Happy Tuesday all!  Thanks for following along on our Southern California Road Trip to Universal Studios ~ Los Angeles, Venice Beach and Santa Monica.  On our last day, we knew we wanted to head up Highway along the Coast and to the cute Danish Town of Solvang.

Before heading out of the hotel, The Husband wanted to have his picture taken with David Beckham!

After the first picture, he totally got into it and even had one kicking the ball too ~ he is such a clown!

I was completely STARVING so I knew I couldn’t get away with my banana & latte.

Instead, I tried out Starbuck’s Chicken Sausage & Egg White Wrap (7 points+).  It’s actually REALLY good ~ the roasted peppers and mushrooms in the wrap totally reminded me of eating a pizza pocket.

Served up with a grande ff decaf latte (3 points+).

Since this was Scooter’s first ROAD TRIP, we made sure he took his picture with the Hollywood sign!

After driving down the Avenue of the Stars and Sunset Blvd., we headed out of town to have lunch in Malibu Beach.

We actually ate at Paradise Cove Beach Cafe a few years back when we drove to Southern California to surprise my sister for her birthday.  We both remembered loving this place so we knew we had to go back.

It is situated right off Highway 1 and right on the beach ~ you have the choice of eating inside or outside on the beach.

I could honestly eat just their salad bar alone, but, I knew exactly what I wanted.

We started with orange iced teas (although, they have several alcoholic drinks that they serve up in the fruit (coconut, pineapple, watermelon, etc.) that looked fun.)

We shared the Wedge Salad sans the stinky cheese and stinky dressing ~ served up with ranch instead. (3 points+ for my half).

I was CRAVING Shrimp Scampi!!!  I actually was surprised it came on rice versus noodles ~ not the same.  I ate all the shrimp, giving one to The Husband and skipped the bread and ride ~ it just didn’t sound good (8 points+)

For my “side” I picked snap peas that I shared with The Husband too.  Totally crunchy, sweet and delicious (2 points+ for the oil I am sure they used)

We took a walk along the beach soaking up the ocean and sun after lunch before heading off to our next destination.

SOLVANG!!!

Solvang is a super cute Danish town that was developed in 1911.  It is a little touristy, but, I kind of think that adds a little to the charm.

The buildings totally make it seem like are visiting a town in Denmark.

There are a bunch of bakeries that smell amazing when you walk by along with plenty of restaurants to try out.  I also LOVE that they have wine, cheese and olive tasting rooms throughout the town!

All of the shops are uniquely decorated and everyone is super friendly when you stop in.

We couldn’t resist….what can I say, we are total suckers for these booths every single time

We knew the ONE place we had to stop was Mortensen’s Bakery because Monica gave it such great reviews when we asked about it on Facebook.

WOW!  I pretty much wanted to try one of everything when we looked at the display….

We even pondered getting a bunch to go ~ you know for another day

But, when, it came down to it, we both knew we would eat them all as soon as we could and shared the absolute BEST LEMON DANISH I’ve ever had in my life.

It was totally flakey, buttery and tart from the lemon, but, then, the icing literally melted in your mouth along with the nutty crunch from the almonds. (6 points+ for half and worth every single one).

On our way home, we stopped in Atascadero at OutLaw’s Hideout for dinner. 

I LOVE Mom & Pop shops and will always eat there over any chain restaurant any day.

I ordered the special ~ BBQ Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, Garlic Toast, Coleslaw and cowboy beans…..ready for this ~ it was only $8!!

Crazy, insane and downhome good!  I didn’t even put a dent in this plate.  I had about 1/3 of the chicken, 1/2 the fries and the coleslaw.  The Husband had my beans, toast and the rest of the chicken.

It is meals like this that make me wish I could eat more LOL…..

We spent today getting settled in back home and ready for the work week that starts tomorrow.  I am glad it’s only 3 days since I am totally sick now.  It was worth it though because our mini vacation was a blast!

On that note, I am off to catch some zzzzzzz’s.

Night all!

Happy Monday all!  Thanks for sharing all your Universal Studios stories ~ I have to say, I am totally intrigued by everything that goes on at Universal during Halloween.  That might just be worth another trip to experience that ~ Crazy! (Thanks Opal!)

I started off day 3 of our Road Trip with a Tall Nonfat Chai Tea Latte, my last banana and a few cashews (not pictured) ~ 6 points+.

One thing I knew I wanted to do on our trip was to visit as many beaches and see the ocean as much as possible.  We parked the car and spent the rest of the day walking ~ I am pretty sure I got in a bazillion steps since we walked for like 7 hours all day long!

Stop #1 Venice Beach!

We spent our morning walking the huge strip along the beach…..people watching, chatting and soaking up the sunshine.

There is just something to be said for strolling along for miles along the ocean.

The Husband wanted to check out the outdoor gym but nobody was there.

We stopped for a fruit cup then checked out all the crazy sidewalk vendors and shops.

I will say as cool as Venice Beach looks in the movies, it’s not quite the same in person.

After 3 hours of walking in Venice, we headed over to the Santa Monica Pier.

2nd stop ~ The Beach! Nope, I was too chicken to get in the water because I know it’s cold!

As you walk over the hill, they have these big blue and yellow tents for Cirque Du Soleil similar to the show you can watch in Las Vegas.

One thing that I LOVE about the Pier is all the colors of everything ~from the buildings…

To the rides….

To the crazy Pier Vendors ~ RAINBOW!

Our last stop was the 3rd Street Promenade where we met up with Josie and her family again.  We always have the BEST time hanging out with them ~ her boys are a hoot!

We decided to have lunch at Ye Old King’s Pub.

I totally wanted to order the Fish & Chips since they were raving about how good it was at this Pub ~ BUT, I knew it would probably not be so points+ friendly and this Chicken Tostada Salad sounded delicious.

So, an English version of a tostada salad is completely different from the Mexican American version It was still deliciously healthy nonetheless.

Romaine, Cilantro, Tomatoes, Red Onion, AVOCADO, boiled chicken, cheese and ranch.  I had the dressing on the side and had only 2 bites of the shell. (8 points+)

Unintentionally being THAT healthy at lunch totally helped me justify Tutti Fruit Froyo when her boys mentioned ice cream.  I mixed this banana flavor with cookies & cream topped with mini white chips, m&m’s, chocolate caps and sprinkles. (8 points+)

We ended up back in Universal City for the night since we both still wanted to check out Hollywood the next day.  Dinner was totally simple, but, hit the spot since I have been fighting a chest cold all trip.

Fresh Sour Dough Roll (4 points+)

I shared this Caprese Salad with The Husband (4 points+)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (5 points+)!

See you all tomorrow with our Road Trip Finale through Hollywood, Malibu and Solvang!

Night all!

Happy Saturday All! We totally tried to be a “little” tricky and make it seem like Tahoe or Vegas, but, how many of you guessed…..HOLLYWOOD?!?!

The Husband totally thinks we look “smart” in our 3D Glasses ~ LOL!

Ok, more specifically, Universal Studios ~ Ellen & Laura ~ you both are smart cookies for identifying CityWalk!

I am actually totally “The Planner” and he is Mr. Spontaneous!  We just randomly decided earlier this week that we would just get in the car and drive ~ no plans, no agenda.

As we drove we decided on Universal Studios since we never went when we were in Florida.

When we got up this morning, all I really wanted was a BIG coffee and a banana.

Since we stayed so close to Universal at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City, we decided to spend the entire day on foot!  We walked over to Universal Studios and started out day with probably one of the best “rides”

The Behind the Scene’s Studio Tour!

I think the commentary is what makes the tour so cool ~ well, that and seeing all the sets that they use for movies and TV series.  You also get the chance to see a few re-enactments too.

Sometimes the buildings are just painted like this…..

And other times they just give the appearance that they are real buildings…..

When really they are only real walls with nothing on the other side.

All the grass, trees, and lampposts are just placed on top of the concrete so they can pick them up to move them at any point in time.

The Husband decided he totally NEEDS one of these cars!

The first thing you experience is King Kong 3D.  It feels like you are in the middle of the jungle getting attacked…..the tour trolley moves all around, you feel the fire ~ it’s just so cool!

As you continue touring and they explain all the different stages, sets, etc., we stopped to watch a Flash Flood ~ Hollywood style.

It starts with the rain…..

Then, the water comes rushing in…..

Floods everything, buildings collapse and such….then, it just gets drained and recycled for the next round, just like that.

After the flood experience, you head to the underground subway to experience a 3D Earth Quake…..that looks and feels so incredibly REAL ~ complete with this truck that comes crashing in and catches on fire!

Next up ~ Jaws!!! You get to see how the shark attacks the scuba diver and turns the water red.

Then, swim around crashing into the dock…..

Before jumping out of the water at us…..

Some of you might recognize this next set which gets filmed Monday – Friday. 

Recognize it?

Wisteria Lane….

The Desperate House Wives set is so small…..it’s like all the houses are mini sized.

They used 2 million pounds of Styrofoam to build the set for the Grinch That Stole Christmas.

All the little cars drive because they are decked out golf carts!

And it totally looked funny to see the Whoville set in the back of the Bate Motel.

The last scene we stopped at was the movie set for a plane crash (I totally cannot remember the movie name right now)

They actually used a real plane to make this set look real.

After that ride, we shared some cashews (2 point+)

As we walked around being tourists snapping all kinds of random pictures.

The Husband and Jaws!

Don’t worry Scooter we won’t trade you in for Mr. Beans car

The BIGGEST NERDS you will ever see….

It’s pretty safe to say everything in this store is BIG!

It’s so fun just to walk around and see all the buildings.

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We eventually ended up at the House of Horrors with Chucky!

It’s pretty freaky and I am pretty sure we both screamed like little girls a few times….especially when Chucky came out of nowhere with a knife!

We stopped for lunch at Flintstone’s BBQ

When The Husband said he wanted a burger THIS BIG!

Not quite what he had in mind……but….

HIs homemade BBQ chips totally made up for it!

I ordered the BBQ Chicken Special and ate about 1/3 of the chicken, 1/2 the muffin and all the slaw.  I never ate the potato. (10 points+)

After lunch, we headed over to Water World ~ probably one of the coolest shows they have in the park.

RAINBOW!

We watched every show in the park and both felt it was totally worth the $.  We finished the day by heading over to City Walk.

We ended up at Jillian’s for dinner.

I started with a salad with ranch on the side ~ obviously our waitress missed the whole on the side part….(4 points+)

Then, I special ordered my meal ~ Grilled Shrimp over plain fettuccine (no sauce).  It totally hit the spot and I was hungry enough that I ate it all. (14 points+)

Tomorrow we are off to another location….Maybe Hollywood, Maybe Santa Monica, Maybe…..

To be continued!

Night all….

Happy Friday all!  Sometimes when life gets crazy and you want to just throw your hands in the air, you just have to get away from it all and get out of town for a ROAD TRIP!!  We decided it was time that we take Scooter out for his first long drive.  We didn’t head up to Lake Tahoe this time, but, we went in a totally different direction.

Here is the view from our Hotel ~ Any guesses where we went???

Sorry I was MIA yesterday, but, I did finally add that Print It Button for the 1 Points+ Strawberry Mini Muffins.

I’ll be back tomorrow with all the details ~ Ready, set, guess away!!!

Thanks to everyone who played along in the Gevalia Kaffe Giveaway. 

The LUCKY winner of this fantastic prize pack chosen using random.org is……

* One Bag of House Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
* One Bag of French Roast Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
* A Super FUN Gevalia Kaffe branded coffee mug

#27 Ashley February 13, 2012 at 7:11 pm

I’d love to try the chocolate mocha!

Congrats Ashley!  Please email me your full name and mailing address and I’ll have the Gevalia folks get your prize pack out ASAP.

For all those who didn’t win, do not worry as I have another Giveaway lined up for you all coming up this week!

This is a recipe is a healthy spin on my favorite Strawberry Muffin recipes.  You can easily slice up and freeze fresh Farmer’s Market Strawberries in the summer and make these delicious strawberry mini muffin bites that melt in your mouth in the winter.  These muffins are delicious when served warm with Homemade Strawberry Butter or make them even healthier with Homemade “Mock” Strawberry Cream Cheese.

STRAWBERRY MINI MUFFINS WITH STRAWBERRY “CREAM CHEESE” (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 12 oz frozen sliced strawberries, thawed and undrained **
• 1/4 cup 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 Large Eggs

** NOTE: You can make your own version of frozen strawberries by taking 12 oz fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups) and halve them. Place the strawberries in a ziploc bag and add 6 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Seal the bag and slightly crush the berries by smashing them a little. Shake to mix and allow to stand until sugar dissolves.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add strawberries, yogurt, eggs and oil until blended. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans (can use muffin liners), filling 2/3’s full.

3.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.

4.  Serve warm with Homemade Strawberry Butter or chilled with Strawberry “Cream Cheese”.

Makes 48 MINI Muffins, 1 points+ each

Nutritional information per muffin calculated using caloriecount.com

These muffins are delicious as is, but, sometimes, the toppers make them even better.  Pick and choose your favorite to serve it up or be like me and make both because you cannot decide which one you want!

STRAWBERRY BUTTER

• 1/2 cup Butter, Softened
• 2 Tbsp Strawberry Jam

INSTRUCTIONS

Just before serving, beat butter and jam until light, fluffy and blended.

Makes 30 tsp, 1 points+ per tsp

STRAWBERRY “CREAM CHEESE”

• 1 cup 0% Greek Yogurt, drain
• 2 Tbsp Strawberry Jam

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Strain yogurt in a strainer lined with cheese cloth, overnight, about 24 hours.  If desired, strain jam at the same time to remove addition water.

2.  Whisk everything together for the perfect cream cheese substitute.

NOTE: If you would like your cream cheese thicker, simply strain in the fridge again.

Makes 3/4 cup or Six 2 Tbsp servings, 0 points+ each

Night all!

Husband!!!! How many of you all could’ve guessed that one?! For all those who emailed wondering what he would do this year……I think this year he might have topped his Human Card and My Garden Box aka The Love Garden.  This year actually all goes back to that whole Rainbow Story & the infamous Rainbow Cake!

I get up a lot earlier than him since I typically hop on the treadmill at 5 am to get my calorie burn on.  After working out and sneaking about putting up all his Valentine’s day stuff, I hopped in the shower. 

I sort of “freaked” out because as I was rinsing my hair, I heard the bathroom door open & close, but, NOBODY was there…..I opened the shower door and saw this sitting on the counter…..

I totally started laughing out loud and went to “wake” him up….He told me he was still “night night” so I went in the kitchen and next to my coffee cup was a Unicorn!

Yup, he totally bought an ENTIRE pack of Valentine’s cards, write personalized messages in each and strategically left them all over the house, in my jacket pocket, lunch bag……

As I continued getting ready for work, he told me he had some “mail” for me and brought this to me….My very own personal mail box!

Complete with Rainbows to keep up with my childhood theme!

And mail too, of course!

Yup, those are ALL little heart stickers too!

But, wait….it gets better!  He actually ran outside while I was in the shower to decorate Scooter too!  I was totally busting up when I walked up to the door and saw MORE Hearts!

And MORE Valentine’s on the steering wheel, shifter, seat!

Taken with my phone from Scooters window…I totally didn’t even realize until now that one of the hearts lined up perfectly on him.

I thought he was all done with surprises until I walked in the door tonight……and saw more hearts!

He baked cupcakes for practice he said….

Don’t they look professional?! They taste pretty amazing too & 110% worth indulging in….

Bought me Heart Plates to feed my random plate collection ~ I can’t wait to use them!!!

And, quite possibly one of my favorite things ever ~ He actually MADE this Rainbow Heart that lights up!

Seriously ~ it’s the little things!  It doesn’t have to be big or expensive or fancy…..it’s all those little things that add up to make this one of the BEST Valentine’s Days I’ve ever had! I him!!!

Happy Hearts Day all ~ Thanks for always reading, sharing your comments and Goals!, encouraging me and being a part of my daily adventures.

Ok, I promise I am all done with the mushy gushy stuff!  I will be back tomorrow with my 1 points+ Strawberry Mini Muffin & Whipped Strawberry Cream Cheese Recipes!

Night all!

Happy Monday all! I first discovered my LOVE for Coffee when I was in college.  I realized how awesome it could be at keeping you awake during finals.  I will admit that I used totally add a ton of creamer and sugar to my coffee.  When I started my Weight Loss journey, I decided to give up all the extra calories I was using on sugar and creamers.

About 5 years ago, I went BOLD!  I decided to start drinking my coffee black.  It was awful at first, but, I kept reminding myself of a study I read somewhere that said if you try something 12 times, you will eventually learn to love it.  Slowly over time, I learned the ONLY way to drink your coffee black and to LOVE IT is to have GOOD COFFEE!

Gevalia Kaffe Swedish Coffee falls into that bucket for me.  It smells amazing as it brews, but, when, you finally take a sip ~ it’s more than just your average cup of joe.

You get this sense of rich french roast that is honestly smooth and not bitter in any way….it’s a coffee that really does not require any creamer or sugar ~ it’s THAT good!

Whether you are a traditionalist……or you like a little flavor in your coffee…..

Gevalia Kaffe has several flavors that you all can purchase at the local Safeway near you:

• Gevalia Traditional Roast
• Gevalia House Blend
• Gevalia House Blend Decaf
• Gevalia French Roast (ground and whole bean)
• Gevalia Colombia
• Gevalia Espresso Roast
• Gevalia Vanilla
• Gevalia Chocolate Mocha

So many delicious flavors to sip and savor!

ONE LUCKY WINNER WILL RECEIVE :

* One Bag of House Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
* One Bag of French Roast Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
* A Super FUN Gevalia Kaffe branded coffee mug

HOW TO ENTER:

1) Simply leave your FIRST comment telling me which flavor of Gevalia Kaffe you would like to try first.

2)   TWEET and/or Facebook about this giveaway, “Calling all #Coffee Fanatics! @danicasdaily is giving away FREE @Gevalia Coffee Enter this #giveaway Here http://tinyurl.com/77vzhyb”  Be sure to leave a SECOND comment to let me know you did.

3) If you have a blog, LINK back to this contest and leave a THIRD comment letting me know you did.

If you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment below telling me someone you told about this giveaway.

The Fine Print: Thanks to  My Blog Spark and Kraft Foods for letting me share in the fun by giving you all the chance to win the same delicious Gevalia Coffee Sampler Pack like the one I received! Kraft Foods has provided sample product to me and is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Danica’s Daily.

The Winners will be randomly drawn and announced on Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Good Luck Everyone!

Happy Sunday all!  It is so FUN when I get a recipe so right that a few of you go out and buy the ingredients to make it that night ~ I LOVE that!  I do admit that 4 pointsplus Slow Cooker Kale, Kielbasa and Bean soup is absolutely delicious.  It will definitely make it to our menu again. 

This morning we had the chance to attend our Weight Watchers meeting at the new location.  It is so AWESOME ~ I LOVE the Bright Green Chairs….I will be taking pictures and sharing soon.

The Husband is the ROCK STAR this week losing 3 lbs!  I knew the scale would not be my friend since it’s the wrong time of the month and I was up 1 lb.  I am completely OK with that because I have not doubt it will disappear and then some next week.  I came so close to my 7 lb Valentine’s day goal by losing 5.6 lbs out of 7.

MY NEW GOAL ~ EASTER!  I LOVE setting mini goals because it makes it easier to focus on losing in small increments.  When I originally started Weight Watchers, I could not fathom needing to lose 65 lbs ~ it felt too big, too overwhelming.  My FANTASTIC leader asked me if I could lose 5 lbs and I was like sure!  So, he told me to prove it to him….then, I kept proving it over and over again 5 lbs at a time.

That being said ~ there are 55 days until Easter.  My NEW GOAL is to lose 8 LBS by Easter (April 8th!) and to earn 14 Activity Points a week.  My goal resets today and I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

Have you set an Easter Goal?  It can be anything ~ it does not have to be weight loss related.

This morning I couldn’t wait to dig into breakfast.  Yesterday I whipped up a batch of my Brown Sugar Banana Nut Muffins, but, I made them into MINI MUFFINS.

You get 3 MINI MUFFINS for 5 points+ ~ deal!

The muffins paired perfectly with my FAVORITE new coffee ~ Gevalia Kaffe French Roast.

The folks over Gevalia know I have a “slight” coffee addiction and asked if I would like to try their new Swedish Coffees.  I picked the French Roast today and it was absolutely delicious.

Note: Kraft Foods has provided sample product to me at no cost to me.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Danica’s Daily.

Not to mention, it smells amazing as it brews.

We spent the morning earning our steps by walking around the Sacramento Antique Fair.  I ended up getting hungry about 4 hours after breakfast and decided to snack on the Popped Zesty Cheese Crisps samples they were handing out at our meeting.

I LOVE that the entire bag was full ~ they are thinner and lighter than PopChips and I bet the BBQ would be even more delicious.

Lunch was at Boudin Bakery ~ we both got the Pick 2!

1/2 a Spring Salad ~ the apples, cranberries & spiced walnuts totally make this salad (7 points+)

Mini Tomato Soup in a Bread Bowl.  I only managed eating all of the soup and half the bread because I stopped when I was full even though my mouth wanted it all! (12 points+)

I was not really hungry for dinner so we decided to just “snack” on Chicken Potstickers we had in the freezer! 

Sometimes ~ this really is all you need! (7 points+)

HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

• Weight Watchers Rigatoni with Sausage & Kale Pasta with Salad
• VALENTINE’S DAY  ~ Either heading out to Buckhorn Steakhouse, Mikuni’s OR grilling up steak with cheesy bacon smashed potatoes and artichokes!
• Maple Bacon Turkey Burgers or TJ’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers & Zucchini Fries
• Shrimp Scampi, Asparagus
• Spicy Chicken Fried Rice with Cashews
• BFD or Kale with Bacon & Cannelini Beans & Artichokes!
• Other ideas I am pondering ~ Mini Tamale Pies and I bought everything to make Butternut Squash Lasagna!

Q’s

What is your EASTER Goal?  Pick something that is attainable and achievable ~ even if you feel you can beat it!  Stay tuned tomorrow for your chance to win some Gevalia Coffee too!

Night all!