Bites of My Life

I’m full on family and an unhealthy amount of potato chips. But might I say it was just what the doctor ordered. How great has this year been that our holidays have been able to return to normal? Lake time, cookouts, s’mores (and s’more cookies), and fireworks! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

I’m equally thankful that this is a short week. Just a few action-packed work days and then I’m headed to OKC for a full week of major Tucker hangs!

-I love to order the California Turkey or Chicken Salad sandwiches “protein style” at Bird Bakery. I recreated the Cali Turkey last week and it was a great weekday lunch. Turkey meat, red onion, tomatoes, avocado, and gluten-free crackers over arugula. I was missing the raspberry chipotle mayo, but made a little mustard dressing to pour over it all.
-After being damaged in the 2019 Dallas tornado, the Preston Royal Central Market reopened last week. A trip to see the new store doubled as a birthday lunch date for my friend Ellie!
-Whizzed up some frozen banana and frozen pineapple in my mini food processor for a crazy good little ice cream situation. It couldn’t have been easier!
-Have you seen the wave of popularity Crumbl Cookie has received from Tik Tok? Whoever their marketing director is must to be laughing all the way to the bank. The lines at some Crumbl locations are wrapped around the building. The flavors rotate weekly and I couldn’t resist treating myself to the fan-favorite Cornbread Cookie that was available last week.
-A Sonic Happy Hour Route 44 water with mango and blackberry has been a mid-afternoon mood lately! It tastes like a snow cone!
-It ain’t a summer holiday without my S’more Cookies. I even made a Tik Tok how-to because I was feeling sassy.
-Lake time with Baby Joe! My honorary nephew looks more like my child than his parents!
-Big holiday people for these two littles who are proud to be Americans!
-Seriously good 4th of July eats.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Last week was a run of the mill week with some highlights like game night (any Rummikub fans out there?), a visit from my London living college bestie, and then a Saturday spent at a lake nearby with some of my favorite Dallas friends! We came back from the lake Sunday morning and I hopped in the car to drive up to OKC to surprise my dad for Father’s Day and his birthday today!

-Perfecting my chia seed pudding recipe one breakfast at a time!
-After having a similar wrap from a Dallas favorite for lunch Sunday, I went to the store and proceeded to recreate it every day for lunch. There is something so satisfying about the taste of sandwich ingredients but without the gluten!
-3pm hits and the GG crackers go into the oven for my daily snack. I’ve been doing a few GG pizzas and one GG with AB and raspberries for dessert. If you are like what the heck are GGs and what are you talking about, read this.
-Grass-fed beef, broccoli, mushrooms, and Asian seasonings made up this stir-fry on a whim!
-My little Londoner was in town (Fort Worth), so a visit was in order. Catching up with Megan and her family is always the best. Lots of white wine and girl talk.
-By Friday, my lettuce wrap ingredients were on the outs, so I used some leftover small lettuce leaves to fill with salami, cashew cheese, mustard, pickles and microgreens. Odd but it worked.
-Cheeseboard lakeside!
-Snuck out of Dallas for the day, for tons of sun, food, and rounds of Code Names!
-When you forget Prosecco, add tequila to your Aperol and call it a Lakeside Spritz.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Things are picking up, things are feeling normal. I’m home from a bachelorette party for a wedding that will happen in less than a month. Something that seemed unattainable a couple of months ago. More restaurants are opening up, more people are out and it feels good.

-Golden Ratio sent me some of their coffee bags to try and I cannot get enough. It brews like tea and has this really smooth taste. They launch June 30th so keep an eye out.
-Started Jennie Allen’s ‘Get Out of Your Head’ with two of my best friends in Dallas. We are working through her online study of the book and it’s been the highlight of my week since we started.
-Did you catch last week’s recipe post? This salad is truly everything.
-These funfetti blondies by Elisabeth and Butter were a HIT on the bachelorette trip. I used GF flour and they came out great.
-Packed up my new Stoney Clover makeup bag for the weekend trip and had to snap a pic of how cute it was.
-A full weekend celebrating the best girl in the world. SB’s been my bestie since 1st grade and gets married in less than a month!
-Pretty epic lake cheese board if I do say so myself. Props to me and my cheesy sous chef Claire! Everything was surprisingly from Costco!
-Golden hour on the lake >>
-Greens and veg post chips, chips, and more chips.

Bites of My Life

Memorial Day behind us and it’s unofficially officially summer! After a particularly fun week, I headed up to Grand Lake for one of my favorite weekends. A group of some of my best college friends have been hitting the lake for MDW for 4 years now and have deemed it “Lake Ratz.” We joke about how we will be going years from now even if babies are in tow. Since year one we’ve had a wedding and two on the way for members of the group. It’s evolved, yet remained the same. Each year the house gets a little bigger and nicer, we’ve classed up the weekend menu a bit adding smoked pork shoulder in the the mix with our ground beef tacos and burgers. Don’t let me fool you though, it’s pretty easy to revert back to being 22 when you’re at the lake with your college besties!

-Spotted this skirt and had to have it. It was double my normal size but I bought it and belted it with a thick brown belt. Long dresses (like this one) and skirts are all I want to wear right now to keep things breezy for these Dallas temps, yet warm when inside and the AC is blasting.
-Tini Tuesday nourishment in the form of a charcuterie board and this Strawberry Quinoa Salad. I added tomatoes and subbed mozzarella pearls for burrata.
-However, the Mary Martini was the star of #tinituesday. Did you catch last week’s post when my friend Mary guest blogged sharing her new go-to cocktail recipe?
-A batch and a half of Perfect CCC’s to take with me to the lake! I 1 and a 1/2 the recipe and scooped them a little smaller to end up with exactly 60 cookies.
-Pizza on the dock to commence Memorial Day weekend at the lake!
-My birthday has fallen on MDW the past few years, and I love celebrating over the weekend with friends. My birthday is actually tomorrow, but I was still surprised with a cake and Happy Birthday over the speakers on the deck to celebrate a few days early!
-Golden hour with girls of Lake Ratz.
-Closing time feat. this perfect s’more.
-Ended the weekend with a bang being asked to be a bridesmaid in my bestie Jordan’s wedding next spring!

Annie

Song of the week: Thief by Ookay

Bites of My Life

AUUUGGGUUUSSSTTT HOW? July you speed demon! Anyway, I’m fine with it, I guess…Perks of adult life is not having the return of the school year looming over you.

This past week was a standard week. Just working in anticipation of the first annual BBR (big blue reunion) with my college besties at Lake LBJ! It was a perfect weekend of junk food, time on the lake, girl talk, catching up and just getting to all be back together now that we are strewn across Oklahoma and Texas. The weekend came and went wayyyy to soon.

-With a lake trip in sight, Perfect CCCs and Banana Bread were my contributions. TBH I forget how good my banana bread is until I make it. It seriously is the best! I love making two loaves and freezing one for a rainy day.
-A very Dallas night out at the swanky Park House deserved to be documented. However their no social media ruled, resulted in a shameless bathroom selfie.
-Easily my favorite easy week night meal.
-I loved opening my door and sharing my apartment tour last week. Thank you for the overwhelming response to my little oasis.
-Big ups to Marge for the custom visors. Sucker for a party favor!
-Love being with my health food freak Claire! She served us Siete chips, cashew queso and gluten free waffles all weekend!
-First and not last Big Blue Reunion! Got all of our college best friends together for a lake weekend to reunite.
-Sun setting on Lake LBJ!
-Got home from the lake and needed some serious greens after all the tortilla chips and White Claws consumed. I tried the Mint Chip smoothie from Brewed + Pressed and now I have to figure out how I can budget an $11 smoothie because that will not be the last time I order it.

Annie

Bite of toast: A bop for your first full week of August!