Bites of My Life

Raise your hand if you overdosed on Velveeta queso this weekend? Hand raised! I had such a fun night (not) watching the Super Bowl yesterday, enjoying all of the calories and camaraderie that the big game brings. A really fun dinner with friends Friday kicked off the weekend and then did a lake day Saturday. I’ve been so energized by my weekends lately with unexpected fun plans, they have helped me get through the longer more boring workdays that this time of year seems to always bring.

Wishing everyone a great week and a cozy Valentine’s weekend. It seems that the whole country is dealing with cold weather this weekend so I know I plan on staying mostly in and relaxing. Keep scrolling for some Val or Galentine’s recipes and my favorite heart day playlist!

-Fancy Monday dinner with redfish over linguine with a lemon butter sauce. Cooked for me, not by me - a treat!
-I can’t get enough of my new frother. I’ve been making my Dandy Blend with frothed Nutpods twice a day since I got my frother.
-I’ve been a biscuit-making machine. These flaky homemade biscuits went live on Take A Bite last week. Make them for a special Valentine’s breakfast this weekend!
-A big a$$ salad with the leftovers after making this meal the night before. Pecans, apple, cabbage, shallot, apple cider vinegar, the works!
-Flowers and baguettes at my favorite neighborhood coffee shop made for a happy Friday morning.
-Fruit flavored Mentos immediately transport me back to the snack shack while swimming at the country club pool we grew up going to.
-Spent Saturday with a spritz on Eagle Mountain Lake! The best hour escape outside of Dallas.
-Bought this gluten-free mix to cut corners on price and prep for the Super Bowl. It will now be a more regular purchase. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, added 1 tsp. of ground coffee to the mix, and then put more chocolate chips and Maldon salt on top!
-My favorite Super Bowl contribution is always the pigs in a blanket! I use this very easy recipe but then brush with melted butter, sprinkle with Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and serve with spicy brown mustard.

Annie

Love bites: Made this playlist in 2013 and have been adding to it every year.
Love bites pt. 2: Heart-shaped homemade Oreos are sure to win over anyone special in your life!

Bites of My Life

February, hey how are you? Groundhog, how are you? Heard spring is coming sooner rather than later (praise be). It was 78 in Dallas yesterday, so it seems like the groundhog told mother nature to get busy fast. Keep reading for a snippet of last week, I’ll be over here re-watching the Google commercial and dancing in the mirror pretending I’m J Lo.

-I’ve been using Love Wellness’ Good Girl Probiotic since the start of the year. I used to use Arbonne’s digestion plus and have for the past two years. But kind of like face wash, I’m starting to think probiotics are something you need to switch up every now and then.
-Red lentil pasta with store-bought sauce, wilted spinach and dairy-free mozzarella aka my way of eating pasta every day and feeling great about it.
-The reason why I’m smiling so big coming to my Instagram stories later today.
-My coffee order as of late: americano either decaf or regular with steamed almond milk and cinnamon and nutmeg on top. Americanos are one of the cheapest things you can get at a coffee shop and the steamed almond milk makes it feel like a latte.
-This sweater is 4 years old and I chose this past week to wear it errrr 3 times in a row. When it’s good, it’s good.
-SOUP DUMPS!! But more importantly dinner with two people I LOVE at a restaurant I LOVE! If you haven’t been to Royal China, well you know what to do.
-Desert Racer lived up to the hype. The elote mi oh my! And the pork shoulder tots, yup. Perfect for any day, but especially after Saturday’s birthday bar crawl for a new friend!
-This week’s TJ’s salad kit taste testing. A blog post review to come!
-Super bowl // super brisket tacos!!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Food coma, weekend coma, busy week, groundhog saw his shadow, early spring. That is my jumble of thoughts looking back on last week as I’m trying to keep my eyes open while finishing this post, so goodnight.

-While Molly was in town the weekend before we swapped some recent favorite dinner dished. Molly has been cooking up a storm up in Chapel Hill (check out their Dunc Dins in her saved highlight), and suggested I try these asian spaghetti squash noodles. Tried them, loved them, can’t wait to make again.
-A few months ago i read an article on how we’ve all been cooking spaghetti squash the wrong way. To cut down on cook time and to ensure longer spaghetti like strands, cut your squash into 1 inch rings. scoop out the center of each ring, then drizzle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 for 20 to 30 minutes. It’s the best way, y’all.
-Tried the brandy ice at The Drake on Friday. While it struck a cord, Junior’s still takes first place in my book. Also, while I have you, are Brandy Ice’s just an Oklahoma City thing or do you indulge in your neck of the woods too? Please comment below.
-Came for the croissants, stayed for the cinnamon buns! if you haven’t take a Sur la Table cooking class, you should. And may I suggest starting with the Saturday morning croissant class. We loved it! (not pictured, the multiple attempts to recreate the scene from It’s Complicated).
-Post brats, beer and pretzels! A very happy German 30th to Uncle Joe!
-I know Kerrygold is the “it” butter, but I’m tend to lend toward the cheaper ingredients when baking. However, after the instructor from our croissant class said she only uses Kerrygold when baking, I got intrigued. She said if she was going to take the time to make a baked good, she might as well use the best ingredients she could. So, I upped my Perfect CCC recipe again by using the butter of all butter. And I must say it made a difference.
-Homemade French Onion Dip a la (my favorite) Bon Appetit. I posted the recipe in the caption of this post, but I also polled everyone on insta all to see if you preferred getting the recipe from instagram or on the blog or both. 80% said instagram caption, 20% blog and a few DM’d me saying both. What do you prefer?
-”Best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had.” Proud to share this quote from a friend who told me this after having a Perfect CCC at our Super Bowl Party.
-I still have a stomach ache from all of this.

Annie

Streaming Bite: The past two weeks I’ve been all caught up in the hooplah of the Fyre festival documentaries #TeamHulu, but I started You last night and the fist episode has me hooked. Anyone else watching?

Bites of My Life

Raise your hand if you woke up today with a food hangover? Hand raised. Too much seven layer dip, pigs in a blanket, smoked chicken and chips on chips on chips to count. Did you know that Americans eat more on the super bowl than on Thanksgiving? I'm team Thanksgiving, but the Super Bowl is a pretty great excuse to gorge yourself and blame it on the game day! On today's agenda is a hot yoga class thanks to StudioHop and a big smoothie to help the detox process.

-Acai smoothie inspired by Bon Appetit editor's everyday breakfast. 
-The gym I've been going to since last July closed it's doors on Tuesday. Crazy to think how many friends and memories I made at a gym. It will be missed!
-We took one last rock wall climb before the doors officially locked.
-A sweet take on sweet potato toast with AB, banana and chia seeds. Keep reading to see my savory version.
-Can't quite eating this salad. I've named it best in the city.
-A view through my lens of The Jones Assembly. 
-Did you read my review on The Pritchard last week? I want this meal all over.
-Friday happy hour with mom at En Croute. This drink-->a dark and stormy with pineapple juice, delicious!!
-My savory take on sweet potato toast was smashed avocado and a perfect fried egg.
-Saturday night was hole in the wall indian food and my first time seeing Julie & Julia. Not sure what took me so long to watch, I was obsessed. 
-Made these cuties for our Super Bowl party using What's Gaby Cookin's recipe.
-StudioHop has officially launched in OKC! Start your membership here!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Hello food coma. Holy cow there is still so much spinach artichoke, queso, mexican sweat (don't ask) and buffalo chicken dip just chilling in my tummy post Super Bowl snacking. Oh and cookie butter popcorn, chocolate chip cookies and a Hickory Farms meat and cheese board. Do I regret it? no. Does my body regret it? yes. But one can never regret an event where food is the MVP. 

Last week was nice. An easy ease into a new month. New recipes got posted, a new grocery store in the neighborhood opened (I'm a sucker for a good grocery store) and Mr. Groudhog didn't see his shadow, so I'm happily looking forward to spring coming a bit sooner. 

-I love putting warm oatmeal in an almost empty jar of AB, but this plastic Barney Butter container couldn't quite handle the heat.
-Loving power balls for a post-early morning workout snack before I'm ready for breakfast. Posted the whole recipe for these Pecan Spice Power Balls on instagram.
-An epic clean out the fridge meal. Grated sweet potatoes hash with baked eggs and avo.
-CCC recipe round 4!
-Cookie Butter Popcorn is my everything right now. It was a hit at my Super Bowl Party, but is also perfect for any holiday just switch up the sprinkles.
-Can't wait to try the Blue Hill beet yogurt I brought home from Uptown Grocery. Most turned their nose, but I'm all about the weird flavors. Sweet potato and butternut squash sound so good too, but I think I'll pass on tomato and parsnip.
-Weekend breakfasts are a little unbeatable. AB toast with bluebs and hemp hearts with a soft boiled egg that turned out hard boiled.
-Crock pot spinach and artichoke dip was my contribution to the Super Bowl feast. 
-Stay tuned for a second post coming later today. I have a special surprise with this one you won't want to miss. 

Annie