Bites of My Life

Packed, worked, moved, golfed, ate, swam, shopped, brunched, and squeezed in a little sleep. A super busy week full of long (but fun) work days and getting settled into my new house. The week really flew by, and the weekend came in at full force! Marge and Meg came up to OKC and it couldn't have been better. 

I'm exhausted from all the festivities, but not complaining. I've said it before but I'll say it again, post grad life aint so bad. Now it is the week we've been waiting for all summer, wedding week! Kat gets married Saturday and I can't wait any longer! Just a three day work week for me then it's wedding wedding wedding! Bites is going to be so good next week. 

-Started the 2nd week of the #barre3anywhere challenge on a green note.

-Turned our ribeye leftovers into a steak salad with grilled onions, zucchini, blue cheese, homemade horseradish dressing and a drizzle of balsamic.

-An almond butter drizzle on my yogurt cause you can never have to much AB. 

-Thank you to all who entered the Beaded by W giveaway! Reagan be looking for your bracelet in the mail this week.

-Move in day finally came and I am smitten with how adorable my new baby rent house is!

-Happy housewarming with homemade guac and Coronas from our girl Goldie!

-Topgolf friends and family night was in full swing Friday. Gearing up for opening this weekend!

-Taco stop on Saturday. A crazy combo of chicken, sausage, pico, queso and potatoes.

-Not all living in the same state is getting easier with all our reunited weekends!

-Belted and danced with sis at Pat Green.

-Finally checked Waffle Champion off my restaurant bucket list. It won me over. 

-Watermelon ice cubes!

Annie

GIVEAWAY: Wrap It Up

Back by popular demand! I'm not sure if I've had as much readership on a post as I did on my last Beaded by W giveaway! Whitney is my awe-inspiring entrepreneur sorority sis and also the owner and creator of Beaded by W. 

Since the last giveaway I did with Whitney, she has taken her business and expanded it tremendously. Whitney knew her jewelry business was her passion, so for the past six months she has completely followed her heart and put everything into growing her business. Talk about a lesson in going after your goals!

We've been talking about doing another giveaway since our last one and the time is finally here. Today I'm giving away one of Whitney's wrap bracelets. I'm a little sad I have to give it away because I want to keep it for myself! The beads are strung on a stretchy band so you can wrap them as tight as you want around your wrist. P.S. it's super comfy!

Peruse Whitney's site and see all the new additions she's added to her jewelry repertoire, my favorite are the new horn necklaces.  To enter: comment below with your favorite Beaded by W piece or tag two friends on my Instagram (bonus points if you do both)! Good luck! Winner will be announced Wednesday a.m.

Find Whit on Instagram, Facebook and her Website!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Summer I can feel ya! The rain passed and the sun came out strong last week! I have a busy week ahead full of work events, moving into my new house and friends in town this weekend. Let's hop, skip and jump to the weekend quick as quick please!

-Started off day one of the #barre3anywhere challenge with their Berry Blast smoothie in the morning and barre in the park at night!

-I couldn't get over how orange this carrot ginger juice was from my one day Organic Squeeze cleanse!

-A fun surprise to open Instagram on Wednesday and see my Zucchini Noodle Carbonara featured on Laney's "June Cooking List" post. 

-Highly recommend the Fried Flatbread tacos from Pump Bar!

-#EvaChenPose

-Step aside lemon, watermelon in my water is my new favorite thing! Trying out these watermelon ice cubes this week!

-This brunch has been planned two weeks in advance, the all you can eat scratch made brunch at Powerhouse is worth it. 

-Spontaneous night with mom and pops going to see Vince Gill, a family favorite. 

-So I had two buffets in one day...but this Indian food hit the spot. 

-Tastes of summer.

-#SundaySupper consisting of roasted brussels sprouts, tomatoes provencal and ribeye with blue cheese.

-Bringing a little gift to y'all this week c/o Beaded by W.

Annie

Guest Post: Keen for Quinoa

I'm handing the ropes over to my foodie friend and sorority sister Noel today! She is a foodgrammer, loves to cook and like myself, obsesses over food. She makes me drool at everything she posts on her Instagram, so I asked her to come up with a recipe to share on Take A Bite! 

Hey guys, Noel here. I am a simple food lover. When I go to bed at night, I plan my breakfast. When I eat my breakfast, I plan my afternoon snack/ lunch. But I am thinking about my dinner ALL day. While I currently have no food blog, I have a daily struggle on whether to start one. You can, however, find me on Instagram--->@food_onmy_mind. 

I am 100%, without a doubt, keen for quinoa! I try to incorporate it into every meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.  When Annie asked me to do a guest post, I had no clue what recipe I would give her.  But obviously I wanted to do something quinoa! However, a typical quinoa meal for me consists of cooking the quinoa separately and topping it with something or other.  So I wanted to make something where the quinoa and whatever else I added to it was one, single entity.  Annie and I tossed around ideas and we settled on Quinoa Avocado Black Bean Burgers!

Yes, all that goodness was put into one, single (vegetarian) entity.  I had made black bean burgers before, and had never been successful so I was nervous to test these babies out.  However, these particular BBB’s were made with special tender, love, and care (and I have since gained a food processor, which helped, A LOT).  

I invited a few friends to join me in taste testing and for the first time in my black bean burger career, I was successful.  I did learn that my original recipe was a bit spicy (I love spicy as much as I love quinoa), so the one you’ll find below has been modified to a lower spice level.

Now, I was really back and forth on what to put on my BBB.  So naturally, I made two combinations of toppings and ate half of each burger. 

Burger 1:  Dijon mustard, feta cheese, heirloom tomato, and alfalfa sprouts.

Burger 2:  Spicy mayonnaise (homemade), blue cheese, heirloom tomato, and spinach.

For those of you who are spice maniacs, like me, burger 2 is for you.  It was spicy let me tell you!  I will admit though, burger 1 was my favorite.  The combination of feta and alfalfa sprouts with the BBB was mouth watering.  I even made it into a salad the next night.

Black Bean Burgers
yields 6 burger patties

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 avocado, cubed
1 shallot, diced
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. cayenne
½ tsp. smoked Paprika
1 tsp. hot sauce of choice
1 egg white
zest and juice of lime
salt and pepper
*1/2 cup of cilantro would also be a great addition

Directions:
Reserve 1/2 cup black beans and set aside.

Add the remaining beans, shallot, spices, lime zest, juice and hot sauce into the bowl of a food processor, fit with a steel blade. Process until the mixture is the texture of a very chunky puree. Transfer this mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining beans, avocado, cooked quinoa and egg white and stir together. (Turn so not to mush avocado) *If adding cilantro, do it at this step.

Shape the mixture into 6 patties and chill in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour, or more.  Make sure patties are thin, so that they cook through. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the patties to the pan. Cook them until browned, about 3-5 minutes per side. Serve on salad, with a bun and toppings, or in lettuce wraps/pocket bread.

Recommended toppings:
Tomato
(Extra) avocado
Raw onion or sautéed white onion
Alfalfa sprouts
Arugula, spinach
Feta, blue cheese, Parmesan
Spicy mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
Salsa
Fried egg

Happy reading and happy eating!

Noel

Bites of My Life

Started my job, turned 22 and reunited with my best friends in Dallas. A week jam packed with excitement. I admitted I'm a little bit of a birthday brat, but no need to be bratty this year after friends, family and new co-workers made my birthday so special. 

The job is going great, I'm happy to be back on a schedule, but I'm afraid I've hit the stage where I live for the weekends. I don't see anything wrong with this though. It just leaves for productive fun-filled weekends to unwind with. Dallas, golf, best friends, brunch and Jordan Spieth sitings really filled me up! 

-First day of work outfit selfie to Molly for a second opinion and confidence boost!

-An impromptu birthday dinner with all of my favorite people close enough to come! Last hoorah with this one before she left for Chicago. 

-Post-dinner carrot cake to mark the beginning of the birthday sweets.

-Post-post-dinner drinks at new to OKC spot, Power House.

-Sat around the kitchen table together Wednesday morning with the family before we all left for work to enjoy my traditional birthday breakfast. 

-My new desk accessories c/o sweet co-workers! There was also cake and singing and my cheeks turing 50 shades of red.

-Ludivine, a farm-to-fork concept, has long been at the top of my restaurants to try list, my family birthday dinner was the perfect occasion. Housemade sausage, farm fresh egg, potatoes, garlic and chive popover to soak it all up. 

-Before our entrees we started with their famous Bone Marrow appetizer and the charcuterie platter. Who new bone could be so scrumptious?

-The big girl job is in event sales at OKC's new TopGolf site. Got to walk and see the ins and outs of the course Friday, a privilege only TopGolf employees get to do!

-Made it through the first work week to finally have get a highly anticipated weekend reuniting with friends in Dallas!

-Spent Saturday golf clapping at the Byron Nelson, but let's be honest I really only went to see my future bf Jordan Spieth;)

-Incredible avocado toast and poached eggs from Ascension Coffee and a quick trip to Trader Joe's ended our Dallas weekend. 

Annie