Last night, Jenn from Eating Bender asked me a great question on my “Ask Anything Post“

Could you talk a bit about how you come up with your oatmeal creations? I know a lot of it is sheer genius (hehe), but does it hit you when you wake up, or do you stare at the fridge for inspiration, etc? I’d love to hear the “story” behind the cute stories!

I thought I’d explore that question just a bit this morning by describing my thinking process behind today’s bowl of oatmeal. How ironic that today’s bowl of oatmeal was planned to be plain:

When was the last time you saw a plain-looking bowl of oatmeal on this blog? 

There has to be a catch, right?

……….Of course! Today’s oatmeal includes a little shot of Dark Magic. 

I came up with this morning’s bowl of oatmeal last night as I was lying awake in bed. On nights I can’t sleep, I try my best not to look at the clock. I tend to get even more stressed out if I do and then stay awake longer. Last night I glanced at the clock and it said 2 a.m. It was around that same time that I told myself two things:

• There is nothing in the refrigerator for oatmeal, and I want to sleep in so tomorrow’s bowl has to be basic.

• Maybe I’ll add coffee to represent my sleep deprivation?

I did consider trying to jazz up the top of this bowl with an apple, orange or blueberries, but honestly – I just really liked the mocha coloring of the bowl after I was finished.

This morning’s bowl of oatmeal was much different than normal mornings. For starters, Monday is my late night where I don’t get home from work and school until 11:45 p.m., so the last thing I want to do in the morning is worry about cooking. Secondly, we did not go grocery shopping this weekend, so I had few fun ingredients on hand.

But two things are generally true about my oatmeal combinations:

• I come up with combinations the night before, and I usually try and think of something new.
• There are occasions where I buy a special ingredient at the store specifically for an idea I have in my head. 

When/how do you find inspiration to create certain dishes?

This lunch was so good. Too bad it made me so sick.

Last night I wanted to make some quickie lunches for the week that would be both filling + healthy. Using an extremely easy recipe, I made

Chicken Teriyaki with Broccoli and Whole Wheat Couscous

For calorie counters out there, this dish came in around 400 calories. Perfect for lunch, for me. The entire recipe contained simple ingredients: 3 chicken breasts, 3 cups broccoli, 1 cup couscous and a Reduced-Sodium Teriyaki Marinade. I like making my own marinades, but when you’re in a pinch – the bottle will work.

DIGESTION – on the other hand, wasn’t working in my favor today. Due to a meeting I had, I ate this dish super quickly – and my stomach ached from it all afternoon. I didn’t get hungry again until about 4 p.m., and even then I didn’t really feel like eating.

Product Review: Quaker Simple Harvest

When the nice folks at Quaker sent me the Robe + Slippers set, they also sent along three boxes of these.

After being slightly disappointed by the Quaker True Delights bars, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about these.

I must admit I was impressed by how tasty the bar looked after I unwrapped it. It reminded me of Nature’s Valley Healthy Heart Bars, which I haven’t been able to find in stores in forever. I used to be completely obsessed with them.

My loose rule of thumb: if the bar is the same size as my cell phone, I’ll probably eat the whole thing.

I really, really like these bars and depending on price – I would certainly buy them again. I love the chew factor and the nutritionals (150 calories, 5 grams of fat). I’d definitely recommend them to others.

I decided to toss mine into a cup of Chobani. The combination was really good and hit the afternoon weak spot.

They contain a lot of real flavors, which is always good in my book. I particularly like the random hints of cranberries and almonds.

Thanks again, Quaker!

Dinner

Even though the yogurt hit the spot, I still don’t feel well in the stomach. I am planning to pick up a Subway sandwich before class, but for now I’m munching on a few random items.

• Carrots and Sabra hummus
• Sargento String Cheese
• Apple

I know this probably won’t fill me up for dinner, and I may get hungry later but right now I just can’t shake this stomach sickness. What do you eat on days where you don’t feel well and don’t want to eat?

FAQs

So, I’m going to call myself out right now. I am really bad at responding to some of the questions you ask in the comments section on my blog. It’s not because I don’t want to answer your questions but rather that I just don’t have time during the day. My work days are busy, so I don’t have a lot of time to respond to comments I receive throughout the day. and by the time I get home, the comments have gotten lost in the shuffle of life.

In lieu of my bad commenting abilities, I thought I’d open up the blog to any questions you may have. What do you want to know? What have you been dying to ask but were too afraid? Don’t worry, people. I can take it. Feel free to ask me something, anything. Some examples:

• Do you take pictures of all the food you eat? (and the answer is no, I do not always take pictures of snacks or bites. And I only take pictures of drinks that contain calories).
• Do you calorie count? (not as regularly as I should, but yes).

So what do you want to know? I will be sure to post a page with the answers in the next few days!

(I hope you don’t think this is self-serving. I just want to catch up on any comments I may have missed with questions that were left unanswered!)

And the winner of the Quaker Robe + Slipper Set Giveway is…

(chosen by the Random Integer Generator!)

#58 Jennifer!

OOoo I can’t believe I almost missed this…I want this robe because it would be perfect to wear around my dorm room, especially on chilly mornings since i have NO control over the temp of my room!

Jennifer also wrote me a nice email (for an extra point) about why she reads On a Lobster Placemat:

Hi Rose!
I love reading your blog because your creativity really shines through and I feel like you make each day an opportunity for expressing yourself and really enjoying life. Keep it up!

Thanks for your kind words, Jennifer! Please send me an email with your name and address at onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com to claim your prize!

#1 – I will announce the winners of the Quaker Robe + Slipper set around 11 a.m. today (eastern time)

#2 – This is my first morning video post (ever), so my voice is a little scratchy (I am not a morning person!) Hope you enjoy!

What’s on tap for your Monday?

Mine is simple but definitely not short:

• Work (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
• Class (8:15-10:45)
• Sleep (11:30)

Let’s get through it!

Guess what friends? The lens on my camera is stuck. I think this is due to an orange juice explosion I had in my car a few weeks ago. The bad news? No pictures from today. The good news? I do have pictures from the D.C. United Soccer Game last night. Hooray!

Our friends are huge soccer fans, and Bill and I have been getting more into it since our USA soccer game experience. We decided that this will be our summer spending fun. The games aren’t too expensive, it’s a good time and we like watching soccer.

We met up with the gang at Brian and Amy’s house before the game for some spirits and snacks.(Sometimes I think I should create a cast of characters for this blog as people regularly recur!) Bill and I made the fatal mistake of not eating before we left (due to dogsitting and other things going on), so we were famished by the time we got to Brian and Amy’s. I hate when I do this – but it is always a good reminder to: Eat before you go and eat well! Especially when you are embarking on something where details about food are minimal!

As soon as we got to the game, Bill and I split a pretzel. I somehow thought this was going to hold me over for the game (it did not!).

We had pretty good seats for the game. That’s what I like about soccer. The stands rarely get filled to capacity, so you can always see.

Bill gets really excited about soccer.

Midway through the game, we were both hungry again, so Bill picked up some chicken sandwiches. I thought this was going to be grilled, but it ended up being one of those not-so-great-for-you chicken sandwiches. I still ate it (because I was hungry) knowing that tomorrow would be another day to start fresh. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do (especially if you are unprepared!)

I also had a few of Bill’s fries (wow, I went overboard!)

Despite the rain, we had a blast at the game. (A little blurry, but it’s all I have).

Rob and Kate were certainly into the game. Check out these fun inflatable gadgets they gave us to use for cheering. They made a loud noise!

We went back to Brian and Amy’s after the game for a little while and then drove over to Bethesda for dogsitting. It was a fun night, but after the 5K and the long day – I was exhausted!

SUNDAY

Today was really random due to the dogsitting. I woke up early to feed and wake the dog, went back to sleep for a while (I was still tired!) and then woke up and ate some instant oatmeal. I spent the afternoon lounging and watching a bit of TV and then came back home around 4 p.m.

I went for a run, and the weather was so goofy! I had intended on doing 8 miles, but I decided instead to follow my schedule. I did 4 miles in about 43 minutes and just did an out and back near my apartment. My legs were sore after the 5K yesterday (more than I thought), so I’m glad I didn’t push it and followed the schedule.

Tonight has been dedicated to my mid-term that’s due tomorrow. I actually need to get back to it right now!

Goals for the Week

I have been thinking a lot about goal setting lately and how I’d like to incorporate it into my life. Here are a few food (and non-food related) goals I have for this week:

• Complete and turn in my mid-term
• Complete a writing piece I have due on Thursday
• Get back on track in terms of eating and food blogging (I feel off lately!)
• Run every mile on my schedule
• Clean the apartment thoroughly and stock up on healthy groceries (probably Tuesday night)
• More yoga and stretching (at least twice this week)
• Incorporating other cardio than running on my off days

What are your goals for the week?

If you haven’t already, please check out my guest post on Lindsay’s blog – For the Love of Oats. It was a joy writing for her while she was making her big move! I’m so glad you all seemed to like it!

Giveaway

Be sure to check the blog tomorrow to see if you won the Quaker Robe + Slipper set! Thanks to everyone for your submissions. I loved reading through Remember, midnight tonight is the deadline!

Questions

Some of you asked yesterday whether I went to Bucknell University for undergrad. I did not. Though I did spend some time there as one of my best friends went to school there (and bought me the shirt I was sporting at the 5K!)

That title is in honor of my best friend Cat. She has a student who always shouts that when he’s done something he’s proud of, and I feel like him right now.

I did it! I finally did it! I ran a race!

I ran Cross Country in high school, so for a good portion of my life racing was everything. With college and then post-college, racing became a thing of the past. I’d see races online and think I should register, but I just didn’t and mostly – out of laziness. When Katie asked me to sign up for the 1/2 marathon with her, it seemed like everything changed. I have suddenly become obsessed with finding races, and I want to find as many as I can in the area for 2009. It’s funny how your mindset can change so quickly.

Today I ran the 11th Annual Manna 5K Fun Run/Walk. I was lucky to have some buddies along with me – good friend Katherine and Bill (who’s first race was ever was today!)

Some pre-stretching and photo-taking. Warning: I am very unshowered.

Check out that wet parking lot! It wasn’t raining during our race, but it was certainly drizzling!

The race went pretty well! I had no clue what to expect in terms of my time since it’s been so long since I’ve raced. My best time ever was 27:23, and that was back when I was 17. I figured that I wouldn’t much slower now, so I was just aiming for around 30 minutes. My final time?

31:11

I am pretty happy with that! It gives me some room to improve while at the same time showing me that this half marathon is entirely possible if I keep up this pace. Granted, I was going much faster than I would go during the half, so we shall see!

It felt SO good to run a race again, and check out our cool shirts!

After the race, I sipped on some hardcore orange juice.

And then watched some people hoola-hoop!

Here’s the pavilion where everything was set up:

And here’s Bill’s post-race face. He did quite well for his first race! I honestly thought he was going to blaze past me, but we were pretty in line in terms of our times.

He said he’s even thinking about doing another one sometime. Yay! Katherine and I also finished up at the same time (almost exactly). She seemed to feel pretty good about it too!

After getting home from the race, we decided to celebrate by going to the Woodside Deli for some grub.  I had a big ole ham and egg sammy!

De-freaking-licious! 

On tap for today:

• Shower
• Pack overnight bag
• Dogsitting gig
• Pre-game party at Brian and Amy’s house
• DC United Soccer Game
• Back to dogsitting, crashing!

I probably won’t get to blog again today because I don’t know the internet situation at the dogsitting gig. Catch you tomorrow!

SUPER BIG CONGRATS TO MY GIRL KATIE: She raced this morning in PA and won! Her time was 22:!5! Incredible, girl! So proud of you!

Last night was all about one man and one man only: Mr. Keith.

Ladies, he’s single. If you’re interested. (Sorry, Keith – I had to do it. You know me!) 

Bill and I met Keith through Rob a few months back, and he’s turned into a great friend. Today is his last day in D.C., as he’s moving to pursue law school. We were invited to dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown to commemorate his last night living in the city. 

We started the night off with a meat plate, which – even though I don’t eat meat that much – was very tasty and beautiful.

Since it was a pizza place, I thought it only fitting to get some pizza. This was my first pie (details later)…

I somehow didn’t see that this pizza contained red sauce (!!!). If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have bad stomach reactions to tomato sauce, so I asked for another pie without sauce. 

My pizza contained:

• whole wheat crust
• mushrooms
• spinach
• garlic
• cheese!

It was pretty good! I was starving by the time I got the pizza. We all met at 8 p.m. and didn’t get seated until nearly 9:30 p.m. Food came around 10. I was getting very antsy due to my race in the morning.

Some scenes from the night:

I think this was before the “wine vs. beer” discussion that always comes up when Brian and Rob are together.

Was Katherine avoiding the camera? Praying? Or just relaxing? Who knows!

Me and Billy lounging. I look sort of greasy from walking around in the rain. 

I think this is a picture of Rob toasting something. He toasted to a lot of things last night.

I want to think I was saying something witty at this point, but I doubt it.

It was a really fun night, and I almost hated that I had a race in the morning because I think I would have enjoyed myself a little more (and not been so stressed). Either way, I was happy to spend Keith’s last evening with him – and I know I will definitely miss him. We had a lot of nice connections over the past few months, so I will miss our random heart-to-hearts.

(Plus, he told me that he occasionally reads the blog – and he gave the address to his mom! So Keith and Keith’s mom, if you’re reading, you’re good people!)

Drum roll, please.

You (Marylander/DC-er/visitor) are invited to an exclusive blogger event!

Who: You and you and you and YOU! Anyone who wants to talk about food is invited!

Where: The Abbey Burger Bistro in Federal Hill – Baltimore, MD

When: Thursday, April 16, at 6 p.m.

Why: To talk food and blogs, eat burgers (vegetarian options available!) and get to know each other

RSVP: Just so we have a headcount for seating purposes, please RSVP by Wednesday, April 15, by either leaving a comment here or sending me an email at onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com.

Questions? Email onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com.

Please join us!

Special thanks to Lauren from athlEAT for helping me plan this shin-dig (she is a Baltimore guru!)

This ninja has been traveling in my cars for nearly ten years.

You might even say we’re been through a lot: three accidents, ten states and nearly 50,000 miles.

He’s definitely seen his share of smoothies in the car:

So this morning was no different.

Please ignore the mess that is my car. Esther needs cleaned. 

Today’s ninja mix included some of my favorites:

• Skim milk
• 1/8 cup POM
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Banana
• 1/2 cup oats
• Dollop of cool whip
• and PB – not pictured

Before:

After:

Afterx2: 

Afterx10:

I feel strange about there being no lobster placemat in this post but at least there’s a ninja. More LPs later on

What do you keep in your car?

Those nice folks over at Quaker found me:

You can’t even imagine how excited I was to receive this robe, pair of slippers (both made from natural materials) and three boxes of Quaker Simple Harvest Bars. Thanks, again Quaker (and Abi!) for finding me and giving me the opportunity not only to try these bars – but to also live a little more comfortably.

But WAIT… there’s more!

Are you as curious as my cat?

You have a chance to win this robe + slipper set as well!

Here’s the dealio:

• Enter a comment on this post indicating why you should win this robe and slipper set
• Earn an extra entry by linking back to this on your blog
• If you don’t have a blog, send me an e-mail at onalobsterplacemat AT gmail DOT com and let me know why you read this blog
• OPTIONAL: I asked Bill if he had any rule suggestions, and he said that anyone who sends him a size medium t-shirt can earn two extra entries. If you’re interested, email me for our address

Deadline:

• All entries must be received no later than Sunday, March 29, by midnight. I will announce the winner on Monday, March 30, with a special bowl of oats. (That means if you’re mailing a t-shirt, you better mail it soon…)

Thanks again to Quaker and good luck!