bd’s Mongolian Grill is the place to be if you want to build your own stir-fry and be the chef of your own meal. This bd’s Mongolian Gril review covers the basics on what you need to know about dining here. You choose the meat, veggies, sauces, and seasonings. Once your bowl is complete you take it up to the big grill and watch the meal cook right before your eyes. This is a great place to dine with family and friends and your meal will definitely give you something to talk about.
I have a long, long history with bd’s Mongolian Grill. It actually used to be my favorite place to dine at while I was a teenager in the 90’s. I even had my high-school graduation in one of the large dining rooms at one of the original locations in Royal Oak, MI. When I was growing up I was fascinated with this place. Just the thought of having an empty bowl and filling it up with various meats/ seafood, vegetables, sauces, and seasonings was enough to excite the inner chef in myself.
Flash forward to a couple of days ago and it was my first visit in years since the price dramatically increased. We had a coupon for two bowls for $20 and we ordered a kid’s meal for my daughter, Chloe, as well. If you would like to locate a coupon for bd’s Mongolian Grill be sure to check your local papers because that is where I located mine. Coupons always give us a big incentive to go out to eat so I am always scouring our papers for deals.
BD’s Mongolian Grill in Sterling Heights, Michigan
bd’s Mongolian Grill interior in Sterling Heights, MIbd’s Mongolian Grill serve yourself stir-fry bar in Sterling Heights, MI
bd’s Mongolian Grill review
How bd’s Mongolian Grill Works
You can check out the menu online for your bd’s Mongolian Grill location that you choose to visit. The menu is simple and to the point. At this restaurant, you get to be the chef and the creator of your final concoction, or you can view one of the menu cards and use that as a guide.
The possibilities of what your stir-fry will become are endless here at bd’s Mongolian Grill. No two bowls are ever the same!
Meat/Protein
There are several protein choices to choose from up at the serve-yourself bar. They provide everything from beef, chicken, sausage, pork, seafood, and some other options. If you are a vegan, the great news is that you can also come up with a great meal here. Just go ahead and skip the meat area. This area here also has a few noodle options available if you would like pasta in your stir-fry.
bd’s Mongolian Grill meats section of the serve-yourself stir-fry bar
Tons Of Fresh Veggies To Choose From At bd’s Mongolian Grill
This is the area where the bowl really starts to kick into high gear that you are building. There is a large serve-yourself area that has several vegetables and other toppings to choose from. This area also includes some eggs that can be incorporated into your bowl. I always have to have my egg and I get two for the Asian dish that I love to build.
bd’s Mongolian Grill veggies areaThe veggie station at bd’s Mongolian GrillVeggies galore at bd’s Mongolian Grill
I recently had the opportunity to try the line of supplements for adults by Good Day Chocolate. You can read more about that HERE. I was so impressed with the quality and effectiveness of these Good Day Chocolate adult supplements for myself so I figured I should also have my daughter, Chloe, give the children’s line a whirl! Today I am going to share my Good Day Chocolate Supplements For Kids Review. Chloe sure was excited and pumped to give these a try!I know she was a little jealous when I had my supply for myself. The supplements for children are available in four different varieties: Multivitamin, Calm, Probiotic, and Sleep. You can also grab yourself a variety pack for children if you want to try them all.
Standard disclosure: I received these products free of charge for a review in exchange. All opinions stated here are my own.
Our Good Day Chocolate Supplements For Kids Review
Chloe With Good Day Chocolate For Kids – Back To SchoolGood Day Chocolate Supplements for kids
The great thing about these is that your child will get excited to take their vitamin. Who doesn’t love chocolate?! They are also naturally colored from fruits and vegetables, so no artificial colors here. Also, the chocolate is ethically sourced fair-trade chocolate. One piece of chocolate has 2g of sugar and each piece has approximately 15 calories.
The Good Day Chocolate For Kids Multivitamin provides a daily dose of all the important vitamins in one dose. Two pieces of Good Day Chocolate is considered one dose.
My daughter, Chloe, really looked forward to taking her daily vitamin when I told her that all her vitamins could be found in just two pieces of chocolate. That got her excited and I didn’t hear a single sigh about taking the vitamin. Chewable children’s vitamins often have a chalky taste and leave a bad aftertaste in your mouth. This is not the case with Good Day Chocolate.
All of the important vitamins for your kiddos are found in the multivitamin including: A, B6, B12, C, D, E. You can get more information on other vitamins available in the photo of the label below.
Good Day Chocolate For Kids MultivitaminMultivitamin—Facts-Panel—Good Day Chocolate For Kids
Hyper child? No problem with a dose of Good Day Chocolate For Kids Calm. This supplement combines the power of l-theanine and chamomile flower to help put your mind at ease. The dosage for Calm is two chocolates. I often take a couple of these myself when I need to take my anxiety down a notch. These work efficiently and quickly.
Good Day Chocolate For Kids CalmCalm—Facts-Panel—Good Day Chocolate For Kids
The Good Day Chocolate For Kids Probiotic will help and aid in digestion. Each chocolate contains 1 billion CFUs (colony forming units) of the strain Lactospore. Your child only needs to take one of these chocolates to get all of the probiotics that they need.
Good Day Chocolate For Kids ProbioticGood Day Chocolate For Kids Probiotics
This supplement is for any child over the age of 3 that needs help falling asleep. Each Good Day Chocolate For Kids Sleep supplement contains 1mg of melatonin. Sleep ensures a good night’s rest and your child will wake up refreshed in the morning and ready to start the day.
Good Day Chocolate For Kids Sleep supplementLabel for Good Day Chocolate For Kids Sleep supplement
You can locate a sampler for children at Amazon. This includes all four varieties of Good Day Chocolate For Kids, and is a great value if you want to try them all!
Chloe With Good Day Chocolate For Kdis ProbioticChloe With Good Day Chocolate Probiotic For Kids
Time for a giveaway! (CLOSED!!)
I have partnered up with Good Day Chocolate to bring you and your tinies a chocolatey Back To School giveaway! Good Day Chocolate makes candy-coated chocolate supplements for adults and kiddos of all moods and we’re giving away the chance to win a variety pack featuring Good Day Chocolate’s new line just for kiddos. You can throw your name in the hat and enter on my Instagram.
Has this Good Day Chocolate Supplements For Kids review inspired you to give this product a whirl? Leave me a comment and let me know which Good Day Chocolate supplement for children you will be trying out!
If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out these others posts at Give It A Whirl Girl!
I have been trying to lose my halo halo virginity for well over a year now. A freaking year! I discovered this crazy cool concoction on Instagram one day and ever since I have been dreaming of the day that I would get a chance to give this a whirl. My day finally came at Tou & Mai in the Midtown section of Detroit, MI yesterday. This Tou & Mai review will cover my first time experiences at this neat little place that is nestled down in the Midtown area of Detroit.
I was going to share this post for my Tried It Out Tuesday feature but I am really eager to share the details with you and since it is Sunday, maybe you can head on over there today to give this extraordinary and unparalleled dessert a try! There truly is no other dessert on this planet like it.
Tou & Mai is a quaint and curious place! There is so much to see and take in, in such a small space. The first thing you see when walking in is the big white menu. I analyzed the menu online before visiting so I already knew what my strategy was when it came down to deciding and ordering. I started off with a passion fruit boba tea and of course I had to get myself the Hello Hello (their version of halo halo). Click HERE to get a better look at the menu.
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
I planned on getting the Hello Hello most definitely and I wanted to try out the Tricolour Tapioca but bummer… they were temporarily out of that dessert. That one sounded so fascinating to me and it will be next up on my list of to-try items at Tou & Mai. Here is a description of the tapioca dessert.
TRiCOLOUR TAPIOCA
popular & colourful southeast asian dessert
made with pandan flavored tapioca strings,
miniature tapioca pearls, ruby chestnuts and
creamy coconut milk
Since I could not try out the tapioca I figured I should go ahead and satisfy my boba addiction with a Sweet Tea Boba. I went with the passion fruit flavor. The passion fruit boba was the perfect amount of sweetness and the mango star jellies were a big bonus to go with the exotic flavor of passion fruit. If you have never tried passion fruit the way it can be best described in my terms is a sweet and sour exotic fruit. It has the perfect balance of both. It currently has earned the top spot on my list of favorite fruits, for the moment anyway!
Passion Fruit Sweet with Mango Star Jellies at Tea Boba at Tou & Mai
And if slushies are your thing they have those available as well! Here is a list of the flavors available for slushies.
SWEET MANGO
RED ADZUKI BEAN
JACK FRUIT
DURIAN
TROPIC TARO
AVOCADO
Menu Board At Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
I really need to go back to this place to explore the menu more just look at these options below for new garnishes available. FLAN! ZOMG!
Garnishes at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
What the heck is halo halo?
Halo halo is a famous dessert in the Philippines. To create it they use a purple ice-cream that is derived from a purple yam, otherwise known as ube. It also has a scoop of mango ice cream, coco de nata, aiyu jellie, basil seeds, red adzuki bean, sala cider, coconut milk, condensed milk, wafer roll, and toasted candied coconut. Wowza! That sure is a lot to take in and process right? Google might just have to be my friend here to tell me what exactly it was that I ate! Let’s explore this a little bit more!
This was my first time trying ube and when you put that together with all of these other unique ingredients you get one hell of a memorable dessert!
Having actual beans in my dessert was also another first for me. They include red adzuki beans in this dessert. Odd huh? These are sweet red beans and they are a magnificent source of protein! A one cup serving of these beans is a whopping 39 grams of protein. I would say they use about a quarter cup in their Hello Hello. I enjoyed these beans immensely!
For the next ingredient Wikipedia sure came in handy so I included that information as a quote directly from he source.
Nata de coco is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. (source: Wikipedia)
This is really a complex dessert! I really had to use Wikipedia for the aiyu jellie as well since I am not familiar with it whatsoever.
Aiyu jelly, known in Taiwanese Hokkien as ogio, and as ice jelly in Singapore, is a jelly made from the gel from the seeds of the awkeotsang creeping fig found in Taiwan and East Asian countries of the same climates and latitudes. Wikipedia
Basil seeds! I did a little research and discovered that these seeds are void of calories but rich in antioxidants. They are also great for your skin and beneficial for a diabetic.
The sala cider is a fruity ingredient but I could not gather much information on that. If anyone has knowledge of this ingredient, feel free to leave me a comment and fill me in.
The Hello Hello here also used coconut milk and condensed milk. The dessert is topped with candied coconut which is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth and it also has a beautiful orange glow to it.
And let’s not forget those two wafer sticks that really stand out and scream halo halo! No halo halo frozen treat is complete without those wafers. There were two in the dessert and the three of us sharing. Joe, my husband, got left out.
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MIHello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MIHello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
More than just a place to grab dessert!
Need to do a little bit of Asian grocery shopping? You can certainly load up here at Tou & Mai. They packed in a lot of Asian goodies in this small space. My 8-year-old daughter had fun looking at all of the colorful and peculiar packaging. Anyone want to send a crisp new $100 bill my way because I sure would have a ton of fun blowing a big wad of money in this place.
Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
Asian snacks at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MIAsian snacks at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MITou & Mai in Detroit, MITou & Mai in Detroit, MISnacks At Tou & MaiAsian beverages at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MIMore Asian snacks at Tou &Mai in Detroit, MIChloe sipping on a Passionfruit Sweet Tea Boba at Tou & Mai in Detroit Actually stealing MY drink lol!
Oh and macarons!
They also have various flavors of fresh macarons available at $2.49 each. I have no doubt they are delicious but honestly I felt as though the price was somewhat steep for one macaron so I passed. Bummer! The flavors did sound intriguing.
Macarons at Tou & Mai
I scream for ice-cream!
Tou & Mai also has a small selection of ice-creams available for $3.29 a scoop. That price seems reasonable to me. If you are not going to go with their Hello Hello dessert at least treat yourself to some of that delish purple ube ice-cream. You won’t regret it! Then you can boast to your friends that you tried a purple yam ice-cream! Wink!
Ice-Cream Flavors At Tou & Mai
Hot drinks
The air is getting quite crisp and nippy so if you are not into cold treats on cold days they have some hot beverage options. The tea flavors are unusual and impressive. I am definitely going to stop in here on a chilly day and give one of those teas a whirl! I am all about trying new things and I love the tea flavors they offer. The only problem? Deciding on one flavor because they all sound interesting.
So are you going to hop in the car and make a trip down to Tou & Mai today? I hope that my Tou & Mai review will inspire you to visit this unique place!
Last night we came home from the Dally In The Alley (a music and art festival in Detroit) and decided it would be a great night to make a from-scratch pizza. Instead of having my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe, sitting around killing time on her Ipad I told her to put my apron on and get busy in the kitchen with me. Making a pizza like this is quite the task and I figured this would be a wonderful opportunity to teach my daughter a variety of useful things in the kitchen. Today I will be talking about a few good reasons why it is of utmost importance to get your child busy in the kitchen as well. I think it is essential to teach children how to cook so they know these skills later in life. Teaching children how to cook is a huge responsibility that comes with parenting.
My daughter, Chloe, whisking up some eggs for our pizza crust
I remember when I was a young girl like Chloe. My mother attempted to get me interested in cooking and I had zero interest in it and did not want to participate in it. My mom was trying to teach me some valuable life lessons at the time but I guess I just chose to ignore it and did not think of it as being important at the time. Even when I was a teenager I didn’t want anything to do with it.
What I did not realize was that I was not allowing myself to learn one of life’s most important lessons.
My only real memory of “cooking” that I have is when I used to go over to my grandmother’s house and she would have my sister and I help with making instant pistachio pudding. The extent of my cooking skills from doing this was just learning how to operate an old-fashioned, manual hand mixer and a soft spatula.
So what was I to do when I moved out of my mother’s house and lived on my own for the first time? I think I did what most college students do… live off ramen noodles, spaghetti marinara, Velveeta Shells & Cheese, and frozen dinners! I really would love for my daughter to have better than that when she decides to go on to college and move out and be on her own. I have ten more years, at least, to teach her things that she needs to know about preparing herself a healthy and nutritious meal. Continue reading “The Importance Of Teaching Children How To Cook – Educating Chloe On How To Make A Pizza From Scratch”→
Tony’s I-75 restaurant is located in Birch Run, MI. This place is not for the faint of heart. It is not the place to go for a light meal. And it might just be a heart-attack waiting to happen. This establishment will literally put an entire POUND OF BACON on your sandwich. Do you want an omelet? They will put a DOZEN OF EGGS in there. Not kidding. This is a family restaurant that serves up meals of EPIC proportions. They are famous for their serving sizes and they are also famous for the bacon that they serve up here. It is a bacon-lover’s paradise and dream come true here. Did you know that they use up 11,000 lbs of bacon weekly? It is true, read on in my Tony’s I-75 restaurant review!
Tony’s I-75 restaurant in Birch Run, MILocated in Birch Run, MI is Tony’s I-75 RestaurantTony’s famous BLT sandwich – (Image courtesy of http://www.tonysi75restaurant.com/)
My Tony’s I-75 Restaurant Review
About Tony’s I-75
Tony’s I-75 restaurant has been around for nearly seven decades. This place is a Michigan classic. If they had a motto I believe it should be, “go big or go home”. It is a once a year tradition for our family to dine here in the summer. This is not the kind of place you should be going to every week. I wish they included nutrition facts on the menu because the amount of calories here would be off the charts.
If you are in a hurry to eat you will often be confronted with a line out the door. Even on a weekday afternoon, there is a line to get in here. The building is not large enough to accommodate the demand. It is a small, cramped restaurant and I wish they would expand to a larger building but they have been at that location for decades and I doubt they are going anywhere. It is worth the wait though and the line does move fairly quickly.
Tony’s I-75 restaurant not only serves giant portions of food but they also have a massive menu. They have anything ranging from sandwiches, soups, salad, burgers, subs, dinners, seafood, Italian, and Mexican. And save room for dessert! You can not leave Tony’s without dessert.
There is also a decent children’s menu. I highly recommend the kid’s spaghetti with the giant meatball. My daughter ordered chicken strips this year. The portion size for children is very reasonable and they don’t go overboard with kids, which I think is totally cool.
Because the menu is so big, I did not capture a photo of every page of it but I tried my best to give you a good idea of what they offer and the prices. Their prices are very reasonable considering the amount you receive. You can view the entire menu online at their website.
Tony’s I-75 menu
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My BIG meal at Tony’s I-75 restaurant – Antipasto Salad and boy was it ever huge!
I often like to go for the seafood here. If you like clams they are jumbo clams. I am talking gargantuan! That is what I typically order but this year I went with the Antipasto Salad. This was my first time ordering a salad here so I wasn’t sure what to expect. When it was brought out my first thought was that it was a beautiful salad. It had all the fixings of an antipasto salad and the portion size was colossal. There was one problem though, my mozzarella cheese was not on my salad. I didn’t realize this at first. It took a few minutes to flag down our waitress but she apologized and was helpful in getting me my cheese. The salad came with a house-made Italian dressing and it was the perfect addition to my plate. The dressing was sensational, and there was excitement in every bite of this salad. I really appreciated the addition of green olives. I never had an antipasto with green olives.
Tony’s I-75 Antipasto SaladAntipasto Salad at Tony’s I-75 RestaurantAntipasto Salad – They forgot my cheese but I eventually received it
My mom’s gigantic burrito at Tony’s I-75 restaurant
You should see the size of my mom’s burrito that she ordered~ MASSIVE! We were all stunned when this burrito came out because I have never in my life seen one this large. Somehow my mom managed to pack half of this in and took the other half home for leftovers. When you dine at Tony’s I-75 restaurant you do often leave with a doggy bag because most meals are impossible to finish for the average person.
Check out my mom’s GIGANTIC burrito at Tony’s I-75 restaurant!! HUGE!!!!!My mom and her giant burrito at Tony’s I-75
My husband’s pizza sub at Tony’s I-75 restaurant
Joe ordered a pizza sub and the size of that did not disappoint! He tried to take it on and eat the entire the whole thing but he failed! Wondering what was on this monster sub? It came with, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (Joe left these off), pizza cheese, pizza sauce.
Here is a photo of my hubby’s giant pizza sub
And the moment you have been waiting for! Tony’s I-75 banana split!
Once a year when we come to Tony’s 1-75 we take advantage of their enormous banana split. There were 4 adults at our table plus one child (my daughter). We usually cannot finish this heavyweight dessert but this year we tackled the banana split and ate the whole entire thing! I felt like a pig afterward (oink oink) but I kept on using that spoon as a shovel to shove more and more ice-cream into my mouth. I deserved the little bellyache I had on the car ride home.
The ENORMOUS banana split at Tony’s I-75 Banana for $10 you can feed the whole table dessert!The banana split at Tony’s I-75!! Do you think you could tackle it??We came. We saw. We conquered that banana split at Tony’s I-75
Final thoughts about Tony’s I-75 restaurant
Overall we were satisfied with our meals. We all left with full bellies and smiles on our face, that is for certain. We will continue with our yearly tradition for meeting up here once a year. For weeks leading up to it, we are always all talking about that banana split. That dessert is truly the highlight of the meal for me. This is a great restaurant for family dining and I think that everyone in the area should experience this place at least once in their lifetime. I am hopeful and optimistic that this Tony’s I-75 restaurant review will inspire you and your family to give it a whirl someday. It is most definitely worth the drive!
Have you ever been to Tony’s I-75? What do you enjoy ordering there? Leave me a comment and let me know what you like! If you have never been to Tony’s I-75 restaurant what appealed to you on their menu?
I am so happy to be an Ambassador to this great company Thunderbird Bars. Now is the time for me to spread the word about these amazing bars to my readers with this Thunderbird Bar review. I want to let you in on a little secret… these bars are amazeballs! The best thing about them is that they are all natural and made with REAL FOOD ingredients: fruits, nuts, seeds, and spices. If you are vegan, following a paleo diet, and are looking for a no-added-sugar treat, Thunderbird Bars are for you! You have to trust me on this, these bars are an excellent snack and they are especially great while on-the-go and the hunger hits you. I have been eating these for the past month now and I feel the need to spread the word about them.
Thunderbird Bar Pecans + Goji + Pistachio in Eastern Market, Detroit, MI
There are ten flavors available for Thunderbird Bars and every single one of them is delish!
No boring flavors over here! These bars are unlike every other bar I have experienced. As you may already know, I live for the thrill of trying new foods. These flavors do not disappoint one bit and they satisfy my hunger. Their flavor combinations are unique and each and every single one of them delivers a satisfying taste.
Thunderbird Bars Variety Pack
Want to know my favorite flavor of the ten that are available? I’m going to say it is the Pineapple + Mango + Papaya. I’m always a sucker for anything tropical and I love how all of these flavors blend together.
I have included an image of the bar in a photo below. It might look a bit on the small side but these bars are quite filling. This bar has seven simple ingredients noted on the label: prunes, buckwheat groats, papaya, raisins, mango, pineapple, and Hawaiian black lava salt. No BS here… just pure + simple real food ingredients.
This bar comes in at 145 calories, 30g of carbohydrates, 3g of fiber, and 22g of natural (no-added) sugar.
Thunderbird Bar also stays away from sweeteners. You will not find any real, artificial, honey, syrup, agave or any other variety of sweetener in their bars. There are not many bars that you can come across that promise that.
These bars will give you energy and endurance during your day derived purely from the real food ingredients. I love to start my day with a Thunderbird Bar. It gives me the fuel that I need to conquer the day.
Thunderbird Bar in Detroit, MI – Cashew + Fig + CarrotThunderbird Bar Pineapple + Mango + PapayaThunderbird Bar Pineapple + Mango + Papaya Nutrition FactsThunderbird Bar in Detroit, MI – Cashew + Fig + CarrotThunderbird Bars – Pineapple + Mango + Papaya in Eastern Market, Detroit, MIThunderbird Bars – Cacao + Hemp + Walnut in Eastern Market, Detroit, MITwo of the Thunderbird Bars flavors available for children
Thunderbird Bars also encourages your little ones to eat healthy and they offer four flavors for kids, also known as Thunderkids.
Fruit Punch
Apple Pie
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Chocolate Chip Cookie
I love when a healthy brand of food makes kid-friendly products. I try my best to avoid giving my daughter junk. When I give her a Thunderbird Bar as a snack I feel good about it. Chloe also really does enjoy eating these. They are naturally sweet and satisfy a sweet tooth craving in a more healthy approach. These bars will be a great thing to pack for her daily snack during school when she goes back.
Thunderbird Bar Thunderkids – Chocolate Chip Cookie (image courtesy of thunderbirdbar.com)
Thunderbird Bar Thunderkids – Peanut Butter & Jelly (image courtesy of thunderbirdbar.com)
Want to try a variety pack of Thunderbird Bars? Find them on Amazon:
Learn more about how I got inspired by the cacao in Thunderbird Bars and created a healthy smoothie bow. READ HERE.
Hope you enjoyed this Thunderbird Bar review! What Thunderbird Bar flavor interests you the most? Leave me a comment and let me know which one you will try out first!
Please join my Facebook Group Give It A Whirl Girl so you can participate in the weekly Tried It Out Tuesday challenge.
Summer may be winding down here but when is it ever a bad idea to enjoy a homemade frozen treat? Never! Making my own popsicles at home is a new venture for me. I have dilly-dallied around with making my own ice-cream on occasion and found that to be a fun experience. Making homemade popsicles is an easy treat to prepare and I can even have my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe help me out with this project. In this post I will be discussing the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker.
Kombucha popsicle with passion fruit and blueberries
Chloe with her dragon fruit popsicle
Zoku has a product line that includes popsicle-making kits. I had the opportunity to try out the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker and also the Zoku Character Kit. You can enjoy your homemade popsicles in as little as 7-8 minutes. In order for this to work, you must place the Quick Pop Maker (the inner core) in the freezer overnight. Once this has been in the freezer for at least 8+ hours you pour your desired juice into the popsicle maker with the popsicle stick in place. It is so wonderful to have a product like this so you can conveniently whip up a tasty frozen treat in a matter of minutes. Need a healthy dessert? No problem! Having this quick and easy device on hand will produce that nutritious dessert that you desire.
Zoku Duo Quick Pop MakerZoku Character Kit
Check out the video below to see how simple the Quick Pop Maker is to use!
The Zoku Character Kit includes several stencils that you use with sliced fruit to make fun faces on your popsicles. Honestly, we found this quite difficult to do because the popsicle opening is not very wide and fruit needs to be razor thin in order for it to be placed inside.
You start out by using the stencils on your fruit. You then apply the cutouts to the face plate. The next step is to place the frozen Quick Pop Maker on the stand and insert face place. Press the face plate up against the top side of the mold and hold for 15-30 seconds. You then remove the face plate and pour in your favorite fruit juice after you put the popsicle stick into position. Allow the pops to freeze for at least 8 minutes.
My favorite pop that I created was made by using fresh passion fruit and also a bit of Juice From The Raw‘s Passion Fruit Cleanser juice. Making that particular pop is simple and easy. What I did was scooped the guts out of the passion fruit and placed it on the little green board (faceplate) and then inserted it inside the pop maker (while pop maker is in vertical position) and pressed the board up for 30 seconds to get the fruit in place. After your fruit is inside the pop maker place the pop maker in an upright position, place the popsicle stick in place, and then gently and carefully pour the juice inside. There is a fill line inside of the pop maker. I can not stress this enough but do not let your juice contents go above that fill line because you will have a very difficult time removing that pop. I had my juice go very very slightly above that fill line and ran into a problem removing it.
Passion Fruit PopsicleKevita Kombucha Blueberry Passion Fruit PopsicleSvelte Vanilla Protein Shake PopsicleSvelte Vanilla Protein Shake Popsicle
My overall opinion of the popsicle maker was that it was a little finicky to get it to work properly. There is a learning curve to this. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the popsicle to come out correctly. We were not successful at producing a popsicle with a fun face with the character kit. I just could not get the fruit sliced thin enough to go into the cavity. However and despite all of this it was very fun to use and a fascinating project for my daughter to work on. Teamwork and creativity resulted in some tasty frozen treats!
If you feel inclined to give this a whirl I have added the links to these items. They can all be found on Amazon.
DISCLAIMER: Zoku sent me these products to review. All opinions stated here are my own. This is my honest review. Also, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. I receive a small commission if items are purchased through those links.
This morning I would love to share with you about my experience with the Wilton Easy Layers cake set and how I made my gluten-free cotton candy cake. I blogged about this cake pan set on a recent Friday Faves post and I ended up ordering myself one and I am so happy that I did. I ended up creating the best cake I have ever made in my life yesterday! I am truly proud of it and I was happy to serve it to my mother, who came over for a t-bone steak dinner. The cake that I made was the most perfect dessert to serve to her and she fell in love with it. And of course, my daughter, Chloe, was absolutely in love with this cake. She assisted me in making it and it is always a joy to work alongside her in the Give It A Whirl Girl Kitchen.
Cotton Candy CakeMe in the Give It A Whirl Girl Kitchen
Here is how I made my gluten-free Cotton Candy Cake
Here is how I used Wilton Easy Layers Cake Pan Set
The Wilton Easy Layers contains 5 pans that are 6 inches in diameter. They are pretty shallow pans. They have a non-stick coating but I still sprayed mine with a bit of coconut oil just in case I had a problem with my cake sticking. The pans will fill up one standard size serving of cake batter. These cake pans will also all, conveniently, fit inside the oven at the same time due to their small size.
Wilton Easy Layers cake pan setWilton Easy Layer cake pan set
Most of the ingredients I used
Pamela’s Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix
The cake itself was made with a gluten-free mix by Pamela’s. I used Pamela’s Vanilla Cake Mix. I have used this mix once before for cupcakes and I was very satisfied with the taste and texture. What I also love about the gluten-free mix is that it is non-GMO, uses no artificial colors or flavors, no preservatives, and no high fructose corn syrup.
Lorann’s Cotton Candy flavor oil
I achieved the cotton candy flavoring using a bottle of Lorann’s Cotton Candy Flavoring Oil. This was my first time using a flavoring oil of this kind and I heard that a little bit can go a long way but I ended up having to use about half of the bottle to get the flavor I was going for. I really enjoyed the flavor of this, though it was not exactly like cotton candy. I will have to explore other flavor oils and extracts from this brand because I am just not a plain vanilla person.
Lorann Cotton Candy Flavor Oil
How I created the frosting for this cotton candy cake
For the frosting, I decided to go with a homemade buttercream. I had a fridge full of different kinds of butter from Chef Shamy so I gave the Honey Butter Vanilla Bean a whirl. Chef Shamy serves up a high-quality butter with no weird ingredients… just pure butter. It is also gluten-free. This particular vanilla flavor produced the most glorious buttercream I have ever whipped up. I used Simple Truth Organic Powdered Sugar with the butter and a few splashes of almond milk. The flavor of this buttercream was out of this world. If I had to give myself a grade it would be an A+. It really was that great!
Chef Shamy Honey Butter Vanilla Bean
Coloring the cotton candy cake
Now let’s get on with the color. Yes, this time around I was naughty and used artificial colors… GASP! It’s true that I did. I’m not proud but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and YOLO! I used Betty Crocker’s Neon Gel Food Colors for the pink and the purple. Gel food coloring is some pretty potent and powerful stuff. They really do produce gorgeous coloring on your creations. I don’t know why but for the neon pack they do not include the color blue, so for that, I used a Kroger brand neon blue. I am so pleased with how the colors turned out!
Cotton Candy CakeCotton Candy Cake
A ton of candy to top it all off!
And for that gorgeous candy that is all over the cake? I created my own mix of sprinkles with several different brands. The sprinkles with the big bits are pieces of candy that were from Celebrations By Frey. My local Kroger store sells them but I can not locate them on Amazon. The bottle of sprinkles is titled MixLicious.
Cotton Candy CakeCotton Candy Cake
Final thoughts on this gluten-free cotton candy cake
I am super duper pleased as pie (or should I say “cake”) with how this cake turned out and I was proud to serve it to my family. It really did taste as good as it looks. I am not a professional baker so I am aware that the cake is a little sloppy but I am always working towards bettering myself as a chef and as a baker.
This cake was so incredibly fun to make with my daughter and I could do this every single day if I had the funds (and if I wanted to be on 600lb Life). I am going to definitely be working on more cakes in the future and I might even get brave and give fondant a try. I love the way fondant cakes look. They are edible art! The beautiful cakes that I see on Instagram and on food blogs are so inspiring.
Slice of Cotton Candy CakeSlice of Cotton Candy CakeSlice of Cotton Candy CakeCotton Candy CakeCotton Candy CakeCotton Candy CakeSlice of gluten-free Cotton Candy Cake
So tell me… what is your favorite flavor of cake? Leave me a comment and let me know. Would love to hear from my readers. Comments always brighten up my day.
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Find out more about the brands I used to create this cotton candy cake!
My husband has Fridays and Saturdays off work for the time being. We spent the early part of the day cleaning and tidying up our house, it was long overdue. I love spending quality time with my family. Joe leaves for work early in the morning and works long hours so we do not get to see him much during the week. We had an awesome day full of good eats and a little trip to Nino Salvaggio’s International Marketplace.
My daughter and I were also spending more time working on a product review for a popsicle maker. We have been having a blast experimenting with the pop maker. She was so happy yesterday when I gave her a vanilla protein popsicle that I had made with Svelte’s vanilla shake and a few candy sprinkles. You can see her joy for this pop in the image below.
Svelte Pops!
Kiwano Horned Melon
Chloe was happy to also have a kiwano horned melon to nosh on yesterday. We mistakingly got 3 of them in an Instacart order and they let us keep them. They were supposed to be cactus pears. When I called up to inform them that I received the wrong item they sent the wrong item to me AGAIN. They ended up giving me golden dragon fruits. I am going to assume that the Instacart shoppers are a little baffled on an order that involves exotic fruits because they never got that order right.
Chloe eating the kiwano horned melon
Kiwano horned melon
Sy Thai in St. Clair Shores
We were all craving something spicy last night so we decided we would go to one of our favorite Thai restaurants~ Sy Thai in St Clair Shores, MI. We have been visiting this spot for several years now and we can always rely on the food being fresh and delicious!
We decided we would order a lychee bubble drink and all share. Sy Thai is known for making gigantic bubble drinks. The one we received yesterday may have been the largest one we received to date. It was huge.
Another thing that I love about Sy Thai is their soups that come with the dinner. Many Thai restaurants do not include soups with the dinners. We had hot and sour soup yesterday and me and Joe loved it. My daughter, on the other hand, did not care for it. Hot and sour soup is really not a kid-friendly soup. It has a taste that is hard to describe.
I wanted to try something new yesterday. I also knew that I needed to have some kind of noodle dish. I am a huge fan of Thai basil and I usually enjoy ordering the drunken noodle but I ended up trying out the Karee Basil Noodle. Joe ordered his usual Pad Thai. That is the dish he often goes with. I really enjoyed the flavor of my dish but the rice noodles in there were so thick they were almost like dumplings. I have never in my life had noodles that were that thick!
Sy Thai menu
Sy Thai lychee bubble drink
Sy Thai lychee bubble drink
Sy Thai hot & sour soup
Sy Thai Karee Basil Noodle and Pad Thai
Our Trip To Nino Salvaggio’s International Marketplace in St. Clair Shores
After our dinner, we wanted to do a bit of shopping at Nino Salvaggio’s. We visited the smaller location in St Clair Shores since that one is the closest to our home. I did not really have any idea what I wanted to come home with. I was pretty much just on a mission to challenge myself to find something new and unusual to take home.
The first thing that really caught my eye when I walked in to Nino Salvaggio’s was the fresh green figs. Oh man… I sure do love my figs. I love the red and green. Nino’s had the green ones in stock so I grabbed a few. I would have loved a whole case but my wallet said no.
Fresh green figs at Nino Salvaggio’s
Cactus pears at Nino Salvaggio’s
Forelle pears at Nino Salvaggio’s
Exotic fruits at Nino Salvaggio’s
Exotic fruits at Nino Salvaggio’s
Baby bananas
I was hoping to find some purple carrots while I was at Nino Salvaggio’s. I have a newfound love for them. I did locate a bag of mini rainbow organic carrots and I could not pass that up. They will make a great side dish for one of my dinners this week. I love roasted carrots with some raw honey drizzled on top. So damn good!
Me and Chloe have been eating a ton of fruit lately, and I mean a lot! We ended up taking home a few interesting fruits that were brand spankin new to us: baby bananas, Forelle pears, guava, midnight rose apriums, and yellow plums.
You can see my haul from Nino Salvaggio’s International Marketplace in the images that follow. Some people get excited about buying new clothes, buying new makeup, or buying a new video game. I get most excited about buying new food!
Fresh fruit haul from Nino Salvaggio’sMy little haul from Nino Salvaggio’s
And wowza!~ Nino Salvaggio’s sure has a fantastic bakery. I did not get this cake but it sure looks drool-worthy to me! They have an amazing array of sweets and treats to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Cake from Nino Salvaggio’s
The first fruit that we tried last night from Nino Salvaggio’s was the midnight rose apriums. These are a hybrid fruit that is a mix of plums and apricots. They had a nice firm texture and also a nice rosy hue for the flesh. As far as the taste goes, they were quite sweet but not overly sweet. They had the perfect amount of sweetness to them. I purchased four of these fruits and I do really wish I had more.
After we came home and unloaded the groceries it was time to pick up more food. We had a ClickList order waiting for us at Kroger. Ahhhhhh I sure do love grocery pick up day. At the end of the week the fridge and pantry starts getting bare. I love bringing home my groceries and seeing a fridge and freezer packed to the gills with stuff!
Ticklebelly Pops
I put a fancy little dessert on our grocery list. I have had my eye on these for quite some time now. I got the TickleBelly Carnival Cotton Candy bars. They are cake pops dipped in a cotton candy shell. Oh, sweet heavens were these delish! Our Kroger has a cute display inside of mermaid-ish items and these were part of the display. My whole family loved these. There are 4 in a pack and we each had one. We will all have to fight over who gets the last one! I am definitely going to hunt down more flavors of these bars and give them a whirl ASAP!
Today is now Saturday and I am unsure of what the day has in store for us. Maybe the beach with my rescue dog, Stormy? I am also not sure of what we will be feasting upon for dinner tonight. It will likely be steak or another from-scratch pizza. Whatever I do end up making tonight will be fun. I am sure of that!
Do you have any fun plans this weekend? Have you recently tried a new food and fell in love. Let me know in the comments. I sure would love to hear from you. Comments always brighten my day over here!
My husband has a new work schedule which clears his Fridays and Saturdays for family togetherness time. The last two days were full of fun and there were so many cooking/baking frenzies happening over her in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen! My family gets so much pleasure a food-filled weekend. This will be an ongoing series of our weekend adventures. More to come soon! Our two days together kicked off on Friday morning with some Unicorn French Toast. I have a major weakness for paleo-friendly French toast. I am always brainstorming some new ways to prepare it. It actually might just be “paleo-ish” and “healthy-ish” because I just had to add a sprinkling of candy sprinkles on there… another major weakness of mine. This was a total blast to make for breakfast and even more fun to sit down, eat, and enjoy it! I think this was next-level French toast because for this batch I made a vanilla custard batter to dip & soak the bread slices in.
Chillin on the steps
Unicorn French Toast for breakfast! YUMMY
Unicorn French ToastUnicorn French Toast
Miles Cake & Candy Supply
Later on that day (Friday) I had my husband chauffeur me to the baking supply shop in Clinton Township~ Miles Cake & Candy Supply. I used to visit this store often when I made resin jewelry. I would shop there for sprinkles to preserve in the resin. Now that phase of life is done and over with and I am buying these things for actual baking! I went there with the intention of purchasing a donut pan and I did score a nice pan from Wilton. It is a six cavity mold so you end up with a half-dozen of baked donuts.
rainbow sprinkles galore!
Milestone Grill Restaurant
Friday evening we were looking for a new place to dine at. We found a coupon for a restaurant in Eastpointe, MI I and it was the Milestone Grill. Our meals there were quite disappointing if I am going to be blunt about it. I ordered some baked whitefish with a cup of lobster bisque. When I see lobster bisque as an option I do get quite giddy and excited about it. Oh man… my soup came out and I then discovered (and I am certain of this) that it was FAUX LOBSTER! You know, like the fake crab stick meat. Yeah. Ugh. I recently ordered lobster biqsue at Nino Salvaggio’s and that soup was chockful of big lobster meat pieces. That bowl of soup there was just divine. The soup at Milestone Grill was a major letdown.
My baked whitefish was just ok to me. Pretty bland if you ask me and also my steamed vegetables looked quite dull. Joe had some chicken fajitas. When you order fajitas you expect Spanish rice. They served the fajitas with a RICE PILAF with peas and carrots in it. What???
Rochester Mills Milkshake Stout
I do have one nice remark about that place… my beer was great! I ordered a Rochester Mills Milkshake Stout. Boy, was it ever good! I have tried their other beers in the past and they never disappoint. Any kind of stout with a dessert-like flavor is right up my alley of the tasty department… wink wink!
Rochester Mills Beer Co. Milkshake Stout
Homemade chocolate donuts with the Wilton Donut Pan
Saturday started off with me whipping out my new Wilton donut pan. I could not wait to use it. I found a recipe at Elana’s Pantry and used that for inspo. So shoutout to Elana’s Pantry for the amazing recipe.
The recipe called for four eggs. I only had two eggs to work with so I ended up making my own “egg”. Did you know that you can use chia seeds in place of eggs in a recipe? You need 1 tablespoon of chia seeds for each egg. You add three tablespoons of water to that and let it soak for a bit.
If you ever had a devil’s food Entenmann’s donut these sure did resemble that as far as the taste goes. The great thing about these donuts for me is that they are gluten-free. I used coconut flour to make them. I am pretty fond of coconut flour being used in recipes. I think it injects a great flavor into the final product. I used a generous scoop of LivFit Cacao Powder in the donuts. Cacao powder is an incredible superfood with some wonderful health benefits so I am excited to use it in my recipes.
Paleo (minus the sprinkles) Chocolate DonutsPaleo (minus the sprinkles) Chocolate Donuts
Taking my Thunderbird Bars to Eastern Market in Detroit
The remainder of our Saturday was all planned out to head down to the city (Detroit) to go check out Eastern Market. I packed up my camera bag and brought along some of my Thunderbird Bars for the journey. I also had some of the ThunderKids Bars so I brought that along for my daughter, Chloe. It was our first time trying them and they were simply delicious. They offer a great line of bars with healthy and nutritious ingredients… real food! Their flavor combinations are quite unique. They are also filling. They are perfect for fueling your next adventure. I look forward to trying out the rest of my sampler pack.
Thunderbird Bar – Pineapple Mango PapayaThunderbird Bar for kids – Chocolate chip cookie
MooTown Creamery
We always love to visit MooTown Creamery during a visit to Eastern Market. I ordered a Maple Bourbon scoop, which I believe was paleo! How often do you find options like that at an ice-cream shop? I was so excited to see that and I was very pleased with the taste! Two thumbs up!
MooTown Creamery
Vegan and Gluten-free ice-cream options
Maple Bourbon ice-cream
Eastern Market veggie haul!
After our ice-cream pitstop, we went to the sheds to look for some gorgeous fruits and veggies. Eastern Market is the place to be if you want great deals on great foods! You can check out my awesome haul in the photo below. I am most excited about those purple carrots. I was hoping to find them there and I scored a batch. I am going to serve them as a side dish with an herbed ghee sirloin steak.
Eastern Market produce haulCould not pass up this mushroom blend… YUMJoe and Chloe
One of my favorite places to go! Heidelberg Project in Detroit
We always make it a priority to stop at the Heidelberg Project during our Detroit day-trips. Tyree Guyton is constantly adding to this outdoor art installation. It truly is something that everyone should witness at least once in their lifetime.
Homemade from-scratch PIZZA!
It was a long day that made me feel a bit tired when I arrived home but I was bound and determined to make my family a couple made-from-scratch gluten-free pizzas. I had a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Pizza Crust Mix and it was simple and easy to use.
I also love to make my own sauce. I use Muir Glen tomato sauce and Muir Glen Tomato Paste to make a nice, zesty sauce. I used my pizza seasoning packet that I picked up at Eastern Market. Spice Miser made the seasoning and it was a great blend! I would have never thought to add anise and rosemary to my pizza sauce but it gave it a great flavor and it was the best pizza sauce I have made to date.
My family of 3 ate both 12 inch pizzas with one last slice leftover. We were too stuffed to eat that lone piece. Making a from-scratch pizza is a long process that requires dedication and time. It sure is rewarding though to sit down and enjoy your kitchen creation. To me, a homemade pizza is edible art!
My daughter, Chloe, also helped me make this pizza. It was her first time helping out with a pizza. I am spending more and more time with her in the kitchen. I see her passion for cooking and baking and it warms my heart and soul. She is my little foodie sidekick. For an 8-year-old child she has experienced a vast array of foods. She eats with an open mind and I am so proud of her! She currently wants to become a pastry chef. We owe that all to the Netflix show, Sugar Rush. We love watching that show together. She also loves Nailed It but we watched every episode of that already. She loves the show so much that she told me it is her birthday wish for me to make it onto the show. That would totally be a dream come true!
It is currently Sunday morning and I started the day off with a bang in the kitchen. I made some carrot cake donuts but my glaze was too thin. I can assure you that they were tasty because I ate two of them. I used one of my purple carrots to top the donuts and it really does look like chopped bacon! This recipe was inspired by Paleo Hacks. They are a great resource for paleo recipes.
Maranatha Almond Butter Fruit-Loaded Toast
Last but not least, Chloe had a piece of toast with some chocolate Maranatha almond butter on it. I also added some strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries to it. She is a big fan of toast like this. I know avocado toast is all the rage these days but for her it is berries, berries, and more berries!
I always love to crank out a great Sunday dinner but I have not made up my mind yet. It is either going to be an orange duck or sirloin steaks.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow! What a long post! If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I truly appreciate and love all of my readers. I am hoping to make this blog into something so fantastic someday. It is baby steps all of the way there. Thanks to all who are holding my hand to get to that destination with this blog. XOXO
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I went shopping at Nino Salvaggio’s International Marketplace this past weekend and that is my go-to place for unusual fruits and vegetables. They carry the mainstream and also the more obscure. If you are looking for beautiful produce, Nino’s is the place to be. You can tell that they are super picky about what kind of produce is allowed to hit the shelves because it all looks beautiful and perfect! This past weekend we went to the exotic fruit section and decided on bringing home a couple cactus pears, also known as a prickly pear cactus. Imagine my surprise when I sliced into it and discovered that it is a vibrant hot-pink, magenta color. I had no idea this cactus pear had such a gorgeous interior! I was thinking hmmm maybe cactus pear smoothie? Keep reading to find out how you can make this delightful pink drink with my cactus pear smoothie recipe!
Nino Salvaggio’s
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I did a bit of research before eating the cactus pear. I sliced the skin off and I noticed that it had quite a few hard seeds inside. They are not something you can bite into but they are safe to swallow. When I blended this up in a smoothie the seeds got ground up in the blender.
So the taste? Super sweet like candy, a cross between juicy watermelon and bubble gum!
Here is a recipe for a cactus pear smoothie that you can have all to yourself or share with a loved one! I shared mine with my adventurous eater, Chloe Pearl, who is 8 years old and loves trying new things with me.
Cactus Pear Smoothie
Cactus Pear Smoothie Recipe
cactus pear
cactus pear diced
unsweetened almond milk
banana
fresh raspberries
Cactus Pear Smoothie Recipe With Raspberries
This delightful hot pink smoothie drink not only looks incredible but it tastes great too and it is a healthy choice to make!
2 Cactus pears (Peeled)
1 Frozen banana
1 handful Raspberries
1/3 cup Unsweetened almond milk
Place all of the ingredients in your blender.
Blend until smooth.
Serve, eat, and enjoy!
Cactus Pear Raspberry SmoothieChloe enjoying her cactus pear smoothie
Tidbits of info on the cactus pear:
Cactus pears grow on the Nepales Cacti and these plants can be found in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Egypt, and Morrocco
Cactus pears can be used to make smoothies, candy, syrups, jams/jellies, wine, juice, pies, and more! Get creative!
They have anti-inflammatory benefits and also have anti-viral perks
High in fiber and rich in antioxidants
Can be used to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetics
They can help strengthen hair and nails
The average cactus pear has 60 calories, 14 g of carbohydrates, and 5 grams of fiber.
The fiber in the cactus pear can help with weight loss since the fiber makes you feel full longer.
Do not consume large amounts at first. They have been known to have side effects so please research before consuming large amounts. This does not affect everyone but some may get side effects.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Please do research on how this may benefit or impact you.
I hope that this cactus pear smoothie recipe will inspire you to give it a whirl! This hot pink concoction is simple and easy to do with your blender and home and it is a fantastic smoothie recipe that you will want to incorporate into your morning smoothie regimen.
So have you ever tried a cactus pear? How did you eat yours? If you have not tried it yet does this look like something you would try? Leave me a comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts.
We have all heard the expression, “You will feel like a kid in a candy shop”. Yesterday I was that kid in the candy shop! Last night I came up with the grand idea to visit Roger’s Bulk Candy and Ice-Cream in Eastpointe, MI. As you may already know I often promote a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet. I believe in living your life and having fun every once in a while though. I feel that eating should be all about BALANCE. I regularly opt for healthy meals but sometimes I like to just cut loose and enjoy whatever the heck I want.
I heard about Roger’s Bulk Candy and Ice-Cream on the news just recently. I could not believe that I lived in the area of this place for so long and had no clue that it even existed. When you first step foot inside you will see an explosion of color, candy, and the huge variety of ice-creams that are available. This place just looks absolutely fun from the first moment that you get a peek inside. This place is floor to ceiling candy wherever your eyes looks.
This was a very exciting excursion for my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe. We ended up going there on a whim and planned it out as a surprise for her. We did not tell her where we were going, we just drove over there.
We had a blast walking around the store and looking at all of the candy that you can help yourself to. It is a bulk candy shop and the candy is sold by weight so you can buy as much or as little as you want. If your sweet tooth is calling, this is the place to be.
Roger’s has been in business for 12 years now. They have over 500 types of candy and they have something for everyone. Seriously, if you have a problem finding a candy to take home with you then maybe you have a problem lol! Most of the candies here are nostalgic candies that date back to your childhood. Seeing these candies sure did bring in a tidal wave of memories!
gumballs galoreHershey Kisses in every colorJones Soda and Stewarts soda
We ended up getting a little variety bag of sour candies. Then it was time to figure out what we were going to get at the ice-cream area of the shop. There is a huge assortment of ice-cream available and if you are seeking out something a little healthier, Roger’s does offer smoothies made with fresh fruit.
We decided we would order a banana-split and share it. This was no ordinary banana-split either. We did not go with the basic vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. We wanted a colorful, Instagram-worthy banana-split with some fun flavors. We chose Superman, cotton candy, and anniversary cake. We had the usual toppings on it: strawberry (on the Superman), pineapple (on top of the cotton candy), and chocolate (topping for anniversary cake). We really were not sure how this would all pan out but this really did come together as a memorable banana split that we all enjoyed!
If you are local to this spot definitely stop in and give it a whirl! This was a wonderful experience for all of us. We also really enjoyed the helpful and friendly staff. Roger’s Bulk Candy & Ice-Cream will surely put a smile on your face.
What is your favorite kind of candy that takes you back to your childhood? My favorite has always been those little raspberry and blackberry candies. Leave me a comment below!
My daughter, Chloe Pearl, loves when I bust out the blender to whip up a smoothie or smoothie bowl for her. We have an abundance of fruits and veggies over here right now and I am loving every minute of it. This morning we shared a delicious papaya smoothie. Papaya is a fruit that I do not normally have on hand so she was super duper excited when she saw me slicing the papaya and scooping out all of those seeds.
We used half of a papaya, 1 whole banana, a handful of Simple Truth frozen mango, and a handful of Simple Truth pineapple. I used approximately 2/3 cup of Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein milk (unsweetened). We have been using that particular milk for a while now. Ibotta currently has a $2.50 cash-back offer on each bottle that you buy, and Kroger also had it on sale. So I consider that a win!
My daughter really enjoyed her morning smoothie. I had a bit of it as well and I can certainly say that it was quite yummy. I am quite sure that tropical fruits rank pretty high as my favorite.
Tidbits of info on the papaya fruit
A medium sized papaya comes in around 120 calories.
Papayas can aid in digestion. Papayas have an enzyme in them that helps move things along, and they also have a high water and fiber content.
There are two types of papayas: Hawaiian and Mexican. Hawaiian papayas are small (apx 1lb), while Mexican are large. The Mexican papaya can weight in as heavy as 10 pounds!
The seeds of a papaya are, in fact, edible. The seeds have a very strong mustard & peppercorn taste. You can add some honey to them to make them more palatable.
Papaya is often consumed raw but it can be used in recipes to make a sweet sauce.
Papayas have beta-carotene (an antioxidant) in them which can help prevent cancer.
Papayas have a good amount of potassium and vitamins that can help prevent heart disease.
I have been increasing my intake of fruits and veggies and trying to rid my diet of processed foods. There are so many health benefits in these foods it just makes sense to eat them. I have a big weakness for candy. If there is a bag of Sour Patch Kids in front of me I often lose my willpower and eat them. I feel guilty afterward even though I enjoyed them. My point is that it is just best to reach for fruits and veggies when a hunger pang hits. Instead of having a bowl of Fruit Loops for breakfast why not just make yourself a smoothie. They are both filling and nutritious. Your body will thank you for it!
If you read my last post you would see that I stocked up on some interesting fruits at Meijer through the Instacart grocery delivery service. I ended up getting some nice produce delivered: bananas, dragon fruit, kiwi, starfruit, passion fruit, papaya, and a kiwano horned melon. I had the ultimate exotic fruit smoothie bowl already planned out in my mind. What I came up with did not disappoint!
How I created the Epic Exotic Fruit Smoothie Bowl
To make a great smoothie bowl you need to have some frozen bananas. I will usually use two bananas in my bowl. I love to work with Knowrish Well freeze-dried fruit powders to infuse my smoothie bowls with an extraordinary flavor and a color that is pleasing to the eyes! I was going to use the Knowrish Well pitaya (dragon fruit) powder but then realized that I was out. So I ended up using the Blue Dream powder which is another great flavor enhancer. Not only does this powder give your smoothie an incredible flavor but it is also loaded with nutrients. It is made of butterfly pea flower and contains the following superfoods: maca, inulin, lucuma.
The other ingredients in this epic smoothie bowl were 1/2 a dragon fruit (inside of the smoothie) and I topped it with some sliced star fruit, kiwi fruit, a blob of passion fruit, and used more dragon fruit.
Having these fruits is a really a special treat for me. The cost of a dragon fruit is pretty ridiculous. I wish they were as cheap as something like apples and oranges! I also have a big passion for passion fruit. The taste can be described as a bit sweet and a bit tart. It is more sour than sweet so I have no clue how they came up with the name of this fruit. It also has a strange appearance and texture. I love it though! The star fruits are just fun to eat purely because of their incredible shape. I didn’t get a chance to try one until I was an adult, and I remember begging my mom to buy me one when I was a little girl.
The overall taste of this bowl was mindblowing delicious. Also, I believe this big fruit smoothie bowl would be chock full of nutritional benefits. Aside from the natural sugar content, I was feeling pretty good about this being a healthy bowl of yumminess. I don’t eat smoothies like this all of the time (anymore) so I am not too concerned about the naturally occurring sugars in the fruit. I often say YOLO (you only live once) so if you want the fruit~ eat the fruit!
The greatest part about this smoothie bowl was seeing how much my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe, loved it! She has always been my #1 fan of my smoothie bowls. I used to make one almost daily last summer. She proclaimed that this one was my best yet and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Hearing that definitely put a smile on my face.
Have you ever had an exotic fruit smoothie bowl? How do you enjoy your smoothie bowls? What are some of your favorite toppings? Leave me a comment below.
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Hello and welcome to my brand spankin’ new blog! I have been putting off doing this for quite awhile because it seems like a daunting task to get it started. I honestly have no idea how to start a blog BUT I am “giving it a whirl”! I am Kimmy Ripley. I am currently 37 years old. I am happily married to Joe. We have been together happily since 1999. We have one daughter, Chloe Pearl, who is my dream girl. All my life I wanted a daughter named Chloe and now I have her in my life. Let me tell you… this girl is sweet as sugar. She makes everyday worth living and she brings me so much happiness even on the darkest days. I am blessed to have my family of 3 and everyday is a new adventure for us!
A little bit about me…
I graduated from Wayne State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. I wanted to be a photographer so bad. Once I got a taste of working in a studio it hit me over the head that it just was not for me. Photography is still a passion of mine but for the most part I have sadly dropped out of the art scene.
In 2009 my daughter was born and that is when my entire life changed! I got a new career and that was raising her as a stay at home mom. It is what has worked out for the best for our family.
The Pearl Girl
Once she was born and started to eat solid foods I realized that something needed to change in my life. I needed to learn how to COOK! I used to think that throwing a jar of Ragu pasta sauce over a box of spaghetti noodles was cooking lol! When my daughter started eating those solids I wanted to do what was best for her and I prepared most of her foods for her myself. I rarely used any prepared baby or toddler foods. This is when my journey and passion for cooking began.
I started scouring the internet for tasty and nutritious recipes. I started checking labels on foods more to see if I wanted to feed those weird ingredients to my family. I became a lot more aware of what was healthy.
Last year I began my weight loss journey with a mostly Mediterranean diet. I introduced many interesting meals to my family and I was so pleased that they enjoyed them. In the end I started going more paleo with my diet. I am not strict paleo so I am just paleo-ish. I try my best to avoid processed foods and feed them more whole foods and organics. We still have plenty of cheat moments because hey… who doesn’t love an indulgent treat like a deep fried peanut butter and jelly?!?@!
Cherry smoothie bowlTeriyaki chicken served in a pineapple with wild rice
The content of this blog will contain the following topics for now:
My passion for cooking! I try to cook new recipes as often as I can. Sometimes I get brave and create my own dish without a recipe.
My journey of trying out new foods and beverages. I am telling you that I live for trying out new products. Total foodie right over here. Food is completely on my mind all day long.
My new adventure with coupons and sampling because who doesn’t love a great deal? Am I right?
I am sure that over time things will change with my blog as it experiences growth. I would also love to host giveaways on my blog because I enjoy them too! I have discovered a vast array of new products by entering giveaways. I end up being a fan for life and new customer to these brands that I get lucky enough to win from.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stumble on over to my first post that I was nervous to whip up and then hit publish on! Anyone want to hold my hand LOL! This is a big step in my life. My goal and resolution for the year was to start up this blog and try my best to keep up with it. Being a SAHM during the day while everyone is away gets lonely and I am hoping to connect with people along the way. Thank you again for stopping by. I really truly appreciate any new fans I acquire here!
The Pearl Girl and Give It A Whirl GirlThe Pearl Girl loves shopping at Whole Foods
