Hello Fresh - Food Box

Price - $73.99

Recipes - great selection, as many if not more than good food. 

Packaging - each meal is in a paper bag and the protein is at the bottom near the ice pack. Comparable to other meal boxes. Wet ingredients are places in baggies.

Ingredients - Allows for steak and salmon options. Noticed recipes are heavier than other food boxes, includes mayo a lot and not enough dishes w veggies as sides. Liked that sometimes the veggies were pre cut, like sweet potato fries, and onion for frying. Protein is fresh and good quality. 

Cooking - easy to follow recipes, more complicated than miss fresh and chefs plate, but not as difficult as good food. 

Portion size - good for 2 people, not too much not too little. 

Taste - ingredients are simple and it shows in the taste of the food.  Sometimes too rich and heavy because of mayo, or sometimes dry and bland because of... Well nothing to put on it.

Overall - this box was comparable in quality and complexity to good food, and price. But it would not be my first option.  For what you get (including baggies instead of bottles) the price should not be as high.  But ingredients are fresh and good quality, so maybe that's where the money goes. Was not impressed by taste of any of the meals, had better ones with other meal boxes.

Overall: 7

"Flavoured beer" Christmas - Wynchwood Brewery

Mood: first Christmas brew of the season! Impress me! 

Where to Buy: LCBO

Price: $3.40

Beer Type: Flavoured beer

Ingredients: water, malted barley, cinnamon flavour, yeast

Country: Oxfordshire England  

%: 5.0

ml: 500ml

Appearance: Ale colour, not quite a light, not quite an amber

Smell: malt and slight molasses

Taste: What a neutral ale! I was expecting cinnamon 101 since it's an ingredient, but no! It's a brown kinda tar tasting beer, not much cinnamon flavour but definitely a slight spice to it. 

Mouthfeel: starts off bubbly and turns creamy 

Finish: like a chlorinated pool (wtf??) with a hint of ale and a hint of spice, not much though, I need to breath in and out my nose in order to get a flavour!

Overall: great packaging, shitty beer. Nothing special about it and not worth the price tag either! Guess it's that price because it's imported :(

5/10

Highballer Pumpkin Ale - Grand River

Mood: I'm in my Jammie's all nice and warm. Maybe a brew would do. 

Where to Buy: LCBO

Price: $2.50 (on sale 0.50 off)

Beer Type: flavoured ale

Ingredients: water, barley, malt, pumpkin, hops, spices

Country: Galt, Ontario 

%: 5.2

ml: 650ml

Appearance: Light coloured beer

Smell: light beer with a hint of pumpkin spice

Taste: Bitter like an ale, slight pumpkin spice flavour but gives way to bitterness afterwards

Mouthfeel: very bitter, foamed up a bit afterwards

Finish: bitter and then gives way to an almost bread flavour at the back of my throat. Still feeling the bitter minutes later

Overall: I mean I get it. It's an ale. Ale has that kinda bitter taste, but I didn't really taste much pumpkin or spice, it honestly just tasted cheap... So a no go for me. 

5/10

Saison Dupump - Great Lakes Brewery

Mood: it's a Tuesday and I'm thirsty... Let me reach for some wat- BEER

Where to Buy: LCBO

Price: $

Beer Type: Belgian Ale (saison)

Ingredients: water, malted barley, hops, yeast, pumpkin and spices

Country: Toronto, Ontario 

%: 5.2

ml: 650ml

Appearance: Light coloured beer

Smell: light beer with a hint of spice

Taste: Mild and not bitter (as I was expecting) there is a mild pumpkin spice flavour, and I like that. Everything was very balanced and mild and nothing overpowering. 

Mouthfeel: clean and crisp, foamed up a bit at the end

Finish: nothing really, just clean. At one point I thought I was drinking water with a slight beer, pumpkin spice flavour.

Overall: very impressed for a Toronto beer, lived up to the pumpkin spice I was looking for but lacks richness. I would probably say this is my favourite pumpkin fall beer to date. But will review close to same time I drink st Ambrose pumpkin beer as well. 

7/10

La 6 strong beer - Brassuers du monde

Mood: it's a Monday and I miss Montreal. Let's have some beer!

Where to Buy: Montreal

Price: $4.50

Beer Type: strong beer with sour candies

Ingredients: ??

Country: Montreal, Quebec 

%: 6.0%

ml: 500ml

Appearance: Beer with an ever so slight reddish hue

Smell: sour fuzzy peaches 

Taste: Mild Quebec beer with a sour fuzzy peach tang. Very refreshing.

Mouthfeel: pinchy and sour (like candy!) if I could name it (again) it would r a sour fuzzy peach type deal. 

Finished: nothing in particular as an aftertaste except a sour lingering taste. Like candy that's been eaten and is already in my tummy :) enjoyable. Not beer heavy 

Overall: very refreshing, clean, and crisp. Doesn't taste like I'm having beer rather a sour type of juicy beer. Of course Quebec does it again with amazing beer selections. My rating reflects beers I ha e had from Quebec. Compared to Ontario they get all 10's. 

7/10

Tylenol PM - Review

I've always had issues with drugs... No no not those kind of drugs, over the counter sleep aids to be exact. I'm not sure if I just wasn't taking the right dose, or I just react differently than the average joe, but when I used to take a sleeping pill once and a while (sleepovers mainly) they usually didn't do much for me unless there was alcohol involved also. And even then... I remember my first experience with sleep eez. And my second. And my third. Basically a wave of calm would come over me. Almost like a bob Marley song could play right then and there and it would fit my mood "everything... Gonna be alright"... But through all that lack of movement and calm, I was still awake. Eyes closed. But awake. The whole night...

So I guess that back story wasn't really needed, but let's just say I came upon some bad BAD news a few years ago, and a friend recommended Tylenol pm to me. I took the recommended dose, 2 tablets. And went to bed. 

I instantly fell asleep. HAAAAAALELUJIA! But wait. I woke up 2 hours later. In a panic attack. My body was panicking because I was too calm. Everything was yes moved slower. My body moved at a snails pace. All the while my brain was FREAKING OUT. Thank god at that time I was going through my counselling degree so I talked myself down, normalized the feeling, and grounded myself in my living room. When I finally went back to the bed I forced myself to close my eyes and poof. I was out like a light again. 

The next time I decided to try it I took half a pill. Less than half the reccomended dosage, and for me, that's enough (most of the time). I like that it has a calming sleepy effect, just enough to make me want bed, but not enough to freak me out and make me panic. 

And if it doesn't work? There's another half I can take next to me on my dresser.

Rating? Since I haven't tried anything else and still have a few to review (free from social nature, but I was too chicken to actually try them when I was given them) I'm gonna leave it at a 9/10. Leaving a little wiggle room.

Pros: controllable dose, calming, sleepy sensation, works well with alcohol, can control my dose, not restless, even when I wake up at night I feel sleepy and go back to bed. 

Cons: sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes I wake up sleepier in the morning, sometimes I feel tired in the day... Oh and supposedly long term use can cause memory loss.. These are all not enough to keep me from taking this. 

Erable (maple beer) - St. Ambrose

Mood: Maple beer from Montreal! Much appreciated. 

Where to Buy: deppaneur AS (Montreal)

Price: $11.50 - 4 pack of bottles

Beer Type: maple beer

Ingrdients: water, malted barley, crystal malt, toasted wheat, natural maple flavour, hops, Quebec maple syrup 

Country: Montreal, Quebec 

%: 4.5%

ml: 341ml

Appearance: maple syrup! Aka Amber 

Smell: beer with a hint of sugary maple

Taste: maple beer, kinda sweet, a lot like honey brown from whistler, but with a more pleasurable maple. Bitterness to the undertone

Mouthfeel: starts out pinchy, moves to creamy when kept in mouth. 

Finished: bitter. In all areas of my mouth but mostly my tongue. Leaves a nice sweet taste and a breath in of maple. 

Overall:  what a great addition to the st Ambroise crew of beers. Always a good beer that they create. It isn't perfect but I definitely like the flavours that they offer now. Would probably taste great with the pumpkin beer! 

7/10