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 Chimichurri

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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

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.

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!

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.

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October 16, 2018 0

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

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

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

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

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 – Ready for the air-fryer

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.

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October 3, 2018 7

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Chicken With Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Air-Fryer Fingerling Potatoes

Every single time I use Primal Kitchen in my meals I am never disappointed. That was the case last night when I used the Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard marinade and vinaigrette on my grilled chicken breast. When people think about healthy eating they often think foods are bland and boring. They do not have to be that way. I have changed my eating habits a little over a year ago. My family is on this clean eating adventure with me and they are a-okay with most of it. We are probably the number one fan honey mustard marinade from Primal Kitchen.

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard With Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Air-Fryer Fingerling Potatoes

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Marinade / Vinaigrette

The first thing I did with this dinner was marinated my chicken breast. I went with the Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard marinade last night and I broke out the marinade in the morning and let my chicken soak up the flavor all day. This honey mustard marinade is one of my top favorites from Primal Kitchen. This marinade has a bit of tang a bit of sweetness. It is perfectly balanced.

No weird ingredients in Primal Kitchen

Want to know what is on the label for this Primal Kitchen honey mustard marinade? Simple and pure ingredients and that is it! Here are the ingredients:

Avocado Oil, Water, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Stone Ground Mustard (Water, Organic Mustard Seeds, Organic Vinegar, Sea Salt, Organic Spices), Organic Honey, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt

Primal Kitchen is paleo-approved

If following a paleo diet is important to you, great news! This honey mustard marinade is perfectly paleo friendly. I am not 100% paleo so I just slap the label “paleo-ISH” on myself. This Primal Kitchen honey mustard marinade will fit right into to your clean-eating lifestyle.

Time to bust out the trusty ol’ cast iron grill pan

My preferred method of cooking chicken is with my Lodge cast iron grill pan. I use this pan for my steaks as well. If you want a juicy, succulent, and tender piece of meat this is the way to go.

Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Chicken grilling on a Lodge cast iron grill pan. See those awesome grill marks? YAS!

What’s on the chopping block?

We had a tasty combo of vegetables for this meal. I decided to roast the brussels sprouts in the honey mustard marinade. I roasted them in the oven at 400-degrees for about 25 minutes. We also had some fingerling potatoes. I placed them in a bowl and drizzled them in extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.

Fingerling potatoes and brussels sprouts on the cutting board

Want perfectly fried potatoes? Use your air-fryer!

For the fingerling potatoes, I used NuWave my air-fryer to fry them up. After air-frying them at 390-degrees for about 20 minutes they came out with the perfect doneness. The skin was nice and crisp and exactly how you want to eat a fried potato. The rosemary and thyme gave them a wonderful flavor throughout.

I have an older model of the Nuwave air-fryer. I have been using it for a couple of years now and it is still going strong. If you want to give an air-fryer a whirl there is a new model on Amazon. This model is a 6-quart air-fryer and using this is the best method for a healthier alternative to fried foods. Two of my favorite items to use my air-fryer for are fries (obviously) and my pickle-marinated chicken tenders, which I will make a point to blog about soon because I am craving them.

Final thoughts

I will be honest and blunt here (sorry Joe!) but I never envisioned my husband maintaining a healthy diet. Before we were married he lived off Little Caesar’s Hot & Ready pizzas and nachos smothered in processed cheese. When we were eating our healthy dinner last night I heard some moans and mmm’s coming out of him while he was devouring his plate of food. Any time he makes I sound like that I know I did a great job whipping up dinner. Maybe I deserve a little medal or trophy for getting this man on the healthy train? Or at least a little pat on the back?

It is also important that my 8-year-old daughter, Chloe, adapts to healthy eating habits as well. I believe I am on the right path because she does enjoy most meals and often asks for seconds.

Have you ever tried any of Primal Kitchen’s items? Which one is your fave? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Want to save some dough at Primal Kitchen?

Use my special discount code GIVEITAWHIRL10 to save!

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September 28, 2018 2

Food creations made from cast iron cooking essentials

Cast Iron Cooking Essentials

You might enjoy: My Honest ButcherBox Review

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

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

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

Save at Kettle & Fire with my special Kettle & Fire coupon code.

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Like this:

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

Just gotta have my cast iron!

Dearborn Honey Bacon – The Star Of The Show Last Night

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

Final thoughts

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

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Other posts you might enjoy here at Give It A Whirl Girl!

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Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Marinade / Vinaigrette

No weird ingredients in Primal Kitchen

Primal Kitchen is paleo-approved

Time to bust out the trusty ol’ cast iron grill pan

What’s on the chopping block?

Want perfectly fried potatoes? Use your air-fryer!

Final thoughts

Have you ever tried any of Primal Kitchen’s items? Which one is your fave? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Want to save some dough at Primal Kitchen?

Pin this post for later!

Here are some other Give It A Whirl Girl posts you might enjoy!

Share this:

Like this:

Disclaimer – The Fine Print

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