Saturday morning I woke up with a small goal.  That goal was to find my beloved Rossi Pasta at the Ybor City farmer’s market.  I started my morning with a yogurt parfait that I picked up at Subway Friday, I have been majorly low on food since the move.

After my tiny breakfast, I went to the gym for a 5k on the treadmill. It felt sooo good!!!

Then I showered and we headed to the farmer’s market.  My pasta stand wasn’t there, I was sooo disappointed!!!! Instead I got a crazy $7.00 loaf of rosemary Italian bread.

The craziness started there and just got more crazy as the day marched on.

For lunch, I wanted to try La Creperia Cafe.  I had high hopes to find a crepe like I had in Paris, so I ordered the ham and cheese crepe ( I had one a day for 4 weeks in Paris…LOVE!), but I was sadly disappointed as a giant overstuffed with cheese crepe came to the table.  It was WAY too much cheese.  It had a good flavor, but not like my Paris crepes 😦

I have always wanted to ride the trolleys in Ybor City, so we decided to board the trolley in Centro Ybor and head to Channelside:

At Channelside, they were gearing up for the Republic National Convention:

We stopped in Splitsville for a refreshments.  I had an ice-cold beer, which is totally out of the ordinary for me.  Even crazier, we both decided to do a shot of tequila!!! Who are we?  What a crazy day!

We did sober up and make our way back to the trolley for the ride back to Ybor City. After a few more pictures, we started our journey back home:

Then we stopped at Publix to stock up on some and  groceries hurricane supplies.  Here’s my hurricane plan:

Hah, this sign was posted up at a bar at Channelside.  Such a fun crazy day!!!  But in all seriousness, I pray for the safety of everyone as Tampa gears up for the RNC and tropical storm/ hurricane Isaac.

I may not have found my pasta that I love so much.  But I made an awesome homemade pasta sauce for dinner.

Served over whole wheat spaghetti and a salad on the side.

For the sauce, I browned some ground chicken in olive oil, added half an onion diced, and 2 cloves of garlic minced. I seasoned with fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, dried basil and oregano, salt and pepper. For the “sauce” part, I simply took a large can of Cento San Marzano peeled tomatoes, pureed them in the blender and added to pan.  I simmered on low for about and hour and added fresh basil at the end.

Simple and delicious!