Pulled Pesto Chicken & Caprese Sandwiches

These started with lots of our favorite flavors and ingredients – basil pesto! mozzarella! tomatoes! We are into a new groove with more in-person routines and special sandwiches make fast dinners – especially in September with some summer temps and some feelings of fall. Most of this can prep in advance and to make as sliders or full-sized sandwiches.

The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pesto Chicken Sandwiches

I loved these! Admittedly – the kids weren’t wow-ed. They ate all the elements but didn’t care about them being together. Not every meal will be everyone’s favorite so I feel like they were still a winner if the kiddos were reminded that their beloved pesto doesn’t only show up on pasta.

Pulled Pesto Chicken & Caprese Sandwiches
Ingredients: (for 4 sandwiches or 8 sliders)

2 chicken thighs or breasts or rotisserie chicken
2 tablespoons basil pesto
4 rolls or 8 slider rolls
1/2 tomato
1/2 ball of fresh mozzarella
3 tablespoons creamy caesar dressing or garlic aoli or balsamic reduction drizzle (optional)

Directions:
Cook the chicken and when fully cooked through, pull it apart with 2 forks and mix in the pesto.
Toast the rolls (optional).
Slice the tomato and mozzarella.

The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pesto Chicken Sandwiches

Spread the rolls with dressing or spread if using it.
Assemble the sandwiches with tomato, chicken, and mozzarella.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pesto Chicken Sandwiches

I had some sourdough rolls and some slider rolls and we had it with caesar salad which the first grader loves to “make”.

These flavors work so well together and I appreciate that a smaller amount of chicken goes further for sandwiches like this, versus serving whole cuts of chicken per person.

I’d eat these as little appetizer crostini or as wraps or grilled into a panini too! I threw some of the leftover pesto pulled chicken on top of some pasta to pack for lunch or it would be fine to freeze too!

French Onion Soup Burger

We got our new fridge and no longer have to live out of a dorm-sized fridge so the sky’s the limit for meals! I made this French Onion Soup Burger just in time for Labor Day weekend. Caramelized onions and really good cheese made these special but quite easy.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Soup Burger

French Onion Soup Burgers
Ingredients: (for 4)

1/2 onion
1 tablespoon butter
~1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1/2 packet Onion Soup mix (uses for leftovers at the end!)
sprinkle of salt & pepper
gruyere or fontina or other melting cheese
onion rolls
arugula

Directions:
Caramelize the onions by slicing and sautéing over low heat with butter and a drizzle of olive oil for ~20-30 minutes until golden brown and soft. (I did a whole onion and froze the rest for another time. This can be done in advance up to a week in the fridge or 6+ months in the freezer)
Preheat the grill.
Mix together the ground pork with the soup mix, salt, and pepper. Slice the cheese and the rolls.

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Soup Burger

Form the meat into patties and stuff with some cheese. Either divide each patty with half on the bottom some cheese and the remaining to cover the cheese OR ball the meat to form a well in the middle to add the cheese, then press the meat around it to cover the cheese.
Grill the burgers until cooked through (pork needs to get to 160-degrees on a meat thermometer). Add more cheese on top at the end to melt.
Assemble the burgers with onions on top of the burger and cheese, and arugula.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - French Onion Soup Burger

These were great! The patties were so flavorful and cheesy. The kids split a burger – one asked if there were any without onions, but ate it anyway. Next time I might even put more caramelized onions into the burgers too!

Leftover caramelized onions freeze well and I’m sure these will go into a quiche or onto a pizza or into a panini. They will also liven up even a turkey melt so I never bother to make just a tiny bit.

Leftover onion soup mix is great in any burger or meatloaf. Some sprinkled onto the outside of the patty would amp up the flavor even more. Use it into any other soup, like white bean, sausage & kale soup, or French Onion Deviled Eggs are so fun and only uses a bit too!

August 2021 Recap

Howwwww is summer ending? Wayy back in the late spring, we cobbled together a mix of summer camps for when Kindergarten let out and got a schedule together of grandparent care for the little one. Now we’re getting ready for back to school! We did all the summer things – as I post from our beach vacay.

Summer was hard with changes at work, some good camps – another not-so-good. The pup has consistently not been 100% and I just ordered more masks because somehow we’re still going through this. August was a good month in the kitchen though!

I made these lemonade pancakes with strawberry and LOVED them! Blueberry would be good too!

The Three Bite Rule - Lemonade Pancakes

Then we made a Crab Rangoon Pizza that was fantastic but was hit or miss with you all! Crab filling, a cream cheese sauce, crispy wontons and duck sauce! What’s not to love?

The Three Bite Rule - Crab Rangoon Pizza

For a super quick dinner we made crispy chicken sandwiches with peach topping. The chicken tender makes it decadant and a crowd pleaser, the fresh arugula is quite optional, and the peach topping? relish? compote? whatever you want to call it, is delicious. It is only a tiny bit sweet from the peach – the oil/vinegar, the tomatoes, and the onions keep it really on the savory side. The kiddos ate it just like this too.

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach

I’m not sure what September has in store – our refrigerator is at a questionably working state. We’re awaiting a part because we don’t love the replacement options. It is annoying.

The Little Girl
She started back to daycare a few days a week and loves it! We are so proud of how grown up she is getting! She loves corn on the cob and ice cream. We are seriously impressed by her coloring. Her birthday was fun! We swam, had a cake decorated like crayons, and grilled. She loved it!

The Big Guy:
He is really into the Magic Treehouse Books and will listen endlessly. It is so fun to see what he chooses at the library- a lot of Lego ones, all the super heros, and non-fiction. I’m so glad to be done with camps – the last one wasn’t a fit and it is heartbreaking to feel unsure how it is going. He doesn’t complain which doesn’t make it better – we don’t get much from him so it is hard to support him. We think he must be growing! We are psyched for first grade though it is a new school, the bus, and a new routine.

Goals:
Year of the fun mail! I think I missed it in Aug.
More breakfasts: Lemonade Pancakes!
Lunches coordinated or prepped in advance: I need to get back on it.
I’d like to get the house a bit neater: 
Bullet journal – still keeping a meals list.
What I’m reading: I read the Firekeeper’s Daughter thought it was page turning and so well crafted then I read Crying in H Mart which was an interesting perspective I don’t know relate to and then I read People We Meet on Vacation which wasn’t great for me – another title I’ve read of hers was much more my vibe and Delicious! was a fun one – especially as a work of fiction from a usual restaurant critic.
What I’m Watching: Back to a few after Olympics took over our lives.

Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach Topping

Sandwiches are the easiest dinner and was a hit for all of us! The kids were into it and I never expect everyone to like everything all the time. These were a good example of putting elements together the kids already know into a new combo. I thought they might dismantle and eat separately but they ate it as is- just less arugula!

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach

Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach Topping
Ingredients: (for 4)

1 peach or nectarine
1 slice onion
1/2 tomato
1 green onion
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
~6 breaded chicken fingers
4 sub rolls
1 cup arugula
4 tablespoons honey mustard dressing

Directions:
Chop the peach, onion, tomato, green onion, vinegar, and oil. Stir well and refrigerate until serving.

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach

Bake or air fry the chicken pieces until cooked through.
Assemble the sandwiches by lightly toasting the rolls, spreading honey mustard on, then adding the arugula, chicken and lastly the peach topping.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach

I loved this! It was so fun and a great use for rolls we had from a sausage & peppers night and there’s always chicken kicking around here.

Add some avocado to the topping (mine weren’t ripe!) cheese would be good too!

The peach topping is so good- it is sweet and tart. Put it on a burger with smoked gouda! Put it on some fish tacos! Add it to a grain salad with avocado and pistachios! Use it to upgrade your turkey sandwich!

Crab Rangoon Pizza

This is the epitome of fun pizza toppings as an out-of-the-(pizza)-box. It seems special but includes flavors we love with ingredients we had – crab, cream cheese, crispy wontons and duck sauce! I try to do this for the kids to see flavors in other formats but in all honesty, us grown ups were the most excited.

The Three Bite Rule - Crab Rangoon Pizza

Crab Rangoon Pizza
Ingredients:

pizza dough
2 tablespoons softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 green onion (or chives)
3/4 cup crab meat/ imitation crab meat, finely chopped
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
~1 cup crispy wontons (sold near croutons!)
1/4 cup duck sauce

Directions:
Let the dough come to room temperature, ~2+ hours from refrigeration or ~4 hours from frozen.
Preheat a pizza oven or oven (or grill – though maybe parbake the dough flipping once before topping it.)
Whisk together the softened cream cheese, heavy cream, green onion into a sauce.
Spread the dough out and top with the sauce, then mozzarella, then crab.

The Three Bite Rule - Crab Rangoon Pizza

Bake the pizza (ours went into the outdoor pizza oven for 60-90 seconds or in the oven it would take ~30 minutes at 400 degrees). Cook until the crust cooks through and the cheese melts.
Once it is cooked, top with the wontons and a drizzle of duck sauce.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Crab Rangoon Pizza

We loved this one! This time it was using the filling of some crab rangoons we hadn’t baked yet. Each kid ate a slice though I don’t think they went back for seconds of this one. We usually make 2-3 pizzas from a ball of pizza dough (~12 inch pies) and our others were a veggie one and a sausage & ricotta one.

I’m sure we’ll make it again and I would use leftover crab for crab cakes. Using leftover crab rangoons from a restaurant might be more cream cheesy than crab flavored but go for it! Leftover crispy wontons are great on an Asian-Inspired Burger or Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls or on soft tacos or onto salad/slaw.