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

My hubby and I at Kona Grill for one of my birthdays

Give It A Whirl Girl with some Enlightened ice cream pop

Me and my daughter, Chloe Pearl, at the Heidelberg Project

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.

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

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)

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!

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Exotic fruits that I purchased at Nino Salvaggio

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

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

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

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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

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

First flight of craft beer for me at Hop Cat and I loved each one of them!

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. 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?

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!

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.

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

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

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 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

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

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!)

April 26, 2019 12

MengK 1500W High-Speed Professional Blender REVIEW & A Dragon Fruit Smoothie RECIPE

MENGK BLENDER REVIEW & A Dragon Fruit Smoothie RECIPE by GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL

Today I would love to share my experience with you that I recently had with my new blender in this MengK blender review. This blender is quite simple to use and it is built like a professional blender. When I received my blender I was astonished by how professional the model looked and I was excited to give it a whirl with a dragon fruit smoothie bowl recipe. My hopes for this blender were that it would be capable of blending up frozen fruit because I am a huge smoothie fan and every blender I have ever owned prior was a big letdown to me. Keep reading this MengK blender review to find out how it performed in my test.

First impression of the MengK 1500W blender

Let’s kick off this MengK blender review with my first thoughts when I unboxed the blender. My first impression with this blender was the massive footprint it has on my countertop! This blender is a beast! Now, this can either be a positive or a negative for you. If you don’t have much storage space in your kitchen or home this blender might be an issue. This MengK blender couldn’t be any simpler to use either! If you look at the blender you will see one dial on the face of the blender and this determines the speed at which you will operate your blender. Big tasks call for dialing up on the knob for more power and speed.

Professional Blender MengK 2000W Peak Horsepower Electric High Speed Blender REVIEW — Professional Blender 1500W MengK 2000W Peak Horsepower Electric High-Speed Blender

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. I receive a commission from items purchased through these links with no extra cost to you.

What can the MengK blender do?

If you are in the market for a blender that is versatile, MengK has you covered with this blender! You can use it for smoothies, nice creams, soups, milkshakes, hummus, alcoholic beverages, homemade nut butter, baby foods, and more. This MengK blender features a very well-constructed 67oz professional blender jar. Please note that this blender jar is not a glass blending jar, it is made out of some very heavy duty, thick, plastic. The blending jar for the MengK blender is BPA-free.

MengK blender motor

The MengK blender has a whopping 2.6 HP-2000 watt motor, and this commercial blender can reach a rotational speed of up to 27,000 r/min. This powerful motor makes it possible to crush ice, fruits, and vegetables.

The controls on the MengK blender are simple

You might also enjoy this post: Mindblowing Smart Home Products For Your Kitchen

The MengK blades

This powerful blender features 6 stainless steel, sharp blades for maximum blending power. The MengK blender crushing blades make it possible and perfect for ice crushing, blending, pureeing, and controlled processing.

The 6 blades on the MengK blender are razor sharp

My experience with the MengK blender

The first experiment with this high-speed blender was to see how well it would process and blend frozen fruit. I placed two frozen bananas, a cup of frozen dragon fruit, and a bit of milk in the blending cup. I was really excited to try this out because I have not had much success with frozen fruit in any blender I have ever owned.

The capability of blending frozen fruit is top priority to me. I need a blender that can do this.

I turned the blender onto medium with the dial. I then turned it on. The blender was loud and I could tell it had a powerful motor. The blades efficiently chopped up my frozen fruit and blended it up with the almond milk. After a few short moments, I had a delicious smoothie bowl waiting for me.

I performed one other smoothie test with my MengK blender. For that test, I used a fresh banana, frozen dragon fruit, and frozen mango with a splash of some unsweetened nut milk. The blender performed wonderfully and as expected. In a very short time, without any hesitation, I had a delicious, tall smoothie waiting for me!

Overall, I am quite pleased with this MengK blender and I am excited to try more smoothie recipes with it.

The MengK blender is simple to clean

Cleaning the MengK blender is simple and easy to do! All you need to do is add a bit of soap and warm water to the blending cup. Turn the blender onto a mid-high speed and it 30-60 seconds the cup and blades will be clean. Rinse after cleaning and carefully dry.

Satisfaction guaranteed from MengK

If for any reason you are not satisfied with your MengK blender purchases, MengK offers a money back guarantee and a warranty on their product.

3-month warranty on commercial Cups and a 6-month warranty on household cups, unified TWO years warranty about this pedestal, and 30-day refund guarantee.

Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl

Take a trip to paradise with this dragon fruit smoothie bowl. You will feel like you are transported to a tropical place with this exotic fruit smoothie bowl recipe.

2 Bananas (Frozen and chopped)
1 cup Dragon Fruit chunks (Frozen of fresh)
1 Kiwi Fruit (Sliced)
1 Star Fruit (Sliced and seeds removed)
2/3 cup Unsweetened nut milk of choice

Place the frozen bananas, dragon fruit, and milk in the blender and process until smooth.
Pour the smoothie mixture into two bowls.
Top the smoothie with fresh sliced kiwi fruit and star fruit.
Serve, eat, and enjoy!

Dragon Fruit Smoothies created with the MengK Blender

Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowls topped with kiwi fruit and star fruit

MengK 1400W Blender

If you want to get yourself a MengK blender that is a little more friendly on your budget there is a 1400W model on Amazon.

There is also a clippable coupon to save on this model!

MengK 1500W Blender

The blender that I reviewed is currently available on Amazon.

Final thoughts

The MengK blender is a lot of bang for your buck! For this price point, you are getting quite the powerful blender. I am hoping that this MengK blender will stand the test of time. I have a great feeling that it will be outperforming the last blender that I owned prior to this one. I took a chance with this off-brand name and I am very pleased with it.

It is not a Vitamix or a Blendtec but for the price you are paying for this one you are getting a powerhouse blender. If you are like me and dream of owning a fancy blender like a Vitamix, this blender makes a great clone of one and you will save yourself a ton of money going with the MengK.

The MengK blender makes a delicious smoothie in seconds!

Question Time! What will you be using the MengK blender for first? What will you create with this powerful blender?

Find out more about MengK and their other products

Website

Disclosure: I was sent this product in exchange for a review. All opinions stated here are my own.

Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker Easy-To-Do Healthy Popsicles Made At Home – REVIEW + RECIPE

Summer may be winding down here but when is it ever a bad idea to enjoy a homemade frozen treat? Never! Making my own popsicles at home is a new venture for me. I have dilly-dallied around with making my own ice-cream on occasion and found that to be a fun experience. Making homemade popsicles is an easy treat to prepare and I can even have my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe help me out with this project. In this post I will be discussing the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker.

Kombucha popsicle with passion fruit and blueberries

Zoku has a product line that includes popsicle-making kits. I had the opportunity to try out the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker and also the Zoku Character Kit. You can enjoy your homemade popsicles in as little as 7-8 minutes. In order for this to work, you must place the Quick Pop Maker (the inner core) in the freezer overnight. Once this has been in the freezer for at least 8+ hours you pour your desired juice into the popsicle maker with the popsicle stick in place. It is so wonderful to have a product like this so you can conveniently whip up a tasty frozen treat in a matter of minutes. Need a healthy dessert? No problem! Having this quick and easy device on hand will produce that nutritious dessert that you desire.

Check out the video below to see how simple the Quick Pop Maker is to use!

The Zoku Character Kit includes several stencils that you use with sliced fruit to make fun faces on your popsicles. Honestly, we found this quite difficult to do because the popsicle opening is not very wide and fruit needs to be razor thin in order for it to be placed inside.

You start out by using the stencils on your fruit. You then apply the cutouts to the face plate. The next step is to place the frozen Quick Pop Maker on the stand and insert face place. Press the face plate up against the top side of the mold and hold for 15-30 seconds. You then remove the face plate and pour in your favorite fruit juice after you put the popsicle stick into position. Allow the pops to freeze for at least 8 minutes.

My favorite pop that I created was made by using fresh passion fruit and also a bit of Juice From The Raw‘s Passion Fruit Cleanser juice. Making that particular pop is simple and easy. What I did was scooped the guts out of the passion fruit and placed it on the little green board (faceplate) and then inserted it inside the pop maker (while pop maker is in vertical position) and pressed the board up for 30 seconds to get the fruit in place. After your fruit is inside the pop maker place the pop maker in an upright position, place the popsicle stick in place, and then gently and carefully pour the juice inside. There is a fill line inside of the pop maker. I can not stress this enough but do not let your juice contents go above that fill line because you will have a very difficult time removing that pop. I had my juice go very very slightly above that fill line and ran into a problem removing it.

Kevita Kombucha Blueberry Passion Fruit Popsicle

The wonderful thing about the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker is how versatile it is when it comes to ingredients. The possibilities are endless and all rely on your imagination. We made a popsicle with Kevita Raspberry Lemon Kombucha and we also made a protein pop with Svelte French Vanilla Protein Shake.

Final Thoughts

My overall opinion of the popsicle maker was that it was a little finicky to get it to work properly. There is a learning curve to this. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the popsicle to come out correctly. We were not successful at producing a popsicle with a fun face with the character kit. I just could not get the fruit sliced thin enough to go into the cavity. However and despite all of this it was very fun to use and a fascinating project for my daughter to work on. Teamwork and creativity resulted in some tasty frozen treats!

You can find out more about Zoku on their social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If you feel inclined to give this a whirl I have added the links to these items. They can all be found on Amazon.

DISCLAIMER: Zoku sent me these products to review. All opinions stated here are my own. This is my honest review. Also, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. I receive a small commission if items are purchased through those links.

August 9, 2018 0

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel – Smoothie RECIPE – Tried It Tuesday

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

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

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel Smoothie Bowl

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

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

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

Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel Bowl w/ Dragon Fruit and Guava

RECIPE (makes two servings)

Ingredients:

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

Frozen banana, dragonfruit, and guava fruit

1 scoop of Collagen Fuel Vanilla Coconut

Recipe:

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

Primal Kitchen Collagen Bowl w/ Dragon Fruit and Guava

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

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

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

Primal Kitchen coupon code GIVEITAWHIRL10

during checkout.

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

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

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

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

Chicken Salad with apples and Hilary’s Apple Fennel dressing

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

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

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

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

Me and Joe at Metro Beach

Me and Stormy at Metro Beach

Chloe and Joe at Metro Beach

Stormy at Metro Beach

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

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

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

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

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

Shiitake mushroom and grilled chicken pizza

Gluten free pepperoni pizza

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

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

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

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

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

August 5, 2018 2

Epic Exotic Fruits Smoothie Bowl & How I Created It With Knowrish Well Blue Dream

Epic Exotic Fruit Smoothie Bowl & How I Created It

If you read my last post you would see that I stocked up on some interesting fruits at Meijer through the Instacart grocery delivery service. I ended up getting some nice produce delivered: bananas, dragon fruit, kiwi, starfruit, passion fruit, papaya, and a kiwano horned melon. I had the ultimate exotic fruit smoothie bowl already planned out in my mind. What I came up with did not disappoint!

How I created the Epic Exotic Fruit Smoothie Bowl

To make a great smoothie bowl you need to have some frozen bananas. I will usually use two bananas in my bowl. I love to work with Knowrish Well freeze-dried fruit powders to infuse my smoothie bowls with an extraordinary flavor and a color that is pleasing to the eyes! I was going to use the Knowrish Well pitaya (dragon fruit) powder but then realized that I was out. So I ended up using the Blue Dream powder which is another great flavor enhancer. Not only does this powder give your smoothie an incredible flavor but it is also loaded with nutrients. It is made of butterfly pea flower and contains the following superfoods: maca, inulin, lucuma.

The other ingredients in this epic smoothie bowl were 1/2 a dragon fruit (inside of the smoothie) and I topped it with some sliced star fruit, kiwi fruit, a blob of passion fruit, and used more dragon fruit.

Having these fruits is a really a special treat for me. The cost of a dragon fruit is pretty ridiculous. I wish they were as cheap as something like apples and oranges! I also have a big passion for passion fruit. The taste can be described as a bit sweet and a bit tart. It is more sour than sweet so I have no clue how they came up with the name of this fruit. It also has a strange appearance and texture. I love it though! The star fruits are just fun to eat purely because of their incredible shape. I didn’t get a chance to try one until I was an adult, and I remember begging my mom to buy me one when I was a little girl.

The overall taste of this bowl was mindblowing delicious. Also, I believe this big fruit smoothie bowl would be chock full of nutritional benefits. Aside from the natural sugar content, I was feeling pretty good about this being a healthy bowl of yumminess. I don’t eat smoothies like this all of the time (anymore) so I am not too concerned about the naturally occurring sugars in the fruit. I often say YOLO (you only live once) so if you want the fruit~ eat the fruit!

The greatest part about this smoothie bowl was seeing how much my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe, loved it! She has always been my #1 fan of my smoothie bowls. I used to make one almost daily last summer. She proclaimed that this one was my best yet and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Hearing that definitely put a smile on my face.

Have you ever had an exotic fruit smoothie bowl? How do you enjoy your smoothie bowls? What are some of your favorite toppings? Leave me a comment below.

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July 18, 2018

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How I created the Epic Exotic Fruit Smoothie Bowl

Have you ever had an exotic fruit smoothie bowl? How do you enjoy your smoothie bowls? What are some of your favorite toppings? Leave me a comment below.

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