New restaurant items at California Pizza Kitchen (Review)

We are pizza fanatics in this house, so I was beyond excited when we received some ‘pizza dough’ in the mail to spend on some of the new menu items available at California Pizza Kitchen.  In case you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, ‘pizza dough’ is CPK’s version of the gift card.  It’s like monopoly money, except this is actually worth more than make-believe real estate.

There were so many options on the menu – including over 30 pizzas.  Wow!  There are also salads, pasta, sandwiches, tacos and seafood items.  But this was our first time at CPK, and we were there for the pizza.

But first, we ordered the macaroni and cheese for the little one.

We had to sample it to make sure it was edible (wink, wink).   

I’m pretty sure Emma liked it too. Ya think??

The new menu items looked beyond fabulous, so that’s what we decided on.  First up, the Four Seasons.  Sorry for the missing slice – hubby was ravenous and couldn’t wait another second. It’s made with imported Italian tomatoes, oven-roasted artichoke hearts, salami, fresh mushrooms, mild onions, Mozzarella and fresh Mozzarella cheeses. Topped with fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese.  This was delicious.  I think the salami really made it.  My husband wasn’t as big a fan, but he still went back for more.

We added chicken to the Roasted Artichoke and Spinach pizza.  This was Yum with a capitol ‘Y’.  It’s our favorite of the two pizzas with oven-roasted artichoke hearts, sautéed spinach and garlic, Fontina, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with spinach artichoke sauce.  If you were to mate pizza with spinach and artichoke dip, this is it’s baby.  Oh so good!

These are both thin crust menu items.  We love thin crust, and the fact that you can upgrade any pizza on the menu to a thin crust type.  We are in love with this place, and even though it is about 40 minutes away from our house, we’ll be back again very soon. 

I’d recommend California Pizza Kitchen as a great family-friendly restaurant for pizza lovers.  Fantastic!  You can keep up with California Pizza Kitchen on facebook and twitter.

No compensation was received for this post, but I did receive ‘pizza dough’ from California Pizza Kitchen in order to facilitate my review of their new menu items.  All of the opinions above are 100% my own.

SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS Tour (Review & Giveaway)

SUBWAY® is once again partnering with Little League® Baseball and hosting the second annual SUBWAY® Baseball Designs tour.  The tour will feature baseballs designed by Little Leaguers and autographed by celebrities like the cast from the popular television series “Glee,” actors from the hit “Twilight” franchise, cast from “Gossip Girl,” swimming great Michael Phelps, professional baseball players CC Sabathia and Ryan Howard, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon among many others.

Beginning on August 20, the baseballs will be auctioned off to the public with the total proceeds benefiting the Little League® Urban Initiative. In honor of the tour, SUBWAY® is offering reusable baseball-themed meal bags and trading cards with all Fresh Fit for Kids meals.  Did you know that SUBWAY had kids meals?  The Fresh Fit meals are great for showing kids that healthy meals can be just as delicious (if not more than) a burger and fries.  

There are six fun reusable lunch bags in total.

Celebrities and athletes will make stops in four U.S. cities, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and New York City with a final stop in South Williamsport, Pa., at the Little League Baseball World Series.  Be sure to visit the baseball deSIGNS tab on SUBWAY’s facebook page for more information on how you can bid!

The Fresh Fit meals are great.  I took my daughter for a turkey mini sub, which came with sliced apples and milk.  Turkey is one of the only meats she will eat that is not covered in bread crumbs (i.e. chicken nuggets), so I loved feeding her this healthy meal.  Finally, a ‘fast food’ place that is healthy and kid-friendly. Way to go, SUBWAY!

GIVEAWAY – One lucky reader will win a $25.00 SUBWAY gift card and a baseball meal bag!

Here are the links needed for some of the EXTRA ENTRIES (You may want to complete before filling out form).
-Like SUBWAY on facebook or follow them on twitter.
-Like my new facebook page for Girl Gone Mom, or follow me on twitter.
-The tweet to use for this giveaway:

#Win the $25.00 SUBWAY gift card giveaway http://bit.ly/9wVWk8 @girlgonemom #summeressentials

No compensation was received for this post. I received a product sample in order to facilitate my honest review. Contest is open to U.S. residents 18 and older and closes at Midnight EST on July 27th. The winner will be selected using Random.org. See giveaway rules before entering. GOOD LUCK!