One thing I love about Bill is that he’s always willing to take a driving adventure to find different eateries. Today’s lunch included a drive to nearby Rockville to the Bagel Towne Deli.

The place was different than I expected. It was in a developed sort of area that was trying to look like a town (but wasn’t), but the inside had a nice, cozy atmosphere with a hometown feel.

I decided to get the Yenta which was a bagel sandwich with hummus, carrots, sprouts, cucumbers and munster cheese (I omitted the tomato). For my side, I chose fruit and a pickle.

Talk about a loaded bagel. It was needed after this morning’s workout – that’s for sure.

Now I’m off to spend the rest of the afternoon doing some of this:

Totally disinterested in me. I may go read a book. We are heading to Rob and Kate’s house for his 2nd Annual Beer Tasting. Should be an exciting post with lots of photos + some video tomorrow!

And thanks to everyone who read my morning post about running. It was nice to share my thoughts with you and see that others have been in the same situation. I wanted to add (in case it was unclear) that I do enjoy running. I just need to set better and more achievable goals for this point in my life

I had a very reflective gym experience today. Because my batteries are dead in my camera – I thought now would be the perfect time to do an Exercise Installment on On a Lobster Placemat.

I love working out on Saturdays. This morning I woke up, went to the gym around 9:30 a.m., lifted for 20 minutes, took a step class and ran a mile – and burned 625 calories. I was so excited by the number on my HRM, I ignored how good my legs felt when I ran and how much better I can keep up in step class. I like knowing how many calories I burn (especially on days where I know I’ll be eating out), but I realized that I was losing sight of why I do what I do and how it makes me feel. I lift because of the way I feel after. I take step class because it’s so much fun. And I run because I like knowing I can travel far distances like that, on my own two legs.

I don’t talk about exercise that much on this blog. I’ve been thinking about that recently. I guess there are a couple reasons and a lot of it goes back to my days of being a runner.

In high school, I did the unthinkable for someone in my (genetically overweight/obese) family. I signed up for the cross country team. I didn’t think I’d do well at soccer, and I knew I wanted to play a sport that would challenge me. I ran all four years in high school and set my all-time PR when I was 17. I continued running in college but by my senior year, it had tapered off dramatically. When I moved down to DC, I vowed I would become a runner again.

But I really didn’t.

And I still don’t think I am a runner. And maybe that’s why I skim over it in blog posts. I haven’t run more than 6 miles in several years. I haven’t raced in four years. My average run is 3 miles, at best, and I’m much slower than I used to be. I feel like an ex-runner most of the time.

I’m not writing all this for it to be a pity party. I’m writing it because look at my attitude. (!) It’s no wonder that when my friend Katie asked if I would run a half marathon with her in May 2009, I sheepishly said, “maybe” and told her that I’d “fake-train” (meaning I’d try and run, but I wouldn’t sign up until the last minute). I still haven’t signed up for the race. And it still feels incredibly far away in terms of goals. And maybe it is. Maybe I’m setting goals that are too high for where I’m at right now. I don’t know.

My food mindset changed dramatically when I started this blog. I can finally appreciate food and use it to nourish my body. But it’s taken a while for my exercise mindset to catch up. I know if I think positively and train hard, I can succeed. But how do you get over the initial hump and start believing in yourself?

I’m not sure if I’ve come to any revelations yet about running or exercise. I just wanted to share these thoughts with you.

My lunch is so boring in comparison the amount of fun things happening on the blog world.

First there’s the challenges: Tina’s doing a 31-Days Of Yoga Challenge, and Chandra’s doing the March Booty Buster Challenge. Neither compares to this sando with hummus.

Lucky Taste Buds is giving out some Barney Butter (and I couldn’t be more happy), and Mara is doing a little chocolate giveaway on her blog. Again, neither compares to this salad (though it had a spectacular crunch factor).

And we certainly can’t forget about Foods that Fit’s really great idea about creating a bloggie cookbook. Click here to learn more and submit!  

OK. Confession time.

After I ate lunch, I went for another lunch to Chick Fil-A with my coworkers. I ate some waffle fries and drank a HUGE Hi-C. It was so delicious. I haven’t had Hi-C since I worked at Burger King when I was 17 years old.

Delicious and Addictive. Most definitely well worth it, though I had a serious sugar let-down in the afternoon.

I’m off to guzzle some H2o now. It’s Friday!!!!!!

I made another smoothie this morning.

So far, all of my smoothies have essentially looked the same. I think it’s because of my key ingredients (including blueberries!) I need to get some strawberries in this blender so I can have something fun and pink.

I love watching how the Vita-Mix can take something that looks like this:

And turn it into this in about 20 seconds:

And by the way – this was A LOT of smoothie. I made enough for two people, so I’m taking some to work for a morning snack.

I love this Vita-Mix machine!

You may have noticed that I didn’t blog last night. I had book club and didn’t get home until about 9:15 p.m. I was exhausted and just wanted to spend time with Bill and Scone, so I called it a night and enjoyed some 30 Rock. I want to review the book we read for book club – but I’m out of time, so we’ll save that for later

So I’m curious: What are your weekend plans?

My friend Rob is having another beer tasting like the one he had last July. I can’t wait to blog about it!

On a Lobster Placemat is featuring a very special guest for breakfast today: the horned melon.

If you’ve ever done research on the horned melon, you’ll find that it doesn’t matter which way you cut it. Just make sure your melon is fresh and ready to eat - which can be judged by its outside appearance.

I sort of think this is the type of fruit that gets a bad rap due to its slimy and green interior. But it can do wonderful things to a bowl of oatmeal.

I squeezed one half of the melon into my oats while cooking and used the other half for garnish. I then ate one of the leftover pieces – just to see what it was like. It didn’t have a strong taste to me, just more of a strong texture.

From what I’ve read, you can eat the seeds. But it still felt weird to me, seeing them boppin’ about in my oats. I ate ‘em just the same and again, didn’t notice a huge burst or change of flavor in my oats.

Many other people in the blog world have been experimenting with horned melons too. My review is pretty in line with the rest.

Definitely beautiful. But not worth the effort (of eating) and money ($5/melon!).

What is a food item you’ve been wanting to try and haven’t? OR What is the most exotic food you’ve ever had?

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers this morning. You guys are seriously the best. It’s been a strange day – thinking back to what was taking place one year ago. As I said earlier, I wasn’t super close with my uncle, but it’s tough watching your family go through something like that. Please know how much your thoughts were appreciated.

After work I scooted my butt to the gym for a run. It was TERRIBLE. I ran 3.75 miles in 40 minutes and burned 431 calories. Sounds good – but again, my legs felt like bricks on that treadmill, and I think the culprit is a lack of real, solid stretching. Runners in the house: how do you stretch and how often?

I whipped up a quick dinner post gym with some chicken I’d been marinating in lemon pepper sauce + a big ole’ whopping salad.

Check out the bubbly bubbly in the frying pan.

Then I added some leftover couscous that had been hiding in the fridge for a few days. Notice my broken spoon holder (that was a gift from my grandmother, I might add) that Bill accidentally broke the other day

Then I mixed up a nice salad with:

• mixed greens
• arugula
• carrots
• cucumbers
• mushrooms
• artichokes

And then splashed some new dressing on the greens.

I liked it!

I also thought I’d show you where I actually eat all my meals. Sadly, the lobster placemats just don’t do justice to our table.

And Bill turned his meal into a wrap with a Flat-Out, which I thought was inventive, so I took a quick pic.

Baltimore Blogger Meet-up

Some of you have emailed or commented about this, and I thought I’d give you a head’s up. I’m thinking sometime in late March (mainly because I’m busy every weekend until then), and I was thinking about a Friday or Saturday night. Again, please email me at onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com if you’d like to join. More details to follow!

Time for Lost + The Top Chef Finale. Who’s excited? If you’re a Top Chef fan like me, who’s your pick? I’m pulling for Carla – DC females represent!    

There seems to be a story in this bowl of oatmeal, though I don’t know what. Don’t worry. I’ll get to it… if I let it out.

There are many different shapes and textures to the bowl. Almost like they don’t all belong. Almost like a family, sometimes.

My family is huge, and I don’t know everyone as much as I should – but that’s what happens when there’s so many.

All of this is leading right up to the real story, the heart of today’s post: today is the one-year anniversary of my uncle’s accidental death in the mines. We were not very close prior to his death, but he did have a profound effect on my childhood and the memories I hold from that time.

Would you mind keeping my family in your good thoughts today? Especially my mother? 

Thanks. 

There are two things that amaze me tonight:

• My ability to have motivation to go to the gym when completely exhausted (though if I’m hungry – forget it)
• Bill’s tofu cooking skills

I went to the gym right after work today and ran 4 miles on the treadmill followed by 20 minutes of lifting. One hour of exercise: 531 calories. I was so excited by the progress I’ve actually been making with my running. The half marathon is seriously feeling more feasible lately.

And the other thing I was really excited about? This dinner that was waiting for me when I got home.

This was seriously some of the best tofu he’s ever made. I am going to credit this bottle, which I’ve seen on various blogs and had to try:

They’re not kidding. This sauce is serious. Check out the before burn:

and after some serious burn:

And what goes better with tofu than some butternut squash fries? Which I didn’t realize was a butternut squash until I was finished – I definitely thought this was a sweet potato.  

Beautiful golden glow.

This is seriously one of the best dinners post run. I went back for seconds on the fries, and I am definitely considering a fudge pop in my future.

I’m exhausted so this is looking like a night of bad TV, a bit of reading and early to bed. What are you up to?

PS: MAJOR CONGRATS TO MY FRIENDS  (we’re staying anonymous here, folks) WHO ARE SUPER SUPER SUPER CLOSE TO BUYING A HOUSE! SUPER SUPER SUPER CLOSE TO US!

I love this recipe, and I loved this lunch – even though I didn’t have goat cheese on hand (like the recipe called for) to sprinkle on top.

Cooking Light’s Chicken-Orzo Salad with (out) Goat Cheese

I even used fake chicken, and although the first few bites were weird – I ended up sort of liking it (though I don’t think I’ll buy it again.)

I should also note that the recipe calls for some tomatoes (ugh) and random peppers (double ugh) so I just subbed with chickpeas (yay!). 

… and now, a shout-out to my good friend Jenn over at Eating Bender, who gave me a lovely award a few days ago.

Well isn’t that just super sweet? Thanks so much, Jenn! And who will I be giving this award to? Just a handful of some of my favorite bloggers (sorry if you were double-tagged!)

• Hangry Pants
• Heather Bakes
• For the Love of Oats
• Bella Eats
• Itzy’s Kitchen
• athlEAT
• from french fries to flaxseeds

LUNCH LINKS-O-RAMA

The blog world is exploding with fun contests and prizes.

• Carrots ‘n Cake is doing another Scavenger Photo Hunt
• For the Love of Oats is hosting her first giveaway with fun prizes to celebrate her blog birthday
• Jackson’s World is giving away some Country Bob’s Sauce

Oh, and if you haven’t checked out my girl Heather’s post about her interview with Stephanie Izard – be sure to do so!

I am pretty sure I almost died this morning – and went directly to oatmeal heaven.

Let me explain… or rather, let me back up for a minute, so you can see the richness of this business.

Yes. I totally ate most of that bowl. Yes. I did put too much cool whip on. Yes. I doused the bowl in pecans.

…. Yes. It was so freaking good that it almost gave me a belly ache.

Can you remember the richest dish you’ve ever tasted? That question is open and up to interpretation; could be $$ or could be belly-aching full.

Next to this bowl of oatmeal (see above), one of my richest oatmeal experiences was the time I added chocolate ice cream and called it Chocolate Covered Banana Oatmeal. My tummy was in a strange mood that day.