Menu Planning Strategy

Hey, blogging buddies! I know it's been awhile and I know I completely have fallen off the 31 days bandwagon and I know I need to post about E's birthday party.  I've just been a bad blogger lately and hope to get back on the wagon very soon.  Today my sons are taking a great simultaneous nap and since that's really the only blogging time I have, I thought I'd swing in and share what I've spent nap time working on... menu planning!  Exciting, right?

My husband gets paid twice a month.  Around each pay check (2-3 days out) I start thinking about our new "batch" of money.  I always tweak our budgets with updates on monthly bills (since electric, gas, etc are always changing), note our cash flow, assess what we need (hair cuts? more diaper? new clothes?), how much we can save, etc.  Then, I schedule all my bills and feel good about life for the next couple of weeks until I start the cycle again.  And when that chore is done and I hang up my "CFO" of the family hat, I get to planning our grocery list because that one category in our budget gets the most money aside from bills but it can go quickly if I'm not careful and that requires organization!  Not to mention my husband loves knowing what dinner will be and when he can see our menu for the next few weeks on our calendar he is one happy dude.

the 2 year old likes the draw in my planner with me. he's so helpful.  ;)

So here's what I do.  It's SO basic, but if it can help you I'd be happy to help!  :)

First I think about what I cooked the last week that my kids really gobbled up and that I'm not sick of eating and want to cook again.  Lately that's been chili, pot roast, and chicken enchiladas.  Then of course you have everyone's favorites which is chicken quesidillas and breakfast for dinner.  The men in this family get so excited about these two meals and they're easy enough to make and shop for!  THEN, I open the laptop and click into Pinterest.  I resist the urge to repine every awesome thing my friends pinned and hit my "recipes" board.  I scan through for things I've pinned that have stayed on my mind.  This time after a particularly awful week of cooking dinners (even "under 30 minute dinners") because my newly-1-year-old was not happy at dinnertime to let me just cook, I clicked on everything crock pot.  I selected 6 new recipes for us to try.

New recipes have always been challenging when it comes to organization because they require you to save the recipe and possibly get new ingredients you may not have.  Lately I thought of a good system to organize my thoughts on new recipes.  Basically, I e-mail myself/my husband.  I took the 6 recipes and copied the title with a link to the original recipe and then copied the ingredients list under it.  Today there was not enough time in naps to scan through each thing while my kids were sleeping to see what I had or didn't have and figure out how to clump things together on my list in an organized way but now I have that e-mail on my phone and when there's time here and there I can sit down with my phone or a printed copy and write up my list.  Then, I'll also have that list I can stick on my fridge for the next few weeks so I can be aware of what I'll be using in the coming days if I decide to change anything up (which I do... we don't always stick to each day's dinner plan... sometimes we move meals around).

Another benefit of having the email in my phone with the links is that when it's time to make dinner I don't have to scroll through that pin board to find what I need, I can just click the link in my phone and have the recipe right there.  It's how I'm saving trees.  ;)

Yay, technology!

SO, now I have 14 meals listed for 15 days.  This is perfect because I know we'll get dinner at least 1-2 times and we'll eat lunch out on the weekend about 2 times so I'll have a little left over if I need to make a lunch or if I can't hit the grocery store next pay day.

So there you have it! Menu planning!  I also tend to write on my menu things I want to eat with the kids for lunch those weeks... Earth's Best chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, hot dogs, sandwiches... and I also write down if Josh has suggested we make something fun or unique like apple pie or apple cider or if I am hankering for pumpkin bread.  Then I know I'll need to get those things too when it comes to making my list.

And for the record, I do menu plan two weeks but I can't ever buy groceries for just two weeks.  I do one BIG trip where I get all my meat, grains, juice, etc and freeze the excess meat (buying in bulk saves me money!), but I have to go back at least once a week for more milk & produce because we go through these things too fast and they don't keep as long.  I know some people freeze produce but I literally have no room in my freezer so I can't be that person.  ;)

P.S. I posted on my good friend April's blog today about friendship!  It's basically a follow up to this post from August and you can read it here! :)

E's first birthday sneak-peak!

Sorry for all the lack of posting this week, my friends! I plan to catch up on commenting you all back very soon and also to plan some more Disney posts although clearly I'm falling very short of 31 days of posting!  So along with those posts I'm excited to do some normal life posts as well as posts about my little man's first birthday party.  In the mean time here's a preview of all the fun had tonight.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend!!!

31 days of Disney World - Let's Talk Money Pt 2 - Actual Prices

So today let's talk actual costs.

FIRST I want to note that children under 3 are FREE! Whee! Josh and I are pinching pennies and trying to figure out a way to take one more trip this May before J turns 3 in August because once you start having to pay for your kid's park tickets, things get more pricey.  If you are thinking of going and your youngest is 2 or under, GO! Take advantage of that child being free while you can!  That's just my advice.  ;)

Resorts and tickets through Disney's Packages
So below I have some prices.  I looked up these prices at www.waltdisneyworld.com and used their current promotion which is up to 30% off for the Holidays depending where you stay and the dates you choose to stay (so the percent fluctuates 15-30% truthfully).  I am pretending to be a family of 4 with 2 kids older than 3 so the price factors in paying for two kids.  The dates I selected were December 1-7th (which would be a GREAT time to go and you may even catch the filming for the Christmas day parade, but don't quote me on that...). I chose "magic your base way" base park tickets which does not include park hopping or water parks.  And finally, I was NOT able to choose "magic your way" Disney dining plan which I mentioned yesterday because it is not included as an option for booking under this promotion.  I'll have a whole separate post later on my thoughts on the Disney dining plan by the way.  So without further ado, here's an idea of how much you'll pay for your vacation.

If you stay at a value (I selected Disney's All Star Movies Resort) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $1917.74 and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a moderate (I chose Disney's Caribbean Beach) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $2,269.30  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a deluxe (I chose Disney's Wilderness Lodge) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $3289.34  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

*I want to remind you now that Disney has a GREAT bus system that will pick you up at the airport and take you back to the airport and the buses will take you to and from parks.  It's called "magical express."  Every resort has it's own bus system and usually you don't have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus.  This is a great value over renting a car, but if you drive or do rent a car, you save all those "20 minutes" of waiting and they add up.

A lot of that price is your park tickets.  Park tickets start at $89 for people 10+ and $83 a day for people 3-9.  Disney discounts the tickets for every extra day you buy, but still, those really add up!  Since we go every year, we buy annual passes (discounted because we're Disney Vacation Club members) and use them twice in their use year.  That means if we buy them on January 25th and can't afford to go again until the following January, we'll book that vacation the week before the 25th to save money.

Food Costs
So what about food?  It ranges, obviously, especially at restaurants but mostly things are consistent...

Snacks which can be anything from a soft pretzel to a funnel cake range from $3-$6.
Quick service adult meals average about $9-$10 a plate and soft drinks are about $2.
Quick service kid's meals (which include a drink and dessert) are about $6-$8.
Restaurants range from $15-$35 for an adult plate and around $2-$3 for a soft drink.
Restaurant kid meals range from $8-$10 and come with a drink and dessert.
Buffets/character dining range from $15-$35 depending on the time of day you eat and if characters are present for adults and although I don't know kid's prices, I can tell you that kids under 3 eat free at buffets which is GREAT if you're taking toddlers because you can load those plates with fruits and good things.

Our family stuck to eating quick services every day except our day we ate at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios to change things up and meet some characters.  Our average meal cost was about $32 and that was for 2 adult meals, 2 large drinks, and one kid's meal which we split between our kids in addition to sharing some of our food with them.  Including snacks and the occasional breakfast, we spent about $100 a day for food and that was for the "cheap" food.  Had we eaten at a table service restaurant each day as well, we would have been likely to spend up to $125-$130 a day in food.

Tomorrow I'll talk about how we save for our trip to Disney World as well as saves money on our overall cost.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Worry & Perspective

The littlest one's birthday is in just 6 days.  His party is only in 4 days.  There's a lot of energy and focus being put on him and celebrating this mark of his completing the first year of his life.  While I have plenty of overwhelming feelings about my baby turning one - the key of which being, "HOW?!" - I have a lot of feelings that have erupted in me regarding my oldest and it's those feelings I need to vocalize first.

One year ago, I was a mess of emotion.  I was overwhelmed and so very excited to be ushering in a new son, but I was horrified at how it would effect J.  I was so very afraid he'd change.  I thought when he met his brother and had to deal with the divided attention from me (and others) without being old enough to comprehend it, he'd just really... well, I'm not sure what exactly I thought would happen, I just knew it'd be awful and it'd be all my fault.  And I just knew it'd translate into hatred of me and of his brother and sadness and a change in his overall happy, spirited, adventurous personality.  There were so many nights I spent worrying over him.  That worry combined with the normal worry a pregnant woman has for the baby inside of her lead me to having an anxiety attack one night in the second trimester.  It was an attack complete with hyperventilating and an inability to regain control of my emotions that landed me in the ER with my husband.  That was a low.

Looking back I understand a lot of those extreme feelings were hormones.  Some natural, some not, but mostly the hormones were the route of the worry and the fear.  But honestly they were not 100% of the cause.  I'm that way naturally.  I worry.  I fear.  I think of the worst thing and dwell on it mentally while outwardly portraying myself as the most positive person ever (this is not a lie, per say, it's more my attempt at tricking myself into being a very optimistic person! lol).  It's a major flaw of mine.  And while I've had life experiences that justify certain types of worry, and while I'm a "clued in" enough person to know it's good to be a little worried because it keeps you cautious and ever-present in the happenings in and around your child's life, I know deep down worry to an extreme extent is not right.  And it's not healthy.

So while I sit here a year later, literally typing this post with J on my back, arms wrapped around my neck and nose smashed into my ear so I can hear him breathing while down below us E is playing with a balloon... I have perspective.  We've survived a year as a family of four.  I lived a year as a Mom to two little boys.  I braved hurdles like actually going to sleep, taking a shower while being the only adult in the house, taking both of my children out with other adults, taking my children out by myself, figuring out how to spend one-on-one time with each boy at some point during the day while still taking time for myself... I don't have it all figured it out perfectly, but I've figured it out in a way that works and guess what?  We're all happy.

We're all giving and getting attention and working together and loving each other and there are fights.  Yes.  There is jealousy.  Yes.  There were very hard moments in the beginning were J did look at E like, "You're ruining my life!" and were I sat sobbing in a hospital room overwhelmed with the baby crying for me besides me while I could hear my toddler screaming, "Mom! Mommy!" over the phone as my husband explained to me J was walking around the house looking for me... But now MOST days they get along.  Now, MOST days I find them playing together at some point.  And although there's constant correcting (..."Don't ride E like a horse!"  "Don't talk to E like a dog!"  "Don't take his toy!" "E, don't pull his hair!"  "E, you spilled his milk!") there's a bond.  There's a precious brother bond I dreamed of and hoped for and it's in it's very early stages of development, but it exists and in it I'm reminded that I didn't ruin J's life and that as a result of a brother 14 months younger than him he did not change.  He's still happy.  He's still brave.  He's still adventurous.  And now he's more things... he's mature and kind and he shares well and he cares about people - especially little people.  He is good and he's made better for having his little brother.

I know there will be moments J might feel like E ruins his life.  Especially when they're teenagers and life gets so dramatic, but I know something now I wasn't sure of a year ago.  By having a brother only 14 months younger than him, we've enhanced J's life.  My dream is that it's always enhanced in that he has a forever best friend (maybe he and E can even been the next "Property Brothers" or like Owen and Luke Wilson...) he stays close to throughout adulthood, but if that doesn't happen, I realize that at least he has someone to teach him more about character and being a better more loving person.

I should really worry less.  The things I obsess and freak out over tend to work out in ways that are so far beyond my comprehension of the thing in the moment, and often, they work out to be really, really great things that didn't need so much worry and overanalyzing in the first place.

I tweeted this yesterday. Follow me here if you're on Twitter!

I'm linking up with Heather and the Extraordinary Ordinary for "Just Write" for the first time today.  I love using this blog for tips, pretty things, and recipes, but it's nice to open up and share my heart with you all too.

*31 days will resume tomorrow where I'll talk about actual costs of a Disney World trip.

My toddlers ate this pot roast!

Good evening, friends! I'm swinging by to share my pot roast recipe with you because it was especially delicious tonight so my confidence is up and my toddlers both ate it so my confidence is really up!  I hope you like it!!!  And sorry for no actual pot roast picture.  I inhaled it too quickly to take something you might want to see a picture of!

A note, I like to cook my roasts 10+ hours.  Tonight it cooked closer to 11 hours.

Ingredients
1lb beef pot roast (I literally buy the bag from the butcher that says, "Pot roast" on it)
3 cups beef brother
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped white onion
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic smashed
1/2tsp pepper
1-2tsp salt
1tsp garlic powder
1 T EVOO
optional Ingredients
Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Red potatoes

Fill your crock pot with 3 cups brother, 1 cup water, onion (I like to chop dice mine up so it's edible with the veggies in post), bay leaves, and crushed garlic.  Then, place your roast in the crock pot (mine are usually frozen). Sprinkle in your pepper (I only start with about 1/2 t because I don't want it to be too spicy for the tots), your salt (I start with about 1 tsp) and about 1/2 tsp-1tsp garlic powder.  After about 6 hours (or when there's 4 hours to go) chop your veggies and dump them into the crock pot.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil atop the veggies and then add another 1/2tsp of garlic, a few shakes of pepper, and about 1/2-1tsp of salt depending on how salty you like your food (you can always add, but you can never take away!).  Let cook 4-5 more hours until the veggies can be pierced through like butter with a fork.

Serve up and enjoy with some delicious crescent rolls (but wait to serve the crescent rolls until after your toddlers have eaten a sufficient amount of meat/veggies because when they eye those suckers, it's done and they will finish strong by eating only crescent rolls.  Enjoy and as always, please let me know if you try this and like it.

And just an extra honest note, I think the brussel sprouts really helped enhance the flavor of this roast!  All the bitter cooked out and I think the roast picked up some of the brussel's really good flavor!  I'll definitely make them a permanent fixture in the pot from now on!

31 days of Disney World: Let's Talk Money Pt. 1 - Disney's Promotions

Today's Disney World conversation is a little more tedious but isn't "How much will this cost me?" the question that's really on everyone's mind?  I'm dividing this conversation into parts for fear I'll just get SO wordy with all the details and again, let's be honest, how intimidating can an overly-wordy blog post be?  In the end I'll talk about Disney Vacation Club which is what we are a part of and it has saved us LOADS of money.  This conversation will be directed more towards people who go often and are looking to save money over years and years of trips.  And without further ado, let's discuss!

Disney's Promotions
Another word... all my insight is coming from experience and my only experience is booking through Disney and staying on Disney property.  In my seven trips, I've only ever left property twice to go to Target, Taco Bell and Whole Foods so I have no knowledge of Universal, Sea World, Legoland or any other Florida destination.  I know you can book rooms fairly cheap in the Orlando area, but we've always preferred Disney's property over Orlando because we love the atmosphere and how we feel like we're isolated from the "real" world.  Anyway...

Disney is great at running promotions.  Aside from our honeymoon trip in 2008, we've always booked our Disney trips using their promotions.  There three we've utilized are:

1. Free dining plan when you book at least x nights, x days.
2. Free gift card (amount depending on what level of resort you stay in) when you book x nights, x days.
3. x% off your hotel room the length of your stay (% based on what level of resort you stay in).

So first, let me talk about levels.  There's value resorts, moderate resorts, and deluxe resorts.  

Value - Includes Pop Century, All Star Music, All Star Sports, All Star Movies and the new Art of Animation (which is more costly per night than the others, but the rooms are suites for larger families).  These resorts are the largest and hold 10s of thousands of people.  

Moderate - Includes Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs (I've stayed their twice), Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter (stayed there once).  These resorts smaller and all have rooms you enter from the outside (like you would an apartment).  They're themed and all have great pools.

Deluxe - Includes Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and the Contemporary. All of these are within walking/boating/or monorail distance to parks (except Animal Kingdom Lodge which is an under 5 minute bus ride/drive).  They're also the fanciest with the best restaurants and pools.

When Disney runs a % off package, they typically will do 15% off a value room stay, 25% off of a moderate stay and 35% off of a deluxe stay.  In my opinion, this is Disney's least inciting promotion.

When Disney runs a gift card promotion (which they haven't in awhile) it's typically $100 for a value, $250 for a moderate and $500 for a deluxe.  We did this promotion once while staying at Coronado Springs and used the gift card to pay for our food the week we were at WDW so the promotion was almost like free dining for us and we loved it.  This is Disney's second best promotion in my opinion.

Which brings me to the dining plan promotion... This promotion is to get Disney's dining plan for free as part of your vacation.  The dining plan includes 1 snack per day, 1 quick service (think burgers/fries, chicken nuggets/fries, pizza... like "fast food" - but tastier!), and 1 table service (MOST of Disney's AMAZING restaurants count and the food is awesome).  Dining plan is almost $50 a day per person ($15 a day for 9 and under) and you get it for every person your whole stay for free as part of your package.  This deal is by far Disney's best promo in my opinion because the food there is SO good and eating and enjoying food is such a big part of the experience and not having to worry about paying for your meal (except tip at the table service) is just a great feeling.  My husband and I selected $35 steaks for dinner we would have never been able to afford otherwise.  You also get a drink (non-alcoholic) with table & quick service and a dessert.  The desserts at the table services are AMAZING and like I said, since eating is such a fun experience it's nice not to worry about it while you're there.

So there you have it... my thoughts on Disney's promotions!  Check their website for them and watch for commercials because they'll advertise!  They run SOME type of promotion almost every season so please, please, please when booking try to find something.  You don't have to pay full price for everything if you find a great promotion.

31 days of Disney World: Meeting Characters

Disney characters are all over the place, but unlike in the commercials, they typically don't just come running up to you (although Russell from UP did come give J a high five on the way to his station!).  You have to stand in a line to meet them and today I want to talk about wether or not that's something that's worth your time.

If your kids LOVE the characters and are older and are way into the autographs (think 4-8 or so) it is definitely worth your time.  The characters are engaging, life-like and seeing them will blow your little ones minds!  Sometimes those things are more important to kids than riding a ride and we've seen that in every trip.  If ever are kids are that fixated on autograph collecting I know we'll make it a priority.  You can do your best to avoid lines... ask cast members near character stations when they'll be back and get there 5 minutes early to jump in line before everyone else notices them and gets in line too.  You can also go to "meet and greets."  There's one in every park with various characters. Magic Kingdom is Mickey/Minnie & the Princesses, Epcot is Mickey and the gang, Animal Kingdom is Winnie the Pooh & Mickey and the gang, and Hollywood Studios is Sorcerer Mickey, the Incredibles and right now Winnie the Pooh but that character usually changes to correspond with the most recent Disney movie release.  There's also scenes set up like the one above where you meet certain characters and there's character dining at select restaurants in every park.  I LOVE character dining because the characters can spend a lot of time with your table and get a lot of pictures.

If your kids do NOT love the characters and are scared of them, be selective.  J loved meeting them at 5 months, but was terrified at 17 months and again this last trip at 25 months (see above).  We still opted to wait 10 minutes in line to meet Mickey because E loved the characters (at 10 months) and we wanted  a pic with them and 'ole Mick.  Otherwise, we only met characters if we did not have to stand in line or if the line was limited to one or two families before us.  Since it was always unpleasant, we just didn't want to do it a lot and E wasn't old enough to really care about missing out so when we could we did, but we never went out of our way to make it happen.  J did however LOVE seeing characters from a distance.  My boys love Buzz so one day in Magic Kingdom we saw him from about 100 feet away.  J waved and yelled, "Hi Buzz!!!" but when we asked if he wanted to meet him he would say, "No picture."  Lol.  He said that about every character by the end.  So funny!

Meeting Character Photo Tip
There will be a Disney Photo Pass cameraman stationed at each character who will snap your family photo but then you'll have to pay a ton for it.  There will also be a cast member there for the character.  If you give them your camera (set everything to auto and turn the flash on!), they'll snap a bunch of pics and they'll be yours.

ALSO tomorrow we'll start talking the financials of a WDW vacation! :)

Shabby Apple

Friends, I'm SO excited and honored to share with you that I was invited to become a Shabby Apple affiliate through this blog! I've honestly sought out to make blogging a way to make money, but like every other blogger I think it would be wonderful to one day make enough off this little blog to fund Christmas presents or live the blogging dream and attend a blog conference.  Anyway, I have no intention of being pushy and talking about this much more (unless there are more discount or giveaway opportunities), but I just wanted to let you know as part of the deal my readers can take 10% off their total order with Shabby Apple by clicking the image below or the image on my side bar.  I love Shabby Apple's products but am always looking to save money and to me discounts are great!

Anyway, that's all!  Hope you all scroll down to catch my fall decor below and have a WONDERFUL weekend!  Next week I'll be back with the 31 days talking about Disney World and the financial part of things!

Fall Decorating

Good morning, friends & happy Friday!!! 

I'm enjoying the "31 days" series very much, but I want to make sure within the mix I'm posting other things I enjoy as well!  So today in lieu of a lengthy WDW post, I'm posting pics of my fall decorations!  

I think the 31 days is open to interpretation is great and for these 31 days of October I will be posting frequently about WDW, but I don't know if in the end I'll have 31 posts just about that -- especially because I don't like to post on the weekends typically.  ANWAY...

This is my fall mantle!

Josh & I have been married 4 years now and homeowners for 3.5 years, but this is the first time I've EVER decorated for fall!  I actually didn't even have a single "fall" thing except a few things I'd bought 90% off at Hobby Lobby that I didn't really love anymore.  We're pretty strict in our budgeting (because we have to save for Disney World trips, lol) and I knew I couldn't just walk up to Josh and tell him I intended to spend x amount of money to decorate.  Because he wouldn't care and he'd then want to spend x amount of money on video games or something.  So, instead I devoted my allowance (we each get $40 a month) to getting little bits and pieces and told myself to love what I had first (all part of this "live simply" endeavor!) and then pick up a few things.  And you know what?  I spent less than $1 for my mantle/wreath/and mirror banner (excluding the candle which was $5 at Target).

The wreath above was simple enough to make but time consuming.  Wrapping those things takes forever!!! I had actually started wrapping the wreath to make it 4th of July themed but didn't finish in time.  I ended up running out of twine just over half way through the process and didn't want to buy more because I knew stopping mid-project meant I might not have time to ever pick it up again.  I had already planned on using scrap fabric from J's baby quilt to make rosettes, but I opted to glue on some other fabric and I think it looks pretty good and intentional (and so did everyone I asked on Twitter and Instagram - thanks, friends!).  The rosettes are so easy to make, they just take time.  You basically cut a strip of fabric, twist, hot glue, twist, hot glue, twist, hot glue... And that's it!  The whole wreath took me about 2 hours and about an hour of wrapping in July.

I had baby clothes pins lying around so I bought this cute chevron scrapbook paper half off at Hobby Lobby to cut and hang.  I liked the way it turned out so simple and shabby chic.

This was super simple and was actually done when J woke up from his nap so we had a lesson in triangles.  ;)  I just cut them and taped them to yarn and hung it up on the mirror.

I found this "T" at a thrift store for $.25 and was SO thrilled because buying letters is expensive!  I wrapped it in yarn one night while my husband got caught up on Revenge season 1 and then wrapped it with the yellow/orange yarn to make it pop more against our brick.  I used felt to make the rosettes and voila! 

Last weekend we went to Target as a family and they had so many great things clearanced!  I had been eyeing all the pieces in this beautiful collection all summer and have always loved this!  It was $15 originally and the first time I saw it clearanced it was still $10.  Saturday I picked it up for $4.50 and it happily is sitting on my table holding some apples.  Our table is small so it's the perfect size.  I also picked up this frame for under $4.  I'm always picking up frames on clearance, in thrift stores or at garage sales.  I love pictures everywhere, but hate paying high prices.  I have a plan for the frame, but haven't had time to work on it because I have a little man's 1st birthday party to work on these days!

So do you decorate for fall?  I love having more time to do things like this now that my boys are getting a little older and napping a little better and allowing me to do more chores in the waking hours so I can take more "me" time at naps and night.  

Homemade (quicky & easy!) Fish Sticks

*Linking this recipe to Kelly's Korner today because fish sticks make for great kid game watching finger-food! Boomer Sooner, baby!  ;)

Hi, friends! I'm swinging by this afternoon to share a quick and easy recipe I thought up last night.  This is for kids (or was at least intended to be for kids but after trying a bite, Josh proclaimed he'd eat them too), so I didn't figure out Weight Watcher point values.  They CAN'T be much though.

Anyway, last night I was making fish tacos which my toddlers hate so I wanted an option for them to go along with their rice that wasn't more chicken, so I thought I'd give homemade fish sticks a whirl with a few things I had on hand and they turned out great!

Ingredients
1 piece of tilapia (I only needed 1 which was about 4oz for my 2 guys because they're so young)
Extra virgin olive oil
Panko (about a tablespoon)
Italian bread crumbs (about 1/4 cup or so)

Since we're Oklahomans and our only fresh fish is catfish (not really, but basically), I first thawed my frozen tilapia.  Then, I cut it into small strips (about 1/2" wide/deep and 2" long).  I then rolled those strips in a little EVOO and then rolled them in a bowl where I had my Italian breadcrumbs and then put them on a sprayed baking sheet and sprinkled them with a little Panko for extra crunch.  You could probably mix the Panko and the breadcrumbs, but I remembered the Panko about half way through and didn't want to change it up.  Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (or 20 but I'm a freak about things being well done in exchange for the bottom being a little burnt) and enjoy!

Personally, I thought they were a little dry and might have added a pinch of salt but Josh liked them and the kids did too and they don't need anymore salt anyway!  If you make these, please let me know!  I'd love to hear what you think!  :)

31 Days of Disney World: Taking Babies

I'm excited to share this post with you today not only because I love this Disney World discussion, but also because I'm comfortable posting pictures of my toddlers as babies here because they don't look much like this any more and now you can see sweet little faces.  :)

The next two pictures are E at WDW at 3 months and the last picture is J at Disney World at 5 months. Both of these trips were taken in January (2011 & 2012).

Just like taking toddlers to Disney World requires adjusted expectations, so does taking a baby.  In many ways taking your little one is easier than taking a toddler.  When we took J at 5 months old we didn't come back for naps.  He napped very well in his stroller and we'd find a quiet place for him to rest and just sit there parked while we enjoyed snacks or while the other went off to ride a ride.  Even at 5 months J loved looking around at all the people and enjoyed bright colors and the ride, "It's a Small World."  The only really difficult part of taking J was that he had started baby food and was a formula fed baby.  We hadn't yet discovered the beauty of bringing a backpack and our bag was so heavy with food, spoons, diapers, bottles with water, and his formula (it was a special kind we couldn't buy convenient packs of - bummer).

With E being 3 months old, there was a lot less to pack (except now we had two to carry around diapers for).  He also nursed so there was no bottles or formula.  Taking a 5 month old isn't all that hard, but taking a 3 month old is very easy.  They mostly sleep and nurse and look around and take it all in when they're awake.  At home E nursed every 3 hours before we went, but at WDW he upped his  need for milk and started nursing every 1.5-2 hours.  This made me feel a little like a cow many days, but it was good for him and the time we spent at the nursing stations in the dark and quiet was an excellent break from stimulus.

Fun fact? Both of my babies cut their first teeth at Disney World!  I wised up after our trip with J and brought Tylenol on our next trip.  I never expected E would cut his first tooth at 3 months, but he did and I was so thankful to have that with us!

So here are my tips for Disney World with bitty babies...

1. Overpack diapers and food.  If you're like us and rely on Disney transportation, you don't really have a way to leave WDW property without paying steeply for it and of course Disney charges way, way too much for diapers and food and formula there (but they DO carry these things).  I always pack a full suitcase of just baby things which is always nice coming back because it's an empty suitcase to stuff with all your souvenirs! ;)
2. Bring Tylenol/Advil/Benadryl... Most Mom's have a "first aid" kit of sorts as their kids get older, but it's a good idea to take these things even with babies.  You never know if they'll suddenly get sick, have an allergy, or cut teeth and it's so nice to have these things on hand!
3. Each park has a baby center and they're amazing.  FIND THE BABY CENTERS first!  There's NEVER a line there for changing diapers and the tables have fresh paper and staff changing the paper between babies/tots.  The centers also have high chairs and microwaves for easily feeding your baby and best of all they have nursing rooms!  I LOVE these rooms.  They're dimly lit, free of stimulus and full of cozy rocking chairs.  I've used them the last 3 trips to nurse E and the first trip even to just rock J to sleep for awhile.  The nursing stations also have good set ups for toddlers.  They either have a room with a TV playing Disney Junior, tables with crayons and paper and books or a room full of toddler toys.  Our last trip we popped in just to quickly change diapers at the Epcot baby center and on the way out my boys spotted a room full of toddler toys and J ran in.  We ended up spending 30 minutes there playing and it was good because sometimes babies/toddlers just need some time to crawl around and play just like they would at home.
4. Baby wear.  If you're not into it, I understand, but if you can do it!  It makes life SO much easier!  J was pretty good about being in a stroller, but E was much littler and craved that closeness.  He was heavy to always hold so I was very, very thankful to have my Moby wrap.  I literally wore him almost all day every day we were at parks and he did so great!  He'd fall asleep there and he felt safe.  J spent sometime in our baby backpack we had, but we hadn't used that a lot outside of WDW prior to vacation so he wasn't as comfortable with it.  If you can, break in baby wearing before your trip and you'll be happy to have it there!  Sure, the babies get heavy and your hips are sore like you're pregnant, but despite eating TONS that trip E was 3 months, I didn't gain a pound!  I contribute that to lots of walking and the extra 13lbs I was carrying around!  ;)
5. You don't always have to park your stroller.  A lot of places at WDW (not gift shops) want you to park your stroller outside.  An example of this is The Seas at Epcot.  I asked a cast member if I could bring E in in the stroller because he was sleeping in it.  They didn't mind at all so I brought him in and met Josh and J who were getting off of the Finding Nemo ride and we all enjoyed the aquarium without E having to wake up.  If a baby is awake, they're less likely to let you in, but if your little one is sleeping it never hurts to ask.  :)
6. Disney has pack and plays available for you complimentary in the resorts.  We never used them because our babies co-slept when they were that young, but if you need it, it's there!  You can also rent cribs from Kingdom Strollers but I've never done that.
7. Be aware that EVERYONE will swoon over your baby.  Lots of people talk to you because you have a little one.  Especially cast members.  It's sweet and the little ones (especially J at 5 months) like the attention.  This is another reason baby wearing can be nice though... it keeps people from touching since the baby is so close to you.

Hopefully these tips help!  If you have any other questions about Disney with babies, don't hesitate to ask me!  :)

5 Things I'm Loving: October Edition + a smoothie recipe!

I love this link up with Julie's blog and have missed out on it the last few months!  So now that I'm back on the blog scene (and feeling a little like I'm starting from scratch after shutting my old blog to private a year and a half ago), I'm excited to do another 5 things link up post!

ONE

The HGTV magazine.  I honestly had not read a magazine cover to cover since before J was born over 2 years ago.  I even subscribe to two (Nylon and Disney Family Fun) and they've just stacked up in a drawer begging to be read.  Part of that stack was HGTV's first issue from May they had sent me.  I took it to Disney World and our boys both slept on the long plane ride so from Houston to Orlando I read and read and read and took in beautiful images and inspiration.  I  loved that the magazine wasn't too cluttered with advertisements and was full of good articles and information.  I LOVE Pinterest, but there's something about a magazine in your hand that is so great.  SO, when we got home and were at Sams I picked it up since it was 30% off cover price and finished it that weekend.  It's just so good.  I promise!

TWO

I won't lie.  Having two babies 14 months apart is pretty hard and exhausting and you often wonder if you'll ever stop having to break up fights or disciplining or changing diaper after diaper or have time to yourself ever again.  Lately it's been getting better and better.  There are new challenges that come with my boys getting older (more discipline, more fighting), but along with those challenges comes a bond.  They make each other laugh, they're starting to play, they're wrestling often (above they're wrestling in a slide at Chick Fil A), and they're taking an interest in each other.  I know this will only get better with time and in a few short years I'll be able to cook dinner in peace while watching them play out back from the kitchen window and I'll miss being in the middle of it all and I'll miss them being so tiny.  So I'm loving them and their relationship.  A whole lot.  ;)

THREE

Fruit smoothies! I cut all my nursing points out of my Weight Watchers daily points allowance because my loss was slowing down and E's drinking of whole milk is increasing so I've needed to make myself things that will satisfy without using a lot of points.  Right now I'm loving this little recipe:

5 strawberries

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 banana

2T strawberry yogurt

splash of apple juice

4 ice cubes

Blend, blend, blend and YUM!  I'd add spinach too, but that actually hurts E's little tummy so for now just fruity goodness I try to drink slowly.

FOUR

Opening the windows while the air is crisp.  We've still been up in the 80s by mid-afternoon but the mornings and evenings are cool and I just love the way the fall air makes the house smell.  I can't wait until we park it in the 60s/70s for awhile so this can be an all day thing!

FIVE 

Pumpkin spice lattes.  Isn't this on EVERYONE'S list this month?! But seriously, so yummy!  Those and caramel apple spices.  Mmmm!!!!  Just all hot drinks are so good now.  I've been cheap and have only bought one PSL so far, but I've been really enjoying a cup of green tea a few nights a week.  So good!

What are you loving this month? Head to Julie's blog and link up with us! :)

31 Days of Disney World: Main Street Bakery

If you go to Walt Disney World (or Disneyland!) and find yourself in the Magic Kingdom, please, please, please, please go to the Main Street Bakery.  It's right there on Main Street when you come in.  You'll smell it.  Trust me.

If you go in and need help on what to get I strongly recommend one of the gooey butter pecan glazed cinnamon rolls or a piece of the chocolate cake pictured above.  It's the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my whole life.  And I'm a woman, so naturally, I've had a lot of chocolate cake.

I'm hungry now.  And maybe salivating.

31 days of Disney World: Toddler Tips

Each trip with our kids is a new experience because each age is a new experience and every kid is different.  On our last trip J and E were 25 months and just shy of 11 months and they both had a blast.

A lot of people say they want to wait to take their kids so they remember.  I totally understand that!  Disney World is expensive! We work hard and skimp all year in other things so we can afford to go once or twice that year because it's just important to us, but for others the trip is something they'd only care to do once or can really only afford to do once or maybe they just want their kids to have other vacation experiences too.  J still remembers things about our trip and talks about them daily.  I think that's so great, but I know he will not remember this trip in 20 years and most of his memories of going this little will mesh together.  That's ok with me.

A lot of people also say you can't take babies or toddlers to WDW because they won't enjoy it.  They do!  Even if your baby doesn't know who Mickey is (E did because he sees him in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse all the time), he'll love the bright colors, the costumes, and all the things to see and do.  Both of my kids got into rides even as young as 5 months ("It's a Small World" blew their little baby minds!) and I will agree that it all can be overstimulating, but how much they're stimulated in a day is up to you.

So here are my tips for Disney World with toddlers:

1. Go back to the resort (or to your hotel) for naps!!!  I cannot stress this to people enough and even to myself!  There were days our boys fell asleep in the stroller and we pushed on (which was fun) but when they'd wake up they'd be really stressed from still being in the stroller and unable to relax and unwind.  And I get that.  As much as we might have liked to eat some good desserts and do a little shopping and take turns riding rides each day while they stroller slept, we knew it was better for them and us to go nap.  We tried to leave the parks around 1 each day and got our kids back to the resort by 1:30 (we used the WDW free bus transportation).  Sometimes one may have taken a cat nap in the stroller and wouldn't be interested in napping in the room, but they still enjoyed the time to rest, play with their toys,  watch a little TV, color... it was a good break and a little bit of their "normal" routine from home they needed.  Most nights we didn't go back out after naps because we were all still too tired and we didn't want to come back late on the Disney buses (I'll write about this all later), but lots of people do and we will as our boys get older for sure!
2. Bring snacks they're used to.  Every kids meal at Disney World comes with french fries.  You can get fruit instead, but if your two year old is like mine, he learns quickly the beauty of the constant french fry stream and finds WDW that much more magical.  We knew our kids meals would be a little greasier sometimes, so we wanted to control what they ate outside of those meals.  My boys love applesauce in the squeeze tubes and we brought so many of those.  I'd also really recommend any of the baby food brands of toddler squeezers in an attempt to get even more fruits/veggies in.  We also made sure to buy plenty of bananas and string cheese there to keep things healthy and even though a fruit bowl is expensive, buying one every day can be so great.  My boys love melon but only grapes or apple slices come with kids meals.  They would gobble up the melon when I'd buy them the fruit cups and I felt better watching them eat that too.  We also brought the favorite treats for when we needed to buy time (waiting for a bus, etc)... goldfish, pretzels and of course suckers!  My family loves the organic vitamin C juice suckers.  I bought a huge bag at Target and my boys ate lots of those and got an extra boost of vitamin C at the same time.
3. Get them water bottles.  Josh and I bought Camelback water bottles at Target before the trip.  They have straws you bite to suck water out so they don't leak.  These bottles were so great for our boys.  They'd just hold them and drink water all day which was so great because it was hot!
4. Rent a stroller.  We rented a stroller from www.kingdomstrollers.com* and were very pleased with the quality and service and price.  We flew this trip and didn't want to pack bulky strollers when we knew J would just walk through the airport.  This stroller was so great and we loved having them side by side instead of back and front.  It also came with an awesome rain cover which was so needed while it rained and good shade covers.  You can also rent a crib through this company and a few other things, I believe.
5. Be prepared for things to not go as planned.  Kids get cranky or tired or they fixate on something and want to do it over and over.  No matter what happens, kids will change even your best plans.  Try to stay laid back and go with the flow and just watch your kid love seeing everything come to life!
6. Load up your iPhone/iPad/whatever with favorites!  My kids love "Toddler Teasers" app and watching Toy Story.  There were many times we needed to pacify our baby who just so happens to LOVE Toy Story and playing that on our iPhones was so handy and helpful!
7. Go at park opening.  Little kids are up early anyway, so try to push yourself to get out the door (you'll be back for naps in the afternoon and can rest then!).  That first hour the park is open is the time you can get the most rides and character meetings done because so few people are there yet.
8. Make time for normal play.  We're Disney Vacation Club members (discussing more in another post) which means we always get to stay at the deluxe level resorts.  Fortunately all these have parks and pools (actually all the Disney resorts/hotels have pools).  Sometimes a trip downstairs to the park or to walk around in the pool was more fun to my toddler than rides.  Likewise, playing on drums in line queues or at the set ups in Epcot or Animal Kingdom was a blast for both of my boys.  Every park has a splash pad and areas designed for kids to play.  Sometimes these places can be crowded with older kids, but if you can get in there and let your kids out of the stroller and be a little independent, they'll be better for it!
9. Eat early!  The time change (for us it was one hour) may have you thrown off, but if you can try to eat lunch at 11 and dinner between 4:30 and 5.  It's early and foreign, but eating that early means getting a table and getting your food quickly.
10. Wear a backpack.  Josh did this most of our trip this time and it was AMAZING.  When you have to park your stroller for rides it's annoying to load up with a diaper bag and a camera bag and all this stuff along with your kids.  The backpack was so nice because everything tucked neatly inside, was easily accessible, and it was so simple to take on and off rides!
11. Character dining! It's available in every park (usually in buffet form) and is so great!  The food is wonderful and the whole time you eat the characters of that eatery (they're listed on Disney's website) will come around and spend time at your table (not just snap a quick pic and go) playing with your kids, posing for lots of pics... it's great and personal and E loved it!  J, however, was really scared of the characters when they got too close to him which is funny because normally he's quite fearless!  (Above is E with Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates!).

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!

*Not being paid by Kindgom Strollers - these thoughts and opinions are my own! :)

31 Days of Disney World: When to Go

This picture was taken on our first day in the Magic Kingdom on this last trip we took which was in September.  I wanted to post it today not just because that castle looks incredible, but also because I wanted you to notice the people in the picture. ...Mainly how few people are in the picture.  This photo was taken on a Saturday around 10am and there are that few people!

If you can choose any month of the year to go to Disney World, I'd recommend September.  The crowds are extremely low.  We walked on most rides and 20 minutes was the longest we waited for anything we couldn't walk on.  If you have toddlers, you may not be surprised to find out September is one of the busiest months for parents of toddlers to attend (no school!) but having so many other toddlers around can be really nice because your kids enjoy "toddler watching" and you enjoy not being the only parent who's kid is having a meltdown... people are understanding.  ;)  The weather in September is also great!  It rained almost every day we were there, but our stroller rental came with a rain cover and the overcast skies and rain was a nice break from the Florida humidity.  Most days it never rained more than an hour.

Our family has also gone to Disney World twice in January.  January tends to be fairly uncrowded as well but for us, there are disadvantages that hold us back from going that time of year again.  The sun sets earlier so days are shorter, the temperatures are colder and tots need jackets at night/morning which is just one more thing to carry, the Christmas decor is all being torn down so there's a big crane parked by the castle your whole trip (very unattractive), and it's too cold to swim which can be a nice break from parks for tots!

Before kids, Josh and I went to WDW in April twice.  In Oklahoma, Spring Break is in March so we assumed by the end of April Disney World would be dead with people being back in school.  This was NOT the case and one of the times we were there in April there was a National cheerleading competition happening (the other time I was pregnant!).  We approach vacationing at Disney World in a very laid back way so combatting crowds and feeling claustrophobic isn't for us.  We will always try to avoid March, April, June, July and any holidays at Disney World.

I want to say also that we've been in mid-August; for our honeymoon actually!  It's hard for me to accurately say how busy Disney World was then because at the time there were hurricanes in Florida and it poured daily.  The parks were almost abandoned except for us crazy few running around in panchos hopping from ride to ride.  We had a blast that trip, but I highly doubt if we went mid-August again it would be like that because even if it did hurricane, we'd be hulled up in the hotel with our kiddos anyway.  ;)

In the future, we'd like to try to go to Disney World in May, December and October.  I've heard the middle of May isn't so bad when it comes to crowds and I'd like to see for myself!  The week after Thanksgiving to about the week before Christmas are also supposed to be VERY abandoned at Disney World but all the Christmas decor and festivities start happening just before Thanksgiving. I'd love to see Disney World at Christmas and if we can't this year, I'd love to next year when our boys are 3 and 4 and will have even more of an appreciation for the Santas of the world, hot cocoa and Mickey's Christmas parade.  And that just leaves October which is more crowded, but it's when Epcot has their food and wine festival and I'd love to go!!!

So what are my tips for deciding when to go?!

1. Use a third party site.  We use www.touringplans.com and LOVE that service*.  They let you see what they're estimated crowd calendar is for 30-60 days from the day you look.  They are VERY accurate.  We followed their predictions our whole last trip and it worked wonderfully.  If you want to be really sure, you can pay $10 for their subscription and see they're estimates for the next 365 days.  I'd really recommend this because things can change and you can use their app while you're in parks.  You can also see ride wait times on their app while in parks which is SO nice!  When our boys would wake up from naps and we'd discuss going back to a park, we consulted which park they said would be least busy and took note of wait times since we'd be going later in the day.
2. Google something like "Disney World event calendar."  After being there for that cheerleading competition I swore up and down I'd never let something like that happen again so now I always check to make sure there's no big events happening while we're there.  Things like the Food & Wine festival do mean WDW will be more busy even if it's just with locals coming to sample all the delicious goodies .
3. Watch for deals!  Disney is ALWAYS running promotions - especially in the off seasons (not summer or spring break or Christmas).  I strongly encourage people to never pay full price for a Disney trip!  Usually 3-6 months out they'll run a promo for a certain percentage off of rooms or for free dining when you stay on property (which I recommend and will discuss why another day) or even for a gift card as part of your stay (in April '10 we got a gift card for $250 as part of our package and used that to cover our food costs).  
4. Try to avoid going in the busy months I mentioned (March, April, June, July & around holidays) if possible.  If you have school aged kids I know this sometimes is a must and if you want to take off the least days of work I know it's a must, but if you are not in that situation and can book in the least busy months (January, September, after Thanksgiving to mid-December) please do!  Low crowd levels means a less stressful vacation which means more fun and Disney Magic!

*Touringplans.com does not know about this blog or my writing about them.  These are my opinions of them that I was not paid to share.

P.S. I promise not every post will be so wordy.  ;)

31 Days of Disney World

I'm really excited to be linking up to The Nester for her 31 days series this October! So many bloggers are doing this, but if you're unfamiliar with what's happening, basically people are linking up and writing for all 31 days of October about one topic on their blog.  I've seen a lot of my favorites putting up their topics all day and was feeling sad not to have a niche when it hit me, "Um, duh, I know Disney World!"

For the 31 days of this month, I'm going to be talking about our family's favorite place in the whole entire world: Disney World!  We actually just got back from there a few weeks ago.  The trip we're returning from was my 7th, the Mister's 20th+ trip, J's 3rd trip (he's 2) and E's 2nd trip (he's 11 months!).  So yes, we love it.  And we love talking about it.  And I love helping people who are interested in it!  So for this month my plan is to enjoy talking about it each and every day.

I'm going to talk about our last trip, Disney World with toddlers, Disney World with babies, traveling to Disney World, when to go, money saving tips, how to make the trip easy for you, on-property resorts, Disney Vacation Club, and all my favorite things! I don't have an outline written up yet, so if you have a specific question, please feel free to ask me in the comments! I'd love to help anyone with any questions they have.  Hope you enjoy this series!

And P.S. I don't work for Disney nor am I paid by Disney to write about them.  I just love it.  ;)

Day 1 - Deciding When to Go
Day 2 - Tips for taking toddlers
Day 3 - One of my favorite "eats"
Day 4 - Tips for taking babies

Do-Be-Mem: Live Simply

Oh hi, world! It's been awhile hasn't it? I really had the BEST intentions when I started this blog of posting regularly... I thought that it would challenge me to be more creative if I made a blog centered around creativity.  Little did I realize all those months ago TIME to be creative or blog at all (my own little private blog I use to document our family is seriously suffering as well!) would become very, very limited and full of other things.

The truth is that I miss blogging a whole lot.  I miss sharing my thoughts and projects with these people of the Internet I've formed relationships with!  I've actually managed to do a lot of great projects lately, have another little baby's birthday coming up, and want to share things like details of our trip to Disney World with you!  There's lots to blog about, but I've got to get back into the swing of things.  Link ups are great about putting you back into the swing of things... they challenge you to think about things someone else thought up and that's just what I need! So today I'm linking up with my sweet blogging friend Maegan in her new link up, "Do, be, mem." Essentially her weekly challenge is for you to DO one thing, challenge yourself to BE something and for you to MEMORIZE a little something of your choosing, so this week I'll share my goals for next week with you.

DO: 

Blog!!! I think I've explained this pretty well already.  ;)

BE:

Simple.  My mantra this year has been "live simply" and yet it is so easy to become obsessed with living extravagantly and spending money frivolously.  I've seen a lot of bloggers lately "loving what they have" and even my friend April encouraged me in a blog post she wrote when it came to fall decorating to search my home before spending a lot of money and I did and I think what I ended up making was so much better, cuter, and more "this family" than I could have purchased.  The challenge here is to love what I have, look in the clearance section, hit thrift stores/garage sales, save more money, cook good meals, opt for the backyard over the gas to the park... not always, but more.  All these little things will add up!

MEMORIZE:

Along that line, I'm aiming to memorize this quote by CS Lewis:

source