Bites of My Life

Week 1 January, done. Easing back into the work grind was a bit easier than expected. The cherry on top was that after a full week we were granted with a little snowy treat in Oklahoma! Snow boots, furry collared coat, fuzzy socks and lots of movies were enjoyed.

Week 1 of Whole 30 is also done! I was a bit of a broken record with eggs for breakfast, butternut squash soup for lunch and roasted artichoke lemon zoodles, loosely based off this, for dinner. I through in a few other options but it was too good to change up. 

Lastly, I got to try a new workout studio (you've got try it), celebrated an amazing friend's birthday and bid farewell to another friend as she takes off for adventures in Denver. Ended the weekend by a fire watching the Golden Globes and seeing La La Land sweep the awards. Hello award season, I love you!

-Two scrambled eggs over spinach with a little turmeric, 21 seasoning salute (I use it on everrrrrrything) and Maldon salt (maldon salt is like fairy dust and you need some)!
-This soup is one of my favorite recipes of all time. Taken up a notch with crispy prosciutto to top.
-Last week's Bites About Town feat. SALAD. What OKC bites do you want to see next? Comment below. 
-Another W30 fav is banana slices laid out, sprinkled with cinnamon, a bit of pink Himalayan sea salt and my favorite almond butter.
-Bulletproof coffee is the only way to drink coffee on Wholev30. It's been around for a while, but I'm finally really jumping on board. My recipe is fresh brewed coffee, a spoon of coconut butter, a spoon of homemade ghee, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg then whizzed up in the blender to get it frothhhhhay.
-My gym looks like a giant igloo in the snow.
-The lunch board made it's first return this Whole30. This was my staple last round!
-Sunday soakin' made into garlic cashew cream sauce.
-Turmeric Chicken Zoodle soup prepped for lunches this week. Recipe coming ASAP because it's GOLD.
-Meal prep in all shades of green and orange.

Annie

Bites About Town: Best Salads in OKC

updated June 2019

Build your own at Coolgreens

Back again for another installment of Bites About Town. You can see my first post about the best Matcha Latte in OKC here. I love my city and the bites it has to offer.  Today's spotlight bite is, salad. Salads can get a bad rap or get overlooked on a menu, but they can also be a showstopper. To correlate with everyone's efforts to eat healthy in the new year I'm rolling out my Top 5 salads in OKC. I can't rank them individually because they all reign supreme. I will share my #1 fav of the moment, but you have to keep reading to find out.

Grilled Chicken Chop Salad at Mary Eddy's
Ingredients: heirloom tomato, cucumber, avocado, danish bleu, house bacon, chopped egg, green goddess vinaigrette and chicken.  
Notes: I've dined at Mary Eddy's, the restaurant in the new 21C Museum hotel, a few times for dinner, and was left a little underwhelmed. Little did I know I was ordering the wrong thing. Skip the rest of the menu and head straight for the salads. The Chop salad at Mary Eddy's is insanely flavorful, perfectly filling and includes everything you want in an entree salad. I highly suggest adding chicken. They pack some amazing flavor into that little chicken breast. {they have since added chicken to the salad on the lunch menu and changed the portion to a side salad on the dinner menu}. Best part is, the whole salad is sprinkled with flakey Maldon salt. Lucky for me, my company often has lunch meetings at Mary Eddy's meaning the more chop salad the better. 

BB Salad at The Jones Assembly
Ingredients: grilled chicken, lardon, avocado, gruyére, spiced hazelnut, red onion, sourdough crouton, green goddess
Notes: I’m bias here because I work for The Jones, but when we were developing the menu back in 2017 we knew we had to have just a good ole basic salad that you can eat anytime of day and never get tired of it. Enter the BB Salad aka the Basic Bitch Salad. Yes that really is what BB stands for. I love the sweet and crunchy hazelnuts combined with the soft avocado. I love the bite from the red onion and the flavor on the grilled chicken. I am also a sucker for bibb or romaine lettuce in a salad, so it wins in the greens department. And the lardons, gahhh I could eat these plain as a snack. I usually ask for mine without the cheese and croutons and with dressing on the side to save my carb and dairy intake, but I’m also just annoying like that.

Image via Yelp

Farmer's Market Salad at Upper Crust
Ingredients: Boston bibb & arugula, fuji apples, candied walnuts, gorgonzola, white balsamic vinaigrette.
Notes: Any pizza place has to include a few salads on their menu. Usually you get a boring house or caesar option, but sometimes they can blow you away with a salad better than the pizza. This is the case with the farmer's market salad at Upper Crust. It's perfect to share if you are getting a pizza, but also great as an entree if you want to skip the carbs. The white balsamic vinaigrette is incredible. I actually went and bought white balsamic after first having this salad. Try it, you won't regret it. 

Falafel Salad at Saturn Grill
Ingredients: mixed greens, house vinaigrette, fresh tomato, persian cucumber, red onion, yogurt tahini & spicy red pepper sauces, & crispy house made falafel
Verdict: I have a mad love for falafel and all greek food for that matter. This is my sister and I's favorite, we even tried to recreate it at home (read these tragic old school posts for our recreation). If you've ever tried to make falafel at home, you know it is probably a fail. No need to try when you should just go to Saturn and order yourself the falafel salad. The crispiest falafel and best tahini and red pepper sauce. Highly recommend.

Texas "Chop House" Rotisserie Chicken Salad at Red Rock
Ingredients: Iceberg (sub romaine), black beans, tomatoes, jicama, sweet corn, corn tortilla strips, Monterey Jack cheese, chipotle bleu cheese dressing (sub for balsamic), avocado and barbecue sauce. Perk, it comes with cornbread!
Notes: My parents and I got into a bit of a routine of going to Red Rock this summer and sitting on their patio enjoying the live music and lakeside view. That is when I discovered the deliciousness that is their rotisserie chicken salad. With fun ingredients like jimica, tortilla strips, barbecue sauce and a whole avocado it keeps me coming back for more. Pro tip-swap the blue cheese for balsamic and the iceberg for romaine. Also get your dressing on the side because this salad is HUGE and filling. Can easily be taken home for leftovers.

Grilled Shrimp Salad at Republic
Ingredients: grilled shrimp, brussels sprouts, spaghetti squash, spinach, red onion, crispy salami, smoked gouda, horseradish vinaigrette
Notes: If you have never had this salad, I urge you to run to Republic and try it. It's loaded with (honestly) a weird assortment of ingredients, but it totally works. The shrimp is grilled perfectly and has so much flavor and I can't get enough of the crispy salami. One of my favorites by a landslide. 

Image via Facebook

Gusto Chopped Salad at Pizzaria Gusto
Ingredients: Romaine, radicchio, tomato, red onion, pepperoncini, kalamata olives, chickpeas, provolone, salami, croutons, vinaigrette.
Notes: Another chop salad made the list, but rightfully so. Similar to Upper Crust, I could go to Pizzaria Gusto and skip the pizza all together just so I could enjoy every last bit of their chopped salad. The big pieces of provolone are a home run. It's full of Italian flavors, which I love. Gusto also makes all of their dressing in house, so they are free of scary additives-win!

Brussels Sprout, Napa Cabbage, Kale and Burrata Salad at Cafe 501

So now that I've given you the run down on my five favorite salads in OKC, I'll unveil my favorite. Drumroooolllllllllll please.

Favorite salad in OKC (as of now) is...the Grilled Chicken Chop Salad from Mary Eddy's!! Mary Eddy's has me craving this salad weekly. I will happily go eat at Mary Eddy's with you just so I can share this amazing salad with you.

Update: The Jones BB Salad places just under the chop salad. With all of the new spots popping up around town, I don’t eat at ME quite as frequent as I used to. However, you can fined me at the bar enjoying a BB Salad most Friday’s during the week.

I asked for some of y'alls favorite salads when creating this post. Fan favorites included the Rotisserie Chicken salad from Republic, the Caprese and Southwest Spicy from Cool Greens, the Salmon Caesar at Saturn Grill, Simply Falafel's Greek Salad and the BLT salad from The Drake were popular choices. What are some of your favorite salads in the city?

Annie 

Bites of My Life

Goodbye holidays hello long haul until our next break... The week between Christmas and New Years is a little draggy and sluggish. It's an awkward in between stage where you aren't quite ready to jump back in to reality and also an excuse not to. The past week I went to see La La Land (obsessed), cooked dinner for my parents, freshened up my house, hosted a New Years Eve party and bid farewell to 2016. 

Now with a new year and a new week it's time to shift gears back into productivity and accomplishing. I've written out my new year goals, made plans to keep the winter months exciting, and organized my calendar, closet, house and bathroom. I'm giddy for 2017 and feeling energized with the arrival of a new year! I'm kicking off the week with the start of #januarywhole30, crossing my fingers for an OU win in the Sugar Bowl tonight and flipping back and forth between it and The Bachelor. Cheers to 2k17.

-Little make up applied and a leggings only wardrobe last week. Jazzed about my new Outdoor Voices leggings. You need some in your life if you don't have any. 
-I'm typically make a smoothie or some kind of fruit with AB during the week, but I have been all about the eggs recently. I'm priding myself on mastering the best fluffy scrambled eggs and I just can't quit it!
-First whack at my spiralizer! Zoodles with mom's meat sauce and crispy brussels! Get ready for spiralized recipes to come!
-Thanks santa (mom) for hooking up this matcha loving girl!
-A bowl of cereal and a glass (plus some) of wine followed by more junk food to really end the year with a bang. I love being an adult and making my own choices. 
-Some balloon bubbly for a festive new years eve. 
-Coming for you January Whole 30.
-I love food traditions, including my mom's Hoppin' John she makes every year on New Years Day.
-Whole 30 day 1 involved all kinds of meal prepping. My favorite butternut squash soup is going to be lunch for the week. Crispy prosciutto instead of granola made it whole 30 compliant.

Annie