B.Good, Real Food Fast

Someone once told me, "Eat a salad to be healthy, but eat a burger to stay sane." Best part about these burgers at b.good? They're healthy too!

Discovering spots around Toronto who serves delicious, healthy food while supporting local businesses makes me (and my stomach) very happy. & b.good is one of those spots. Serving up fast-food that was healthy and made you feel good afterwards was the inspiration for b.good, and I can definitely stand behind that.

Long gone are those days where you had to only eat salad to be healthy. Besides serving very filling salads, you're also able to enjoy a burger or sandwich. They use meats (chicken, turkey, and beef) from local farms they are all without hormones or antibiotics. For the vegans, they also make veggie burger in-house. The buns for the burgers & sandwiches are also gluten free! This can come with a side of fries, sweet potato fries, or sautéed veggies. What you need to know about the fries is that they make them in a way that takes away half the fat a side of fries really should have.

If that isn't for you, they also serve up some of the most delicious combos of kale & grain bowls. My personal fave is the spicy avocado & lime bowl and the curry & grilled avocado bowl. As for the salad that I chose, I went with the roasted butternut squash salad, which came with baby spinach, local cheddar, apples, almonds, and dried cranberries, topped with a house made maple-mustard vinaigrette.

As for the burger, my choice of the day was the turkey burger made as el guapo, which means my burger would come with bacon, homemade jalapeno slaw and topped with a jalapeno ranch - SO GOOD. After taking the first bite, I couldn't stop until I finished the entire thing. Of course, I got a side of fries too (for the main reason I stated above about it having less fat haha).

TBH, I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the choices in their menu. The quality of b.good's ingredients are almost 2.good! I never really thought much about whether I'd feel 'good', but I tested it after eating at b.good and I did feel good! And by 'good', I mean I was really full from the meal, but I felt like I ready to go work out. And we all know how being really full doesn't ever make you feel like going for a run!

Side note: b.good's next step is to obtain a liquor license so it can serve beer & wine too! You bet I'll be back when this happens!!

White Lily Diner

I honestly don't know how I survived weekends before without going out to brunch! I only started appreciating brunch time after I started working full-time (not really sure if that's correlated or not), but I'm so happy it has become a weekly tradition now. Besides brunching at my fave spots around the city, it is also very exciting to discover new brunch spots in Toronto.

White Lily Diner is a new spot in Leslieville that opened up their doors to Toronto just last December. I met up with Krystle (@dineandfash), Rebeca (@rebecazulch), and Annabelle (@cityinstills), and as we're all always on the hunt for new delicious spots, we decided to give them a try. I ordered off a photo I saw on Instagram that looked delicious - it turned out to be exactly what I wanted. 

They called it the "English-ish", which came with a hashbrown cake on the bottom topped with 2 eggs, a banger, and mushrooms. Rebeca and Annabelle ordered included the "White Lily Standard", which was the classic breakfast with bacon, eggs, hashbrown, and toast. Krystle decided to go with some of White Lily's seasonal dishes and ordered the caesar salad and charred broccoli.

With a mimosa in my left hand and a fork in my right, I spent a lovely afternoon eating, chatting, and laughing. I will definitely be back some day (soon hopefully) for their smoked fish platter, that I also crept on Instagram haha.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

The Green Wood

Venturing off into the east side of Toronto has become a weekend ritual in January. Last weekend, I visited The Green Wood, a new spot on Queen East that is open in the early morning for the early risers looking for a quiet spot to have their morning coffee. It is also open throughout the day serving lunch, and then transitions into a dinner spot in the evening for good eats and cocktails.

Krystle (Dine and Fash) and I started our meal off with coffee (but I quickly turned that into a mimosa and then a caesar hehe). We are both on a healthy regime, so I ordered the Eat Your Greens salad, while Krystle got the Crunchy Salad. Eat Your Greens was basically a plate full of every single vegetable that they had in house topped with a classic vinaigrette. I decided to add in a side of smoked salmon to top off the salad. The Crunchy Salad consisted of broccoli, carrots, peppers, red cabbage and kale with a creamy dressing.

We also ordered The Green Wood Classic plate which included farm eggs, mennonite bacon or sausage, tomatoes, greens and toast. As you can see here, we got the sausage, and I'd say that would be the wise choice. You can't go wrong with bacon, but the sausage also completed the plate. BUT, my favourite dish at The Green Wood is hands down the souk fries - hand cut fries, grilled eggplant, sumac seasoned salad, spicy tahini, and topped with a fried egg and crispy halloumi. Having all of the above stated toppings with a piece of potato was just heaven in my mouth. I'm craving these as I type!! The souk fries are a definite must order - don't forget to also add lamb to the dish!

So stop by The Green Wood on the east end for brunch - you won't be disappointed (unless you skip out on the fries... Just sayin'). Also keep in mind that they are open at night and serve things such as braised short ribs, gnocchi, & delicious sounding sandwiches!