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

I took a week off of instagram last week and it felt gooooood. Does anyone else ever do that? I made a mental resolution with myself to take 1 week off, every month for (hopefully) the rest of the year. It was such a mind clearer. Similar to a body detox where you rid your insides of toxins, this was a mind detox. For one week, the comparison game was over, the feeling of having/wanting to document my every moment was gone, the mindless hours spent staring at my phone were minimized. I challenge you to try a week off here and there. 

I logged off instagram last Monday through Saturday. I then sat in church Sunday morning to hear our pastor touch on the effects of social media. How it can lead to depression due to the over comparison, how it can lead to us losing sight of our values. How important it is to know God, know his stories, and walk with him, in order to keep our values in line. Especially in this ever changing world and comparison game we live in. #FoodForThought going into the new week! ...already looking forward to my next insta detox!

-Green salad on repeat again last week! Added a soft boiled egg for extra protein after an amazing lunch class at Union with Chelsea! My favorite way to break up the day. 
-Blueberry coconut cucumber protein shake is my fave right now! The combo may seem strange but it's weirdly refreshing. The recipe is on my instagram highlights!
-Posted these insane brownies last week. I'm just going to make you go read the post because like I said, they are insane. And borderline healthy! 
-Almond milk capp at TJA while grinding through some work. I love having a built in coffee shop right at my fingertips!
-Addicted to this breakfast. Protein, fiber and probiotics coming from soft scrambled eggs on GG crackers topped with kimchi!
-Dinner with my Stacey girl but really celebrating that Trin has moved back from Florida!
-Batch of steel cut oats for me and for Sarah Beth! SB texted me last week looking for some breakfast inspo. She loves oatmeal but has to be at work super early, so oatmeal is just microwaved from a packet (which honestly I love), but it's nice to indulge in thick and creamy homemade steel cut oats sometimes! I made a big batch of McCann's with cinnamon for her to re-heat at work! I suggest topping with more cinnamon, some blueberries and a spoonful of almond butter! If you need it sweeter add some brown sugar!
-I was trying to re-create these for sunday night dinner, but the frozen shrimp I pulled out of my freezer was more than questionable. Luckily I had some leftover shredded chicken aslo in the freezer so I adapted and ended up with a really delish dinner. 
-Did you read yesterday's post? I'm doing somethin' and celebratin' with healthy protein cake balls!  

Annie

P.S. I updated my OKC City Guide last week! Catch the new new here. 

Bites of My Life

Hello Monday morning. Despite waking up at 5:00 am today and already getting a handful of things checked off my list by what is now 7:00am, my productivity is not changing the fact that I'm not ready for a new week. I'm usually not like this, I usually like the weekly fresh start, but nope, just not feeling it. In that case I don't feel the need to blab on, so just keep scrolling for a look at last week. We can check back same time next Monday to see if I got out of my new week funk. 

-Was in Norman for work early last week and got to try the new Stella Nova. The most delicious almond milk latte has me counting down the days until the Oklahoma City location opens.
-Posting these cookies again because I can't get over the cuteness. Used this cookie and icing recipe. 
-My salad situation that is going on week three now. Here is the rundown: spinach, roasted mini chopped sweet potatoes, cucumbers, red bell pepper, sprouts, kraut or kimchi, green onion, drizzle of liquid aminos and tahini, dash of cayenne and topped with everything bagel seasoning. Tip is to prep, chop and have everything ready in the fridge for easy assembly. 
-Blueberry, cucumber and coconut protein smoothie. Weird but it worked.
-What was supposed to be a simple Wine Wednesday, turned into a fried brie, chocolate cake, sparkling rosé, 2 hour long evening with Katie!
-Sharing the quick recipe for these Thai Chicken Lettuce Boats in a Lite Bite post!
-Love the work I'm getting done at this new workspace. Come join me on Tuesday and Thursdays!
-The greenest of green smoothies to detox all the chocolate I ate the night before and fancy soft scrambled eggs cause it was the weekend.
-Never too many cooks in the kitchen when the cooks are all your best friends.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Bites is showing off lot's of delicious eats from last week, and even more over the weekend. Not pictured includes powering through work but GSD at this new workspace and with the help from these, some pilates, yoga and bootcamp via StudioHop and ending by sending off one of our besties and she and her boyfriend take their next venture to California. Which meant all kinds of celebrations to send them on their way. 

-Breakfast and my make-shift standing desk in full affect to kick the work week off. 
-Stole this big green salad idea from Veggie Bellie. My mix included roasted sweet potato, cucumber, red pepper, sprouts, green onion, spinach tossed with s&p, tahini, liquid aminos and topped with Everything But The Bagel seasoning from TJs.
-Serious snack noms. Rice cake, cashew butter, cocoyo, pomegranate seeds and cinnamon.
-Working on my soft scramble. New found tip is to scramble your eggs with your butter in the pan at the same time. It works and is delicious! 
-Date dipped in the best almond butter for a little "dessert hack" If you are on Whole30 this is a life savor. Or if you want to avoid eating ice cream for dessert every night, this helps satisfy the sweet craving we so often get after finishing a meal. 
-Golden Milk Protein smoothie bowl post evening Soul Yoga! (2 scoops Arbonne vanilla protein, frozen cauliflower, big shake of turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, pinch of black pepper, and almond milk)
-Preeeeeetty proud of how cute these little cookies came out for Alex's going away party. 
-A little lavender almond milk latte to power through the Friday work day. 
-Tried out Trader Joe's Frozen Cauliflower Crust. Topped it with pesto, roasted purple cauliflower, chicken and green onion. Love the toppings (and colors), hated the crust unfortunately. Anyone try it and feel the same?
-Matcha Avocado Vanilla Protein Shake blended to perfection (and to counteract all the Chick-Fil-A nuggets and chips and guacamole I had the night before).
-Healthy smoothie only to be followed by a surplus of fried chicken and fried okra at Oklahoma's oldest bar!
-Party bus to small town America to check every last thing off the Oklahoma Bucket list before Graham and Alex leave us for SoCal!

Annie

P.S. with This Is Us back last week and Riverdale and Scandal coming back on this week, you need this.