Friday night we tried the second of the Blue Apron meals.  Sicilian Pasta with Kale.  Okay, first up, I think the reason I never liked kale when I made it at home is because I left the stem in tact, like romaine.  So when I read the directions to cut the leaves off the stem I was like, huh?! 

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I’d rate this one about 6 out of 10.  This was really bland, even with the crushed red pepper in the recipe.  I also ended up adding two cloves of garlic, more salt and pepper, crushed red pepper and parsley to bring it around.  Jacob liked it, but was looking for the meat!  Since this was a meatless meal, I am not sure I’d get this one again because even though I got this for free, it would have cost $20 for this meal.  Kind of a lot for pasta, no?  But it did make a lot – this literally was more like 4 servings vs. 2.  That’s my 12 inch cast iron skillet!

At least one breakfast during the weekend I like to do a diner type breakfast.  Saturday I made hash browns, sausage and scrambled eggs and toast.  Eggs being so expensive lately, I basically buy whatever is cheapest and was surprised to find that Eggland’s Best were the cheapest at $3.49 a dozen.  I also bought brown eggs, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think that brown eggs taste better.  I put this picture on Instagram and several people told me that the color of the egg makes no difference in the taste, it’s just what color the chicken is.  However, farm fresh eggs DO taste different.  I don’t think I’ve ever had farm fresh eggs before!

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My Mom is back in town after visiting my brother Charlie.   She hadn’t seen my house since the remodel was finished and you know, she basically missed her favorite child, so she spent the day with me.  First up was taking her to Cuco’s tacos in Cary.  Best tacos evah!

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And then we thrifted!  I actually found a bunch of stuff for my sister – score!   And now that Halloween is over, it was snowman palooza!   I only bought a couple things, but seriously I could have done some serious damage.  In fact my step-son texted me last week wondering if I had brought all my snowmen out yet!  Tony had restrictions on when I could decorate for Christmas – not until December 15 and he wanted all decorations down by January 1.  Um, pretty sure I’ll start before then this year.

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My Mom wanted beef for dinner – no problem there!   I did filet mignon with mushrooms, macaroni and cheese on the side and a Caesar salad.  Basically Hannah ate everything but the meat!

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Then Sunday I met up with my sister.  Two of her kids tagged along – it was nice to see my nephew Paul – I realized I hadn’t seen him since Christmas!  Claire is about to turn 14 and she’s been taller than us since she was 12!

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We shopped around for a couple hours, and then it was time for me to meet my friend Jacky.  I was following her on Facebook and realized she and her family were super busy, so I brought everything for her to make two of my deep dish Chicago style pizzas.  I put one together for her to show her how I do it, and she has all the ingredients to make a second one.  I hope they like that pizza as much as I do!  After that was put together we went out for beer and food – yum!  I loved the first place we went to, although their kitchen was already closed.  It’s called Exit Strategy and the owners used to be an attorney and teacher respectively, and brewed beer in their basement and everyone said “you should open a restaurant!”  So they did.  Jacky said they have Thai nachos on their menu, so we’ll try that next time.   We ended up at Scratch Kitchen for dinner.  I had a fried chicken sandwich (no pic because it turned out like ass) but it was super flavorful.  So good catching up with you Jacky!

PicMonkey Collage = jacky

And that brings us back to Monday morning.  Blah.  My Mom bought lottery tickets on Saturday so I need to see if she checked them to see if she won.  You know she’d share her lottery winnings with her favorite child, right Momma?! 

I think our heat wave is over too.  Although I won’t mind this weeks temps at all – low 30s at night with temps in the mid to upper 50s during the day.  Nice! 

Alright, I guess I finally have to start getting ready for work – make it a great day!