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?!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
That sure was a fun weekend! The weather here is going the same as over at you, lot cooler since yesterday.
I have to say that $20 for that pasta dish is a rip off. Way too expensive and I don’t see the kale, did you put it in the dish?
Eggs are not that expensive here, luckily because I love eggs. I am going to make hash browns too soon, I found a recipe for it.
The kale is on the bottom – it really wilted down – and I agree, if I had paid for that meal I would have thought I was ripped off too – but it was free for the first week to try it out 😀
You did have a great weekend! I wouldn’t be able to decorate and get it all down in such a short time span! Make it festive and then relax. The holidays can go by in a blur!
I know, right? Tony was a bit of a humbug when it came to Christmas, but we always watched It’s a Wonderful Life together – I couldn’t watch it last year because it was too close after he died, but I will this year. 😀
I grew up on farm fresh eggs and my DIL’s Mom has a few chickens so I still get them on occasion. I love to bake with them cos it will make a cake rise like you wouldn’t believe! Lol
We went to Trees n Trends Christmas open house on Saturday & you would have been in snowman heaven! 😀
Holy cow, yes I would have been in snowman heaven! Next year I am going to see if I can buy farm fresh eggs around here – would love to taste the difference!
I’m laughing at your kale comment. It never occurred to me not to de-stem! I’m sorry that dinner wasn’t a winner. Too bad they didn’t send 2X pork meatballs!
I know, right?! Can’t wait for you to make the jerk chicken tonight 😀
I love kale. I think it depends on how you prepare it and what KIND you get. We used to grow it in our garden every year and it was much better than the stuff I ever bought in the store. I never had horrible stems.
I like to sauteed the kale with either onions or bacon. Both are amazing. 🙂
Um, everything is better with bacon! I’ll have to try that Lisa. 😀
The pasta looks great, but the almonds threw me off. Sad that it was so bland. I’ve had good luck with Hello Fresh. Very flavorful for the most part!
I keep hearing brown eggs taste the same as white eggs, which I believe they do…I just prefer to see brown eggs. They seem “pure”. HA! Probably because any time I’ve had farm fresh eggs they’re every color BUT white!
The filet with the mushrooms – OMG! I could devour that entire plate! And mac & cheese! I totally thought those were fries. Love those noodles for a change. ~Lori
I know, the raisins and the almonds are weird, right?! Hannah is convinced that different shaped pasta tastes better, so no elbow macaroni for her 😀
Love your snowmen! I have a few, but need to get me some more. Looks like you had a great weekend!
OMG, I probably have 400 in my basement – I don’t bring them all out every year, just rotate them, but it’s hard not to because I love them all!
Nope….don’t think I would have liked that Blue Apron meal either, would have opted for a different meal if possible. But being free, kinda hard to do that. I have had a few meals from BA that I was not thrilled with, but JP ate it and liked it, there’s only two kinds of food he likes….”hot and cold” everything else in between is fine with him. Easy to cook for.
Man, that steak dinner looks delicious to me…yummy and those tacos too. Yay for snowmen!!!! Have a good day!!
Thanks again for making the snowmen cards for me – I mailed the check off to you yesterday 😀
I look forward to seeing photos of all the snowmen over the next few weeks!!! Have a great week Vat!! (and wow, Claire and Hannah look alike…)
That’s so funny because everyone has been telling me that, but Hannah and I don’t see it!
Is that a homemade mac and cheese in your photo? My daughter is such a mac and cheese junkie. I am always looking for a good homemade recipe that doesn’t take to long to make. The catch is it needs to taste similar to Kraft mac and cheese. Yes, bring out the winter theme early. The weekend of Thanksgiving is when we always decorate. I take everything down the day after Christmas unless we are having a party or something for New Years.
Yes, since Hannah doesn’t eat meat, she had the mac n cheese and salad for dinner!
Here is my rule of thumb on mac n cheese 2x2x2x2x2
2 tablespoons butter melted, add 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute, slowly add 2 cups of milk of choice (this time I used unsweetened cashew milk) and when the sauce is nice and thick, take off the heat and stir in 2 cups of cheese of choice.
I cook 2 cups of pasta of choice, and when almost done, I drain and stir it into the cheese mixture. I add dried parsley, salt, pepper – basically whatever seasoning you want. I usually add cajun spices to mine because I like spicy shit. It literally is ready in about 15-20 minutes – the longest part is waiting for the water to boil for the pasta!
I didn’t win.
Dammit. I was hoping today could have been my last day of work! 😀
Your niece looks so much like your daughter!
That’s what people said on Instagram too!
The pizza was a huge hit, everyone loved it. Thank you so much, so thoughtful! It was great hanging out, let’s figure out a date for us heading your way. That chicken sandwich was amazeballs. Pan seared, WTF?
Yes! You can never go wrong with deep dish pizza, glad everyone loved it.
And yes, pan seared should have definitely been scratched off the menu.
Thanks for everything B ? ?
You’re welcome – so happy everything fit – woop!!