Friday Five: 5 Things I’m Loving This Week

Happy Happy Friday! I'm so happy it's finally Friday for a number of reasons. 1. I get to see one of my good friends today that I haven't seen in over a year! She was teaching abroad in Thailand and she's finally home, so of course that calls for an Amish Market breakfast! 2. I had a long week of substitute teaching. And 3. It is finally Camporee weekend! My mom runs a Girl Scout camp the first weekend in May every year and it's a blast! This is the first year in awhile that I don't have something keeping me from being there the whole weekend. And on that happy note, I present to you the 5 things I have been loving this week! I apologize in advance that most are food (#hungrygirlproblems) so caution: do not read on an empty stomach.

1. The book Run Less Run Faster
I've had my eye on this book for awhile now and I finally decided to use all the Barnes and Noble gift cards I've had sitting around and buy it. This book introduces the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) program. The idea is to follow a 3plus2 training plan which I am completely SOLD on! I love the idea of having a purpose for each run and not just trying to get in as many miles as possible. I'm planning to implement this for my marathon training this year and am eager to see how well it fits into my schedule and improves my pace!

2. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder in my Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are a breakfast/lunch of choice for me. My typical oats have vanilla soy milk and cinnamon in them and then whatever fruit I have on had. Sometimes I'll put some yogurt in it but I've been cutting a majority of dairy out of my diet so I try not to. Back in the winter I was adding a bit of hot chocolate powder to my oats to add some more sweetness. {I'm allergic to nuts so that can limit me on what I can add} Recently I came across unsweetened cocoa powder at Aldi's (hellllo, low prices!) so I figured that had to be just as good with less sugar than hot chocolate powder. It's actually really good! I had to add a bit of Splenda to it to give it a bit more sweetness but other than that it's delicious.

3. Poached Eggs in the Microwave
It's no secret that I LOVE eggs. Dippy eggs with toast. Fried eggs on English muffins. Scrambled eggs with veggies. Hard-boiled eggs. I'm always trying to find ways to spice up my breakfast so this past weekend I decided to crawl outside of my egg-cooking comfort zone and attempt to make a poached egg. I learned how to make them on the stove on Master Chef Junior and sadly those kids totally showed me up in cooking experience so I decided to try the microwave version of them. After a quick google search, I successfully made myself a poached egged on toast! And it was good! I highly recommend these for anyone who is trying to switch up their breakfast. They take less than 90 seconds (depending on your microwave!).

4. Portobello Mushrooms
With summer comes BBQ's and I hate to say this, but I get tired of burgers VERY quickly. As in, I may have one each summer and then I'll switch to chicken burgers, veggie burgers, and anything else not burger-like. Wednesday night I had a portobello mushroom "burger" for the first time in a long time and I had completely forgotten how yummy they are! My mother-in-law made them with veggies and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and they were PERFECT. I really wouldn't compare it to a burger because I didn't even eat it on a roll, but who cares, it was great! I definitely think I'll be having more of them this summer.

5. Frozen Grapes with Jello Mix
To go along with this warm weather, my last favorite thing is frozen grapes with a delicious twist! My mom taught me this trick and it is seriously the best treat to make all summer. All you have to do is pick and rinse your grapes, and then while they are still wet, sprinkle jello mix (I used sugar-free to keep them as close to healthy as possible haha) on top, and then freeze. Within hours you will have yourself a delicious little bag of flavorful frozen grapes! They are perfect for a super hot day, especially after a run. I've been eating these all week after my dreadfully hot runs.


Question of the Day: What are you loving this week?