Bites of My Life

It finally feels like fall in my neck of the woods. Work is busy because we are opening a new restaurant!! I can’t think of what else to say and I don’t have time to think. That is all. Bye!!

-Part 1 of convincing Peter that curry is a diet staple complete. Eased him in with this easy crock-pot curry recipe I have on the blog.
-Pumpkins posing all cute all around the neighborhood I take my walks in.
-Tried the Tik Tok salmon & rice and can confirm the hype. Great way to use leftover salmon.
-Decaf almond milk latte delivery was just what I needed late Friday afternoon after a doozy of a work day.
-Tried a new to me pilates studio. I haven’t take a studio class in about a year and half. I miss reformer pilates!!
-Big time in Denton celebrating the Shorts!!
-Buncha plus ones!
-A stop in historic downtown Denton for post-wedding fuel before the drive back to OKC.
-Got to OKC for a week of work, but first some fall festival cuteness with my nieces.

Annie

Bites of My Life

One of my favorite weekends of the fall has come and gone. I’ve been going to the OU/Texas game far before I even went to school there. I love living in Dallas now and having loved ones and old friends come to my city for the big game. Just as fun to share with new Dallas friends too. The big weekend the past couple years have been a mixture of Rise Roundup, a tour through the Kipps Bay showhouse, lunch at S&D, dinner at Campisi’s, a night out with college friends, early morning gameday, and copious amounts of corny dogs and beer. The weekend just can’t be matched, but somehow gets better and better ever year. I linked a few OU/Texas bites from years past below.

2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013

-I’m not one for Monday night dinners out, but when a highly anticipated neighborhood spot sneakily opened, Peter and I jumped on a reservation.
-Said restaurant, is the little Sister to a fav Dallas spot, The Charles. One of the favorite things we ordered at Sister was the lobster burrata.
-Welcome oatmeal season, welcome.
-My restaurant Bic pen collection is coming right along. Matches are so 2019.
-Such a great night running into about every person I know in Dallas at Rise Roundup raising money for the Rise School of Dallas. Yellowstone fav, Ryan Bingham performed!
-They took about a month to arrive but my new slides finally came in. These Amazon copycats of the pricy Manolo Blahnik’s are just as good as I hoped. I did the brown kitten heels and the tan flats. A few blisters after the first wears, but they are worth it.
-Browsed around the Kipps Bay Showhouse with my mother on Friday morning. I love that they’ve brought this fundraiser to Dallas. It is still happening in the next couple of weeks if you are in the area!
-Nothing hits better than a 9:00 AM breakfast Fletcher’s corny dog and a wax beer at the Texas State Fair the morning of OU/Texas!
-2nd half team pulled through for an amazing win and day!!!

Annie

Bites of My Life

There is nothing better than a good fall weekend. The temperatures are still warm during the day, but it’s cooling off in the mornings in evenings in Dallas. Perfect for a walk in the neighborhood to get a decaf almond milk latte and scope out everyone’s pumpkin loot on their porches. Followed by an afternoon of college football and food to match. Last week and weekend were some of those really great fall-filled days.

Upcoming this weekend is one of my favorite fall weekends of the year, OU vs. Texas! Wishing everyone good fall days ahead and boomer sooner.

-Last week’s Weekday Rice Bowl made its way to TAB, did you see it?
-Kiwis and pears are my “it” fruits rn.
-Fresh off my trip to Vail and more importantly Mountain Standard, their insane pimento cheese with bacon jam was still high on my mind. Credit to Peter for opting we try making our own when I suggested buying some. We halved this recipe.
-Packed our bacon jam with Kuby’s pimento cheese and picnicked at the Dallas Arboretum for one of their Cool Thursday concerts.
-After talking about it for months, I finally made it to Il Bracco thanks to my trusty eating partner. Easily slid into my top 5 favorite restaurants in Dallas.
-Skip the last drink, order dessert instead. A trusty new motto that included some delish Italian cheesecake.
-Pigs in a blanket, never not a crowd favorite.
-Smash burgers on the flat top and a revolving door of friends watching football on Saturday, was a Saturday well spent.
-There is no pumpkin bread better than my family’s pumpkin bread, but I had high hopes for The Defined Dish’s grain-free recipe. I was surprisingly able to salvage it from this burnt top, but it was not my fave.

Annie

Weekday Rice Bowl

I don’t tend to look to the airport restaurant options as inspiration for recipe posts, but I’m 2 for 1 on recipe recreations for a particular spot in the Denver airport. Have you tried Modern Market, there is actually a location in Dallas, but I’ve only ever eaten here in the Denver airport after two stints in Vail, CO. Peep my Wintergreen Salad recipe. A recreated menu item that I loved finding in the airport a couple of years ago after an indulgent bachelorette trip.

I think most can agree you feel a sense of creativity, emotion, and recharge after a trip. As a food blogger, this is particularly true. I love being inspired by travel eats. A few items on my mental list to recreate are the warm pimento cheese with bacon jam from Mountain Standard in Vail, and the Nutella Stuffed Banana Cookie from Thoroughbread in Austin.

Today I’m recreating a dish my sister actually ordered for breakfast after our trip to Vail. In no other place other than….the airport. I can’t find it on the current Modern Market menu, but this breakfast rice bowl really fits the bill for a satisfying and healthy meal before a flight. I gathered all the ingredients on my post-vacation grocery run and quickly made it for lunch. I hope you enjoy!

Weekday Rice Bowl
yields 1 serving

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked rice (I use brown basmati)
1/4 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup frozen fire-roasted corn, thawed (I like to buy this veggie hash at TJ’s for optimal veggie content. If you don’t like corn, chopped yellow bell pepper would also be great.)
1 sunny-side-up fried egg
Pickled Red Onions (I love to make my own)
Cojita cheese
Verde Salsa
Hot Sauce
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Directions:
In a small saute pan, lightly heat rice, quinoa, black beans, and corn over low heat until warmed through. Oil is not needed in the pan for this step. If things start to stick, add a small amount of water to loosen it in the pan and continue to warm everything through.

Remove the rice mixture from the pan and add to your serving dish. In the same pan, add a small amount of oil. Fry your egg over medium heat until the whites are set and the yolk is runny.

Add the fried egg to your rice mixture. Top with cheese, pickled red onions, verde salsa, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and hot sauce!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Colorado in the fall, does it get any better? I’ve been lucky to visit the last weekend of September once before and to be there when the Aspens are turning yellow is truly unbelievable. It’s a scene that I kept finding myself just staring at the trees. I’m not a treehugger by any means, but you can’t help but relish in the serious beauty this time of year.

This Colorado trip was to celebrate my oldest friend marry one of my dear high school friends. They have been together for 10 years and their time finally came! There were a lot of tears, laughs, old memories shared and new memories made. Before dipping out of town I officially added pumpkin flavored things back into my diet, got a baking bug and celebrated two friend’s birthdays! I hope you all had a great week.

-First Pumpkin Green Smoothie of the season.
-On that note, you’d think I’d be diving into pumpkin bread, but I had some ripe bananas and a special request for my banana bread!
-Birthday twins (unknowingly by Caroline, planned by Kate - ha).
-Landed in Vail and got to hiking the rocky mountains with my momma. Photo cred/proof he was there: Dad!
-Mountain Standard, more specifically there warm pimento cheese with bacon jam, is a MUST on any trip to Vail.
-Found the bride kicking off the wedding weekend at The Red Lion!
-It’s so weird how life takes you in different directions. This is a reason I love weddings, because it brings so many special people back together, old friends and new friends. I loved getting to form friendships with Anna’s law school and DC friends through her wedding season.
-It doesn’t get more picturesque than this. Wade and Anna knew what they were doing when they chose this late September weekend and Piney River Ranch for their wedding.
-MOH for my bestie since birth.