Bites of My Life

Back from a perfect girls trip to California and I’m already counting down until I go back. 5 months to be exact, in case you were wondering. No birthday or bachelorette to celebrate just a good ole girls trip.

“I should move here.” Something I say after just about every trip I go on, my dad says it too me to. I did it once, hi DC! I had only been to southern California one other time, both times now to Newport Beach. Looks like NP is trying to show off for me…

-Cold temps are here in OKC! My last week of the “fall reset” I was participating in called for pumpkin overnight oats, but I had to opt for warm pumpkin oats over cold with the cooler temperatures. I did low sugar maple instant oatmeal with a spoonful of pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and chia seeds mixed in.
-INSANE matcha from the new Woodshed Tea that just opened in the city. Order it with oat milk and ask for a sample of their oat milk matcha cold brew. Equally insane.
-Headed to sunny southern California for a long weekend girls trip. Highlight of the trip was seeing my long lost bestie gal that left me for LA in June.
-First morning in Newport had to be fueled properly. The Bueno Bowl from Alta Coffee was muy delicioso!
-Boat, drink, eat repeat. The outline for our southern California girls trip!
-Cheese from a tub still deserves to be styled.
-Scout spotted in Newport! My favorite brand making an appearance on our trip to keep our boat ride drinks cold and cool in style. I quickly jumped on this photo opp!
-Sunset rooftop drinks at Lido House with a RHOC celeb sighting. Trip accomplished.
-Sweet finish to a super sweet trip!

Annie

I’m working on some travel posts recapping my recent trips. Until then, let’s time travel to my visit to Newport Beach two years ago.

Recipe Dump

Today I'm dumping five new recipes on you guys. Yes, five recipes, in one post. I love to come home after work and unwind by getting dinner together then plopping down on the couch to watch Scandal or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives #guiltypleasures.

I've been cooking up some good stuff, but nothing that has quite formulated itself into a recipe post. Today is sort of a cheated recipe post. I'm sharing some great meals, but all recipes I've grabbed from other food bloggers of just thrown together. If you follow me on Instagram you'll recognize these meals. From shrimp stir fry to oatmeal, the gangs all here. Scroll through for five recipes, with links, notes and how-to's, to get a few great meal ideas!

Harvest Produce Salad with Sriracha Cider Dressing recipe via Love and Lemons

Changes I made: I did not roast the apple. These seemed strange to me and I like the crisp crunch of a fresh apple. I also used frozen corn and just roasted it on the same pan as the tomatoes and potatoes for the last 10 minutes. Instead of chipotle paste I used sriracha. I also used blue cheese instead of feta. 

Middle Eastern Chicken recipe via Camille Styles

Changes I made: I used fresh mint in the marinade instead of dried. I did not skewer the chicken, I cut it into small pieces and then grilled it. I added some cherry tomatoes to the dish by roasting with olive oil, salt and pepper at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I also made white basmati rice and added turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and a little butter to serve the chicken and tomatoes on. Lastly, I topped the whole thing with a little garlic yogurt and lemon sauce I made and more fresh mint!

Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry recipe via  Damn Delicious

Changes I made: I used tamari instead of soy sauce and didn't add oyster sauce, only because I didn't have any. I also almost ate the whole pan in one sitting, the recipe didn't say to do that...

Pumpkin Oatmeal recipe via Purely Elizabeth

Changes I made: I used water instead of milk and added in some nutmeg as well!

Acai Bowl recipe via me

Ingredients:
1  Sambazon frozen acai pack (Oklahomies you can find these at Sprouts)
1/2 cup frozen berries
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 to 1 cup almond milk or coconut water
toppings - granola, more fruit, cocoa nibs, coconut, gogi berries, hemp seeds etc.

Directions:
Starting with a half cup of liquid, blend everything in a blender. Add more liquid if needed but you want it to be thick! Pour into a bowl and load on the toppings. Extra granola recommended. 

Molly said it best yesterday when she described this stage of life as a wonderful whirlwind. Their are new adventures, new challenges and new ways to manage time. Just because I don't have the same amount of time to put together a legit recipe post doesn't mean I can't share some wonderful bites from this wonderful whirlwind!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Jeans have replaced shorts, booties have replaced sandals, and oatmeal has replaced yogurt. Not to leave out the copious amounts of coffee and tea to keep me warm and the need to always bring a jacket. Cooler temps are here and I hope to stay. You can never be too sure though with our crazy Oklahoma weather.  

Just a few days of work for me this week because Friday I am Dallas bound for the annual Red River Shootout. A reunion with friends, an OU domination over Texas (fingers crossed) and I finally get to see blogger bestie Molly again. Let's hurry up week!

-A more fall approach to my acai bowl with coconut, seeds and granola.
-Monday lunch date with mom.
-I love having the day off and getting to use that time to put a little more thought into dinner. Yogurt marinated chicken with roasted tomatoes over tumeric rice will hopefully get a recipe post soon.
-Step by step pumpkin oatmeal on snapchat! Follow me to see what I make next (annietucker93).
-Shrimp and broccoli stir fry is hopefully getting a recipe post soon too! This curbs any Chinese take out craving.
-Put a spin on my Fig and Almond Butter Smoothie by adding in and topping with blueberries. I've been adding blueberries to everything these days. 
-My work schedule gives me a little more time in the morning on some days. I love getting to start my day with a cup of coffee walking through surrounding neighborhoods, scoping out future dream houses and getting some fresh air. 
-Oatmeal has officially replaced smoothies and yogurt. 
-Played tourist in my own town Sunday.
-Whole Foods and their samples get me every time, but all pumpkin themed samples?? Pumpkin smoked salmon, pumpkin spinach salad, pumpkin spiced naan etc. 
-All creds go to roomie Lindz for this one, but our family dinner appetizer was a hit! Spicy guacamole, blue cheese and roasted chili cashews. 
-Dad texted us last week and said "I need to smoke something." Food that is. Smoked chicken, amazing ribs, cheese grits, and coleslaw left me in yet another Tucker food coma. 

Annie

Low Labor Breakfast

Happy Labor Day everyone! Since it's still the weekend bites will be waiting until tomorrow. In the meantime, it was too appropriate not to share this "low labor" breakfast recipe with you on this splendid Labor Day! Some call them overnight oats, I call it sleeping in oatmeal, which I hope you all did this morning.  I didn't, but I haven't slept in a day in my life. #TeamEarlyRisers. 

I love how perfect overnight oats are for on-the-go breakfasts. Make them the night before and you get an extra 10 minutes in the morning. The mornings I have to get to work early, I don't like to eat breakfast right away. This is the perfect thing to take to work, leave in the fridge while I catch up on emails, then pull out about an hour later!

I've tried making overnight oats a handful of times and every time I wonder how any one can really enjoy them. They always turn out tasting like soggy, no flavor oatmeal. Uhh gross. Most recipes have a laundry list of ingredients like oats, milk, yogurt, a mashed banana, flax seed yadi dadi da. For yours and my enjoyment, I give you easy, perfect, flavorful overnight oats. 

I use a mixture of almond milk and water. I think this is because I typically only make oatmeal with water, but a little bit of milk is needed to get the right texture, so the combo it is. I also add in a small spoonful of almond butter to help thicken it up and make them extra creamy. I do this in my regular oatmeal and it's the ultimate addition.

Overnight Oats:
serves 1

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Purely Elizabeth original ancient grain oats
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. almond butter (optional)
splash of vanilla extract
shake of cinnamon
fruit for topping

Directions:
In an 8 oz size mason jar, combine oats, almond milk, water, almond butter, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Screw on the lid and let it sleep overnight in the fridge. The next morning, give it a good stir and top with fruit like blueberries, raspberries or sliced peaches!

I'm a big oatmeal person but I usually only eat it in cold weather months. Recently, I've been having a big oatmeal craving. I love how overnight oats are essentially the summer version of oatmeal! Thick and creamy like oatmeal, but cold and refreshing enough for summer. I guess refreshing is kind of a weird word to describe oatmeal, but they truly are so just go with it.

Annie

White Chocolate Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Could there be more ingredients in the title of these cookies? Despite the laundry list name, these cookies are good. They are also made with coconut oil, so they're like, healthy. So, like, have 5 and don't feel bad. 

Once you create the dough it's time to add the blueberries. The recipe uses frozen blueberries which I just so happened to have in the freezer. Berries in my smoothies and berries in my cookies:)

Each cookie gets two blueberries. Then the messy task of rolling the dough back up to hide the berries begins. Picture me with dough covering my fingers, holding a ball of cookie dough in one hand, and trying to juggle taking a picture with the other. My phone had a nice layer of oatmeal dough all over it after that. 

White Chocolate Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies recipe via Ambitious Kitchen
yields 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded coconut flakes
2.5 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
frozen organic blueberries (you'll need 2 blueberries per cookie, so around 40-50 blueberries

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

In large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In bowl of an electric mixer beat together melted coconut oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth.

Stir in flour & oat mixture to the wet ingredients; mixing until well combined. Slowly fold in coconut and white chocolate chunks. 

Use a cookie scoop to gather a large rounded tablespoon of dough. Flatten the dough in the palm of your hand and add two blueberries on top, roll dough back into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with each dough ball then place cookies on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10-13 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes on baking sheet until the cookies firm up a bit. Transfer to a wire rack to allow cookies to cool completely. 

I was making these for my great-grand littles (sorority terms if you weren't aware, I'm not actually a grandma) for their initiation week, but I snatched one off the pan real quick before I packaged them up. With all the snatching and quick moves I lost control of my cookie when I went to dump it in my milk, and ker-plump...floating cookie in a mug full of soy milk. I reached in, snapped a pic of the saved cookie (see first picture), then shoved the whole thing in my mouth. Happy Tuesday!

Annie