What I Ate: Hummus & Cucumber Toast

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https://manabernardes.com/2024/7jhkgi34sWhat I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

https://masterfacilitator.com/fqek7rt Seriously, I feel guilty sharing something as basic as this breakfast, but I am seeking inspiration. I’m on a bfast quest for some weekly fun not sweet breakfasts. Come along!

Buy Diazepam Usa Why does all the breakfast have to be a) sweet or b) eggs? Answer: it doesn’t. I’m making myself get creative and vary week-day breakfasts that aren’t sugary.
The Three Bite Rule - Savory Weekday Bfast Quest

Buy Soma Next Day I layered my English muffin with hummus and a couple slices of English cucumber. I love the English ones because they’re not as seedy as regular one.  I can see myself eating this before/after a morning workout or as a light late dinner after a work event too. I like the creaminess of this while not being cheese. I wasn’t striving for dairy-free but this fits that bill if you’re needing that. On the other hand, a sprinkle of feta on top would add some salt if you wanted more flavor!

https://space1026.com/2024/01/dw4aoswyvyp Avocado toast would probably be my daily breakfast of choice but avocados are so dang expensive on this side of the country. Plus, they sometimes escape me and are brownish mush.

Disclosure: My real-life breakfasts are often eaten right off the cutting board while I buzz around getting ready. Breakfast-on-the-go is for real. This would easily sandwich-ize if you were taking it out the door with you. I have a new car so I do not take my breakfast on the go anymore!

Ham & Havarti Melt

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https://www.justoffbase.co.uk/uncategorized/xslbro59bdr As much as most dinners at the Three Bite Rule are grilled in the summer, I’m still always striving for them to be varied and unique. Paninis are definitely a go-to category for me when I want to be sure I’m planning some quick ones that don’t heat the whole house up. I was proud this was so quick, especially now that the little one is so active and squirming all around during dinner/dinner prep time! I meant to use some raspberry jam but forgot to add it to the grocery list. I substituted Lingonberry jam, courtesy of Ikea, as my fruity spread.

The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt

Ingredients: (per sandwich)

Buy Diazepam 5Mg Online Uk 2 slices of sourdough bread
1-2 tbs dijon mustard
2-3 slices of honey ham
2-3 slices of havarti cheese
2 tbs jam: raspberry/strawberry/cranberry/etc

Directions:

Preheat a panini press, grill plan, or flat skillet to medium high heat.
Spread some mustard on the inside of one slice of bread. Then top with ham then cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
Spread jam onto the inside of the other slice of bread and close up the sandwich.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havarti Melt
Brush the bread lightly with olive oil, then flip the sandwich cooking that side down. Brush the top slice with olive oil and close the panini press.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havarti Melt
Grill or fry until crisp and melted. Flip regularly to avoid burning!
Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
I loved this. The Lingonberry jam is my jam. Pardon the pun. It has a tartness that is so perfect with salty ham and gooey cheese. Uhh I could eat this all the time. There’s something about it that says breakfast to me as well. Maybe that’s the not-wanting-morning-sweets in me. Anyway you look at it, this sandwich is good. Reallll good.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
You could make a ton of these and keep them warm in the oven if you have a crowd to feed. Or make just one and you don’t have crazy ingredients hanging around. I think the jam and the sharp mustard are really necessary here…don’t skip ’em!

https://fireheartmusic.com/rh4v906 I served this melted masterpiece with some Cape Cod Chips and some cherry tomatoes in balsamic dressing. It was my such a great summer dinner. Mr. J tolerated not grilling dinner one night. Maybe the oozing cheese had something to do with it?

What I Ate: Avocado BLT

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Happy Friday! Since we’ve successfully made it though the week together, I figure this Avocado BLT a perfect ‘What I Ate’ addition since obviously you do not need a recipe for a BLT. Bacon + Lettuce + Tomato = delicious. I’m going to add a few special touches to an already awesome sandwich. (Check out How Sweet It Is’ Avo BLT from this week too!)

The BLT is a perfect I-ate-some-pretty-bad-for-you-food-this-week option for the weekend,

or a breakfast-versus-lunch tie breaker,

or I-don’t-like-traditional-breakfast-food.  It has the perfect grease requirement for hangovers and the ideal fresh factor to make up for unhealthy indiscretions.
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I think BLTs are perfect for a quick dinner or even brunch. They’re great on whatever bread you have, rolls, wraps, biscuits, flatbread, bagels, pita pockets, anything!

I added some pesto aioli and some avocado. Perfection! Mix up some mayo and some pre-made pesto. Also, if you refer to it as aioli, even people who think they don’t like mayo will be alllll about it.
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I grilled the bacon in a criss-cross lattice pattern. Bacon in every bite! I like it suuuuper crispy but bacon in any form is perfect.
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Layer it up! I like it in the order of B then L then T. I added avocado to make it more special, filling, and creamy. avo_BLT_plate_590_390
I think there are tons of fun ways to keep a BLT interesting. I think a salad-y wrap would be good too. Maybe the lettuce and tomato in chunks mixed with ranch, avocado, and bacon! Ooo. Yum! A BLT grilled cheese would be delicious right about now. Or maybe a BLT with fried egg on ciabatta! I’ve made BLT pizza (which was to die for). Just goes to show you, BLTs are great inspiration.

https://therepairstore.ca/nh1hcje What do you do to keep sandwiches interesting? Any BLT variations I should try next?

Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie

It is almost my birthday and I’ve been trying to eat sensibly in preparation, or in general I guess. Calories don’t count on birthdays. Also since I have to get up uber early on Saturday for a work event, I forsee a dunks bfast sandwich in my future. Weekend wake-ups shouldn’t start with a 6, but then again the actual work event days start with a 3, which is just gross, so this 6 am is peanuts.

Something delicious to start the day is necessary, but healthy to start the day is the norm. I’m still riding out my smoothie obsession for breakfast and getting ready while sipping a smoothie is just somehow relaxing. I liked the banana peanut butter  and nutella smoothie I made, but this time I was thinking PB&J!

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Ingredients:

6 oz vanilla Greek yogurt (or blueberry yogurt would be good too)
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbs reduced fat peanut butter
splash of milk (optional)

Directions:

Assemble & blend!

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I like the berries/fruit to be frozen, or semi-frozen so that the smoothie is thicker. Fresh berries would work too, but frozen are also easier to have on hand.

I prefer the taste of reduced fat peanut butter, and why not shave a few calories where you can? I go for chunky but I mooch from Mr. J’s creamy reduced fat pb when making smoothies (shhh!)

This one was good and very flavorful. I don’t know if it was my favorite so far, but a good change up from my normal yogurt-fruit-only smoothies.

Book Review: French Kids Eat Everything

I saw French Kids Eat Everything on A Cup of Jo and knew I had to get my hands on it.

Karen Le Billon relays her experience moving her family from Canada to France, where her husband grew up. She had two picky children and recounts their experiences. They learn what lunch is like in French school, how to shop at French markets (the non-supermarkets), and what they wanted to expect from their own children (and themselves).
French Kids Eat Everything
It fascinated me. Before you tell me “it is different when I have kids of my own”, I beg you to hold that thought. I don’t agree. My biggest fear is having children who don’t eat real food.

This family in the memoir finally had to seccum to the French method of exploring food, the parents deciding what was for dinner, and standing firm to “you don’t have to like it, but you do have to try it”. Ahhh! Eureka!

I care about food and I care that my some-day-children learn these lessons. The French are pretty brilliant when it comes to food, and it is quite no-nonsense which I like too. The Le Billon family had to overcome years of feeding whatever the kids dictated to avoid meltdowns.

Her story feels real and emotionally charged. They were in a new country, her husband’s family had different views of their ways of eating (initially), she wasn’t a confident cook, and it was a learning curve for all of them. She was torn between feeling like a dictator and allowing choices to her children.

Here is Le Billon’s interpretation of the French ways of eating (the rules)

1) Parents are in charge of food education.
2) Food is not a reward, punishment or bribe.
3) Parents schedule meals. Kids eat what adults eat.
4) Eat family meals together–and make them feel special.
5) Eat your veggies. Key: Think variety.
6) You don’t have to like it, but you do have to taste it.
7) No snacking. It’s OK to feel hungry between meals.
8) Slow food is happy food. As in, eat slowly.
9) eat real food – treats are ok for special occasions
10) eating is joyful and a time to relax.
French Kids Eat Everything

I have a leg to stand on here because I was brought up with a few of these in place from the start. There were no happy-meals for dinner (1). We ate what my parents ate (3). We didn’t have to finish everything but dinner time was a chance to chat. There wasn’t permission to escape from the table. The thing is, we didn’t mind sitting and talking (10).

We snacked but we also weren’t eating fruit roll-ups (9). At Christmas my sis and I each got a grocery-store present which was a highly coveted item we wouldn’t normally have (like pop-tarts, sugary cereal, Little Debbies). Grandma would buy us Cheetos or Fruit Loops but cereal consisted of Cheerios/Chex/Corn flakes/Rice Krispies (9).

I don’t recall getting these lessons drilled into us. It was just what we did. Dinner was together, at the table, without TV/games/phones/etc but with placemats and real napkins (4). Sandwiches had tomatoes on them and weekend breakfast was accompanied by fruit (5). Dinner often included salad first (5). There was always fruit around. Our bread was always wheat/rye/pumpernickel.

My sis and I each had veggies we didn’t like (her: mushrooms, me: peas) but we were allowed to not like something (6). I don’t think we were force fed things or made to stay at the table. I’m not sure when it started but there were expectations about food. Bursting into tears and bawling about not wanting that for dinner would not have been ok. There weren’t tantrums at the checkout line because we could ask for something (though we wouldn’t have questioned a “no”) and sometimes we got to leave with a ring pop, which also kept them special.

I loved that a family I babysat had “babysitter food” which was a treat for the normally real-food-fed-boys (I got to give them mac & cheese and chicken fingers). They had the three bite rule before they could not like something (the 1st to try it, the 2nd to decide, and the 3rd bite to be sure). They definitely knew the grown-up was in charge of the meal.

Wow, I guess when it comes down to it, the R family appears quite French in terms of food. I love that Mr. J and I sit down for meals together. No matter what we’re eating, it is still a chance to chat and eat off a real plate.

French Kids Eat Everything also included their transition back to Canada after their time in France. I don’t judge this family who had to adapt when returning. Hello, North American schools don’t serve a 4 course lunch! Commerce doesn’t stop so everyone can slowly eat lunch with somebody else! North America isn’t like France so I doubt this is something everyone can replicate. The book was really captivating. I was interested that the “rules” weren’t specific to their family or region with research stats to prove it.

I thought this book was really interesting and I hope I’ll follow these someday. I saw the same sort of thing on Cooking Light. I got to see a lot of families food standards and practices after babysitting for, jeez, probably more than 15 families. I just followed whatever their way was, I never once thought my opinion should factor in there.

I was out to dinner at a fun pizza place and was shocked to see the kiddo behind us had pizza without cheese. Hmm. Maybe that is dietary? Then another table had 1 kid at it who got grilled cheese. At a pizza place? I was surprised. I thought what kid doesn’t like pizza? Or melted mozzarella? It was interesting.

Tell me, what do you think? Do you think these French Rules would help youth nutrition in general? Do you think these “rules” would work for you/somebody you know? Is eating “like a child” a nature versus nurture? Do you think youth eating behavior is an age thing that he/she will grow out of? Is this the least of your worries for your children? Should kids HAVE to eat what they’re given?

(P.S.  Some other foodie books I love: The American Way of Eating; Fortune Cookie Chronicles; Waiter Rant, & The Dirty Life)

A1 Gets an A+

A1 Diner
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Mr. J and I LOVE diners and it was always surprising to me that we hadn’t been to the famous A1 Diner in his hometown in Maine! Their website calls themselves “Maine’s Most Unique Restaurant”. I recently went to “Boston’s Friendliest Pub” so this amused me greatly.

During a quick visit a few weeks ago we stopped in right at the cusp of breakfast and lunch. We decided on breakfast and I loved every minute of it.
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I got an Orange Poppyseed Waffle. It was amazing. I never see orange and poppy seed as a combo but it was great! I liked the fluffyness of the waffle and the citrus flavor. It was a good deviation from my usual bfast choices since I tend to go savory rather than sweet.
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Mr. J got an egg, bacon, toast, combo which is his standard. Use your imagination since I deemed it not quite picture worthy, much to his dismay.

Mrs. C got an Orange Pecan or Orange Walnut waffle and real maple syrup. I forget which nut but how cool to put nuts in there?!
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They had some interesting dinner meals/specials that make me want to go back. I’m sure the grilled sandwiches and burgers are only as diners can make them.
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Their website has some recipes so maybe I’ll have to whip one of those up sometime. I’d like the Hungarian Mushroom Soup, but I don’t have tons of mushroom eaters in my life. Or crabcakes, or pistachio lime salad, or lemon sauce for dessert.

Just as The Terminator would say: I’ll be back.

Honey Mustard Chicken with a Crunch

After a weekend of food, friends, diner breakfast, and drinks I wanted a slightly healthier Sunday night dinner. I was working with what we already had around, since I hate to grocery shop and we had been gone a lot.
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Honey Mustard Ingredients

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoon orange juice
1 large clove garlic, minced

Honey Mustard Directions

Wisk honey, mustard, orange juice, and garlic
Refrigerate for at least an hour before enjoying

I love honey mustard. I know you can buy it but this is better. I sneak a little spicy brown into it as well which better rounds out the mustard vs. sweet flavor. A splash of cider vinegar would be good too.Honey mustard is so versatile! Marinate chicken in it, dip veggies in it, put it on salad, put it on a sandwich…the possibilities are endless. Bottled honey mustard always has a few weird preservatives and when it’s this easy to make, why buy it?

Honey Mustard Crunchy Chicken Ingredients

chicken tenders or chicken breasts
1 egg (with 1 tbs water), whisked
½ cup flour
¾ cup breadcrumbs (half panko, half regular bread crumbs)

Honey Mustard Crunchy Chicken Directions

1) Marinate chicken tenders in honey mustard.
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2) Set up your flour, eggwash, breadcrumbs, in that order
honey_must_flour_290_200 honey_must_egg_290_200honey_must_crumbs_290_200 3) dip the chicken into the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs
4) bake 20 minutes at 375 on a sprayed cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, turning once

This was so great! I really liked that I could taste the honey mustard and the crunch on the outside was awesome. I served it with honey mustard on the side but could have tossed the crispy tenders in the sauce too. I think I was too scared that the crunch wouldn’t stick since they were baked, not fried.
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Mr. J and I thought the chicken was cooked perfectly. It was a fun and different dinner that was lighter than the restaurant equivalent since the chicken wasn’t fried. I served it with couscous (where I snuck in some finely chopped baby spinach for another veggie dose) and some yellow squash and leeks we had.
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Spinach and Artichoke Dip…with an Indian Twist

I needed to make a healthy appetizer for a non-profit having a get together for women. On The Rise is an amazing organization who supports women who are trying to move out of homelessness and women in crisis. I was in a hurry and didn’t have a ton of ideas. I knew my ap wouldn’t be able to be kept or served warm so I went with a semi-homemade dip.I had raita dip from Trader Joe’s so I used that as my starting point. I made this with the idea of spinach and artichoke dip without all the cheese and one that wouldn’t need to be served hot.

Ingredients
6 oz premade Raita
3 cups spinach, chopped
½ cup non-fat sour cream
1 jar artichoke hearts
1 pumpernickel bread loaf, uncut

Directions
1) Wilt spinach in a skillet.
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2) Slice the top of the loaf and hollow out the inside.

3) Mix raita, sour cream, artichoke hearts, and spinach.
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4) Refrigerate a few hours or overnight.
5) Serve in bread bowl with bread, baby carrots, and wheat thins to dip.This probably won’t be my claim to fame but it fulfilled the criteria I was looking for. It also was cheap, easy, and traveled well. I don’t have a final photo since they protect the anonymity of their clients so I wasn’t at the meal.

I’ve made lunch for these ladies and I really wonder how it has gone over. Again, the charge was healthy and minimal prep. Once I made sandwich filling options of grilled chicken salad with grapes or greek veggies (hummus, feta, cukes, tomatoes, and greek dressing) in pita pockets or bulkie rolls. Another time I made breakfast of baked blueberry french toast, hashbrown casserole, and mini bagels with cream cheese.