Muffaletta sounds dirty but it’s really not.

Since my company was purchased a couple months ago I’ve had the pain filled pleasure of frequenting a new, expensive and culinarily progressive cafeteria many miles away from my house. The distance from home makes the experience even more exotic. Sometimes it feels like I’m eating Chinese food in Istanbul.

Yes, my job is that exciting.

If I had to describe a muffaletta to a child I’d start by saying it’s a “meat birthday cake”. I wouldn’t have to go much further ‘cus any smart kid would have already eaten it and asked for a party hat. Ham, salami, cappicola, cheese and tasty olive pudding are packed into a round sesame covered loaf of bread the size of a Power Wheels tire and held together with a long toothpick.

Unless you’ve got a double action jaw you’d be wise employ utensils to dismantle it before consumption. This picture attempts to capture the sense of inferiority such a device evokes.

A side of oddly sweet carrot chips made it a healthy meal, enabling me to eat 4 bagels the same day I ate this as well.

My stomach ace from yesterday felt like a hangover today! I couldn’t fall asleep until 3:30 and woke up at 10. I did absolutely nothing until 4:00 PM. Well, not entirely true. I watched Degrassi The Next Generation and the Indianapolis 500. I have no cable.

Then I read some blogs, including some new ones!! I love finding new blogs and filling up my google reader to the max! Anyway, at 4:00 I decided I should at least try to get my long run in. I set out for a 10 mile run, but about 20 minutes in I heard thundering. I thought it might start raining, but decided to deal with it. But then I saw lightning! No way I was going to get stuck in a lightning storm! The problem was that I didn’t have my phone and ummm still don’t know Mark’s phone number. I went into Starbuck’s and saw a girl with a laptop. I asked her if I could use it and sent Mark an email telling him where I was, the route I would take home and asking if he could get me.

Well, turn out, it was a total false alarm. I ran right home, but there was never any storm. There were just a few drops of rain here and there. I only ended up doing about 5 miles. I think I did the safest thing, but I will admit that I felt a little vulnerable. I had no phone or money! What do other outdoor runners/cyclists/walkers do in scary weather situations?

The ordeal totally scared my fake hangover away! I took the extra time to do 45 minutes of a Dave Farmar podcast. I’ve missed long yoga sessions during my training.  My last long run was supposed to be 10 miles, but I am okay with what I did. I’ve already done 13 miles and feel prepared. I might do 5 miles tomorrow to make up for the lost miles, but I might not. I am, after all, officially tapering!

Fun Food Discovery: Warm Mashed Chickpeas

I wanted to use some green onions/scallions I had in my fridge, so I made a quick bean dip. I used:

• 1 16 oz. can of chickpeas.
• About 1 T of the liquid from the can of chickpeas.
• 3 scallions.

After rinsing the chickpeas and cutting the scallions, I tossed everything in the food processor and let it go. It was delicious!!! But, here is what I found … because the food processor was on for awhile it got a little warm and actually warmed the beans. I tasted a little and it was so delicious that I ate it with a spoon. The texture and the scallions made it taste just like mashed potatoes!!!! Definitely doing this again.

A little later I had the same dip cold with a Gliding Calm inspired snack plate (by the way, she is having an awesome giveaway, so be sure to check it out).

My snack plate pales in comparison to hers, but I loved it nonetheless.

Scallions and beans are deeeelicious!!!!! And yes, I dunked the watermelon right in there too!!!!!

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday. And thanks for the sweet comments on my previous post. I want to hear Mark’s side, which I bet would be awesome, try asking him on twitter.