Today’s been the kind of day where I’m so busy I forget about eating lunch. I work at a university, and I can tell it’s getting closer to the start of school now. I manage a publication, and my submissions are through the rough! A 15-minute lunch break is necessary on a day like this.

For lunch, I finished up some leftovers I’ve had since over the weekend. More Mexican-inspired food in the form of a black bean and recipe taco!

Still tastes just as good a few days later. The contents of the tortilla are actually from a rice and bean plate from Baja Fresh. It cost $1.69 – but don’t let the price fool you (like it did me). This is a whopping plate.

Ok, back to the grindstone. But first, if you are a blogger from NY, NJ, PA, DE, or MD and want to participate in Blog it Forward to Fight Hunger, let me know.

Special big thanks to everyone who commented on my post! We reached 30 comments within a day which means that 30 boxes of cereal will be donated to an area food bank!

You know why I love you this blogging community? Because you are all just so gosh-darn good at giving me advice. Check out the list of protein-rich food I’ve collected based on your response to last night’s post:

• quinoa
• oats
• beans
• nuts
• seeds
• nut butters/seed butters
• hemp protein powder
• rice protein powder
• hempmilk
• leafy greens (spinach, especially)
• tofu and tempeh
• egg whites
• lentils
• dairy, such as soy milk and Greek yogurt
• cottage cheese
• protein bars
• Kashi Go Lean

Some of these I knew about and others were a good reminder. For example, I should definitely eat more quinoa and egg whites. I should also think about using soy milk or hempmilk in my oats. Thanks again to everyone who commented! And if there’s something important missing from this list, feel free to comment on this post.

Work is speeding by – but I had a few minutes to take a quickie lunch break. Around 11 a.m., I munched on an apple.

Lunch today was easy breezy with some leftovers from last night’s dinner + a nice side salad.

After eating this chicken, I can definitely tell that I need to add more lean meats into my diet. I have a feeling this will satisfy me until my run later.

The salad was just a quick throw-together at the last minute yesterday.

And what did I eat this meal with?

A spoon! Because I’m completely out of forks @ the office.  

Lunch Links

Via Mary at Puff and Choux I found a New York Times article about Whoppie Pies. Back in good ole’ Pennsylvania, we called these gobs. What do you call them? What do you think of ‘em to begin with?

For the hardcore runners – Can you juggle and jog at the same time – also known as “joggling?” Well, this man can, and he has records to prove it.

Today I took an adventure after class to avoid a city-street run in DC. Since I go to school in Baltimore, Patapsco Valley State Park was a convenient stop on the way home.

I had the Grist Mill Trail in mind, knowing it was for runners and bikers. However, what I thought was the trail turned out not to be. See that little trail below. It really goes to nowhere.

I never found the trail but it didn’t matter. I was just happy to run in a secluded area on a street where no cars were. I logged 4 miles at my normal place (about 10:30ish), and then ran a few sprints at the end. My 4 miles took about 43 minutes. I’m really pleased with the way my running is going; each day gets a little easier and I always feel like going farther.

I got home to several surprises. The first was a shipment of POM Wonderful – how exciting!

I don’t know if you can tell, but Scone hopped up on the table and was in love with this box for a few minutes.

My second surprise came in the form of pizza. Bill made a mighty fine pie tonight. My half is clearly the one with black beans and no jalapenos (yuck!)

I took this size portion and went back for seconds. I was ravenous!

I also brought another lobster placemat out. I totally forgot my mom got me these…

Black Bean Turkey Pizza

• Garlic and olive oil as a base
• Spinach
• 2% mozzarella cheese
• black beans (a mountain!)
• mushrooms
• grilled turkey

I didn’t know if I’d like the turkey, but I ended up really enjoying it. Bill wanted some “protein” on his pizza, so I agreed we could use the turkey even though I didn’t know how it would work. Definitely a good choice.

After dinner, we took a trip to Target to buy a few special gifts. I ended up tossing this in the cart for fun.

It seems like everyone is doing the Shred due to Caitlin’s challenge. I figured why not give it a try? Everyone seems to love it! Plus it was only $10.

Did I tell you that Bill is now training for a 5K? We have decided to run the 11th Annual Manna 5K Run. Bill said his first day back to running wasn’t so hot.

What advice can you give someone who’s getting back on the running wagon?