Today is my birthday!!! Yay! In my own honor, here are 5 of my current food favs.

1) I’m all about the pressure cooker at the moment. Hands down, my fav kitchen appliance. (sorry coffee maker, you’ll always have a place in my heart). Goodbye slow cooker!

2) Birthday freebies & bday wishes! So far, I’ve received bday wishes with gifts of free burritos, free sundae, $5 off, or clothes discounts! Always include your bday on store info (or if your bday falls around major gift giving time maybe choose a random one when you’d need to treat yourself)!

3) Mr. J making really awesome dinners. He’s been perfecting the frittata the last two weeks. Both have been awesome, in my opinion. The babe loves them too.

4) Bottled sangria. I got this sangria as a hostess gift and we LOVED it. I found a tasty white one at Whole Foods and just purchased one from Trader Joe’s…that one is up next!

5) This salsa. Winner winner, taco dinner! It is much closer to pico de gallo than anything else I’ve found. I was on a quest trying lots of different salsas and this one wins.

See ya after the famous chocolate ring of coconut fudge cake with the fam this weekend!

February coming to an end means my birthday is just around the corner!! I’m so excited for my birthday this year. Last year my bday was kinda crappy. I was by myself during the day and Baby T screamed all. day. long. I ate a frozen burrito by myself while Mr. J took the babe off my hands at night. That wasn’t our easiest time and everything got better a few weeks later. I did have a fun & festive fam bday last year that was graciously brought to my house. Anywho, I’m living the dream now so bring it on!

Mr. J and I went to fancy-pants brunch for Valentine’s Day at Aquitaine which was so lovely and I also surprised him with a date night to Pastoral this month.

I was quite into the pressure cooker this month! #obsessed I made lentils with carrots and spinach that was a really ideal base to get topped with a quickly seared chicken sausage. That is a perfect weeknight dinner! Then I made a show-stopping Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic & Cherries.

With a few little snow-storms and then random warm (aka 50-degree days in February) there was quite the mix. One warm day we made some burgers that I still wanted to seem like winter burgers. I topped them with dried cranberries and topped with brie and lemon aioli. Ooo la la!

I fell off the savory-breakfast bandwagon but made little puff pastry egg cups that were addicting!

2016 Goals:
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor I was treated by an awesome Etsy shop Urban Fringe Living to a Valentine’s Day sign! I am so in LOVE.
do something a different way: I’ve tried alternative routes from work to see what is fastest to get to daycare. I didn’t find a better one, but you never know until you try! Another “different” was picking up Mr. J at work to surprise him for a date-night! We had amazing pizzas at Pastoral and I loved every second.
drink more water: I’m doing well. I never seem to get above 50 oz, but that’s OK with me.
make more interesting side dishes: Ohh yeah. Caesar brussels sprouts for the win! These lentils with veggies were good too!
cook more soups & sauces: ehh. I missed this one this month.
watch more movies: This month Mr. J and I watched Tammy, Good Will Hunting, and Trainwreck
make working out a higher priority: I’m back into some classes at the gym. I went to a zumba class with a different instructor who was AH-mazing. I also joined some Fitbit challenges which got me moving more.

It is official. I have a 1-year old. I think it went by sooo fast. Mr. J feels like since the little one has changed so much that it seems about right. T is so funny right now. He LOVED the cake…mashing it, eating it, and having frosting hands. The Little Man Party was fun and he’s one lucky guy. WE are a lucky family.

January is off to a good start. I’ve used the pasta attachment 2x and the pressure cooker at least 2x…maybe 3? I love that thing. Dinner has to be super fast, or prepped in advance. That’s the only way it can happen after getting home from work, the little one wanting to eat ASAP, tub time, and bedtime. For now, the babe eats with me and then sits with us while we eat for a few minutes….that point of his patience is low. He’s onto drinking whole milk and pretty soon we’ll be off bottles. Woohoo!

This super quick Greek Flatbread with hummus, chicken sausage, feta, and arugula was one of my favorite things this month. It would work well as a wrap too, depending on your preference!

I’ve been on this bfast quest for weekday savory breakfasts. I had hoped to sneak one more in this week, but alas, I had a cold this weekend and didn’t cook a ton. These breakfast bowls have cracked wheat, bacon, egg, and everything-bagel seasoning. So fun! You could use rice, beans, lentils, barley, oatmeal? or whatever strikes your fancy.

My other fav this month was a Mexican-inspired BLT with a smear of refried beans and taco-spiced aioli. Sooo good. I served these guys with Mexican Street Corn that I made in the morning before work. Then I used the leftover beans to make bean & cheese quesadillas for the little one. He loved them!

I’ll keep the savory breakfast going…I have a few more ideas I didn’t get to yet! 

2016 Goals:
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor I got the birthday string, thank you Target Dollar Section! and this awesome tree…so perfect for some “winter” decor versus Christmas.
do something a different way: ehh. I’m not sure where I was going with this, but switching the little one to a big-guy carseat and to milk means we definitely aren’t stuck in old ways of doing things!
drink more water: I’m tracking it, which at least makes me aware, and I’m making sure to get 10 oz in before coffee. #winning
make more interesting side dishes: yes! This risotto was so great!
cook more soups & sauces: I made broccoli & cheddar soup while it was snowing…that seemed appropriate.
watch more movies: we went to the movies 200% more than the last few months! I saw Mocking Jay and Spotlight in the theatres. We watched Foxcatcher, Inside Out, and 22 Jump Street, at home too.
make working out a higher priority: ehh. Not succeeding here but I got all into some fitbit daily challenges which got me moving a bit more.

Or moreso lounging in the new year. I’m not so into New Years, and never really have been. I was happy to earn $100-bucks babysitting back in the day for NYE. #highschoolfortune This year I’ll be enjoying sliders & shakes at home in my yoga pants. That worked out so well last year we decided it must become tradition! Though, last year I was about to pop myself and this year it can be a boozy shake! I cannot fathom why people stand out in Times Square alllll day to keep their spot. Or those who will be spending $400 for Olive Garden (no bottomless breadsticks). Both options are beyond me.

What do you do? Party? Get fancy? Go away?

An Apps & Zerts party is fun, a la Tom Haverford

A PJs & Pearls Party a la Carrie Bradshaw?

2015 was so wonderful and though I’m excited for what’s to come, it’ll hold a special place in my heart and I’ll be sad to see it end. The little is asleep by 8 so it’ll just be another day to him, maybe it should be to us all. I love to set goals for the year. I think there’s always room for improvement and I definitely need the reminder of the goals so it isn’t suddenly July before I remembered things I wanted to do.

2015’s goals:
The Year of the Earring: always a favorite yearly item.
make more salad dressings: this was my best goal of the year.
factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: this is an on-going quality for me to improve on
recreate restaurant menu items: ehh. I didn’t do this every month, but it’s a fun one when you’re needing a whats-to-make moment
be more adventurous with my reading selections: I read more than I thought I would. I learned I need a book or too much time passes before I seek one out.
use the crockpot more: This didn’t make me love the crockpot more, but I made a few things.
seafood once a month: I should be eating more fish.

So, what’s up for 2016? The little one turns 1 in a few weeks! Hello, theme party! He’s walking all around the house, from room to room. He feeds himself and eats pretty much everything. I love to see his little personality more and more. He’s a curious, determined, and giggly guy.

2016 Goals: 
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor
do something a different way
drink more water
make more interesting side dishes
cook more soups & sauces
watch more movies
make working out a higher priority

Catch ya in 2016! I got a pressure cooker and the pasta attachment for my stand mixer…watch out world!

November is which a whirlwind for work. Our Thanksgiving fundraiser makes my October & November a bit nutty. By the end of the month I was really exhausted physically, I got a bit sick, I was tired of going to bed thinking about work and waking up thinking about work. I made a few quick dinners but I was glad to not add too much to my plate and just try to focus/enjoy the ride.

This month, sis’ bday was a fiesta! I made Mexican Street Corn and Mr. J made margaritas. Other than that, Mom made everything else. I looooved the corn. It was creamy, salty from the cheese, sweet from the corn, and had just a hint of zest from lime. It was so great as a side. I’d also definitely be willing to put it on a taco. This one will be a quickie repeat.

The Three Bite Rule. Turned. Five. Yes, 5 year old. Craziness!

I wanted something really good in the crockpot. This crockpot cassoulet wasn’t the best I’ve ever made, but I liked it annnnd I used dried beans, so that was a first.

Queso Smothered Chicken over a bed of black beans and peppers was the perfect tweak on taco-night.

The Little One:
He is so funny. He’s movin’! He took his first steps just before turning 10 months. I love Mr. J’s monthly photos. He always looks like: splat! Like he’s stuck! There are about 5 seconds before he wiggles off. He has no interest in staying still. The poor babe. He had hand, foot, and mouth. It felt like forever. This photo was delyaed while he was cov-ered in it. Ugg. It’s a total yuck one. Let’s not do that again….ummk?


Progress on this year’s goals:
The Year of the Earring:  I missed it this go-round. 

make more salad dressings: I made a dressing for the Mexican Street Corn…counts, right?

factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: I’d say I did OK during my busiest time of the year. 

recreate restaurant menu items: Nope, I missed this one too.

be more adventurous with my reading selections: I haven’t read much. 

use the crockpot more: Yup! I made Crockpot Cassoulet. 

seafood once a month: Nope, I’m behind on that.

I cannot believe The Three Bite Rule is FIVE years old. Five. That’s bananas. This is a crazy time of year at work for the next few weeks so I didn’t quite have time to plan something extravagant. Then again, I’m not going anywhere so it isn’t like I need to go out with a bang. Should I want this to be bigger? I don’t know. I’m pretty content for The Three Bite Rule to just be what it is.

I like doing this. I like making time for it. I like that it is just mine to share with others. It makes me think, try, be a little creative, and remember not everything comes out perfectly. I know not to force my joy into it providing my livelihood. I want to do good work and make a difference in the world. I absolutely adore my job and was happy to return to it after my maternity leave. I learned being home with the little man meant I was lucky and a positive time for both of us but my best self has to work with other people, providing some good into the world. I think work has to be something you enjoy but I also think people make the mistake of trying to have all their wants and needs met by their life’s work. That’s where your hobby can come into play.

This year, woah. I live in such a different world than when I started blogging years ago. The little one is such a joy and my favorite part of this year, of course. Mr. J and I have adapted our meals to fit our busy times of year at work. It is definitely wayyy quicker to make dinner when not blogging it so I slowed to 2x a week and it seems like a good fit. I learned to snap a few more photos to have some more choices. I unfortunately don’t get to snap the photos in daylight very often but that’s just how it is.

So, what’s ahead for the year? I’m not sure.

My Fav Photo of the year:
Salmon with Creamy Dill & Cucumber Dressing

Fav Food of the Year: Chicken Thighs
Tuscan Herbed Chicken Thighs over White Beans

Fav Restaurant Re-Creation of the year:
Chicken Meatballs with Kale, Cranberries, and Fresh Pasta

Fav Burger
Picnic Burger with Potato Sticks & Slaw

This year’s goals:
The Year of the Earring
make more salad dressings
factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take
recreate restaurant menu items
be more adventurous with my reading selections
use the crockpot more
seafood once a month

I don’t know what’s ahead and that’s OK with me! I’m so grateful for everyone who reads my blog. I appreciate you!

Trader Joe’s is a gold-mine for some of my favorite staples. This is totally a collection of my choices and is no way influenced by Trader Joe’s. Joe definitely don’t know me. I think it is easy to get caught up in the seasonal or impulse buys, but if you go with a plan for some staples you’ll be totally set. I don’t find it ideal for general grocery-shopping so here are my top buys:

Flowers
Don’t skip them. Trader Joe’s flowers keep well and the price can’t be beat. $5-bucks for a bouquet? Sold! Best $5 way to brighten your week.

Wine comes next in the store layout. You really could just make a trip for these two.

I love some of the jarred items. The pesto is the best jarred pesto I’ve found…after a hunt. Also the crushed garlic is so much better than minced garlic. I used the simmer sauce awhile back for turkey meatballs over faux-mashed potatoes.

Next another must-buy is some of the freezer staples. They don’t always have it, but the frozen mahi mahi is sooo good.

Roasted Corn is so full of smokey flavor and is a freezer product they always have. Thank goodness.

Staying in the Mexican area, I LOVE the chicken & cheese tamales. Seriously. $2.49 for 2. Such a great quick snack or lunch.

I always get some edamame. There’s in the shell or out. They’re perfect as an app or snack or on the side. Grocery stores seem to now have edamame more often, but Trader Joe’s has had it forever.

TJ’s eggplant cutlets are so so good. They always have them and I use them on their own, on pizza, in subs, or in grilled cheese!

Don’t leave the freezer section without Turkey Meatballs. Trader Joe’s turkey meatballs are the best. I’ve tried all the brands and these are significantly better. They’re also a steal! Fully cooked meatballs are the perfect freezer staple. The baby loves pieces of meatballs.

Lastly, peek at the candy before you leave. The are a huuuge value and who doesn’t need a bite of chocolate now and then?

What do you get at Trader Joe’s?

I cannot wait until Halloween! The little one is going to be a shark! It is hysterical.

October was a fun one. In the kitchen, I was pretty into quick meals. Work is busy, the little one is busy and hungry at dinner time, and there are always 1,000,000 things happening. Or sometimes we just want to play and then we’re uber hungry.

I did a flatbread with pear, feta, and balsamic which was awesome. Make some flatbreads on naan immediately.

We’re still grilling over here so it is still burger season where I made a burger with Cobb Salad toppings. I loved it. Mr. J often gets blue cheese on his burgers so this was a natural fit.

Another fav this month was a chicken cordon blue pasta. It was so good.

The Green Smoothie Challenge – I did it!! At the halfway mark, I had learned what I really like in a smoothie: frozen & milk based. There were some really great recipes. I’m glad I did it. I probably won’t make one daily from now on, but 30 days of smoothies was great. One of my favorites was a banana & coco powder and another favorite had pineapple/mango/coconut oil. I have a whole new spectrum of ingredients for future smoothies.

The little one:
He’s too funny. I love his chuckle. I really love his sleeping ability. What a champion sleeper! We’re so lucky. The little dude goes to bed at 7:45pm and gets up at 8-9am on the weekends, or when we wake him at 7 for daycare on weekdays. He crawls then adds a leg in there when crawling isn’t fast enough. He magically began standing unassisted. He’ll pull up to standing and then casually let go.

He’s eating all foods. He literally eats anything we give him and doesn’t seem to have anything he doesn’t like. He’s now eating people food for breakfast & dinner and just a few bottles. He has 8 teeth! I can’t wait to dress him up for Halloween! Eeek. It is just too cute.

Progress on this year’s goals:
The Year of the Earring:  I got these, just in the nick of time. 

make more salad dressings: I made a dressing with some apple cider.

factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: Ehh. Mornings haven’t been as quick moving as I need it to be. Otherwise, I think I did pretty well.

recreate restaurant menu items: Sure did! My copycat Roxy’s Grilled Cheese had apple, cheddar, and sweet potato.

be more adventurous with my reading selections: I’m reading I am Malala but it has been slow going. I’m almost through the podcast Undisclosed, if that counts.  

use the crockpot more: I did a pork tenderloin in the crockpot. It was good to have something to just cook away all day. 

seafood once a month: Nope, I’m behind on that.

Woo-eee! September whizzed by. We hosted a brunch party, then a BBQ & firepit party the next weekend, then a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, then a visit from Grammie C. So busy and so fun. Work is really ramping up and suddenly fall arrived in the matter of a day or two.

For October I’m doing a 30-day green smoothie challenge (join in! it is free!) so I’ll keep you posted how it goes – not a weirdo-cleanse when you starve yourself and only drink liquids or $30-a-bottle juices. It is a month of green smoothie recipes to get into a healthy habit. Plus, it ends just in time for Halloween candy. I can’t wait to put the little nugget into a Halloween costume!

The Martha’s Vineyard weekend trip was awesome. We ate some good food, strolled around, chilled on the Inn’s cupula, and explored. It was awesome. I was very sad pulling away from the little one but it was good for everyone. I hadn’t left him before but it went well. We had a really fun diner breakfast that might need to be the next restaurant recreation. Stay tuned!

My fav recipe of September is the Bacon Cheddar Biscuits. They were really awesome for breakfast on the go and I popped a few into the freezer. They tasted just as great out of the freezer! These buggers would be the ideal brunch party prep in advance! I just made them for fun but now I’m wanting to jazz up biscuits more often! Spinach and parmesan next?

Rosemary Hard Lemonade was perfect for my garden rosemary, or if you have rosemary on hand for something else… ummm Parisian burgers anyone? Lemonade, citrus vodka, rosemary, and some frozen blueberries make for such a fun instant summer beverage.

This salad with cucumbers, feta, nectarines, and quick dressing was good. I was all about the fruit in salad this month also with a spinach strawberry salad!

I actually took a week off from dinner this month. It was pretty refreshing to my cooking motivation. We had lots of leftover, uncooked items from the BBQ party of 30 people, so somehow there were a few things to pick from. Also, since I knew we were going away, I really wasn’t wanting to grocery shop then be gone, especially after shopping and prepping for the party. I should prob do that more often. It wasn’t our most well-rounded meals but it was a few days of anything-goes and I appreciated a break (from myself).

The Little One:
He’s so active! He loves to move. He’s been taking steps using a push toy, feeding himself cherrios, and riding in the big stroller insert. He loves looking around and touching everything! He’s curious and babbling. He just started feeding himself pieces of things we put on his tray and drinking water in a sippy cup. I’m so excited! He hadn’t been into textures but now seems more ready/willing.

Progress on this year’s goals:
The Year of the Earring:  I got these and love ’em

make more salad dressings: Yes! This poppy seed dressing was so great a spinach and strawberry salad, or anything else!

factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: Always a work in progress. I did pretty well in September.

recreate restaurant menu items: ehh. not this month I guess. I did find an amazing diner breakfast menu on Martha’s Vineyard that I’ll have to use in October.

be more adventurous with my reading selections: I read Flight Behavior and LOVED IT after a slowish start. I started Cutting for Stone but didn’t really get going. I blame the timing. I’ll try that one again. 

use the crockpot more: Nope, but now that fall is here I’m sure I’ll get going.  

seafood once a month: I had a quickie Angry Shrimp Wrap aka, Buffalo Shrimp Wrap that hit the spot. I swear I’ll get on the real fish soon enough.

Mr. J, my favorite person ever, my love, my taste-tester, my webmaster, my forever partner, my co-parent, and my personal IT specialist. Today we are celebrating our wedding anniversary today! I actually wanted to get a small cake from the bakery that did our wedding cake but they aren’t in business anymore! Four years has gone by quickly and although I don’t have a super special menu planned for tonight (oops, leftovers!), we will celebrate. We have learned and grown together since we met and fell in love. I think we’re growing more alike sometimes, and we’re still figuring out who we are. Our journeys are closer to home right now but our travel bug won’t be lost…just napping right now.

Now we add parents to our personas which is teaching us even more. Those early days/nights with the baby were cra-zy. I throughly appreciate that we have learned only one of us can be having a meltdown at once so sometimes the other just has to suck it up and deal. There are fewer meltdowns, #hallelujah and we’ve both learned how to steer back on course or just to try something different. I love to marvel at our little one with Mr. J, and for us to see the guy he’s becoming. I’m glad he can learn how to be considerate from his Daddy!

I must say, we’ve figured out who does what and have mastered the multi-tasking. We’ve hosted parties back to back the last 2 weekends and did it like champs! I’m so proud of us, though I’m also proud when we aren’t running out of clean bibs, or when we have eaten all he food groups. I love that we can let each-other shine.

This year we have a fun plan for the weekend! Stay tuned!
In 2014 I was preggers and Mr. J was supposed to get his Wisdom teeth out, which got rescheduled (to not yet) but we went out to dinner at a new-to-us spot over the weekend.
In 2013 we were celebrating in Paris & Prague, also we got to celebrate I found out I got a new job while in Paris! Champagne for everyone!
In 2012 we celebrated with a weekend to Portland, ME &  belated trip to New Orleans & a Caribbean Cruise. I also re-created our wedding menu.
In 2011 we got married Sat Sept 17
In 2010 we got engaged Fri Sept 17 in NYC

I’m so lucky he eats things, all different things. How would I survive with somebody who doesn’t eat real food?! (don’t even suggest that the baby may not eat things…) Here’s a round-up of some of our favorites (not to be served together):
BBQ Chicken Pizza – the first meal I cooked for Mr. J

The Parisian Burger with rosemary, dijon mustard, truffle aoli, & a fried egg. Hands down, the best burger ever!

Broccoli & Cheddar Soup is just what winter calls for. The bread bowl just makes it perfection.

Grilled Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans is a recent fav

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, aka The Graham-wich

I’ll have some fun food finds to share after this weekend. I also have a burger, a special salad, etc that I still need to blog.