Soft Cornbread with Hot Honey

My mom makes several cornbreads and this one is by far my fav- it has real corn and is so soft but not crumbly. The rest of the fam looooves one with dill and sour cream and onions but my heart is with this one. There’s real corn flavor and I can’t get enough of it. Make a half batch to go alongside your BBQ and then griddle some the next morning with a drizzle of hot honey- you can thank me later. Only make a whole batch if you have enough eaters- it lasts about 5 days refrigerated but spoils in 2 days at room temperature. This would be great in times of potlucks whenever that happens again?
The Three Bite Rule - Corn Bread with Hot Honey

Corn Bread with Hot Honey Drizzle

Ingredients: makes 9×9, ~6 servings

1 1/2 Boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1 stick softened butter + 2-4 tablespoons to pan sear before serving
8 oz sour cream
8 oz can creamed corn
8 oz canned corn or frozen corn
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Mix together the muffin mix, butter, sour cream, creamed corn, corn, and eggs with a stand or hand mixer until incorporated.
The Three Bite Rule - Corn Bread with Hot Honey
Pour into a 9×9 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.
Bake for 35 minutes until set and the edges brown.
While letting it cool, mix together the honey and hot sauce.
The Three Bite Rule - Corn Bread with Hot Honey
In a medium skillet, melt butter and sear each cut side of slices of cornbread.
Drizzle with hot honey and enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Corn Bread with Hot Honey

It freezes well or freeze the remainder of the creamed corn and the save the half box of corn muffin mix. Next time you want to whip some together you’ll be well on your way! A whole batch would be 3 boxes of corn muffin mix- everything doubled and that makes a 9×13 so that would take a huge number of cornbread lovers!

 

Hawaiian Hot Dog

Talking about Hawaiian pizza got me thinking about iconically Hawaiian flavors like pineapple, teriyaki, and pork. Let’s add ’em to a hot dog! These hot dogs were so fun and a great change of pace – especially since we won’t be heading to Hawaii anytime soon! We fell in love with the grilled pineapple and grilled more just to eat too.
The Three Bite Rule - Hawaiian Hot Dog

Hawaiian Hot Dogs

Ingredients (for 4 hot dogs):

4 hot dogs
4 King’s Hawaiian Hot Dog buns (or potato rolls)
3 pineapple rings
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 onion
1/2 cup greens (I used baby kale but spinach, arugula, collards, cilantro, or parsley would all be great)
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

Directions:

Sprinkle the pineapple with brown sugar then grill the pineapple and hot dogs.
While those are grilling, chop the onion and greens.
In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayo and teriyaki sauce.
Warm the buns the last minute of grilling.
Chop the pineapple and mix together with the onion and greens.
Assemble the dogs with the bun, the hot dog, the pineapple/onion/greens and drizzle with teriyaki mayo.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Hawaiian Hot Dog
I loved these. The freshness of the greens and the crunch of the onion was necessary. Those came the 2nd time around when I made these. Honestly the King’s Hawaiian Hot Dog Buns weren’t any better than our grocery store potato bun rolls.

Loaded hot dogs are so fun. For our ‘home 4th of July’ we made dogs with dill relish, french onion dip, and crispy onions. I also love dogs with blue cheese dressing and bacon. These crescent dogs, 3 ways are super fun too. I never can get my hands on pretzel buns again, but these Fall Dogs with Apple Slaw topped with apple, arugula, and onion with white cheddar and dijon is to-die-for. Burger toppings work well for dogs too!

July 2020 Recap

July wrapping up has me wondering what the fall will be like- along with the rest of the country. We don’t know what school will be like for kindergarten. Returning to daycare will be a change too. I’m working remotely and I’ve settled into that. July normally would have been a summer vacation week to the beach but this year we just went for a day. It was good for what it was. I don’t feel like I’m mourning what “should have been”.

In the kitchen this month. I went with a lettuce-less salad series. Lettuce is my least fav part of salad so I strove for salads that are fresh and cool and packed with flavor and texture without any greens. Also, whip up some easy chocolate mousse.

This peach, tomato, and mozzarella salad has a balsamic drizzle and was DE-LIGHT-FUL. The kids loved it and it turned Mr. J onto peaches! It was great and we’re already due for a repeat.
The Three Bite Rule - Peach & Mozzarella Salad

Another one was purple cabbage, carrots and peanut sauce with so much flavor and crunch alongside our sesame noodles & edamame. Brown sauce isn’t photogenic but peanut sauce is so great and this isn’t one to miss.
The Three Bite Rule - Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce
We also had this watermelon, mint, and cucumber salad as a relish or topping for grilled chicken. It was so juicy and crunchy and perfect. I chopped ours tiny- for topping and for a 2 year old. It could easily be bigger chunks for a side.
The Three Bite Rule - Watermelon Mint Relish

The Pre-K Guy:

He’s becoming such a strong swimmer! He would have had a summer of swimming lessons at daycamp but here we are. I’m amused to see his monochromatic outfit choices. He looooved getting library books for the first time since March! He’s into the sandbox and puttering around the driveway with tools and discarded remnants from Mr. J’s projects. Go Jetters is his show of choice for the moment. Snacky lunch is the current fav and cherries!

The Toddler Girl:

Her tiny voice singing is just so dang cute. She loves wheels on the bus, happy birthday, itsy bitsy spider and I can’t get enough of it. Her strength and determination is shining through once in a while – maybe I should stop telling her she’s about to be two? She loves jelly, peaches, and yogurt. Her impressions repeating what somebody just said, in their tone is also amusing.

This Year’s Goals:

Year of beauty/selfcare – I got new facewash – so exciting! haha
Prep intentional sides and veggies: Yup! All the salads!
Eat more fish: ehh I don’t know that we had much fish this month
Blog some series: salads, sans lettuce!
Focus decluttering/organizing to an area: I didn’t but should get back on that.
Share more books on instagram: I’ve shared the collections I pull for the kids and what I’m into.
Prioritize workouts: I finished barre blend. Then I got going on a lifting one. It is too hot to run this week but I’ve tended to do ~2 miles once a week.
What I’m reading: I finished The Secrets We Kept for bookclub and loved how many topics are represented, then read Girl Woman Other and was so captivated and connected to the characters, and The Wife Between Us which was a thriller but actually lighter in terms of thought required. I’m just finished Beyond Belief: My Secret Life inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape which is a bit lengthy and too many details included and lacked enough personal reflection for me- I preferred Leah Remini’s book for an overview of Scientology and for a personal experience. 
What I’m listening to:
a podcast here and there but I’m behind on all that I’d normally catch on my commutes.
What I’m watching: we just watched the Last Dance docu-series about Michael Jordon and the 1990s Bulls. It was so well done and fascinating – despite the fact that I don’t follow basketball and I had no idea all these players were on the same team! We watched the movie The Way Back and thought it was great.

Lettuce-less Salad Series: Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce

This salad is a great side or it eats like a meal too. It miiiight not be the most picturesque but I couldn’t not share it. Think crunchy purple cabbage and carrots with peanut sauce and some shredded chicken- or skip the chicken. Either way, it is great and so fast.
The Three Bite Rule - Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce

Cabbage & Carrot Slaw with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients: (for ~4-5 as sides, or ~2 as a meal)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 inch grated ginger
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 large carrots, shredded
~1 cup roasted chicken, shredded (optional)

Directions:

Shake the sauce together in a jar (or whisk together in a bowl) the soy sauce, peanut butter, ginger, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Refrigerate until serving or make and serve.
Mix the cabbage and the carrot.
Drizzle in the peanut sauce and mix well. Add in the chicken – if using- and stir gently.
The Three Bite Rule - Cabbage Slaw with Peanut SauceEnjoy!

I loved this! Know that brown sauce – like peanut sauce – is not beautiful but so tasty. We had it with sesame noodles and edamame- that’s on the regular rotation here. This slaw was great for a crunch and for the peanut flavor. My 5-year-old pb lover liked it and ate a bunch. My ~2-year-old pb lover only ate a little.

There you have it, my salads without lettuce:
this cabbage and carrot slaw with peanut sauce
Watermelon Mint Salad
Peach, Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

Lettuce-less Salad Series: Watermelon Mint Salad

All these lettuce-less salad series will not be exclusively with fruit, but this was too good not to come next. Also, we bought a whole watermelon and the kids are just not as into it as other fruit so finding all the ways to use it was necessary. I chopped it up really finely to use the salad as a relish/topping, but it would be great on the side!

The Three Bite Rule - Watermelon Mint Relish

Watermelon Mint Salad

Ingredients: (for 4 as a side, for 6 as a topping)

1 cup watermelon
1 cucumber
1/2 shallot
~10 mint leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

Chop the watermelon, cucumber, shallot, and mint and add to a bowl.
The Three Bite Rule - Watermelon Mint Relish
Add in the olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice plus some salt and pepper and chili powder. Stir well and chill until serving.
The Three Bite Rule - Watermelon Mint Relish
Enjoy!

This salad is so fresh and light and flavorful. It could be spiced up with jalapenos or other peppers. It would be great as salsa with chips too or in larger pieces as a side. We had it on top of grilled chicken this time.

The Three Bite Rule - Watermelon Mint Relish