My Birthday Dinner At Terry’s Terrace REVIEW & Gift-Card GIVEAWAY 4 Winners! (Harrison Township, MI Restaurant)

My 38th birthday on February 23rd may have come and gone but the wonderful memories will remain of my awesome birthday dinner with family at Terry’s Terrace in Harrison Township, Michigan. I have dined at Terry’s Terrace a couple of times in the past and I was so impressed with my experience I had to go back. If you are looking for a seafood dish of excellence then Terry’s Terrace is the restaurant that you will want to dive into! This Terry’s Terrace review will go into detail about my seafood birthday dinner at this establishment. Unfortunately, I can’t have alcohol at this point in time of my life so I am unable to discuss that but it does appear to be that this place has an incredible bar. If you want to hear about their food, though, you are in the right place. Also, keep reading to find out how you can win a $25 gift-card to Terry’s Terrace in the gift-card giveaway! Four winners will be drawn at random.

Let’s get started and break down my birthday dinner.

Terry's Terrace is located in Harrison Township on Jefferson — Terry’s Terrace is located in Harrison Township on Jefferson

Birthday dinner at Terry's Terrace with family — Birthday dinner at Terry’s Terrace with family

Lobster Lover's February menu board at Terry's Terrace — Lobster Lover’s February menu board at Terry’s Terrace

Terry's Terrace bar - REVIEW by GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL — Terry’s Terrace dining room

Terry's Terrace REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl — Terry’s Terrace bar

My Terry’s Terrace Review

The atmosphere

Terry’s Terrace has a great ambiance. The atmosphere at this Harrison Township is a fun one. This restaurant is often very busy and I do suggest making reservations if you do not want to wait around for a table because they do fill up fast. This restaurant is dimly lit and depending on where you sit there can be some background noise. The area around the bar is where most of the noise comes from but there are other areas of the restaurant you can be seated at that are more on the quiet side.

Arcade

For those of you who have quarters in your pocket there is also an arcade at the back of this restaurant. Inside you will find some great video games and a wide variety of pinball machines.

Lobster Lover’s February

Part of the reason why I chose Terry’s Terrace this year was due to their Lobster Lover’s February event that takes place all month. During the month of February Terry’s Terrace has several different lobster offerings to choose from.

Lobster choices

Lobster Bisque
Lobster Tacos
Surf & Turf
Lobster Ravioli
Lobster Risotto
New England Lobster Roll
Lobster Tower
Lobster Stuffed Cod
Lobster & Crab Cakes
Salmon with Lobster Cream sauce
Lobster & Shrimp Penne
Twin Lobster Tails

The Lobster Lover's Menu at Terry's Terrace REVIEW — The Lobster Lover’s Menu at Terry’s Terrace

I don’t know about you but I sure can’t pass up the opportunity to have a lobster feast. When I looked at the menu at Terry’s Terrace I felt like I hit the jackpot. They have so many incredible and tempting seafood dishes to choose from! It almost seemed like an impossible task to just settle on one because I am sure they are all magnificent. So if you are a seafood lover like me, you are going to swoon over the menu here at Terry’s Terrace.

Terry’s Terrace menu

If you are curious about the meals offered at Terry’s Terrace you can view their entire menu HERE. I have included a few snapshots of the Terry’s Terrace menu. What dish do you think you would order here?

Start out with an appetizer at Terry’s Terrace

Appetizers were currently half off when we dined there on a Saturday around 4 pm. It is difficult to pass up a good appetizer at a great price so my mom ordered two plates of the crab-stuffed mushrooms. Boy were they ever awesome! The crab-stuffed mushrooms are one of the house specialties at Terry’s Terrace and for good reason… excellent appetizer! The crab-stuffed mushrooms appetizer consists of mushroom caps stuffed with real crab mix, red onions, and finished with Monterey jack cheese and a lemon to squeeze on top.

Crab-stuffed mushrooms at Terry's Terrace - Awesome appetizer! Terry's Terrace REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl — Crab-stuffed mushrooms at Terry’s Terrace – Awesome appetizer!

Load up on some soup and salad

My dinner included a house salad and I got that with a cup of French dressing on the side. Pretty decent salad but what I was really excited to give a whirl was Terry’s Terrace lobster bisque soup. I have a weakness for lobster bisque and whenever I see it on a menu I just have to order it. My only beef with the soup was that I wish there had just been a tab bit more in the bowl. The lobster bisque had the perfect amount of lobster meat on top of it to swirl into the soup and delight my palate. It was also served with a small piece of garlic bread on the side to dip into it. I am going to be dreaming of this soup for days. I would love another helping of this on my next visit. And the great thing about the lobster bisque is that it is a regular menu item and not just for Lobster Lover’s February.

Though I have not tried it yet and can’t speak from experience (yet), Terry’s Terrace has a clam chowder on their menu. They are known for their seafood and I’m quite certain that their clam chowder will not disappoint. I am thinking that on my next visit to Terry’s Terrace I will be trying that one out! The clam chowder is highlighted on their menu as one of their specialties so of course, you know it is going to be fabulous!

Lobster bisque soup at Terry's Terrace - Terry's Terrace REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl — Lobster bisque soup at Terry’s Terrace

My side salad at Terry's Terrace that was included with my meal - Terry's Terrace review by Give It A Whirl Girl — My side salad at Terry’s Terrace that was included with my meal

My seafood dinner, the star of the show

Because Terry’s Terrace has Lobster Lover’s February taking place this month I just had to go with a lobster dish and their lobster ravioli turned out to be such a fantastic choice. I have ordered lobster ravioli and other restaurants and have sometimes been let down because the lobster has sort of a pungent, strong taste. Terry’s Terrace lobster ravioli was everything but that. The lobster ravioli had a delicate taste and they were served with a lush white creamy champagne sauce. The lobster ravioli also included a blend of red peppers, corn, and shallots.

Check out this lobster ravioli at Terry's Terrace — Check out this lobster ravioli at Terry’s Terrace

Lobster ravioli at Terry's Terrace REVIEW by GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL — Lobster ravioli at Terry’s Terrace

Another one of the lobster menu items for Lobster Lover’s February was the lobster-stuffed cod and my mother ordered that. The lobster-stuffed cod was one of the lobster menu items that I debated on ordering. I do love eating a big hunk of some meaty cod. I am including a photo of my mom’s meal here so you can see just how good this was! The cod fish was baked to perfection and topped with a great amount of lobster meat. I was a little jelly of her dinner even though I loved mine. Maybe next year for Lobster Lover’s February I will order the dish that she got.

Lobster stuffed cod at Terry's Terrace a REVIEW by GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL — Lobster stuffed cod at Terry’s Terrace

Terry’s Terrace for kids

Terry’s Terrace also has a kids menu available. This is a great place to take your kids on Tuesdays because on Tuesdays guess what? Kids eat FREE! I am going to suggest the fish & chips for your kiddos because Terry’s Terrace has award-winning fish & chips.

Kid's menu at Terry's Terrace — Kid’s menu at Terry’s Terrace

My daughter eating her sliders at Terry's Terrace — My daughter eating her slider

Great place to celebrate a birthday

Terry’s Terrace might just be the next place you want to celebrate your

next big moment in life or a birthday party with family and friends. I made a reservation, of course, because there were 15 of us. They had us seated in a separate little area of the restaurant where it was just us and we were isolated from the rest of the restaurant. It was perfect to have a room like this set aside for my large party of dinner guests.

Terry’s Terrace also provided me with a dessert on the house (no picture). It was a brownie served with vanilla ice-cream, and a big dollop of whipped cream.

Be sure to sign up for their VIP Club for some freebies and deals. They sent me a postcard before my birthday to use on my birthday dinner. I believe it was $7 off my birthday dinner (feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Unfortunately, I ended up either misplacing mine card or accidentally throwing it in the recycling bin.

Me and my daughter, Chloe, and my birthday cake with the super awesome candle provided by Terry's Terrace - GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL , Terry's Terrace Restaurant Review — Me and my daughter, Chloe, and my birthday cake with the super awesome candle provided by Terry’s Terrace

My chocolate cassata cake from Nino Salvaggio's — My chocolate cassata cake from Nino Salvaggio’s

Chocolate cassata cake from Nino Salvaggio's — Chocolate cassata cake from Nino Salvaggio’s

Final thoughts on my Terry’s Terrace experience

My family and I had an excellent meal at this restaurant from start-to-finish! I honestly can not think of a single gripe that I had for my birthday dinner here. I believe that my family also enjoyed their experience here. The menu for Lobster Lover’s February is both impressive and delicious. I am definitely going to be going back to Terry’s Terrace next year for their lobster feast. I hope that this Terry’s Terrace review will inspire you to stop in and give it a whirl!

Question Time! What dish is calling your name at Terry’s Terrace? Leave me a comment and let me know what meal looks enticing to you! View the full menu HERE.

Make sure you enter the Terry’s Terrace gift-card giveaway!

4 winners will receive a $25 gift card to spend on their next meal at Terry’s Terrace.

Entry -Form

Winner must be 18+ years of age and live in Michigan

Giveaway ends 3/17/2019

4 winners will be randomly selected. If you are a winner I will contact you for shipping information and then pass it on to Terry’s Terrace.

Terry’s Terrace is responsible for prize delivery.

Good luck to all!

Find out more about Terry’s Terrace

Terry’s Terrace Location

36470 Jefferson, Harrison Township, MI 48045

Terry’s Terrace Hours

MONDAY-FRIDAY

11am – 11pm

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

10am – 12:00am

Other restaurants you might enjoy in Michigan

February 25, 2019 23

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.

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.

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

August 26, 2018 2

Tony’s I-75 Restaurant REVIEW – Birch Run, Michigan- It Is A “Cheat Day” Waiting To Happen

Tony’s I-75 restaurant is located in Birch Run, MI. This place is not for the faint of heart. It is not the place to go for a light meal. And it might just be a heart-attack waiting to happen. This establishment will literally put an entire POUND OF BACON on your sandwich. Do you want an omelet? They will put a DOZEN OF EGGS in there. Not kidding. This is a family restaurant that serves up meals of EPIC proportions. They are famous for their serving sizes and they are also famous for the bacon that they serve up here. It is a bacon-lover’s paradise and dream come true here. Did you know that they use up 11,000 lbs of bacon weekly? It is true, read on in my Tony’s I-75 restaurant review!

Tony's I-75 restaurant in Birch Run, MI — Tony’s I-75 restaurant in Birch Run, MI

Located in Birch Run, MI is Tony's I-75 Restaurant — Located in Birch Run, MI is Tony’s I-75 Restaurant

Tony’s famous BLT sandwich – (Image courtesy of http://www.tonysi75restaurant.com/)

My Tony’s I-75 Restaurant Review

About Tony’s I-75

Tony’s I-75 restaurant has been around for nearly seven decades. This place is a Michigan classic. If they had a motto I believe it should be, “go big or go home”. It is a once a year tradition for our family to dine here in the summer. This is not the kind of place you should be going to every week. I wish they included nutrition facts on the menu because the amount of calories here would be off the charts.

If you are in a hurry to eat you will often be confronted with a line out the door. Even on a weekday afternoon, there is a line to get in here. The building is not large enough to accommodate the demand. It is a small, cramped restaurant and I wish they would expand to a larger building but they have been at that location for decades and I doubt they are going anywhere. It is worth the wait though and the line does move fairly quickly.

Tony’s I-75 restaurant not only serves giant portions of food but they also have a massive menu. They have anything ranging from sandwiches, soups, salad, burgers, subs, dinners, seafood, Italian, and Mexican. And save room for dessert! You can not leave Tony’s without dessert.

There is also a decent children’s menu. I highly recommend the kid’s spaghetti with the giant meatball. My daughter ordered chicken strips this year. The portion size for children is very reasonable and they don’t go overboard with kids, which I think is totally cool.

Because the menu is so big, I did not capture a photo of every page of it but I tried my best to give you a good idea of what they offer and the prices. Their prices are very reasonable considering the amount you receive. You can view the entire menu online at their website.

Tony’s I-75 menu

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My BIG meal at Tony’s I-75 restaurant – Antipasto Salad and boy was it ever huge!

I often like to go for the seafood here. If you like clams they are jumbo clams. I am talking gargantuan! That is what I typically order but this year I went with the Antipasto Salad. This was my first time ordering a salad here so I wasn’t sure what to expect. When it was brought out my first thought was that it was a beautiful salad. It had all the fixings of an antipasto salad and the portion size was colossal. There was one problem though, my mozzarella cheese was not on my salad. I didn’t realize this at first. It took a few minutes to flag down our waitress but she apologized and was helpful in getting me my cheese. The salad came with a house-made Italian dressing and it was the perfect addition to my plate. The dressing was sensational, and there was excitement in every bite of this salad. I really appreciated the addition of green olives. I never had an antipasto with green olives.

Tony's I-75 Antipasto Salad — Tony’s I-75 Antipasto Salad

Antipasto Salad at Tony's I-75 Restaurant — Antipasto Salad at Tony’s I-75 Restaurant

My mom’s gigantic burrito at Tony’s I-75 restaurant

You should see the size of my mom’s burrito that she ordered~ MASSIVE! We were all stunned when this burrito came out because I have never in my life seen one this large. Somehow my mom managed to pack half of this in and took the other half home for leftovers. When you dine at Tony’s I-75 restaurant you do often leave with a doggy bag because most meals are impossible to finish for the average person.

My mom and her giant burrito at Tony's I-75 restaurant — My mom and her giant burrito at Tony’s I-75

My husband’s pizza sub at Tony’s I-75 restaurant

Joe ordered a pizza sub and the size of that did not disappoint! He tried to take it on and eat the entire the whole thing but he failed! Wondering what was on this monster sub? It came with, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (Joe left these off), pizza cheese, pizza sauce.

Here is a photo of my hubby's giant pizza sub at Tony's I-75 restaurant — Here is a photo of my hubby’s giant pizza sub

And the moment you have been waiting for! Tony’s I-75 banana split!

Once a year when we come to Tony’s 1-75 we take advantage of their enormous banana split. There were 4 adults at our table plus one child (my daughter). We usually cannot finish this heavyweight dessert but this year we tackled the banana split and ate the whole entire thing! I felt like a pig afterward (oink oink) but I kept on using that spoon as a shovel to shove more and more ice-cream into my mouth. I deserved the little bellyache I had on the car ride home.

The ENORMOUS banana split at Tony's I-75 Banana for $10 you can feed the whole table dessert! Tony's I-75 restaurant review by Give It A Whirl Girl — The ENORMOUS banana split at Tony’s I-75 Banana for $10 you can feed the whole table dessert!

The banana split at Tony's I-75!! Do you think you could tackle it?? Tony's I-75 restaurant review by Give It A Whirl Girl — The banana split at Tony’s I-75!! Do you think you could tackle it??

We came. We saw. We conquered that banana split at Tony's I-75 restaurant — We came. We saw. We conquered that banana split at Tony’s I-75

Final thoughts about Tony’s I-75 restaurant

Overall we were satisfied with our meals. We all left with full bellies and smiles on our face, that is for certain. We will continue with our yearly tradition for meeting up here once a year. For weeks leading up to it, we are always all talking about that banana split. That dessert is truly the highlight of the meal for me. This is a great restaurant for family dining and I think that everyone in the area should experience this place at least once in their lifetime. I am hopeful and optimistic that this Tony’s I-75 restaurant review will inspire you and your family to give it a whirl someday. It is most definitely worth the drive!

Have you ever been to Tony’s I-75? What do you enjoy ordering there? Leave me a comment and let me know what you like! If you have never been to Tony’s I-75 restaurant what appealed to you on their menu?

Details about Tony’s I-75 Restaurant

Visit Tony’s I-75 Restaurant online

Tonys I-75 Restaurant Location

8781 Main St,
Birch Run, MI 48415

Telephone:

(989) 624-5860

Tony’s I-75 Restaurant Hours

Hours
Mon.-Thurs.: 6:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Fri. & Sat.: 6:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Sunday: 6:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m

PIN FOR LATER!

Tony's I-75 Restaurant REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl - Antipasto Salad — Tony’s I-75 Restaurant REVIEW by Give It A Whirl Girl – Antipasto Salad

Click the image below to read more reviews of local places in Southeast, Michigan

August 25, 2018 6

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!

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August 5, 2018 2

Collaboration With The Hubby- First From Scratch Pizza

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.

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 Till amook 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.

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.

July 15, 2018 0

I am Kimmy Ripley “believe it or not”! Welcome To Give It A Whirl Girl!

The Ripley Family - Kimmy Ripley, Chloe Ripley, Joe Ripley — The Ripley Family

Hello and welcome to my brand spankin’ new blog! I have been putting off doing this for quite awhile because it seems like a daunting task to get it started. I honestly have no idea how to start a blog BUT I am “giving it a whirl”! I am Kimmy Ripley. I am currently 37 years old. I am happily married to Joe. We have been together happily since 1999. We have one daughter, Chloe Pearl, who is my dream girl. All my life I wanted a daughter named Chloe and now I have her in my life. Let me tell you… this girl is sweet as sugar. She makes everyday worth living and she brings me so much happiness even on the darkest days. I am blessed to have my family of 3 and everyday is a new adventure for us!

A little bit about me…

I graduated from Wayne State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. I wanted to be a photographer so bad. Once I got a taste of working in a studio it hit me over the head that it just was not for me. Photography is still a passion of mine but for the most part I have sadly dropped out of the art scene.

In 2009 my daughter was born and that is when my entire life changed! I got a new career and that was raising her as a stay at home mom. It is what has worked out for the best for our family.

Once she was born and started to eat solid foods I realized that something needed to change in my life. I needed to learn how to COOK! I used to think that throwing a jar of Ragu pasta sauce over a box of spaghetti noodles was cooking lol! When my daughter started eating those solids I wanted to do what was best for her and I prepared most of her foods for her myself. I rarely used any prepared baby or toddler foods. This is when my journey and passion for cooking began.

I started scouring the internet for tasty and nutritious recipes. I started checking labels on foods more to see if I wanted to feed those weird ingredients to my family. I became a lot more aware of what was healthy.

Last year I began my weight loss journey with a mostly Mediterranean diet. I introduced many interesting meals to my family and I was so pleased that they enjoyed them. In the end I started going more paleo with my diet. I am not strict paleo so I am just paleo-ish. I try my best to avoid processed foods and feed them more whole foods and organics. We still have plenty of cheat moments because hey… who doesn’t love an indulgent treat like a deep fried peanut butter and jelly?!?@!

Teriyaki chicken served in a pineapple with wild rice - Give It A Whirl Girl — Teriyaki chicken served in a pineapple with wild rice

The content of this blog will contain the following topics for now:

My passion for cooking! I try to cook new recipes as often as I can. Sometimes I get brave and create my own dish without a recipe.
My journey of trying out new foods and beverages. I am telling you that I live for trying out new products. Total foodie right over here. Food is completely on my mind all day long.
My new adventure with coupons and sampling because who doesn’t love a great deal? Am I right?

I am sure that over time things will change with my blog as it experiences growth. I would also love to host giveaways on my blog because I enjoy them too! I have discovered a vast array of new products by entering giveaways. I end up being a fan for life and new customer to these brands that I get lucky enough to win from.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stumble on over to my first post that I was nervous to whip up and then hit publish on! Anyone want to hold my hand LOL! This is a big step in my life. My goal and resolution for the year was to start up this blog and try my best to keep up with it. Being a SAHM during the day while everyone is away gets lonely and I am hoping to connect with people along the way. Thank you again for stopping by. I really truly appreciate any new fans I acquire here!

The Pearl Girl and Give It A Whirl Girl - Kimmy Ripley — The Pearl Girl and Give It A Whirl Girl

The Pearl Girl loves shopping at Whole Foods

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June 6, 2018 1

My Terry’s Terrace Review

The atmosphere

Arcade

Lobster Lover’s February

Lobster choices

Terry’s Terrace menu

Start out with an appetizer at Terry’s Terrace

Load up on some soup and salad

My seafood dinner, the star of the show

Terry’s Terrace for kids

Great place to celebrate a birthday

Final thoughts on my Terry’s Terrace experience

Question Time! What dish is calling your name at Terry’s Terrace? Leave me a comment and let me know what meal looks enticing to you! View the full menu HERE.

Make sure you enter the Terry’s Terrace gift-card giveaway!

4 winners will receive a $25 gift card to spend on their next meal at Terry’s Terrace.

Find out more about Terry’s Terrace

Terry’s Terrace Location

Terry’s Terrace Hours

Other restaurants you might enjoy in Michigan

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My Tony’s I-75 Restaurant Review

About Tony’s I-75

Tony’s I-75 menu

My BIG meal at Tony’s I-75 restaurant – Antipasto Salad and boy was it ever huge!

My mom’s gigantic burrito at Tony’s I-75 restaurant

My husband’s pizza sub at Tony’s I-75 restaurant

And the moment you have been waiting for! Tony’s I-75 banana split!

Final thoughts about Tony’s I-75 restaurant

Have you ever been to Tony’s I-75? What do you enjoy ordering there? Leave me a comment and let me know what you like! If you have never been to Tony’s I-75 restaurant what appealed to you on their menu?

Details about Tony’s I-75 Restaurant

Visit Tony’s I-75 Restaurant online

Tonys I-75 Restaurant Location

Telephone:

(989) 624-5860

Tony’s I-75 Restaurant Hours

Other posts you might enjoy

PIN FOR LATER!

Click the image below to read more reviews of local places in Southeast, Michigan

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

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

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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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