We had a bit of Disney for Mothers Day

For mother's day dad and I offered to make dinner. Asking mom what she wanted she came to the decision that she wanted something like the meal we had at Ohana's back in 2013 on our WDW trip. So off to the internet I went in search of copycat recipes (or official ones) as I couldn't find any in the cookbooks I recently acquired from my grandparents (basically all cookbooks I ever got G'ma are now mine).

So we made enough chicken, beef, and shrimp for 5 people and a little person (aka Delaney the almost 7 year old)... along with bacon wrapped asparagus and grilled veggies. It was SO GOOD and we all had more than we should have so there were very few left overs. But yummmmmmmmm!

30 Days of Disneyland - Day 4: Favorite Tomorrowland Attraction

Day 4 - Favorite Tomorrowland Attraction

Tomorrowland is probably my least favorite land in either Disneyland or Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. There just isn't much that interests me, though at night it's awesome all lit up. A photographic delight.

I know most probably would say Space Mountain as their favorite, but that ride terrifies me (more so the single rider one at WDW than the two-seater at DLR). So I'm going to go with one of the cutest rides they've got - Buzz Lightyear. This is very similar to the one at WDW, but it's fun and air conditioned... and you get a ride picture... so, that's all I got.

Besides, I love my Zurgy!

A Tasteful Countdown: Toy Story

Pizza, Cake, and a movie, what could be better?

January 31st marked Duane's 18th birthday. It also landed on a Thursday, so we mixed the two together. Duane's big party would happen that weekend, so we did a small deal with just us and his best friend. It worked out great because Toy Story was one of his favorites when he was small - and it has that "army man" element so we could still do the "Go Army" so it wasn't totally cheesey.

Well, there was cheese - I made homemade pizzas. Thanks to my awesome new KitchenAid pizza dough was so easy! I loved how simple it was, and for the first time of me making the dough I have to say it was excellent. I used a recipe a friend gave me, but didn't put in the total amount of yeast that it called for. It still rose well, and it didn't taste yeasty. A win-win for me as I hate the taste of yeast!

I forgot to save some white frosting for stars on the blue.

I also baked a cake from scratch - the first one I did the night before and it didn't go very well. I tried another recipe the day of and it came out better than the first, but I think I'm over mixing with the KitchenAid. I will have to keep working on it. However, I loved how the camo effect came out. That's right, I made a camo cake! The cake was green, brown, and black inside. It was frosted red white and blue and had toy army men in honor of both the movie and Duane's love of the Army.

The cake was two layers and had a chocolate mousse filling. It was pretty good and I'm not a cake fan.

You might be asking what my mom ate with all of this gluten loaded food - for the cake she had the mousse only (we had a lot more mousse than we did cake. It was not what we planned. Not sure what happened there. For the pizza we tried the pinterest craze of the cauliflower crust. It really works and it tastes great -and I hate cauliflower! Mom was happy enough with it - she still misses the regular crust, but at least she's found something that she not only can stomach but likes! Just a tip - use a ricer not a grater. The ricer looks to give you more cauli-meal for the crust.

With two 18 year old boys plus the three adults, we ate all but a couple of slices of pizza (we made four plus moms!) and ate half a cake. All in all a success even with the cake issues.

Very proud of how the camo came out! AWESOME!

Pizza Crust recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/basic-pizza-dough-recipe/index.html
Cauliflower crust recipe: http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2012/06/cheesy-garlic-cauliflower-bread-sticks.html

Oh! The week of Toy Story also brought our first bit of DISNEY MAIL! We all know how much I LOVE Disney Mail. And it was Toy Story themed mail at that! How awesome!

Disney Mail is almost as good as being there!

WDW 2013: Bambi Themed Dinner

Main dish of Cheesey Chicken and Veggie Chowder.
Side dish of roasted stuffed red bliss potatos. yum!

I am once again fighting a sinus infection/cold. Third one this year that's laid me out flat. Not happy about it, but I at least fought through it to keep working and of course I made dinner for this week's movie. Now before you go all sick and twisted like my dad went with the theme, we did not have venison or rabbit (or skunk). Originally we were going to go straight up vegetarian, but whatever I suggested was vetoed by the othere members of the family, so we compromised and did another chicken dish (bird, bird, bird-bird-bird!).

Finding a menu with a woodsy theme that didn't just mimick Snow White's theme proved pretty impossible, so it wasn't as cohesive as I wanted, however the results were yummy - which I think is all anyone really cares about. So I went with comfort food (let's face it, Bambi is traumatic to the psyche). With the weather being as cold as it's been, and me being sick, a chowder was in order. I still wanted to go with the roasted veggies, though, so I made a stuffed roasted potato dish as well. Dessert was a cop out as I just had no energy to be creative, so we went with a box mix Angel Food cake. I should've still found something green and leafy to go with my favorite line of the movie, though:

"Eating greens is a special treat, it grows long ears and great big feet... but it sure is awful stuff to eat! I made that last part up myself." - Thumper

I'm still learning how to pace myself as far as what and when to start so that the meal comes together at the same time. I got closer with this one, but the chowder needed to be stirred almost cosntantly so that the cheese didn't burn to the bottom. Mom came and helped me out a bit - mainly because I was moving in slow motion as doing anything while I have this cold seems to wear me out in just a few minutes, and this meal took an hour total. Probably couldn've gotten in done a little quicker if I'd managed my time better, but it is what it is. The recipe, though is enough to feed a small army - we have lots left over even after we all had seconds - and I had to switch to a bigger pot than what I started out with. We should have halfed the recipe, but after last week we wanted to make sure we had enough!

Stuffed potatoes were a hit with the family.

With the chowder safely taken care of I worked on the potatoes. I boiled them but they weren't soft enough in some people's opinions so they threw them into the micro. They were too soft after that which made it difficult to scoop them out correctly, but I did it well enough that I had enough potato to mix with the other ingredients. My family loved them, but I was not a fan of the thyme - just don't like a lot of that - and so I let dad eat my portion!

Dinner was finished while the football was still going (what a game, right?!), so we ended up finishing eating before the movie started. I haven't actually watched Bambi in years, it's just so sad!, however I was able to remember many of the lines - enough that it annoyed my mother when I began quoting what would be said or done next. Oops.

Dad didn't last very long into the movie before he headed into the kitchen for dessert. He loves Angel Food cake. You ask him what he wants for his bday and this is what he begs for. So when he found out it was Angel Food for dessert he was a happy camper. It's no wonder he sped through dinner, ha ha! I made mini cakes, or tried to, using mom's mini bundt cakes. I must have put a bit too much in teh cups, though, because they baked up and over by a lot, but it worked out because they look like mushrooms you'd find in the woods! So I'm making a claim that I planned it that way!

The "mushrooms" before the "snow".

The "mushrooms" looked good covered in "snow" (whipped cream) which also fit the theme of Bambi. Except it's the winter scenes that are sad, we all know what comes with the snow in that movie. Thankfully I could blame the tears on my sinuses being hyperactive.

We have tons of leftovers, anyone want some? Next week we have Cinderella, and I'm still debating if I do a breakfast for dinner or go with a menu that follows "Cinderella's royal palace" there at Walt Disney World. Any ideas?

Cheesey Chicken & Veggie Chowder recipe
Stuffed roasted red bliss potatoes recipe

WDW 2013: It's Official, We're Going!

We interupt the Disneyland 2012 recap to bring you this exciting (for me) tidbit on vacation plans for 2013!

Not that this was ever doubt, but it's finally *official* as I just (ok well I got busy doing other stuff so I didn't just get off the phone now) got off the phone. Even though dad hasn't put in for the time off yet, and we don't know some of the other details, I have us booked at the Art of Animation for October 2-12. Those dates will be played with, I'm sure, but it's nice to have a jumping off point.

I had another fantastic Cast Member help me book our vacation, and he gave me a heads up that he had a "good feeling" that we would be seeing some great discounts for when we would be travelling. I've seen others report when CMs give them the "insider info" and have it be wrong, so I'm not going to believe it till I see it/get it (I know that we may have to change resorts, too, to get them as AoA is not qualified currently for the discounts).

We'll be staying in the Cars themed Family Suite at the Art of Animation, with the Dining Plan and park hopper passes. We also have the Magical Express picking us up at the airport. Very excited!

2013 WDW Packages to be released Wednesday!

Apparently announced last week, July 11 is the official date for Walt Disney World 2013 packages to be released and available to travellers. This is one of the most anticipated days of the year for Disneyphiles as it means official planning may begin on the next Disney trip.

I will be travelling to Sacramento, California on Wednesday, but I have a feeling I know what I will be doing on my layover. I can at least get an accurate price out on our September trip - hopefully when they get closer to closing out this year they will offer free dining to make it even more manageable.

So if you're like me wanting to look at prices for next year, it's only a two day more wait!

Doing the Disney Math

Sometimes crunching numbers and breaking down costs
makes choosing to go on a Disney Vacation worth it!

Disneyland is still two months off, so what better way to kill time than to begin the pre-planning of the next Disney trip. My parents, myself, and the sibling are looking at going to Walt Disney World September of 2013. Mom has been apprehensive due to costs. This finally came to a head this weekend as she basically said a Disney trip would be impossible.

Considering the subject was Disney, and Walt himself was the master of making the impossible, possible, I jumped at the chance to prove her wrong. Crunching numbers is not normally my thing, but Disney Math - as we Disney-holics lovingly call it - is simple enough. Admittedly the total amount is a huge chunk of change, but once you begin to break down costs it's much more manageable.

Disney has not released the rates for next year - aside from their hotels. It's anyone's guess when we'll know the vacation package prices for 2013, but typically they release middle to late summer so folks have time to plan and budget. Basic budgetting, however, can begin well in advance of packages by using the current packages and rounding up. It may not be completely accurate - I round up to the nearest 50 or 00, which typically makes it far more expensive than it will be - but it gives you a figure to work with.

Attention to detail outside the Tusker
House in Disney's Anitmal Kingdom.

We're looking at going in September of next year. There are several reasons, the main one being my dad's 60th birthday will be September 15. He has been very vocal with his desire to go for his birthday over other options. Considering he's the bread winner, it's the least we can do for him. Another reason is that, in the past, September is the time Disney gives deep discounts like their free dining plan promotion. This is never promised, and should not be a deciding factor or even budgetted for, but it's good to keep in mind. When estimating I never budget with discounts in mind, I go for the full fare so I will not be disappointed or unprepared later on.

For our family of four we will need two rooms - to give the parentals some privacy. This bumps up the fees a bit, but not terribly so. For me Park Hopper is a must have for tickets. We also will have the Dining Plan. With four adults who do enjoy food, and want to be pampered once in a while, the Dining Plan works well as we can eat at places we would normally pass up because of costs. Tip is the only thing not included and that's just fine by us, we can take care of that. And, while not believing it will be available to us, we could get it for free should they offer another promotion (with the opening of the new Fantasyland, though, I don't see them offering deep discounts next fall).

Dad also chose Port Orleans Riverside as the resort he'd like to stay at. This makes me happy as I enjoy the moderate resorts over the values or even deluxe options. Again this adds a bit of expense, but if need be we *could* go down to a value, but with Disney Math you really don't need to. Little splurges are a good thing for a relaxing part of the vacation.

After visiting the Disney World Website and plugging in our "wants" out came the cost: $6293.44. This is a huge number. Rounding up to $6500 makes one gasp even more. Again I always try to give myself a little buffer so when the real price comes out I'm not under-estimating, and it's always nice to feel like we're getting it cheaper.

Even though the cost seems steep, this is for four "adults" with the extras listed above. It basically comes to 1575 or 1625 (depending on how you round up) a person. Granted we haven't added in airfare, but even after that it's not a bad deal. Did I mention this is for a 10 night, 9 day trip. That's a huge bang for the buck. If I wanted to get really detailed I could go down to the day per person cost, but I'm not THAT crazy about Disney Math.

With this info in hand, it makes the Disney Budget seem much more doable. With just a little bit of game planning, saving for the trip becomes something that doesn't seem impossible. Once again, Walt Disney is making the impossible, possible (all the while making a killing).