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 A new Carl's Jr. opened up recently in Missouri City, so this is my first taste of  a real Carl's Jr. burger ever!

When we pulled up to the fast food restaurant , I noticed the parking lot was very clean, no food, bags, or napkins strewn across the lot. It was very pleasant to look at, the outside was still new-looking and presentable.

The inside is bright and also very clean, looked like a very hip hamburger joint. After I scanned the menu for which seemed like quite awhile and we all got our orders together, I finally was ready to order. I walked up to the counter in anticipation of my order, there where two people ( I assume at least one was a cashier) behind the counter playing around and not acknowledging me. For a few seconds I just stood there waiting to be noticed, although I was right in front of them. Then suddenly one left and the other lady smiled and turned to see me. Yay! So I then started to give our order, as I was she was clicking away at the screen in front of her. She reiterated the whole order back to me and she got the whole order right the first time, that was nice. Handed me the cups for our self-fill drinks and handed me a number which would identify the order to us.

We then shuffled over to the drink station, everything was in it's place and very orderly. I tried some of their sweet tea, I really enjoyed it , it was not too sweet, I thought it was pretty perfect.

So we sat and waited for our order to be delivered to us, pretty cool for fast food! After about maybe five minutes or so, the cashier came right up and served us. We ordered everything for each of us so we all got what we wanted in front of us and started eating. I got the Famous Star with Cheese combo, the fries weren't hot, not old just not hot. They were good though just a little too salty for my taste. The burger had mayonnaise and ketchup with some sort of relish type dressing on it, it tasted alright. I couldn't really tell the difference between this and a Burger King burger.  Noah got a burger that I totally forgot the name of ,that had two slices of cheddar, two slices of American cheese, bacon , the meat patty on a sourdough bun . He loved the french fries and he couldn't say enough about the burger. He wants to come back about 3 or4 times a month just to get this sandwich. Lita and my mother ( Dot) shared fish and chips, considering Lita wasn't hungry she devoured a whole fish plank. Dot said she knew the battered fish was frozen, but it was good and hot, so she enjoyed it. All our fries were not hot. We had some shakes with whip cream, they were pretty tasty.

Overall, I felt Carl's Jr. was a nice clean place to eat, bathrooms were clean and the staff was nice enough. The food was acceptable, not exceptional, but acceptable. The prices are a little high, I think they forgot to adjust the prices from California to Texas.

This evening we tried HEBs Classic Selections: Beef & Broccoli Skillet Meal for Two, Cream Cheese Jalapenos, and Shredded Beef Mini Empanadas.

We started a little backwards tonight, we had the main course first then the appetizers, hey we're innovative. So I started with opening up the Beef & Broccoli Skillet Meal and cooked it per the instructions on the back of the package. It was simple to just dump both packages, the rice and vegis and sauce, all in at once and just wait for about 10 minutes to cook. I served a small amount for all of us to try. It was actually a great serving for us all.

At first sight the broccoli was beautiful, nice decent sized florets. The meat was thicker than previously thought, something you could sink you teeth into. The spicy,savory soy sauce made the dish genuinely tasty. But, for me at least, the whole meal tasted just like the sauce. The sauce was good, but had a sincerely pre-packaged aftertaste I could not shake. Noah and Lita loved it and cleaned their plates, no complaints from them. Maybe it was just me, it definitely did not taste fresh in any meaning of the word!

Now for the Cream Cheese Jalapenos. I took them out of the box and slit the plastic package open, flung them on a baking sheet and cooked them for about 12 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. The crust over the jalapenos was like corn meal breading, not everyone here was a fan of that. They felt it was gritty tasting. I didn't think it was too bad, but I did like the creamy cream cheese filling. It just squeezed out like a tube of delicious frosting. The hint of jalapeno flavor in the cream cheese filling was nice and satisfying. I just wish the actual jalapenos were spicier than they were, they were way too mild. Barely even realized that they were jalapenos.

Shredded Beef Mini Empanadas...should I say more? Yes, they were outright tasty! The crust was crispy around the edges and the meat was thinly shredded. Absolutely tasty, the meat was mixed with a creamy spicy salsa, you can even taste the crunchiness of the onions and red and green bell peppers. All of us that consumed the Empanadas, loved them! Except for Noah, maybe it's more for an adult palate?  They could be served as a meal or as an appetizer.

Here it comes, the final review: HEBs Classic Selections: Beef & Broccoli Skillet Meal for Two- worthy of a buy if you really don't have the time to make or buy anything else. Cream Cheese Jalapenos- Liked them, but probably won't buy them again. Mainly because of the taste, needed something with a little more kick. Shredded Beef Mini Empanadas- I can see purchasing these again soon, very satisfying, fast snack.

This evening our family tried these two HEB Classic Selections Desserts: Gourmet Iced Lemon Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cheesecake on a Graham Cracker Crust.

With the Gourmet Iced Lemon Pound Cake , I did as the instructions said and left it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. I opened it up and the pound cake still felt frozen. When I cut into it after removing the plastic wrap, it still seemed pretty hard. The whole family had a piece and we all felt the same thing, which is unusual. As soon as we tasted the Lemon Pound Cake we were pretty unhappy. The Lemon Pound Cake was day-old tasting, very dry, and had a packaged aftertaste. It was extremely disappointing. I can't believe on the actual package it says, "...moist, delicious lemon pound cake....".  Unless we happened to get one that was the exception?  We will not purchase this product again!

Luckily, we also had the Pumpkin Cheesecake! Let me tell you, as soon as this dessert hit our tongues, it was like heaven. The cheesecake was so moist that it melted in our mouths like cotton candy. It was just plainly perfect! The graham cracker crust complimented the cheesecake superbly. The Pumpkin Cheesecake was so creamy, rich, flavorful and fresh tasting. The family raved about the cheesecake, we will definitely be buying this again and again and again.:) The only thing I didn't like about it was the tight plastic wrap packaging, it was very difficult to cut it out of it's shell without messing up the cheesecake. Otherwise it was simply perfection....


Overall, I think all of you know the way I'm leaning....love HEBs Classic Selections Pumpkin Cheesecake!! And HEBs Classic Selections "Gourmet" Iced Lemon Pound Cake will NEVER grace our plates again! So please try the cheesecake it's breath-taking.:)

This evening my family tried HEB Brand Classic Selections: Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo- Skillet Meal For Two.



First of all we cut the bag open and pulled out another clear pouch filled with all the ingredients. It had chicken breat strips with rib meat and fettuccine, mushrooms and tomatoes with alfredo sauce. All in one bag. Which was nice. I don't normally like when you open a package and there are four different packages that you drop into the mix and certain optimal times, or else the whole product will turn out terrible. So this works for me.

I only had to cook it up for 10 minutes, nice and fast. My son could smell the pasta from upstairs and commented how great it smelled. He new it was pasta, that's a good sign.

When I removed the pasta from the pan it smelled very aromatic, it made my mouth water. I served two small plates with a small amount left over, not too bad. We all were able to eat. My Grandmother , Lita, liked the ingredients, but felt the pasta was a little too al dente. My son, Noah, scarfed it down like there was no end. I think he liked it:). He said he liked the cheesiness of the alfredo. When I took my first forkfull, I immediatly noticed how wonderfully creamy and cheesy it was. I could actually see the stringy cheese stretch from my fork to my mouth and it was great! It had a hint of tangyness in the flavor, very delectable for the taste buds. The chicken was in strips, so much better than cubes, it actually tasted pretty close to natural. The mushrooms and tomatoes were cut pretty small but definitely added to the savory flavor of the dish.

Overall, I really liked the HEB Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo! We will certainly purchase this meal again. Maybe I'll cook some of the pasta a bit more for Lita, but the rest of us are sold. Tomorrow we will try another HEB Classic Selection product.....stick around to see what's next.

The Blogging will start MONDAY, JANUARY 30TH-----Be here!:)