Food Fight-Market-Thank Dog It's-Friday {FFF, MF, TDIF, FTW}

Happy Friday folks! Yep, you read that title correctly. I've been so jammed up this week that I haven't had much extra time to post, so I'm going big today. Why not jump in on multiple Friday initiatives all at once? My day covered pretty much all of them, so I might as well throw it all into one post.

I started the day (early) with some doggy loving, so I can't help but jump in on #TDIF which I believe was the brainchild of @foxyspirit and @rebeccabe. There's a day for cats, so why not for doggies? I don't have any pets of my own, but I am 100% a dog lover. I'm lucky enough to have plenty of friends and family who let me get my fix on occasion. One of the couples who come in and train at the gym where I work often bring in their sweet girl Sasha, as well. Sasha's daddy was actually laughing at me today because I went straight to her for some love before I even said good morning to him. Priorities. Getting up at 4:30 AM for a 6:30 AM client is a whole lot easier when you get some unconditional love from a sweet pup.

For the @foodfightfriday showdown, I prepped all my food for a Taste & Learn event I'm doing at the studio tomorrow. I am trying to expand my nutrition coaching offerings a bit, so this is the first event to really start promoting that more. Besides just promoting myself and giving the studio a fun event for clients to jump in on, I hope to inspire people to try more plant-based options and get excited about the local, seasonal offerings. On the menu is beet hummus with my homemade chickpea crackers...

I also brought back my strawberry gazpacho because we are loaded up with fresh-picked strawberries. Well, and it is pretty darn delicious.

To finish out the tasting I blitzed up a super easy food processor salad with raw cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, dates, and a fresh herb dressing. We've got plenty of mint, lemon balm and parsley out back that pair so well with walnuts and apricot vinegar to pack a nice flavor punch! You don't need much to make fresh fruits and veggie taste delicious!

So where does @dswigle's #marketfriday fit into the picture? Well, it may be a bit of a stretch since I didn't take any pictures in the grocery store, but I did hit up the local Kroger TWICE today. I went the first time on the way home from my busy morning of training sessions so I could get right on to my food prep for tomorrow. Of course I didn't get enough tomatoes for the gazpacho, so I needed to go back. The store is only a mile away, so instead of hopping in the car I multi-tasked and ran the mile there!

Less than 25 minutes there and back, which probably isn't much slower than what it would have taken to get in the car and drive. It was rainy this morning so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to squeeze in any running today or not but the sun came out for a gorgeous afternoon. Only a few miles, but it's better than nothing! I'll hit the farmers market tomorrow morning before going to set up for my event, so more food buying ahead. Part of the focus of the event is on buying local and supporting your farmers, so that counts, right Denise? 😉

My promo cards came in and look fantastic after @dksart designed them for me, so I'm ready to talk about yummy, fresh food tomorrow! I have plans to hang out with my gal pals tomorrow night, so if I don't post an update after the event I'll try to hit it on Sunday. Either way, I'm looking forward to it! I can't think of a much better way to spend a few hours than talking about food and the farmers market.

I hope you all get to indulge in some of your passions this weekend, as well! Thanks for stopping by my catch-all post!

Banners by @zord189, @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa