Primal Kitchen Greek Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup – Gluten-Free

I really enjoy making a nice Sunday dinner for my family. Last night’s Sunday dinner turned out to be an exquisite one. Everything from start to finish was spectacular. For starting out I actually made a bowl of paleo butternut squash soup to go with our meal. I never make a soup to go with dinner. I just always make soups that you eat as an entire meal. For the main course, I had some grass-fed beef strip steaks marinated in Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade. For a side dish, I wrapped Applegate Sunday Bacon around some rainbow carrots (purple, orange, and white) that I picked up during our visit to Eastern Market. This was our first time trying out bacon-wrapped carrots and it certainly will not be the last. Lately, I just want to wrap everything up in bacon! Next up for me will be bacon-wrapped brussels sprouts.

Sunday Dinner - With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup — Sunday Dinner – With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup – Awesome Sunday dinner feast!

Marinating the steaks with Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade

Using a marinate overnight with your steak usually seems like a great idea that results in a flavorful, juicy steak. This was the case with the Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade from Primal Kitchen. I have never had a steak with a Greek marinade so I was not sure if we would enjoy this or not, but so far I have not been let down by a single Primal Kitchen item. They all excel in quality, taste, and fall within the realm of clean-eating.

These marinades are low-carb, paleo-friendly, Whole 30 compliant, and do not contain any added sugars. If you are looking into eating clean I highly recommend the products available from Primal Kitchen. No nonsense ingredients, just pure and simple healthy ingredients.

This particular Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade uses avocado oil as a base. It also contains oregano, black pepper, coriander, marjoram, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. These are all organic ingredients.

Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade (Avocado Oil) and two strip steaks marinating

Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade

Roasted butternut squash soup – the paleo way

I had a great time going to Eastern Market for some fresh produce and great deals on them. You can read more about that experience HERE. We went towards the end of the day when the vendors are letting things go at low prices. I picked up this butternut squash for a buck. I really should have bought more because I really enjoy it this time of year.

To make the soup I removed the skin from the squash then cut and cubed it. Cutting squash, to me, is scary and difficult. I am always afraid I am going to chop off my hand. My knife skills are rusty and have a lot of room for improvement. After the squash was cut I placed it in a large mixing bowl. I drizzled olive oil on it and the used some garlic salt and pepper on it. I also added in a big squirt of some organic minced garlic. I had the oven preheated to 400-degrees and roasted them for about 30 minutes.

Once the squash was roasted I placed the cubed squash in my blender with a cup of chicken broth and most of a can of full-fat coconut milk. I seasoned it with some pumpkin pie spices that I got from the Spice Miser at Eastern Market. I was really wanting to get some delicious fall flavor with that seasoning and it sure did not disappoint. It came through and flavored this squash with the taste of autumn.

I kept the soup warm in my Staub dutch oven while I prepared the rest of my meal. I just let it simmer on low. I sure do love my Staub and that piece of cooking equipment will be in regular rotation here at the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen. That pot is perfect for soups, stews, sauces, and one-pot meals. It is actually the greatest cooking tool that I currently own. It is super heavy-duty and I also love that it is dishwasher safe. I highly recommend getting one for your kitchen, they are especially great this time of year.

Roasted butternut squash ready to be turned into soup

Info on Spice Miser

If you are ever browsing the sheds at Eastern Market you can’t pass up the Spice Miser setup. This is spice heaven! I never go to Eastern Market without coming home with some new spices and seasonings. I bought the Pumpkin Pie Spices. I really had no clue what I would do with it at the time I bought it but I figured I could put it to good use somehow.

So what’s inside?

The Pumpkin Pie Spices packet has the ingredients listed on the back and they are: ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves

Those spices combined with the butternut squash gave it a wonderful flavor profile. I did not use up all of the packet so I will be trying it out again with something else. Perhaps acorn squash next time?

Spice Miser - Pumpkin Pie Spices - seasoning packet from Eastern Market — Spice Miser – Pumpkin Pie Spices – seasoning packet from Eastern Market – ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves

Roasted rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon

When I went to Eastern Market I was really on a mission to hunt down some of these rainbow carrots. In the bundle, you receive purple, white (or is it yellow), and orange. I love any food that is the color purple and the purple carrots are the best of any carrot I have ever had. I tracked down my carrots and I wrapped those beauties up in Applegate Sunday Bacon.

I roasted these gorgeous carrots in the oven at 450-degrees and they were ready at the 30-minute mark. The bacon came out with the perfect crispness and the carrots were fork tender.

Bundles of rainbow carrots at Eastern Market – I can not leave this place without taking home some purple and white carrots

Applegate Uncured Sunday Bacon and rainbow carrots ready for roasting

Rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon – roasting in the oven at 450-degrees

Cooking the steaks

Yeah, it is that time again… time to bust out that trusty ol’ Lodge Cast Iron Pan! A good cast iron pan is all you need to cook a steak that maintains its juice and comes out nice and tender. I simply just cooked the marinated steaks for a few minutes on each side and cooked it to a medium-rare temperature. These were grass-fed beef strip steaks and the one that I had was at least a good inch thick. Gosh I just love a big fat piece of meat. I’m so primal!

Time to dig in!

This was the type of dinner that just totally blows my mind. Everything about this meal was just excellence from start to finish. I was proud of myself for creating this meal for my family. I serve a lot of great meals but this one really stood out for me. I think that when you pour your heart and soul into a dinner it really shows and shines through.

Sunday Dinner - With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup - Awesome Sunday dinner feast! — Sunday Dinner – With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup – Awesome Sunday dinner feast!

Paleo butternut squash soup with coconut milk

Paleo, Primal Kitchen Greek strip steak with roasted rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon – Check out how thick and juicy that strip steak is!

If you would like to create a steak dinner like this I am providing a couple shopping links below to help get you started and on your way!

You can find Primal Kitchen’s dressing and marinades on Amazon

Primal Kitchen Variety Starter Pack Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade

Primal Kitchen Coupon Code 10% Off

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Save 10% off your next order at Primal Kitchen.

Primal Kitchen has items for your paleo, Whole 30, keto, and gluten-free diet and lifestyle.

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September 24, 2018 3

Cactus Pear Nice Cream RECIPE With Pomegranate & Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites – (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Cactus Pear Nice Cream RECIPE with Pomegranate and Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites

Wondering how I naturally obtained this lovely shade of hot pink in my bowl of nice-cream (vegan ice-cream)?? Easy! I owe it all to the cactus pear, also known as the prickly pear. The flesh of a cactus pear, when combined with a banana, will give you this gorgeous magenta hue. This cactus pear nice cream recipe is a healthy dessert that will most definitely make your child excited for a yummy treat that is naturally sweet from nature with no added sugars. Other ingredients in this frozen treat are frozen pomegranate, two frozen bananas, some coconut milk and Enjoy Life Foods Dark Chocolate Raspberry Protein Bites. This is a much healthier alternative to traditional ice-cream and I always enjoy creating this and serving it at home. Super simple and easy to do too!

Nice-cream is the vegan and paleo version of ice-cream. It is dairy-free and lactose-free.

Cactus Pear & Pomegranate With Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites Nice-Cream

Affiliate disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I receive a commission if items are purchased through these links with no extra cost to you.

A good food processor comes in handy for making vegan nice-creams at home. You will also want to prepare in advance for making this by freezing two sliced up bananas overnight. Also, chill a can of full-fat coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight for best results. If you have a can of coconut cream on-hand that makes for even better results, a lot more creamy, but coconut cream is usually around $4 a can and coconut milk works just fine.

The Enjoy Life Foods Dark Raspberry Protein Bites were a wise choice here as a nice-cream topping. I chopped them up small and placed them on top. The dark raspberry flavor is actually my favorite flavor of all the Protein Bites and it paired nicely with the flavors of the cactus pear and pomegranate. It also gave this bowl of nice-cream a boost in protein, which is always welcome, especially if you are following a vegan diet.

Ingredients used to make Cactus Pear & Pomegranate With Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites Nice-Cream (Protein Bites not shown in this photo)

Cactus Pear Nice Cream Recipe

Cactus Pear Nice Cream RECIPE With Pomegranate & Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites

This simple and easy to do gluten-free and vegan nice cream recipe results in the prettiest of pink nice creams you have ever seen.

2 Bananas (Frozen)
1 Cactus Pear
1/2 cup Pomegranate (Frozen)
6 Enjoy Life Foods Dark Raspberry Protein Bites
1/2 cup Full-fat organic coconut milk (Chilled overnight in fridge)

Place the frozen bananas, cactus pear, pomegranate, and chilled coconut in the food processor.
Blend until smooth.
Remove cactus pear nice-cream from food processor bowl.
To the nice cream with small chunks of Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites. I used the Dark Raspberry.
Divide into two bowls.

Serve, eat. and enjoy!

Cactus Pear & Pomegranate With Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites Nice-Cream in the food processor. Do not add Protein Bites at this time!

Enjoy Life Foods Dark Raspberry Protein Bites chopped into small pieces

Final thoughts on the cactus pear nice cream recipe

I do believe that you will love this hot-pink cactus pear nice cream recipe if you do decide to give it a whirl. It is super unique in its flavor and unlike anything I have ever tried! I am extremely happy with the results of mixing these ingredients together. I was not sure what the outcome would be, but I got brave in the kitchen and I have no regrets!

If you are looking for a healthier alternative to ice-cream that is dairy-free and contains no added sugars, you should try making vegan and glutern-free nice creams at home. They are very versatile and you can get creative by whipping them up and experimenting with different ingredients. As a base, I usually use two frozen bananas and make sure I have a can of chilled coconut milk (it must be full-fat and not light coconut milk) on-hand to make this. This will result in approximately 2-3 servings. Most often it is just my daughter and I sharing but sometimes my hubby wants some too.

You can read more about the Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites on a previous blog post:

HERE

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Have you ever tried vegan nice cream? How do you like to create yours? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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September 6, 2018 8

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel – Smoothie RECIPE – Tried It Tuesday

For the past couple of days I have been trying out this Primal Kitchen Vanilla Coconut Collagen Fuel. I am really loving this mix and it goes well stirred into coffee, mixed with unsweetened almond milk in a smoothie, or it makes one hell of an awesome smoothie bowl as I will explain below. The taste is incredible as well, which is sometimes hard to come across with a protein powder. Today I will be talking about Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel and how versatile it is.

First off a little bit of info on Primal Kitchen’s Collagen Fuel. This product contains healthy fats from the coconut and it promotes healthy hair, skin, nails, joints, and also helps repair muscle. This Collagen Fuel is also packed with a whopping 10 grams of protein per 1 scoop serving. If Vanilla Coconut is not your jam they do offer the Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel in a delicious chocolate flavor. Each tub of Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel will give your 24 individual servings.

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel Smoothie Bowl

Many protein powders on the market contain whey. This mix does not contain any whey, soy, or dairy and it is perfect for those on a paleo diet. You know you are getting a quality product from Primal Kitchen because they only source ingredients from cows that are grass-fed.

The great thing about this Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel for me is that it helps promote a healthy gut. It had prebiotic fibers in it. I have been doing more research on health and I am hearing more and more about how important our gut health is and that a gut that is off balance can through your whole system out of whack.

I hope you enjoy this delicious and nutritious smoothie bowl recipe that I came up with for you. This was perfect for a Tried It Tuesday post because not only is the Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel new to me but so was the guava. This past weekend was the first time I ever brought home a guava fruit.

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel Bowl w/ Dragon Fruit and Guava

RECIPE (makes two servings)

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas
1/2 of a dragon fruit (I used a golden pitaya in mine)
1 guava
1/3 cup full fat coconut milk
1 scoop Primal Kitchen Vanilla Coconut Collagen Fuel
Dragonfruit & kiwi fruit slices to top
Unsweetened coconut flakes to top

Frozen banana, dragonfruit, and guava fruit

1 scoop of Collagen Fuel Vanilla Coconut

Recipe:

Place frozen banana, 1/2 of your dragon fruit, the flesh of the guava, and your full-fat coconut milk and blend until smooth
Pour smoothie mix into 2 bowls and top with unsweetened coconut flakes, kiwi fruit slices and dragon fruit slices.
Eat and enjoy!

Primal Kitchen Collagen Bowl w/ Dragon Fruit and Guava

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Let me know if you try the recipe!

Are you familiar with Primal Kitchen Foods? What would you love to have from their online store? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are crushing on!

If you would love to save some money on your next Primal Kitchen purchase please use my

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Homemade Pizza Night & A Couple Of Smoothies To Wash It Down

Yesterday was an enjoyable day spent with family. We went to the beach, had from-scratch pizzas, and had a couple of smoothies for dessert. It was another full day in the kitchen making things for my family to gobble up.

The day kicked off with my paleo and vegan version of Unicorn French Toast for my family. I promise I will do a recipe post on this in the future. I just need to tweak my recipe a bit. I had an unfortunate situation happen with my loaf of bread when I got it out of the pan. My bread broke into pieces. I was determined not to let it go to waste so I just ended up dipping the chunks of bread into the batter and cooked it up that way. This was my first time ever using candy sprinkles from Mr. Sprinkles. I sure do love the fun bottle that they are contained in. I am, and have always been, down with clowns!

I had quite an amazing lunch too. I really had a hankering for apples. I don’t know about you but I am ready for fall! I want hoodie weather, apple picking, and Halloween to hurry up and get here soon! For lunch, I tried out a new salad dressing. I used Hilary’s Apple Fennel Dressing. For my salad, I used baby spring mix as a base and topped it with grilled chicken, thin Honeycrisp apple slices, and walnuts. This salad was exactly what I needed yesterday. I think I will be loading up on some apples with my next shopping trip.

Chicken Salad with apples and Hilary’s Apple Fennel dressing

After lunch, we packed up the beach bag and got Stormy ready to head out to Metro Beach for a day of fun and relaxation. Chloe and Joe went to the pool and Stormy and I made our way along the lake and got our steps in yesterday. My focus was on fitness because I have been somewhat slacking on meeting my step goal lately.

It was a very hot day yesterday and thank goodness for the little bit of breeze coming off of the water. Stormy and I had a great time together and I know that Chloe definitely had a blast in the big pool and slide with her daddy.

I must be getting old because yesterday I wore an inspirational shirt and I think that maybe old people do that?? LOL! I am 37 years old and I whine about aging quite a bit. Anyway, I sure do love the shirt. I got it from Nordstrom and it is gray with pink lettering on it. The shirt is by the brand Desert Dreamer.

I feel that the shirt really speaks volumes to me at the moment. It says, find what you love and do that”. I started this blog up on June 6th so my 2 month anniversary is approaching and let me tell you this~ I absolutely LOVE blogging! I really wish I would have gotten into this years ago when I first set out on my cooking and baking expedition. As many of you know, cooking and baking are hands down my #1 passion in life. I am always in the kitchen and I am always researching ways to better my food and technique.

Me and Joe at Metro Beach

Me and Stormy at Metro Beach

Chloe and Joe at Metro Beach

Stormy at Metro Beach

After our little day-trip to the beach, it was time for me to crank out dinner for the fam. I will let you in on a little something, my pizza is in high-demand! Joe and Chloe absolutely love my homemade pizzas. They are a lot of work but totally worth the time and effort when I hear ooo’s and ahh’s at the dinner table.

I created two pizzas last night. One was made for myself and the other for Joe and Chloe. They prefer a more traditional pizza with pepperoni on it. I have never been a fan of pepperoni but I sure do love to have mushrooms in every single bite of my pizza.

I had a little carton of shiitake mushrooms to work with. I figured I would be better off with some sort of white sauce rather than a tomato sauce. I searched a bit online for a good recipe and came across one from Primal Palate. It was a dairy free sauce that used full-fat coconut milk as the base. Honestly, you would never know the sauce was made with coconut milk! There is not one hint of coconut flavor in that awesome sauce recipe. The recipe also called for some nutritional yeast, which I did add because it lends a taste of cheese to the sauce.

For my pizza I used some grilled chicken pieces and the entire carton of shiitake mushrooms. I sauteed the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil with some Italian seasonings. I have never had a pizza with this type of mushrooms and I am pleased to say that the taste of this pizza was glorious! Every single morsel of that pizza was thoroughly enjoyed by me!

For both pizzas I used the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Crust Mix once again. I used it last week and it produced a phenomenal crust! I am trying to eliminate as much gluten as I can from my diet but Joe and Chloe really don’t want to be on-board with a gluten-free diet. It is like hitting the jackpot when you come up with a gluten-free dinner that can win over anyone.

Shiitake mushroom and grilled chicken pizza

Gluten free pepperoni pizza

For dessert I really had a craving for some froyo, it’s been awhile and I’m dying for a heaping cup of it. But we have a bevy of beautiful fruits over here in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen so instead of froyo I ended up making a couple of smoothies for me and Chloe to share.

The first smoothie I made had a golden dragonfruit in it, a banana, and a splash of full fat coconut milk. The second smoothie that I made had strawberries, raspberries, a baby banana, splash of coconut milk, and I also used a scoop of acai powder. Hard to say which smoothie won the battle of being best. It was like comparing apples to oranges, they were two completely different drinks.

The weekend isn’t over. Joe’s two days off from work are over though and he had to go in today. Me and the Pearl Girl have an exciting day ahead of us in the kitchen so stayed tuned because you can bet your booty I will be blogging about my day today!

Did you do anything exciting this weekend? What’s cooking in your kitchen that you are proud of? Leave me a comment and let me know because I love reading comments from my beloved readers!

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. ALL OPINIONS STATED HERE ARE MY OWN. ANY COMMISSION I RECEIVE IS USED TO BETTER YOUR BLOG EXPERIENCE HERE.

August 5, 2018 2

Simple, Easy Vegan and Paleo NICE Cream: RECIPE that anyone can do!

Simple! Easy! Healthy! Vegan + paleo friendly nice cream! This is naturally sweet and does not contain any added sugars!
It is so simple to whip up your own small batch of ice-cream at home that is healthy and good for you! This ice-cream has the consistency of soft serve and will make about 2-3 servings.

You will need:

2 frozen bananas
1 chilled overnight can of cream of coconut or full-fat coconut milk (the cream of coconut will be creamier)
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
and any toppings you desire.
a food processor of blender

Place your frozen bananas in a food processor or blender along with the cream of coconut or coconut milk (CAUTION: do not use any liquid from the can just the coconut), and a teaspoon of vanilla. Blend this up completely. This may take awhile with the frozen banana chunks. Also serve immediately. If you decide to freeze your batch the texture will get a bit icy so I prefer to serve right away.

Here I have my vanilla nice-cream topped with a blackberry & wine reduction sauce. You can find the recipe on my blog (just swap out the raspberries for blackberries).

Other examples of what you can do with this recipe are shown below. Get creative!

If you have a craving for chocolate use some about 1 tablespoon of cacao powder.

Fruit craving? No problem! Add any fruit you desire. In the photo below I used fresh strawberries. My favorite fruit mix in is dragon fruit (also known as pitaya. Those fruits can get a bit pricey so try a powder. A little bit goes a long way and still has incredible health benefits.

Does your diet need a boost in fiber? Try chia seeds in your next batch of nice cream.

Wanna pack in some protein? Top it with a nut butter. Try this one from Nuttzo.

You can add in any other mix-ins you want and top it any way that you want. The possibilities are endless here! Enjoy! Please be sure to share this post with your friends and let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this recipe.

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Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I do receive a small commission if items are purchased through these links. All opinions stated here are my own.

July 4, 2018 1

Marinating the steaks with Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade

Roasted butternut squash soup – the paleo way

Info on Spice Miser

So what’s inside?

Roasted rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon

Cooking the steaks

Time to dig in!

You can find Primal Kitchen’s dressing and marinades on Amazon

LINKS

Did you have anything special for your Sunday dinner last night? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from my readers.

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Cactus Pear Nice Cream Recipe

Cactus Pear Nice Cream RECIPE With Pomegranate & Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites

Final thoughts on the cactus pear nice cream recipe

You can read more about the Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites on a previous blog post:

Have you ever tried vegan nice cream? How do you like to create yours? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Here are some other posts you will enjoy!

Want to find out more about Enjoy Life Foods?

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Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel Bowl w/ Dragon Fruit and Guava

RECIPE (makes two servings)

Are you familiar with Primal Kitchen Foods? What would you love to have from their online store? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are crushing on!

If you would love to save some money on your next Primal Kitchen purchase please use my

Primal Kitchen coupon code GIVEITAWHIRL10

during checkout.

Other posts you might enjoy at Give It A Whirl Girl

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Did you do anything exciting this weekend? What’s cooking in your kitchen that you are proud of? Leave me a comment and let me know because I love reading comments from my beloved readers!

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. ALL OPINIONS STATED HERE ARE MY OWN. ANY COMMISSION I RECEIVE IS USED TO BETTER YOUR BLOG EXPERIENCE HERE.

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