Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie

{originally published in 2015 and updated in 2024}

This is a crowd pleaser smoothie if I ever made one! This was an oldie that needed a refresh and it was so good. I poured some leftovers to be freeze-pops! The lemonade is refreshing and the frozen strawberries make it icy and thick.

There are lots of ways to customize it – swapping the yogurt can increase the protein, adding more lemon will give it a more lemon flavor, and adding greens or banana or other add-ins can help it be more of what you want.

Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie:
Ingredients: (serves ~2)

2 cups frozen strawberries (must be frozen)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
16 oz lemonade
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

Directions:
Add strawberries, yogurt, and ground flax to the blender.
Start with half the lemonade and blend. Add more if you prefer it more sip-able, or leave as it for more spoon-able.

I love this one and hadn’t made it in awhile. I almost exclusively make the peanut butter and jelly smoothie though I’m due for a mojito smoothie.

May 2024 Recap

May is a marathon with lots of fun things, true feelings of spring to summer, and also, work is so busy so the month is FULL. We had some fun food and got outside much more.

I made a Street Corn Pasta Salad which felt like familiar flavors in a unique format.

Then I gave a refresh to the beloved Ranch Chicken Burgers we’ve been repeating 4x a year, since 2012!

I turned sausage & peppers subs into burrito-ish wraps. They had great cheesy and mustardy flavors!

My love for rice bowls runs deep so I did a Chicken Parm rice bowl theme.

Chicken Parm Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

June will include a my bffs trip, that busy end of the school year, the end of the fiscal year at work, and of course flag day which is only a big deal in our town. I’ll make a birthday burger, a redo is on the menu, and some other spring/summer ideas.

The Big Kid:
We’re wrapping up the baseball season and school is a max capacity. There are so many field trips, spring concert, field day, the art show, and so much more. We keep hoping we’ll have the last spelling homework packet but eventually it has to be the last one! He got a new bike and is obsessed. It was shocking to see him this spring on his old one where he looked like a clown on a tiny one!

The Little One:
She had her dance recital to wrap up the year and really loved it this year. Her class is huge and I loved that she wasn’t nervous this year. She too had a field trip and will have another one coming up. We got a load of hand-me-down dresses and she’s in her glory with more sequins. She loves playground time during the baseball games and is very into egg salad for quick or picnic dinners.

Goals for this year:
Year of small businesses/artisans/writers: I didn’t get to it this month.
More meatless meals: We had peanut sesame noodles & edamame recently!
sandwiches and salads: salad bar dinner one night & a few salad kits were a nice change!
a focus on going to new or places we don’t get to all the time: Mom and I hadn’t been to lunch at Legal Seafoods for chowder in a very long time!
redo photos – Ranch Chicken burgers got a refresh since 2012 and apartment life!
what I’m reading: I read Sunshine Nails which was pretty good- it’d be perfect for vacation. The List was kind of a letdown…it was not really worth it. Alternatively, I was very captivated by First Lie Wins which I sought out for a page-turner I could undo the last two I hadn’t loved. I’m pretty obsessed with some others and should finish any day.

Chicken Parmesan Rice Bowls

Will. It. Rice bowl? Of course! Anything can become a rice bowl! I took a few of our favorite flavors and turned them into a very quick rice bowl. Rice bowls are filling from the rice, with protein from the chicken, and a big veggie serving.

Chicken Parm Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

This would be great with risotto or orzo but I had leftover brown rice so I went with that. If by chance you don’t love arugula as much as I do, sautéed veggies or roasted broccoli or any veg!

Chicken Parmesan Rice Bowls
Ingredients: (for 2)

1 1/2 cups prepared rice (or other grain)
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
4 chicken tenders or ~8 chicken chunks
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups arugula
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh mozzarella

Directions:
Cook or warm the rice and stir in 1/2 the parmesan.
Cook the chicken (mine was airfried).

Top the chicken with sauce and shredded mozzarella. Return to the oven/airfryer/toaster oven to melt the cheese.
Toss the arugula with Italian dressing or oil & vinegar.
Assemble the bowls with rice in the bottom and top with chicken, fresh mozzarella, arugula, and sprinkle remaining parmesan on top.
Enjoy!

Chicken Parm Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

This is really good and nicely filling. I love the melty cheese with the chicken, and the fresh arugula with a little bit of dressing adds brightness.

Some of our other fav grain bowls are:
Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls
Winter Veggie Grain Bowls
Chicken, Bacon, & Avocado with Honey Mustard

Sausage & Peppers Hot Wrap

Sausage, peppers, and onions pairs with rice and cheese to be a hot wrap. Go ahead, call it a burrito. That works too. This is the ideal dinner on the go to the ball field! This would be a great way to reinvent some leftovers.

Sausage & Peppers Hot Wrap
Ingredients: (for 2)

1-2 large white onions
1 cup rice + 1 1/4 cup liquid
2 large burritos
2 sausages
1/2 of 2 bell peppers
1/3 cup shredded cheese
optional: mustard, relish

Directions:
Caramelize the onions over low heat – this takes 40 minutes – an hour. Do this in advance and freeze the unused onions for paninis, pizza, omelettes, or anyway you like them!
Cook the rice – can be done ahead of time.
Slice the peppers into strips and the sausages into half moons.
Add to a hot skillet with a splash of olive oil to sear.

Assemble the burritos with the tortilla, a sprinkle of cheese, rice, caramelized onions, a drizzle of mustard, sausage and peppers, and more cheese.

Heat up a pan to medium heat – then roll up the wrap and sear in the hot pan. Using tongs, rotate the wrap to warm throughout and until the outside is crisp.

Enjoy!
This was so delicious. I alllllmost threw in arugula but I tried to hold back this time. I used some honey mustard and some dijon. Relish seemed too sweet for me but go for it. These keep well assembled if all the ingredients are room temp or cool (not at all warm), wrapped in plastic wrap to hold it together, then refrigerate. To serve, warm in the micro on low (I use the defrost button or reheat button) and then into a pan to crisp or into a toaster oven!

Need more hot wraps in your life?
Thanksgiving Hot Wraps
Chicken & Broccoli Hot Wraps
Chicken, Bacon & Ranch Hot Wraps
French Onion Burrito
Burger Burrito

Ranch Chicken Burgers

{originally published in 2012 and updated in 2024}

These are possibly the most-repeated dish from the blog. We’ve been having these since using a grill pan in our apartment way back when and now have them regularly in the spring and summer. They’re so good and such a crowd-pleaser.

Ranch Chicken Burgers
Ingredients: (for 4)

1 pound ground chicken
1 packet dried ranch dressing/dip mix (~2 teaspoons)
3 tbs ranch dressing
4 rolls

Directions:
Preheat the grill.
Mix together the ground chicken, ranch mix, 1 teaspoon of ranch dressing – reserving the rest for topping.
Form into 4 patties.

Sprinkle with salt & pepper then grill until cooked through 165-degrees being careful not to flip too often. These cook well on a griddle.
Serve on buns with more ranch and any toppings you like!
Enjoy!

We have these often but hadn’t yet this year. The kiddos didn’t remember them and each ate it all! There’s the lesson – repeat a previous dinner, nobody remembers how often you serve something! We each added ranch on the buns and these are great with lettuce, tomato, pickles, or anything! I think the kids add ketchup.