Bites of My Life

Many monumental moments last week. Our family grew as sis gave birth to the most perfect little girl. Elle Frances was born last Thursday and my whole family is in a baby comma of obsession. As the first grandchild on both sides, I only hope she can handle all the attention. Fun fact I gave Kat and JK the idea for her name last fall before they even knew they were pregnant. They kept the name a secret the whole 9 months and I burst into tears in the hospital when they finally revealed her name. Not to mention my middle name is also Frances, so we are basically twins now. 

Monumental moments part 2; we hosted our first concert at The Jones Assembly. To everyone's surprise we pulled it off without a hitch and now I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of our fall lineup. Life isn't slowing down, but only getting better with speed. 

-A turkey burger salad with a side of #GabetheBabe. 
-EnCroute twice in one week, because their avocado omelette has me crawling back for more. 
-I love these little 100 calorie chia bars by Health Warrior. The Mexican Chocolate flavor is new to me, but so delicious and perfect way to curb my sweet tooth. 
-All the veggies and hummus please, with a side of greek meatballs. 
-Recipe post finally!! Italian Chopped Salad perfect for a crowd, better for lunches. Get the recipe here. 
-Elle Frances Krenger 7.27.17, I'll never forget this day. 
-Work by day, dinner and drinks by night, all at The Jones. 
-When in doubt, #putaneggonit. 
-Better Than Ezra and The Wallflowers broke in the stage at our inaugural concert. 
-Embraced every bit of my Sunday with taking back to back yoga classes at Soul Yoga.
-Then enjoyed some squishy baby snuggles with my Elle girl.
-Rounded out the day with a Sunday sundae. 

Annie

Italian Chopped Salad

Recipe posts are BACK! After a two and half month hiatus, I come back with a recipe for non other than...a salad. This chick loves a good salad though, so be it.

I used to eat wimpy, non-protein, rabbit food salads. That just won't cut it now. I'm not sure if I'm still growing or that I'm working out more, but I want all the protein, healthy fats and goodies in my salads. With sliced salami, salty artichokes and kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes and protein packed chickpeas, I'm crushing on this Italian Chopped salad! 

Once you marinate the chickpeas and artichokes the rest of this salad comes together in under 10 minutes. Serve it as a hearty main salad or divide amongst your friends and fam with grilled chicken or fish as a side! Skip to the bottom to see how I stretched this salad out over a week to eat for lunches. 

Italian Chopped Salad adapted from Foodie Crush
serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side*

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
14 tsp. pepper
1, 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1, 14 oz can plain artichoke hearts
4 cups chopped romain lettuce (2 large romaine hearts)
8-10 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup kalamata olives
4 oz salami, sliced into strips
Maldon salt, to finish

Directions:
In a small bowl or mason jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Shake or whisk to mix. 

Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas. Pat dry then place in a medium bowl. Drain your can of artichokes and chop into quarters, then add to the chickpeas. Pour 2 tablespoons of the dressing on the chickpeas and artichokes to marinated for 30 minutes. Reserve the rest of the dressing for later.

Add the chopped romaine to a large bowl. Add your tomatoes, olives, and sliced salami. Add the chickpeas and artichokes in the dressing to the lettuce mixture. Pour the reserved dressing over the salad then toss to coat. Sprinkle over some Maldon salt and fresh cracked pepper to finish.

*I have been eating this all week for lunch. To preserve the lettuce, keep each component in separate Ziplocks and Tupperware, including the dressing. Each morning I toss it all together with a drizzle of dressing and it is still fresh at lunch time! I got 4 days of salad from this recipe. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

This summer has FLOWN! I moved, we opened our new restaurant and my sister is days/hours/minutes away from having her baby. Last week wasn't short of speedy. Action packed with getting adjusted to The Jones officially beingopen, regaining my social life and heading up to Tulsa for Miss Mads wedding weekend! Despite this being the busiest season of life, I wouldn't change it. The memories and experiences made this summer2k17 are top notch. 

-When breakfast is this pretty, you can guarantee it will be a good day. 
-Having a built in barista at The Jones Assembly, is one of the many reasons I love my job and love TJA. 
-A spin on my Lunch Board with the addition of this new find. 
-When your fave granola is sold out everywhere (including online), but then you find the hold grail at Sprouts and buy every bag they have in stock...
-Celebrating our girl Libby on one of my favorite rooftops in the city!
-It's been a year + countdown to #PrivettPartyof2, but the day/night/weekend was one for the books!
-This princess bride bestie of mine stunned us all. 
-After 2.5 pieces of wedding cake, this veggie lunch was needed. Until I washed it down with a copious amount of chips and salsa...
-Getting out of my comfort zone and trying new studios with the luxury of my StudioHop membership. One membership = multiple studio access. Use my  promo code AnnieHop20 to get $20 off your first month!

Annie

P.S. I'm actually posting a new recipe tomorrow. I'm breaking the 1 post a week cycle!!

Bites of My Life

Goal of the week is to post more than just a bites post. Let's see if I can do it. Fingers crossed! The restaurant I have been devoting all of my time to the past 6 months finally opened last Thursday. Opening a restaurant is no joke. An industry I have coveted for years, and I finally found my place in it. If you're new here, I am the marketing manager for a local restaurant group. I get to mix my love of social media, promoting, marketing, food and restaurants into one dream job of a day job. Life has been crazy lately, so excuse me while I wrap up the past two weeks into one post!

-Have you ever seen something more "Annie"? The Raspberry Matcha Latte at The Jones Assembly is everything and more. 
-When there is a bibb lettuce shortage at the restaurant and you have to buy out the whole stock at Whole Foods...
-All lit up!
-One step closer to opening our doors.
-Mi familia at our last and final soft opening!
-Got to take off my marketing/hostess/server hat for a few hours to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
-The smoked salmon bagel from Kitchen No. 324 will always be my favorite. 
-The amount of times I've eaten chips and salsa for a meal in the past two weeks is absurd.
-Hi, I moved! My favorite little nook at our new place.

-Words from the wise, become besties with the barista at the restaurant you work for. I'm now the resident matcha and latte taste tester. Pictured here a pineapple matcha.
-Which leads to you becoming the matcha girl and people bringing you matcha Kit Kats. 
-Post StudioHop class calls for Organic Squeeze, especially when your punch card is full and you get it fo free!
-The countdown is over!
-7/13/17 The Jones Assembly is now open! The most rewarding thing I've ever been apart of!
-The hardest working crew ever!
-Cheers to #chefbritt and the team! We're open!
-First brunch at The Jones in the books. Followed by brunch again the next day. Yes I work there and yes I'm obsessed. 
-Started as a bandwagon fan, and now I'm a full on Garth Brooks superfan after his midnight performance this weekend. 
-Beyond Studios is one of my favorite studios that is accessible via StudioHop! Use my code AnnieHop20 in checkout to get $20 off your first month!
-Dessert at 11 am because Chef Owen's Flourless Chocolate Cake is irresistible. 
-Finally things are starting to slow down and Sunday night was the first chance to break in my new kitchen and cook dinner for the first time in about a month. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Happy Monday, I mean Wednesday, what? I'm confused. Welcome to the shortest/longest/strangest feeling work week. Taking last Friday off to move out of my house, turned the weekend into 5 days and now the work week is only 3. The restaurant my company has been working tirelessly over the past 2+ years is just days away from opening. This means the coveted 3 day week will be more like a straight 3 week work week. Seeing everything fall into place is extremely rewarding and exciting. 

Last week I moved out of my sweet little home of the last two years. A new place to call home is on the horizon, but I'll never forget the people, things and memories at Mahler Pl. A very long weekend of multiple cook outs, multiple days by the pool (finally) and a few days of rest to catch up on sleep made for a very successful 4th of July! 

-After two straight years of piling into our living room to watch The Bachelor(ette) every Monday, the last Bach watch party at Mahler Pl. called for copious amounts of Domino's eaten on the floor. 
-Happy birthday to the girl who celebrates everyone more than herself! 
-More pizza had to be consumed to morn not living together anymore. 
-Day 1 of the holiday weekend and Vim Vitae's reduce bloat juice was already needed...
-2 batches of festive Perfect CCCs were made over the weekend! Pro tip, serve them with my Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream for a real crowd pleaser! 
-Guacamole needs a place at every cookout. 
-On a mission to make everything I ate over the weekend festive. 
-Another episode feat. ME coming soon to OKC Over Easy. 
-Peach, Avocado and Cucumber salad from the newest issue of BA. The perfect accompaniment to our Sunday night steaks and potatoes. 
-Flamingos > Swans.
-Only a corner of all the snacks that were consumed. Calorie overload is a must on holidays. 
-"There's only 3 of us, but we love the 4th" ;)

Annie