truLOCAL: Delivering Locally Sourced Meats to Your Doorstep

There's no doubt about it, we certainly got a taste of winter this week. I don't know about you but when the roads are slick and temperatures are well below freezing, all I want to do is hibernate at home, especially after a long day's work and a treacherous commute, there's no way I'd want to go grocery shopping. Straight home I go! The problem, naturally, becomes "what am I going to have for dinner?". Actually, even if there is no snow, finding time to shop around for quality meats can be hard, especially if you don't live near a good butcher shop. Here is where truLOCAL comes in.

Launched in February 2016, truLOCAL (Instagram: @trulocal , Facebook: truLOCAL) delivers high-end, locally sourced meat products right to your door. They work with some of Ontario’s best suppliers and provides customers with meats that are all free run, antibiotic-free with no added hormones. Here is how truLOCAL works:

1. You choose your box size and how often you would like it delivered (every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks, every month);

2. You customize exactly what you want in your box; and

3. truLOCAL ships the package out to you the next day.

truLOCAL delivers anywhere in Ontario and shipping is free with your subscription.

truLOCAL's high quality EPS insulated coolers keep products frozen during delivery until the end of the delivery day, so it's perfectly fine even if you're not home to receive it.

To ensure the products stay frozen from the time they leave truLOCAL's facility to the time they reach your house, truLOCAL also uses dry ice along with the cooler (everything will technically stay frozen for up to 36 hours). Their packages are fully recyclable so you can re-use the cooler or simply break it down and put it in the recycling.

All of truLOCAL's products come portioned, blast frozen, and individually vacuum-sealed, making it perfect for meal prep and portion control. You'll never have to worry about freezer burn with their premium packaging.

My sample box from truLOCAL includes:

Bacon

Boneless Pork Loin Chops

German Sausage

Lean Ground Beef

Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Lean Ground Chicken

All the products were clean, tightly sealed, neatly packaged and clearly labelled.

One thing I would love to see from truLOCAL is more recipes on their website, specifically recipes utilizing the products they feature. I think it'll be super helpful and valuable to customers.

Thank you, truLOCAL, for sending me these high quality meat products to cook with. With another snowstorm looming in the forecast, there's no better time to stay in and cook :)

The Winner of the Maillard.co Gift Card Giveaway is...

@KellyLee905

Congratulations, Kelly! You just won a $100 gift card to Maillard.co, an online butcher shop delivering exceptional quality meats right to your doorstep! Please email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com to find out how to claim your prize!

A big THANK YOU to the 46 people who participated in this contest! 

Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #fjcmaillard hashtag from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first person to enter the contest. To enter, the person had to tweet "I just entered for a chance to win a $100 Maillard Gift Card! Quality meats delivered to your doorstep! http://bit.ly/2fZDAvK #fjcmaillard". Each person could tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Once the contest was over and everybody's entries were accounted for, I checked to see if they followed me (@foodieyu) on Twitter. Below are the 113 valid entries:

I used "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to pick one winner for me.

The Citizen

The Citizen opened in 2014, which means it took me roughly two years to visit... but heck, I made it! Located at the former Brant House space, The Citizen (Instagram: @thecitizen_to, Facebook: The Citizen) is King West's version of a casual sports bar.

Inspired by the restaurant-bars of the early 1900's, The Citizen's space gives off an old school rec hall atmosphere. Patrons can catch sports games from the eight flatscreens mounted above the wraparound bar.

In a nod to Toronto’s heritage, you'll also find numerous vintage accents, including original floating beams from the historic Gooderham and Worts distillery.

Retractable screens printed with vintage photos separate the large restaurant, allowing for private parties and gatherings.