spinach Archives - Curiously Carmen

Hi everyone!

Nestled in the trendy neighbourhood of Gastown, Tuc Craft Kitchen fits in perfectly with its vintage, but modern-type ambiance. Tuc features high ceilings and big windows, which makes it seem roomier and there are wooden board accents on the wall too.

My friends wanted to try this place after hearing good reviews, so we decided to go one afternoon. We all had a lovely experience here, from the accommodating and friendly staff to the delicious dishes they had to offer.
Picture taken from (http://www.vanbrosia.com/2013/08/tuc-craft-kitchen.html). Here is the exterior of the restaurant, pretty simplistic and minimal design but enough to be noticed!
Some of us got there 15 minutes before they opened for lunch, but the owner was nice enough to let us in so we didn’t have to wait outside. I really like the wooden interior and design of the restaurant, and think the white chairs make a good accent as well.
I finally settled on ordering the Tuc pot pie ($11), which consisted of Fraser Valley free run chicken, nugget potatoes, sweet peas, and carrots in a white wine/thyme creme sauce. I liked that there was a generous amount of quality chicken inside.

The top itself was really soft and flaky, which I ended up cutting into separate sections and dipping it in the sauce and chicken. It was very creamy, warm, and comforting. The salad was pretty decent too, it came with a lot of spinach which I loved and there was a sweet taste to it!
This was the chicken dip sandwich with parsnip fries ($12). I didn’t try this, but my friend said it tasted pretty good and thought it was unconventionally delicious with the dip.

The parsnip fries were definitely new to me, but I enjoyed them. More on those later…
Here is where Tuc’s service really shines through! My friend couldn’t eat meat that day due to religious reasons, and asked the server what vegetarian options were available. She told us that there weren’t many vegetarian options but that they would be happy to make a dish for her off the menu. They ended up making a customized vegetarian pasta that my friend enjoyed very much.
This was the beef brisket and pork crackling sandwich that came with a side of smashed potato fries ($13). Even though I only had a bite, I fell in love with this sandwich! The beef brisket was very tender and the pork was very crispy. When you took a bite, it would be soft but there were bits of crispy pork pieces in it too. It came on sourdough bread, with dijon mustard and pickles. So. good.
Next up was the mini shepard’s pie and soup ($9) (I believe the server told us the soup of the day was tomato and basil). My friend enjoyed her dish and I liked the presentation of it, so cute!
To share, we decided to get parsnip fries and smashed potato fries ($8~ for both), even though two of the dishes we ordered came with them already. What really made these fries stand out for me was the dipping sauce. They said it was their homemade ketchup but I have never tasted such delicious ketchup before! It was made with coriander, which made it a bit smoky and spicy but it had a hint of sweetness to it. I would order their fries again just for the ketchup.

I thought their lunch menu was really delicious and crafted with great quality. Their service was also very accommodating, fast, and friendly not to mention the beautiful decor.

Thanks for reading!
-Carmen

Hi everyone!

Trader Joes is like a little country that welcomes you with open arms and smiling faces. The reason why I say this is because everything in store is produced and manufactured by themselves. Their staff are really friendly, and their interior design gives me a modern day cottage with a laid back feel to it.

Apart from that, most of TJ’s products are super healthy – organic, no preservatives, low fat, gluten free, no artificial flavours, but you get my point! I love that most ingredients that you read on the package are actually recognizable, meaning that they are all natural and do not contain artificial preservatives or things ending in -oxide -xide -acid, etc.

The best part though, is that even though all their products are super great quality and healthy, it’s extremely affordable. Usually, the trade off when buying healthy products is the cost that’s attached.

I took the liberty of taking a few pictures of the store shelves, just to give you guys an idea. The shelves are jam packed with yummy products, and as I mentioned before, their signage is really cute. I also love the packaging of their products. Kudos to the design team!

On their website, the coconut cranberry granola sounded really delicious, as did the triple berry o’s I laid my eyes upon on their shelves. However, these two did not live up to my expectations, especially the triple berry o’s. At first taste, they tasted no different than honey nut cheerios, which was disappointing to me.. Secondly, the dried berries inside the cereal looked really unappetizing, and tasted really unappetizing since they were super, super dry.

The blueberries were the worst part. To me, it tasted like cardboard and they were also really shriveled up even after I waited for it to absorb the milk.

On the other hand, the coconut cranberry granola was not bad, I just didn’t really like the taste of it that much. I felt that it tasted like regular granola that you can get at Walmart, and there weren’t that many cranberries inside. I also didn’t really taste much of the coconut flakes, although I could see a generous amount.
These caught my attention because of the nutritious and healthy ingredients in it. It’s also a good source of omega 3 and fiber among other nutrients, not to mention that it’s not fattening. I’ve also tried their other quinoa chips, so I decided to give this one a shot too.

I was glad I did because I liked these ones better. These chips had a fair amount of seasoning to it, bringing it away from the bland flavour tortilla chips usually have. I also liked how there were different chip varieties in there – carrot tomato, spinach garlic, and red beet onion. My favourite was spinach and garlic, although the other ones weren’t bad also. The variety in the chips kept it somewhat exciting. They were also pretty crunchy and had a thick texture to it too!
Saved the best for last! I was randomly walking by the frozen dessert section, not really aiming to buy anything but this caught my eye. Chocolate non-dairy frozen dessert made with coconut milk. I was really intrigued by this, so I decided to give it a shot. Am I ever glad I did!

There is a rich and creamy chocolate taste, but also a hint of coconut too. I honestly can’t tell the difference between this and real dairy cream, which is a great thing since this is much healthier for you. Eating this gave me less guilt as it is lower in fat and calories than regular ice cream.

The ingredients in this are also more familiar than ones in ice cream, which is always a plus! I will most definitely be buying this tub of goodness again.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this! I have several more products I bought that weekend, so expect another haul sometime. Happy grocery shopping and remember to be aware of what you’re putting in your body!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

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