A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune of being invited to the President's Choice Summer Retreat. Along with a few other food, parenting, and lifestyle bloggers, I had the opportunity to learn about new summer offerings from President's Choice, Joe Fresh and Shoppers Drug Mart, all part of Loblaw Companies Limited. As someone who shops almost exclusively at Loblaws/Superstore/No Frills and regularly fills her grocery cart with 70% food and 30% Joe Fresh clothes (you know what I'm talking about!), I couldn't wait to see what will soon be hitting the shelves.
1. Sticky Toffee Pudding - Run, don't walk, and grab as many of these as you can and throw them in your cart. From Our Chefs is a program which offers more than 50 restaurant-quality gourmet dishes to take home. Standouts for me were the Mac and Cheese Croquette (adults will love them just as much as the kids) and this dessert. It comes packaged in its own mason jar, just remove the metal lid and microwave. If you're not into sticky toffee pudding (and if you aren't, I'm not sure we can be friends), they also offer Bread Pudding, Apple Cobbler, and Saskatoon Berry Bottom Rice Pudding. YUM. I believe they're only $3.99 each which makes this an affordable and delicious indulgence. I hope these products stick around because they'll be great to enjoy on chilly winter nights.
2. PC Black Label Pink Lemonade - This sparkling soda is the perfect beverage for your summer soirees. Chill and serve it over ice. Even better, freeze raspberries and blueberries and use them as your ice for a colourful summer drink.
3. PC Flavour Burst Blueberries - These are not your average blueberries. These blueberries are large, juicy, and flavourful. I enjoyed them for breakfast along with a waffle style rosti, made by Chef Andrea Buckett.
Andrea has an uncanny ability to make me feel like I could be a rockstar in the kitchen. She taught us how to make amazing meals out of the simplest of ingredients. I've included her Waffle Style Rosti recipe here. I think I'd make a batch of these rosti and freeze them. Then when I'm time-crunched for breakfast, I can just reheat on a waffle iron and add a fried egg on top.
Waffle Style Rosti
Ingredients:
567 gram bag refrigerated grated potatoes (hash brown style)
1 PC® Blue Menu® Oméga-3 White Egg, Large
2 tbsp All purpose flour
2 tbsp PC® Fresh Chives, thinly sliced
1 tsp Sea salt
1 tsp Pepper
1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl
2. Pre-heat the waffle iron to medium-high
3. Place 1⁄2 cup of the potato mix on each side of the waffle iron
4. Cook until golden brown
4. Key Lime Kefir Smoothie Bar - I'm not a big ice cream person but this Kefir Smoothie bar is just right for those hot summer days when you're craving something cold and velvety. Kefir, a fermented milk product, packs a probiotic punch and this smoothie comes in at only 90 calories. And it matches my nails as an added bonus :)
5. Sun Bum Sunscreen Products - Chloe had a bit of a scare last year with an unusual mole so sunscreen is a priority for us. This brand, new to Shoppers Drug Mart stores, offers products that are paraben and oil-free, hypoallergenic and water resistant. I tried the Sunscreen Face Stick and it was great, light and not sticky at all. The lip balm is a Must Try too - it tastes like bananas!
There was a whole lot of food that we tried over the weekend. Here's a little video to give you a taste of all the amazing new products that President's Choice has in store. And, to be honest, the 'cottage' we stayed at was pretty spectacular so check out the video for some architectural eye candy as well.
Who's ready for summer??
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