Bites of My Life

In the midst of crazy plans and travel and feeling a bit all over the place, I’m starting Whole30 today. September is a randomly big month for Whole30. I have a post about it here. I’m starting a week early because I really just can’t wait to get started. It’s a personal preference, but I never feel better than when I commit to Whole30. My schedule is calming down a bit the next few weeks, and no time like the present to try and reign it in and get a little healthier. Does anyone else feel a little bleh after the summer? I’m loving the back to school back to schedules and routine energy, so I’m channeling that.

Outside of Whole30, last week looked like this: celebrating a best friend about to leave us in Dallas, getting back to cooking, very sad news of a friend from college passing after a long battle with cancer, busy work days, a quiiiiick trip back to OKC, more weekend celebrations, and sleeping like a darn rock last night after it all.

-Jazz night and martinis to kick off Olivia’s Dallas Farewell Tour.
-NYT Cooking never fails. This Ginger and Dill Salmon with Citrus Salad really turned a bad day around.
-Love getting to see my friend and hairdresser Nick. He brings good conversation and good hair. I got a toner this time in between highlights. I can luckily get away with only highlighting my hair 2 times a year.
-Pulled into OKC for a short stay, and pregamed dinner with cocktails by dad and a 10-minute Obé abs class. Chaotic energy at its finest.
-The abs class was washed away with this amazing peach tart from Frida.
-Back to back weekends for Anna! Her big day is officially a month away!
-Can’t wait to wear these Zara semi-flare jeans all fall. I wore them out Saturday, but oh buddy, I cannot with jeans until it’s at least 75 degrees outside.
-This little one kept me out so late, but worth every hour to celebrate some of her “lasts” in Dallas before she moves to Austin.
-A perfect Dallas Sunday is spent at Katy Trail Ice House in the afternoon.

Annie

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Avocado and Pistachios

I originally published this recipe in May of 2014. I can honestly say I have never made it again until now. It’s a little hidden gem hiding in the TAB archives and I’m excited to bring it back to life. The recipe has been slightly updated along with the photos and post.

An excerpt from the original post 5/16/14:

Cooking for my parents is one of my favorite things to do! The one night I was gone this week I think my parents went into panic mode and didn't know what to do without me cooking dinner. They had to resort to take-out when their "personal chef" was gone. 

Mom, Dad, looks like 2014 is looking a little like 2020 during quarantine. Would you agree? At this time in May ‘14 I had just finished my junior year of college and was home for a couple of weeks before moving to Washington D.C. for my summer internship with Scout. My parents had just moved into a new house and I was obsessed with cooking in their kitchen. Little has changed, their kitchen is still my favorite place to cook.

How cool that recipes can instantly take you back to a certain time of life. Since I obsessively take photos of almost everything that goes into my mouth, I probably remember meals more than others. But I’m sure some of you can agree that a certain recipe can instantly have you travel back in time.

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Avocado and Pistachios
serves 2 as an entree salad, and 4-5 as a side

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. brussels sprouts
1 small red onion or ½ of one large onion, thinly sliced
½ cup unsalted pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped
1 avocado, cubed
¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro
juice of one lime
salt and pepper

Directions:
Trim the ends off the Brussels sprouts and thinly slice, so they look shaved. Cut the ends off of red onion and thinly slice into rings. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the Brussels sprouts and onion to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for 4-5 minutes until both are tender.

Stir in the pistachios and lime juice, and cook for 2 more minutes until the Brussels are lightly browned, the onions are starting to cook down and all the flavors are combined. Remove from heat and gently stir in the avocado and cilantro. Serve warm!

Serve this as a side dish next to fish or even with barbecue. It’s also great as a hearty lunch salad and perfect enjoyed in spring and summer!

Annie

How to Stock Your Kitchen

I had someone message me last week on Instagram asking for a quick list of pantry baking essentials they could pick up to easily bake a majority of my recipes. I haven’t felt the need to post a list like that on the blog, for it felt a little redundant for what you could find on Google (fun fact: I Google everything). However, after opening up the idea to y’all for writing this style of post, I got an overwhelming, YES, do it, please!! (thank you). So, here we are.

I expanded from just the pantry to my top kitchen essentials. I broke it up into three categories, listing out 10 staples when it comes to baking, cooking, and kitchen gadgets. Writing this post was actually really fun, so I hope you enjoy!

photo by KGC photography

Baking:

1. All-Purpose Flour. However, if you are Gluten-Free, this is my favorite brand!

2. Granulated Sugar

3. Brown Sugar. Please do not buy at Trader Joe’s. While I love TJ’s, their organic brown sugar isn’t great for my recipes. I prefer C&H. This goes for granulated sugar as well.

4. Vanilla Extract

5. Baking Powder

6. Baking Soda

7. Cinnamon

8. Chocolate Chips

9. Morton Salt

10. Maldon Salt. A must for Perfect CCC’s and how I finish almost every dish I bake. You can buy on Amazon, but I’ve also found it at Whole Foods, Sprouts and Central Market.

Cooking:

1. Olive Oil. I don’t worry about anything too fancy, I love Trader Joe’s selection of well-priced oils.

2. Coconut Oil

3. Liquid or Coconut Aminos

4. Peppercorns with a grinder. Please grind your own pepper, it makes all the difference.

5. Red Pepper Flakes

6. Ground Turmeric

7. Quinoa or Brown Rice

8. Dried Pasta. I like red lentil or chickpea pasta.

9. Chickpeas

10. Marinara Sauce

BONUS!! Gadgets and appliances:
(shop the items below)

1. Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. The holy grail. And NO, you don’t have to wait to get engaged and put this on your register to buy one :) I bought mine in honor of my grandmother after she passed back in 2013. And no, you don’t have to get a gender-neutral color. Think pink folks!

2. Cookie Scoop. I like 1.5-2 tablespoon size, and prefer one with a rubber grip.

3. 10-Set Glass Mixing Bowls. If someone has this on their wedding registry, it is my go-to gift to buy. I use these bowls on the daily and they are so well priced.

4. Wooden Spoon. Mine are so old, but I’m thinking I need to get this one while it’s on sale for $2!

5. Spoonula. Scrape and spoon! This set allows you to buy a whole spatula set or the spoonula on its own.

6. Mini Spatula. These are used on a daily basis in my kitchen. Perfect for scraping smoothies out of the blender, making eggs or stirring around fried rice!

7. Saute pans. I use this 8” and 10” non-toxic set. A 12” size is good to have if serving more than 1-2 people.

8. Nonstick Cookie Sheet. What I bake all cookies on. This 3-piece set that includes a cooling rack is on sale right now!

9. Nonstick Sheet Pan. Also known as a rating pan or jelly roll pan. This style is used for my Banana Sheet Cake and all roasted veggies. quick tip: never use this style of pan for cookies, the raised sides will alter the baking.

10. Parchment Paper. Love this for lining baking sheets compared to using cooking spray.

I could go on and on with this list of pantry staples and favorite gadgets! We didn’t even get to the fridge or freezer. Although, these were the first 10 that came to mind in each section, which means they must be my go-tos. Of course, if you have any questions or want to know my extended list feel free to DM me on Instagram or email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com!

Annie

Bites of My Life

As we enter week 4 of social distancing, it’s feeing more and more normal. However I think this upcoming weekend is going to be hard and one of the hardest for a lot of people. With Easter this coming Sunday, but everyone still having to shelter in place, it’s going to look different. Some traditions will have to be set to the side. This is something I hate to see, but have grown to adapt to and accept change better as I’ve gotten older. There is so much change happening right now, and I hope and pray you are all hanging in there!

I’m working on an Easter baking blog post that I hope to get up tomorrow. If you can’t be with loved ones, maybe you plan a facetime baking date? Lemon loaf baked with your family or friends with the help of technology? That’s a new tradition I can get behind!

-Finally made #thestew. I loved it, but this recipe already had my name written all over it before I even cooked it. Turmeric, coconut milk, chickpeas, sold.
-The worst part of quarantining in OKC is that my little nieces are down the street and I can’t play with them. Got to say hi from 6 feet away though!
-Finally tried my hand at Dalgona/Whipped coffee! Have you seen this social media sensation? I’m still tweaking my recipe but shared my tips on IG highlights.
-Best friend zoom turned murder mystery. Oh and I was the one who got murdered….
-Did you see my April Fool’s post?
-Not that we are snobs, but we are kind of food snobs. We felt out of character eating frozen pizza, but not for one second did we think it wasn’t delicious. Props to my dad for stocking the freezer with TJ’s finest.
-Experimenting with a little something that involves these butterfly prints!
-Since everyone is breaking bread during quarantine, I couldn’t be left out! Used this recipe and it turned out great!
-Started my Friday baking bread, ended my Friday baking Perfect CCCs on Facebook Live!
-And then really topped off the day with this broccoli bolognese which I highly recommend.
-Just me, Gabe and my ankle weights for a Saturday stroll.
-Week 3 of quarantine IG Live’s, this week making my Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars! Full video is saved on instagram.

Annie

Meals of Corona: What I've Been Eating, Making and Plan To Eat/Make

A positive of self-distancing is seeing all the fun things people are baking and cooking during the quarantine. This time has brought on a lot of anxiety and uncertainty for people. I know cooking and baking can be scary for some, but I also know I’m not alone when I say that cooking and baking is a stress release. Even if you aren’t the best cook or baker, I’ve seen so many people via social media, getting out of their comfort zone and getting into the kitchen. So if you are stress-baking or cooking like me, I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve been making and plan to make!

Perfect CCCs: This is a no brainer and maybe obnoxious by this point if you follow me on social media. On Sunday, I filmed an Instagram Live making my coveted cookies and it was the most fun I’ve had of all quarantine. You can watch the live recording on my IGTV!

The Cookies: This Alison Roman recipe went viral on the internet over a year ago, so good chance you’ve seen these before. However, I never got around to making them. I feel accomplished after checking these off my baking to-do list. I even have another Alison Roman recipe planned for #coronoacooking.

Avocado Toast: Lot’s of avocado toast. I’ve been on a big avo toast kick in 2020 and corona hasn’t stopped that. When I was packing to come home for a friend’s wedding shower before all this happened, I knew I would likely be home a few extra days. Along with my dress for the shower and some lounge clothes, my bag of Ezekiel 7 Grain Bread also got packed to come home. Avo toast for breakfast and lunch have been on rotation. I top mine with turmeric, a pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper. A drizzle of olive oil when I feel fancy.

Non-Dairy Yogurt: It’s been a little luxurious quarantining at my parents. Access to their fridge and groceries is a blessing I’m not blind too. They always have Whole Foods granola stocked, so I equally stocked up on non-dairy yogurt to enjoy with it. I love Lava and Siggi’s new coconut yogurt!

Loaded Salads: I ate this salad everyday for my WFH lunch last week. Prepped chicken, avocado and pickled red onions made for a filling and colorful lunch in the midst of scary, sad, confusing coronoa work from home reality. Grab some frozen chicken breasts and grill or cook in a skillet 2-3 of them to have in your fridge. If you can score a rotisserie chicken at the store, that would be something great to have in your fridge. Slice up a red onion to make quick pickled red onions (the key for upping any dish), I then added celery, avocado over greens and drizzled with just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Quarantini: While virtual happy hours are becoming more frequent and a drink to end the day is becoming the norm to warm off the stress of the situation, I bring you my under 70 calorie “quarantini.” It’s essentially a Ranch Water, but using La Croix instead of Topo Chico.

1-2 oz of Casamigos Tequila
A hefty slash of lime juice (I like my drinks really limey)
1/2 of a Cherry Lime La Croix (my favorite flavor)
ice

Wannabe Bibimbap Bowls: I love bibimbap and when Alex posted these easy bowls she made from just some ground beef, I quickly made plans to make them. The store was out of kimchi so I got this pickled cauliflower from the olive bar. I did cauli rice and made jasmine rice for my parents, the full recipe is posted in her feed!

What Is on My Covid Cooking List:
No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
The Stew
2-Ingredient Shakshuka
Lemon Loaf (so good for Easter)
Teddy Bear Snickerdoodles
Basically anything by Half Baked Harvest
A killer pasta, we have some fettuccine ready to be used, any recipe suggestions?
An epic cheese board for dinner (because there are no rules in quarantine)

I had way too much fun filming an IG Live making my Perfect CCC’s, I asked what I should make on IG Live next. Here are a few follower requested recipes I wanted to share if I don’t get to filming them live!
Zucchini Bread
Banana Bread
Blueberry and Banana Streusel Muffins
Banana Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Sugar Cookie Pizza with Strawberry Icing
Brownies
Homemade Oreos
Campfire Cookies

Happy corona cooking!
Annie