Stay healthy while cruising
hi! My name is Jasmine from the healthy living blog Sweet and Fit. When Danica told me she was looking for guest posters while she will be on her anniversary cruise with Jay, I knew I just had to take her up on that offer. Danica is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met and I am honored to do this guest post for her – thank you Danica!
Right about now Danica is probably soaking up the Caribbean sun, shopping around on the islands, or maybe even winning some in the cruiseship’s casino – meanwhile I’m wearing two pairs of pants and roughing it out in the rain & wind here in DC. Its no surprise that I try to escape from the nasty weather in DC almost every winter, I have been on about a dozen cruises, ten of which were with Royal Caribbean cruise lines. As I grew older, watching what I eat and maintaining a healthy lifestyle became more and more important to me. Over time, I learned to adapt to my environment and make the healthiest choices while cruising. Sometimes it can be challenging to maintain a healthy lifestyle at sea, but with an open mind – its actually fairly easy. I think many people are going on cruises because of how affordable they are and also since its really an all-inclusive vacation (except alcohol that is). I figured I’d share some of the ways I stay healthy on cruises, and perhaps someone may find this helpful =)
- excursions! I think just about all cruiselines have offer activities at the different ports of call, some are just a walking tour – but other excursions really give me a work-out! I don’t know about you but my usual work-out is nothing like snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming with dolphins, hiking, or any type of watersport you can think of.
- walking – I notice that I end up walking so much more when on vacation without a car, than when I’m at home. Not only do I find myself walking up and down lengthy corridors on cruises ship, but I also do a TON of walking around on the islands. Not having a car will do that to a person, you find yourself walking a few miles over the course of the day.
- dinner – For people that are trying to eat healthy on a cruiseship, the fancy dinners in the dining room may not seem to find healthy options. However, the dining room almost always offers two healthy entrée choices for those who don’t like anything on the menu for the evening, the healthy choices may be a grilled chicken of grilled Atlantic salmon with steamed veggies. I find that while in the middle of the ocean, its probably best to take advantage of all the fresh seafood available – such as this amazing jump shrimp cocktail:
Also, the dining staff are really more than happy to accommodate any dietery needs/restrictions you may have. Its really not any trouble for them to put sauce on the side or modify the dish to your needs – they are really more than happy to make sure you are satisfied =) If all else fails, the buffet-style dinner option is a great choice for picky eaters – with a HUGE salad bar and sooo many other options, its so easy to pick and choose everything to create a well-rounded healthy meal.
Lastly – it’s a cruise after all! If there’s ever a time that you need to indulge and treat yourself, its probably on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. When cruising, I do enjoy indulging a bit every night at dinner, but I try to make up for it by eating somewhat healthy most of the day.
Thank you so much Danica for giving me this opportunity to guest post on your lovely blog!
Happy sailing!
Dill-Yogurt Dip
Snack-Girl features a snack makeover every week. This one is about dip!
Have you noticed how many calories a sour cream and onion dip has? We can fool ourselves into believing we are eating healthily by dipping veggies in these dips. Alas, they taste good but they are killing our waistlines.
Everyone loves vegetables when you start adding fat, salt, and sugar. And this is a good thing – but how much fat, salt, and sugar do you need to have a yummy snack?
This is a great makeover because you are not only using a low calorie substitute for sour cream but you are adding vegetables to the dip! So you get twice the veggies out of your snack.
Greek yogurt has a thicker consistency than regular yogurt which makes it feel and taste more luxurious than regular yogurts. There is a zero fat version which tastes pretty good.
Dill-Yogurt Dip
Fat-Free Greek Yogurt (6 ounces or so)
One half cucumber
2 tsp. fresh dill
Red wine vinegar to taste (splash or two)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mince cucumber and dill. Mix together with yogurt, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Serve with sliced carrots, broccoli, celery, sugar snap peas, etc.
The vinegar makes the yogurt sour (like sour cream) and the salt and pepper give it the saltiness that tastes great with raw vegetables.
Find more healthy snack ideas and snack makeovers on http://www.snack-girl.com
Love The One Your With…
Hi Danica’s readers! My name is Quinn and I am the woman behind My Mantra: Everything in Moderation. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Danica and her husband, Jay, at the FoodBuzz Festival in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and I have to say – she is one million times more amazing than you see on her blog, and I wish them nothing but relaxation on their one year anniversary.
When Danica asked a few of us to serve as guest writers while she was cruisin’ the Caribbean, I jumped at the chance. How cool to write for someone else’s blog?!?!!? But, what to write!?!?!? After seeing Danica with her hubs, Jay, in San Fran it was obvious they had an awesome relationship. As a newlywed myself, I can certainly relate to them. In fact, it has often interested me to see how the other halves of blogger relationships eat. Are they as health conscious as we are or do they prefer to head to the Mickey D’s drive thru while we’re not around? Geoff, my hubs, has certainly improved his eating since we first started dating, but also since I began my blog about a year and a half ago.
He’s sipped the Green Monster
He’s eaten flax seed on his peanut butter toast that I sneak him
He is given turkey sandwiches on whole wheat with light Laughing Cow or avocado in lieu of mayonnaise (blech!).
He eats whole and good for him foods and doesn’t even know it!
Sometimes, however, he thinks we need to make our own blog with angels and devils. My health food would be the angel’s choices and his heart stifling meals would be the devil’s picks.
Here are some of the not so healthy choices he has made over the past year.
But, as my blog states, everything in moderation. And the fact that I get him thinking about healthier options, even when I’m not around is a win to me.
Has your blog, or if you don’t have a blog your healthy lifestyle, made over your man?
Thanks Danica, for the opportunity to guest post and don’t forget to wear your sunscreen while catching those rays!
Jay’s Anniversary Post with Cake
Happy 1st Anniversary, Danica! I LOVE YOU!
A year ago today we were married on the Caribbean Island of Anguilla (British). She looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress (and she does every day!)
SEE TOLD YA!!!
So it was a great day and everything was perfect except the wedding cake. (This is a food blog, right?)
Looks normal, huh? The flowers are made out of sugar but look real – Cool!
We had ordered some special Caribbean wedding cake with edible flowers on it. It was a beautiful cake, but, when we took our first bites, I was like…..WTF?! It tasted just like fish!!! I almost hate fish. We were both looking at each other thinking, “does this taste that bad to you too?”
Other than the cake, everything was amazing and it will always give us something to look back on and also to laugh about forever……THE FISH CAKE!
Anyway, just to tell all…..
The Danica you know and love online is a nice, wonderful, giving and thoughtful person. The Danica that I married and live with on a daily, lifelong journey is even more exceptional. She is a great friend to have (she’s my Best Friend). She goes out of her way to make others happy (I Am!) To know her is to LOVE her.
A few of you that met Danica at BlogHERFood09 and FoodBuzz in San Francisco probably thought she was nice. Yes she is THAT nice……ALWAYS!
She is a fantastic person. I am so blessed to have her in my life.
You are so beautiful on the inside & out!
I Love You…..Always & Forever (insert hearts here if I knew how) 
Jay, A.K.A The Husband
SPECIAL THANKS TO…..
THE BOOTIES GROUP (Cryssy, VickI, VickY)
THE FAB 5 FROM FOODBUZZ (Janetha, Jasmine, Quinn, Allison, Ashley) – You made our weekend unforgettable…..I’ll always be Jay’s Taxi whenever you need a ride 
BONUS POINTS: KATHY THE HAIRDRESSER – You make Danica’s hair look awesome, plus I get 3 hours of poker time every time you.
And thank you to all our family and friends for all the support on Danica’s Daily ~ You keep her going.
Oh, I almost forgot, Happy Thanksgiving All!
THE END
Eat Your Sweets
Hello all you Danica’s Daily followers!
My name is Holly, and I write the healthy living blog, The Healthy Everythingtarian. Each day I wake up, I try and dedicate myself to finding a balance between food, exercise and life. It isn’t always easy, and it hasn’t always been the case, but I firmly believe you can have your cake and eat it too.
Don’t believe me?
Still don’t believe me?
I think I’ve made my point.
Ever since I was a wee, little curly-haired tot, I have had a voracious sweet tooth. I haven’t met an ice cream I don’t like or a bakery I could will myself to walk by. Salty or sweet, you ask? I will toss the chips any day for a crumbly, buttery scone. To be honest, I still don’t quite trust myself in the candy aisle of gas stations.
But the moral of this story remains: I still eat my sweets and enjoy every bite.
As a healthy living blogger, I believe dessert is essential to happiness. That is why I categorize desserts into two categories: “the good stuff” and “the healthy stuff.”
I try to eat “the good stuff” occasionally – a decadent cheesecake on my birthday or a plateful of my mom’s delicious Christmas wreath cookies during the holidays.
For the past couple Thanksgiving holidays, I’ve made a Paula Deen recipe that is OUT OF THIS WORLD: Pumpkin Cheesecake.
It’s rich, seasonal, not-so-healthy and completely worth it – a perfect occasional dessert!
Contrastingly, I eat “the healthy stuff” on a weekly basis – this may include a dessert recipe I have healthified or a couple squares of dark chocolate.
A couple months ago, I came up with my recipe for Pumpkin Molasses Cookies. They’re vegan, include lots of beneficial nutrients and best of all, taste fabulous!
Vegan Pumpkin Molasses Cookies
2 cups flour (you can use regular or whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or other form of sugar), reserving 2 tbsp.
2 tbsp. water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together, including the ground flax. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, molasses and canola oil. Then whisk in the sugar.
Fold the pumpkin molasses mixture in the dry ingredients. Add the water near the end, which should help the dough come together. It will be sticky.
In a small bowl, place the 2 tbsp. of sugar and mix with a dash or two of ground ginger.
Spoon 1 tbsp. of the dough, rolling it in your hands into a ball. Then toss the ball in sugar mixture until it is coated. Repeat this process for all 24 cookies. Before placing the pan in the oven, press a fork vertically then horizontally (creating criss crossing lines), slightly smooshing the cookie down. The cookie should be 1/4- to 1/2-inch or so thickness.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly firm.
Makes 2 dozen cookies
I have calculated these babies out to less than 100 calories a cookie – a perfect weekly treat that anyone can fit into their diet!
So there you have it my gracious new readers – two recipes satisfying both the “real” craving and the “healthy” craving!
Thanks to Danica for asking me to guest post – isn’t she fabulous? Happy anniversary to the DD household!
Any questions? Shoot me an e-mail at healthyeverythingtarian@gmail.com.
Happy sweets eating!
Holly
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