Happy Friday everyone!!! I hope that you all get to enjoy an amazing 4th of July weekend. Keep me posted on what you are up to! I have a couple of healthy Friday Finds for you all… but don’t worry. Enjoy the burgers and beer this upcoming weekend because you know I will ;) 
1. I’ve always wanted to try making cauliflower fried rice or substituting rice with cauliflower but the idea of chopping and pulsing the cauliflower myself was not very appealing. A teammate and good friend of mine then told me Trader Joe’s sells riced cauliflower!!! Hallelujah! I was so happy to find it in their vegetable isle and love the texture and flavor it brings to a dish. 
2. Which leads into the above recipe of cauliflower stir fry! Instead of rice, I tossed olive oil, riced cauliflower, and assorted vegetables into a pan. Let it cook for 15 minutes and viola! The perfect healthy and filling dinner :) I’ve also used riced cauliflower to make fried rice and Anthony couldn’t tell until a couple bites later that it wasn’t rice. Even the pickiest eaters will love it :) 
3. Summer means some of my favorite fruits coming back into my diet like grapes and strawberries. Currently my favorite thing to snack on when I’m at work. 
4. And of course, more berries and watermelon. If it were possible, I would just live off of fruit and ice cream. 
5. Elle isn’t a “healthy find,” but she sure brings a whole lot of healthy habits to our family! Since we’ve gotten Elle, we find ourselves outdoors a lot more and multiple times a day getting fresh air. Even though the majority of my workouts are outside, I didn’t go outdoors after I was done riding, running, and swimming and spent the rest of the day cooped up inside. Now, we take Elle to the dog park, go on morning and evening walks, and spend a lot of time playing fetch with her. It creates quality family time, more exercise and moving around throughout the day, and helps us disconnect from electronics the rest of the evening. 
And of course, Thursday night traditions with the team at the track. My legs are fried.
What are some healthy Friday finds in your neck of the woods?
If you’ve tried riced cauliflower, what do you think? Yay or nay?
4th of July weekend plans?
My Friday started off with a treadmill track workout. Normally, my team gets together on Thursday evenings to run track together but I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half and missed the team practice. Ended up doing the workout the next morning and when I got to work, I rediscovered my love for sparkling water. Something about the extra bubbly is so refreshing. 
Once I got off work, it was time to head to the dog park with my two favorites to start kicking off the weekend. 
I don’t know how I managed to get us both in the picture, with her looking at the camera, and doing her dog version of a smile. That, my friends, takes true skill. 
What else are we to do while our puppy hides under our chair at the dog park? Take some selfies in between encouraging her to play with the other dogs. 
Dinner was some leftovers from the past couple of evenings and afterwards, we decided to head to Legacy Brewing. There are over 90 breweries in San Diego and we are slowly checking them off the list. This guava beer = 10/10 would recommend. 
Along with their pork cheese fries. I think this makes brewery number 17 we’ve visited together. Only 73 to go!
Since it was a work day, I was spent most of the day answering emails but took a short lunch break to go to Cody’s La Jolla, a delicious brunch place in Downtown La Jolla with my roommate. They had the best hand cut onion rings to start with. 
For the main dish, I got their chopped salad. It’s one of the first times I’ve ever gotten a salad for brunch but I knew that I would be indulging a lot the rest of the day and weekend to celebrate. If you are ever in San Diego and need a good brunch place, let me know! I am your girl. 
After lunch, I worked until 4:30 and started getting ready for my first track practice back after my injury. I was really nervous because I know that I get really competitive, especially at group practices but had no idea where my fitness levels were in terms of track workout paces. Happy to report that I am not completely out of shape and was able to keep up with the majority of the team throughout the workout. 
It was a beautiful day to run. Anthony and Elle came as well because Anthony wanted to do a mile trial time. Don’t tell him I’m telling you all, but for someone who does not run very often, he had an incredible time for his mile- 5:54 min/mi! Now we are slowly but surely trying to convert him to the dark side, I mean light side, of running and triathlon ;) 
My coach is awesome at taking action shots. Do not let this picture fool you though. I was dying on the inside and struggling to keep my 6:30 min/mile pace. Surgery and injury really takes a lot out of you! You just have to remind yourself that you have time to get back into it and you are doing this for fun. There is no rush and you’ll be back in no time. 
We were nervous to take Elle to our workout because we didn’t know how she would do tied up. She cried a couple of times but there were enough people on the team like coaches and friends, who gave her attention and eventually, she was just having fun chewing sticks on the sidelines. We can’t wait til our little sidekick can run too. As a reward, we let her dig a huge hole near the track after… Don’t tell the school! 
After track, I figured the best way to refuel was with Sprinkles Cupcakes… I definitely used my birthday as an excuse;) Somehow forgot to take a picture of my cupcakes but remembered to take one of Elle with hers. Love that Sprinkles makes cupcakes for dogs as well. 
Ended my birth date night with a cup of Yogi tea. I love the little quotes that come with their tea packets. I definitely needed that. 
Oh and on the topic of celebration, my sister one uped my birthday yesterday with a middle school celebration! She is graduating and going to high school in a couple months and one of 14 who got straight A’s all throughout middle school! She got a special trophy and everything. So excited for her and love watching her grow up, even if it’s from afar as she is in Florida right now.
RunMileswithSmiles 