Before heading home, we bought one Double Chocolate Donut from Tim Hortons, and I decided to reheat it for 30 seconds in the microwave. Since we first ate the Maple Dip Donut, the Double Chocolate turned out not as sweet as it usually is. However, I liked the chocolate cake donut, and I am uncertain if the glaze adds anything chocolate to it.
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Double Chocolate Donut from Tim Hortons Chocolate cake donut dipped in chocolate fondant. |
Happy Halloween!
Before heading home, we bought one Maple Dip Donut from Tim Hortons, and I decided to reheat it for 30 seconds in the microwave. I love the soft dough, but the maple glaze became unbearably sweet. Thankfully, I only have to eat half of it since I share it with my husband.
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Maple Dip Donut from Tim Hortons Soft yeast donut dipped in rich maple fondant. |
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween! Since I grew up as a Catholic, Halloween is the beginning of All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day is when we commemorate, celebrate, and pray for our loved ones and friends who have passed away.
This evening we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy some candles to light up on our altar at home. Before heading home, we decided to grab dinner at Sushivan because I needed their spicy Korean-style Ramen this evening.
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Rainbow Roll California roll with assorted fish, tobiko, and sauce. |
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| Korean-Style Ramen |
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Salmon Teriyaki & Sashimi Box Salmon teriyaki, appy sashimi, appy tempura, salad, 4 pcs California roll, and rice |
My husband is disappointed that I failed to update my Sushivan menu checklist. Apparently, we ordered the same exact three items last March.
To prevent future disappointment, below is a list of items we tried from Sushivan so far.
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Happy rainy Sunday! My alarm went off early morning because we're attending the 9:00 AM Mass. But, before that, we grabbed our usual breakfast from Tim Hortons.
After the Mass, we were greeted by heavy rain. So, we took an Uber ride to Costco for our monthly grocery run. Then, we grabbed a couple pizzas and pop from their food court.
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| Cheese Pizza Slice from Costco Food Court |
It's my first time trying their pizza "fresh" from the food court. My parents usually bring it home, and it doesn't travel well.
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| Pepperoni Pizza Slice from Costco Food Court |
The cheese pizza is much better than the pepperoni pizza from Costco food court, but it needs to be hot. Otherwise, it's not worth it.
We scheduled our HelloFresh box to arrive on Monday last week because my husband did a half marathon run last Saturday, and we don't want to hurry back home afterwards for a delivery.
Hi, I am inviting you to experience cooking with HelloFresh. To get started, claim this $113 discount. Start your cooking adventure today and use the following promo code: FIH-SZLVUTCMXJG4. Happy Cooking!
For this week, I ordered six meals at 50% off. Yay! I spent our usual budget for a week-worth of food, so I am pleased that I am not over budget for the first time in months.
We enjoyed this dish for Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch.
I love the bolognese sauce! It was creamy, a bit sweet, and meaty.
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Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese You can't beat a classic, and our traditional spaghetti Bolognese is here to prove just that! The delicate mixture of tomato, stock, cream, mirepoix, and thyme will please your taste buds and warm your soul. |
We enjoyed this dish for Tuesday dinner and Wednesday lunch.
Our apartment smells like chipotle, and that's a good thing. I love the heat, warmth, and comfort the chilli provided, especially on a rainy day, typical of Vancouver's fall season. I also appreciate that half of the meal is only 305 calories.
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Carb Smart Chipotle Beef Chili with Cheddar Cheese This nourishing low-carb chilli swaps beans with lots of wholesome veggies! Spicy chipotle and melty cheddar cheese amp up the deliciousness. |
We enjoyed this dish for Thursday dinner and Friday lunch.
This is so good! It's one of the best HelloFresh meals we've had. I love the Sriracha Mayonnaise dressing and the pickled vegetables. It's really a Banh Mi meal with rice instead of a baguette.
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Beef Banh Mi-Style Bowl with Pickled Carrots and Cucumbers from HelloFresh We've taken the traditional banh mi sandwich and turned it on its head! This quick and tasty meal has everything you love about the original but is packed into a satisfying dinner with fluffy jasmine rice. Sriracha mayo, pickled veggies, and saucy meat all come together for a Vietnamese-inspired party-in-a-bowl! |
We enjoyed this dish for Friday dinner.
The turkey salad is only 440 calories, so I decided that instead of dividing it into two meals, we enjoy it as intended for dinner. It was unremarkable.
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Smart Korean-Inspired Turkey Salad This bountiful salad is bursting with colour, Korean-inspired flavours and wholesome veggies! Spicy soy turkey and a creamy, gochujang-based dressing round out the plate for a delicious, light way to start the week! |
We enjoyed this dish for Saturday lunch.
I hate dill-flavoured chips, but fresh dill is fantastic. This is one HelloFresh dish I love ordering again.
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Cal Smart Caper-Dill Dressed Salmon Capers add a briny flavour pop to this salmon dish with creamy Dijon-dill sauce! Underneath, there's a bed of lemony couscous to soak up all those delicious flavours. |
We cooked this dish Saturday morning and enjoyed it for Monday and Tuesday lunch.
I love curry but I am not tasting the mango chutney, but overall a delicious dish with a hint of heat. Your home will smell like spices afterwards.
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Mango Chutney Curry-Style Chicken with Crispy Chana Dal This chicken curry cooked with sweet mango chutney, fragrant spices, and curry paste is a taste extravaganza! You'll spoon this mouthwatering curry over buttery, cilantro-flecked rice, then garnish it with crispy chana dal to create a dish that will have everyone around the dinner table drooling! |
MICHELIN Guide Vancouver 2022 was announced last night so this morning I spent time adding the 60 restaurants in one map.
I also changed the icon for restaurants that received the MICHELIN Bob Gourmands and MICHELIN stars.
I'm a foodie failure because I haven't visited any of the 60 places included in the list.
After our food coma AYCE dinner at Happy Lamb Hot Pot, we stopped by Tim Hortons before heading home. We ordered two of the special donuts that are available year-round.
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| Chocolate Dip Donut from Tim Hortons Soft donut dipped in chocolate fondant. |
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| Chocolate Glazed Donut from Tim Hortons Chocolate cake donut covered in donut glaze. |
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| Lamb Spine Broth |
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| Different meat and vegetables are ready for our hot pot. |
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| Robot delivery |
After doing the Great Trek and having lunch at Kinton Ramen, hubby requested sweets, so I searched for the nearest cake source, and Google Maps suggested Loafe Cafe.
When we arrived at the store, there were no cakes, but many pastries were available.
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| Salted Chocolate Tart |
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| Date Bar |
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| Lunch at Kinton Ramen |
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| Golden Sesame Ramen Pork broth with white sesame paste and thick noodles, topped with seasoned ground pork, seasoned egg, spinach, bean sprouts, scallion, chilli oil, shredded chilli, white pepper, and fried onion. |
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| Beef Spicy Garlic Ramen Thick noodles in spicy beef broth topped with beef brisket, bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, grated garlic, shredded chilli pepper, and scallions. |
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| Takoyaki Deep-fried octopus balls, tonkatsu sauce, mayo, bonito flakes, and aonori |
It's now starting to get colder and rain is back in Vancouver. With that in mind, there are two food I love to keep me warm: Ramen and Pho.
In this post, I will make a list of best pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) spots in Vancouver according to articles in the first page of the Google search results.
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| Delicious! |
Map Legend:
I cancelled my HelloFresh Box last March because cooking is exhausting. HelloFresh would sometimes send me coupons via email, which I just promptly delete, but they sent me a snail mail of a 50% discount on my first two boxes if I came back before October 15, then 20% for the following two boxes after that.
I won't pass up free or at least discounted food, especially with inflation.
Our HelloFresh box arrived Saturday morning via FedEx.
When did we enjoy this? Sunday and Tuesday lunch
Instead of garlic salt, I would be happy to grate and use real garlic to get the "garlicky broccoli" because this meal came out bland.
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| Teriyaki Beef Bowls with Edamame Rice and Garlicky Broccoli from HelloFresh |
When did we enjoy this? Sunday dinner and Monday lunch
Yum! I wished I had cooked the orzo for a couple more minutes to make them softer, but the apricot chicken was delicious! I wished there were more vegetables in the "veggie orzo," but overall a delightful meal I'll be happy to order again.
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Spicy Apricot Chicken with Garden Veggie Orzo from
HelloFresh |
When did we enjoy this? Monday dinner
This is the first time in a while that we decided to eat one serving for one meal instead of splitting it in two, and there's a lot of salad, and I used the wrong plate because it's spilling. I'm not sure if the "garlicky hummus" adds anything to the salad, but the falafel, croutons, and all the vegetables work well together. The radish is a nice touch.
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| Crumbled Crispy Falafel Salad with Garlicky Hummus and DIY Croutons from HelloFresh |
When did we enjoy this? Tuesday dinner and Thursday lunch
The Thai-Style Sweet Chili Chicken had a substitution of sriracha instead of Chili-Garlic Sauce. The dish gave off a funky smell. I love the heat, but something felt off.
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| Thai-Style Sweet Chili Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice from HelloFresh |
When did we enjoy this? Wednesday dinner and Friday lunch
This meal smelled so good but wasn't as flavourful as it could be. I'm not sure what's missing.
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| Turkish-Spiced Beef with Garlic Toum Sauce from HelloFresh |
Yes! Yes! Yes! Tim Hortons has a Vancouver Canucks dream donut designed with the Vancouver Canucks logo. It's not exclusive to the Toronto Maple Leafs, as I initially thought.
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| Vancouver Canucks Dream Donut from Tim Hortons |
I arranged it alphabetically instead of chronologically.
Happy Sunday! We went to the closest Tim Hortons location to our home and checked if there was anything new in the dream donut scene. I spotted the Baker's Choice description in a couple of donuts and asked the cashier about it.
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| Baker's Choice Donut from Tim Hortons |
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| Venetian-filled yeast donut, chocolate dipped and designed for Halloween. |
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| Maple dip Venetian-filled donut topped with chocolate drizzle and candied bacon. |
Baker's Choice gives the baker a say in the decorating. Bakers are invited to display their creativity with locally-created (branch-specific) Baker's Choice.
Typhoon Bubble Tea Cafe is located in the Cambie Plaza strip mall in Richmond. I remember noticing them five years ago when I still live with my parents. Unfortunately, they are cash only, and I don't carry cash.
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| This is what I ordered for dinner from Typhoon Bubble Tea Cafe. |
We visited my siblings in Richmond today, and our youngest sister requested that we order from Typhoon because she wants rice. So, of course, I am more than happy to oblige since I love Taiwanese cuisine, and as expected, I ordered a lot for my husband and me to share.
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| Typhoon House Special Chicken Nuggets |
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| Taiwanese Sausage with Rice and Sides |
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| Taiwanese Pork Chop with Fried Rice |
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| Taiwanese Style Plain Noodles with Bean Sprouts and Meat Sauce in Soup |
Our youngest sister works at Eggspectation in Richmond, BC, so after practicing our civic duty in voting and participating in the local election. We went straight to Eggspectation for lunch.
I have a list of menu items we have and have not tried and picked based on that. My sister was the one who brought our food to the table, and she mentioned that she made sure they looked pretty for my picture.
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| High Rise Pancakes Kick-start your day with a mighty stack of pancakes with sausages, bacon, and potatoes layered between them and top with a sunny-side-up egg. |
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| Top-view of the High Rise Pancakes |
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| Inside view of the High Rise Pancakes |
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| Classic Benedict Two perfectly poached eggs on smoked ham and a toasted English muffin, topped with our famous hollandaise sauce and our Lyonnaise-style potatoes |
We're back in Vancouver! As much as I was pleased to see the mountains, I fell in love with the hustle and bustle of Toronto. I never knew how much I missed the fast life until I went there. My sister was ready to disown me when I said it. 😂
When we landed in Vancouver, I told my husband that I wanted soup and/or rice, so we went to the airport's second floor (departure area, before security) and walked through the Food Hall at the Domestic Terminal. Unfortunately, there are no soup or rice, only sandwiches and burger.
We walked all the way to the International Terminal and spotted Thai Hang. It's a Vietnamese stall.
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| Grilled Lemongrass Chicken on Steamed Rice |
I took a bite of the juicy grilled chicken and a spoonful of rice and felt comforted. Then, I slurped the beef broth from the Pho Nam Bo Vien, which was perfect.
The pho soup is the ultimate comfort meal after a flight. It just brings you back to earth without being greasy.
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Pho Name Bo Vien Beef brisket & beef meatballs with rice noodles in soup |
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Dac Biet Cha Gio Thit Deep-fried spring rolls with pork |
I don't recommend the spring roll, though.
We're going back to Vancouver! Before that, we grabbed lunch from Caplansky's Delicatessen. I remember Zane Caplansky when watching Guy's Big Project. I remember rooting for him to win.
When searching for places to eat in Toronto, I checked multiple sources like Anthony Bourdain, Michelin Guide, and Food Network shows like You Gotta Eat Here (YGEH) and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (DDD).
I had already ordered when I saw the DDD symbol on the menu. So hubby and I went for starred menu items, which indicates they are fan favourites.
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| The Reubenesque |
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| The Reubenesque Smoked meat, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, coleslaw, and grilled on rye |
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| The Caplansky Burger 70% fresh ground beef and 30% smoked meat. Served with lettuce, tomato, onion, & pickle on an everything bagel bun |
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| The Caplansky Burger |