Happy Friday and happy September, friends!

Can you believe it’s been a month since I wrote my last Five Things Friday post?  I guess August was a pretty crazy month, but I’m back and so happy about it!

Unfortunately, this long weekend is not filled with tons of hiking, picnicing, and fun…I’ll be studying for my organic chemistry final BUT I do have a couple of fun and relaxing things up my sleeve so that I don’t go crazy from studying too much 🙂

I hope you all have a wonderful last weekend of summer AND if you are looking for a delicious dish to take to an end of summer picnic or party here are a couple of options:

• Thai Peanut Everything Sauce (can be made with sunflower seed butter if you aren’t a peanut person)

• Spicy Sweet Strawberry Salsa

• Pesto Potato Salad

• Zesty Black Bean Dip

• Black Bean and Corn Quinoa Salad

• Layered Hummus Dip

• Smoked Salmon Cucumber Bites

• 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

OK! Let’s have a little Five Things Friday action 🙂

Five Things I Ate:

• Sushi! Last weekend, Brian’s brother was visiting and we went to a new sushi restaurant that is within walking distance of our apartment called Izu.  Not only was the sushi wonderful, but the service was even better.  I can’t wait to go back!

Brian and I shared the smoked salmon and tuna sashimi and I enjoyed the cucumber roll with wasabi 🙂

• Smoothies!  I have had one every morning, except for this morning.  I feel like I am trying to soak up all the final bits of summer by slurping away on something cool and creamy 🙂

A new addition to my smoothies has been hemp protein powder.  While I try to get most of my nutrients from actual food, I do like adding protein powder to my smoothies for staying power, texture, and flavor.  This hemp protein has only one ingredient…hemp protein! No extra gums, thickeners, or sweeteners which makes me super happy!  I really enjoy the slightly chocolatey flavor it adds to my cool creamy smoothies 🙂

• Italian Chicken Burgers…yum! Made these on Monday night and Brian and I were both very pleased with the end result.  Will share the recipe soon! (they are low FODMAP, gluten and grain free and I’m pretty sure they are paleo-friendly too!)

• So, I have been trying to trick my tastebuds and mind into thinking it’s truly fall by making more “fall-like” meals…such as this bowl of deliciousness.  Shredded chicken, sauteed greens with tamari, and mashed sweet potatoes with chives all topped off with a drizzle of walnut oil and red wine vinegar 🙂

• Another fall-like meal we enjoyed this week was this one-pan skillet meal which had eggplant, zucchini, spinach, chicken, diced tomatoes, Italian herbs, and crushed red pepper.  Again, super tasty and I’ll measure it out next time so I can share the recipe.  (also low FODMAP, grain and gluten free, paleo-friendly).

Five Workouts and Marathon Training Recap

• Taught Bodypump
• CXWORX
• Running
• Walking the puppy (who is more like a dog now!)
• More running! 😉

So this week was a taper week in my marathon training.  I actually had a 6 mile run scheduled for this morning, but instead I went on a walk with Brian and Bernie and right now I just don’t feel like running.  I have quite a bit of work to get done, so that may be weighing on my mind, but I have a feeling I will hit the road later in the day and give Bernie another good long walk.  Other than that, training has been going great!! Next week, I hit 18 miles…Yikes!!! Wish me luck.

Five Things Making Me Happy:

• So, I have been pretty vocal about my not wanting summer to end, right?  Well, this morning when Brian and I walked Bernie it felt very crisp and cool and got me kind of excited for fall!! 🙂  Next weekend, I plan on getting some fall flowers for our flower boxes, so if you have any recommendations I am all ears!
• Delicious food.  I kind of felt like I was in a food rut a few weeks ago, but now I feel like my tastebuds and brain are back in creative mode.  There are so many new flavors I want to experiment with, I just keep adding them to my list in Evernote.  Looks like I need to cause a little “treble” in the kitchen 🙂
• Yesterday, the 1940s holiday singing group I am in had a rehearsal and it was amazing! I love how good singing makes me feel and I needed the break from studying.  Also, we are getting new outfits this year and they are adorable!

Here is the video of our sister group in LA 🙂

Posts I Have Loved

• How Do I Do It All via Lindsay’s List
• Healthy 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Fudge via The Big Man’s World (let the pumpkin extravaganza begin!)
• The Weird Way I Get Through Difficult Long Runs with Music via Pumps and Iron
• Bean-Free Hummus…Zummus! via The Fit Cookie
• Microwave Sweet Potato Mug Cake via The Lean Green Bean
• 3 Ways to Overcome Discouragement via Cotter Crunch
• Fun Gender Reveal Ideas via Zulily (They shared a link to my post recapping a gender reveal party I went to for my wonderful friends Chelsea and Nate!)

Well friends, that is all that I have for today 🙂 I hope the weekend is fantastic for all of you!!

Your Turn!

• Share a highlight from your week!