Supper Central: Meal Assembly 101

Oh my, have things been busy around here.  The Boy graduated high school!!  There was convocation, a dinner and a dance, a limo full of teenagers.... Now that graduation things are over, we had to get the Boy registered for University classes in the fall!  By the way, he earned himself an entrance scholarship!  The last of our excitement is underway as way as well:  the Boy leaves for his Me to We trip to Ecuador!  Wow!

 A while back I had the opportunity to check out Supper Central.  They had teamed up with the Manitoba Chicken Producers to sponsor a meal prep gathering. I had heard about this place but had never been. Supper central is a dinner assembly kitchen. You order your meals, set a day and time to go in, and rotate through the statio stations assembling meals. Here's the neat part: they do all the prep AND the clean up! What's not to love? At the end of the evening you leave with your meals, each one neatly packed in a big zip top bag complete with meat, grain or pasta, and veggie.

Packing your meal couldn't be easier. Rice and pasta are pre measured into baggies, meats are already portioned out into another baggie....seriously.  All you need to do is follow the recipe instructions they provide to add marinade ingredients to the meat, smoosh it up, reseal it and put it into the larger zip top bag.  Now grab your grain or pasta, toss that in, and assemble your last part.  On this meal that was the mango salsa.  In another meal, it was grabbing a Baggie of frozen green beans and adding honey and soy.

As you assemble your meals you can adjust seasonings to your family's liking, we like spicy so I added extra spices accordingly. Supper Central will also provide you with a handy prep card with instructions on how to prepare your meal.

Meals come together quickly and easily. For a busy family or couple, this is a fabulous dinner option.  The chicken and mango salsa were tasty and came together quickly with a quick grill of the chicken, boil the rice and thaw the mango salsa. Everyone in the house enjoyed it.  We got 5 chicken breast with the 'full size' meal. The pieces were quite smaller than I would normally buy when grocery shopping but if you are feeding smaller kids, they are a good size. If you are feeding a giant teen boy, there most likely want be leftovers.

The Quick and Easy:

I am in love with the concept of supper central and will most likely make use of them during busy times. They are organized, clean, and they do the work for you.  The meals are tasty and well thought out as well.

Supper Central is allergy aware with nut free stations, gluten free options and the like.  

They have plenty of single meals pre frozen to store in your freezer and which are great options for singles or people who aren't able to cook.

Supper Central offers a packing service where they will assemble your meals and all you need to do is to pick them up.

If their meals seem pricey, think about the time component. All the chopping and cleaning pins done for you. You just show up and assemble.

Definitely worth checking out.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Please note that I assembled 2 meals at Supper Central which were generously provided to those in attendance by Manitoba Chicken Producers. Thank you for the opportunity to try out meal assembly. 

BBQ Bliss

Do you love BBQ? Do you love brisket with a fabulous smoke ring smoked right in? Do you love perfectly smoked pulled pork? Do you love fall off the bone ribs? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you really do need to head on down to Lovey's BBQ on Marion.

The other evening I had the pleasure of chowing down on some tasty, tasty BBQ. The folks at Lovey's were kind enough to offer the invite to taste their wares and blog about it. (I really do love this deal!)  I met up with a small group and we decided on ordering the Voyageur platter.  This platter feeds 4 adults but really, it could feed a small army. The amount of food you get with this platter is ridonculous!

To quote their menu:

"One slab of St. Louis style side ribs, one whole BBQ chicken, one pound Winnipeg style pulled pork or one pound slow smoked Winnipeg beef brisket, BBQ pit beans, creamy coleslaw, 4 cornbread muffins & your choice of potato salad or fries"

Of course we had to test out a few other items on the menu such as the deep fried pickles, the pulled pork poutine, and the smoked chicken wings.

I first tried deep fried pickles while in Tennessee a few years ago and for ages I could only get them when we went South of the border. Now I can find them at Lovey's and quite honestly I can not go into Lovey's without getting an order. They were crisp on the outside with dill pickle goodness on the inside.  The perfect bite to munch on while waiting for the rest of your meal.

Lovey's does their own smoking and uses locally raised meat in their smokers. Their Manitoba beef brisket has a bonafide smoke ring on the outer layer letting you know that it has indeed spent a long time slowly smoking to a tender finish. Sliced thin and piled high, the brisket is one of my favourites from Lovey's.

The pulled pork is an often ordered item here. It spends enough time in the smoker to melt off the fat from the Boston butt cut of pork and render it tender. Smothered in BBQ sauce and paired with their crisp coleslaw you can't go wrong.  Take their pulled pork and add it to fries with cheese and gravy and you've got  poutine poetry! 

The chicken is a close third to that favourite. Smoked until tender and tasty and served with a slather of BBQ sauce the chicken is safe bet if you haven't had BBQ before and aren't sure where to start.  Now speaking of chicken, Lovey's also smokes the wings. We order the extra hot wings and while tasty, with a bit of char, they weren't very spicy. For my palate, they were barely warm, tasty, but not spicy.

There is no shortage of classic BBQ side dishes at Lovey's.  Coleslaw, potato salad, corn bread, fries, garlic fries.... For the most part, everything is a good bet. It just depends on what you prefer. There is really something for everyone here, except maybe vegetarians....

 

The Quick and Easy:

 

Tasty and flavourful BBQ meats in generous portions. If you don't like pork, there's always the chicken or the beef.  Lovey's offers something for everyone from a simple cheese burger for around $6 to a platters of meats and sides for up to $70.

Did I mention they have a bourbon bar?

They also dabble in catering, take out, and have a food truck.

A friendly and community oriented bunch, Lovey's has a couple of fundraising options for groups and persons looking to raise some cash for their cause.

Kids eat free on Sundays.

Please note, that while my meal was generously provided, it had no bearing on my opinions regarding quality and taste.

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Only On The Prairie: Perogi Soup

We have been hitting record highs with the weather here lately and it has been absolutely fabulous! Even with the side serving of spring allergies popping up!

Have you ever tried Perogi soup? Have your ever heard of Perogi soup? That's okay if you haven't because there are many prairie dwellars that haven't tried it or heard of it either.  The fine folks (James, Sharmelle, and Alain) over at Fozen Comfort in North Winnipeg have made this soup a standard in my kitchen.  I have also tried their turkey soup and it is also fabulous!  I do need to get back there and try out some of their other tasty looking items!

Perogi soup is basically a creamy potato soup with chunks of perogi, bacon, and green onions in it.  Quality does indeed make a difference here...not only is the soup tasty, the perogi pieces are great tasting and no one is going to argue with bacon being added! If you love potatoe soup, you will love perogi soup!

Frozen Comfort is a new store in West Kildonon that makes and sells frozen foods.  They proudly cook up their foods fresh and without extra preservative and flash freeze it in store.  Soups come frozen in generous bowl sized (and shaped) portions wich make for easy heating!

The soups can be heated in either the microwave or on the stove and taste fantastic!

Frozen foods isn't their only market.  They make lunches to go, they cater, make their own ice cream, sell gluten free and diabetic friendly items....the list goes on!

If you happen to be in the West Kildonan area, make sure you pop by as they are open until 7pm on weeknights which is perfect for picking up something on your home for dinner!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!