Bites of My Life

A day late and a dollar short. Happy halloween and happy bites on a Tuesday!

-Halloween Candy Compost Cookie, the best way to swipe clean all the bowls of Halloween candy laying around. 
-Apparently biscuits are now a must when dining with Malory. Also seen here. Anyway, The Press opened in the Plaza District last week. Southwest comfort food and Fleetwood Mac on repeat #sold.
-Photoshoot for new brunch cocktails. Work is hard. 
-Lindsay's Healing Bowls were meal prepped for last week. They didn't quite heal me because of the nasty cold I caught last week, but still a huge fan. 
-Current snack obsession. Rice cake, almond butter, drizzle of maple syrup and sprinkle of Maldon salt. 
-Pumpkin bread, cause #NationalPumpkinDay. 
-Two Kardashians and two cats walked into a party...
-Have you heard about the Google Home Mini Donut Shop? It popped up in OKC this weekend and I walked away a winner! OK, google. 
-Best friends, in the living room, with the spoon. AKA Saturday involving a 2 rounds of Clue and 2 bowls of chili.

Annie

It's Getting Chili

Once the temperature drops I pretty much crave chili for every single meal. It's the ultimate cold weather, warm you up meal. Chili is easily one of my favorite foods. I've attended too many chili cook-offs to count, made several pots myself and eaten an unhealthy amount of Fritos all for the sake of an excellent bowl of chili.

I've rounded up a pretty stocked list of different kinds of chili. Turkey chili, white chicken chili, veggie chili, etc. I adore all kinds of chili, buuuuut if you ask me nothing beats my momma's. I know everyone says that, but I'll fight you on it that her's really is the best. It even won my high school chili contest back in the day. No beans, ground beef, lots of spices, and tons of Fritos. Scroll through for some pin worthy chili recipes, but keep scrolling for momma Tucker's chili recipe!

1) Quick Bison Chili

2) Carne Asada Beer Chili

3) Chipotle Turkey Quinoa Chili

4) Spicy Chicken Chili with Pumpkin Beer Biscuits

5) Lentil and Quinoa Chili

6) Crockpot Chipotle Pulled Pork Pumpkin Chili with Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

7) White Chicken Chili

8) Salsa Verde Turkey Chili, made by me here.

9) 5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili, made by me here.

10) Warming Lentil Chili with Pumpkin

11) And now, the only chili recipe you need.

Mom's Chili

Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean chili meat
1/2 lb. lean ground chuck
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 heaping Tbsp. chili powder
1 heaping Tbsp. cumin
3/4 heaping tsp. oregano
1/2 heaping tsp. sage
2 heaping Tbsp. cornmeal
1-1 oz. Williams chili seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1-6 oz. tomato paste
1-1 lb. can fire-roasted tomatoes
Fritos, sour cream, cheese, green onions to garnish

Directions:
Over medium heat, add a little bit of olive oil to a large stockpot or dutch oven. Sauté ground meats, onion, green pepper, and garlic until veggies are tender and the meat is almost cooked through. Add remaining ingredients, combining well. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover your pot, and simmer for 2 hours. Add more seasoning if desired. It's all up to your taste buds. Garnish with lots of cheese and Fritos. I like to do a bottom layer of Fritos, then a big helping of chili then lots of cheese, sour cream, green onions, and more Fritos!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Happy Halloween week! I love Halloween, I always have. I used to plan my costumes a year in advance. The second Halloween was over, it was back to the drawing board for next year. I swear against just buying a costume from the party store. It was always homemade and always elaborate. This years costume is ready to go, and food related, as it should be. 

Okay stay with me for this next part.  Secret is out, I was on a sugar detox for the past four weeks. You probably ask, well Annie, what about the brownies you made? What about the cookies? Ya, I actually didn't have any. I licked the spoon here and there just for taste testing, but I actually went a whole month without any sweets. You also probably ask, why would you go on a detox right before the holidays? With all the pumpkin baking and Halloween candy, I saw it as the easiest excuse to say no. I followed Clara's plan with a few modifications. I was strict on no dessert or candy, I didn't use any artificial sweeteners in my coffee or oatmeal, I stuck to plain yogurt and limited my carb and fruit intake. The result. Nothing. After all of that, I found strength to say no to desserts, but I found satisfaction in things like cheese, chips and queso, handfuls of trail mix and binges on almond butter. My advice - don't do it. I think if I would have allowed a sweet treat here and there I would have been less likely to binge in other unhealthy ways. The one positive was my built up will power to say no to copious amounts of sugar. Now that my detox is over I plan on using the will power to eat sweets in moderation, but now I have a lot of fall baking and eating to catch up on.  Bring on the pumpkin ice cream, ginger cookies and pumpkin bread! 

On a pumpkin note, I have a week full of Halloween posts planned. When was the last time I posted every day of the week? If all goes as planned TAB will be busting with bites this week. I've been blog giddy recently; gearing up for something very exciting happening to the blog next Monday. You won't want to miss it. 

-These slutty brownies got lots of attention last week (just what they wanted, darn sluts). Take a bite of the recipe if you haven't already.
-Remember my farm grown green tomatoes from last week? I stuffed them with quinoa, herbs and blue cheese, loosely based off this recipe. 
-Working on my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Off to a good start, but more testing this week.
-A perfect rainy Thursday evening involved wining and dining, great conversation and great friends.
-I gear up every year for this local chili cook-off every year. Local restaurants cook up big crockpots of chili to compete for the "Carne Diem" title. I tried one with duck, one with chocolate, one with beer, one paired with a hush puppie and one with a jalapeno popper. My personal favorite actually won this year! Still waiting on my invitation to be one of the judges...
-A classy beer and fries pairing for a late night bite with friends. Our first meal of the night didn't quite suffice...
-Working on the weekends has its perks when you are friends with the kitchen staff. 
-Happy early birthday to our leading lady! She's NYC bound this weekend to see oldest sis and I'm extremely jealous. 
-Kathleen baked the most amazing spiced apple cake with maple frosting. With this being my first sweet in 4 weeks, I had two pieces. Then had a horrile headache and stomach ache...

Annie

Bites of My Life

Today has included the first snow of the season, the first OU basketball game, holiday baking, decorating my little house for Christmas and now snuggling up in front of the TV with a double feature of You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. Today has been too perfect. P.S. It's currently Sunday while I'm writing this.

Before I get too ahead of myself, last week included verde turkey chili with leftovers to last all week, the "polar vortex" that blew in (making walking to class such a joy...), multiple bowls of soup, multiple cups of tea, and finally a quickie trip to Dallas to help sis find her dream wedding dress!

-Verde Turkey Chili doctored up with loads of Fritos and avocado.

-Phood for the soul.

-Homemade Irish Coffee--this is how you do happy hour when its 30 degrees out.

-When in Dallas, sit at the bar and eat fried avocado fries. 

-Breakfast at Start. A new real fast food concept in Dallas that I'm totally on-board with. I got the veggie sausage pancake sandwich. Indulgent but healthy!

-It's official, she #SYTTD! Champs cheers to finding sis's dream dress!

-Found the dress at our first stop, so it left the rest of our day in Dallas for lots of eating and lots of shopping! So, let me tell you about my new favorite restaurant, True Food Kitchen. "Honest food that tastes really good." We got the gorgonzola onion and fig tart (not-pictured), the red chili shrimp, inside out quinoa burger and Autumn Ingredient salad. Read my full review here. I'm dreaming about the chance I get to go back.

-A DOUBLE YOLK! Good luck to me. Stay tuned for what this good luck baked up!

-Woke up Sunday to little flurries filling the sky, but after a few hours, Norman quickly became blanketed in a thick layer of snow!

-Snow day soup. 

I'm now going to sleep with a spoon under my pillow at the hopes of a no-school, snow day tomorrow!  It worked! NO SCHOOL!

Annie

Snow Day Soup

This recipe is so easy and so yummy! I love chili, especially white chicken chili. With all the snow and cold weather we've had, it was the perfect snow day dinner! I used Gimme Some Oven's recipe and it turned out perfect! 

White Chicken Chili
serves 4

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups cooked shredded chicken (a rotisserie chicken is perfect!)
2 cups salsa verde
2 (15 oz) cans of Northern beans
2 tsp. cumin
optional avocado, cilantro, green onions and cheese for topping

Directions:
Put the first 5 ingredients in a pot and simmer on medium until the soup is warmed through. Takes about 15 minutes. That's it. Really it's that easy. I strongly recommend topping with cilantro and avocado! 

Here is a look at the original recipe. Make this soup tonight and enjoy it while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies!

Annie