Bites of My Life

Crossing my finger's all these April showers bring May flowers. It rained almost everyday last week and it is forecasted to do the same this week. I love some good spring showers, but it's getting a little repetitive. So many good bites happened last week like trying new recipes, having mom in town for my last Mom's weekend, and Take a Bite turning 2!

It's been such a great last two years and I don't feel like I say thank you to y'all enough! TAB wouldn't be a thing if you didn't read it. Thank you for the encouraging comments, making my recipes, reading my posts and ignoring my grammar mistakes! Let's hope we can keep taking bites together for years to come!

-Fancied up yogurt.

-Cauliflower Crust Pizza with pesto, tomatoes, red onion, mozzarella and truffle oil. Make this recipe!

-Birthday toast because TAB turned 2 last week!

-Lentil tabouli-just simply lentils, parsley, red onion, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and s&p!

-Yoga in the park with my favorite yoga instructor!

-Bringing back my easy recipe for foil packet tilapia.

-Friday frito chili pie-cause it's the weekend!

-Loaded avocado toast with tahini, avo, onion and tomatoes.

-Pre-party cheese board.

-Best last Mom's weekend with Les!

-Sunday smoothie bowl, recipe coming this week!

-Shower numero dos for sister bride!

Annie

Cauliflower Cutie Pizza

My friend Kate and I have had plans to make cauliflower crust pizza for a long time now. We made it Tuesday night and it totally lived up to the hype. When I asked Kate for a creative name we could call our za, Cauliflower Cutie is what she came up with....not really what I was expecting but we'll go with it!

Going with the theme of a crust made from vegetables, we kept our pizza vegetarian. We did a little truffle oil, some of my homemade Kale Pesto, two kinds of tomatoes, pine nuts, red onion and more cheese, of course! I have to say the key was sprinkling a little extra grated parmesan over the crust before we cooked it! It worked as a binding agent and made it a little extra crusty. 

After taking a bite of our pizza, it was clear that it exceeded our expectations. We both agreed that we killed it. Bookmark this recipe and put it on your cooking list! 

Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe adapted from  The Lucky Penny
yields one 12 in. pizza

Ingredients:
1 small to medium size head of cauliflower-should yield 2 to 3 cups once processed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (plus more for topping)
1 egg

Toppings:
pesto, I used my homemade
Kale Pesto
truffle oil
cherry tomatoes
sundried tomatoes
pine nuts
red onion, thinly sliced
mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. 

Cut up your cauliflower into small floretsUsing a food processor, process the cauliflower to about the texture of powdery snow (I don't have a food processor and had to use my blender. I do not suggest this, it was a pain and took forever!). Dump the cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 4 minutes. Let the cauliflower sit until it's cool enough to handle. at this point, wrap it up in the dish towel and wring out as much liquid as you can. This will give you a chewy crust instead of a crumbled mess!

Dump the cauliflower back into the bowl and add the salt, basil, parm and mozzarella. Then add the egg and mix to combine, hands work best. Once mixed, dump on a greased cookie sheet or pizza stone and use your hands to form the crust. Pat it out flat until about 12 inches in circumference. Bake for 8-11 minutes or until lightly browned. We sprinkled a little extra parmesan before we baked the crust to make it extra crusty!

Once your crust is finished baking, drizzle a little truffle oil over it. Incredible flavor here people! Then top with a layer of pesto, cheese, tomatoes, onion, pine nuts and finish with more cheese. Put back in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until all the cheese is melted. 

Using a pizza cutter, slice up your za and serve it up! 

Annie

HBD TAB!

Take A Bite is two years old today! It was two years ago I decided to put all worries away and put dreams ahead to start my little baby. I cringe when I look back at some of my first posts. The layout, the topics, the pictures; sometimes I don't know what I was thinking. That being said I'm still so proud of those beginning posts for they were the foundation of what TAB is today.

Blog birthdays are fun, I feel like it's my own birthday! I'm celebrating this morning the same way I did last year with Birthday Toast for breakfast! It's a twist on Australian's Fairy Bread. Here Molly makes it three different ways. My favorite is Ezekiel bread, almond butter and sprinkles!

Make yourself a piece of piece of birthday toast and take a look back at Take A Bite with me...

My very  first post: yikes! Unsized pictures, Pinterest quotes (I hate quotes), it's just kind of all over the place.

TAB's birthday last year, look at what my heading used to be! Oh man I was so proud of that.

My favorite blog recipes: Homemade Pop Tarts,  Flourless Fudge Cookies,  Sea Salt Lavender White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Butternut Squash Soup, Chicken Salad with Blueberries, Feta and Corn,  Acorn Squash and Quinoa Salad, Brussel Sprouts with Pistachios and Avocado, Foil Packet Tilapia & .

My most popular recipes: Texas Sheet Cake Cookies, Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies, Marry Me Cookies, Cookie Butter Rice Krispies, Christmas Crack, Snickerdoodle Bars &Verde Turkey Chili

If only I could have a birthday party for TAB like this....maybe next year!

I was just a sweet innocent sophomore in college when I started TAB. I was so nervous what people would think of me and what I put on the internet. I've had some people poke fun here and there, but I've also had a lot of encouragement. There have been times where I'm totally obsessed with blogging then other times where I want to close it down. I'm so proud of this little site and what it's become. It's been a conversation starter, it's gotten me jobs, and it's given me opportunities I wouldn't have otherwise. Take A Bite is just a toddler, but here's to hopefully many years more!

Annie

Canadian Tuxedo

vest / dress / jean jacket / flares / shorts / jeans / jumper

New trend alert! All denim everything has been catching my eye recently. Every magazine and every store email has had some kind of section dedicated to denim. 

I love me some denim. My jean jacket, jean vest and light wash ripped jeans are on regular rotation in my daily outfits. I can't wait to bull out my denim pencil skirt again. Take this trend up a notch and go denim on denim, aka the Canadian Tuxedo. Maybe some of my picks can assist in this!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Good vibes had me going last week! I found a house to live in next year, I'm making progress on potential jobs, I had good life chats with friends and really enjoyed each and every day. The week really flew by, so I was quickly greeted with the weekend. 

Family time has been mucho recently with all the breaks, holidays and wedding parties. The original five Tucker's were all under the same roof for this version of family time and I couldn't have been happier! We started the weekend with a girls only night with all the bridesmaids. We then showered sis and fiancé with a Tacos and Tequila themed party on Saturday. I love all these reasons to celebrate with my favorite peeps!

-I've tried my hand at making granola, but it never turns out as good as sister's! This lavender granola is top notch. 

-Had avocado toast almost everyday last week. One morning with red pepper flakes, one day with truffle salt, one day with tahini drizzle and pictured here with a poached egg!

-I think I took the phrase "treat yourself" to another level with this sundae the size of my face!

-Grabbed lunch at the cutest market after a fun meeting on Thursday.

-College students by day, pro golfers by night. 

-What the cake said was an inside joke, but what was actually inside the cake was hands down the best thing I've ever had. Us bridesmaids all went back for seconds and for some, thirds on this moist vanilla cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting!

-Co-MOHs and the bride all in the same state!

-Kicked off the wedding festivities with some "tacos and tequila" (and Mexican beer)!

-Squeezed in one last family meal together before oldest sis flew back to NY! I attempted to squeeze this bacon wrapped shrimp and grits into the little room I had left in my stomach after all of the weekend indulgences!

Annie