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!

Grilled Peach & Ricotta Toasts

Eat this as toast, eat this as an open-faced grilled cheese, eat this as a pizza or flatbread – whatever you do, make yourself some grilled peach & ricotta {insert format here} and it will wow you.

The Three Bite Rule - Peach Ricotta Toast

Also, for the record, whenever I say peach I likely mean nectarine since I’m not into the fuzz.

Grilled Peach & Ricotta Toasts
Ingredients: (for 2 people, or 4 app servings)

1 peach
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta
2 tablespoons honey
basil or mint

Directions:
Slice the peach and grill until the outside is a little caramelized but not too soft.

The Three Bite Rule - Peach Ricotta Toast

Toast the bread (in a toaster, on the grill, or in a skillet lightly brushed with olive oil or butter).
Spread on ricotta, a sprinkle of salt & pepper, and the peaches.

The Three Bite Rule - Peach Ricotta Toast

Chiffonade the basil and sprinkle on top. Then, drizzle with honey.

The Three Bite Rule - Peach Ricotta Toast

Enjoy!

This has so many possibilities. It was lunch this time but would be great on little baguette rounds for snacks! I’d also love it with another piece of bread that has some melted cheese like a panini! Swap the drizzle of honey with balsamic reduction for a little more contrast if you’d like! Not as into ricotta (it is ok, nobody is) use cream cheese or marscapone or goat cheese.

Tomato Basil Chicken

{originally published in 2015 and updated in 2023}

When I originally made this, I breaded the chicken and this time around I wanted to update it with grilled chicken. I served it over pasta (these kids love love love pasta) and would also be happy to serve it over parmesan orzo like the first time around.


Grilled chicken felt so fitting to top with tomatoes, basil, and a balsamic reduction.

Tomato Basil Chicken
Ingredients: (for 4 servings)
4 chicken thighs
2 tablespoons Italian Seasonings
1 large tomato
~6 basil leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tbs balsamic reduction
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Directions:
Marinate the chicken in the seasoning, salt, and pepper and preheat the grill.
Grill the chicken to cook through fully.
Chop the tomatoes and basil. Add the olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and stir.


Serve the chicken with a few spoonfuls of the tomato basil mixture.
Enjoy!

Pan frying cutlets was really good last time, but both the patience and mess doesn’t feel worth it, especially during the season of fresh tomatoes and fresh basil.


The balsamic reduction is from the grocery store lasts forever and is great on salad or sandwiches. Reducing balsamic is easy too.

BBQ Deviled Eggs

These deviled eggs are summer in a bite with BBQ sauce, corn off the cob, and crunchy onions. Normally I’d think of them in the app category but we ate them beside the pool one hot night as a dinner side dish which had me wondering why we haven’t done that sooner! 

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

BBQ Deviled Eggs
Ingredients: (for 6-8 people, 12 egg halves)

6 eggs
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon relish
1/2 – 1 teaspoon BBQ rub (or mix of chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder)
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
2 tablespoons bbq sauce
1 tablespoon corn
fried onions

Directions: 
Hard boil eggs for 12 minutes then add to a bowl of ice water for at least 1 hour. 
Peel eggs, slice them in half, and pop the yolks into a food processor (or into a bowl for a hand mixer/immersion blender). 
Add mayo, mustard, relish, rub, liquid smoke, and salt & pepper to the food processor with the yolks and blend well.

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

Spoon the filling mixture into a zip-top bag inverted into a glass to hold it open. Seal and refrigerate until serving. 

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

To serve, snip the corner of the bag and pipe into each egg half.
Top with corn, a drizzle of BBQ sauce, and fried onions. 

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

Enjoy!

Before a meal, with a meal, it doesn’t matter. Anytime you serve them, they’ll be delicious. The idea came from our hard boiled-egg-loving guy when we talked about ways to use the 2nd BBQ sauce we opened by mistake which had an expiration date coming up. This doesn’t use much, but the flavors were fun. 

BBQ sauce in the filling would taste good but might turn it a funny color. They travel well unassembled and take just a few minutes to put together. 

The Three Bite Rule - BBQ Deviled Eggs

Need some other ideas? Bacon Ranch Deviled eggs are always a hit! Caesar Deviled eggs would go well with a summery meal too.