Butternut Iced Coffee

This coffee and butternut syrup is a treat. The syrup is so flavorful and I topped it with tons of thick foam. There’s a richness and nuttiness.

The Three Bite Rule - Butternut Iced Coffee

Butternut Coffee Syrup
Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon butter extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup milk
1-2 cups ice
1-2 cups iced coffee (or espresso)

Directions:
In a small saucepan, mix sugar and water over medium heat until melted. Stir in butter extract and almond extract. Allow to cool – 1 hour to overnight.

The Three Bite Rule - Butternut Iced Coffee

Serve over iced coffee or iced espresso with 1-2 tablespoons of the syrup.

The Three Bite Rule - Butternut Iced Coffee

Top with cold foam. Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Butternut Iced Coffee

My milk frother was acting up but Mr. J came to the rescue. It reminded me that the wand one does not compare.

I normally drink coffee black but love a very special coffee moment. Make the syrup and reap the benefits for many cups to come. The syrup is good in the fridge for a month. Butter extract is a specialty ingredient but is an easy swap for many vanilla extract uses. I also used it in Snickerdoodle Chex Mix.

Taco Spiced Deviled Eggs

{Originally published in 2017 and updated in 2023}

Anything is better with taco flavors, right? We love all varieties of deviled eggs and these are so good they needed a little facelift. I made just a few of these taco-spiced deviled eggs. I topped them with some corn, tomato, and pickled onion. The filling has my homemade taco seasoning but any would work just fine.

The Three Bite Rule - Redo Taco Deviled Eggs

Taco-Spiced Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:

4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled
2 tablespoons mayo
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 heaping teaspoon taco seasoning
1/2 teaspoon lime juice

The Three Bite Rule - Redo Taco Deviled Eggs

Directions:

Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Pop out the yolks into a bowl (for a hand mixer) or into a food processor. Add in the mayo, taco seasoning, and lime juice. Then blend until no lumps remain. Add more taco seasoning to taste.

The Three Bite Rule - Redo Taco Deviled Eggs

Spoon into a ziplock bag into one of the bottom corners. Snip the very end and pipe into the egg whites.
Fill each yolk divot then go back and top off each egg- then you know how much you have to work with.
Top each one with corn, tomato, pickled onion, or whatever you like!

The Three Bite Rule - Redo Taco Deviled Eggs

Enjoy! Or refrigerate until serving!

We are mild spice eaters around here but I added a drop of a tomatillo green sauce that has some zip to it on mine. One kid ate 2 halves and isn’t always into eggs, the other ate the toppings separately, but ate a bunch. They are fun as a cool side or are always gone when I bring them to a group.

Some other favs are Bacon & Ranch Deviled Eggs & Caesar Deviled Eggs & Truffle and Herb Deviled Eggs.

Chorizo Eggs Benedict

I’m using the “benedict” term loosely – queso is in place of a hollandaise but these still have English muffins + meat + egg + sauce so they are very much like a benedict.

The Three Bite Rule - Chorizo Eggs Benedict

These make a great dinner in case you aren’t having leisurely brunch. Me! I’m not having lots of slow morning meals! This was lunch and I’m sure I’ll make again as dinner!

Chorizo Eggs Benedict
Ingredients: (for 2 servings)

1/2 pound chorizo without casing
2 English muffins
4 eggs
1/3 cup queso sauce

Directions:
Pan fry the chorizo until cooked through, then drain.
Toast the English muffins.
Warm the queso.
Warm a pan to medium heat for the eggs. Cook sunny-side up, or over easy, or poach them, as you like.
Spread a teaspoon of queso to each English muffin, then top with chorizo and eggs as soon as the eggs are cooked. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Spoon on the remaining warmed queso to the very top.
Enjoy!

We are mild-medium spice people at our house so these were fun and not too spicy for us. Make your own chorizo to really control the spice level – season ground pork with paprika, chili, garlic, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon as you like.

The Three Bite Rule - Chorizo Eggs Benedict

I’d definitely have these again as this was the easy way to do so. Another way to level- up would be to melt some pepper jack cheese and actually make hollandaise.

August Recap 2023

Howwww is summer over? I cannot believe how quickly it went! Now is is the last bits of summer and getting ready for fall. August was fun with a beach vacation and lots of time at the pool, and with friends.

These deviled eggs with BBQ sauce, corn, & crispy onions were so summery. Make some for labor day and they’ll be gone quickly!

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

Grilled Peach & Ricotta Toasts could be breakfast, lunch, or an app.

The Three Bite Rule - Peach Ricotta Toast

I made lettuce wraps with honey mustard chicken and thought they were so fun. The kids were medium on it but in hindsight one said that was “sooo good”. The next day I used some leftovers to make caesar salad ones with parmesan. They were also delicious.

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

I gave Tomato Basil Chicken a refresh from the dark ages of 2015. This time it was grilled and got a drizzle of balsamic reduction.

September will be a flourish of activity. Kindergarten & 3rd grade (!!), both kids are playing soccer, and back to more time in the office. I’m kind of already mourning our normal dinner routine and timing. It’ll take some adjusting. I’m going to pull together some weeknight meal head-starts, a fun breakfast recipe, and an app.

The Big Kid: 
He was a bit sad for summer camps to be over. We have some fun before school starts but this kid loves a routine. We saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and loved it. I think he caught 1,000 hermit crabs during our week at the beach. His class next year is packed with friends so he’s ready for 3rd grade.

The Little One: 
She’s 5! A whole hand! She was our little fish at the beach. Kindergarten starts soon and soccer! I’m coaching her team – wish us luck! She’s more than ready to be done at daycare (she isn’t impressed with nap time there) and cannot wait to ride the bus. It has been a lot to juggle in her head of what is happening what days so I’m ready for her to read/follow a calendar better.

Goals:
Year of workwear! I got some tan wedge sandals to dress up summer work clothes.
Salads or side-dishes: 
prep ahead bfasts or lunches for weekdays: Ehh. I’d better get back to this before Sept hits. I blame it on defrosting our big freezer so now I can restock.  
Monthly dates: We went to dinner in Back Bay at Lucie.
Declutter/cleaning: I’ve been on top of pulling out stuff they’ve outgrown or never choose. I’ll count it as a yes.
Workouts as a routine: Yes! I’m medium on these video workouts so I’m giving them a chance but will skip some and move on quickly-ish.
What I’m reading: I read Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo and her first adult novel was fantastic and packed full of dynamic women. I read Best of Friends which had unique characters. Book club’s book was The Paper Palace and did not love. I didn’t connect at all. I also read Park Avenue Summer about NYC and Cosmo in the mid 60s – it was pretty good.



Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

This is so so easy, and we all can use some easy ones, right? I will preface that the kids were meh on this but I attribute that to being ohh-so-tired after a busy day at the playground and meeting friends at the pool.

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

There are all the ways in the world to customize this. I mostly see lettuce wraps with sesame/teriyaki flavors and wanted something totally different. These are honey mustard and pickles. Ranch and bacon would of course be crowd pleasers here. Caesar and cukes would be fun too!

Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients (serves 4):

24 oz package Popcorn Chicken (or any breaded chicken cut up)
1 head bibb lettuce
1/4 cup honey mustard dressing
1/4 cup pickles (I did some with bread & butter pickles & some with dill pickles)
1 small tomato
additional toppings: avocado, cheese, pickled onions

Directions:
Cook the chicken according to the package (mine needed 18 minutes in the air fryer)

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

While the chicken in cooking, chop the pickles and tomatoes to become a relish.
Allow the chicken to cool a bit just to a not-hot temp.
Toss the chicken in about half the dressing.
Assemble the lettuce wraps with chicken, pickle topping, more dressing if desired, and any other toppings!
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

If it is hard for little hands, use a tortilla instead, or put the whole thing inside a tortilla. I chopped the chicken into bite-size pieces for the kids.

I’d totally make these again. Maybe another day or another flavor would work as a dinner when the stars align. I don’t count them out one time. These are so easy that these could also be a quick lunch or a solo-dinner as you can make as much or as little as you need. I’m on my way to make another version to be my lunch today!