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

Chicken & Golden Mushroom Crockpot Dinner, Lightened

My crockpot got more of a workout in a few days than it has in a while. Mr. J made a cashew chicken that was great, though needs a tweak for next time. Stay tuned. I saw a chicken and golden mushroom recipe and thought I could lighten it the tiniest bit without sacrificing anything. Here it is, I loved it! It was good as leftovers and the babe liked it a lot.

Have you used golden mushroom soup? It is more like a thicker broth than a cream of mushroom. It can be hard to find. Find some. Stock up. Freeze some and use it the next time you need veggie broth.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken & Golden Mushroom Lightened Up
Lightened up & adapted from Slow-Cooker Golden Mushroom Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound baby portabella mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
6 chicken tenders
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 can golden mushroom soup
1/4 cup cream cheese with chives
1 packet Italian Dressing mix
fresh cracked pepper
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 cups baby arugula

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, add butter and mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes. Stir well to golden brown and until the liquid all evaporates.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken & Golden Mushroom Lightened Up
Cut the chicken into cubes.
In a large bowl, mix together the broth, water, golden mushroom soup, cream cheese, Italian Dressing, and cracked pepper.
Spray a slow cooker with non-stick spray then add in the chicken, the mushrooms, and the sauce.
Turn to low for 4-5 hours.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken & Golden Mushroom Lightened Up
To serve, boil salted water for the pasta. Add the arugula into the crockpot and stir over low/warming for about 5 minutes to wilt.
Cook the pasta to al dente.
Serve the chicken, mushrooms, & sauce over the pasta. Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken & Golden Mushroom Lightened Up
The original had 2x as much soup, 4x as much creamed cheese, 3x as much chicken, and no greens. Mine still had plenty of flavor, creaminess, and tender chicken. The arugula is peppery and adds a nicer crunch than parsley would be.

Easy, Cheesy Polenta with Meatballs

Polenta is the ingredient I always forget will provide the variety to a weeknight meal we all need. Rice takes forever. Pasta seems overdone. Polenta? Yeah polenta cooks in just a few minutes. I like it soupy to be spoon-able. I used pre-cooked turkey meatballs, zucchini and a really quick sauce. Poof! Dinner!

The Three Bite Rule - Easy Cheesy Polenta

Ingredients:

6 meatballs
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup dried polenta
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup gruyere cheese,  shredded or chopped
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the zucchini and tomato paste to cook for about 4 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Easy Cheesy Polenta
Add in the meatballs, 1 cup of the broth, and salt & pepper. Bring to a low boil and cook for about 8 minutes until broth reduces a bit.
The Three Bite Rule - Easy Cheesy Polenta
In a medium pot, add the polenta, butter, 1 cup of broth, 1 cup water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and stir in the milk and cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Easy Cheesy Polenta
Spoon polenta in to the bowls, then top with meatballs, zucchini, and the sauce.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Easy Cheesy Polenta

Ham & Maple Melts

Today’s panini was a fun quick dinner. I was inspired by Blunch who has a panini called “The Piglet” with black forest ham, smoked bacon, maple aioil, sliced tomato on multi grain. I went for the ham & maple aoli theme and panini-ified some soft rolls. Paninis are the best for dinner since they’re fast and can still be special. We had these with some tomato/cuke/feta salad.

The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Maple Melts

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 soft rolls
4-5 slices of ham
1 cup shredded gruyere
2 cups arugula

Directions:

Mix together the mayo, maple, and cinnamon.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Maple Melts
Heat a panini press or grill pan to medium heat.
Assemble the sandwiches by spreading the maple aoli onto the bread generously, then layering the ham, cheese, and arugula.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Maple Melts
Press or grill the sandwiches until the outside is crisp and the cheese melts.
Slice & enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Maple Melts
The maple aoli is light but so good. I thought the cinnamon was key! The arugula is ideal because it is so peppery and holds up well to the sandwich getting cooked.

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!