I'm going to let you in on a secret: I love grocery shopping. Groceries are a weekly task for my boyfriend and me, which means we get to spend time together picking up the food we plan on cooking together for the week. With both of us having graduated just under a year ago, we are working hard on saving money to buy our first home. I spend a portion of time each week flipping through flyers delivered to my house, searching for deals so that we can save just a bit more money here and there to get a bit closer to our dream home.


All Flyers // Favourites List
But why spend time flipping through pages when you can get everything in one place? Meet Flipp, a free app for Apple and Android that brings together weekly circulars to help you save time and money on your purchases of groceries and household items. I was invited to take the #FlippFoodChallenge to see how much money and time I could save just by using the app. All I can say is, where has Flipp been all my life?

After I entered my postal code, flyers for nearby stores popped up. There was also the option of adding stores that I frequent into a favourites list to cater the list of flyers to my needs. After that, it was time to browse.


Weekly Circular // Clippings
When you search through a flyer for a specific store, the dates that the prices are advertised for appear at the top. With the tap of a finger you can choose what items to add to your shopping list, and those items are transferred into the 'clippings' section of the app. All your clippings are listed alphabetically by store, making it easy to compare prices and ensure that you purchase all your items when using the app in store. I liked this function of the app the most, because it made sure that I wasn't wasting my time browsing around the store unnecessarily, and I didn't miss a thing on my shopping list. If certain offers expire before others, they're clearly marked.


Shopping List // Search
Another great feature in the app is the Shopping List, where you can enter a list of all the items you need for the week. There are suggested popular items you can pick from, and all the weekly deals for the items pop up for you to browse through to find the best value. If you're looking for a specific item, you can enter it into the search bar and all deals for that item pop up too. It's so handy if you don't want to comb through the circulars!

Using Flipp really did save me time and money for grocery shopping last week. With the user-friendly interface it was a breeze looking for certain items, I spent less time in the grocery store and definitely saved some money along the way by comparing prices with ease. We were able to save anywhere between $1-$3 on each of the items we needed for the week just by using the app. Of course there is definitely the trade-off of time used driving from one store to the next to get the best price on certain produce, but most of my grocery stores are within minutes of one another. Time can also be saved as some stores offer price matching, and you can do it directly from your mobile device. Using Flipp is also better for the environment, as you can eliminate the printing and delivery of circulars to your home and shopping lists don't have to be written down on paper. I thoroughly enjoyed using Flipp, and now I have my mother hooked on it too. The money saved will definitely contribute to my dream home fund and maybe pay for some date nights along the way. I'll definitely continue to use the app, and I encourage you to try it out too!

*Disclosure: I received compensation for the #FlippFoodChallenge and to write this blog post. Views expressed in this post are solely mine. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.

Back in my elementary school days the annual field trip to Snow Valley was always the field trip I looked forward to most. Spending a day on the slopes and having slushies and french fries at lunch was the dream. These days, even though I drive by the hill on my daily commute, it's pretty rare to find me at Snow Valley in the winter time.

The Lodge at Snow Valley - 13204 45 Avenue - Edmonton AB

Beyond the winter season, I had no idea that The Lodge was open throughout the spring and summer. Snow Valley is located in the Rainbow Valley surrounded by the lush foliage and pine trees of the Whitemud Ravine. It is a beautiful place to host functions and spend time in the summer - something that had never crossed my mind in the past.


Couscous Salad
The culinary services at The Lodge recently welcomed Chef Leo, a Red Seal chef formerly of Sorrentino's, to lead the culinary team. I had the opportunity to attend a lunch at the lodge to try their food and experience their catering capabilities first-hand.


Chicken Rillette
Walking up to the second floor, the space before my eyes was entirely different from that of my childhood memories. With the area cleared and tables set the space was transformed into a room with rustic charm that could easily host banquets and corporate functions.

Lunch that day was served buffet style, featuring a salad bar, hot food station, and of course dessert. Roasted romaine salad, a couscous salad, and a platter of chicken rillette with a variety of toppings were available in the cold salad section. It was nice variety to start off the meal and there was something for everyone. From the hot service station, I was quite impressed with the teriyaki burger dressed with a slice of sweet pineapple, and the salmon cake with a honey reduction was delicious.

From plated dinners to full buffet service, The Lodge at Snow Valley is capable of hosting up to 200 people in a single event. The Lodge is available for booking throughout the spring and summer season, and their menu doesn't disappoint. With it's unique location and full catering abilities, The Lodge is a great space to host anything from meetings, to weddings, to big corporate events, so definitely consider them the next time you're looking for a location to host an event!

*Disclosure: The Lodge at Snow Valley invited me to attend a media tasting. Views expressed in this post are solely mine. I was not expected to feature this lunch on my blog, nor obligated to do so. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Edmonton first learned of Prairie Noodle Shop in October of 2014, and the demand for a good bowl of ramen has increased ever since.

This past Saturday Prairie Noodle Shop hosted their fourth and final pop up, this time at Ernest's, the fine dining restaurant at the NAIT campus. Having a bigger space to host the pop up event meant the team had the ability to serve 150 bowls of ramen - the largest number of bowls to date. Tickets to the event sold out in under five minutes, so if that doesn't tell you Edmonton is ready for ramen, I don't know what does.

As guests were seated at their tables for dinner, Arden Tse, one of the co-founders of Prairie Noodle Shop, let out some exciting news: a brick and mortar space has been secured and could be open as soon as December 2015. Say goodbye to the anxiety-fuelled, often frustrating attempts to secure tickets for ramen, and say hello to long lineups for a guaranteed bowl. Once all the paperwork is approved and construction starts, the first dedicated ramen shop is coming to Edmonton!

As with the previous three ramen bowls, Prairie Noodle Shop brought forth yet another Albertan-inspired bowl of ramen. Alberta's "meat and potatoes" loving diet was the inspiration for a tsukemen style ramen, where thick ramen noodles are dipped into a flavourful, concentrated broth. It's not the usual image that comes to mind when you want to eat ramen, but I love that Prairie Noodle Shop is introducing Edmonton to different aspect of ramen culture!

So what exactly was in the bowl? This bowl of tsukemen ramen had three different components. Starting with a solid base of good quality ramen noodles sourced from the "Ancient Chinese Lady," the noodles were sticky and springy in texture, ready to be dipped in broth. Beef from D'Arcy's Meats was ground and cooked up tan tan style (or Chinese dan dan style) into a ragu of sorts with black bean paste, carrots, pickled chilies for heat, and cubed potatoes for crunch. The team decided to go with the ground beef as it would allow for meat in every bite and you wouldn't finish one component before another. Lastly came the soup, which was a tangy potato soup, thick enough to cling to the noodles. And of course we can't forget the famous umeboshi egg! Flavourful, tangy, pink and with an oozing yolk, that egg is a killer component in any bowl. I can't wait for the day that I can have more than one in my ramen!

All the components in this bowl really clicked, making it not only delicious, but hearty too. The heat from the ragu really built up with each bite, while the tang of the starchy potato soup toned it down. It's another great bowl of ramen, so if you didn't get a chance to try it, it will be on the menu alongside the pork, chicken, and garlic cheese ramen featured at previous pop ups. Being one of the lucky individuals to have tried all four bowls, I'd have to say I'm on team pork/ I can't wait until I can have that bowl of ramen with the crunchy chicharron.

It's been amazing seeing the team at Prairie Noodle Shop follow their passion and develop what is to be Edmonton's first dedicated ramen shop. I can't wait to sit up at the bar and just eat a bowl of umeboshi eggs - yes, that is definitely happening. Congratulations PNooSh and all the best in the rest of your journey, I'll be sure to be there on opening day!