Sunday, October 10, 2021

Lunch at Freshii

After having breakfast and Sunday Mass, we knew we were going to TREES Organics for Pumpkin Cheesecake, so it's a matter of deciding where to have lunch before heading there.

We end up having lunch at a nearby Freshii. It's only our second time at Freshii, and we went for two bowls.

Mediterranean and Buddha's Satay

I had the Mediterranean Bowl with Falafel as protein. The olives are overwhelming as well as the red onions, but I enjoyed the perfectly cooked quinoa.


Mediterranean with Falafel
Ingredients: Quinoa & field greens, feta cheese, kalamata olives, almonds, red onions, cucumber, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, red pepper sauce

Hubby ordered Buddha's Satay, which I prefer to the Mediterranean because I love the peanut sauce.

Buddha's Satay with Steak
Ingredients: Rice noodles, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, crispy wontons, green onions, spicy peanut sauce

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed our lunch. I think I'll be back for more bowls.

Breakfast from Tim Hortons

Happy Sunday! As part of our Sunday routine, we grab the first meal of the day (today at around 10:00 AM) from Tim Hortons before walking to church for Mass.

More wrap and sandwiches served during lunchtime are available because it's a bit later in the day. Hubby suggested we order any wrap with "new," which essentially means a different sauce.
 
Spicy Buffalo Grilled Chicken Wrap

It uses tangy buffalo sauce, and what makes it spicy is the presence of jalapeno.

Southwest Chicken Wrap

I took a bite of hubby's Southwest Chicken Wrap, which I like better than the Spicy Buffalo.

We enjoyed our wrap while walking along West Broadway. 

Saturday, October 9, 2021

Thanksgiving Dinner at Home from HelloFresh

Last year, my younger sister prepared a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner for our family. However, they had to make multiple trips to the grocery to make sure all the ingredients she needed were complete.

This year I told them I was going to order from HelloFresh and avoid the stress of grocery runs. However, it means we have more side dishes to prepare and cook.


What's included in the HelloFresh Thanksgiving Box?

  1. Sage Roasted Rolled Turkey
  2. Homemade Cranberry Sauce
  3. Savoury Turkey Gravy
  4. Slow-Roasted Butternut Squash
  5. Garlic and Thyme Infused Mash
  6. Green Beans
  7. Mushroom and Leek Stuffed Squash (optional)
  8. Dinner Rolls
  9. Graham Cracker Crust Pumpkin Pie

That's more dishes than what we had last year, but I have faith in HelloFresh that they'll guide us through cooking everything with their foolproof recipe book.


Thanksgiving Dinner from HelloFresh

How much does it cost?

I paid $260 for 10 people, but there are only 8 of us enjoying the meal. Before you get upset that we're having a Thanksgiving dinner, it's 8 people and 4 households.

  • Household 1: Me and hubby
  • Household 2: My parents, our only brother, and our youngest sister
  • Household 3: My younger sister
  • Household 4: My younger sister's boyfriend

There's so much leftovers that my younger sister, her boyfriend, and we (hubby and I) have food to bring in our respective homes.


The Result

We plan to have dinner at around 5:00 PM, because the Vancouver Whitecaps FC game is at 6:00 PM and we want to watch it.

We started preparing at 1:00 PM with me and my younger sister as "chef" while my mom helps with cleaning up and with other things.


Graham Cracker Crust Pumpkin Pie

BEFORE we even started, I baked the Graham Cracker Crust Pumpkin Pie in the morning (at around 8:00 AM). We arrived quite early at my parent's place to ensure we have sufficient time for baking and cooling.

The downside is we totally forgot to prepare the whip cream for the pumpkin pie. The upside is it's surprisingly delicious. It's our first time trying Pumpkin Pie and it's perfectly sweet.


Sage Roasted Turkey

My sister worked on the turkey. Adding the pepper and oil while I strip the sage. After 3 hours in the oven and 20 minutes of rest, my dad carved the turkey.


Carved Sage Roasted Turkey from Hello Fresh

The turkey came out perfect. I can't believe how tender and not dry it was. It's perfect with the gravy.


Homemade Cranberry Sauce

My sister started working on the cranberry sauce while I struggle to zest and juice the orange. 🤣 This took maybe 30 minutes and we placed it on the fridge as we continue cooking the rest of the items.


Mushroom and Leek Stuffed Squash

This is the add-on vegetarian dish. This dish took so much team effort. My sister cut the mushroom and everything else that needs chopping. My dad helped us slice the squash and my mom did the removal of seeds and core. I cooked the wild rice. Assembling everything is such a challenge. 


Mushroom and Leek Stuffed Squash

I am uncertain if it's worth all the effort. I will be happy with just the wild rice and vegetable mixture. I am unsure adding it on the squash made a difference. My mom loves it though and that made it all worth it.


Slow-Roasted Butternut Squash

As soon as my sister is done cutting the vegetables for the Mushroom and Leek Stuffed Squash and while I sautee the mixture, she started working on the Slow-Roasted Butternut Squash. It's sweet because of the syrup.

It's surprising how the timing works. After the squash for the Mushroom and Leek dish is done in the oven, we replaced it with the Butternut Squash. 


Garlic and Thyme Infused Mash

Then, my sister started working on the mash. Of course, starting with the time consuming peeling of potatoes. At this point, I am still working on the stuffing for the Stuffed Squash.


Garlic and Thyme Infushed Mash

My younger sister continues with the Mash - boiling the potato and preparing the cream butter mixture. Then, she called our only brother to do the mashing. Team (family) effort!


Green Beans

I asked my mom to wash the green beans while my dad did the trimming. As they do that, I toasted the almonds. Then, proceeded to sautee the green beans in butter.


Green Beans with Almond Butter

We're almost at the end and I think we're all feeling exhaustion at this point. Surprisingly, there's no quarelling or bickering that happens. Everyone is in good mood and teasing each other.


Dinner Rolls

As I finish the green beans and since we couldn't start with the gravy because we're waiting for the turkey juices, sister started working on the chive butter for the dinner rolls. I wish it's more toasted, but that's just me.


Dinner Rolls with Chive Butter

Savoury Turkey Gravy

It's my favourite thing about this dish. Actually, the core of the Thanksgiving Dinner is the turkey, mash, and gravy and they are so well-done with this kit. It's so delicious!


Will I order this again?

Yes! However, I will not add the vegetarian add-on because it's too much effort. Although, for next year, we might just order in to avoid the effort. We'll see!


First Plate from our Thanksgiving Dinner

Today, we're just thankful that our family is complete and healthy. We're grateful for the many blessings we've received it.

Lunch from Church's Chicken

Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend.

We're having Thanksgiving dinner today, and before we get started cooking and preparing, we decided to grab lunch from nearby Church's Chicken.

Lunch from Church's Chicken

We arrived at the location at 11:58 AM and left at 12:30 PM. We mainly ordered sandwiches to-go, which may have caused the delay and after we ordered more and more people went in and out of the branch ordering lunch, and there were more at the drive-through.

The Classic Sandwich

I ordered a Classic Sandwich with fries while hubby wants to try the Mexicana Sandwich with fries. I added Jalapeno Bombers on the side because it's cheesy and spicy good.

Mexicana Sandwich

I remember they had a Spicy Chicken Thigh Sandwich, but it wasn't on the menu, so I am unsure if it's still there.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Week 5 of HelloFresh: Pasta Week

It's the fifth week that we ordered from HelloFresh. We ordered five different dishes, and four of them were pasta.

Squash Ravioli and Roasted Red Peppers with Spinach Salad
HelloFresh Description: Creamy, dreamy and addictive red pepper flavours a luscious sauce squash ravioli! Wholesome spinach salad brings a bright balance to this rich pasta dish.

This ravioli dish is the most stressful HelloFresh cooking experience I've had. The roasted red pepper came in a small glass bottle that was way too tight. Hubby and I struggled to open it. Crazy! The best thing about the dish was when I finally opened our extra virgin olive oil and used that in our vinaigrette. It's so subtle. 

Carb Smart Chipotle Beef Chilli with Poblano Peppers and Cheddar Cheese
HelloFresh Description: This nourishing low-carb chilli replaces beans with lots of wholesome veggies! We added extra fun... spicy chipotle and melty cheddar cheese are mucho delicioso! Carb Smart is based on a per-serving calculation of the recipe's carbohydrate amount. 

This is almost the same chilli we had last week, but with beef instead of pork.

Rigatoni and Chorizo in Rose Sauce with Roasted Peppers and Spinach
HelloFresh Description: This creamy rose sauce is a game changer to your weeknight meals. Our easy cheat edition uses cream cheese to add richness without making the dish too heavy. The delicious chorizo flavour shines through.

I added about a pinch of chilli flakes for the option heat, and it made the dish better.

Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini with Mushrooms and Sugar Snap Peas Green Peas
HelloFresh Description: Velvety sauce coats tender chicken, savoury cremini mushrooms and sweet snap peas green peas. These comforting casserole flavours are perfect for a cold winter's night.

First, I placed a strikethrough on sugar snap peas because the dish came with green peas. 🤷 I kinda wish the sauce was thicker.

Shrimp Diavolo Linguine with DIY Chili Oil
HelloFresh Description: Chili oil brings restaurant-worthy flavour to this simple, but elevated seafood pasta. Steamy linguine noodles hold onto the golden seared shrimp and rich tomato sauce for a perfect bite every time.

I love the shrimp (and because of this recipe, I now know how long to cook shrimp), but the description is correct. It's pretty simple. I taste the tomato sauce, but that's about it. No other texture except the shrimps. Not my favourite HelloFresh dish. The DIY Chili Oil is not enough to save it.

Meal Planning with HelloFresh

Like I did last week, I will share in this section when we ate each meal. We enjoy eat dish twice because the calories are quite high for a single meal and I am doing my best to lose weight.
  1. Sunday Lunch: Squash Ravioli and Roasted Red Peppers
  2. Sunday Dinner: Carb Smart Chipotle Beef Chilli
  3. Monday Lunch: Squash Ravioli and Roasted Red Peppers
  4. Monday Dinner: Rigatoni and Chorizo in Rose Sauce
  5. Tuesday Lunch: Carb Smart Chipotle Beef Chilli
  6. Tuesday Dinner: Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini
  7. Wednesday Lunch: Rigatoni and Chorizo in Rose Sauce
  8. Wednesday Dinner: Shrimp Diavolo Linguine
  9. Thursday Lunch: Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini
  10. Friday Lunch: Shrimp Diavolo Linguine
HelloFresh's "tagline" is Dinner Solved!, but for me it's lunch solved. We are able to enjoy easy to heat lunch from Monday to Friday.

HelloFresh Promo Code!

Save $100 with my code HS-PAL5157JZ!

* This offer entitles you to a total of $100 off HelloFresh: $50 off your first box + free shipping, $20 off second, $20 off third. Upon redemption, you will be enrolled in an auto-renewing subscription which you may cancel at any time, in accordance with our terms & conditions. Delivery fees may apply for subsequent orders. Please check HelloFresh.ca/FAQ for more information.

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Mountain Maid Training Center Baguio Ube Jam in Metro Vancouver

Where to buy Ube Jam from Baguio in Metro Vancouver?

I was randomly browsing Facebook last Friday and found Ube Jam from Baguio (you know which one I'm talking about, but here's a photo) available for sale in Metro Vancouver. So I sent the seller a message asking for more information.

It's available for pick-up in Richmond, BC, for $25. I ordered one alongside some Delimondo Corned Beef.

Ube Jam from Baguio in Metro Vancouver

You can contact the seller on this page.

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