToastWhisk together the eggs, cream, extract, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
Stir in the bread and mix to coat well, but with care to not breakdown the bread completely.
Spray a 9″x9″ or 9″ deep dish pie plate, or similar sized baking dish with non-stick spray.
Add in half the bread mixture with half the mini marshmallows and with half the peanut butter. From a big scoop of peanut butter, push off small dollops of pb with another spoon.
The Three Bite Rule - Fluffernutter Baked French ToastThen add in the rest of the bread mixture and the rest of the peanut butter and marshmallows.
Bake for 40 minutes covered, then another 10 minutes uncovered.
The Three Bite Rule - Fluffernutter Baked French ToastServe with syrup and enjoy!

We loved it! The marshmallows were surprisingly not too sweet which surprised me. I also served it with bacon which helps for some salt flavor! It is good as leftovers too. Being home all the time has me thinking more baked french toasts should be in rotation. Last year I made a Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast which is also fantastic- if you were looking for more ways to consume nutella!
The Three Bite Rule - Fluffernutter Baked French Toast

Outside the Lunch Box: Breakfast Burritos

Packing lunches takes a bit of preparation and when crowd-sourcing some ideas a while back, I was awe-inspired by breakfast foods! Duh! Yes, please! I whipped up a few breakfast burritos to see how I’d like them come lunch time. Spoiler:: they’re just what noontime wants. I should keep a few in the freezer for bfasts too. I often make burritos to freeze with leftover taco elements but I’ve been sleeping on the breakfast burrito game! These are perfect to customize. I used my fav Gardein meatless sausages {not sponsored} but the filling opportunities are endless – see the end for ideas!
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Burritos for Lunch

Breakfast Burritos w/ Sausage, Egg & Cheese

Ingredients: (for 2)

3 sausage patties (I used meatless)
4 eggs
2 burrito sized tortillas (flour are most durable for folding/freezing/microwaving but use what you like)
~1 cup shredded white cheddar
1 tablespoon everything Bagel seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Pan fry the sausage until cooked through, or as the package indicates.
While sausage is cooking, whisk together the eggs and cook gently in a pan over medium-low heat until set, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Note: I normally cook eggs with a splash of milk and really soft scramble them. For burritos, I didn’t want the eggs to be at all watery so I skipped the milk and cooked until a bit firmer than I normally do.) Let the eggs cool for a few minutes off the heat.
Lay out the tortillas and shred the cheese on top.
Cut the sausages into bite-size pieces and let cool a bit.
Add the eggs and sausage on top of the cheese. Then sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning, if using.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Burritos for Lunch
Fold the sides of the burritos inward about 1-2 inches, then roll from the bottom towards the top tucking the sides in as you roll. (Here’s a video of the same way I do it)
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until serving. Microwave about 30 seconds to a minute, depending on that work microwave power! Then pop into a toaster oven if possible!
Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Burritos for Lunch

Variations:
bacon, eggs, cheese
eggs, cheese, spinach & mushrooms
eggs, cheese, salsa, beans
eggs, cheese, homefries

These freeze well so make a bunch and spread them out to add more variety to your week! They are prob the easiest “batch” cooking ever and they don’t take up much freezer space. I love breakfast food and I never cook eggs on weekdays so these are a great idea for me! I appreciated a warm option come lunchtime. I’d lighten them up a bit for breakfast- 1 egg and 1 sausage patty is prob enough for the morning.

These are insanely cheap to make and have wayyyy fewer ingredients than the frozen ones sold. Wheat tortillas don’t seem to hold up as well but that’s a great substitution if you have some you like. Try include plant-based proteins. They’ve come a long way since 2008 when they were more available. I swear by Gardein {pulls out her soapbox}. Our whole fam love the meatless crumbles in tacos, the Szechuan beefless strips, the meatless meatballs, the turkey cutlets, and we have others to try. A fam of 4 skipping red meat one meal is as good for the planet as taking a car off the road for 3 months. That’s insane! Don’t get me started on how little recycling actually gets recycled so this is a really tangible way to have an impact on the environment, and these are truly flavorful replacements for meals you’re already familiar with.

I’d love love love to hear what you think!