Bites of My Life

Valentine’s Day is back on my list of favorite holidays! It’s sweet whether single or in a relationship. I’ve always loved it. While I tried to sound like I wasn’t hating it, last year I was feeling rather cynical toward this particular holiday. It can be hard, but it can also be really fun, sweet, and special if you have the right attitude. The cherry on top of the holiday this year was waking up to SNOW in Dallas! And more is on the way!

-Reunited with my favorite Trader Joe’s green juice after the queso-brigade over Super Bowl weekend.
-I polled my Instagram followers if they were leftover fans or not. About 75% said they were and I’m in that camp. Mainly because I’m cheap and I really hate wasting food, but I can stretch leftovers for days. Turned Sunday night’s fajitas into 2 nights of dinner and one lunch for me. Quesadilla’s for him, salad for me!
-Cute little Valentine week crew neck sweatshirts embroidered by my friend Kate! One for me and one to give!
-A very successful Galentine’s party with a great group of gals and enough candy, champagne, and heart-shaped pizza to go around!
-What was supposed to be lunch with a best friend Friday turned into crashing her mom’s Galentine lunch! They had the same idea as us the night before and did pizza, champagne, and gossip. Such a fun way to spend a Friday!
-Saturday morning marked the start of Dallas’ incoming snowstorm. Temps droooooped, so Mom’s Chili was a must!
-Did a February 13th Valentine’s Day dinner and it was equally as cute as it was delicious. I won a hot pink pair of stemless Estelle Colored Glasses at Thursday’s Galentine party gift exchange and I couldn’t wait to use them at dinner.
-Homemade blueberry scones for Valentine’s Day breakfast! Hope to make it again so I can confirm the recipe is 100%!
-He did good (great)!!

Annie

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 you came quick! Goodnight! January is usually the slowest (and most boring month IMO), but it went zooming by this year. 2021 you rock compared to 2020 did you know that? Happy to have January behind and get into the year a little more. For me lately, it’s been about really enjoying time in Dallas. I feel like I’ve haphazardly been here since the start of the pandemic and it’s nice to feel like I actually live here again?! Keep scrolling for some bites of last week. I have two recipe posts I hope to share this week and next to switch up all of the bites posts. I purposely just shared that to hold me accountable!

-The pleeniest book arrived early last week! I haven’t had that much time to sit down and read it, but hoping to finish this week.
-Kale salads are still carrying me through launches and this salad to-go with an aesthetically pleasing water bottle was just giving me the mid-day vibes I needed.
-I bought this milk frother and I’ve been frothing everything up in site.
-Breakfast for dinner was the move for the week. Egg and avo taco, maple chicken sausage from TJ’s, and berries!
-Copycat Uchi brussels sprouts with sous vide salmon and a side of Jet the friendly golden retriever.
-These new Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Drizzled Plantain Chips are so good. I bought two bags but finished the first bag in two sittings I had to put the second bag in the freezer to attempt to slow my roll!
-On a Take A Bite approved homemade biscuit recipe quest and I may have nailed it. Remaking these flaky layers this week to hopefully share the recipe soon!
-Said biscuits turned into maple sausage and runny egg b-fast sandwiches.
-Was planning an active long walk down the Katy Trail Sunday. The walk did happen, but so did a pit stop at Katy Trail Ice House for a few beers and loaded cheese fries…

Annie

Bites of My Life

Last week started strong with an email letting me know I was accepted to LiketoKnow.it! It’s essentially an influencer platform that lets you share shoppable links and in turn get a commission. I shared on my stories last week, but after blogging for 7 years this seems deserving and fair! So full disclosure, if you purchase anything from a link I share, I may get a little kickback. The good news for you is that it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

After the LTK news died down, I had a busy week work wise and went straight into the weekend. Still feeling the winter blues a bit, anyone else? Ready for spring and some darn sunshine!!

-All smiles for getting accepted to LiketoKnow.it! Give me a follow in the app and check out my shop page by clicking the “shop” dropdown on the menu bar of my site.
-Used up almost every veggie from my Imperfect Foods box to make this stir fry. When it doubt, stir fry it out.
-Melissa Wood Health flows, I can’t get enough of you.
-You know you are an influencer when you are raving about your favorite Tupperware. Just kidding, but really love these Stasher Bags and little salad dressing containers.
-Cava was a treat when I lived in D.C. It’s basically a Mediterranean version of Chipotle. They used to only be on the East Coast, but have grown like crazy in the past few years and now have two locations in the Dallas area.
-A last-minute weekend spent with these three at IF:Gathering.
-Got home from IF on Saturday night and wanted nothing but tex-mex. My freezer came in clutch with these tamales a friend actually had made me and a bag of leftover frozen tortillas. I used The Baker Mama’s recipe for Baked Chips and they surpassed anything I’ve ever bought in the store.
-Sunday’s = Trader Joe’s grocery haul. More saved on my Instagram highlights!
-The Baker Mama’s Baked Chips round 2. I love a thick chip and these are those! I may never buy a bag of tortilla chips at the store again.

Annie

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