By Julie Reitsma
A few weeks ago NOW Magazine told you how to master "Around The World In 8
days Without Leaving the 416". Pressed for time and on a budget, we propose,
"Around The World In 5 Days with a 30 Minute Whiparound your local No
Frills!" Jet set turned rocket rider versus the erratic woman who rides a
shopping cart like a skateboard. On your mark, get set – GO!

Day one: India-Butter Chicken ($3.99 / 9 grams of fat). Big chunks of white
meat swathed in that familiar buttery, tomato’d sauce with a hint of spice
cheerfully sat alongside a compartment of perfectly cooked basmati-no small
feat for a microwave dinner. Add a small salad to round off the greens,
throw on your favourite Bollywood, and you’ll be satiated and shoulder shrug
dancing in no time.

Day two: Italy-Mushroom Garlic Woodfired Thin Crust Pizza ($5.99 / 7 grams
of fat). Cute as a button mushrooms, thin and crispy whole wheat crust,
mozza and asiago, just the right level of garlic (present without being
anti-vampiric), and some delightful miscellaneous herbage had us wondering
how to swoon in Italian. We probably could have stuck to the ¼ serving size
and filled in the blanks with some greens, but a good ‘za is the way to our
hearts, and with the low fat content, we didn’t feel the need for any
glutton shame when we went back for seconds.

Day three: China-Chicken Szechwan ($2.99 / 4 grams of fat). A good variety
of veg (we spotted water chestnuts, carrot, snow peas, and the occasional
boy choy amongst others), healthy sized morsels of chickeny goodness, and a
very flavourful peanut sauce (inducing memories of the original Memories)
rest atop some squiggly noodles. Well rounded, and though a smaller portion,
would make for a nice snack.

Day four: Portugal-Piri Piri Shrimp ($4.99 / 8 grams of fat). Can we be
honest and say that the addition of en papillote (translated to "in
parchment") to the cooking process seriously upped the fun factor for this
meal? This was one of the healthiest of our selections; featuring edamame,
roasted red peppers (you could actually see the char!), wheat berries, and
some thankfully not pre-cooked (read chewy) shrimp. We heart the earnest
heat of the sauce and only desired a slab of broa to make it complete.

Day five: Thailand-Sweet Chili Lemongrass Chicken ($3.69 / 4.5 grams of
fat). Another of the Blue Menu’s compart-a-meals, the Thai Sweet Chili is
aptly named-if you love sweet chili sauce, with a hint of bite, red pepper
and fluffy jasmine rice, then this will no doubt please you. PC keeps it
consistent with those choice cuts of white meat, and while this was not as
involved as our Portuguese experience, we felt it was a nice way to finish
off our cross-continental culinary escapades.

President’s Choice Blue Menu

Available at Loblaws, No Frills and a slew of other places listed on their
website.