Playing Chopped at Home

Do you watch chopped? I love it. As I’ve said before, it is like the old school Ready Set Cook! for the modern day…and with real chefs. My sis and I play occasionally. It’s actually a super easy way to host without going crazy.

Playing Chopped at Home:

Invite 1-4 people to join you
ask them to bring your specified quantity of basket items (I usually do 3 per person)
stock your pantry if you don’t have some basic staples (i.e. rice, pasta, condiments, breadcrumbs, spices, milk, etc)
Then, come up with your meal together with the ingredients!

I don’t do basket items by course, but you could definitely do that. Or you could break your group by course if you have too many cooks in the kitchen.

There were only 2 of us so we went with just a few ingredients each. Here they are!
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped
me:
marinated chicken breasts
onion dip mix
all my pantry items

sis:
pepperoni
ah-so chinese sauce
limes

We made a dip/relish with tomato, corn, red onion, ah-so Chinese barbecue sauce (basket ingredient) and lime juice (basket ingredient). This was seriously tangy and neon pink but surprisingly tasty. We served this with tortilla chips as a starter.
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

Then we chopped potatoes and mixed them with the onion dip (basket ingredient) and some olive oil then baked them to be crispy. While this wasn’t super inventive, it mayyy have been on the back of the package, it was a good use. I liked the extra salty flavor instead of just roasting potatoes with random herbs & spices. Leftovers also made great hasbrowns the next morning 😉
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

For the chicken we decided to stuff it with pepperoni and needed something else. I had some goat cheese so we went fully decadent. I thought the tartness of the goat cheese and the fatty pepperoni was great to liven up some otherwise basic chicken.
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

Go ahead and try it. It is so fun and a great way to not overthink dinner (then send me a pic with what you came up with emily@thethreebiterule.com!

Olympics Potluck

The closing ceremony is almost here. So sad. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted. It is so much work to keep up! Gymnastics and beach volleyball have been my favorites. Of course I got sucked into some swimming, diving, and track as well.

To celebrate, it was time for some office olympics…not a la Jim & Pam’s Office Olympics but  in our way of celebrating, as a potluck!

The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
Let the games begin!

We had greek salad
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
I made Greek lettuce wraps
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
And some summery bruschetta with a nod to Italian athletes
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
and a full out cheer to the Italian team
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
There was a great representation of the rings!
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
These rings too!
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
There was some red, white & blue patriotism
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
Wishing both the French & USA bon chance with some trifle!
The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck
Local & Farmer’s market picks suggest that the USA will sweep in medals! The Three Bite Rule Olympic Potluck

 

Birthday Party Theme: Apps & Zerts

This year may have been my best birthday theme ever. My life in event planning is Parks & Rec…to a tee. It is perfectly accurate in case you were wondering. I’m reasonably sure most of the jurisdictions I work with have assistants who are bribed not to let calls go through. They’ve referenced the piles of paper they have to get through and regularly do me a favor, by doing their jobs. Work hasn’t made me bitter, but I see the disparity in customer service all the time. I have a special place in my heart for park folks around the country who take their jobs as seriously as Leslie Knope.

Mr. J took all the photos so I could enjoy myself. It was wonderful and delicious. My friends are really talented. Somehow I thought there’d be a more manageable quantity of food compared to last year’s birthday food theme, but (K)nope, there was more!
apps_zerts_namecard_590_390

Without further ado, here they are!

Here’s the app winner: Not Swanson’s Zucchini Goat cheese Rolls (the winner won Ron Swanson paper dolls)
apps_zerts_zucc_590_390
This is the zert winner: S’more Cups (this winner got Leslie Knope paper dolls)
apps_zerts_smores_590_390
These had LOTS of votes so it won a runner up award aka, a sketch of Tom Haverford
apps_zerts_pig_590_390
This runner up got a sketch of Ben Wyatt since the flavors were so complex
apps_zerts_beercheese_590_390
This runner up got the Chris Trager health award

apps_zerts_guac_590_390
This runner up got a sketch of Donna since I thought Donna would find this Benz-worthy
apps_zerts_artichoke_590_390

There was so much food! This one was mine!
apps_zerts_whoopie_590_390
this was mine too!

apps_zerts_popcorn_590_390

 

apps_zerts_quesadillas_590_390

 

apps_zerts_neutella_590_390
apps_zerts_lemon_590_390
apps_zerts_creamcheese_590_390
apps_zerts_cocoa_590_390
apps_zerts_bean_590_390
apps_zerts_cookie sand_590_390

apps_zerts_bacon_590_390
apps_zerts_brownies_590_390 Are you hungry now?

Love Mini Foods & Mini Spinach and Artichoke Dip

My office has THE BEST potluck themes. We recently did a theme for foods you can make in a muffin tin. There were no other restrictions and it might have been one of our best. We figured we love mini-food and thought it’d be a good theme for Valentine’s Day. I’m super delayed but happy to share these guys finally. My favorite techie has updated my whole computer so I was computer hopping and had files all over.

This theme would be really fun for a party or potluck because everything is really self-serve-able and because it is pretty self-contained, not everything needed silverware!
muff_tin_table_390_590
Mini cheesecakes! 
muff_tin_cheesecake_590_390

Mini spinach & cheese bites
muff_tin_spinach_590_390
Mini strawberry shortbreads
muff_tin_strawberry_590_390

Mini Mac & Cheese
muff_tin_mac_590_390
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
muff_tin_cupcake_590_390
Lemon Poppyseed Ebelskiver
muff_tin_ebil_590_390
Mint Frosted Brownies
muff_tin_brownie_590_390
Mini Lasagna Cups
muff_tin_lasagna_590_390
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
muff_tin_muff_390_590
Mini Spinach & Artichoke Dip Cups (these were mine, the recipe is below)
muff_tin_baked_590_390
Everything was so good!
muff_tin_plate_590_390

Spinach & Artichoke Dip Cups

Ingredients:

1 cup spinach, chopped
1 cup artichokes, chopped
1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce
1/2 package cream cheese
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
wonton wrappers

Directions:

Assemble dip ingredients
muff_tin_inside
Mix ingredients
If serving as dip, spray and transfer to a baking dish making a thin (aka dip-able) layer.
If serving as cups, spray a muffin tin and layer dip on top of wonton wrappers.
muff_tin_baked_590_390

I think the alfredo made the mix really dip-able and not too thick. I freeze leftover spinach whenever I know I won’t get to all of it. I also threw in some frozen kale and I thought it was great. I put some basil in too. It gave a freshness and light taste.

Festivus Brunch

I thought you might need some eye candy on this Monday. Feast on this! I went to a brunch hosted by some fun ladies and I have to say, I was totally impressed. Not that I expected anything less from these gals who host some pretty rockin’ parties, but this was one for the lesson books. I think everyone can take some brunch pointers from them. It was so convenient that they had a brunch. At a time of year where there are get-togethers and cocktail parties all the time the brunch was really refreshing and fit into my schedule perfectly. Now, onto the lesson!

Rule 1: Choose quality products.

They had some high quality bread by the toaster rather than the expected bagels.
brunch_bread_590_390
The sky is the limit for the hot chocolate bar and they had all the best additions
brunch_cocoa_590_390

This strata had gruyere, mushrooms, and spinach. Wonderful choice of interesting ingredients!
brunch_strata_590_390

Rule 2: Know your strengths/Use what you have.

If you make fantastic quiches all the time, why not serve ’em? This one is tomato, basil, goat cheese and is delectable!
brunch_quiche_590_390
One of these ladies bakes regularly whipped up bakery-quality muffins and frosted them.
brunch_cupcakes_590_390

Call in an expert to make their specialty dish. If you’ve ever had Mrs. P’s coffee cake you’d know what I was talkin’ about.
brunch_cofcake_590_390

Rule 3: Concentrate on a few special (yet do-able) distinctive touches.

Of course there was a butter snowflake
brunch_butter_590_390

Their resident baker has the best cake decorations…especially for gingerbread muffins
brunch_gingerbread_590_390
They served a pretty memorable jam selection
brunch_jam_590_390

Rule 4: Keep ’em happy with some variety

What a fun treat for a non-breakfast person? Also a beverage option for anyone not wanting to spike their cocoa/coffee.
brunch_cookies_590_390

I missed photos of the bacon, tator tots, and ham and egg in a crockpot. See what I told ya about their variety!?!

P.S. I brought some ebilskiver with candycane centers!
brunch_ebilsk_590_390