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I actually don’t watch Recipes to Riches on Food Network every week since I’ve been pretty busy with school. I often go to Superstore and I saw the Chicken Genades all sold out! I thought to myself, “damn, these must be good”. I eventually went to Extra Foods and saw one box left…I thought it was a sign, so I just had to get it.

For about $7, you get 10 pieces of the Chicken Grenades. Pretty expensive if you know what I mean.

It was pretty solid, but the instructions told me to break the apart. Seeing that I’m pretty lazy, I just put it into the oven to heat up without killing myself to pry them apart.

I put them in a small toaster oven since it didn’t seem right to put it in the big oven. It works quite well in the toaster oven actually.

Since the frozen product has uncooked chicken, it’s best to just stab one of them to make sure its cooked. I decided to plate these since there is a lot of oil that comes out of the bacon and chicken. This whole plate is a few thousand calories…so don’t eat it all yourself.

I love how it’s a bit spicy with the Jalapenos and the apple pepper jelly glaze. My little sister really didn’t like it spicy. I liked it, but it really didn’t seem as good as it could be.

This is a good product if you grab a few beers, sit in front of your TV for the game, and eat these appetizers. If you have lots of friends over, this probably won’t last you long. I wouldn’t suggest buying this product, but you can do the same thing at home from scratch.

The recipe is on their website here.

I was wandering around SFU Surrey and I was pretty hungry. M went to KFC to get their big box meal and I went to Taco Bell to get their other big box meal.

My Taco Bell Big Box Meal was so big that all the contents could not even fit inside! It was either $8 or $10, but it was pretty huge.

It comes with:

  • Beef Hard Taco
  • Double Decker Taco
  • Crunchwrap Supreme
  • Nachos and Cheese
  • Cinnamon Twists
  • Regular drink

The nachos and cheese were alright. Nothing very special about this. It’s one of those items no one really orders from the regular menu.

The beef hard taco is pretty mediocre as well. It has meat, lettuce and cheese in a hard shelled taco.

This time I finally got lots of meat with it. The only good part is the meat. There is not a lot of cheese on it either.

The Double Decker Taco comes in a soft tortilla with beans with another hard shelled taco and inside is lettuce beef and a bit of cheese. I think this location made this pretty bad since there was so little beef inside.

I am not a bean type of person, so I really hated this taco.

Crunchwrap Supreme is my favorite out of all the items in the Big Box Meal. It has beef, cheese, hard tortilla, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes all wrapped in a grilled soft tortilla. It’s best to grab some hot sauce to accompany this crunchwrap since it makes it so much tastier.

Overall, you get a lot of stuff from the Big Box Meal and you can discover what you like and what you don’t like. I kinda wish I had Taco Time instead.

Taco Bell (Central City) on Urbanspoon

M and I arrived in Seattle way too early during the long weekend since we expected there to be a wait at the border…there was no wait. So, we were downtown by 7:30am. Nothing is open that early except for Starbucks, so we decided to head to Pike Place Market to roam around. A lot of the merchants were getting ready, so the market wasn’t open either.

As you may or may not know, Starbucks originated in Seattle Washington and has grown into a global phenomenon. Every time I go here and it’s PACKED. Since it was so early in the morning, I knew it would be empty.

The interior is quite spacious when there are a few people inside. On a normal day, it is just filled with people grabbing drinks. If all you want is coffee, best to just go to another Starbucks a block away. They serve the same drinks as all the other Starbucks locations.

They have tons of cups, coffee and stuffed animals to purchase. Since its always so packed in here during usual hours, its really hard to get nice photos of inside this location.

It is a tourists hotspot and it is always packed with people buying coffee and purchasing the original Starbucks mug with their original logo. There’s another location on Firstand Pike that also sells the merchandise. If you hate crowds, thats an option.

Location:
1912 Pike Pl   Seattle, WA 98101
Starbucks (The First Starbucks at Pike Place) on Urbanspoon

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Ever since I started having class at SFU Surrey, I have been addicted to brownies. There’s no special illegal ingredients in them, but they taste so good. Since the school has a Blenz in the main level, I always find myself lining up for a brownie and a tea.

Gold Medal Brownie ($2.50) is a dense chocolate brownie with loads of walnuts inside and on top. It is very rich, so I suggest a coffee or a tea to accompany this.

Try to grab it in the morning when it’s a bit fresher because as the day goes on, it gets a little bit stale sitting in the fridge. I’ve never been so excited about a brownie before, but it’s definitely worth a try. Or…in my case 8 since the beginning of September. I need to stop eating these.
Blenz Coffee on Urbanspoon

I was having a meeting at SFU Surrey and we just ventured to the food court to get a snack. I saw that A&W has a new burger called the Fiesta Mama Burger for $2.50. It seemed like a good deal! Over the past few years it seems like the mama burger keeps getting dressed up. Last time it was the Spicy Mama Burger and now the Fiesta Mama Burger. I wonder which one of the burger family members will have a special christmas version.

The Fiesta Mama Burger has fiesta sauce, tomato, lettuce, monterey jack cheese, beef patty and jalapenos between toasted buns.

I did like it because I always enjoy a bit of spice to my meal. If you hate jalapenos, you probably don’t want this. For $2.50, it’s pretty good for the price. Get it while you can because A&W is notorious for actually having limited time offers like this. It might not stay.

It always seems like there is a Tim Hortons everywhere I go. I couldn’t help noticing that they have introduced a new product – Beef Lasagna Casserole. Their advertisements looked really good, so while I was at school, M and I grabbed some.

It’s made with pasta, beef,  ricotta cheese, basil and oregano in a tomato sauce. You also get garlic toast.

I thought it tasted really good, which is surprising for Tim Hortons. It seems like you can’t get very full from it unless you get the large size. M thought it was kinda similar to their chili, but wit noodles added into it. There could of also been a bit more cheese. Nonetheless, it’s worth a try, but its still not as good as the traditional lasagna you would find elsewhere. The garlic bread on the other hand was alright.

The prices vary at certain locations but a small size is around $4 and a large is between $6 and $7.
Tim Hortons (SFU) on Urbanspoon

I’m sure by now, A&W is my favorite fast food joint! It’s something about their burgers and onion rings that make me want more. They always come up with the coolest sounding burgers. I’m just waiting for the day when they start introducing burgers like cousin, niece and nephew.

I had nothing to do since I had to wait for my car to get serviced. M and I got hungry, so we walked here for some yummy food. 

Doesn’t this just look so good? I know it’s lame, but there wasn’t anything else to eat around this area.

We even got root beer in the frosted mugs! This was the first time I’ve had it in the mug. I usually get it in the to-go cups. I didn’t notice any difference in the taste except that the mug kept the drink colder.

Onion rings are so good! They make them when you order so they are super fresh! When you bite into them, you really get the taste of savory onion with the crispy salty batter.

Uncle Burger (Sirloin) has a sirloin beef patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce and  tomato. McDonalds can’t even compare to their quality of burger. Just look how fresh the vegetables look! M really loves this sandwich because its pretty filling.

Double Teen Burger has 2 patties, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheddar cheese and ketchup in a sesame bun. I was really really hungry during this day, so I wanted a lot of meat. You need this when you are starving! This is probably way over 500 calories, so its yummy.

A&W (Lougheed near Schoolhouse) on Urbanspoon

After I went to yoga, I stopped by the store for some groceries and well…I always come out buying more than I anticipated to buy. Ever since I went to Kulinarya, I could not stop thinking about the Philippine Brand drinks…I saw them all lined up on a shelf and I must try them all!

Mango Nectar is quite sweet and reminded me of their dried mangoes.   The juice is quite thick compared to normal juices. It’s best when it’s chilled.

Calamansi is a little lime that they have in the Philippines.  It is not thick and its also best served cold. I really like this because it’s not overly sweet and refreshing!

Mango Calamansi was not my favorite. I found that the mango dominated the calamansi and the balance wasn’t quite right. 

Guava is not my favorite by a long shot. I found that it was very sweet and too thick for my liking. I much prefer Vita Soy’s version of Guava.

Pineapple was good! It was sweet but not too sweet. I find that with some pineapple juices, they don’t taste very authentic, but I thought this had a great taste!

I know the Mandarin Orange Beverage from Six Fortune isn’t part of the Philippine Branded drinks, but when I was shopping it was on the same shelf so I grabbed it. Plus I grew up drinking this…and I love it!

I like the taste and the amount of pulp inside. I honestly think it’s better than Tropicana! But…what can I say, I was brainwashed my childhood to believe this is the best orange juice I have ever had.

Have you ever had any of the drinks above?

M was on the hunt for the famous Whistle Dog from A&W. It was popularized by the  ‘All She Wrote’ song by T.I. and Eminem. In the lyrics, Eminem raps “they say McDonalds isn’t a restaurant well I guess I’m wrong
but if you gon tell me that the A&W aint the spot for the best hot dogs you can get the “F” on dawg”.

I’m not exactly sure why it was in the song, but it really made M want to get this. I found hot dogs at A&W so interesting because people normally order the chicken or the burgers. I’ve never ever heard of a whistle dog until now. It’s also pretty hidden on their menu and not available at certain locations. The larger A&Ws will have it, but express places like the Waterfront locations don’t have it.

For $3.60, the whistle dog comes on a toasted hot dog bun with relish, sausage, processed cheese and bacon. The sausage is nicely butterflied , so you get more sausage taste from every bite. They probably don’t make this that often, so M had to wait 5 minutes for them to prepare it. Not very ‘fast’ for fastfood.

It’s obviously not comparable to the usual hotdog, but it’s not too bad. We really loved the addition of the bacon and the gooey cheese. For $4 after tax, I might as well just make it myself at home.

Have you tried this before?

A&W (Broadway & Commercial) on Urbanspoon

CanuckGirl and I took an impromptu trip to the states. We shopped till we dropped, but we didn’t want to over indulge on food too. Soo…what we did was go to Costco for lunch. I always wanted to go to Costco in the states because of their Churros. They don’t sell churros in Canada’s Costcos.

Hotdog + Pop Combo ($1.50 USD) is basically the same in Canada. It’s an all beef hotdog thats 1/4 of a pound! This is not your sissy hotdog. You’ll be satisfied eating this! You can add mustard, ketchup, relish and even chopped onions!

Twisted Soft Serve Ice Cream ($1.35 USD) will bring back memories of your childhood when you take a good look at it. Remember when McDonalds had the twist cone? You get a lot of ice cream for what you pay for, it’s literally a whole cup! If you get this with the hotdog, you will be full.

Churro ($1 USD) is warm on the inside, crispy on the outside and coated in cinnamon and sugar! I love churros and what made me so drawn to this was how long this was! I’ve had churros in Vancouver and I’ve never seen it so large.

While I was holding it to get ready to eat, I felt like I could cast a spell on everyone around me. Alakazam! The churro tasted great, but what sucked so bad about this churro was how you would get so dirty! The cinnamon and sugar would just be falling everywhere.

Overall, I think meals at Costco are worth the price. CanuckGirl and I were so happy because we only spent a measly $3 USD on lunch. You might be thinking to yourself…”I don’t have a Costco Card, thus I can not eat here”. False! CanuckGirl and I forgot our Costco Cards at home, so we snuck in from the exit and pretended we were going to customer service. Works every time!!

Words of Wisdom:

  • 1/4 pound hot dogs +pop combo
  • Pizza seemed pretty popular too and HUGE slices
  • No Costco card needed
  • Dirt Cheap!
  • Under $5 per meal

Costco Food Court on Urbanspoon

I went to grab some lunch on the road and I always wanted some Wicked Stix. I heard from a friend that they are so good and I should try it out. I really doubted I would get full just by the wicked stix, so I saw they were selling the Wicked Stix Big Box Meal, so I opted for that choice.

Like all advertisements, it does not look like the advertisement at all. I know it wouldn’t look like the image, but thats what you get with fast food.

The Wicked Stix had no resemblance to the  advertisement and didn’t look like 4 uniform blobs, it looked a bit pornographic to me, but maybe I’m just stick minded.

The taste of the Wicked Stix was not very hot, so I asked from extra hot sauce to go with it. Taste good with the hot sauce and lives up to their name. The taste of it was similar to their chicken and popcorn chicken. Same batter as most of their products.

The Chicken Sandwich had a fried chicken patty, mayo, and lettuce on 2 buns. The sandwich was pretty flattened and looked very miserable. The best part is only the chicken because its the main showcase of this burger. The untoasted bun did nothing to enhance the flavours. The lettuce was pretty minimal and the big glop of mayo just made it so gross.

The Coleslaw is probably one of their better sides. It has a little bit of wasabi kick, but I really don’t know if it is. It does have this very sharp taste.

The fries tasted really good since I guess they use some delicious oil to fry it in. They aren’t super crispy and after a while, they do get pretty soggy.

Overall, it was just ok. Wicked Stix was alright if you add more hot sauce! Everything else is pretty meh. Might as well just go to McDonalds. If I really wanted chicken, I would probably go to Church’s Chicken!

Have you tried the Wicked Stix yet? What is your verdict?

 

KFC (Clarke & Como Lake) on Urbanspoon

For the longest time I really believed there was no berry picking near Vancouver until I started Googling for berry farms. Turns out there are a few in Langley. I grabbed ConsultingGirl and Monster to join me in the berry picking festivities.

I was really excited because it was something I have never done before. We drove for 40 minutes and google maps sent us to the wrong place. You are in the right place if you see a red building with a few picnic benches.

Since I brought my own bucket I didn’t have to purchase a bucket. If you are here without a bucket, you can purchase one from them.

The bucket costs $1.50 and it is similar to the ice cream tubs.

In order to get to the Blueberry patch, we needed to cross the road and pass by the strawberry patch.

Since strawberries aren’t in season, we couldn’t pick any of them. Strawberries are my favorite of all the berries. 🙁 They still do grow strawberries, but they are off-limits for the U-pick option.  You can also purchase it from them, but they didn’t look very good.

Since it might take you a bit of time to find the right patch, remember to read the signs. You know you have arrived when you see the open sign.

The blueberry bushes are the ones that are higher. There are many many rows for you to pick, but you really won’t need to go down to more than one row.

The blueberries look really good and certain bushes are full of them. Some are not as plentiful, but you should be able to have good luck filling up your bucket.

After a while, it gets pretty hot in the field, so remember to wear sunscreen. You will find yourself really digging through the bushes to find a branch that has a large amount of ripe berries. It’s really fun!

There were also a few people sitting on the ground picking the berries that are closer to the ground. Most people pick from the top and move on.

We all slowly filled up our buckets, so it really didn’t take too much time. If you take a lot of care picking your berries, you will obviously take a longer time. 

Their raspberry patch is also open. This is located closer to the parking lot where you arrived at, so you need to cross the road back to your original location. The raspberry bushes are way higher and is probably taller than you.

I didn’t have as much fun picking the raspberries because I found it a bit difficult trying to find the cleaner ripe berries. I tried to avoid the ones that did not come off the branch easily.

The berries looked super amazing and delicious. I probably ate a few in the fields without washing…but that should be fine. Just make sure there are no bugs in it.

After you are done, bring it to the red house to get it weighed. If you fill up the ice cream tub near the top, it will cost you about $6 – $7. It’s not bad at all since it’s only $1.50 per pound. You get a great deal and you picked it all yourself.

If you are planning to bring your own bucket, make sure to weigh it prior so you aren’t paying for the weight of the bucket itself.

After this experience, I found it hard to pay regular price at stores. Even if you don’t finish it all, you can freeze them in the future to make smoothies.

 

Since the 3 of us had so many blueberries, we decided to make blueberry pies! We just found a regular blueberry pie recipe on Allrecipies.com . We decided to do 2 pies, one with the full top and another with the crisscross top.

 

Making the pies were really easy and it really wasn’t as difficult as I thought! As long as you follow the recipe, you can’t go wrong.

From the farm to your plate. Isn’t that so amazing? I thought it was worth it.

Words of Wisdom:

  • $1.50 per pound for U-Pick
  • Blueberries, raspberries and currants are in season
  • Bring your own bucket and weigh it prior to picking
  • Wear sunscreen, old shoes and sunglasses
Address:
7361 240 St
Langley, BC V1M 3P8
Phone:
(604) 888-1685
Website:

 

Driediger Farms on Urbanspoon

More new sandwiches from Mc Donalds! They recently introduced their line of sandwiches called “Supreme Chicken Sandwiches”. There are 3 variations of this sandwich – Mushroom + Swiss, Tangy Thai, and the BLT. You have the option of choosing between grilled or crispy chicken meat.

If you are trying to be slightly healthy, grilled is the way to go. If you are like me and like to be bad…crispy is good. Since I was sharing all the sandwiches with M, we got Mc Donalds to cut all the sandwiches in half. All the sandwiches are in a longer form like a sub, so it’s not like the usual round sandwiches.

There isn’t too much information about these sandwiches online, so most of the promotions are seen in stores.

The Mushroom and Swiss sandwich was really good. I am a mushroom lover, so I will be a bit biased on this one. It has lettuce, grilled mushrooms, swiss cheese, savory mayo sauce, and the grilled chicken in a soft ciabatta bun.

This has a strong taste of mushroom, which complements the meat nicely. I think this would be much better with a grilled chicken breast instead. The fried chicken meat reminded me of the meat from the McChicken sandwich.

The Tangy Thai Sandwich has a light covering of the spicy thai sauce with cucumbers and roasted peppers in the ciabatta bun. This was very interesting and had a good taste as well. The sauce was slightly sweet, but with the cucumbers give a nice refreshing crunch.

The BLT Sandwich has bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo with a grilled chicken breast in a ciabatta bun. This doesn’t seem so different from the usual items, I feel like this has been done before since its so common. It still tasted pretty good and the grilled chicken breast is the best choice for this sandwich.

Overall, pretty good line of chicken sandwiches from McDonalds. It is quite expensive for a little over $5 per sandwich, but it is yummy.

Sean of Sean’s Adventures In Flavor Town also wrote a review on these sandwiches as well and it’s an interesting read filled with a curly hair! Check it out!

 

McDonald's (North & Austin) on Urbanspoon

I have no idea where M finds out about new sandwiches since he doesn’t have TV. He always seems to know when a new sandwich have launched in Canada. He told me about Subway and how there is a better “McRib” that they are offering.

We hurried down to Subway like 2 kids on a Christmas morning. We walked inside and didn’t see much advertisement about this sandwich, but good thing the workers knew what we were talking about. Their rib meat is similar to McDonalds with the artificial look of rib bones embedded to the meat mixture. Honestly, it looked a bit disgusting especially when there is no BBQ sauce to cover it up.

Like any Subway sandwich, you have to choose the size and type of bread that you want. Then you can have the option of adding additional cheese or bacon for an extra charge. Since M is a bit of a pig, he had the addition of bacon. Then once the protein portion is complete, you can have it toasted in the oven to heat up the meat and cheese.

When choosing the toppings, this is actually the most crucial step since this can make or break your BBQ Rib Sandwich! I actually ruined mine by adding all the vegetables and putting in honey mustard sauce on top. I KNOW! I forgot the BBQ sauce. I go on auto pilot when I put on toppings and sauces!

The best combination – Lettuce + BBQ sauce. Thats it! No need to go fancy and put on all the vegetables.  You can’t give me choices or else I will ruin something good.

I tried it with my weird combination and it really did not taste as good. It tasted like any ordinary Subway sandwich, but just with different meat. With the customizable toppings, theres a lot that can go wrong when constructing the sandwich. With the amount of vegetables, it made the “ribs” go cold fast and the meat didn’t have good taste either.

M on the other hand had a decent sandwich with the addition of bacon, lettuce and bbq sauce. He still didn’t think it was as good as the McRib. Since the whole “rib” isnt doused in the BBQ sauce, it does lose a bit of flavour.

Overall, not as good as we first imagined. Would you go out and try this sandwich?

Subway (Grandview & Renfrew) on Urbanspoon

What can be better than a ice cool juice during the summer? When I was a Lougheed Mall, I just had to get a large Orange Juice to quench my thirst.

I really don’t like any of the other drinks at Orange Julius since they taste super sweet. I really like juice. I don’t like a million flavors in my juice. It’s just a personal preference.

What is super interesting is how the freshly squeezed orange juice is submersed in ice, but it was not very cold at all. I found this quite odd. For about $5, I didn’t mind too too much since I would rather not sit in my kitchen squeezing oranges for 30 mins. Making orange juice with real fruit is really difficult if you don’t have a machine.

When I was younger, I thought I could juice an orange with the rind on….so when it came down to drinking it, it tasted SUPER bitter.

Do you have any weird stories about juice?
Orange Julius (Lougheed Mall) on Urbanspoon

Nothing says summer like a good ol’ Iced Frapp from Starbucks. Since M and I strolled all the way to New Westminster to go to the pet store, we saw Starbucks and really just wanted a Frapp! Surprisingly it was quite busy, but we really didn’t mind since there is usually a long line up at any Starbucks during peak hours.

M had the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. He really loved it since it has a hint of coconut taste with the nice mocha flavour.

If you like coconut and chocolate, this drink is probably for you.

I ordered the Green Tea Frappuccino, but I was quite mad about my drink before it was even given to me. You see, as you wait for your drink, you usually stare at the person making your drink because there really isn’t anything else to stare at.

As I was watching her make the drink, everything looked normal. When she poured the drink into cup, 1/5th of the drink fell onto the counter. To cover this up, she just put more whipped cream on top.

I looked at her, she looked at me and we gave each other an awkward look. Since there was a long line behind us, I just took the drink and left.

Has this ever happened to you?
Starbucks (Queensborough Landing) on Urbanspoon

After going to Eat! Vancouver, I think I am now hooked on McDonald’s Iced Mochas!

It’s made from espresso, ice, chocolate syrup, and milk. It is topped with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup.  The best parts are really the whipped cream and the chocolate syrup on top. It kinda reminds me of the chocolate syrup that goes into the sundaes.

I like to suck up the chocolate syrup with my straw before I drink the iced mocha.

At first, I really didn’t know what to think of the drink since it tasted pretty different from iced mochas from any other coffee joint I have been to.  In a way it tasted like their normal iced coffees with chocolate syrup.

If you are a real coffee expert, this is probably not the best place to get your mochas. I am not an expert on coffee, so if it’s drinkable, I am satisfied.

Nonetheless, it’s still quite decent and it’s good to cool you down on a hot day. For about $3.49 for a large size, it does it’s trick. This drink is only available at McCafe’s, so if you are at a regular McDonalds, you have to stick with the iced coffees.
McDonald's (Grandview Hwy/Renfrew) on Urbanspoon

I couldn’t help noticing the ads on some bus stops saying the “McRib is Back”. I don’t remember having it in Canada. Perhaps I wasn’t cool enough to get it back then… or I just didn’t notice it. Nonetheless, it was new to me and I just had to try it out.

When we ordered the McRib, we were super confused when it came with salsa. I really doubt it was for the fries. I also doubt it was for the McRib either, probably a mistake.

Inside the box is the sandwich, which has a large ground pork patty, onions, pickles and bbq sauce. I was actually surprised at the taste. For a Mc Donalds Sandwich, it was not bad at all! The meat is quite nice and not tough. While eating the Mc Rib, it was a bit drippy, so make sure you don’t drop any sauce on yourself. The sauce was similar to bottled bbq sauce, but a bit on the sweet side.

They even tried to make the patty look like ribs too. It looks super fake, but it’s McDonalds… what can you really expect. It’s probably not the most healthy thing you could be eating, but its good to have something bad for you once in a while.

M got the sandwich as well and it just reminded him of his childhood in Arizona. They have the sandwich in the States way longer than in Canada. Eating it gave him nostalgia.

Overall, decent sandwich and it’s something thats not on the regular menu. It’s only a few bucks, so it’s not like it’s going to burn a hole in your wallet.

 
McDonald's (Burnaby Heights) on Urbanspoon