Bites of My Life

A few snow (ice) days kept us trapped at home last week, followed by pouring rain as we ventured down to Dallas for best friend and pre-wedding celebrations, followed by gorgeous 60 degree weather. Oklahoma you keep us on our toes, but I don't mind!

-Protein shakes aside, the mascara, face primer and CC cream from Arbonne's makeup and skincare line are gold. 
-My favorite shake to keep me full and satisfied. Vanilla Almond amped up with a little almond extract!
-New Lite Bite post is up! Crushing on this meal from last week!
-Sneaking in greens on our "snow day" despite really wanting s'mores, popcorn, chili and all the treats.
-So far I have finished 2, almost 3 books in 2018 and it's only February. I don't even know who I am anymore. #TeamDoesn'tRead.
-The most delicious eats and drinks at José to kick off our 24 hour stint in Dallas. Highly highly recommend this spot next time your are in Dallas. 
-Weekend 1 of celebrating #KatieFoundHerMattch, can't wait for round 2 this weekend.
-Tea and Food Network in bed. How every Sunday should start.
-Quinoa has come back for vengeance recently and I'm loving it. Working on getting this greek quinoa bowl posted this week!

Annie

Lite Bite: BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl

I've seen this recipe on What's Gaby Cooking's site many times. I've bookmarked it, screenshotted and pinned it many times too. After letting it hang out in cyber space I finally cooked up Gaby's very popular BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowls. I love BBQ sauce, so this was a home run for me. Keep reading for the deats and hopefully this convinces you to make it this week. 

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl adapted from What's Gaby Cooking
yields 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
1  cup Trader Joe's Fire Roasted frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 avocado
shredded cheese of your choice, I used this almond milk cheese found at Whole Foods
BBQ sauce
scallions, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook your quinoa according to package directions. In a large bowl toss together the quinoa corn, black beans and chicken. Drizzle with a 1-2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce and season with salt and pepper. 

Portion out mixture and top with another drizzle of BBQ sauce and a sprinkle of shredded cheese, scallions and chopped avocado. More cracked pepper too!

*If meal prepping this dish to eat throughout the week.. mix the quinoa mixture then store in the fridge. Portion out each night, re-heat for 1.5 minutes in the microwave (or eat cold). Top with BBQ sauce, cheese and avocado!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I hate/love the word galentine. But when you don't have a valentine but love Valentine's Day, I'm happy to celebrate with all my best gal pals. Galentine was apparently the theme of last week by the looks of this bites post. That and food, my real valentine if we are being honest. 

-Salads, vino and a VIP Valentine event at Salata. 
-Galentine since '93.
-Fun fact: . When I was younger I wanted to grow up and be an artist. So much so, that my password for everything growing up was artistAFT. Brought out my inner Artist AFT at Tuesday's wine & palette event. 
-Chocolate Covered Strawberry protein shakes for a healthy but festive start to Valentine's day. 
-I <3 CCC's!
-Pictured: the delicious new Korean bowls at Gogi Go in Midtown, not pictured: the Benadryl and medicine induced nap I took after this meal. I'm finding out more than I would like that my love for ethnic and asian food means that I should always ask if peanuts are in a dish. Apparently peanuts are the OG nut of ethnic cuisine.
-Fight or flight? I'll choose flight every time, especially when we are talking about beer. If you haven't been to Twisted Spike Brewery in OKC, I highly recommend. 
-Belated breakfast for dinner galentine party called for everything to be in the shape of hearts. 
-Sweet treats and healthy treats at our galentine party!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Happy Valentine's week! I love Valentine's Day, I always have! Pink, red, hearts, candy, sweets, what's not to love? Sure, it puts pressure if you are in a relationship or reminds you how single you are (raises hand), but I've always had the 2nd grade mindset when it come to Valentine's Day. You know, homemade cards, treats, and parties. Read up on a few of my archived Vday treats found here, here, some nail art here, playlist here, and DIY here and here.  

-I FINISHED A BOOK!!! Anytime this happens, it deserves to be celebrated and acknowledged. I'm world's worst reader. But, I've actually almost finished 2 books now and I'm starting a new one today! 
-Coffee date with my name twin talking social media detoxes and nutritional detoxes. 
-Have you read my updated OKC City Guide??
-Hi! I cut 9 inches off my hair this week, bye!!
-I went there. And my "I'll just have one spoonful," turned into too many to count. Cookie Butter you are kryptonite and i have a love/hate relationship with you. 
-Not all smoothies and protein shakes turn out pretty. This attempt at an acai protein shake turned out 50 Shades of Gray. 
-Strawberry Shrub and Basil Soda aka a non-alcoholic drink our bar staff is working on at The Jones. I couldn't take my mouth off the straw. 
-I normally rush out of bed to go to a workout class on Saturday mornings. I signed up for a later yoga flow, so I spent the chilly Saturday morning watching lot's of Food Network, Home Again (Pico Alexander, marry me?) and eating breakfast in bed. 
-Falling so in love with 405 Yoga. If you have not been yet, come with me! 
-When you crave a smoothie bowl but it's 25 degrees outside, you eat it by the fire. 
-Fun, fancy and furry to celebrate Gabe and Caroline!
-Fresh turmeric and ginger being chopped and frozen to use in smoothies and protein shakes. See how I do it by looking at my "bites" highlight on instagram.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Work, work, and work some more. I worked a full 7 days this past week. I'm tired.

-The best dessert are Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls.
-How she gets cuter by the day is beyond me, but it's true.
-Obsessed with this dessert hack. One Siete tortilla heated up with nut butter spread over it, rolled up and cinnamon sprinkled over the top. 
-Copy-cat Starbucks Java Chip Frapp, made healthy and even more delish!
-A v glamorous dinner made and eaten in my car after work on the way to bible study. My meals look more like this rather than when you see them styled over a marble back drop. 
-I got to be a judge at Chocolate Decadence and I felt really cool and important. Pictured here, the dessert my co-judges and I picked. A warm molten cake topped with cold hazelnut ice cream all inside a chocolate shell broken by pouring hot caramel syrup over it. 
-Bumbling with OKC's new Queen Bee!
-If I had one of those bumper stickers that said "i brake for.." it would say Hall's Pizza Kitchen's burrata. An extremely delicious Friday night with company to match!
-Inevitable that I wake up almost every Saturday morning in need of a little detox greens to counteract whatever happened the night before.
-Getting mom and dad on the protein shake train. Strawberry banana for mom, very berry for me and spicy pineapple for dad!
-Photoshoot days at work are pretty and delicious. 
-All the cheese and all the carbs for the Super Bowl.

Annie