Roundup for the Weekend

Did you enter my giveaway yet?

Today is a little something extra. I have a round-up of some favs my sis would like. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LIZZIE SISTER! Any delicious suggestions for the sis and I to try while celebrating her bday in Atlanta this weekend??

She like basic food done really well like Chicken Cordon Bleu Calzone 

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She likes local food at funky restaurants while traveling
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She likes Theme parties
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She likes Greek (and all Mediterranean) foodgreek_meatball_plate_590_390
She’s a great guest blogger
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Happy bday!

Thanksgiving Sides & a GIVEAWAY

Thank you to Country Crock for sponsoring this post. Visit and tell us your favorite Thanksgiving veggie for extra entries into this giveaway. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

Today I have a very special GIVEAWAY but first we’ll chat Thanksgiving.

Halloween is over, on to the next foodie holiday!I haven’t hosted Thanksgiving yet but I’m always happy to provide a side to whichever family is graced with my presence. I tested out a veggie side using Country Crock and it was awesome! I tried my hand at a few Thanksgiving-y dinner items.

Smokey Maple Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
3 tbs Country Crock
4 slices of bacon
1/4 cup maple syrup
a few drips of liquid smoke (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Directions:

Steam brussels sprouts until just starting to soften (they’ll cook more in the pan)
Melt Country Crock in a saute pan.
Add brussels sprouts to Country Crock and cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium high heat, stirring occasionally.
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Once sprouts have begun browning, add in maple syrup, liquid smoke, bacon and cranberries.
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Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring well, then remove from heat.
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This was great. Bacon makes everything better so don’t forget that one. I added some liquid smoke to give it a touch of earthiness. The bacon adds that too, but I think liquid smoke is a great addition to anything with bacon. I put it in chili too. The Country Crock adds the perfect golden creaminess without too many calories or trans fat.

I somehow forgot that I was going to put the dried cranberries in. It would have added a nice red (and tart!) punch.

I also made  stuffing cups so my Thanksgiving side wouldn’t be lonely. This wasn’t really a recipe, I just added and threw it all together. I gently cooked onions in a few tablespoons of Country Crock.

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I added in two different kinds of bread, chopped with chopped apple, thyme, and a splash of white wine.

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I baked it for 20 minutes in muffin cups so it would be single serve-able.
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They didn’t stay together too well. Ohh well! I liked how perfect the textures played together. The apples and onions totally helped make this better than out-of-the-box. Can you believe how few ingredients it takes?!

I served these two winning sides along with some turkey meatloaf muffins I saw. Nothing like some stellar sides to accompany a frozen quickie dinner.
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What Thanksgiving sides do you graviate towards? Check out some of these other sides (spoiler: I have my eyes on that spoonable cornbread!)

Now, for the GIVEAWAY. Ta Da!

what you’ll win:

Check out these awesome Williams Sonoma candle holders here

Check out this Sur la Table baking dish with wire basket here

****This giveaway has ended. The winner is # 9, Kim F! Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving side!****

when to enter: now until Sunday November 4 at midnight EST.
how to enter: leave a comment telling us your favorite Thanksgiving side!
extra entries: follow The Three Bite Rule on facebook then leave another comment letting me know you follow
extra entries: follow @threebiterule on twitter then leave another comment letting me know you follow
extra entries: check out Country Crock’s other ideas and leave a comment there, and back here letting me know you did.

Thank you to Country Crock for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese

The ingredients say it all. Bacon, check. Ranch, check. Mac & cheese, check. Ohh my deliciousness. This mac and cheese was awesome. It is orange and amazing. Whip it up and enjoy between trick or treaters!

The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

6 strips of thick cut bacon
1 box jumbo shells
¼ cup butter
⅔ cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz shredded cheddar melting blend
1 packet ranch dressing mix

Directions:

Boil pasta according to box.
Fry bacon until crisp, then chop into pieces.
Melt butter over medium and add the flour to the melted butter.
The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese
Stir butter-flour paste mix for about 5 minutes. The roux needs to cook through so there isn’t any flour flavor.
Slowly add the cream while whisking to get any lumps out.
Slowly add the cheese until melted before adding the ranch mix.
The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese
Mix cheese sauce and pasta.
The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & CheeseAdd the bacon last before into ramekins or baking dish so it doesn’t get too broken up.
The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese
Top with shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes at 375-degrees.

This was amazing. I loved the flavor. I used ¾ of a pound of pasta and I think it was too little. There was plenty of cheese sauce and tons of ranch flavor. It was almost too much.
The Three Bite Rule - Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese
I’ll definitely make this again. I wanted a fall pasta dish that wasn’t just thrown together when I didn’t know what else would be for dinner. I think this fit the bill. It isn’t light by any means. It was heavy, warm, and comforting. I thought it was good for a crisp October night!

Boston Food Truck Throw Down Versus New York

A few weeks ago I popped over to the Food Truck Throwdown. Boston food trucks versus New York City food trucks. We voted with quarters and the winning city’s food bank gets the money. I was psyched! Check out Mr. J’s recap post too! (P.S. His photos are better)
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
I went to a food truck event on the Greenway last May and thought it was the best food truck gathering I’d been to. This is one of my favorite spots in Boston and it was a beautiful fall day. Mrs. C was pumped to join Mr. J and me after we followed the Great Food Truck Race religiously.

Luckily we went early! It got pretty crazy busy when we left later.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
Mrs. C was most excited to see Roxy’s
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We shared a fall melt: sweet potato/grannysmith apple/cheddar/brown butter; a muenster melt: muenster cheese, quacamole, bacon; and some rosemary truffle fries.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
We also were pretty psyched about these waffles from Wafels & Dinges. Wow. I wish they were in Boston! Bacon in a waffle? Yes Please!
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
It was great to split everything. We each munched these pork and chive dumplings from Big D’s Grub Truck. They were awesome. I loved that we could get smaller bites.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
The empanadas at Nuchas was another one of my favorite stops. Mine was portobello/spinach/mozzarella and was awesome. These were small and packed with flavor without being overwhelming.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks I was impressed with their truck (and their website).
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
We ran into two Ms. Ls and Ms. J and they recommended another Boston truck: Mei Mei. We got some beer mac & cheese which was fine, not overly cheesy. The beer flavor came through though.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
Mr. J got beef and bleu dumplings. He thought they were ok.
The Three Bite Rule - Food TrucksThe menu there is impressive. I love how focused they are on local foods.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
I got the ginger macaron and thought it was overpriced and kind of a letdown. I wish you could see how itty bitty it was.
The Three Bite Rule - Food Trucks
I didn’t stop by Bon Me, but will sometime since they’re often parked by my office. Obviously I skipped past Lobsta Love since I’ve had rough experiences with them in the past.

We grapped some cookies to go and that wrapped up our day. Literally. We didn’t eat anything again for the rest of the day. It was delicious and Boston won!! Of course! 😉

What I Ate: Pumpkin Muffins

I’m about to rock your socks off. And if you’re not wearing socks because it has been lovely at 63-degrees & sunny here in Boston then I’m going to rock your shoes off. I made the fastest and easiest muffins ever. I’m about to have muffins on hand all the time.

Ready for 2 ingredient muffins? Two. Count ‘em.
Pumpkin Muffin

Ingredients:

1 box Spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin

Directions:

Mix together
Bake

See? Omg. Totally the easiest thing ever. I added cinnamon chips because I love them. These were super easy and gave me some baking courage. I drizzled some maple glaze over the top. Somebody was taunted by my photo staging set up:
Pumpkin MuffinGood thing those chair spindles aren’t any wider apart! Isn’t he just the cutest?! You know what I say to that?

Aww MUFFIN!

Enjoy the weekend! I’m home from Santa Barbara, and from LA, and from NYC! Woohoo! I have lots ‘o blogging to catch up on so stay tuned for some picture heavy posts coming up next week! This doesn’t count towards my fall foods list, but I have a pumpkin post to prep that will count on my list, for sure!