The Three Bite Rule is Six!

Six years? Woah! Crazy. It always creeps up on me. Once again, I have no idea what is in store for me or the blog but I wanted to take a moment to thank the blogosphere, thank readers, and think about the year to come!

My fav photo of the year: Cherry Cheesecake Yogurt Parfaits
The Three Bite Rule - Cheery "Cheesecake" Greek Yogurt Parfait

My fav burger of the year: The Ramen Burger!
The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Burger
Fav new kitchen item: The pressure cooker!
The Three Bite Rule - Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic & Cherries

Fav Meal: Pad Thai made at home!
Shrimp Pad Thai - The Three Bite Rule

I loved a mini-challenge I self imposed for more creative breakfasts. If you pack lunch I’d challenge yourself to that!

How’d the goals go? They were good! I liked that they were pretty varied this year!

The Year of the: Seasonal Decor: this was such a great year of the…I might need to do it again!
do something a different way: always a good reminder.
drink more water: I could always keep this on the list. I’m not sure I quite got a perfect method for this.
make more interesting side dishes: I liked this since they’re often quicker than the main thing.
cook more soups & sauces: I didn’t make too many soups, but sauces was a good place to start.
watch more movies: this was a fun one! We get Netflix so I wanted to be sure to actually watch them.
make working out a higher priority: I ran a 5K! That was big for me!

And onto the next goals:
Year of the:….wait for it….Pajamas! I’m an adult and want legit pjs…not just pants and old event tee-shirts.
do more dinner prep more in advance
read more
cook more fish
focus on clothes that I really like
monthly grocery store ingredient, recreated

October 2016 Recap

Tis the season for all the fall foods, and for my busiest couple of months at work so I’ve tried to really be on top of dinners when I can, and still trying to get some workouts despite it being sooo dark in the mornings now!

This Fall Burger had sage and pear in a pork patty for all the best fall-ish flavors. It is still great grilling weather!

The Three Bite Rule - Fall Pork Burger with Pear & Sage
I made a breakfast calzone with braided puff pastry thanks to a friend from college’s post on facebook. It was a really great and quick for a weeknight meal. I’ll totally make this again the next time I have house guests!
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Calzone

Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs were fun and went quickly at a 3-way baby shower at work. 
The Three Bite Rule - Sour Cream & Onion Deviled Eggs

The Little One:
He’s such a love! He likes giving us hugs and it just melts my heart. I’ve enjoyed seeing how long he’ll do some activities. We have some fun activities for halloween: a visit from Grammie C; daycare trick or treating; and maybe a jack-o-lantern thing in the park. He’s been into some pumpkin books. The little one is eating everything, even eggs on occasion!

This Year’s Goals: 
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor: Mr. J picked up some leaf garland when he saw it and it is really perfect for the mantle – also spanning the fall/halloween/harvest timing.
do something a different way: I made conscious time to be social. I went to my college reunion;  I joined a new local bookclub which was great; and one group had a dip-party during a Pats game.
drink more water: I need to do better with this.
make more interesting side dishes: yes! I made broccoli & cheddar risotto in the pressure cooker
cook more soups & sauces: Garlic Parmesan Mac & Cheese was all about the cheese sauce
watch more movies: we watched The Neighbors and cracked up. I’ve been super into This is Us.
make working out a higher priority: I can amp this up. Work has a Fitbit challenge going on and I’ve gotten some walks in…nothing major, but something is better than nothing!

September 2016 Recap

It’s the most wonderful time, of the year… I truly love fall and the minute it wasn’t hot and humid anymore I was so happy. We all were. My fam does not like to be hot. One day I changed the babe into shorts and out of socks & sneakers and he was so much happier! Yeah, maybe we were all just hot. Phew! I’m rejuvenated to cook again! I love the crisp in the air.

September was busy. We had a weekend in Maine to see some family and a long weekend away for our 5th anniversary to Rockland & Camden Maine. It was so wonderful and getting away was JUST what we needed.

My fav dish I cooked this month was definitely the Pad Thai. I can’t get over how easy it was! I’m glad to know those flavors can be mixed up so quickly!
Shrimp Pad Thai - The Three Bite Rule

Also, it is so stinking easy, but the Dunkaroo Dip was just so fun. Sprinkles! Funfetti! Yay!
Dunkaroo Dip - The Three Bite Rule
Ooo yes. Let’s talk about the Chicken Marsala Pizza. I loved this on the pizza and don’t think it at all trashed up what should be a nicer dish. Make all the expected flavors in unexpected platforms. Now I want Chicken Marsala Risotto or maybe a Croque Monsieur flatbread. Wait for it!!!
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Marsala Pizza
September was a really good month in the kitchen for me! I also was proud of the Tailgater Burger because who doesn’t need Cheetos dust in their life?

The Little One: 
He’s such a little person now. He has a lot of thoughts, though admittedly, sometimes we cannot tell what he’s saying. I think he gets the concepts of “more” versus “all done”. He’s funny with identifying whose items are whose around the house and I was shocked that he knew where different pieces of his laundry belonged. The words are totally flowing and it cracks us up. My fav recent one is horse: “harsss”. He had a fun weekend while Mr. J and I went away. The day we were coming back, I couldn’t wait to see him.

This Year’s Goals: 
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor: I’m falling behind on the decor but I’ve got this for Halloween.
do something a different way: I’m doing “chores” during the week instead of having to do them on the weekends. Laundry & bathroom cleaning seems better suited for a nothing-special-Tuesday rather than hitting my radar on Saturdays!
drink more water: ehh, I’m on it. I feel like I drink less when it isn’t hot!
make more interesting side dishes: maybe simple is still good? The babe loved orzo with a herby grilled chicken
cook more soups & sauces: I made Chicken Marsala Pizza which involved a sauce
watch more movies: Joy & The Revenant…quite diverse!
make working out a higher priority: I’ve kept running a bit and morning workouts have definitely become a habit.

End of Summer Foods Bucket List

Let’s chat about all the summer foods & flavors we still need to eat:

I definitely need more corn on the cob, plus cooking it and cutting it off the cob (or freezing it off the cob) are great options too. This Heirloom Tomato & Corn Tart is soooo good.
Tomato & Corn Tart - The Three Bite Rule

Plus, watching this guy with an ear of corn cracks me up:
IMG_3241

Obviously I need more tomatoes: Tomato sandwiches for B, L, D. I loved this ricotta pie with tomato though it seems sacrilegious to cook beautiful tomatoes.
Three Bite Rule - Tomato Ricotta Pie
Lobster is a must, I haven’t had any yet but will ASAP
lobster_cooked_390_590
I also need to make some summery cocktails. I have a few in mind…possibly featuring ice tea or lemonade. We’ll see.

I got my s’mores fix last weekend, but there’s no such thing as too many s’mores. I’m sure I will keep featuring the bounty of herbs we’re growing too. Mr. J grills pretty much year-round so that’s not necessarily a must-do. Labor day doesn’t quite mark the end of summer for me since the kiddo’s routine is the same all year but I do look forward to fall.

What’s left on your summery food bucket list?

August 2016 Recap

August feels a bit like a blur. It was too hot for me but our beach vacation was fantastic and I really appreciated having a full week off…something I haven’t done in 1.5 years! I didn’t cook much but I was really happy to whip up quick meals meaning easy family evenings without stress. That also means not as much to blog but throwing something onto the grill and adding an easy side seems like a no-brainer. I cooked a bit this weekend to make up for it (get ready for a really fun burger)!

My fav food I made this month was a Shrimp Scampi Flatbread
The Three Bite Rule - Shrimp Scampi Flatbread
I jumped on board the train for overnight oats with a blueberry sauce and I was a fan! I’m sure I’ll make another kind.
The Three Bite Rule - Overnight Oats

For a brunch party I made these biscuit cups with sausage gravy. Adorable and perfectly portioned!
The Three Bite Rule - Sausage Gravy in Biscuit Cups

The Little One:
He loved the beach! It was really fun and just. so. easy. I loooove this tiny town we go to because the beach is huuuuge and being able to walk to the beach allows us to come and go. We pretty much went in the morning, popped back to the cottage for lunch & naps and then back to the beach until dinner. After the little one was asleep, it was time for Olympic viewings and ice cream runs. The best.

He’s been eating up a storm and loving to be outside, especially on the swing set. He loves having his own bowl and spoon. He got his very own ice cream cone on vacation and he ate corn on the cob. So fun! He’s talking even more.  

This Year’s Goals: 
The Year of the: Seasonal Decor: ehh, I missed this month
do something a different way: no, I probably didn’t
drink more water: I need to do better outside of work, at my desk I do well.
make more interesting side dishes: these Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus were fun
cook more soups & sauces: Does jazzed up gravy fit?
watch more movies: none this month it was all Olympics, all the time.
make working out a higher priority: I ran a 5K! That was HUGE for me.