Keep Calm

I’m realizing that some of my posts might make it look like I have it all together. If you happen to be having one of those days where the blogosphere appears perfectly coordinated when you aren’t as put together then I hear ya but I can also console you. I don’t have it all together.

Did I mention Mr. J and I are painting our bedroom? This is quite the undertaking for us. We’re new to being home-owners and it is a learning process. Thankfully our house didn’t need much. Ummm have you seen my gorgeous kitchen?
kitchen_wide_590_390
The bedroom painting is progressing, slowly but surely. Here’s what I keep telling myself:
a) we’re lucky that we can just set up camp in a guest room.
b) that we don’t have any actual renovation projects.
c) it looks awesome (the parts that are done).
d) that Mr. J and I work together really well and definitely have similar tastes.

Here’s what really annoys me:
a) the trim is taking FOREVER…as in 4 coats. It didn’t seem like much trim but the radiators, around the windows, closets, baseboards, and the door, is quite a lot.
b) to get dressed I need to put on my paint flip flops to traverse over the plastic sheeting because there are clothes in both bedrooms and my stuff feels scattered.
c) by the end of the day I’m tired- trying to set up to paint and clean up each night takes time and we’re only inching closer to being done.
d) I haven’t cooked, grocery shopped, or meal planned which means we’ve been buying lunch and feeling physically crappy for eating poorly and not sleeping well. I like my routines.
e) every weekend is jam packed and there still a lot to do before we can actually move back into the room (like pick out a new bed etc).

September is going to be a very busy month. I keep taking on more things which I love, but which also overwhelm me. I have 1st world problems. I have some work travel, 2 weekend trips away, I agreed to walk an insane distance in the name of work-research, and there’s lots more bedroom re-doing to do. I have some fun posts for you coming up (like a potluck! something with bacon! something with neutella!) so stay tuned, and good luck if you’re feeling the weight of everything too.

(need bacon? get fun bacon stuff here!)

What I Ate: Ramen Coleslaw

I was trying to think of an easy side I could literally throw together. I was lacking motivation recently and somehow this came out of nowhere. I’ve made it a few times, but not once this summer yet. My twist is using broccoli slaw instead of cabbage or slaw mix.

This is so easy and takes 5 minutes to prep and goes with everything. It isn’t vegetarian but it is delicious! It is probably the cheapest side-dish ever. I dare you, find a cheaper one.

The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Slaw

Ingredients:

1 bag broccoli slaw
1 pack ramen noodles, chicken flavor
3/4 cup oil
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
sprinkle of pepper
1 of the chicken pack flavorings in ramen noodle package

Directions:

The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Slaw
Boil the ramen noodles for about 5 minutes then drain.
Whisk or shake in a jar the oil, vinegar, sugar, pepper, and ramen flavor pack.
The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Slaw
Mix noodles, slaw, and dressing.
The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Slaw
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. I should have thrown in sunflower seeds. That crunch on top is delicious. I like how oil-vinegary this is. There is so much flavor from the ramen. My Mum and mother-in-law both make it with grapes & nuts. I like this salad when you keep the noodles raw too. They’re super crunchy.

Let’s break it down:

1 pkg chicken ramen: $0.24 (12 pack @ $2.99)
1 pkg broccoli slaw: $2.99
very little oil & vinegar
total = $3.23 and serves about 6, or $0.53 per serving.

Can you believe that pricing? It’s a crowd pleaser that won’t break the bank.

Lighter Lemon Squares

I haven’t shared anything sweet in a while. I made some lemon squares for my dad’s bday. He’s a sucker for lemon squares…get it? Hahaha!

They were good, but quite tart. He’s a healthy guy so I thought he would appreciate that Cooking Light had paired down the sugar and butter in this one. Without futher ado, I give you
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Sq

Cooking Light’s Lemon Squares

Ingredients:

3 2/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil
Cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions by cooking light:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, pine nuts, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times to combine.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Sq
Add butter and canola oil. Pulse 3 to 5 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Place mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray; press into bottom of pan.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon SquareBake at 350° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Square

Combine granulated sugar and next 5 ingredients (through egg white) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour mixture over crust. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, and cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Sprinkle squares evenly with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Sq

These are their words, not mine. I was a nincompoop (why yes, spellcheck does knows that word and corrected it for me) and didn’t read through the whole recipe carefully first. This means I missed the memo that I was to toast the pine nuts. It was fine but the squares would have had 10x the nuttiness if I toasted the pine nuts.

Also ½ cup of fresh lemon juice doesn’t help. I juiced 2 large lemons and didn’t quite get ½ cup. Go with 3 lemons or have some bottled lemon juice to top it off. Do you know the trick to roll them around with some pressure to get the most possible juice? Roll with the meat of your hand while admiring your edgy nail polish and while applying pressure.  (It is prob not edgy anymore now that I said that, right?)
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Sq

If I haven’t given enough credit where credit was due, this recipe (in it’s entirety came from Cooking Light just like the prior 3 links)

Playing Chopped at Home

Do you watch chopped? I love it. As I’ve said before, it is like the old school Ready Set Cook! for the modern day…and with real chefs. My sis and I play occasionally. It’s actually a super easy way to host without going crazy.

Playing Chopped at Home:

Invite 1-4 people to join you
ask them to bring your specified quantity of basket items (I usually do 3 per person)
stock your pantry if you don’t have some basic staples (i.e. rice, pasta, condiments, breadcrumbs, spices, milk, etc)
Then, come up with your meal together with the ingredients!

I don’t do basket items by course, but you could definitely do that. Or you could break your group by course if you have too many cooks in the kitchen.

There were only 2 of us so we went with just a few ingredients each. Here they are!
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped
me:
marinated chicken breasts
onion dip mix
all my pantry items

sis:
pepperoni
ah-so chinese sauce
limes

We made a dip/relish with tomato, corn, red onion, ah-so Chinese barbecue sauce (basket ingredient) and lime juice (basket ingredient). This was seriously tangy and neon pink but surprisingly tasty. We served this with tortilla chips as a starter.
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

Then we chopped potatoes and mixed them with the onion dip (basket ingredient) and some olive oil then baked them to be crispy. While this wasn’t super inventive, it mayyy have been on the back of the package, it was a good use. I liked the extra salty flavor instead of just roasting potatoes with random herbs & spices. Leftovers also made great hasbrowns the next morning 😉
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

For the chicken we decided to stuff it with pepperoni and needed something else. I had some goat cheese so we went fully decadent. I thought the tartness of the goat cheese and the fatty pepperoni was great to liven up some otherwise basic chicken.
The Three Bite Rule - Play Chopped

Go ahead and try it. It is so fun and a great way to not overthink dinner (then send me a pic with what you came up with emily@thethreebiterule.com!

What I Ate: Cobb Salad Lettuce Wraps

Cobb Salad and Chef Salad united for my dinner. This isn’t really a recipe, but it is more of an idea you can happily capitalize on. I went with a everything-but-the-kitchen-sink method for a salad for dinner. It was definitely a dinner plan that was low on actual cooking but was hearty and fun.
3 Bite Rule: Cobb Salad Lettuce Wraps

We don’t eat tons of salads as dinner, so during a hot few days I took advantage of a low-cooking meal. This felt like a fun meal to serve when it is hot, or especially if you aren’t a confident chef! Serve this next time you’re the host or for a potluck and everyone will be happy.

Ingredients:

2 grilled chicken breasts
4 hard boiled eggs
avocado
carrots
cucumber
tomatoes
corn
shredded cheddar
broccoli
head Boston Bibb lettuce
croutons
blue cheese dressing

Directions:

Fry bacon, boil eggs, and grill the chicken.
Chop everything except the lettuce.
Mix the “fillings” and serve in lettuce wraps.

These were really fun! I liked that there were so many interesting textures and bright flavors. I went with the normal cobb salad as though it was a chop salad. I figured if the lettuce didn’t really work, then we could always drop the toppings on a bed of lettuce. It worked well as wraps though.
3 Bite Rule: Cobb Salad Lettuce Wraps

It takes time to chop and prep everything but I made enough for two of us to have for dinner and then for lunch again the next day. I didn’t dress the salad so besides the avocado, it packed up well for lunch too. The only cooking was the bacon, eggs, and grilled chicken.

We were eating and that’s when I realized I had forgotten the chicken. Ohh well. It truly felt like a dinner meal even without that. The eggs, bacon, and avocado makes this a hearty one.

Croutons are such an easy item to make at home and I never buy them anymore. Whenever I do buy them they seem to disappear as snacks before they appear on many salads.
3 Bite Rule: Cobb Salad Croutons

Cut some bread into squares, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and some grated parmesan. Toast a few minutes on each side and voila! Croutons made-to-order!