Mocha Smoothie

I took a different route on this smoothie and made it into a snack-like smoothie versus a breakfast kind of smoothie. It was really good and hit the spot on a coffee-sat-too-long kind of day. It isn’t super sweet so the coffee flavor is for real. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fun coffee drink, but the serving of fruit can’t hurt. Right?
The Three Bite Rule - Mocha Smoothie

Mocha Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup coffee, chilled
1 1/2 cups frozen pear or banana
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed meal

Directions:

Blend everything together. If it is too thick add in a bit more milk or some water.
The Three Bite Rule - Mocha Smoothie
Enjoy!

This was the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. A squirt of whipped cream made me fall more in love. I can see this one repeating when it is too hot to think!
The Three Bite Rule - Mocha Smoothie

BLT with Lemon Aoli

The lemon aoli takes this home lunch to the next level. It is tart and perfect with the salmon. It perked up my leftover salmon and brought brightness with the salty bacon, peppery arugula, and juicy tomato. I wanted to make a fun lunch to revive some leftover salmon that I overcooked a bit. It was actually better in this salmon BLT than it was the night before!
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Aoli BLT

Salmon BLT with Lemon Aoli

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons mayo
juice from half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
pinch salt & pepper
2 strips of bacon
3-4 oz salmon, cooked and cooled

Directions:

Pan fry the bacon and remove from the grease.
Turn off the pan from the bacon and gently warm the salmon in the bacon drippings.
Mix together the mayo, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Aoli BLT
Toast the bread and slice the tomato.
Assemble the sandwich with lemon aoli on each slice of toast, then salmon forked apart into chunks, then arugula, then bacon, and the remaining bread.
The Three Bite Rule - Lemon Aoli BLT
Enjoy!

This was seriously better than the salmon was the night before. Condiments can make such a difference. An extra special BLT is a great dinner too. Warming the salmon a bit in bacon drippings is definitely a good choice.

Thai Coconut Rice Bowls with Pork

After cooking a pork shoulder in the slow cooker I love having a bunch more servings of pork to “pull” out and become a speedy dinner. This time, I made a Thai-inspired rice bowl instead of my usual BBQ or Mexican twists on the leftovers. Earlier the same week we had pulled pork on sandwiches with BBQ sauce. This bowl is an ideal use for any leftover pork or beef, shredded or ground meat.
Thai Peanut Coconut Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

I made the rice in my pressure cooker using white rice for a change, and coconut milk as the liquid. It turned out great- a gentle coconut flavor that isn’t too sweet! I mixed up the sauce in the blender a full day before this dinner which meant we had the speediest dinner ever! I came home to already prepared pork, rice I made that morning, and a sauce from the day before. Assembly time! Sauces often taste even better when made in advance and given a chance to sit before serving!

Thai Coconut Rice Bowls with Pork

Ingredients: (for 4)

1 cup white rice
2 cups coconut milk (unsweetened)
~1 cup shredded pork (or steak or ground meat)
1/4 inch fresh ginger, grated or minced
1 clove/teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cucumber
1 cup shredded carrots
more fresh cilantro to garnish

Directions:

Cook the rice with the coconut milk. (My pressure cooker ratio is 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cups liquid so I used that ratio but usually rice is 1 rice:2 liquid).
While the rice cooks, blend together the peanut sauce with: ginger, garlic, sriracha, honey, lime, soy sauce, vinegar, peanut butter, cilantro, and stream in the olive oil. (Can be made ahead of time)
Thai Peanut Coconut Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule
Warm the pork over medium heat in a medium skillet. When starting to warm, drizzle in ~3 tablespoons of the peanut sauce and cook for another 2 minutes.
Thai Peanut Coconut Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule
Slice the cucumbers into thin sticks.
Serve the rice on the bottom topped with pork, carrots, cucumber, a drizzle of peanut sauce and more cilantro.
Thai Peanut Coconut Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule
Enjoy!

The little one liked the elements of this, but really loved the coconut rice. He hadn’t been into rice lately so that was nice to get back to it, also since coconut rice was something new to us.

Thai Peanut Coconut Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule
The sauce was a bit spicy for Mr. J so I’d say I loved this most (I added in more sriracha at first so go with my quantities above!). The raw veggies make it fun with almost sweet rice and warm pork with a few crispy bits. I had leftovers for lunch the next day and loved it all over again! Raw veggies are the pre-schooler’s preference but tricky for the babe who only has 2 little chicklet teeth poking through. I’ll have to balance that a bit more as she “eats dinner” with us.

Substitute any grain cooked as the coconut base and whatever veggies you like. Need more grain bowl inspiration? I’ve got you covered. 😉

March 2019 Recap

March just wizzed right by! My birthday kicked off a fun month! I’m feeling like we are so much more in a groove and all doing really well! The babe is so happy and now quite predictable. The little boy has loved the snow and more daylight is so great for us! Mr. J and I are on a roll. Work has been  super busy- which I love. We all were sick through March so we were all to ready to be better and healthy after colds, seemed-like-strep, a stomach bug, and a perpetually runny baby nose.

I made these cheeseburger turnovers with tots in them and they were so fun and an ideal one to prep in advance.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheeseburger Turnover
I took a Trader Joe’s haul to the next level with tips to take Trader Joe’s items and turn them into a full meal.
The Three Bite Rule - Trader Joe's Favs into Meals
I also made a nutella croissant baked French Toast and LOVED it. My nutella tip is key!
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Next month will have a rice bowl and a sandwich and I’m not sure what else. We are heading to Maine for Easter. I will probably make a Carrot Cheese Ball. I also make some chocolate peanut butter eggs to have at home.

The Baby Girl:

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What a happy lady! She sits up and suddenly started going from laying to sitting- transitions hadn’t been smooth until just now! Baby C is eating and loving it. We are working her through all the baby foods to ensure there aren’t allergies and also we need her to eat enough to be a meal before reducing to fewer bottles because of her challenge to gain weight. She has 2 bottom teeth that popped through. She loves to bite on everything.

The Little Boy:

He love love loves playing in the snow. Now that it is gone, we’re mucking around in boots and getting outside more. Thank goodness! He’s very into PJ Masks which isn’t my fav. I love seeing how many books he’ll dive into in a row. Some meals he gobbles them up quickly and wants more, other meals take for-ev-er. Breakfast for dinner of eggs and sausage is a current favorite. He likes “snacky lunch” meaning- not a sandwich.

2019 goals:

Year of ___ decluttering/minimizing/organizing: ehhh. I didn’t really make it happen. I hope to tackle the kitchen utensils.
Feeding Littles: I shared a repeat dinner I made before– we did of “Pizza” polenta bowls with white beans- for all. 
Work on advanced food prepping: I did this pretty well this month with some morning prep to give me a head start.
What I’m reading: I read The Slap for bookclub and none of us enjoyed it. I also read Today Will be Different and The Map of Salt and Stars which was so amazing.
What I’m watching: We watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and was blown away. So good. We also watched Tag and laughed out loud. The little boy watched a few movies. Snow days and sick days seemed like good times to snuggle for movies! He liked Moana and Trolls.

Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast

This one had to cut the line because Trader Joe’s goodies aren’t always there forever! I used croissant bread for this nutella croissant baked french toast but a few large croissants chopped up would work the same too! The real trick is in the nutella…
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
I froze little blobbies of nutella (technical term) to easily insert that flavor without becoming a sticky mess! It was delicious and only took 10 minutes to be frozen!

Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons nutella
1/2 loaf croissant bread (or 3-4 croissants)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup (more for serving)

Directions:

Spoon ~1/2 teaspoon blobs of nutella onto a sheet of wax paper and freeze for about 10 minutes – 1 day.
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Chop the bread (or croissants)
Whisk together the eggs, cream, extract, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Pour the croissant pieces into the liquid mix and stir to coat well- being careful to saturate it well but not break the bread up.
Spoon about half of the mix into a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Pop about half of the nutella chunks in, then repeat: add the remaining croissant mix and last nutella chunks.
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Cover and refrigerate overnight (or bake and enjoy immediately).
Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees covered, and another 10 minutes uncovered.
The Three Bite Rule - Nutella Croissant Baked French Toast
Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

This was great! What’s not to love?? The big pockets of nutella were great and baked french toast aka, bread pudding is so much easier than whole pieces of french toast. The little guy liked it. He usually just sees nutella if he requests “fancy toast”.