Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie

Hot weather brings on the smoothies! I rarely make them in the winter and this one is so so summery plus I have lots of adaptations for you!

The Three Bite Rule - Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie

It is a bit sweeter than my usual which I credit to a lemonade. Kids would love this and blueberry based smoothies are ideal for hiding greens. I don’t pretend they’re not there, but you also don’t see them in the finished one.

Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie
Ingredients
: (for 2 small servings as snack, or 1.5 large servings as meal)
1 1/2 cups greens (mine is baby spinach, then frozen)
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup lemonade
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
lemon zest

The Three Bite Rule - Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie

Directions:
Blend together the greens, yogurt, and lemonade. Then add in the blueberries, protein powder, flaxseed, and lemon juice. Blend well and add a splash of water if needed for consistency and pour into cups.
Top with some lemon zest.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie

I loved this one and like them to be a breakfast meal – sometimes with a handful of cheerios or 1/2 a granola bar or a hard boiled egg. I often workout in the morning and hate to feel like I’m only on liquids when I’m starving.

Adaptations:
– swap lemonade for: lemon juice + water + honey/agave (doesn’t even have to be mixed- just dump it in!)
– skip the protein powder and/or skip the flaxseed
– increase the yogurt or swap for Greek yogurt
– skip the yogurt all together or substitute banana for creaminess in a dairy free smoothie.
– if using fresh fruit & greens, it won’t be as think/cold but adding in some ice helps.
– if sharing with the kids, I usually water theirs down with whole milk and serve it as a drink, alongside their breakfast (~2 oz smoothie + 2 oz milk).

Since mine are usually a meal, I go for yogurt as a dairy serving and the protein powder to keep it filling (I like this kind best).

The best way to blend the greens is to incorporate with the liquids blending well then adding in other fruits. A high speed blender will blend them all at once. I blend all at once with a Vitamix and used to blend in 2 stages with a Ninja for the best consistency.

I buy baby spinach fresh in a bag and pop the whole thing into the freezer. Pulling out a bunch for the smoothie has such a satisfying splintering effect. Also in real life, I dump into the blender without measuring!

This is a nice twist considering I pretty much only make the Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie anymore. Leftovers are great into popsicle molds!

Happy smoothie-ing!

Rolled Tacos

So I hear the difference between a taquito and a flauta is the tortilla (taquito=corn & flauta=flour). I had no idea. In my head, flautas were bigger – like with a larger tortilla and taquitos were more like snacks, smaller and more like a nacho than a meal.

While I don’t bring any authenticity to these, I whipped some up in the air fryer and they are adorable AND delicious. They could also be baked or pan-fried too with lots of filling options.

The Three Bite Rule - Rolled Tacos

Rolled Tacos with Pork and Black Beans
Ingredients: (serves 2 entrees, or 4 appetizers)
1 cup pulled pork
1 teaspoon taco seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon each: cumin & chili powder)
5-6 small tortillas
2/3 cup black beans
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lime juice
cilantro

Directions:
Warm the pork through to get it crispy.
Warm the tortillas (I microwaved mine for 10 seconds).
Whisk together the sour cream and lime juice.

The Three Bite Rule - Rolled Tacos

Warm the beans and mash them with a spoon to spread onto the tortilla.
Add pork onto each tortilla.
Warm the air fryer/oven/skillet with oil.
Carefully roll the tortillas and use two toothpicks to form an X to keep them rolled.
Spray or brush with oil and cook until crisp. (I air fried mine for 10 minutes, flipping once.)

The Three Bite Rule - Rolled Tacos

Drizzle with lime crema, sprinkle with cilantro or serve with shredded lettuce or chopped avocado and dip into salsa to dip.

These are so fun! They are cute and dipable and they stay together so well! I liked the beans spread onto it instead of taking a bite and beans rolling out.

Shredded chicken or ground meat or roasted sweet potatoes would all be great fillings too and any beans would work. These rolled tacos are an easy way to use small amounts of leftovers or to prep in advance.

May 2021 Recap

This month has given us a peek at some light at the end of the tunnel! We have had both doses now and waiting out the timing. Tee-ball started and has been great. I love the time home to get outside and to work outside! I’m becoming a plant person from the buy-nothing group.

I made a Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad that was super fun! It was a lunch for me a few times and is a great chance for flavors I love but the rest of the fam doesn’t care about. I loaded it with arugula and some good flavor.

The Three Bite Rule - Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

For breakfast, we had some Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream. It was such a fantastic pairing. For some shocking unknown reason, the kids were anti-banana pancakes. I still don’t get it. The nutella whipped cream is delightful and is delicious even by itself.

The Three Bite Rule - Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream

Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw came from wanting to turn the crispy fish we like into something besides tacos! The slaw is sooo simple – take that tip to make your summer sides easier.

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

June will be bananas at work- the end of the fiscal year is always a lot. We made some summer plans so that has me feeling hopeful. I’m not sure what’s ahead for meals – likely a lot of grilling!

The Little Girl:
She is zooming on the balance bike. The other side of the street got new sidewalk and she loves riding on it. She turns this little deep voice during meals to say “it is very very good”. She’s been eating pretty well and her weight check was great. A unicorn book from the library has been a recent fav.

The Big Guy:
We read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and he loved it. Seeing his eyes open wide and his excitement warmed my heart. He jumped right into playing and now is chatting with kids and has embraced it. Gosh, they just love the dirt. He’s still 24/7 on the granola/fig bars for breakfast.

Goals:
Year of the fun mail! I mailed a quick thank you note to the sweet teacher who welcomes C during the outside music class. I also sent along a birthday card to a blogger I follow who is adopting a teen – this gal hasn’t ever lived anywhere that should really get mail except through a social worker and the blogger’s followers FLOODED her with cards. It was fun to be part of!
More breakfasts: Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream!
Lunches coordinated or prepped in advance: I’ve been into bfast for lunch (like eggs!) and Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
I’d like to get the house a bit neater: ehh. I’m not sure I did much here
Bullet journal – still keeping a meals list.
What I’m reading: I finished My Year Abroad– mostly in April but finished in May and didn’t care much about it. I read The Four Winds and absolutely loved it. Since it is the same timing, at bookclub we re-read Grapes of Wrath and it isn’t great. I zipped through You Too? and it was really great. This Close to Okay was a captivating one. Wow, that’s a lot!
What I’m Watching: We tried out Farmhouse Fixer and it is so fun! We’re also into $50K 3 Ways.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Such a fun way to have buffalo chicken and there’s lots of ways to customize yourself! I went mild on the spicy scale and below are lots of swaps to up the veggies.

The Three Bite Rule - Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients: (for 2 meals, or 4 sides)

2 cups pasta
2 breaded chicken tenders
2 cups arugula
1 tablespoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons blue cheese or ranch dressing

Directions:
Cook the pasta and the chicken and let cool to room temperature.
Chop the arugula.
Whisk together the dressing and hot sauce.

The Three Bite Rule - Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Mix together the pasta, arugula and dressing. Then add in the chopped chicken just before serving.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Go as spicy as you like! I like minimal but you could really go for it by tossing the chicken in buffalo sauce AND making the buffalo dressing! To go super mild, the hot sauce could be totally separate and sprinkled on per serving.

To make in advance, keep the chicken separate but the rest could be mixed ahead of time. Greens get a little wilty but a few hours lead time would work, or mix the pasta & the dressing and add in the chicken and veggies before serving.

While I was into the simplicity of it but more veggies would be great. Cucumbers and bell peppers would be awesome. I detest celery but that’s a natural fit and maybe chunks of carrots.

Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream

If nothing else, make this nutella whipped cream to even just eat by itself!

The Three Bite Rule - Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream

These pancakes are ebelskivers or pancake balls and all this would be just as delightful as a regular pancake but these little dip-able balls are a fun treat. Dipping into nutella whipped cream was pure magic.

Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream
Ingredients:

Pancake mix + water (according to the mix)
1 ripe banana
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon nutella

Directions:
Put a metal mixing bowl and beaters into the freezer for at least 30 minutes before making the whipped cream.
Mix together the pancake batter according to the package (mine was 1 cup mix to 2/3 cup water but did 1:1 for a runnier mix which helps when making ebelskivers).
Chop the banana into slices for flat pancakes or dices for ebelskivers.
Add the pancake mix to the warm, sprayed pan and add in the banana.
Flip & keep warm when cooked.
For the nutella whipped cream, beat the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and confectioners sugar into whipped cream. Then add the nutella and beat until mixed.
Serve the nutella whipped cream to dip & enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Banana Pancakes with Nutella Whipped Cream

These were so fun! I forgot how much I like ebelskivers – it is the pancake version of a doughnut! Pieces of fruit and any kind of chips are great. Jelly is like molten lava and messy to add so we don’t do that anymore! They take a tiny bit of patience and practice but the small batch size is so helpful and they don’t stick to eachother when kept warm (or to freeze) so they’re easy to make in advance or bring somewhere!

You just might find me eating nutella whipped cream as dessert on the regular over here!