Easter Round Up – Making it Special, While Small

I thought Easter meals could still be fun despite being a bit smaller. Here are a few of my favorites, that can also be easily halved if you have fewer guests this year!

You NEED this carrot shaped cheese ball plus it is easy to make half the recipe for a little one- for just a few people. So cute! Mix up the cheese in advance and assemble before serving. Because the exterior is just cheese, I’d totally keep it eating it another time if you have leftovers! This cheese ball is prob my fav, so form it into a carrot shape!
The Three Bite Rule - Carrot Cheese Ball
Deviled eggs are a fun nibble while little ones are hunting for plastic eggs! Also, make just a few! I think these Breakfast Deviled Eggs will be on our table for a savory bite and I’ll probably just make a few, as in, 3 eggs worth? Eyeball it- or add them to your dinner spread using any eggs you dyed! I love Caesar Deviled Eggs and Bacon & Ranch Deviled Eggs and Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs.
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Deviled Eggs
Breakfast foods can be easy to make half of too! I definitely recommend a baked french toast – this one is Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast is amazing!
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Flipping a ham dinner into sandwiches or into a pizza would be fun, if you’re not making a whole ham!
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Cheddar Pizza with Mustard Drizzle

Enjoy Easter! Hope the bunny brings some treats!

March 2020 Recap

What a weird time. We’re coming up on 2 weeks of physical distancing. It is very strange. We’re adjusting and we’ll continue to adjust. Some moments feel easier than others. Yesterday I felt grumpy but today feels like a whole new day. I’m hyper focused on each day having a workout and ensuring I do something to feel productive beyond getting work done and playing with the little ones.

I created some weekday themes to keep our days feeling different. Theme is occasionally a stretch. My take on this home-time for T is that he should color, cut, or write each day and read a ton. C goes with the flow so we aim that she gets to read and sing her kind of songs, like wheels on the bus (T is into How Bizarre.) To me, a theme is 2+ things- Space day: craft & space books & an “astronaut” pouch; Rainbow day: chalk & sprinkles on yogurt & a rainbow book.

I made Caramel Coconut Coffee just using coconut almond milk and coconut syrup – all very quarantine friendly!
The Three Bite Rule - Caramel Coconut Coffee

This Copycat Cracker Barrel Meatloaf is so good. There’s cheddar mixed in! The topping is really addicting too.
The Three Bite Rule - Cracker Barrel Meatloaf Copycat

My birthday feels like a year ago but it was great!! We had a bagel breakfast party which was perfect and went out to dinner for Chinese food!

I plan to still post a little bit. Ingredients are sometimes hard to come by right now but I also think normalcy is desired too. If I could ever convince you for a second to write a guest post, now is the time! It is fun to share food and I’m tell you, hobbies are crucial to our sanity (nap time is also a key to my sanity)! Comment or shoot me an email emily@thethreebiterule.com and I’ll get you going!

The Preschooler Guy:

He’s having fun and also missing school. We’re having pretend circle time to talk about the day of the week, the weather, what the theme is, and maybe a song. His pre-k program was truly amazing and I don’t pretend I’m replicating it! He loves blanket forts and bike rides.

The Toddler Girl:

She loves life and has so many words now! Help and open are my favorites! She likes the play kitchen and driving trucks around the house. I’m ever so grateful she loves the stroller- also since getting outside is good for all of us!

This Year’s Goals:

Year of beauty/selfcare! Ehh. Nothing has caught my eye.
Prep intentional sides and veggies: All bets are off right now. We’re eating well but I’m not stressing
Eat more fish: We had crispy fish tacos last night!
Blog some series: I did a lunch one of “Outside the Lunch Box”!
Focus decluttering/organizing to an area: Hmm. Not quite, but I’m on it!
Share more books on instagram: I’ve been sharing the kids books we’ve been reading.
Prioritize workouts: I did a core/kickboxing one called Core de Force and now I’m onto a cardio one called T25. We’ve been super active also getting outside and running around and taking walks.
What I’m reading: I read The Lost Girls of Paris and thought the history was fascinating and I liked the time jumps.  I read Mrs. Everything and found it page turning. 
What I’m listening to: 
my usual podcast favs like: Be there in Five’s episodes about babysitting had me cracking up out loud! (also the bridesmaid ones and sorority ones). I blew through The Dream season 1 about multi-level marketing- fa-cin-at-ing!
What I’m watching: Mr. J and I started watching Tournament of Champions and I love it!

February 2020 Recap

February is almost over and do you know what that means?!?! My birthday is coming!! February had some confusing weather and some winter sickness at our house. I feel like there’s a lot more on our calendars in March than we had in Feb. We had a fun little Superbowl festivity and our first school vacation!

I did a series of lunch ideas. It is hard to be creative when packing lunch all the time. I focused on me, though kids could eat these lunches. I spent high school refusing sandwiches and now I love a turkey sandwich come lunch time! I rarely buy lunch since I’d rather save that money for a dinner or that time for a walk.

My fav in the series was this hummus, cheese, and very veggie sandwich. Loading up the veggies is great and the roll seeming decadent is key to keeping this exciting. Word to the wise: bring un-assembled. Otherwise it’ll be drippy and soggy and no good.
The Three Bite Rule - Hummus & Veggie Sandwich

Breakfast food for lunch was a stroke of genius. I made just a few breakfast burritos but will definitely make more.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Burritos for Lunch

I also made some Lemon Poppyseed Tuna, complete with the caveat not to pack this one up for work unless you eat outside or close your door.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Poppyseed Tuna

I’m not sure what’s up for March. I just did 2 back to back series so I think I’ll hold off on another series and just make what I want. We’re doing a bagel brunch with the fam for my birthday and maybe my birthday is a good excuse to go out to our fav Chinese restaurant or my fav Mexican restaurant. Both are kid-friendly for my little ones and we all like both spots. I also am itching to make ravioli again so maybe that’ll fit in soon.

The Preschooler Guy:

We loaded up my old ipod with some songs and he loves playing them. We tend to hear one 1,000 times then he’s onto another. Kokimo by The Beach Boys was on repeat for awhile. We’ve been playing a lot of legos lately too. He loves going to the library and he often can find the books at home when we’ve missed returning them! Sometimes he eats so much and other times I’m shocked that’s all he wants. He ate 1 and a half pb&j sandwiches the other day…and might have kept going. He’s obsessed with the fruit and cream flavored oatmeal packets. He had a fun vacation with a few days in Maine and some extra fun days home with me and with his grandparents.

The Toddler Girl:

She’s getting more and more words! I love to hear them. She’ll repeat most words, and started saying “mine”…especially when big brother takes something! She loves being in the stroller and going outside. Refillable pouches with applesauce or yogurt are her fav bfast right now. Anything brown-ish and square, to her is a “cra-ker”. I love how well she sleeps. She loves to tuck toys into sleep and she loves her baby Cabbage Patch Doll “baby” and a hippo lovey “Pi-po”. I’m thrilled how much more she’s enjoying books!

This Year’s Goals:

Year of beauty/selfcare! Do antibiotics for strep count? Jk. I got some nifty hair elastics to minimize breakage and I got red-eye reducing drops.
Prep intentional sides and veggies: I planned for a few then grabbed a few others to have available – like a butternut squash. That’s the best method for me!
Eat more fish: Both kids will eat tons of salmon so I made that a few times this month. We all ate crispy fish tacos too. I made coconut shrimp when it was just me and the little girl home but she wasn’t that into it.
Blog some series: I did a lunch one of “Outside the Lunch Box”!
Focus decluttering/organizing to an area: ehh. not so much but I did transition some clothes the kids have outgrown with a next batch of hand-me-downs. 
Share more books on instagram: I got a few of mine on there and a few for the kids.
Prioritize workouts: I finished 100 Morning Meltdown! I felt so accomplished. Then I started a core/kickboxing one called Core de Force.
What I’m reading: Bookclub read There, There by Tommy Orange. I liked it and was glad to get lots of perspectives from Native Americans but wasn’t super motivated to keep picking it back up. I flew through Chances Are… by Richard Russo. I was really into it, but felt it was good, not life-changing. 
What I’m listening to:
my usual podcast favs like: Young House Love Has a Podcast; Be there in Five; Reply All; Mama Bear Dares
What I’m watching: There was an interesting Dateline I had seen in the news. Cra-zy.

January 2020 Recap

My little boy is 5! January is a fun month for us to start the year off fresh, and celebrations continue at our house! We took a family group excursion to a local, division 3, hockey game + pizza/cake/gifts back at home. This month was a chance to get back into routines. Mr. J and I had the greatest date night- we went to a new local winery for a tasting, then we got dinner. January was ideal for a Winter Comfort series!

I made Chicken Pot Pie
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Pot Pie
and Easy Homemade Ramen
The Three Bite Rule - Easy Ramen

and I made Chicken Parm Stuffed Shells
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Stuffed Shells
Next month, I’ll make some sports snacks for the superbowl but I’m not a real fan so I’m mostly in it for the snacks & commercials! I have a new series coming up and I’m feeling like I have enough bandwidth right now to help make all the things happen!

The Preschooler Guy

His birthday was fun and I’m loving this age right now. He comes home from PreK and knows so many things! He is SO SO into music! He still loves The Beatles, but also is into Queen & The Beach Boys. It is so fun. This month he was nottt into Chicken Pot Pie but came back for seconds when we had chili. You just never know with these little humans!

The Toddler Girl:

I love this age right now too! Words are coming along. Her favs are saying “shoes” and “go go” and “coat”…can you tell she loves to get outside or go somewhere? She tucks dolls to sleep all the time and is very into magnatile stacking and the water-filled brush “painting”! Tubs are her favorite thing and it cracks me up that she wildly kicks her legs if she hears it go on after dinner. She eats everything and is getting better at taking bites instead of shoving whole things into her mouth.

This Year’s Goals:

Year of beauty/selfcare! I got 2 pairs of blue-light blocking glasses- for home and work. My eye dr recommended I try them (and drops) since my eyes look tired, bloodshot, and my vision hasn’t changed. I’m into them- mostly at work, but also for the last social scrolling before bed!
Prep intentional sides and veggies: Having the remnants of a veggie tray was handy for cooked vs raw veggies around!
Eat more fish: Neither was interested in shrimp this time. I’ll have to plan something else in the mix.
Blog some series: Winter Comfort dishes was fun for me! I have a new one planned for Feb. Stay tuned!
Focus decluttering/organizing to an area: I “rehomed” an unused stuffed animal on the free group and scheduled a pick up for some stuff we aren’t using. It feels good!
Share more books on instagram: I did a few.
Prioritize workouts: I’m into the 90s of my 100 Morning Meltdown workouts! I’m not sure what’ll be next.
What I’m reading: Bookclub read Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee and I thought it was such an insightful way to to see mental illness and I read I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown and found the daily microaggressions mapped out & time stamped was the most powerful lesson for me. 
What I’m listening to:
I found Bad on Paper and love it.
What I’m watching: Project Runway & This is Us & A Million Little Things! We watched the movie Bombshell and my heart hurt afterwards for women in too many workplaces.

December 2019 Recap

Woo-eee! December was bus-y! We loved it all. Dinners were more minimal to keep us up with social commitments and shopping and doing all the things. We listened to Christmas music non-stop until just the other day. Santa came while we were sleeping and the kids got to see their new things then we went to my side of the family for the day. On the 26th we headed to Maine and had a few days with the family there. It was all really special and fun. Getting home, I was ready for some more careful food portions, fewer treats, and more workouts & movement.

I don’t have a post-holiday down feelings. I love to move onto winter decor and wrap up a fun Christmas. I’m in the process of un-decorating from Christmas and finding a home for everything. Mr. J and I are gearing up for our traditional sliders, shakes, and champagne for NYE!

This season neeeeds a Winter Veggie Grain Bowl – customized as you wish! Mine had farro, butternut squash, zucchini, mushrooms, cheddar, dried cranberries, and a drizzle of honey mustard. It is hearty but not heavy. Trust me, this is a perfect fit to your January.
The Three Bite Rule - Winter Veggie Grain Bowl
Santa (and the office cookie swap!) got Hot Chocolate Cookies!
The Three Bite Rule - Hot Chocolate Cookies
I finally posted about the finals for the burger competition.

January will have some fun foods. I have a series coming up and I’m prepped ahead which feels good. I over-indulged a bit over the holidays and didn’t sleep as well as usual. I’m glad have some slower days and be back to my routine before heading back to work.

The Preschooler Guy:

The holiday season is magical at age 4! Visiting Santa was so fun and he was excited and brave! He got a Captain America costume, mask, and shield from Santa. He barely took it off since he got it. His other favorite items were dinos, his sister’s musical instruments, and headphones. Food-wise, he’s still into pasta but rice is out of fashion.

The Toddler Girl:

The little girl was a bit nervous to meet Santa but she held it together! She got a baby stroller for her doll. She loves it! Her other favorite items were a penguin winter hat, music instruments, and doll bottles. Food-wise, she loves dipping and eats almost everything we give her.

This year’s Goals:

Year of beauty! I got reusable make up remover pads!
Prep intentional sides and veggies: I’ll keep at it.
Eat more fish: The kids are loving salmon with everything bagel seasoning.
Blog some series: Dec didn’t feel like the time to launch one. Hang on for Jan!
Focus decluttering/organizing to an area: Baby toys are on their ways to new homes!
Share more books on instagram: We hit the library a few times but I didn’t share much.
Prioritize workouts: I’m 65/100 through 100 morning meltdown.
What I’m reading: I loved Meet Me in Monoco for a lighter and sweet but interesting story. 
What I’m listening to:
Bachelor Party podcast has been counting down the most dramatic seasons. It is so funny to think back to some such a long time ago.
What I’m watching: all the Christmas movies!