Gnarls Scarley and Starbucks

So I had surgery on my elbow about 3 weeks ago. I had some nerve problems and I couldn't feel my pinky. I had an ulnar nerve compression so I had ulnar nerve decompression. I had a giant bandage on my arm for 2 weeks which was awful and uncomfortable. It came off Monday and I could finally see the damage. I will post the pictures at the end, so if you don't want to see a pretty nasty scar, don't look. In the mean time, Amanda and I went to Starbucks.

I used to work at Starbucks and I am a bit of a coffee junkie. I can also make pretty amazing coffee beverages, so hit me up. I am an amazing barista! Starbucks was my favorite job, aside from my current job. I have some pretty amazing stories such as on two seperate occasions, men walked directly into the plate glass window of our store thinking it was an open door. These both happened at about 5 in the morning, so they were most likely hung over. We left the face prints on the window for months.

So via Facebook, Starbucks was giving away coupons for a free snack plate. I have had the snack plates, as one of the perks of the job is free and reduced priced goodies. Yet we indulged in a cheese plate.

There are some crackers, an apple, almonds, dried cranberries, cheddar, brie, and gouda. Amanda and I split it. About as good as you would expect from something that isn't remotely fresh and I would never buy one, but in a pinch....it works. I guess.

Not seen: our drinks! I had a grande iced coffee. Amanda went with a venti black iced tea. Both unsweetened. Like I said, I used to work at Starbucks and I would hace Frappuccinos all the time. Then I realized they made my stomach hurt. I went to mochas, which I try not to get so much because they are super sweet. Iced coffee is the perfect summer afternoon beverage. I love it. I want one right now. I have also realized that Starbucks coffee isn't very good compared to just about every mom and pop shop, or coffee bean, or what I can make at home. Oh well! You have a favorite coffee beverage? Is Starbucks evil?

Ok, so if you don't want to see my scar, don't read anymore. It isn't really that gross, but I am just trying to warn. So you have been warned.

So, when you have surgery on your arm, they ask about a million times which arm you are in to have surgery on. From what I understand, medical malpractice is bad, as is having your good arm hacked on. So they take this to the extreme, and literally stamp YES on the arm you are to have surgery on.

And here is the scar. I named him Gnarls Scarley.

I still can't bend it all the way and they said I might need physical therapy. And I still have some numbness in my pinky, which could take several months to heal. We shall see.

Wow. Just wow

Before heading out to my sub job yesterday, I made myself a cereal bowl.



With a whole banana because I enjoy partying with potassium.



And the last of our new favorite cereal, Nature's Path Crunchy Maple Sunrise. Thanks for sending it to us to sample Nature's Path! Andy and I will definitely be restocking this after we eat down the pantry a bit.

So the sub job...I got kissed, hugged, sneezed on and licked by eight different students. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised. I didn't realize kissing was such a thing! But the kids were sweet and the other teachers and aides in the class made the day easier for me. My shift was super short which was a nice way to start a job.



I grabbed lunch at Starbucks with Sam. I got a huevos rancheros wrap which was surprisingly delicious and had decent nutritional stats.



And a non-fat cappucino. Which I drank after 10am, the Italians would totally laugh at me for doing this.

After Sam and I parted ways, I headed to the grocery store to try something completely new to me. I wanted to make shredded beef in the crockpot but had no idea how.

Thank God for google. I came across Kat's blog and her recipe! I had the pleasure of meeting Kat at the foodbuzz festival and knew her recipe would be solid.



I used this maple bbq sauce that we got in our swagbags at Foodbuzz.



Poured some Dos Equis Amber over the top.



And proceeded to drink the remaining half despite it being 2pm.



Then I chopped up a head of napa cabbage for coleslaw. (Something else I have never made in my life.)



And put a scoop of both the shredded beef and the cabbage on a whole wheat bun. The meat was tender and easy to shred after about 5 hours on high for me. I think it depends on your crockpot. The coleslaw was a blend of reduced-fat mayo, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and tapatio. I used less than most coleslaw recipes ask for because mayo is gross.



This sandwich was great. Full of flavor without being overloaded with fat and calories.



I ate mine with mashed potatoes but I bet baked beans would be even better!

What is your favorite crockpot recipe? This was easily a favorite for me. We have tons of leftovers!

I love my HRM

For Christmas, Andy's mom got me a Polar F6 heart rate monitor! I was really stoked to go to the gym and try it out.



Do you believe this? My average heart rate was super high! I need to try playing around with the HRM more. I am really excited to incorporate it into my workouts.



I stupidly didn't eat lunch yesterday so when Andy and I were at Starbucks (he was grading essays) I ordered one of thse fruit and cheese plates.



And I snagged a sample of red velvet cupcake. The cupcake was AH-mazing! What is it about red food coloring in a cake that makes it so good?



I attempted to start this book but couldn't get into it. Starbucks was blasting Elvis tunes and I am one of those people who needs lots of quiet when I read. Have any of you read this book?



Dinner was a pork al pastor burrito and some roasted brussels sprouts. I actually enjoy brussels sprouts but I prefer them to be a little crispy. I need to figure out how to do that!



I mixed them with 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and some salt n pepa.

Do you own a heart rate monitor? Do you like it? What is your average heart rate? I can't believe mine was that high during my run...but I was totally working it listening to music. Who knows?

Weigh-in Day! AAHHH

So happy September everyone!!!

Today is my weigh-in day. (I weigh in at Weight Watchers every Tuesday night.) I am blogging right before the weigh-in simply because I want to write about how I'm feeling right now.

Totally freaked. I have not been eating as well as I could. I could blame it on moving and not having my kitchen in order but the real problem is my laziness! I need to get back on track. I'm hoping that I'm just being negative. We'll see in another 30 minutes how it goes.

Today was a repeat day. I had a pluot & a nonfat latte from Starbucks for breakfast, eggplant parm and blueberries for lunch and hummus with flax seed chips for snack. I'm not hungry and I'm not feeling guilty...I just feel FAT today. Blah.

On a sad note, my doctor just told me that I am insulin-resistant. I'm having a blast with that news really. It only took me 3 endocrinologists to find that out. Boo.

Enough whining from me, talk to you later!

Free pastries and a delicious frittata

I love twitter. Because of my twitter, I was able to find out that starbucks was offering FREE pastries with a purchase of a coffee. Andy and I were still recovering from our honeymoon in Italy so we were awake around 5am. I figured a trip to starbucks would be perfect for two early birds.

Andy got a mocha and an orange cranberry scone.





I tried a blueberry scone and a nonfat caramel macchiato. Neither were THAT good. I am over sugar in my coffee. Give me a nonfat latte anyday!

All the pastries for breakfast at home and in Italy made me crave an "american breakfast." So I decided to make an italian inspired frittata at home.

Fontina, Asparagus and Tomato Frittata

I found a few recipes online and tweeked them a bit to make it my own.



It was the first time I made a frittata in a skillet.



I decided to pair it with italian blood orange soda.



Eggs are tricky because the differences between a perfectly cooked egg, overcooked egg and undercooked egg are merely seconds. I literally stared at the frittata until the eggs were firm and no longer runny at all.



The results were nothing short of amazing.



Don't you love my little kid plates? We actually have new dishes but are waiting to unpack them. We are moving the end of august.

I think I'm going to try breakfast for dinner more often!

P.s. Promise I'll start commenting to your blogs and posting more soon. Add me on twitter! My name is possiblymaybe on there.

Everybody's working for the weekend

I worked today. I hate working on Saturdays sometimes. There's just something about working over the weekends. Luckily I always get Sundays off.

Breakfast was a little odd. I ate this over the course of 5 hours since work was relatively busy.

A z-bar! I cannot say enough about how good these bars are. They are about 150 calories and fill me up for about 3 hours. Today I had Spooky S'mores. I'm pretty sure it's the last of the season which bums me out. I hope they come out with a Christmas flavor!




Pomegranate greek yogurt and a fuji apple.



I'm pretty addicted to Starbucks and today was no different. I succumbed to a tall nonfat latte. It was worth it. And only 100 calories and 10 grams of protein. Not bad!

The rest of today decided it didn't want to be photographed. Don't worry, you didn't miss much. Tomorrow will be an excellent post, promise!