Bites of My Life

Last week was great with several reasons leading to why, but the cherry on top was Stacia and Sage's wedding weekend. The two are some of my best friends and Stacia has been waiting for this day for forever. Seeing it all come together, and be perfect, was the best for her. Not to mention having all my best friends who live near and far all in one place made it the best best. Exhausted and hoarse, but well worth it for the best dance floor party and for the now Mr. and Mrs. Ranallo!

-Matcha is back in heavy rotation. It has been the best energy source to get me through the day after my early early morning bootcamp workouts.
-Healthy easy chicken burrito bowl situation over cauliflower rice I was able to throw together with things from my fridge! 
-#TargetDoesItAgain. and again, and again and again. 
-Obsessed with my new Who What Wear collection sandals. 
-Peep my insta highlights for the run down on this easy egg/avocado salad. Will work on getting the recipe up on TAB soon!
-Tuesday morning brewery tour for a special project The Jones Assembly + Prairie Artisan Ales are teaming up on! Pictured here: me learning the "grain out" techniques. 
-The SO team finally got to let the cat out of the bag. We are so excited to operate the cafe space in the new Scissortail Park coming to west downtown!
-Unexpected surprise goodie package from Arbonne for hitting my district manager status.
-Wedding weekend for Stacia and Sage finally kicking off!
-HP for the win!
-No doubt Stacia would make a gorgeous bride, but still got chills seeing her look come together on the big day. 
-Sunday sushi made healthier and so good courtesy of Whole Foods. 

Don't miss last week's lite bite posts: mayo-less tuna salad and watermelon & heirloom tomato salad.
Current songs on repeat: Tequila by Dan + Shay and Finest Hour by Cash Cash.

Annie

Lite Bite: Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Summer BBQ, party or potluck? Look no further than this recipe. I have a thing for watermelon feta salads because I actually already have two (here and here) recipes on my site, but this one. THIS ONE!!

Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 medium seedless watermelon, cut into small cubes
16 oz mini heirloom tomatoes (found at Trader Joe's), sliced in half
8 oz feta cheese block, cut into small cubes
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
flakey salt and fresh crackd pepper
small bunch of fresh basil

Directions:
In a large bowl gently toss cubed watermelon, cubed feta and sliced mini tomatoes. Drizzle over olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Not too much, you can always add more later. Sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper and maldon salt if you have it. Any flakey salt will do. Tear the basil over the top. Tear instead of cut. Tearing will lend to better overall flavor and not brown the basil! Toss gently again and sprinkle a bit more salt, pepper and basil over the top to serve!

P.S. this makes great leftovers and is wonderful paired with grilled chicken (seen below).

Bites of My Life

I love the cold, but the summer. Oh, the summer. You kill me. You are too good. My energy level skyrockets this time of year. I want to do all the things in the summer as opposed to winter where I could hibernate for 3 straight months and be happy as a clam. 

I want to eat all the summer food, go on a walk EVERY evening, be more social during the week, spend as much time outside as I can, clean out my closet, deep clean my room, be extra active, and maximize my workday so I have more free time in the morning and evenings. Summer motivation is in full swing!

-I don't have marble countertops. Here is proof-ha! Just a contact paper covered foam board!
-Y'ALL! I posted something besides just a bites post. Catch my mayo-less tuna salad recipe here. Word on the street is that you will be getting a second recipe post tomorrow too!
-Post-bootcamp recovery shake before the rest of my breakfast. I've been waking up at the crack of dawn (4:30AM) to train with Align Performance. Bootcamp is from 5:30-6:30, so when I get home I do an Arbonne recovery shake (1 scoop protein, water, cinnamon and ice in a shaker bottle) then follow it with scrambled eggs later in the morning. If I ate a full breakfast at 6:30 I'd want lunch by 10AM. P.S. if you are local and interested in bootcamp, join me, your first class is free!
-Morning coffee/work date with my Lindz before she leaves me for LA. I can't talk about it anymore otherwise I'll get tears on my keyboard.
-Leftover watermelon tomato salad topped with grilled chicken. Is there a better summer dinner?
-Back to Cali Al goes, but first dinner with the whole crew!
-When in Stillwater, OK, must eat at Red Rock Bakery and Deli. Or so I'm told...and so I now agree. SO GOOD!
-Smashed avo on 2 GG crackers. Who else loves GG crackers? Who doesn't know what I'm talking about? Read here to get the gist and then order on Amazon ASAP.
-When curly fries are an option, you always go curly. Despite the fact the fact that I was poolside in a bikini while eating them...
-You all know I love my Super Coffee, but here is just another photo to remind you. And just so you know the maple hazelnut flavor is everything.
-Treasures from the Asian supermarket include ginger chews, gochujang, mini boxes of fruity gum and an excuse to show off my new shoes ;)
-Father's day feast was full-fledged Korean BBQ themed and I think we nailed it!

Annie

p.s. I listened to this song 54 times last night, you should too. 

Lite Bite: Mayo-Less Tuna Salad

Tuna salad. Do you love it or does it make you gag? I'm on a HUGE kick right now and I'm real obsessed with my recipe so I had to share. It's free of mayo (EW) and gets tons of flavor from subbing in mustard. Makes for a perfect lunch that is satsifying and healthy!

Mayo-Less Tuna Salad
yields 1 serving

Ingredients:
1, 5 oz can tuna packed in water, drained
1 tbsp. grainy mustard
1-2 tbsp. dijon mustard
1.5 tbsp. chopped pickles or relish
1.5 tbsp. diced red onion
salt and pepper
GG crackers, rice cake or bibb lettuce for serving

Directions:
Drain your can of tuna. In a small bowl combine all ingredients. Adding more mustard if you want it creamier. Serve with crackers, rice cakes or in little cups of bibb lettuce making it whole 30 compliant (as long as your mustard is sugar free! I like this brand, for obvious reasons)!
 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Let's just skip to the weekend shall we, because it trumped last week. I left for Houston, Friday, for my long time "blogger besties" wedding. It's funny to think we truly met on the internet, but it was a testament that you can make friends anywhere. Molly and I found each other on the web during college through our blogs. With noticeable similarities we became virtual friends. With just being a state apart, opportunities like Austin City Limits and OU/Texas weekends led us to meet up in person. A few other times like our BB Dallas weekend and my stay at AirMB kept our friendship going. 

Molly's big day finally arrived and I couldn't have been more excited to be included. A stay and spend with my great friend/Houston host/plus one, Claire, made the weekend even better. (Claire and I were set up freshman year to be roommates and have been friends ever since). We both mutually love homemade matchas, health food, fitness and silk scarves ;) We dined at Emmaline, Juice Land, Tiny Boxwoods and then had the best wedding food I've ever heard/seen/eaten at Molly's reception. Molly and William's wedding was jaw drop worthy and the most beautiful wedding I've ever seen. Not to mention extremely fun. 

Here's to starting the week on a weekend hight and hoping it gives me motivation to get Monday...

-A green salad with lot's of avocado and grilled chicken. My lunch as of late thanks to The Jones Assembly.
-Lights, camera, action for a fun photoshoot with The Social Order crew.
-Craving tomatoes, as I should be since they are perfectly in season right now. I've been buying a bunch of vine ripened tomatoes and chopping to put in salads or thinly slicing and topping with everything but the bagel seasoning for a snack while I cook dinner.
-Wheels up to H-Town for #MollyMadeASlamDunc. Also, I love traveling by myself, anyone else?
-Hi from Houston! 
-Walked, juiced, worked out, ate, shopped and more all around town with Claire!
-Best friends make the best plus ones. 
-To the Duncans!
-My contribution to our Sunday night potluck. Recipe is saved in my "bites" highlight on instagram.

Annie