Starbucks Up and At Em' Again

Much to my surprise, Starbucks has done it again...found a way to keep me as a secret customer. I am incredibly more fond of the neighborhood coffee joints. I used to avoid Starbucks at all costs and even go out of my way to get my morning joe from the smaller individually owned places (or trucks for that matter). They started to win me over at the start of this summer with their healthier breakfast sandwiches and posted calories. They have now added more to their menu. I noticed the other morning on my break from teaching Physique 57 classes their Power Protein Plate on display that only contained 330 calories. This included a hard boiled egg, a mini whole grain bagel, fruit, cheese and peanut butter. If I hadn't already eaten that would have definitely been my choice for the day to snack on. The only turn-off was the presentation. You have to ignore the "airplane-style" packaging with a squeezable tube of peanut butter, along with the fact that the bagel is cold and untoasted. Another addition is their Perfect Oatmeal ranking in at 140 calories with side options of dried fruit, medly of mixed nuts (additional 100 calories each), and/or brown sugar (additional 50 calories). The Chewy Fruit & Nut Bar looked the most appealing with big seeds and oats and chunks of dried fuit (250 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein). Others that I might not try include an Apple Bran Muffin and their Berry Stella (a star-shaped muffin-like creation made with dried oats and berries).

I wish that I could say I've tried and tasted all of these new products and they are actually flavorless and entirely not worth the trip nor the double-crossing that I have started to commit, betraying my small coffee joints... Maybe this idea could in fact be reality. Only time can tell. Perhaps I find myself at a Starbucks on another work break next week. Perhaps I give in. Perhaps I taste?

To be continued...