Bites of My Life

Today's bites post is stacked with photo bites of last week. A full camera roll of weekly images, typically means it was a great week. I suppose I was trying to squeeze as many memories possible into the last week of summer. I wore white everyday, bought a car (!!!!), finished Whole30, visited a city I've never been to, reunited with college friends, welcomed the start of college football, and sat poolside for probably the last time in 2016.

I breezed through the week quick as quick in anticipation of my trip to Houston for OU's first game of the season. Game outcome aside, the weekend was too good. Molly opened her doors for me to stay at "AirbMB" for the weekend. Unfortunately MB was Austin bound for the weekend, but we got a quick 30 minute catch up sesh to make it count! The weekend also included multiple catch up sesh's with college friends near and far who all came together for the game. Lots of memories made and too much fun had. I'm still exhausted and caught up on a high from the weekend. I'm letting it end graciously though as we say farewell summer/hello fall. Let the best season begin.  

-All white everyday last week before the fashion police say I can't. 
-Shared a few ways I knock pesky morning headaches. 
-Spaghetti squash primavera for the last bites of Whole30.
-Golden Milk. You have to try it if you haven't, perfect way to end the day.
-A somewhat celebratory lunch at Mexican Sugar after purchasing my first car!!! My car accident a few weeks back ended up being a blessing in disguise.
-CCC dough rolled into balls and frozen to save for a rainy day, unexpected guests, or those strong sweet tooth cravings.
-A matcha a week keeps the doctor away...
-A trip to Houston meant a quickie meet up with MB before she headed out of town and finally a visit to her place of work at Biscuit.
-Lunch at Local Foods was suggested on more than one account. It lived up to all the hype!
-All smiles pre OU upset. 
-If only all college football games came equipped with a bloody mary bar. Hello feta stuffed olives. 
-A diner breakfast to round out the Houston bites and to soak up Saturday night. 
-Some rude (smart) person thought it would be a good idea to put a mini Dylan's Candy Bar right next to my Southwest gate. I arrived and left Houston with a big bag of candy store candy. Sour gummies and chocolate covered everything.
-One last dip!
-Labor day steaks and veggies to send off summer!

Annie

How to Get Rid of Morning Headaches

Do you ever wake up with headaches? They are the worst and it is no way to start your day. I love to self diagnose myself when I get sick. I know that is the last thing you should do, but lets be honest, we all do it. When I have a cold, I turn to the internet for quick fixes, when I'm hungover I look for home remedies and when I get raging headaches I love to search for the best way to end it quick. Last week I woke up with a headache from H-E-double hockey sticks. I had a day full of to do lists and I didn't want a headache to be hanging out with me all day. 

I found this article from Dr. Oz to be really helpful. It lays out what types of headaches there are and what the cause and cures for them are. 

Migraines and hormonal headaches usually take place on the side of your head. Migraines are more extreme sometimes causing you to become nauseous. Hormonal headaches are caused when your estrogen levels drop, leading reason why women have more headaches than men.  Magnesium is needed to calm these monthly triggers. Magnesium can be found in food like spinach, chard, potatoes, and bananas. 

Tension headaches are the ones where it feels like a band is wrapped around your head, usually caused from stress that you are holding in your neck or shoulders. Try placing a heating pad around your neck or on your shoulders to help ease the pain. 

Cold and flu related headaches pop up from being dehydrated due to loss of water and essential salts. Drinking lots of fluids and eating foods like watermelon or cucumber help with hydration.

When my hellish headache struck I fixed it with these easy home remedies. I'm no doctor, but it worked for me and I hope it works for you. 

1. Drink a huge glass of water. Headaches are typically always due to dehydration.

2. Make some green tea with mint. The soothing power of mint helps ease the tension in headaches. I drink this tea daily. 

3. Lay down in a dim room with a cold or hot rag on your forehead. I know mornings are rushed but if you have at least 10 minutes, lay back in bad, shut off the lights and rest with a cold or hot towel on your head. Either temperature should help, whatever seems better for your situation.

4. Make a smoothie with spinach and bananas. Migraines and hormonal headaches can be fixed with a dose of magnesium. Try making a smoothie packed with tons or spinach and banana. My matcha smoothie helped cure my aches, but this and this recipe should too!

5. If you must, pop two Advil. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Last week my parent's jetted off to SoCal (JELLY) and I stayed back to make sure their house didn't go up in flames. It didn't, so I think I did okay. I felt like I was on a mini vacation getting to pack up a bag and relocate living quarters for the week. Despite waking up in their dreamy abode, my patience was tested with their attention seeking puppy. We were both pushed to the limit, but we made it out alive! Visits from close friends and the addition of lot's of rose` made my puppy patience subside a bit. 

The last week/weekend of August was a great one. Wine nights, a going away party, CPA celebrations, a bridal shower and banana bread baking rounded it out. Now it's almost September. HOW?

-Matcha Monday.
-Bites alongside Bon Appetit page views.
-If you didn't know, dates are nature's candy. So sweet and sinful, add some crunchy AB on top and your sweet tooth is cured.
-So much love for last week's recipe. Turns out I'm not the only one who loves sweet potatoes and figs!
-#GabetheBabe quickly turned into #GabetheMenace when I got put in charge of him.
-While house sitting for my parents, I took the time to dig through my mom's old family recipes. These cream cheese walnut brownies reminded me of an after school 4th grade snack!
-Friday's are made for best friends, rose, and epic charcuterie boards.
-This breakfast. 1/4 avocado, 2 scrambled eggs with spinach, harissa sauce all over a pile of spinach.
-SB can final return to reality post CPA mayhem! 
-Bridal shower bites.
-My bridey to be! So much fun getting to shower you!
-Sister got her gallbladder taken out over the weekend. When I asked her if she needed anything, she said the only thing she was craving was banana bread. Overripe bananas already in the freezer to the rescue! Whipped up a late night batch of my banana bread (with cinnamon added this time)!

Annie

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Figs

We all know I love figs. I also have a mad crush on sweet potatoes. I dreamt up this recipe while trying to come up with as many was as I could to include figs in a recipe. I turned to the world wide web for more inspo and it seems that someone beat me to the chase. Not just anyone, but the great Yotam Ottolenghi (Yo-TAm Oh-toe-LEng-he) of Plenty, Jerusalem and more. We are big Jerusalem fans in my family. Thank you for that Claire and Mike. 

Roasted sweet potatoes are such a staple. Throw my favorite fruit with it and you have an insane side dish. So easy, but impressive. Just what I'm about. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Figs adapted from Jerusalem 
yields 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes (optional) 
4 figs, stems removed and quartered
2 green onions, whtie and green part sliced on an angle
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 475 degrees. (I've been using my toaster oven like crazy in this summer heat to avoid heating my whole house and to avoid an extreme electricity bill).

Slice your sweet potatoes into wedges. Slice in half lengthwise, then in half again, and then again, so you get 8 wedges from one potato. Place the wedges on a roasting sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.  Roast for 20-25 minutes, flipping them halfway through. 

When your potatoes are almost done, it's time to start making the balsamic reduction. In a small sauce pan, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 2 to 4 minutes. The balsamic with thicken. You will know when it easily coats the back of a spoon. If it gets too thick you can add a few drops of water to thin it out. 

Arrange the potato wedges and fresh figs on a platter.  Sprinkle over green onions and drizzle with the balsamic reduction. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

I finished a book. Did you hear that? Annie "hater of reading" Tucker, finished a book. Pick up a few of Shauna Niequist's books if you get a chance, I highly recommend. I also had a very vivid dream that I was invited to a pre-opening shopping event at our Trader Joe's that is supposed to open next month. It was a good week to say the least. 

-Most idyllic start to my week. 
-Figgy pudding aka chia pudding with figs and gogi berries. Sister hated it, I loved it, to each his own. 
-Snack plate lunch makes for the best lunch al desko. Figs, hard boiled eggs, salami or prosciutto, apple and veggies are on rotation.
-I have a little project up my sleeve and it tastes and sips deliciously. 
-A dear dear friend of mine and I have been trying to make our lunch dates a frequent thing. Salads and our convos always fill me up! 
-My little londonite is home in Texas for about a month. I'll get to see her in September, but was able to sneak in a hug while she was in OK for the day! 
-When you run out of groceries and momma treats you right!
-The cutest plant shop in town just added coffee and treats to their repertoire. Can't wait to plug in and get my grind on in the atmosphere they've created. 
-Happy 3rd birthday OKC Lululemon! A birthday, my besties, and barre3; so fun at #sweatstock2016.
-Counters are the new chairs apparently. 
-"Savoring" Sunday morning with my new Shauna book and breakfast in bed.
-Becoming one of those Sunday meal prep nerds. Shredded chicken, sliced veggies, homemade mango salsa, balsamic salad dressing, hard boiled eggs and roasted sweet potatoes.  

Annie