Bacon Wrapped Dates

I couldn't let this perfect party appetizer pass without sharing the recipe! I made these bacon wrapped dates with almonds and goat cheese for my good friends wedding shower a couple of weeks ago. I ate about half the platter, but they were still a hit! The creamy cheese or salty almond stuffed in a sweet date then wrapped in bacon, it's just the most sinful little bite. Great for parties of all kinds; dinner party, wedding shower, birthday or football watch party!

The recipe comes from my new favorite book Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist. The book is chalk full of cozy family recipes. I plan on cooking through the book and sharing more of Shauna's insight on daily life and daily bites, so stay tuned!

Bacon Wrapped Dates adapted from Bread & Wine

Ingredients:
8 oz package of dates, pitted if you can find them
4 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup almonds, roasted and salted (optional)
16 oz pkg. bacon

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a roasting sheet (with sides is best) with foil and set aside. 

If your dates are not already pitted, you will need to pit them. Make a slice lengthwise along the date. Open it up like a little book and remove the pit. Stuff half the dates with almonds and half with a little shmear of goat cheese. Shauna informs you to steer clear of any nut, she says it reminds her too much of the pit, which it does. But I love the crunch! Maybe next time I'll do a little combo of the cheese and almond stuffed inside!

Cut your bacon in half or thirds depending on how long your strips are. Wrap a piece of bacon around the filled date and place it seam side down on your foil lined baking sheet. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve at room temp!

I urge you to go pick up a copy of Bread & Wine. It's the perfect read as fall is arriving! But in the meantime, you can just make batches of bacon wrapped dates to tide you over!

Annie

What I'm Listening To

Wednesday last week I posted up at Starbucks to GSD. It was pouring rain, it was hump day, I had a green tea in hand, and Starbucks was killing the mood playlist. I love a good rainy day playlist that gets all the vibes going. Cue ILYSB comes on.

The song was familiar, but I had no idea who sang it or what it was called. I'm not one to ever really listen to the words of a song or pay attention to the title of it. Shazam works wonders for people like me. Found out it was ILYSB (I love you so bad) by LANY (pronounced Lay-Nee). This group loves a good acronym. Annnnnyway, I added it to my Spotify and have listened to it over and over and over since. I'm just a few listens short of being completely sick of it. I linked the live version above, but you can find ILYSB on itunes, Spotify, SoundCloud etc. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Today's bites post is stacked with photo bites of last week. A full camera roll of weekly images, typically means it was a great week. I suppose I was trying to squeeze as many memories possible into the last week of summer. I wore white everyday, bought a car (!!!!), finished Whole30, visited a city I've never been to, reunited with college friends, welcomed the start of college football, and sat poolside for probably the last time in 2016.

I breezed through the week quick as quick in anticipation of my trip to Houston for OU's first game of the season. Game outcome aside, the weekend was too good. Molly opened her doors for me to stay at "AirbMB" for the weekend. Unfortunately MB was Austin bound for the weekend, but we got a quick 30 minute catch up sesh to make it count! The weekend also included multiple catch up sesh's with college friends near and far who all came together for the game. Lots of memories made and too much fun had. I'm still exhausted and caught up on a high from the weekend. I'm letting it end graciously though as we say farewell summer/hello fall. Let the best season begin.  

-All white everyday last week before the fashion police say I can't. 
-Shared a few ways I knock pesky morning headaches. 
-Spaghetti squash primavera for the last bites of Whole30.
-Golden Milk. You have to try it if you haven't, perfect way to end the day.
-A somewhat celebratory lunch at Mexican Sugar after purchasing my first car!!! My car accident a few weeks back ended up being a blessing in disguise.
-CCC dough rolled into balls and frozen to save for a rainy day, unexpected guests, or those strong sweet tooth cravings.
-A matcha a week keeps the doctor away...
-A trip to Houston meant a quickie meet up with MB before she headed out of town and finally a visit to her place of work at Biscuit.
-Lunch at Local Foods was suggested on more than one account. It lived up to all the hype!
-All smiles pre OU upset. 
-If only all college football games came equipped with a bloody mary bar. Hello feta stuffed olives. 
-A diner breakfast to round out the Houston bites and to soak up Saturday night. 
-Some rude (smart) person thought it would be a good idea to put a mini Dylan's Candy Bar right next to my Southwest gate. I arrived and left Houston with a big bag of candy store candy. Sour gummies and chocolate covered everything.
-One last dip!
-Labor day steaks and veggies to send off summer!

Annie

How to Get Rid of Morning Headaches

Do you ever wake up with headaches? They are the worst and it is no way to start your day. I love to self diagnose myself when I get sick. I know that is the last thing you should do, but lets be honest, we all do it. When I have a cold, I turn to the internet for quick fixes, when I'm hungover I look for home remedies and when I get raging headaches I love to search for the best way to end it quick. Last week I woke up with a headache from H-E-double hockey sticks. I had a day full of to do lists and I didn't want a headache to be hanging out with me all day. 

I found this article from Dr. Oz to be really helpful. It lays out what types of headaches there are and what the cause and cures for them are. 

Migraines and hormonal headaches usually take place on the side of your head. Migraines are more extreme sometimes causing you to become nauseous. Hormonal headaches are caused when your estrogen levels drop, leading reason why women have more headaches than men.  Magnesium is needed to calm these monthly triggers. Magnesium can be found in food like spinach, chard, potatoes, and bananas. 

Tension headaches are the ones where it feels like a band is wrapped around your head, usually caused from stress that you are holding in your neck or shoulders. Try placing a heating pad around your neck or on your shoulders to help ease the pain. 

Cold and flu related headaches pop up from being dehydrated due to loss of water and essential salts. Drinking lots of fluids and eating foods like watermelon or cucumber help with hydration.

When my hellish headache struck I fixed it with these easy home remedies. I'm no doctor, but it worked for me and I hope it works for you. 

1. Drink a huge glass of water. Headaches are typically always due to dehydration.

2. Make some green tea with mint. The soothing power of mint helps ease the tension in headaches. I drink this tea daily. 

3. Lay down in a dim room with a cold or hot rag on your forehead. I know mornings are rushed but if you have at least 10 minutes, lay back in bad, shut off the lights and rest with a cold or hot towel on your head. Either temperature should help, whatever seems better for your situation.

4. Make a smoothie with spinach and bananas. Migraines and hormonal headaches can be fixed with a dose of magnesium. Try making a smoothie packed with tons or spinach and banana. My matcha smoothie helped cure my aches, but this and this recipe should too!

5. If you must, pop two Advil. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Last week my parent's jetted off to SoCal (JELLY) and I stayed back to make sure their house didn't go up in flames. It didn't, so I think I did okay. I felt like I was on a mini vacation getting to pack up a bag and relocate living quarters for the week. Despite waking up in their dreamy abode, my patience was tested with their attention seeking puppy. We were both pushed to the limit, but we made it out alive! Visits from close friends and the addition of lot's of rose` made my puppy patience subside a bit. 

The last week/weekend of August was a great one. Wine nights, a going away party, CPA celebrations, a bridal shower and banana bread baking rounded it out. Now it's almost September. HOW?

-Matcha Monday.
-Bites alongside Bon Appetit page views.
-If you didn't know, dates are nature's candy. So sweet and sinful, add some crunchy AB on top and your sweet tooth is cured.
-So much love for last week's recipe. Turns out I'm not the only one who loves sweet potatoes and figs!
-#GabetheBabe quickly turned into #GabetheMenace when I got put in charge of him.
-While house sitting for my parents, I took the time to dig through my mom's old family recipes. These cream cheese walnut brownies reminded me of an after school 4th grade snack!
-Friday's are made for best friends, rose, and epic charcuterie boards.
-This breakfast. 1/4 avocado, 2 scrambled eggs with spinach, harissa sauce all over a pile of spinach.
-SB can final return to reality post CPA mayhem! 
-Bridal shower bites.
-My bridey to be! So much fun getting to shower you!
-Sister got her gallbladder taken out over the weekend. When I asked her if she needed anything, she said the only thing she was craving was banana bread. Overripe bananas already in the freezer to the rescue! Whipped up a late night batch of my banana bread (with cinnamon added this time)!

Annie