![\"First](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/ohc-09-15-08_proteinbar.jpg\" "\\"ohc-09-15-08_proteinbar\\"")
<\/a>First try<\/p><\/div>\n
I didn’t know how long Scott would be sleeping and I needed something quick and effortless to eat. I grabbed one of the new protein bars I picked up at Target. It’s a Cliff Z chocolate brownie bar and I had some doubts as to whether it could satisfy and fill me up.<\/p>\n
<\/a>First bite<\/p><\/div>\n
I was surprised by how much it did look like a dark chocolate brownie. It was yummy! And very chocolatey, almost a little too chocolately for me. The bar was chocolate, and there seemed to be some small chunks of chocolate inside with a chocolate frosting squiggle on top. I ate the bar with some water and sat down on the couch to read. In no time flat I wasn’t hungry anymore. This bar totally worked! Very impressed because I didn’t have faith in it at all.<\/p>\n
After a bit I took Rocky out for a walk. It was a bit chilly because that cold front finally moved in. Walking around the neighborhood I got to see just how much damage had been done. In my neighborhood people mostly lost a tree or large tree limbs. In the newer subdivision over from my neighborhood the damage was a bit more extensive. Most of those homes are very new and did not stand up to the weather well. A lot of houses were missing about 1\/3 of the siding on the sides of their houses. Front and back parts were okay, but the sides carried the damage. Some houses were stripped down to the wood and there were a couple that had holes. Most of those houses also lost a lot of roof tiles. I’m thankful we only lost a couple of roof tiles.<\/p>\n
Once we got back home it wasn’t long before Scott got up. We got dressed and headed out in search of breakfast and ice. First was breakfast because Scott needed coffee. He only drinks two cups in the morning but if he doesn’t get it, the caffeine headache strikes and it isn’t pretty. We headed to our favorite breakfast spot knowing full well that the wait would be long since most people didn’t have power. The Target we passed had power, good sign. The traffic lights were working in that area, another good sign. Ah but the plaza had no power and so that breakfast place was out.<\/p>\n
We decided to head to the Perkins over by the grocery store. Our favorite breakfast place, First Watch, gives you a pot of coffee at your table when your order it. Most places don’t and that’s something we love when going out to breakfast. Then you can have the coffee on your time and not wait around for refills. Perkins does the same thing and their pots of coffee are bottomless, so it was a no brainer we would head there. Plus they serve breakfast all day long (as does First Watch) and it was going on 11am. Thankfully they were open! Woo! And the wait was only 15 minutes, which wasn’t bad at all. The couple in line before us were baffeled by all the people. “Wow it’s really busy for a Monday.” Um, yeah. Cause none of us have any power. Soon we were seated.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Coffee!<\/p><\/div>\n
Our waitress was running around like crazy since it was pretty busy and hectic. We were seated in a very back section of the restaurant but it was sort of nice and a bit secluded. It took a while but we got our fist pot of coffee. My first cup with cream and sugar. As we were sitting there I did a double take at the little advertisement on our table.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Caramel apple pie<\/p><\/div>\n
At first it doesn’t look like anything much, just a little sign. But it carried a mysterious message!<\/p>\n
<\/a>Riddle is Fat<\/p><\/div>\n
I have no idea what this means. Some sort of hidden message inside the Perkins caramel apple pie sign! Or just some punk kid wrote it. After much back and forth I finally decided on what to have for breakfast.<\/p>\n
<\/a>That's a lot of food!<\/p><\/div>\n
I had no idea it was going to be this large of a meal! Holy cow. They seriously neglected to mention in the menu just how much food there was. It was two eggs scrambled, “breakfast potatoes” which are homefries, four links of sausage, and two slices of toast.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Scott's breakfast<\/p><\/div>\n
Scott had some sort of omelet with hashbrowns and on the side of that a stack of three pancakes (that came with the meal, he didn’t order those extra). I ate two sausage links, two triangles of WW<\/abbr> toast, most of my eggs and most of the breakfast potatoes because they were super yummy! And a second cup of coffee which I had to get from the second pot of coffee. The first pot didn’t have four cups worth, only about 3.5. I also had a bit of everything off of Scott’s plate. The pancakes I thought were just okay, the hashbrowns were plain, but the omelet was yummy.<\/p>\n Breakfast was a very long experience. It probably took us about 1.5 hours from start to finish. After we were done, it was time to see where we could get some ice. The stuff in the freezers still had time and would be okay but the stuff in the fridge needed to come out and get put in a cooler or tossed. Three grocery stores later and we finally found some ice! We bought six bags.<\/p>\n Two bags of ice wrapped in garbage bags went into our little beverage fridge. Almost 24 hours later and it was still cold. Good job little fridge! The rest of the ice was split into coolers. I have two fridges, one upstairs and one in my basement. Both have freezers, one holds all bread products and one holds things I need on hand like frozen veggies and fruits. Thankfully we were in serious need of a grocery trip so I didn’t have much in the fridges. I had to throw out some condiments but most everything else was able to go in a cooler. I wasn’t worried about the bread freezer because bread can be refrozen. The upstairs freezer had a bit of meat and fish. The frozen fruits and veggies had to get tossed because they thawed and were very water logged. I tried to save some grapes but they were hosed. But in total there was very little I had to throw out.<\/p>\n What I was concerned about was the large standup freezer I have. This is where I keep all my meats, seafood, and backup frozen fruits and veggies. I had just restocked it not long ago. I knew I had some time with it because since it is a freezer only, it’s a little more insulated. Also, since everything is frozen and jam packed, they would keep cooler longer. But it wouldn’t last forever and the thought of losing 100s of dollars worth of food was stressing me out.<\/p>\n Once everything was in coolers, it was time to tackle the yard. It was a mess! Leaves and sticks everywhere. Scott decided he might as well mow since we were out there anyway. I raked up the front and side yards while he cleared the back. I did see some eggs in the yard. Thankfully we still had running water and hot water. The hot water tank is gas and not electric, so we could still take showers and wash dishes. I took a shower and read for a bit until Scott finished up. Then I started dinner. We were hungry but I also wanted to get it started before it got too dark. Cooking by candle light, while pretty, really isn’t all that fun. :p<\/p>\n More salsa!<\/p><\/div>\n Because it had to get eaten, we had some salsa while I cooked dinner. Dinner was made up of things that got pulled out of the fridge and freezer. It was either eat them or they would get thrown out. So I did what I could.<\/p>\n I was worried about the birds’ nests during the storm. I hope there weren’t too many that got damaged. I forgot to put on my HRM<\/abbr> so I have no idea how many calories I burned but it had to have been a bit because I was sweating like crazy!<\/p>\n<\/a>