Bites of My Life

Unintentionally skipped a week of bites and barely noticed. It was suuuuch a good week and some change at home for Thanksgiving. Can’t wait to do it all again for Christmas. After having Covid over Thanksgiving last year, this year’s holiday was everything.

I’m back in Dallas for the next few weeks, and I know they are going to fly by. Work is always busy this time of year making the workdays quick, and socially things are stacking up. I’m trying to schedule in as many nights at home for cooking and watching holiday movies!

-So many snuggles and kisses and loving on baby Jack. The newest to our crew is cute as ever and growing so big and healthy. I loved his addition to Thanksgiving.
-Once arriving to OKC, a trip to Spark for lunch was an obvious decision.
-Gameday like it was 2014!!
-Pete in OKC! Peter came up on the front end of the trip for a short but really fun visit with the whoooooole fam.
-We’ve turned sporty! A Sunday afternoon pickleball game started off a little dicey, but once we all got the hang of it, it was a really fun day.
-OKC’s favorite drink turned cozy. Thanks to cousin Clay who’s working for Clubby, we got the Cashmere Sweater hookup.
-Almost every evening ended with a round or two of Mexican Train. Such a good game to play with family. It also doesn’t take too much concentration so it’s easy to play while multitasking watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and sipping some kind of cocktail or glass of wine.
-Proof of the turkey trot that killed me. We ran 2 miles, yes only 2 miles, but the wind that morning sent my allergies into a spiral that had me napping from all the Benedryl I took the majority of Thanksgiving.
-Look at that plate! So much color, so much yum.
-Rent the Runway head to toe pretty much every day, always. I couldn’t let these split flare jeans and oversized plaid coat go just yet.
-Leftover turkey cooked all day in a smokey tomato sauce for turkey tinga tacos. The best way we’ve ever used up leftover turkey. I used this recipe as a guide minus the corn.
-Claire, Mike, Jack and I headed back to Texas early Sunday morning. We all stopped in Dallas for lunch and a visit to my apartment before the Elmgreen’s kept on to Austin.

Annie

Bites of My Life

One week countdown to Thanksgiving, the best holiday of the year! Days feel full of events, and food, and holiday hooplah already and I am a OK with it.

-I love a stuffed sweet potato moment. I’ve been doing this since college. The amount of microwaved sweet potatoes with almond butter I ate in the sorority house is alarming.
-Roasted cauliflower sammy on house-made focaccia. Need I say more. This lunch from Georgie’s Butcher Shop was a stretch outside my usual salad lunch, but just what I needed.
-How gooooood is this bowtie pasta puffer I rented last week from RTR!
-Such a fun new spot in Downtown Dallas, National Anthem. It’s owned by the same guys from Neighborhood Services so you know it’s going to be good.
-Celebrated #NationalHappyHourDay at The Slate on Friday with a group effort board. We all contributed something to this 3-foot board.
-This goofy house in the M Streets has a rotating gigantic inflatable in their yard. I joked they are prepping for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
-Saturday morning walk with a breakfast taco reward!
-Black tie crew!
-Chelsea Handler crashing our Sunday night dinner. Yes I submitted to Deux Moi, brace yourself for the repost.

Annie

Soup bite: I quietly posted my Chicken & Right Rice Soup recipe last week. View the recipe here.

Crock-Pot Chicken & Right Rice Soup

Like a 45-year-old mom, I love a crock-pot meal. This Chicken & Right Rice soup as SO much flavor for being a simple crock-pot soup. I love how the Right Rice is a nod to the texture of noodles in chicken noodle soup and the shape of rice like in chicken & rice soup. It’s hearty, grain free, and has great protein from the chicken and bone broth. Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Chicken & Right Rice Soup
yields 4-5 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken bone broth (stock or regular broth will do)
3/4 cup original Right Rice*
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1-2 springs fresh rosemary, chopped
parmesan rind if you have one

Directions:
Lightly coat your crock-pot with a nonstick spray. Arrange the chicken breasts along the bottom of your pot. Add the carrots, celery, and garlic on top. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 4 cups of chicken bone broth. Note, your rice will go in later.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 1/2 hours. After the initial cooking, add the 3/4 cup of dry, uncooked Right Rice, 2 tbsp. parsley and 1 tbsp. rosemary, and continue to cook for 2 hours on low or 1 hour on high**. If you have a leftover parmesan rind, now is the time to add it. The parmesan rind gives it an extra level of flavor, but is not necessary!

After the cooking time, remove the chicken from the crock-pot and place it on a plate or cutting board. Using two forks, shred the chicken and then place it back in the crock-pot. Add additional broth or water if your soup has over thickened from the Right Rice.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of remaining parsley, rosemary, and fresh cracked black pepper. The soup is good to last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

*The Right Rice can be substituted for brown rice, orzo, or Israeli couscous.
**Cooking times are relative to how hot your crock-pot cooks. I prefer cooking on high for a shorter amount of time. 3 1/2 hours of total cooking time was perfect for me! Check your chicken occasionally to make sure you aren’t overcooking it.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Daylight savings sneaks up on you woof! It was bright as day at 6:30am this morning and sadly so dark by 5:30pm last night. I had a relatively lazy week after a run in with being sick and then proceeding to lay low after that. Lot’s of naps and couch time, which who am I kidding, I’m not mad about. I’m obsessed with the fact that the past two weekends have not been jam packed with plans. It’s so nice to just chill before the holiday hooplah. Fingers crossed for something similar this week/weekend!

-Started the week with a group of my favorite people having the coziest girls’ night with homemade butternut squash soup, a cheese board, and girl talk for days. The little group that has formed from my time at The Slate is my favorite.
-My Kindle came in and I love it! I thought I’d always be a book girl, but after using that excuse and not reading but maybe 1 to 2 books this year, I bit the bullet and got the basic Kindle.
-I woke up Tuesday with the most random spat of sickness. My symptoms came out of nowhere making me miss the Rolling Stones concert. A batch of buttered noodles on the couch is how my night turned out. And by buttered noodles I mean red lentil noodles with ghee and nutritional yeast 🤪
-Sick day uniform which has easily transferred into everyday uniform. My sweet Bailey sold me on this UO crop top (size large). It’s as good as she told me it would be, and I’ve worn it in some capacity every day since I got it. Paired with these little gold hoops from Amazon, and some basic gray sweats (I got a large) that are just it.
-Cheeres Marget aka Cheers Margaret! A Tom Thumb party fail but a good laugh nonetheless for Margaret’s bday.
-Birthday celebrash round 2 with ice cream and caramel cake. The most delish.
-Cozy Friday early birthday dinner for Morgan!
-Peter and I wasted zero time trying Mayer’s Garden. From our faves Alamo Club, it did not disappoint. We snacked on the meat & cheese plate and bacon jam deviled eggs for Sat. lunch.
-Best Sunday prepping bolognese all day. I’ve never made bolognese and it was the perfect meal for daylight savings and the Yellowstone premiere. We used ground elk meat because #Texas. Used this recipe.

Annie

Bites of My Life

November omg. How did we get here? BUT it’s truly the best time of year. I love the Halloween kickoff to the holidays. I’m ready and here for them!

-Spark is open! Couldn’t have done it without my PIC!
-Extra extra read all about it. Our opening blew out my expectations and there was press to match. I’m feeling proud and excited for Spark’s little future.
-Spent one last morning in OKC, then hit the road to make it back to Dallas. Park Power Bowl, I miss you already.
-Fall flowers at my door after a successful opening :)
-Since I’ve lived in Dallas I’ve wanted to do The Old Monk’s pumpkin carving. For $15 you get a hollowed-out pumpkin, carving kit, and a pint of beer. Such a fun weeknight activity. My sugar skull on the right won my IG poll - weee!
-My crazy fall is settling down a little just in time for the holidays. I’m so excited to have some free time to just let plans fall together and not have everything be so structured. That is exactly what happened on Friday. The girls were in town and we threw together a chill evening in, with copious amounts of snacks and sweets.
-OGs know. I made THE verde turkey chili for Friday’s gathering and slurped down leftovers Saturday.
-First time trying Crisp & Green. It opened earlier this year in Dallas. Similar to sweetgreen for national folks and Cool Greens for my okies but errrrrr way better and cleaner than CG. I got their seasonal Chicken Casablanca and my sweet Morgs got the Squash Goals. I can’t wait to go back.
-A great little Halloween Sunday with Peter’s fam at a neighborhood block party and then off to watch the Cowboys game with friends.

Annie

The day after Halloween means one thing: Halloween Candy Compost Cookies
Save this cake for your Thanksgiving or fall pot-luck contribution: Caramel Butterscotch Cake