Fresh City Farms Ready-To-Eat Jars

Cooking is my thing. It's my stress reliever, my creative outlet, my pride, my joy, it's my world. While I love to cook as much as possible and share my creations with you all, it's not always a reality for me to get to cook every single meal. Short-cuts and quick-fixes are the only way I can get through a busy week without losing my mind sometimes. I'm often juggling a few different projects at once, which means a lot of running around, and bursting in the door well past dinner time, in a hangry stupor, searching for anything that can satiate me quickly! It's so easy to make poor choices when I'm caught in a hangry state like that, turning to my guilty pleasures (that always feel so good at first, and then inevitably leave me feeling disappointed) like a box of mac & cheese, a McDonalds meal, or just some good ol' peanut butter toast. Like I said, those options always seem like a good idea while I'm preparing them, but they always (and I mean always!) leave me feeling lousy and let down in the end. 

While I've been getting better at meal prep as of late, I still have those days where I need to have a meal on hand that's ready to go and will leave me feeling my best. With that in mind, an email from Fresh City Farms, inviting me to try out some of their new Ready-To-Eat meal jars came at the most opportune time!

Having visited Fresh City Farms two-acre Organic farm at Downsview Park (right in the city!) a few years ago, I knew first-hand the care and thought that they take in producing and sourcing some of the best produce you can find in Ontario. While they don't source all of their ingredients for their Ready-To-Eat jars from their own farm, they take great care to select almost exclusively certified organic ingredients, with exception of a few local producers who are not certified organic.

Beyond being impressed by the attention and importance that they place on having high-quality produce, I was also dazzled by the great selection of Ready-To-Eat jars that Fresh City Farms carries in their shop. With so many delicious sounding options (that fit a variety of different diets), the hardest part of the whole process was buckling down and getting decisive about my order. I wanted to try them all!! I ended up ordering the Butter Chicken Bowl (a total no-brainer!), Makhani Tofu Biryani, and Falafel Salad, with jars for Chris to try out as well for a second opinion. I also threw in some Tonica Kombucha, red beets, rutabaga, and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Green Zebra Kitchen. What a haul!

With my order placed, I was a little concerned that I would run into problems with my delivery. Both myself and Chris were going to be out the day our order was to be delivered, and my condo clearly states that they will not accept any deliveries that include non-perishables. I left instructions for the delivery person to call our buzzer and leave the order outside of our unit door. Even still, I wasn't sure that either Chris or myself would even be available to answer the buzzer to let the delivery person in. I was stressed! Luckily my stress was completely unfounded, as the delivery process was as smooth as can be! I got a phone call from Fresh City Farms to confirm my order was being delivered, and they were able to get into my building without any issue. Chris came home to find a lovely Fresh City Farms cooler bag, expertly packed with temperature controlled lunch bags and ice packs. For someone who works in marketing, Chris was seriously impressed!

I came home from work that evening completely starved and ready to dive into my Butter Chicken Bowl! A quick trip to the microwave was all my bowl needed to be ready to eat. It was such a perfect meal to come home to. I loved the big, bold, and comforting flavours of the butter chicken sauce, and the chicken was perfectly cooked and tender. With the jars being quite large, I even had some leftover as a snack the next day!

While the Butter Chicken jar was definitely my favourite, the other two jars were really tasty as well. Though I have to admit, I did end up adding some extra ingredients to the Falafel jar to bump up the flavour a little bit. I added chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of tahini, and a little hit of cayenne pepper for heat. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I wanted a little bit more brightness, creaminess, and heat. I LOVED it after that! I have also been totally obsessed with kombucha since trying Tonica Kombucha from my order, and have been drinking it like a maniac ever since! My favourite flavour is their peach kombucha. I was also shocked by how delicious the Peanut Butter Cups were from Green Zebra Kitchen. My goodness, they were sooooo good! Not only were they tasty, they're also healthy and provide a quick energy boost thanks to the hit of protein in them. 

I am so happy with how my experience with Fresh City Farms went! It was easy, convenient, delicious, and at a fairly reasonable price-point considering the quality, organic certification, and delivery right to your door! I would highly recommend looking into their delivery service if you're anything like me and are looking for tasty and convenient options that will leave you feeling great in the midst of a busy week. Thank you so much to the lovely people at Fresh City Farms for reaching out to me and allowing me the opportunity to try their products!

This post was written in partnership with Fresh City Farms. All opinions and photographs are my own. 

Listening To:
Kendrick Lamar - XXX

Peter & Pat's Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Pierogies with Bacon & Brussel Sprouts

Hangry, a perfect word for summing up the overwhelming feeling of anger in response to hunger, and an emotion that you never want to catch me in the midst of! It's unpleasant, to say the least. In order to prevent unnecessary hangry episodes in my home,  I have to keep my kitchen stocked with quick and easy midweek dinner options so that I can get food into my hangry mouth as quickly as possible on busy evenings. Of course we will always have our shameful boxes of mac and cheese and instant pancake mix, but it's important for me to keep more "legit" options in my freezer as well. This is where I keep my store-bought asian dumplings, trays of homemade lasagna, chilli, and soup, and, one of my favourite go-to's, frozen pierogies! 

Frozen pierogies have come to be one of my all-time favourite weeknight go-to meals thanks to how convenient they are to store, their simplicity, satiety, delicious taste, and versatility. The amazing thing about pierogies is just how versatile they are. They come in so many different flavours, but more than that, the options for serving and topping pierogies are endless! 

Recently Peter & Pat's Pierogies reached out to me to introduce me to their line of Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Pierogies made from a 60-year old family recipe, with 100% real potatoes, and 100% natural ingredients. Disappointed with the usual pierogies I was buying at the grocery store, I was eager to try out Peter & Pat's product, which are now available for purchase at Costco locations throughout Canada. Not only did Peter & Pat's Pierogies provide me with a sample of their product, they also sent along a few recipes for me to try out with their pierogies! 

While I have always loved serving my pierogies with sautéed bacon and onions, with a big ol' dollop of sour cream, the combination of the bacon and sour cream (plus all of the bacon, potato, and cheese inside the pierogies) made the dish a little heavy for a weeknight meal. I loved Peter & Pat's suggestion to try the pierogies with sautéed brussel sprouts, with bacon and onions. Though the suggestion was to serve the perogies with quartered brussel sprouts on the side, I thought it would be even more delicious to serve just the sautéed brussel sprout leaves tossed right into the pierogies. Though it was a bit of an odd combo that I had never thought to try before, the brussel sprout leaves tasted so delicious with the pierogies, especially when combined with the bacon and onions. The brussel sprout leaves were fantastic for cutting all of the richness in the dish, giving it a really nice balance. 

More than just the serving suggestion, I was really impressed with the flavour of Peter & Pat's Pierogies. That 100% potato flavour came through really strong, with the flavour of the bacon and cheddar cheese merely complimenting the potato filling, as opposed to overwhelming it. I love how the potato remained the star! The pierogies also had a great texture, and featured the signature crimped edges that you find with homemade pierogies. I will definitely continue to keep their pierogies stocked in my freezer from now on! 

Be sure to keep your eye out for Peter & Pat's Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Pierogies at your local Costco, and try out the recipe for Pierogies with Bacon & Brussel Sprouts below! You're gonna love it! 

* Cutting bacon into lardons means slicing it into paper clip-sized pieces.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

14-20 frozen Peter & Pat's Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Pierogies

about 12 brussel sprouts, leaves picked, core discarded

4 slices bacon, cut into lardons*

1/2 medium onion, fine dice 

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, separated 
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Boil pierogies as directed on package. Drain and set aside. While pierogies are cooking prepare topping. 
2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon at medium heat until fat has rendered. Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside on a paper-towel lined dish. 
3. Drain fat from pan, leaving 1-Tbsp. Add onion and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. 
4. Add 1-Tbsp butter to pan and add brussel sprouts. Cook, stirring often, until leaves are slightly crisp and charred on the edges. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add remaining 1-Tbsp butter along with pierogies, bacon, and onion to the brussel sprouts and toss to combine. Serve immediately. 

Listening To:

Portland - Drake ft. Quavo & Travis Scott