Tag: cooking

GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL - ALL ABOUT ME - KIMMY RIPLEY

I wanted to do something a little different today and instead of sharing reviews and recipes I want to share some details about ME, in case anyone was wondering who I am! My name is Kimmy Ripley and I am from the city of St. Clair Shores in Michigan. I am very very VERY passionate about food and drink. I try my best to always eat with an open mind and I live for the thrill of trying out new things. This Give It A Whirl Girl food blog was started last June and it such a big joy to share my food and drink experiences with you all!

Today I will be sharing 10 questions and answers on the blog so you can get to know me better! There are going to be a ton of photos in this post so get ready! I know some people who “read” blogs don’t read and just check out the photos, so if you are one of those people you are in luck today!

Me! Kimmy Ripley AKA Give It A Whirl Girl
Me! Kimmy Ripley AKA Give It A Whirl Girl
My hubby and I at Kona Grill for one of my birthdays
My hubby and I at Kona Grill for one of my birthdays
Give It A Whirl Girl with some Enlightened ice cream pop
Give It A Whirl Girl with some Enlightened ice cream pop
Me and my daughter, Chloe Pearl, at the Heidelberg Project
Me and my daughter, Chloe Pearl, at the Heidelberg Project

10 Questions & Answers With GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL (Kimmy Ripley)

You can also learn more about me in my introductory post!

All About Give It A Whirl Girl – Get To Know Me

1) Favorite food:

This is a tough question. I am not a very picky eater and I consider myself to be a foodie! There are so many foods out there that I absolutely love but if I had to choose one thing, just one thing, it would be…

Sushi! – I love love love sushi but I am also a big fan of things like crab legs or lobster tail because they are such a pricey and super rare treat for me.

My go-to place for sushi is Inyo in Ferndale, MI. We discovered this fantastic Asian fusion restaurant through Groupon. Inyo Ferndale is almost always on Groupon, so if you are local be sure to grab a Groupon for this spectacular Asian restaurant. You can thank me later… wink! wink! Their food is top-notch and we are regulars there.

Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale – This sushi roll has 4 different colorful eggs on it
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
Sushi at Inyo Ferndale
And just for fun! Here is a photo of my daughter, Chloe Pear, with her chicken teriyaki dinner at Inyo Ferndale
And just for fun! Here is a photo of my daughter, Chloe Pearl, with her chicken teriyaki dinner at Inyo Ferndale
Ok guys! I am obsessed with Inyo. Here is a photo of my Walnut Lobster. This was the most recent meal that I ordered
Ok guys! I am obsessed with Inyo. Here is a photo of my Walnut Lobster. This was the most recent meal that I ordered

 

Honorable mention:

Gotta love a big bowl of noodly pho at Minh Chau restaurant (they just changed the name to New Asian Star). Pho is comfort food for me. The broth here at New Asian Star is on-point! The pho that I enjoy ordering has sliced beef, brisket, meatballs, and soft tendon in it. Yeah I said tendon… and it is a weird meat to eat but I do enjoy it here. They also have a pho available with tripe if you are feeling really adventurous.

You can also stop in here for a bubble drink!

Big bowl of yummy pho at Minh Chau (now known as New Asian Star)
Big bowl of yummy pho at Minh Chau (now known as New Asian Star)
Pure comfort food right over here. I love pho at Minh Chau (New Asian Star)!
Pure comfort food right over here. I love pho at Minh Chau (New Asian Star)!

2) Least favorite food:

Oh this is an easy one. I used to eat some funky stuff when I was a little girl… things I could not fathom stomaching now!

Herrings in cream sauce (ew) I used to eat these fishy fishes straight out of the jar.

Giblets and hearts in my stuffing (ew! ew!) My mom always put those nasty things in my Thanksgiving stuffing. NEVER AGAIN

Liverwurst (ew! ew! ew!) All by itself or on some plain white bread. No thank you!

3) Favorite fruit

Want to know about my favorite fruit? This is an easy one to answer for me… dragon fruit, and that is followed by passion fruit, another favorite of mine. I am a HUGE fan of exotic fruits and I love to create exotic smoothie bowls with these fruits. If you are local, you can usually pick up a wide variety of exotic fruits at Nino Salvaggio.

Dragon fruit can have either a white center or pink center. You never know until you slice it!
Dragon fruit can have either a white center or pink center. You never know until you slice it!

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Exotic fruits that I purchased at Nino Salvaggio
Exotic fruits that I purchased at Nino Salvaggio
The exotic fruit smoothie bowl
The exotic fruit smoothie bowl

4) Favorite meals that I have cooked:

Truth be told, and many of you all know, cooking and baking is my #1 passion in life! I love to serve up a delicious dish for my little family of 3

Italian drunken noodle is hands down the family favorite over here in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen. You can find the recipe for this delicious dish on my blog. Italian Drunken Noodle features Pappardelle pasta, Italian sausage, and mix of peppers with chardonnay wine.

A big plate of Italian Drunken Noodle and a glass of chardonnay
A big plate of Italian Drunken Noodle and a glass of chardonnay
Italian Drunken Noodle - Give It A Whirl Girl's favorite meal to cook
Italian Drunken Noodle – Give It A Whirl Girl’s favorite meal to cook

Honorable mention:

Gigantic mozzarella stuffed meatballs are a big favorite and I have the recipe for these on my blog. This is the kind of meal that I invite my family over for. This recipe serves up a generous portion of meatballs.

CLICK HERE for my Huge Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE!

Huge mozzarella stuffed meatballs simmering in the slow-cooker
Huge mozzarella stuffed meatballs simmering in the slow-cooker
A big plate of mozzarella stuffed meatballs served over spaghetti noodles
A big plate of mozzarella stuffed meatballs served over spaghetti noodles



Pineapples stuffed with a teriyaki chicken is another family fave but it is somewhat complicated and tedious to create. You can find the recipe and learn more about this gluten-free dish on my blog.

Pineapples stuffed with teriyaki chicken are a fabulous summer meal
Pineapples stuffed with teriyaki chicken are a fabulous summer meal

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5) Favorite desserts I have created

I love to bake cakes even though I am not the most talented baker and cake decorator. I created a bubblegum cake and a cotton candy cake. These cakes and cupcakes were a ton of fun to create and even more fun to eat!

Here are some photos of my favorite baking projects:

Bubblegum Gluten-Free Cake - Let's Get The Party Started
Bubblegum Gluten-Free Cake – Let’s Get The Party Started
COTTON CANDY CAKE by GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL - Gluten-Free - How I Created It
COTTON CANDY CAKE
Paleo Dark Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
Paleo Dark Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Visit DylansCandyBar.com

6) Favorite drink (non-alcoholic):

I don’t know how I can pick one here. I am a self-confessed coffee addict and I am also addicted to my energy drinks (have to have at least one a day!). My favorite energy drinks are by Bang Energy. With flavors like Unicorn and Cotton Candy, how can you resist?


7) Favorite alcoholic drink:

I recently started getting into craft beer and hard ciders. I was always attracted to the labels and packaging. It is so fun and colorful! I grew up my entire life, hating on beer, and saying it tasted like pee. Then one day I went to Hop Cat and I went there with the intention of giving beer a whirl and I ordered a flight with three different craft beers. Guess what? I enjoyed each and every one of them! I was impressed with myself that I gave craft beer a chance. I love craft beer and the entire drink experience with them. I love all of the unique flavors out there… Lucky Charms cereal, etc. etc.!

So sorry for the poor quality photo! I apologize but here is a photo of me with my first craft beer! I gave it a whirl at Hop Cat in Royal Oak, MI
So sorry for the poor quality photo! I apologize but here is a photo of me with my first craft beer! I gave it a whirl at Hop Cat in Royal Oak, MI
First flight of craft beer for me at Hop Cat and I loved each one of them!
First flight of craft beer for me at Hop Cat and I loved each one of them!
A 6-Pack of PB & Jaley craft beer
A 6-Pack of PB & Jaley craft beer
Passion Fruit hard cider
Rekorderling Passion Fruit hard cider  – This was the greatest hard cider I have tried!
An assortment of craft beers... all delicious!
An assortment of craft beers… all delicious!
Cranium Crush - Raspberry Waffle Cone Ale
Cranium Crush – Raspberry Waffle Cone Ale
An assortment of craft beers that I tried out
An assortment of craft beers that I tried out. And we save all of the bottles and cans and display them in our basement.

 

 

8) Favorite candy

Jelly Belly Raspberries & Blackberries are my favorite candy! What is yours?
Jelly Belly Raspberries & Blackberries are my favorite candy! What is yours?

There is no better candy than Jelly Belly’s Raspberries & Blackberries! These berry flavored candies are extremely highly addictive to me and I will kill a bag in just a couple of minutes!


9) Favorite post on the blog

I am nearing 200 published posts on the blog and if I had to choose one favorite post I simply can’t. I am going to declare a tie here. The two posts that were my favorite to do were both local reviews. I would love to visit more places nearby and review them. The local reviews I have done are my top performing posts. Here we go…

Modern Cone Review

and

Kawaii Bubble Tea Review

Modern Cone is an ice cream shop in St. Clair Shores that specializes in creative ice cream concoctions. This is the place to go if you want a unique ice cream concoction that is fun to eat, and very Instagrammable!

Make sure you are following my Facebook page because I will be sharing a Modern Cone gift card giveaway very soon!

Our three desserts at Modern Cone
Our three desserts at Modern Cone
Cereal Killer ice-cream Stacker available at Modern Cone
Cereal Killer ice-cream Stacker available at Modern Cone

Kawaii Bubble Tea is located in Clinton Township, MI and they have some of the best bubble teas (boba) that I have ever tried. They also have a wide variety of macarons available. If you have never ever tried boba you definitely need to check out this place. It is a very fun drink experience.

Kawaii Bubble Tea boba and macarons!
Kawaii Bubble Tea boba and macarons!
Enjoying our boba drinks and macarons at Kawaii Bubble Tea in Clinton Township, MI
Enjoying our boba drinks and macarons at Kawaii Bubble Tea in Clinton Township, MI
What a fun experience for all of us!
Macarons and boba at Kawaii Bubble Tea
Macarons and boba at Kawaii Bubble Tea

Honorable mention:

Tou & Mai is located in Detroit’s midtown area and they offer some very unique desserts. I tried their halo halo (Hello Hello is what they call it). You can read the review on my blog where I spill all the beans about this awesome dessert destination!

Tou & Mai Review

Sweet beans in my ice cream~!

Hello 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, MI
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI
My daughter, Chloe Pearl eating Hello Hello (Halo Halo) at Tou & Mai in Detroit, MI

10) Favorite place to grab a sweet treat

This is an easy question to answer. Menchie’s and Orange Leaf are definitely my favorite place to grab a dessert. I am obsessed with frozen yogurt, also known as froyo. You can read my Menchie’s review on the blog.

Want to give Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt a whirl? Grab a Groupon and save on your visit!

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt (Froyo) Build-Your-Own Creation
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (Froyo) Build-Your-Own Creation
Edible art!
Menchies Heritage Village in Warren, MI
Menchies Heritage Village in Warren, MI
Menchies Heritage Village in Warren, MI toppings bar
Menchies Heritage Village in Warren, MI toppings bar

 

Final thoughts

I truly hope you enjoyed this post over here at Give It A Whirl Girl. I would love to hear from my readers so leave me a comment here and tell me about your favorite food!

Question Time!

What is your favorite food? Least favorite food? Please share with me. I love to hear from my audience!

Also…

If you have any questions that you would like to ask me, leave a question in the comment box and I will be happy to answer it.

 

Follow Give It A Whirl Girl on social media

 

Give It A Whirl prepping a from-scratch pizza
Give It A Whirl prepping a from-scratch pizza

 

At Tony's I-75 in Birch Run, MI with our gigantic banana split
At Tony’s I-75 in Birch Run, MI with our gigantic banana split

Learn more about this COLOSSAL banana split in my Tony’s I-75 restaurant review

 

Chloe Pearl and I cooking a from-scratch pizza in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen
Chloe Pearl and I cooking a from-scratch pizza in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen

 

 

Did you enjoy this post? Here are more posts at Give It A Whirl Girl that you might enjoy!

 

SHOP PYKNIC ON AMAZON (One of my favorite brands… all food/drink related items too!)



Unique Rainbow + Unicorn Gifts

Mother's Day Gifts

12

Meal Kit Subscription Boxes That You Need To Try – Current Deals

3 Meal Kit Subscription Boxes and Current Deals

What a time to be alive guys and gals! There are so many meal kit subscription boxes to choose from it makes my head spin. Today I am breaking down my top 3 of all of the kits I have tried and I will share with you the top steals and deals that are currently happening. As many of you may already know, cooking is something that I am truly and deeply passionate about. These meal kits are always a pleasure to prepare and we all join the Clean Plate Club every single time.

My top three favorites will be discussed in this post. Continue reading to find out more about Sun Basket, HelloFresh, and Marley Spoon.

These meal kit subscription boxes also make great gifts for your loved ones. The holidays are quickly approaching and when you give the gift of food it is always a memorable gift to receive.

HelloFresh recipe card
HelloFresh recipe card
Ingredients for the Marley Spoon Meal Kit (Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa)
Ingredients for the Marley Spoon Meal Kit (Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa)
Cooking the veggies for my Sun Basket meal
Cooking the veggies for my Sun Basket meal

The great thing about meal kit subscription boxes

There are a variety of benefits and perks to trying out these meal kit subscription boxes.

  • Convenience

First of all, these meal kits are super convenient! It doesn’t get any better than this folks… fresh food delivered straight to your door. You can skip the grocery store. You choose the day that you would like to receive your meal kit and it will show up at your doorstep!

  • Customizable

Secondly, these meal kit services are very customizable. They present to you a variety of different foods on the menu that you can select from. They also allow you to choose how many meals you want to receive for the week (usually 2-3 different meals), and they also allow you the opportunity to choose from a box for 2 people or for a family of 4 people

  • Try out new recipes

My favorite part about receiving these meal kits is that they inspire me to eat with an open mind. Many of the recipes that you can choose from are not only delicious but unique. They give you gourmet flavor in the convenience of your home and you get to be the chef! Your family will be amazed by the dinner that you whip up for them.

  • Simple to follow recipes

Here is another great thing about these food subscription boxes. I have tried many meal kits and found all of the recipes simple and easy to follow.

Sun Basket

You can read more about Sun Basket in my review on the blog.

I recently tried Sun Basket’s meal kit subscription box and I was very impressed with the recipes and the quality of the ingredients that were provided.

When I gave Sun Basket a whirl I went with the gluten-free paleo meal kit. Sun Basket is a subscription service that relies heavily on clean eating. They only send out high-quality organic ingredients for your meals. You can have a bit of peace-of-mind when you enjoy your Sun Basket meal because their ingredients are only sourced from the best. They will provide premium meat and seafood (antibiotic and hormone-free) and only the freshest organic produce.

They have a few different plans to choose from to suit your diet. Sun Basket has the following meal plans available: Mediterranean, paleo (gluten-free), and a vegetarian option.

Current deals on Sun Basket

Sun Basket currently has an offer where you can receive $80 off your first four orders. With this offer, you will receive $20 off your first four boxes of the Sun Basket meal kit subscription box.

If you want to try out Sun Basket for a 2 week trial period you can save $45 off your first two boxes of food. This is split into two tiers of savings. The first box is $35 off and the second meal kit will be $10 off.

Check out the photos below of the meals that I created with my Sun Basket meal kit subscription box.

Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket)
Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket)
Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod from Sun Basket
Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod from Sun Basket
Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato (Sun Basket)
Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato (Sun Basket)

HelloFresh

HelloFresh was actually the first meal kit subscription box that I have ever tried. They are the brand that made me fall head over heels in love with meal kits. The meal kits from HelloFresh are always a joy to cook and they are a sure people pleaser at the dinner table. HelloFresh ships out only the freshest and finest ingredients for your recipes. I have found that they are one of the easiest meal kits to prepare at home.

HelloFresh offers three plans: Classic, Family, and Veggie. You can view the menus on their website and customize your meal kit.

I have a fully detailed review of HelloFresh on my blog if you would like more details on this subscription service.

Current deal on Hello Fresh

HelloFresh has a fabulous deal taking place right now where you can receive a total of $60 off your first meal kits. With this deal you get a $20 discount on each of the three boxes.


HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam
HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam
HelloFresh Cheddar Smash Burger
HelloFresh Cheddar Smash Burger
Chicken Cheddar Fajitas w/ Lime Crema from HelloFresh
Chicken Cheddar Fajitas w/ Lime Crema from HelloFresh
Pan-Seared Duck Breasts w/ Duck Fried Potatoes from HelloFresh
Pan-Seared Duck Breasts w/ Duck Fried Potatoes from HelloFresh

Marley Spoon

Marley Spoon is meal kit subscription box brought to you by Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart?!?! Ok then you know this is going to blow your mind. When I think Martha Stewart the first thing that comes to mind is perfection followed by gourmet food.

There are ten different options to choose from on the weekly menu with Marley Spoon. If you are following a vegetarian diet, you are in luck because there are vegetarian options available.

Current deal at Marley Spoon


You can read my full review of Marley Spoon on my blog.

Check out the images below to see a couple of different dinners that I prepared with the Marley Spoon subscription box.

Marley Spoon - Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa
Marley Spoon – Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa
Marley Spoon - Japanese Chicken w/ Bok Choy & Fried Rice
Marley Spoon – Japanese Chicken w/ Bok Choy & Fried Rice

Final thoughts

I really truly do love these meal kit subscription boxes and I think I’m ready to give another one a whirl very soon. There are so many different ones out there to choose from nowadays.

My favorite thing about them is the simple and easy to follow recipes that result in a meal that is bursting with gourmet flavor. Many of these meals, to me, are restaurant quality meals.

So what are you waiting for? Get cooking with one of these meal kits and bring the taste of gourmet to your dinner table. Your family will be amazed by the meals that you serve during the week. These deals that are currently happening are too great to pass up. These deals give you a fantastic opportunity to give these boxes a whirl.

Question Time!

Have you ever tried a meal kit subscription box? Tell me about your favorite in the comments below.

Related posts:

THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS (no extra cost to you). ALL OPINIONS STATED HERE ARE MY OWN.






8

Hosting Thanksgiving At My Home – My First Time Wrap-Up!

Hosting My First Thanksgiving by Give It A Whirl Girl

Thanksgiving has came and went. Whew! This was my first year hosting the Thanksgiving Day holiday at my home. I gotta say that I was probably nervous about the whole situation for the month leading up to it. I know that a lot of work and prep goes into pulling off this festive day. Our feast that we had here was perfect and excellent from start to finish. I was satisfied with how every single element of it came out. No complaints whatsoever here! I hope all of my readers also had a great holiday and enjoyed their big plate of food!

Here is a look at my dinner plate from Thanksgiving! I have a little bit of everything on my plate: roasted turkey, redskin mashed potatoes with French butter, Brussels sprouts, wild rice stuffing with mushrooms and cranberries, White Castle stuffing, Clean Bean (green bean) Casserole, ambrosia, sweet potato casserole, and my favorite~ Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce! I am hoping to do a recipe post soon for my famous cranberry sauce. I can turn any cranberry-sauce-hater into a lover! So far it has worked with two haters in my family.

Thanksgiving Holiday Platter
Thanksgiving Holiday Platter

Today I will be discussing Thanksgiving and how we pulled it off. I could not have possibly made this day possible without the help and support of my family. My mom, Kathie, was a huge help. She purchased the turkey and a great majority of the food that was served. Money is super tight right now with my family so I was very grateful that she pitched in (big time) to help me create this feast.

My mom bought the 19-pound turkey and an electric roaster to cook the turkey in. I spotted the roaster when we took a trip over the Costco and I thought it would be a great idea to cook the turkey in there so we could free up the oven space for the side dishes that needed to be warmed up. Turned out to be the best idea ever!

My stepmom, Evelyn, was also a huge help. She came over early on Thanksgiving to help my mom and I prep. Evelyn brought over an appetizer and a side dish to pass as well. The appetizer that she brought was unique. They were bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Well, they were delicious. These got gobbled up pretty quick. For a side dish, she brought her famous sweet potato casserole. My stepmom was incredibly helpful with the kitchen clean up as well. That helped me tremendously.

 

Prepping for the Thanksgiving holiday

 

Paleo & Vegan (Gluten-Free) Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

The day before Thanksgiving, I did what I could to prep for the big day. The first thing that I did was I created my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake. This is my favorite fall dessert at the moment. I wanted to get that done early because the cheesecake needs to set for at least six hours. I gave it plenty of time to set by creating it the morning before the holiday. I have a recipe for this paleo/vegan cheesecake on my blog. I did modify the recipe just a tad bit. Obviously, I did something different for the topping. Instead of creating a whipped cream with coconut cream I topped this cheesecake with a ton of walnuts and pecans. I wanted to make it extra nutty. I purchased a can of non-dairy, almond milk whipped cream to top it with. Instead of using the spices individually I used a jar of pumpkin pie spice.

Paleo & Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake topped with walnuts and pecans
Paleo & Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake topped with walnuts and pecans

Paleo cranberry sauce

I also busted out my slow-cooker the day before Thanksgiving to make my paleo cranberry sauce in advance. This is one of those set-it-and-forget-it recipes. I love cranberry sauce and my cranberries have the power to turn cranberry sauce haters into lovers! My husband never eats cranberry sauce. Guess what? This year he did! And I know that he enjoyed it because he helped himself to some for his leftover plate. This cranberry sauce is simple to make. I call it my Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce! There are many ingredients that go into it but it is very easy to create. There are no refined sugars in this cranberry sauce. I use an entire bottle of pure maple syrup to sweeten it. I also use fresh-squeezed orange juice, orange zest, two ambrosia apples, walnuts, and pecans to create the sauce. The apples are a nice, welcome addition and the nuts give it a great texture. The sauce is heavily seasoned with pumpkin pie spice. I picked up a bottle of the Spice Hunter’s Pumpkin Pie Spice at Nino Salvaggio’s in St Clair Shores. This pumpkin pie spice seemed like a wonderful blend of spices. It worked out well in my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake too, so the funds I spent on it was a great investment.

Ingredients Cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, star anise, fennel, black pepper

You can pick up a bottle of this awesome pumpkin spice seasoning on Amazon. I highly recommend using this Spice Hunter blend for all of your fall flavored foods.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce
Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce

Continue reading “Hosting Thanksgiving At My Home – My First Time Wrap-Up!” →

3

Sun Basket REVIEW & COUPON – Clean-Eating Subscription Box Meal Kit – Special Offer Inside

Clean Eating With The Sun Basket Meal Kit REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl

I recently had the pleasure of trying out one meal kit subscription box from Sun Basket. If you are not familiar with Sun Basket, their meal kits are all about clean-eating and healthy, organic ingredients. They offer vegetarian subscription boxes for those eating a plant-based diet, and there is a paleo option for those who follow a gluten-free diet. My family tried Sun Basket for one week and we had 3 meal kits delivered. Today I will be sharing my Sun Basket review with you and a special Sun Basket coupon/discount. We were highly satisfied with all three meals and I plan on ordering more subscription boxes in the future. I went with the paleo box and it was love at first bite!

Simply click the link below to get started with Sun Basket and activate my special Sun Basket coupon.
$80 Off – $35 & $25 Off the First, Second & $20 Off your Third Orders with this Sun Basket coupon

Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket) Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket)

Sun Basket Review

Sun Basket has clean-eating meal kits for everyone’s diet

Sun Basket makes it easy to order meal kits based on your diet. I ordered the paleo box and all of my meals were gluten and grain-free.

There are 18 options available on the menu at Sun Basket. Many meal kits only offer a fraction of that to choose from. I love that Sun Basket has so many menu items to choose from!

Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod from Sun Basket - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod from Sun Basket

Only the best ingredients go into your Sun Basket

All of Sun Basket’s ingredients are sourced from organic produce and premium meats that are antibiotic and hormone free. The seafood is all wild-caught. The eggs are all pasture-raised organic eggs.

Recipes are also free from:
Added sugars, processed ingredients, and preservatives

Organic ingredients!

Expect nothing but the best from Sun Basket! Here is their statement about the organic ingredients that they provide:

Sun Basket strives to source organic produce 100% of the time. Currently over 99% of our produce is organic
We develop our recipes to use the best the season has to offer, so some ingredients may be different than depicted
Mother Nature can be fickle. On the rare occasion that we are unable to meet our organic promise, we’ll let you know with a note in your basket
All our tofu is made from organic, non-GMO soybeans
We are a USDA-certified organic handler, and all organic ingredients are clearly labeled on delivery (source)

First impression of Sun Basket

My first Sun Basket subscription box arrived on-time on a Tuesday morning. This was perfect for me because I was hoping to receive my dinner kit before dinner time on Tuesday. I have ordered other meal kits previously in the past and they came much too late in the day to prepare them that day for our meal and I had to wait until the next day to prep and prepare my dinner.

My Sun Basket box was quite heavy from the ice-pack that was packed inside. The box was insulated well throughout and all of my ingredients were kept cold. When I opened up my first box everything was inside individual meal kit bags and labeled. The meats were kept separate from the fresh produce ingredients, which was great. There were no loose items and everything was super fresh and all of my ingredients looked beautiful. You can tell that Sun Basket takes great pride in the meal kits that they ship out just by looking at the quality of the ingredients.

Sun Basket Meal Kit Subscription Box - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Sun Basket Meal Kit Subscription Box
Sun Basket subscription box individually wrapped dinner kits - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Sun Basket subscription box individually wrapped dinner kits

Here are some close-up images of the three different types of meat that were included.

Steak from Sun Basket - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Steak from Sun Basket
Pork from Sun Basket - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Pork from Sun Basket
Cod from Sun Basket - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Cod from Sun Basket

Giving those meal kits a whirl!

Now I will be discussing each of the three meals and my experience preparing them and devouring them!

Seared Steak w/ Brussels Sprouts & Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette

This recipe for the seared steak was so easy-peasy! A recipe booklet is provided with your order and I followed all of the directions in the recipe exactly how it was written. The first step was to sear the steak and I did this with my cast iron pan. I love my steak medium-rare so I cooked it only for a few moments on each side and gave it a nice sear.

After the steak was cooked to my liking, I cooked the fresh vegetables that the kit came with. This particular kit came with Brussels sprouts, radishes, shredded cabbage, green onions, and garlic. I used the same cast iron pan that I cooked my steak in to cook the veggies. You do have to provide your own olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Ingredients for Seared Steak w/ Brussels Sprouts & Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Ingredients for Seared Steak w/ Brussels Sprouts & Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette
Searing the steak for my Sun Basket meal - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Searing the steak for my Sun Basket meal
Cooking the veggies for my Sun Basket meal - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Cooking the veggies for my Sun Basket meal

And here are a couple images of the final product! I may have cooked my steak rarer than medium-rare but that was fine with me. I love my steaks to be reddish and pink throughout. You will never see me eating a well-done steak that tastes like shoe leather! This meal was fantastic and the Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette was a very welcomed and nice touch. I never had a sauce like that EVER on my steak. It was a tad bit on the spicy side but not too spicy. I also really enjoyed the warm radishes in this Sun Basket meal. It has never occurred to me to try radishes warm because I always just thought of them as a cold ingredient in a salad. Thanks to Sun Basket I am now inspired to try out warm radishes in other meals that I cook up!

Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket) - Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Seared Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Chipotle Mustard Vinaigrette (Sun Basket)
$35 off your first Sun Basket order with this Sun Basket coupon code
$35 off your first Sun Basket order with this Sun Basket coupon code

Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod with Broccoli and Preserved Lemon

This fish dish was so simple to create in the comfort of my own home and this one really packed a punch of gourmet flavor! This Sun Basket meal was exquisite and it tasted like something that a chef would have prepared for me at a fancy restaurant… true story! My family does not eat seafood so I got to hog up this meal all for myself. I did not eat the entire two helpings on my own but I almost did!

Never have I worked with preserved lemon but I know that it is an ingredient often used in Mediterranean cooking. I’m all about trying new things so I was excited and thrilled to give it a whirl. It really brightened up this dish! It gave it some acidity and gave the cod fish that lemony flavor that I adore with my cod.

This meal didn’t take too long to prepare and there was not much prep involved either. I started out with chopping the broccoli into smaller pieces and sauteed it with some olive oil. I did alter this recipe just a bit. Then I added some shallots and minced garlic to complement the broccoli and that proved to be an excellent idea. The most difficult part of the preparation of this Sun Basket meal, for me, was chopping the cod up into smaller pieces. I could really use some nice new professional chef knives. If you have a great set then this part will be simple but my dinky knives had a hard time getting a nice clean slice on the fish so my fish got mangled up just a bit.

Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod with Broccoli and Preserved Lemon - Sun Basket Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Mediterranean Tomato Braised Cod with Broccoli and Preserved Lemon

Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork W/ Coleslaw & Roasted Sweet Potato

Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato (Sun Basket) Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato (Sun Basket)

This was the third Sun Basket meal that I tried and this was another clear winner in my eyes. This recipe was simple to prepare and cook. The ingredients were all organic and clean and everything added up to a delicious, nutritious meal. I used my cast iron pan to cook the pork and I got a nice orange glaze on it. My daughter loved the pork so much she was asking for seconds.

The apple slaw was an interesting side-dish. I have never had a coleslaw like that before. The slaw dressing was two simple ingredients: apple cider vinegar and honey, and it was already prepared and ready to use so I did not have to do any mixing.

If I had one small complaint about this meal it would have only been the size of the sweet potato provided. My sweet potato was on the small side and the roasted sweet potato with smoked paprika was so delicious we were all wishing for more.

Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato Sun Basket Review - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Orange Chipotle Glazed Pork w/ Apple Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potato

Final thoughts

I was thoroughly impressed with Sun Basket and this is most definitely is a subscription box that I will be subscribing to again in the future. I have tried other meal kits previously and this one really stood out to me with the quality of their recipes. These meals were so simple to create and they were really coming through as having gourmet flavor! What’s better than having a gourmet flavor at home and knowing that you were the one that prepared and created that dish? These meal kits brought out the inner-chef in me.

I love that they have a huge menu to choose from each week with 18 choices. Everything on the menu sounds so wonderful and it is hard to narrow it down because I just wanted to try it all! I also appreciate the fact that Sun Basket has plenty of paleo and gluten-free options.

I hope that you all enjoyed this Sun Basket review and it inspires you to sign up with the discount and give it a whirl today.

Have you ever tried a meal kit subscription box? What did you love about it and which one(s) have you tried?

Curious about Sun Basket after reading my Sun Basket review?

You can click the banner below and claim the Sun Basket coupon for $35 off your first order.

Sun Basket coupon for $35 off your order
Sun Basket coupon for $35 off

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7

Mindblowing Smart Home Products For Your Kitchen – Shopping Guide

Mindblowing Smart Home Products For Your Kitchen - Shopping Guide

What a time to be alive right? It’s 2018 and there are so many smart products on the market today. These smart home kitchen devices are just mindblowing to me. Their capabilites are astounding. This shopping guide has everything that your kitchen needs for next level, smart cooking. These products are intelligent and will help you cook with ease and peace of mind.

These smart kitchen products can all be found on Amazon. Click the links or the images to shop. These items ship with Amazon Prime 2-day shipping. If you are not yet an Amazon Prime member be sure to sign up for a 30-day FREE trial.

Smart Home Kitchen Shopping Guide

Crock-Pot Wemo Smart Wifi-Enabled Slow Cooker, 6-Quart, Stainless Steel

This is a product that I would be thrilled to have in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen. This smart slow-cooker would be especially perfect for this time of year for me since that is when I use my slow-cooker the most. I love making roasts, soups, and chili in my slow-cooker. My current slow-cooker is not smart though and this one is! Cook time and temperature is controlled through the Wemo app so you can control everything with the convenience of your phone. This smart slow-cooker has three available heat settings. This would be a fabulous gift for Christmas this year for someone who is passionate about cooking. How about me? Hint! Hint!

Crock-Pot Wemo Smart Wifi-Enabled Slow Cooker, 6-Quart, Stainless Steel
Crock-Pot Wemo Smart Wifi-Enabled Slow Cooker, 6-Quart, Stainless Steel


Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker 6 Quarts with Stainless Steel Pot, Steamer Basket, instant access to recipe app

This is one heck of a smart kitchen product!

9 APPLIANCES IN 1: Cook meals in mere minutes & in less than half the time also get instant access to recipes!

  • Pressure cook
  • slow cook
  • saute
  • steam
  • make cakes
  • pasteurize
  • make yogurt
  • cook rice,
  • and warm, all in ONE electric appliance.

This pressure cooker also has several different cooking programs to choose from:

14 EASY-TOUCH COOKING PROGRAMS

  • Poultry
  • Meat/Stew
  • Bean/Chili
  • Soup
  • Saute /Simmer
  • Cake
  • Rice
  • Multigrain
  • Porridge
  • Steam
  • Slow Cook
  • Keep Warm
  • Yogurt
  • and Pressure Cook

Another neat thing about this pressure cooker is that you can gain instant access to a database of recipes that would be compatible with your pressure cooker. See the informative video below if you would like to learn more about this smart pressure cooker.

Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker 6 Quarts with Stainless Steel Pot, Steamer Basket, instant access to recipe app
Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker 

Ninja Blender/Food Processor with Intelli-Sense Touchscreen, 1200-Watt Smart Sensor Base, Spiralizer, 72oz Pitcher, 64oz Bowl, and 24oz Cup

This smart blender by Ninja has a touchscreen and several different options for the food you are preparing. This blender will lend a big hand in the kitchen with its capabilities:

  • Smoothie (total crushing pitcher)
  • Frozen drink
  • Ice cream
  • Snowcone
  • Puree (precision processor)
  • Chop
  • Dips
  • Dough
  • Smoothie (high-speed blender cup)
  • Extract
  • Refresher
  • Dressing
  • Spaghetti (spiralizer blade)
  • Fettucine

I have never seen a blender device that had a spiralizer option so this is truly a first for me! It comes with an Auto Spiralizer attachment so you can whip up a batch of fruit/vegetable noodles.

Ninja Blender/Food Processor
Ninja Blender/Food Processor

Continue reading “Mindblowing Smart Home Products For Your Kitchen – Shopping Guide” →

1

Cast Iron Cooking Essentials For The Home Chef – Gift Guide

Cast Iron Cooking Essentials Gift Guide by Give It A Whirl Girl

Today I will be talking about some cast iron cooking essentials for the home chef. Here is a little story for you as well. A couple years ago I received some cast iron pans and accessories for my birthday. I will be honest and say I was not very thrilled at the moment to receive them and I would have rather received something else. I had no idea what I was going to use them for. Back then I was just getting my feet wet with cooking and I was not as passionate about it as I am today.

When I look back on the day when I received them, I laugh a little now. I am totally in love and infatuated with cast iron cooking. I use my pans frequently now and I also would like to build up my arsenal of them. And if you care for these items properly they can last you a lifetime! These are some heavy duty items and with a bit of TLC they will not let you down.

I really enjoy busting out my cast iron and cooking my meals with it. In fact, my current favorite way to prepare my steak is with my cast iron. I promise you that you will get the most tender and juicy steak when you use a cast iron pan. I will not even throw my steak on the grill anymore. Cast iron is the way to go! See the photos below for a couple of juicy steaks I recently created with my cast iron pans.

Food creations made from cast iron cooking essentials

Cast Iron Medium Rare Ribeye Steak with Chimichurr
Cast Iron Medium Rare Ribeye Steak with Chimichurri
Cast Iron T-Bone Steak
Cast Iron T-Bone Steak

Cast iron is great for savory meals but it also great for sweets. Have you ever had a warm, giant cast iron chocolate chip cookie? No? Then what are you waiting for? Check out these two cast iron cookies I recently created. Nom nom nom!

Cast Iron Snickedoodle Cookie with gelato
Cast Iron Snickerdoodle Cookie with gelato
Cast Iron Chocolate Chip Cookie with ice-cream
Cast Iron Chocolate Chip Cookie with ice-cream

I broke down my cast iron favorites in this list today. Some of these tools I already own and the others are currently on my wishlist. These items were all found while browsing Amazon and if you have Amazon Prime you will receive free shipping and receive them in a couple of days so you can quickly get started. I

If you are not yet an Amazon Prime member, no worries! Right now you can sign up for a 30-day free trial

And here we go with another one of my top 10 lists that I really enjoy creating and sharing with you.

 

Cast Iron Cooking Essentials

Lodge Essential Cast Iron Pan Set

This is a wonderful cast iron starter set from Lodge. This is the most trusted brand when it comes to cast iron cooking. This cooking set includes:

  • grill pan
  • a skillet
  • a griddle
  • pot holders
  • handle holders
  • and a scraper
Lodge Cast Iron 7 Piece Set
Lodge Cast Iron 7 Piece Set



Staub Cast Iron 5.75-qt Coq au Vin Cocotte – Turquoise

Staub is another great brand that comes to mind when I think of cast iron cooking. If you are looking for a great pot to cook your next chicken in, this 5.75-qt Coq au Vin will hold a whole chicken that is up to 5 pounds in weight. It comes in several different color options and it is also dishwasher safe. This Coq au Vin isa designed to help your meal retain moisture and not dry out.

Staub Cast Iron 5.75-qt Coq au Vin Cocotte - Turquoise
Staub Cast Iron 5.75-qt Coq au Vin Cocotte – Turquoise


You might enjoy: My Honest ButcherBox Review

Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven, Palm

Le Creuset is an innovator in the cast iron cooking world. I absolutely love the green color on this dutch oven. If you are not digging the color there are 12 different color options. I believe every kitchen needs to have a dutch oven on hand and Le Creuset is a brand that is designed to last a lifetime. This dutch oven can withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees.

Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven, Palm
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven, Palm



Lodge Pro-Grid Cast Iron Grill and Griddle Combo. Reversible 20″ x 10.44″ Grill/Griddle Pan with Easy-Grip Handles

This is a grill and griddle duo from Lodge. This fits conveniently over two stove burners. This grill and griddle duo would be super to have for your next big Sunday breakfast. You can use the griddle for pancakes and the grill for some breakfast sausage and big fat strips of bacon. Did I hear a tummy growl?

Lodge Pro-Grid Cast Iron Grill and Griddle Combo. Reversible 20" x 10.44" Grill/Griddle Pan with Easy-Grip Handles
Lodge Pro-Grid Cast Iron Grill and Griddle Combo. Reversible 20″ x 10.44″ Grill/Griddle Pan with Easy-Grip Handles

Lodge Cast Iron Mini Cake Pan. Pre-seasoned Cast Iron Cake Pan for Baking Biscuits, Desserts, and Cupcakes

This here is a versatile cooking essential for baking up your next batch of biscuits, cupcakes, and other desserts. Each cavity is 3 1/4″. The surface of this is non-stick and this comes preseasoned and ready to cook with.

Lodge Cast Iron Mini Cake Pan. Pre-seasoned Cast Iron Cake Pan for Baking Biscuits, Desserts, and Cupcakes
Lodge Cast Iron Mini Cake Pan. Pre-seasoned Cast Iron Cake Pan for Baking Biscuits, Desserts, and Cupcakes

Sotya Cast Iron Teapot Japanese Tetsubin Tea Kettle Durable Cast Iron with a Fully Enameled Interior

Sotya Cast Iron Teapot Japanese Tetsubin Tea Kettle Durable Cast Iron with a Fully Enameled Interior
Sotya Cast Iron Teapot Japanese Tetsubin Tea Kettle Durable Cast Iron with a Fully Enameled Interior

This is a gorgeous cast iron kettle for your next tea party. This is a beautifully crafted kettle and contains an internal tea infuser. I am thinking this would be perfect for my next cup of matcha tea.

Lodge 14 Inch Cast Iron Wok. Pre-Seasoned Wok

Whip up your next Asian stir-fry with this 14-inch seasoned wok by Lodge. This wok is designed to retain heat and evenly distribute it. Great for the oven, grill, or campfire.

 

Lodge 14 Inch Cast Iron Wok. Pre-Seasoned Wok
Lodge 14 Inch Cast Iron Wok. Pre-Seasoned Wok

Lodge Manufacturing Company Cast Iron Care Kit

If you are going to dive into the world of cast iron cooking you will need to be equipped with the proper tools to take great care of your new pans. This kit includes:

  • Seasoning Spray
  • Pan and Grill Scraper
  • and Scrub Brush

I highly recommend getting a can of the seasoning spray so you can keep your pans in tip-top shape. After cleaning your pan it is advisable to oil it up and this spray is perfect for keeping the pan well-coated.

Lodge Manufacturing Company Cast Iron Care Kit
Lodge Manufacturing Company Cast Iron Care Kit

Caron Doucet – Cast Iron Care Bundle – Oil & Soap – 100% Plant-Based Formulation – Helps Maintain Seasoning

This is another great cast iron cooking maintenance bundle that will help promote the life and longevity of your pans. This bundle includes soap and oil that will improve the seasoning of your pans. The oil is made up of highly refined coconut oil and enhanced with food grade essential oils. These products will reduce rusting of your pans.

Caron Doucet - Cast Iron Care Bundle - Oil & Soap - 100% Plant-Based Formulation - Helps Maintain Seasoning
Caron Doucet – Cast Iron Care Bundle – Oil & Soap – 100% Plant-Based Formulation – Helps Maintain Seasoning

Cook It in Cast Iron: Kitchen-Tested Recipes for the One Pan That Does It All (Cook’s Country)

Here is a versatile cookbook that will teach you everything that you need to know about cast iron cooking. This cookbook is chock full of recipes for breakfast, lunch, appetizers, dinner, and my favorite part~ dessert!

 

Cook It in Cast Iron: Kitchen-Tested Recipes for the One Pan That Does It All (Cook's Country)
Cook It in Cast Iron: Kitchen-Tested Recipes for the One Pan That Does It All (Cook’s Country)


Want to see how easy it is to cook a steak in a cast iron skillet? Watch the video below:

The question of how to clean and care for cast iron often arises. Here is an informational video from Lodge that breaks it down:

Final thoughts on these cast iron cooking essentials

I hope you enjoyed this cast iron gift guide. These cast iron cooking essentials will have you on your way to creating delicious meals at home. Just make sure you take great care of these cast iron items. They do need some love and TLC. If you do that for them, these cast iron cooking essentials will last you a lifetime and they can be passed on to other generations.

 

Question Time! Have you ever tried cooking with cast iron? What is your favorite meal to cook with it? Leave me a comment and let me know.

 

Related posts

 

 

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Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Fingerling Potatoes & Primal Kitchen Coupon

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Fingerling Potatoes & A Primal Kitchen Coupon Inside - Give It A Whirl Gir

Here we go again with Primal Kitchen. I am surely obsessed with using these marinades for my meals. I used the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette once again last night but this time I marinated some pork chops. The Honey Mustard, to me, is one of the most versatile in the line of Primal Kitchen, alongside the Balsamic Vinaigrette. We also had some thick cut slices of honey bacon from Dearborn Brand to wrap our brussels sprouts up with. And as requested by my daughter, we had to have some more air-fryer red fingerling potatoes, which are her favorite side dish at the moment. You add up all of these ingredients and it results in one hell of a delicious paleo, Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chop dinner!

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Red Fingerling Potatoes
Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Red Fingerling Potatoes

How I created Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops with Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Marinade

This is where the fun all begins, with the Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Marinade & Vinaigrette. I had two decently sized center cut Simple Truth pork chops to work with. I grabbed myself a Pyrex casserole dish and marinating the pork chops from early morning to dinner time. That was plenty of time to infuse them with the sweet and tangy honey mustard flavor that we all know and love so much! I was so excited for these Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops and I could not wait until dinner time rolled around.

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard & Simple Truth Center Cut Pork Chops
Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard & Simple Truth Center Cut Pork Chops

Just gotta have my cast iron!

The cast iron grill pan was used for these Honey Mustard Pork Chops, of course! How else would I cook up a hunk of meat? I rave so much about this grill pan, I know, but I really hope it inspires someone out there to give it a whirl. It is the best method for cooking several different types of meat. I think of it as a kitchen necessity!


Dearborn Honey Bacon – The Star Of The Show Last Night

I cashed in some coins that I had laying around and got some dough at a coin shop this past weekend, for real! I had some coins and figured I would be better off going on one of my fun foodie adventures at Nino Salvaggio’s. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to get the good eats, am I right? So we went to Nino’s and loaded our little cart some new-to-us foods. I spotted the Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon. I scoffed at the $6.99 price tag, but that bacon sure was looking and sounding good. I had to have it so in it went right into my cart.  You mention bacon to my husband and my daughter and they are all ears! I got this particular honey bacon because I knew it would be the perfect bacon for my Honey Mustard Pork Chops side dish.

Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon wrapped around brussels sprouts
Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon wrapped around brussels sprouts

What I ended up doing was taking five strips of bacon and cut them in half. I looked for the big brussels sprouts and wrapped ten of those up in the Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon. I roasted them in the 400-degree oven for 30 minutes and flipped them halfway through roasting. The bacon had the right amount of crispness for us. We don’t like bacon underdone or overdone, it has to be in the middle… just perfect!

Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon wrapped around brussels sprouts
Dearborn Brand Honey Bacon wrapped around brussels sprouts


My Daughter’s Favorite Side Dish – Air-Fryer Fingerling Potatoes

Chloe, my daughter, always clamors for potatoes. It does not matter what kind of potato it is but she wants her potatoes at dinner time. Our favorite at the moment is fingerling potatoes. Chloe prefers when I slice them in half and then she eats them like fries and dunks them in ketchup. I don’t do that but my husband and she does.

With this batch of fingerling potatoes, I did slice them in half and instead of using olive oil on them, I used what was the leftover of my Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard. What a great idea that was. I have never had honey mustard potatoes but that marinade sure turned out to be an excellent choice for my Honey Mustard Pork Chops. These went in my air-fryer at 385-degrees for about 15 minutes. Every kitchen needs an air-fryer for cooking potatoes. It is my favorite method currently. The texture of the potato skins on these potatoes is spot-on and exactly how I want them to be.

Fingerling potatoes marinated in Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard
Fingerling potatoes marinated in Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard – Ready for the air-fryer
Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Fingerling Potatoes
A duo of plates! Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Fingerling Potatoes

Final thoughts

Mmmm did this post make you hungry? I am getting hungry over here just reminiscing about this meal! The Primal Kitchen honey mustard marinade made these Honey Mustard Pork Chops full of flavor with the right amount of sweetness from the honey and the perfect amount of tanginess from the mustard. Healthy meals like this are so simple to create at home. I love cooking with clean ingredients. Primal Kitchen will forever and always be a brand that I trust and enjoy cooking with.

 

Have you ever tried any Primal Kitchen products? Which one is your favorite?

Did you know that with my special coupon code GIVEITAWHIRL10 you can save $$ at Primal Kitchen? Why not give it a whirl today? I say go for it!

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Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Pork Chops With Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Fingerling Potatoes & A Primal Kitchen Coupon Inside - Give It A Whirl Girl

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Kiss My Keto Coupon & Review – Keto Chocolate, Keto Energy

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7

Marley Spoon Review & Discount – $30 OFF Your First Box – Simple & Easy Meal Kit Subscription Box

I just recently had the pleasure of trying out Martha Stewart’s gourmet meal kit subscription box. I was so blown away by the quality of the ingredients and the easy to follow recipes so I want to share my experience with you in this Marley Spoon review! I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the quality and content of this meal kit delivery service.

How does Marley Spoon work?

Each week Marley Spoon has several different meals that you can select from. They have a huge archive of recipes… over 18,000!  Each week there are ten different meals you get to select from. They really do have a wonderful variety of meals and they all look and sound so amazing it is kind of difficult to narrow it down. I want it all!

You can choose the meal kit that suits your family needs. They offer boxes for two people and they also offer boxes that can feed 3-4 people. You can choose to get 2, 3, or 4 Marley Spoon meals per week. It is entirely up to you and you get to customize your plan.

Each week Marley Spoon offers an exciting menu featuring a variety of meats and a large selection of different vegetables. There are meals suitable for dinner as well as lunch.

Marley Spoon also has meals to suit a variety of dietary lifestyles. I choose to eat gluten-free so I received two meal kits that were friendly to my diet.

There are some quick dinners provided, one-pot meals, kid-friendly meals, and salad options.

Two Marley Spoon Meal Kits for four people: Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa and Japanese Style Chicken w./ Bok Choy and Brown Rice
Two Marley Spoon Meal Kits for four people: Steak & Oven Fries w/ Charred Tomato Salsa and Japanese Style Chicken w./ Bok Choy and Brown Rice

Marley Spoon recipe cards

The shipment of Marley Spoon

My meal kit box was overnighted to me via FedEx. When I opened up my box I was very impressed with how well-packaged everything was. There were no leaks and there were no missing ingredients. Everything was kept cold with ice-packs. The meat that I received looked beautiful and the quality of the produce was perfect. There was not a single disappointment with my shipment. I have tried other meal kits boxes in the past and had missing ingredients, some not-so-fresh looking items, or leaky meats. Marley Spoon takes pride in their subscription box and it shows.

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Continue reading “Marley Spoon Review & Discount – $30 OFF Your First Box – Simple & Easy Meal Kit Subscription Box” →

3

The Importance Of Teaching Children How To Cook – Educating Chloe On How To Make A Pizza From Scratch

My daughter, Chloe, whisking up some eggs for our pizza crust

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
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” →

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This week I am going to present to you a curated list of some of my favorite cooking items and some items that earned a spot on my wishlist. There are some great items here that are all available on Amazon. I think most of my readers will agree that these are some great items to have if you are a home chef. These kitchen essentials might just make you the next top chef.

Circulon Symmetry Chocolate Hard Anodized Non-Stick 11 Piece Cookware Set – I actually do own this exact set of cookware from Circulon. My husband did an awesome thing for me and got these as a gift for me. I am completely in love with this cookware set. It truly does have non-stick surfaces and nothing every sticks to these pots and pans. They are also dishwasher safe, which is a huge plus because I dread handwashing. These also have a nice heavy-duty feel to them. They do not have a cheap feeling at all and feel as though they will last me quite a long time. Love this set and I highly recommend it!

Staub 5.5 Quart Round Cocotte, Graphite Grey – This is another piece of cooking equipment that I have the pleasure of owning and this piece here is my pride and joy in my collection of cooking items. Talk about heavy-duty… this piece is it! I use this dutch oven quite often in the kitchen and it is always a joy to use. It is the perfect size for whipping up dishes for my family of 3. It is oven safe to 500-degrees and another big bonus with this is that it is dishwasher safe. I enjoy using this for my pasta sauces that simmer on the stove for a couple hours. I use it for soups, and it is the most excellent pot for cooking a big batch of soup. I also use this for one pot meals. This Staub will last me a lifetime.

Continue reading “Cooking Essentials For The Home Chef – Friday Faves” →

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It Has Been An Awesome Four Months!

Happy 4 month anniversary to Give It A Whirl Girl! I started up this blog four months ago on June 6th. I was recovering from a hernia operation when a lightbulb went off in my mind! I had to fire it up and get the ball rolling on starting up a blog! My number one passion in life is cooking and baking. It was also my new year’s resolution to get a blog up and running. It took me half a year of planning to finally take my first step. I am so incredibly grateful for my husband, my daughter, and my mother for holding my hand along the way!

Give It A Whirl Girl making paleo dark chocolate fudge cupcakes
Give It A Whirl Girl making paleo dark chocolate fudge cupcakes

I was tremendously nervous to start this new venture. It takes a lot of strength to write and put yourself out there for the world to see! In the beginning, I would have a little anxiety attack before hitting that publish button. Fast forward to four months later and now I am incredibly eager to hit that publish button and share my foodie venture with the world! When I discover a new food or a new recipe that I fall in love with I want to spread the word.

I have learned a TON and taken in a lot of information in these past four months. Starting up a blog is a lot harder than one would think. There is a lot of knowledge that needs to be fed to your brain so you have a clue on what the heck you are doing! I still have a lot to learn. Learning about things like SEO makes me feel dumb. Blogging is so complex! I am determined and committed to learning and embracing all of this knowledge so that when my one-year anniversary arrives I can look back on all of this and see how far I have come.

Give It A Whirl Girl with a loaf of bread for paleo French toast
Give It A Whirl Girl with a loaf of bread for paleo French toast

Continue reading “It Has Been An Awesome Four Months!” →

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How To Get A Tender And Juicy Ribeye Steak With Herbed Ghee In A Cast Iron Pan

How To Get A Tender And Juicy Ribeye Steak With Herbed Ghee In A Cast Iron Pan - Give It A Whirl Girl

Can you think of anything better than a big juicy steak for dinner? Nope! Not me! This is definitely a favorite for my whole family. I am going to fill you in on how I use my cast iron pan and some herbed ghee to make the most tender and juicy steak!

You only need a few simple things to obtain a tender and juicy steak in the kitchen. First things first, you will need a cast iron pan. I am a true believer in cast iron and I won’t even throw a steak on the grill anymore. I get the best results with my Lodge Cast Iron. You will also need an herbed ghee or you can make your own herbed ghee with a few ingredients: garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme. The herbed ghee is going to make your steak burst with flavor. It is so simple to do and the results are spectacular. It requires only minimal effort.

The first thing I do when I am prepping to cook a steak is to take them out of the fridge and let them rest for a bit. This is when I salt and pepper them on both sides. You also need to start heating your cast iron pan. You want to ensure that your pan is hot when you throw the steaks on so they can get a nice sear to them.

Ribeye steaks cooking in a Lodge Cast Iron Pan
Ribeye steaks cooking in a Lodge Cast Iron Pan

4th & Heart makes wonderful garlic ghee that you can add your seasonings (rosemary and thyme) to. If you cannot find this brand with the garlic already in it, any kind of ghee will do. I do highly recommend 4th & Heart though. I know my Kroger store carries the regular one. These ghees are also available on Amazon and you can get them conveniently delivered in two days if you have Prime. If you do not yet have Prime you can try a free 30-day trial through this link.

4th & Heart ghee is top-notch when it comes to all of the ghees available. Ghee has wonderful health benefits and is a much better alternative to butter. With ghee, all of the milk fats are removed. It is considered a clarified butter and is lactose-free and dairy-free. Ghee is known to improve the digestive tract and repair it. Ghee is very aromatic and when you are cooking with it in the kitchen your house is going to smell amazing.

Fourth & Heart ghee is made from the milk of grass-fed, pasture raised New Zealand cows.  Why did we have to go so far from home? We find the best quality to be in the place where the greenest grass grows and that’s in New Zealand. (source)

Ghee with added herbs - garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme
Ghee with added herbs – garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme
Ribeye with herbed ghee (garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme)
Ribeye with herbed ghee (garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme)

For the ghee, what I do is I melt down a few tablespoons. Your ghee keeps in the fridge and is solid like butter. You can melt your ghee down in a small pan and add some garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme to it. You don’t need to go crazy with the seasonings here, just give the ghee enough to have some flavor infused throughout it.

While the steaks are cooking in the cast iron pan you can spoon the herbed ghee onto the steaks. I just keep spooning in on over the top of the steak and it marinates it with absolutely awesome flavor. I like my steaks medium rare so I only cook my steaks for a few minutes on each side of them. I served these ribeye steaks up with some roasted red skin potatoes that also had garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme on them. It was a perfect pairing for the steak.

Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes
Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes
Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes
Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes
Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes
Ribeye steak with herbed ghee (garlic, rosemary, and thyme) and roasted red skin potatoes

We truly enjoyed this steak and potatoes meal on Labor Day. There were lots of ooo’s and ahhh’s coming out of our mouth while taking our time and devouring it slowly. I hope you give this a whirl. If you do please let me know how you liked it. It is one of my favorite ways to cook a steak nowadays.

How do you like to cook your ribeye steak? Leave me a comment and let me know how you serve them up!

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Other posts you might enjoy:

 

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Also, learn more about another simple way I have about cooking a juicy steak featuring products by Primal Kitchen! CLICK HERE

 

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Kettle & Fire Bone Broth - Shop Now

			

		
	
	

					
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A Day Of Good Eats With Good Family
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
We had an awesome day yesterday full of good eats and great times with family. I got super lucky and won a prize pack from Coleman Naturals on Facebook. I won a variety of organic hotdogs and sausages. As soon as I received my prize pack I knew I had to host a family get-together. I am always looking for an excuse or reason to have people over and cook for them. It brings me a lot of happiness and joy putting a party/family gathering together. Is there really anything better in life than having your good family come together to have a day full of great eats? So we had some hotdogs, sausages, potato salad, macaroni salad, and corn on the cob. It all added up to a scrumptious meal. My sister also brought some side dishes and my mother-in-law brought a fruit tray. We had quite a few healthy foods to eat.


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This was my first time trying out anything by Coleman Naturals. I did a bit of research on their products and think that they are an incredible brand. Hotdogs and sausages are often filled with weird, garbage ingredients but not Coleman Naturals. They do not use antibiotics, hormones, steroids, they are non-GMO, use only all natural ingredients, are gluten-free, are free range, and only use organic ingredients. I don’t feel so bad about eating a hotdog or a sausage when I know that they are only made with quality ingredients.


These hotdogs and sausages were the stars of the show yesterday. I had most of my family over and we all enjoyed these. There were chicken hotdogs, pork & beef hotdogs, apple chicken sausage, and some andouille sausage. I also created some other dishes to go with the gathering. I made a healthy potato, a gluten-free macaroni salad, and I also made paleo dark chocolate fudge cupcakes. My dad and my stepmom also brought over some Michigan sweet corn. I brushed mine up and down with some ghee and was in corn heaven!


On Friday night I got home from our day trip out to Birch Run and I had to get my potato salad and macaroni salad done. For both salads, I used my jar of Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo. This was my first time using this mayo and I had no doubt it would be great because I love everything that Primal Kitchen has to offer. This avocado oil mayo can be found on Amazon but the price at Primal Kitchen is a tad lower.


The Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo is Whole 30 compliant, paleo-friendly, keto-approved, sugar-free, gluten-free, and has ZERO grams of carbs! I was super pumped to try this healthy mayo. I love when I come across a food product that is REAL FOOD and allows me to eat clean. Primal Kitchen always comes to mind when I think about clean food. I am so happy to be able to represent and work with a brand that offers nothing but the best when it comes to eating healthy and well.


Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo
Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo


 Continue reading “A Day Of Good Eats With Good Family” →

			

		
	
	

					
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Get Cooking With HelloFresh – REVIEW – Gourmet Food Meal Kit Subscription Box
			

									
						HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam					
							
 
					

				
I recently tried out HelloFresh and I am sharing my HelloFresh review today! I have been an on and off again subscriber to HelloFresh for years. HelloFresh sends out meal kits weekly with all of the ingredients inside and a recipe card. As long as you follow the instructions on the recipe card you will end up with a mindblowing meal that is so great you will wonder how you even accomplished it. The recipes are unique and inspire you to get out of a rut in the kitchen and whip up something with gourmet flavor. The prices are reasonable for what you get.


The meals, for me, always come out fantastic, like something you would order at a nice restaurant. I have never been let down or disappointed by any of my HelloFresh shipments.


HelloFresh recipe card REVIEW Give It A Whirl Girl
HelloFresh recipe card


HelloFresh dinner - Adobo Loco Steak With poblano, corn, and crispy potato hash - REVIEW - Give It A Whirl Girl
Adobo Loco Steak With poblano, corn, and crispy potato hash


Discount For HelloFresh


HelloFresh has a promotion taking place where you can score $30 off your first delivery. They have menus available online so you can see what is upcoming in future meal kits. Some meal kit subscription boxes do not show you the menu until after you sign up. HelloFresh has nothing to hide. You can see for yourself what they have to offer.


They also have meals plans that are flexible for your family. Eating for two? No problem! A family of 4? No problem. There is a subscription box available to you.


HelloFresh REVIEW


Some meals are traditional fare but with a spin on it, like the meatloaf shown below. I never had meatloaf with any type of jelly on it but this was absolutely incredible and was one of my favorite HelloFresh boxes. That is exciting to me because I like to eat with an open mind. Never in my life would I have thought to put currant jam on meatloaf but it worked. That is the great thing about HelloFresh. This meatloaf tasted gourmet and I made it all by myself in the kitchen. It was simple too! All of the recipe cards are easy to follow.


 
 
 
  
 HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam 
 
 
  
 HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam 
 
 
  
 
  
 HelloFresh Swedish Meatloaves w/ homemade garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and currant jam 
 
 
  
  


HelloFresh offers a premium meal each month that is optional and does cost a bit more but it is so worth it. One week I went for the premium meal and ended up trying out duck breasts for the first time in my life. I was not sure if I would like them or not but it turned out to be one of the best meals I ever made.


Pan Seared Duck Breasts from HelloFresh - Review - Give It A Whirl Girl
Pan Seared Duck Breasts from HelloFresh


Pan Seared Duck Breasts With Duck Fried Potatoes, Asparagus, and Grape Tomatoes - HelloFresh REVIEW - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL
Pan Seared Duck Breasts With Duck Fried Potatoes, Asparagus, and Grape Tomatoes


 Continue reading “Get Cooking With HelloFresh – REVIEW – Gourmet Food Meal Kit Subscription Box” →

			

		
	
	

					
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Paleo Turkey & Turmeric Chili – Gluten-Free – A Healthier Approach To Chili
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
Paleo Turkey & Turmeric Chili simmering in the Staub
Paleo Turkey & Turmeric Chili simmering in the Staub


It seems a bit early in the year still for chili but temps are cooling down a bit here in Michigan and I so ready to make my first batch on Sunday night. This version that I created was totally paleo (gluten-free) and this time around to keep it paleo I avoided kidney beans, which I usually do love to use in my chili. I also usually use ground beef and I switched it up and went for a lean ground turkey. I had a craving for some paleo turkey chili and I had to make it to satisfy my craving! The added turmeric was a nice touch as well. My husband and I reveled in this bowl of comforting chili. There is just something so comforting about eating chili. It is always satisfying and it is also so simple to make!







How I created this paleo turkey chili


This chili will make quite a few servings. I would say anywhere from 4-6 servings, depending on how much you place into your bowl. It started off with garlic and onion sauteed in the Staub until it reached a nice translucent, golden color. You will need a large pot to prepare the chili in. I love to use my Staub dutch oven for meals like this. The Staub is a heavy-duty piece of cooking equipment. It is very durable and built to last a lifetime. I always enjoy cooking with it.


Then came the lean ground turkey. I broke that up with a wooden spoon and continued to brown it. I seasoned the turkey with some organic chili powder, turmeric, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. This was my first time using turmeric in my chili so I was not sure how we were going to like it.


While the meat was browning I also added in some diced red and green bell peppers. Every chili needs to be chock full of peppers for me. Peppers in every bite! For this chili, I also decided to add some chopped zucchini pieces.


Once the meat was cooked and browned I added in an entire can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. This is my favorite brand of tomato products that I currently use. Muir Glen is an organic line of tomato products and they always lend an extraordinary flavor to the dish I am preparing. You can read more about Muir Glen HERE and their principles as a company. They are outstanding!


I allowed this chili to simmer for a couple of hours. This can also be prepared in a slow-cooker and simmer all day in there. Just be sure to brown/cook the meat before putting it in there.


 Continue reading “Paleo Turkey & Turmeric Chili – Gluten-Free – A Healthier Approach To Chili” →

			

		
	
	

					
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Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles – Awesome Sauce With Chef Shamy
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
Sometimes there is a dinner so phenomenal I just have to share. My husband and I had an appetite for some Fettuccine Alfredo. That is a dish that I used to make often and I have made it so much that I now have my sauce totally perfected. My secret to a great cheesy sauce like this is to use quality ingredients and you gotta have some fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Homemade Alfredo sauce just can not be beat! Keep reading to learn more!


Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles
Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles


I have been trying to eliminate as much gluten as possible from my diet. It seems to be improving my health both mentally and physically so I am sticking to it. I have not reached a point of total elimination of gluten but I have cut down significantly. I needed a gluten-free, thick noodle to go with my alfredo. I ran into some difficulty at Kroger finding such a noodle and then I found it! I found some freshly made noodles that are made out of sweet potatoes. How perfect! I did have some fear in the back of my mind, though, that Joe would not approve. I took a leap of faith and added it to my ClickList anyway.


Now the details on the sauce. I have been going on and on lately about Chef Shamy’s gourmet butters.  I have a variety of flavors stocked in my fridge at the moment and figured my best bet was the Chef Shamy Garlic Butter with Parmesan Cheese and Basil. I can not say enough good words about this butter. Seriously guys, order some of this butter on Amazon and you will not regret it! I think that this butter really made my homemade Alfredo sauce shine. The butter gave it a marvelous flavor!


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I used about 1/4 cup of that butter in my sauce along with one pint of Horizon Organic Heavy Whipping Cream.  Once I had the butter and the heavy cream well incorporated I added a great big squeeze of my favorite minced garlic from Spice World. My knife skill are no good and I do not enjoy mincing garlic so I go the easy route with my trusty squeeze bottle. I also added in some Italian Seasonings, salt, and a good crack at a peppercorn medley. I continued warming the sauce and then very slowly added some Simple Truth Organic Parmesan Cheese.


All of my ingredients were then well integrated and I almost had the perfect sauce. What I like to do to my alfredo Sauce is use the lemon juice from a freshly squeezed lemon (no picture here but you probably know what a lemon looks like). I simmer my sauce a bit more and let that lemon juice infuse the sauce.


The Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Fettuccine noodles were simple to cook. Just boil up the water, separate them well, and drop them in. The noodles were nice and al-dente in 3 minutes. I then drained the noodles well and I mixed the sauce and noodles up in one pot to ensure that every noodle was smothered in my cheesy sauce.


I like to put black pepper and red pepper flakes on top of my pasta and serve some lemon slices as a garnish, just in case you need another squeeze of that zingy lemon.


Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles


So how does it look? I think it looks marvelous and I’m going to give myself a pat on the back for this dish. I am pleased to say, as well, that Joe 100% approved of these sweet potato noodles. He and I both agreed that they didn’t have a bit of funkiness or weirdness to them. I am being sincere here when I say that you wouldn’t have an idea that they are gluten-free unless I told you so.


I would also love to give a shout out to Chef Shamy for hooking my fridge up with a bunch of their tasty gourmet butter. I will most definitely be experimenting more with them in the Give It A Whirl Girl Kitchen. You can find out more about Chef Shamy by clicking this nice little link HERE.


Do you have any tips or tricks on making a decent alfredo sauce? Feel free to share here and let us all in on your secrets!


Grab two tubs of Chef Shamy’s Garlic Butter on Amazon. Give it a whirl!




 




DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. PROCEEDS FROM THE AMAZON AFFILIATE PROGRAM HELP MAKE THIS BLOG A BETTER BLOGGING EXPERIENCE FOR MY READERS.








			

		
	
	

					
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Make A Gluten-Free SmashMallow Brownie S’mores Pie to Celebrate National Smores Day – RECIPE
			

									
						Smashmallow Brownie Pie Recipe					
							
 
					

				
Heads up! National S’mores Day is August 10th this year. You can not celebrate the day without some delicious marshmallows. Look no further than to Smashmallow! I came across their marshmallows a few months back and fell in love with the delightful flavors that they have available. These are no ordinary marshmallows… these are next-level!




What are SmashMallows?


Smashmallows marshmallows are shaped like cubes and are light and fluffy. They make an excellent snack or are also excellent components in recipes that call for marshmallows. These little bites of bliss will take your taste buds on a trip to happiness and joy! The great thing about these marshmallows is that they are made with organic cane sugar, they are non-GMO, and they are naturally gluten-free. Also, each SmashMallow comes in at 20 calories per piece. 4 pieces are considered a serving so one serving size of this yummilicious treat comes in at only 80 calories.


Smashmallows flavors


Smashmallows are available in flavors such as: Strawberries & Cream, Cinnamon Churro, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Cookie Dough.


Edited to add that there are now more flavors of SmashMallows available!








There are also SmashMallows Crispy Rice Treats!


SmashMallows Crispy Rice Treats Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Chip Variety
SmashMallows Crispy Rice Treats Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Chip Variety


SmashMallows Cinnamon Churro Crispy Rice Treats
SmashMallows Cinnamon Churro Crispy Rice Treats


 


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SmashMallows come in a variety of fun flavors


 


 


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SmashMallow Strawberries & Cream


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SmashMallow Cinnamon Churro


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SmashMallow Mint Chocolate Chip


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SmashMallow Cookie Dough




 Continue reading “Make A Gluten-Free SmashMallow Brownie S’mores Pie to Celebrate National Smores Day – RECIPE” →

			

		
	
	

					
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Collaboration With The Hubby- First From Scratch Pizza
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
 


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Well, take a look at that! My husband and I love to work together on the weekend with our Sunday dinner. Last weekend (I’m a little late posting about this) we collaborated on our first from scratch homemade pizza. We made a lovely gluten-free supreme pizza chock full of yummy toppings.


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I will say that making the dough was awfully frustrating but it was still quite amusing. We were using a recipe for a gluten-free crust made with almond flour and boy was it ever sticky when I tried to make my big dough ball. We had to adjust the recipe a bit to get it right. It required quite a bit of critical thinking and problem-solving. It also had a lot of laughs while trying to get the consistency of the dough correct.


Once we got the dough figured out we worked on creating the zesty sauce. We used some organic sauce, tomato paste, minced garlic, and seasonings to create it. I love making my own pizza sauce. I like to be able to adjust it to my liking because I am very picky when it comes to sauce. The sauce is either going to make or break the pizza.


I have this thing for peppers right now. I stocked up on all the colors. I had some green, red, orange, and yellow. I once tried a purple bell pepper and it didn’t agree with me. It was a huge letdown! I also sliced up some red onion to top it with.


The Italian sausage was my meat of choice. That is another food that I am totally digging right now… just can not get enough of it! I have never been a fan of pepperoni. I don’t consider myself a picky eater at all but I do usually pick the pepperonis off my pizza.


So once everything was prepped and prepared, including the initial baking of the crust, it was ready to be popped into the oven. We used Tillamook mozzarella cheese on this pizza. That cheese looked the best out of all the shredded mozzarellas at Kroger. I had a bit of anxiety while waiting for it to cook. It was quite a big project (more than I anticipated). I was wondering the entire time if all of our hard work was worth it.


Guess what! All that hard work and effort that we put into this was worth it. I poured my heart and soul into this gluten-free supreme pizza (like I do with all of my meals) because my husband is a pizza addict and he is so picky about his pizzas. Because this was a gluten-free crust I didn’t know if it would be well-received with him. When I heard that “mmmm” come out of his mouth with that first bite, it totally made my day. We managed to eat all of it except for one lone piece. I had two slices and he ate the majority of it. So I gave myself a little pat on the back.


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Do you have any traditions for Sunday dinners? They are kinda a big deal to me and usually reserve Sundays for the best meal of the week. I also love to partner with my husband to make it come together.


 


 


 


 

			

		
	
	

					
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Two Hiccups In The Kitchen In One Day
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
You know what? We eat our mistakes here. Sometimes you end up with a happy accident. Well, that happened today! There were two obstacles that I had to overcome in the kitchen today. It was one of those days where everything seems to go wrong but in the end, it turns out alright.

The first hiccup in the kitchen occurred during lunch. I used Enjoy Life Foods gluten free pancake/waffle mix and put some LivFit cacao powder in the mix to make chocolate waffles. I have been craving breakfast foods like crazy and I had a craving for some waffles.

I forgot to spray the waffle maker to make it nonstick sooooo…

Here are my chocolate [messy] waffles topped with Enlightened Red Velvet ice-cream. I was so lucky that I was able to salvage these waffles because they tasted incredible. It was my first time trying out this gluten-free waffle mix. Enjoy Life is free of many common allergens: wheat, dairy, soy, sulfites, peanuts, tree nuts, casein, egg, and more! That makes this mix vegan and paleo friendly!


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Chocolate Enjoy Life Waffles with Enlightened Red Velvet


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Enjoy Life Gluten Free Pancake/Waffle Mix and Enlightened Red Velvet


My daughter and I grabbed two forks and fought over every bite… it was that good!  The presentation was not there but the flavor combo of the waffles with the ice-cream was on-point! And we also had to add a bit of maple syrup because a waffle is always deserving of that.


If you are looking for a healthy option for ice-cream look no further than to Enlightened! The entire pint of this particular flavor is only 280 calories and only 5g of net carbs. I will be doing a post in more detail soon about this product. The Red Velvet paired perfectly with the chocolate waffle. This flavor has a cream cheese frosting and chocolate flavor.


The second obstacle that happened was during the dinner hour. I was whipping up more breakfast food. Whenever I have breakfast for dinner I like to call it “brinner”. This time I was making some paleo-friendly French Toast with chia and flax seeds. I am trying to boost my fiber intake and adding those seeds really assists in some smooth moves. I also really enjoy paleo baking. I have this thing for making fresh, gluten-free breads. It brings me a lot of joy.


This particular recipe for the bread used coconut flour. I used a square baking dish and that gave me 4 nice, thick slices of bread to work with. The batter was egg-free and I used a mashed banana mixed with some unsweetened almond milk and cinnamon. I also made some caramelized bananas, using coconut sugar, to top the French Toast.


I had my bread baked and cooling on the countertop. My batter was prepped and prepared. The bananas were caramelized. All I needed to do was cook the slices that were dipped in batter. Then all of the sudden out of nowhere we experienced a power outage! It was totally unexpected because there was no inclement weather. I was a little bit freaked out at this point. How was I going to cook the rest of my dinner without any power? Thank goodness my hubby came home from work. We brainstormed and came to the conclusion that our best bet was to bust out the cast iron pan and finish “brinner” off on the grill outside. Genius plan! It totally worked too.


 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 


I am so happy to report that my little family of 3 enjoyed this meal. Each one of us joined the Clean Plate Club and were left wanting more. It was so delicious! Next time I make this dish I will be sure to have more bananas because those were like eating candy!


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Candied Banana Paleo French Toast


Cooking sure does require a lot of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Knowing what to do when things are not going your way is critical. My two problems in the kitchen turned out awesome in the end. So when you are cooking do not be discouraged if things are not going the way you intended them to.


 


 


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.

			

		
	
	

					
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Friday Faves! Things I’m Crushing On
			

				
If you are like me or if you have any idea of who I am, you would know I have a wishlist that is a mile long on Amazon. This is going to be a weekly feature of curated items that have snagged a hotspot on my wishlist!


This week I will be featuring some rainbow colored kitchen items. I am crushing hard on each and every one of these items. Hopefully I will be able to switch over all of my kitchen items to these fun, bright colors.




Rainbow Striped Ceramic Bowls You will receive a set of four handpainted bowls. I love the fun colors and rainbow stripes!




This cutting board sticking with that rainbow theme!




Reusable rainbow colored iridescent straws! Think about how much waste throwaway straws create. I really need to invest in these.




Fiesta rainbow flatware set These are drool-worthy to me and definitely need to find a home in my kitchen.




Colorful cookware set This would be super to gift to someone who is moving out on their own for the first time. This collection of ceramic cookware would be a great starter set for someone going of to college.




Rainbow salt and pepper shaker set I just love how colorful and fun these are. They are also handpainted. Wonderful!




Set of 6 aluminum tumblers These look like a nice, stylish, and very retro way to keep your drinks ice-cold in the summertime.




Photo-realistic rainbow knife set Holy moly this knife set is freaking sweet. Anyone want to get these for me? LOL!




Ten kitchen tools in one This device here definitely looks like it would be useful. It has 10 different gadgets in one compact space.




Set of 6 wine glasses every color of the rainbow What a great way to keep track of whose drink is whose.




That is all for this week! Hopefully this collection of items will inspire you to brighten up your life with all of these beautiful colors.


 


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.








			

		
	
	

					
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