Canadian Retail Thread

[J.OT13]

I'm sad to see Stouffers go. Their Mac and Cheese TV dinners were the best. Delissio was getting kind of expensive for what it is.

Interesting to see a Tesla dealership in a mall. Wonder if we'll start seeing more of these.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by esquire

I seldom ever do frozen pizza, maybe just a couple times a year. Generally I will pick up Little Caesars instead. It's about the same price as frozen, and pretty convenient. Usually if my wife and I are doing a take-out meal that the kids won't eat (i.e. any kind of Asian food other than basic Canadian-Chinese) I will stop at Little Caesar's and pick up a pepperoni pizza or two for them

Originally Posted by Nashe

One of the few remaining "mom and pop" places that has been operating since 1969.

Otherwise, if in a hurry, it's an app-ordered pickup at Papa John's, usually, as it is only a few blocks from my house, and on the way home from work.

Assuming esquire also means "on the way home" for his pizza pickups...

That's just way, way too early for supper. I finish work anywhere from 4-5:30, so unless I go to the gym or grocery store on the way home, I'm home as early as 4:15 and 6 at the latest. But once I'm home there's no fucking way I'm leaving the house again. and 7pm is the earliest I'd consider having supper.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I'm sad to see Stouffers go. Their Mac and Cheese TV dinners were the best. Delissio was getting kind of expensive for what it is.

Interesting to see a Tesla dealership in a mall. Wonder if we'll start seeing more of these.

Totally forgot about the Mac n Cheese. When my folks lived in the States my Mom must have kept a few in the freezer all the time. She loved them.

Originally Posted by SteelTown

First you took away my Ragu and now Delissio?! Ugh

First they came for my Ragu and I said nothing. Then they came for my Delissio! Pretty soon gonna start a revolution

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Lately I have been stocking up on "Motor City" Detroit style double pepperoni deep dish pizzas from Costco. They are quite tasty.

I recall the American forumers boasting about these being really good!

Originally Posted by esquire

Usually if my wife and I are doing a take-out meal that the kids won't eat (i.e. any kind of Asian food other than basic Canadian-Chinese) I will stop at Little Caesar's and pick up a pepperoni pizza or two for them

"We get Asian takeout and the kids get a couple of Hot n Readys pizzas".

Kids, their taste buds don't form until around 18-24 anyway

Get the deep dish, folks. Or the pan if ordering from Domino's or Pizza da Hut. Pay a few bucks extra for a better version of chain pizza.

Originally Posted by Nashe

This is our take-out pizza of choice:

You can tell that place serves good food based on the late 60s look of the place and the iconic sign no one goes to the trouble and expense of making anymore

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Wigs

"We get Asian takeout and the kids get a couple of Hot n Readys pizzas".

Kids, their taste buds don't form until around 18-24 anyway

I was once a kid too... I would have also opted for the Little Caesar's pepperoni over the Vietnamese vermicelli bowl or sushi. We can all have what we enjoy

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by esquire

I was once a kid too... I would have also opted for the Little Caesar's pepperoni over the Vietnamese vermicelli bowl or sushi. We can all have what we enjoy

I'm just poking fun. I don't think my taste buds started to develop until leaving high school

[urbandreamer]

Cheap frozen pizza contributed to my severe GERD diagnosis, as well as the time I ate. I worked nights for years and would eat "supper" around 7am before getting into bed thirty minutes to an hour later. As the gastroenterologist admonished, you should eat 3 hours before lying down, only drinking water. I still don't understand how so many people can tolerate beer, unhealthy processed foods in their 50s-70s.

About once a year I treat myself to the best frozen pizza I can find in Canada:
https://www.compliments.ca/en/produc...-cheese-330-g/ I load it with mushrooms and turkey pepperoni and maybe pineapple.

I've worked for some of these multinational food companies and they're very conservative slow to innovate and improve production and R&D. They think marketing and packaging solves market share problems. The reality: consumers taste buds have changed, less frozen food as people want freshly prepared food. And Uber Eats etc has made ordering pizza etc easier than warming up frozen.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by jonny24

That's just way, way too early for supper. I finish work anywhere from 4-5:30, so unless I go to the gym or grocery store on the way home, I'm home as early as 4:15 and 6 at the latest. But once I'm home there's no fucking way I'm leaving the house again. and 7pm is the earliest I'd consider having supper.

So European.
I get off work at 4:30 but my day (thank you, puppy) starts at 5am, so I'm generally in bed by 8:30. Dinner is at 5pm

[esquire]

I don't know why my dinner time is the topic of conversation, but we usually eat around 6 pm. I will typically hop in the car and dash out to pick up our meals from some of the nearby restaurants. I hope that clarifies the matter

[Acajack]

Sounds like our friend Esquire needs to work on exposing his kids to more exotic foods!

[urbandreamer]

^Not necessarily. My father and I liked spicy Mexican and Indian food, which likely ruined my esophagus leading to a severely limited diet in my late 30s-40s. I used to dump jalapeños and chilli flakes in everything from bacon and eggs to salad dressing, stir fry and soups. Almost killed me. Should've stuck with my people's "bland" food.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sounds like our friend Esquire needs to work on exposing his kids to more exotic foods!

Oh, they are exposed to them alright... but exposing them and getting them to eat the said foods can be two different things

Personally I don't get worked up about it. I was a very picky eater when I was a kid, even into my university years. I eventually grew out of it. My kids are not bad at all compared to me at that age!

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by esquire

I don't know why my dinner time is the topic of conversation, but we usually eat around 6 pm. I will typically hop in the car and dash out to pick up our meals from some of the nearby restaurants. I hope that clarifies the matter

I'm going to pile on as well. When my wife and I do take out it is usually about 7:30 . We try for something local but more often then not hit one of the chains. Panago is the pizza if we don't head over to the smaller custom place.

There are enough specialty places near me that I can have a good variety .

The brands that Nabisco is dumping are not really on our list of frozen. There is seeming to be more local stuff we can get that is frozen. Like Island Guys Pies, Also some of the bigger restaurants are now offering frozen meals at the local Markets. ( can get the Dill Pickle soup fix any time now).

I don't think Nabisco are the only one going to drop lines.

I just ordered some Red River Cereal since we can get it again. Only by order but still nice.

[urbandreamer]

I used to love Red River cereal as a kid. Now it's made at the Arva Flour Mill north of London, where mom would buy flour in the 1970s-80s. I suppose buckwheat groats would be a gluten free alternative breakfast. (Kasha is very good with baked salmon.)

On topic, I was at Cambridge Centre mall for the first time yesterday and noticed many stores are closing. It has a Nanaimo vibe about it - working class and very dead. (Come to think of it, Cambridge really reminds me of Nanaimo lol.)

[WhipperSnapper]

I got hooked on a frozen Butter Chicken Pizza from President's Choice a few years ago. I think I may have shed a tear when that line of pizzas (oddly, made in Germany) was no longer available.

Otherwise, lots of places like bars and grocers have real stone pizza ovens that put the chains Blodgetts to shame. I prefer Pizza Nova and Papa John's over the other chains

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Oh, they are exposed to them alright... but exposing them and getting them to eat the said foods can be two different things

Personally I don't get worked up about it. I was a very picky eater when I was a kid, even into my university years. I eventually grew out of it. My kids are not bad at all compared to me at that age!

I was an extremely picky eater as a child and teen. It was a huge stress to go over to friends' places as I was always worried I wouldn't like what they served to eat.

Global travel and my wife put and end to that and today I am just about the least picky eater around. When abroad or in an ethnic restaurant I often pick the most exotic thing on the menu. I'll literally try anything.

We gave all sorts of exotic stuff to my kids early on, and they never really rebelled against it so we've been quite lucky.

Though I note that picky eaters don't always "get over it". My wife and I have several members of our families in their 40s and 50s who are still extremely picky. It's honestly almost embarrassing to go to a nice restaurant with them sometimes.

[urbandreamer]

Frozen dinners and processed foods were exotic to me growing up, as my mother cooked everything from scratch and grew or butchered almost everything we ate. I finally ate KD & canned stew, frozen pizza etc as a university student and was horrified that humans actually eat this shit.

My KD takes 15 minutes to make:
Melted butter with 2-3 spoons of gluten free flour, maybe 1/4 sweet onion, add grated cheese and milk with pepper & sage; add pasta.

Cooking healthy is easier & cheaper than getting takeout.

[niwell]

I was picky about a few things as a kid (largely limited to raw vegetables and fruit) but would eat just about any "international" cuisine, particularly Asian food. Dim Sum was probably my favourite meal from age 7 onwards, though I also enjoyed Indian and Vietnamese food. Still loved pizza and McDonalds though!

The worst for me was when my parents made basic homemade stuff like burgers or pork chops. I'm sure there was a big fear of food poisoning around then as everything was cooked to the consistency of a hockey puck.

[jonny24]

I used to hate different foods touching, which ruled out pizza!

But in grade 3, they did a pizza-for-reading program. Every time you finished a book (or maybe 3 books?), you got a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut! I was a voracious reader anyway, so I just started cashing in on what I was doing anyway. Turned out pizza was delicious once I got over the "things touching" aspect, I think my dad was driving me to Pizza Hut (20+ minutes away) once a week!

...I've been overweight ever since. Unrelated, of course

[WhipperSnapper]

Some love cilantro. Others find it tastes like a bar of soap. Apparently, the cause of this is due to a particular gene. One can become accustomed to foods and learn to enjoy them however, there are some you simply can't learn to enjoy.

My mom worked full time. My dad did as well however, it has no bearing on cooking. Quick dinners were par for the course. Lots of shake and bake, rice and, nuked frozen veggies.

Yeah, Beef and pork dishes were cooked beyond well done.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I was an extremely picky eater as a child and teen. It was a huge stress to go over to friends' places as I was always worried I wouldn't like what they served to eat.

Global travel and my wife put and end to that and today I am just about the least picky eater around. When abroad or in an ethnic restaurant I often pick the most exotic thing on the menu. I'll literally try anything.

We gave all sorts of exotic stuff to my kids early on, and they never really rebelled against it so we've been quite lucky.

Though I note that picky eaters don't always "get over it". My wife and I have several members of our families in their 40s and 50s who are still extremely picky. It's honestly almost embarrassing to go to a nice restaurant with them sometimes.

Once again we had similar experiences, Acajack. Right down to the stressing when invited to eat at friends' places

As I got older my tastes changed, and that time I worked half a year in China when I was 23 drilled any remaining pickiness right out of me. It was the culinary equivalent of jumping right into the deep end... and while I'm sure China has changed since those days, back then the second-tier city I stayed in (still a huge place with millions of residents) had almost no western food options. There were solitary KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut locations downtown, far from where I lived way out in the boonies. That was it. So I had lots and lots of local cuisine.

I can even relate to the picky family members... my brother in law is in his mid 40s and is a chicken tendies kind of guy. No vegetables at all for him!