Pizza

Cost: $7

Prep: unsure

I'm so so so sorry. It has been days and I haven't posted. Things have been busy, and blogger finally changed my interface to the new one, and I hate it.

One night we had pizza. I don't even know what night it was. We bought the crust at Costco, and it is much cheaper than the ones that always mould from Thrifty's. These one are 4 for $7.50 and include a bag so we could freeze the extra two.

Sauce (the Restaurant, Not the Topping)

This is not a mixed review of Sauce. It is a past and present review.

Until recently, we hadn't been to Sauce in years. We figure the last time we were there was about 2005. We went with a large birthday party, and when we remember it now, 2 things stick out in our minds. The first is that it was crazy dark, as in "I can't tell what I am eating" dark. The second is that it was incredibly loud, as in cannot-hold-a-conversation-with-people-at-your-table loud. I also remember the food being unremarkable and overpriced.

Fast-forward to the days of Groupon. Months ago, there was a deal: $20 for lunch, $30 for dinner. We took Charlie for lunch four or so months ago, and we were both surprised that it was good. More than good. The Groupon was awesome. Any two lunch entrees. Matt had two pieces of fish and chips (and so did Charlie). I had the tuna steak sandwich. It was FANTASTIC.

So, tonight, Matt and I went on a date to use our other Groupon that expires in 6 days. We dropped Charlie off at Grandma and Grandpa's, and headed for an early dinner so we could check out a movie after.

We arrived at Sauce around 5:30-45ish. Although we did get a window seat, I am pretty sure we are the last couple who got one with a reservation. The waitress was very friendly, and the entire restaurant seemed to have an appropriate number of staff on (3 waitresses, a busboy, 2 "manager" types, and a bartender on the floor).

The Groupon was an awesome deal. $30 for any appie and any 2 entrees. We started with the Artisan Plate. We were torn by this and the calamari, but to take advantage of the deal, we decided to go with the most expensive. It was very good with a variety of treats: marinated mushrooms, olives, smoked provolone, brie, chorizo, prosciutto, apples, strawberries, crustini, a baked garlic bulb, and red onion relish. Sorry about the lame picture. We had, as usual, eaten the majority before I remembered to take a picture.

For our entrees, we again took advantage of our Groupon. Matt ordered the most expensive steak on the menu: a 12 ounce NY strip-loin. I know nothing about cuts of meat, but to me, it seemed like there was a lot of fat and gristle. From my sample, I agree that it tasted nice, but I wouldn't order it again. Almost $30 for a steak that is 1/3 inedible? No thanks. It was also a bit over done, but I later heard the waitress explaining something about the steaks, and she seemed to be saying that the steaks are usually more well done than ordered.

I ordered the beef ribs. I had no idea what this was going to be, but it was tasty. Very tender beef, but with a huge chunk of fat (which is expected in ribs). The best part, though, was the onion ring.

The potato today was a mashed-something-complicated-yummy stuff. We both ate all that. Matt ate most the veggies from both our plates though. They were sauteed in too much sauce for too long for me.

Sauce has improved since our university days. The food and service both were better than average. After visiting both with the baby and without, I would vote that this is more of the "without" kind of place.

We probably will go back, but the Groupon made these two visits especially worthwhile..

Broccoli Alfredo Linguine with Scallops

Cost: $10

Prep: nearly 1 hour

There are two problems with making things from scratch. The first issue, or the last depending how you look at it, is being dealt with in the kitchen right now: the giant mess. The second issue is the time. I was in the kitchen for a loooooong time tonight.

I started by making an alfredo sauce from scratch. Well, it was going to be alfredo sauce, but something else happened. I was looking at a recipe, and the first step was melt butter. I completed this with ease. Then, I got bored and ignored the recipe. I then melted 1/2 a cup of chive and onion cream cheese in the butter, then mixed in a large cup of homo milk. To that I added an entire broccoli crown with the florets shredded and the stalks chopped finally. I tasted the sauce at this point, and it was bland, so I added a bunch of salt, pepper, garlic, and parmesan.

I cooked up a box of Catelli Smart linguine. The final cooking step was to heat the scallops. I melted butter, then added the scallops, a finely chopped tomato, and garlic to the pan. I had forgot to dry the scallops though, so they didn't get to absorb much flavor.

Anyway, for the final step I put the pasta in bowls, added the sauce, and the scallops.

I served this meal with foccacia bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip in. Charlie was a little unsure of that at first, but by the end he was dipping every bite of pasta in the mix.

It was a bit too heavy of a dinner, but Matt and I both agreed it was good enough that you would not be disappointed if this is what you ordered in a restaurant--and it had more scallops.

Deluxe Burgers

Cost: $5

Prep: 25 minutes, but hard to say as Matt and I did it together.

Today was shopping day, and we scored on some marked down pre-made fresh burgers. Thrify's makes very nice gourmet burgers (another kind will make an appearance later in the week). These were beef burgers with bacon and cheddar cheese immeshed.

We grilled these up on the griddle, not the George Foreman. The GF is put away and is a pain to take out. It lived on the counter previous to us buying a Tassimo, and it was utilized constantly. Now, it has scarely made it to non-cupboard air since Boxing Day.

As our side-dishes, we made yam chips and salad. The yam chips are delicious, especially with the chipotle aioli from Costco, but I rarely make them because they are a lot of work. If I had a mandolin, it would be easier to cut them, but I don't so I refuse. Matt had to do all the cutting to be able to eat these this time. We decided one yam was enough, but honestly it looked like it was going to make much more before the yam was cooked.

Once the yams are cut, it is an easy dish to make. I put olive oil on a pan and spread the chips out in a single layer, and then lightly brush the tops with olive oil again. Then, I broil for 5 minutes, flip, and broil a few more minutes.

There was also a large side salad, but I am still really not feeling lettuce, so Matt and Charlie "ate" it: ie Charlie sucked the dressing off and gave all the lettuce back to Matt.

To get some veggies in, I loaded my burger with onion and tomato. The burgers also made a gourmet relish, spicy mustard, mayo, and pickles. One burger this size and no sides in enough for me. It was the first time Charlie was served his own burger, and you can tell by his face that he was not so sure what to make of it. He did end up eating most of it, but like all foods, he dissected it first.

Cold-Stone Creamery

Three of us followed our dinner with ice cream at Cold-Stone.

The have a promotion right now (until today) where any "Love-it" (aka medium) size is $2. The other girls went for cheesecake, but this girl was craving chocolate, so I went for the Founder's Favorite. This was supposed to be Sweet Cream ice cream with pecans, brownie, caramel and fudge. It is important to note that they permit you to swap out any mix-ins you want. So, mine was pecans, brownie, Snickers, and Skor. Yum!!!

I actually think the medium is a bit too big, but who would order a small when it is the same price? (The answer is the idiot behind us I guess).

I am sad that we do not get to take advantage of this deal again.

Green Leaf Bistro

Tonight was the monthly (attempted) meeting of the Ladies' Dining Club I joined. The selected location was the Green Leaf Bistro by Centennial Square.

Th location is interesting. This was not an area you would want to be in after dark when I was in my teens, but it has improved and is not nearly as sketchy. There are a few restaurants now on this side of downtown, and up from Chinatown, and there are definitely perks, like being able to have our pick of parking spots at 6PM on a Saturday.

The decor of the "bistro" is very nice. I liked the green colour pallet, the tasteful Vietnamese decor, and spacing of the tables. However, it was FAR too hot, especially for the multiple members of our party who are expecting. My other complaint about the decor was barely noticeable, but whatever tile the have laid is really slippery, and I almost bailed twice (once going to the restroom and once leaving).

Now, on to the important part, the food!

We shared two appetizers. The first was the salad rolls. As far as salad rolls go, these were pretty standard. The cost was $5.95 for two rolls and a large bowl of peanut sauce. I wasn't really a fan of how they left a giant piece of lettuce sticking out of the ends, but I guess this is what makes them a "bistro"? The carrots inside the salad roll also were soaked in vinegar, which I really enjoyed, but they used that weird pressed pork deli-meat stuff instead of real pork (the only place I have had real is Pho Galaxy in Chilliwack). I would order these again.

The second appie we shared were the deep-fried spring rolls. These were fantastic. They were very crisp and not at all greasy. I am pretty sure we ordered meat filled ones, but other than that I have no insight into what was inside. The chilli-sauce it came with was also a little different it seemed. It did not seem like it was as sweet as the stuff that comes in the giant bottles (which I am not a fan of).

For our mains, the majority of our party went for the Bun.

Diner 1 had the Lemongrass Chicken. She spoke highly of this dish.

Diner 2 had some sort of Bun with vegetarian spring rolls.

Diner 3 had another Bun with prawns and chicken, I think. (Laura, you will have to correct me if I am wrong). The look of this one gave me food envy.

Diner 4, me, went for Pho. I figured that since I want to be able to compare this place to other Pho places, I need to stick to what I normally order: Pho with rare beef slices.

Now, my first step of comparison is price. This same dish (size regular) ranges from $6.95 to $7.95 else where, but here it was $8.95. Not that it was important, as it is always too much, but the portion was smaller. It was served with all the fixin's: lime, jalapenos, basil, sprouts, and a large serving for sure.

People on Urbanspoon are all on about how fantastic the broth is, but, honestly, I didn't really notice a difference. There was a decent sized serving of beef though. Really, I wouldn't put this bowl of pho above any other bowl of pho.

One thing I noticed on the menu were "family-style" meals. And the menu was huge. I'm not sure if I will be back, but our experience was definitely a good one.

Dad's Dinner

Baby cheesies: a pre-dinner snack.

Matt cooking

Cost: $7

Prep: 45 minutes

I am very proud of my husband tonight. I am on my way out with my Ladies' Dining Club, and generally that means the boys will be eating frozen pizza. Tonight, Matt stuck with the meal plan I had designed at the beginning of the week and made the stir-fry was tonight himself!

So, as I am leaving, the boys are eating REAL food with MULTIPLE food groups. Go Daddy!

He made teriyaki sauce himself (a little too much corn starch).

He used some teriyaki beef from the freezer (even if he forgot to defrost it).

Udon noodles, which are easier for baby to eat

Lots of veggies

Ready to eat!