Bites of My Life

No Spend November kicked off last week. I can report that so far so good. I had a lunch meeting that was covered for me, a fun cheese class, that I had paid for a few weeks ago and then ate at home every night during the week besides that. I treated myself to Starbucks this weekend because I really wanted a holiday cup (lol) and then purchased a couple drinks out on Saturday. I had dinner with a friend Saturday, but lucky us, our tab got picked up - ha! So indeed I did only spend money 3 times on food/drinks for the week!

-No Spend November started last week, and I loved seeing how many of you were on board to join me!
-This Cider Chicken is a recipe from a friend who is a nutritionist. I had big plans to make it and shoot it and share the recipe, but since daylight savings hit last week I need to rethink my photography time frame.
-Fun work lunch at the original Fuzzy’s Taco Shop on TCU’s campus. Little back story, my restaurant group owns the Oklahoma Fuzzy’s only, however we work closely with the corporate Fuzzy’s team who are based out of DFW. I’ve been able to meet with a couple of times now since being in Dallas!
-My Kale Quinoa Salad made an appearance for meals last week. I swapped out the cranberries for avocado and added in leftover chicken from the cider chicken. It’s so simple but good!
-Look at that board!! Pretty proud of myself for this one. My friend Kacie, who serves as the Marketing Director for Jack Mason, asked me to make a few cheeseboards for a launch party they were having in collab with the menswear line, Taylor Stich.
-Cut the cheese for my bestie Margaret on her bday. If you are in Dallas, I highly recommend the cheese classes at Scardello!
-I got an itch to bake Friday night. I typically always have ingredients stocked for Perfect CCCs. I started baking only to realize I was out of eggs… I’ve had a few people ask me for an egg replacement, so this was an accidental time to test out the applesauce method which I randomly had on hand. 1/2 cup applesauce actually worked great in replacement for 2 eggs.
-A mimosa, a few Ranch Waters, a French 75 and an espresso martini later led to a really fun day with my girl Caroline, but a night of no sleep and a not fun headache the next day…
-Sunday Chili night with the Cowboys and great friends!

Annie

Crock-Pot Verde Turkey Chili

I originally published this post in November 2014. It’s been such a hit with friends and followers (and let’s be honest, with me too), that I decided to update the post and photos. Enjoy!

When someone asks me for a recipe recommendation from my blog, the one I suggest the most is this chili. It’s made in the Crock-Pot so it’s basically no fail, and with minimal ingredients it’s cheap to throw together and relatively healthy.

Once the temperatures dip slightly, this recipe quickly gets thrown into rotation. The temps have yet to drop in Dallas, but it’s October so I’m ignoring mother nature and cooking what I seasonally want.

Crock-Pot Verde Turkey Chili
yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 can white navy beans
1 package frozen bell peppers
2 (12-16 oz) jars of verde salsa, I use Trader Joe’s
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
Topping ideas: Fritos, plantain chips, cheese, avocado, sour cream, greek yogurt, lime and cilantro

Directions:
Cook your turkey meat in a non-stick pan. Once your turkey is cooked through, strain it. Next, strain your beans. In your Crock-Pot, add the cooked turkey meat, drained beans, frozen veggies, salsa and seasonings. Stir to combine.

Set your Crock-Pot to cook 4-5 hours or high or cook 6-7 hours on low. Taste the chili and add more cumin and chili powder if necessary.

Top with your choice of toppings. Fritos and chili go hand in hand for me, but I love swapping the highly addicting (and my favorite chip) for a healthier option like plantain chips.

For a fun side-by-side to show you how things have developed after 6 years of blogging…Picture on the right, currently, picture on the left circa 2014 on my iphone3.

And a note from my original 2014 post “it’s even better the next day.” Which 5 years later I can still attest to.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Read, eat, workout, work, more work, staycation post-vacation, and the first of the Halloween celebrations. Keep reading if you want the details of my lazy recap sentence.

-My current lineup. Boom Town, Hey Ladies, and Bread & Wine (for the second time). I’m struggling to get through Boom Town and Hey Ladies so I added in one of my faves to help re-inspire my reading.
-This healthy little tostada stack was actually the victim of a clean out the fridge meal. Crisp 2 Siete tortillas in a little coconut oil. Top each with smashed black beans and some almond milk cheese. Stack the two tortillas and heat in the oven to melt the cheese. Top with tomato, chopped bell pepper, some lettuce, more cheese and salsa.
-After work walk with my best girl!
-One of my favorite events of the year is the chili cook-off that happens downtown OKC every year. Haggled The Jones Assembly into participating this year. We didn’t take a win, but getting to sample multiple chilis for lunch was worth it!
-Checked-in to the Avid and immediately checked out the snack selection. Props to Avid for the great snack options and complimentary chocolate bar.
-Fun little staycation Friday night. More on this coming later this week.
-French toast!
-A batch of Pumpkin Bread to kick off the holiday baking season.

Annie

Web bite: Need a last minute Halloween costume idea? Here’s three!

Bites of My Life

Currently sitting on the floor of my living with a tissue stuffed in each nostril (TMI?) watching the new episode of KUWTK. Christmas cold you are not invited and can leave now. My head is in a fog so enough of this, keep scrolling for more interesting life happenings!

-Pressed stop instead of snooze on my alarm for sister's early morning Barre3 class, but woke up late/just early enough to make it to Beyond pilates as self redemption. #mondays.
-Cherry Vanilla Almond shake to kick off the week. Frozen cherries, vanilla Arbonne protein, almond extract, ice and almond milk. 
-6:00 AM flow to celebrate my favorite studio's 6th year! Congrats Soul!
-Verde Turkey Chili on repeat last week. Loved seeing so many others doing the same. (here's looking at you Lexie, Madeline, Whitney and sis).
-Golden Milk and not pictured, copious amounts of chocolate chips (my current dessert of choice) were Wednesday's "bite while I watched" during Riverdale. Did you see last week's post??
-Too close for comfort one-on-one time with #GabetheBabe this weekend. 
-Yolk porn atop a smashed avo on rice cake for Saturday brekkie. 
-New yoga find this weekend. Come flow with me at 405 Yoga, it's the real deal! 
-Made Rachael's Good Eats raw chocolate bark to have as a dessert option this week instead of my current chocolate chip obsession. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Four blog posts in one week, who am I?? Gift guide, dinner recipe and cookie recipe all went live last week. Can you not agree that sometimes you get more done when you are busier? The rush of the holidays are real, but if that means being more active on the blog side so be it! Can't say four posts will get rolled out this week...

Feeling festive with all the Christmas decorations up, gift guide out, shopping (almost) done, cookies made etc! A festive weekend for the Sooners too, cheering on our team with my best friends in Dallas! 'Tis the season!

-The Jones Assembly decked their halls last week! Love having this festive place to work from.
-Apple nachos inspired by my insta girl crush @rachelsgoodeats.
-A few of my favorite things from my gift guide. Who else is a sucker for gift guides??
-Crock-Pot Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes was a recipe my mom would often make growing up and I've loved fixing it recently for an easy but nostalgic dinner. I used these mini purple sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's and loved them! 
-Last week's cookie recipe doubled as an OU game day treat and a festive Christmas cookie! 
-Went in, went out for a quick dinner on the road and Taylor's first In-N-Out experience! 
-Mimosas, coffee, Baileys and a Chick-Fil-A breakfast spread to get the game day started!
-12 big cheers for a winning weekend and being with my favorite crew.
-Verde Turkey Chili made whole 30 // sans beans, topped with just avo and plantain chips. 

Annie