Princess Cake

Hello everyone! As Krystal has announced, I will be doing monthly segments teaching all of you how to make your baking creations a little more Disney like. This is meant for the inexperienced/average baker, and is not at an intermediate level. Before each segment I will make sure to include a list of tools that are used, and then ingredients for each part of whatever is being baked.

Let me just say that I take the Julie Child's approach to everything I do: Things are rarely perfect in the baking world (at least that's true if you're not a professional), but never ever make an apology for it. Your time and effort went into that creation, and deserves applause no matter what the result is. Just take the magic wand and banish any inner guilt over imperfections you alone know are there - I know that's something I have to remind myself every time!

With that being said, thank you for joining me on my new, magical, journey and lets get started!

Tools:

3 cookie cutters (shaped as a crown, slipper, and castle)

1 Wilton flower fondant stamp

1 pick

2 bent Wilton spatulas (one with a slight curve, another with a deep curve)

1 shimmer powder

1 box of Wilton multi colored fondant

1 rolling pin

1 cake stand

1 paint brush

1 10in square pan

1 8in square pan

4 princess dolls (found at Party City for $0.99 each)

Cake:

4 Funfetti Cake mixes (cake mix instead of making from scratch chosen to make things a little easier, and more economical)

12 eggs

2 cups oil

4 cups water

Filling:

1 package of cream cheese

1/2 pound of powdered sugar

1 chocolate pudding already mixed

Frosting:

1 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 1/2 cups of shortening

7-8 tablespoons of milk (add more depending on how smooth you want your frosting)

Kona Cafe's Tonga Toast

Welcome back for another day of our 365 Disney Challenge! For my second recipe this week, I decided to make Tonga Toast mainly because I have heard rave reviews, but never made it to the Kona Cafe to try it. I have to say, by the end of the process, it is a new family favorite!


Ingredients:
2 or 4 slices sourdough bread
1 banana
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Oil or shortening for frying
Whipped butter and/or syrup

To start, cut bananas in half cross wise, and then lengthwise. Then, take sourdough bread and cut into 1-1/2 inches thick. Take the bananas and insert into the bread pocket.

Now, it is time to mix the egg, milk, and vanilla together and dip the bread. Make sure to completely cover both sides of the bread.After the bread has been soaked, transfer the pieces to a pan full of oil (should be about 4 inches full) that has been heated to 350 degrees. Fry bread on each side until lightly browned (approximately 3 minutes per side)

.Once the toast is completely cooked, start mixing the sugar/cinnamon topping and generously sprinkle on top. Then, either top with butter or syrup and enjoy! 

Make sure to check out the amazing Flame Tree Barbecue recipe from Krystal at www.partnersbehindthemouse.com

Disney Style Family Movie Night

Photo from epicparent.tv

For a while now, I have been looking for a weekly family activity to do that will bring us all together, not cause fighting (can we say difficult with more than one child!), and is economical. In the beginning we tried family game night, but my son (age 3) had a very difficult time staying focused and understanding the rules and structure. 

Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to schedule a family movie night to was The Muppets. The kids and I had already seen the movie in the theater with their grandparents, but my husband had yet to see it, and I needed an excuse to rent it OnDemand. I decided to make a big deal with it in cooking a larger meal than normal, and serving it to the kids on the living room floor, and we all had a blast.

A few days later, my kids got to have a movie night with their grandparents and watched Peter Pan for the first time. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to share some of the movies I used to watch as a child with them in that type of setting. After Peter Pan ended, my son ran around pretending he was Peter Pan, and that he and his shadow were going to defeat the evil Captain Hook!

Since we started having movie nights, I have spent lots of time researching the old Disney classics to see how easy they are to purchase or rent. Amazon.com offers most of the old movies (such as Pollyana and Follow Me, Boys!) for only $1.99 to rent - also checked Netflix and iTunes for rentals (iTunes is a bit more on the spendy side).

It's so much fun making lists of movies to share, and until the kids are older it gives my husband and I an extra level to connect on shouting out different things we loved as kids. And, for now, it gives us all something to look forward to during the week. I hope it's something all of you will give a try too!

Chefs de France Demi Poulet Fermier Roti, Pommes Rissolees and Tomate Grillee

Welcome everyone to day two of the 365 In Home Dining Challenge in Epcot's France. I chose this mean for sentimental reasons: first and foremost, I love almost anything French, second it's one of the first meals I had out after starting in the Disney College Program, and third it was the first sit down meal I shared with my now husband on our first vacation. Since coming home, I have replicated parts of the meal several times and decided doing it completely was the way I wanted to start this challenge. One quick note before we start, this meal is delicious and should definitely be tried whenever visiting Chefs de France; however, that being said I could not find an exact recipe and had to improvise based on similar recipes I researched, and my memory of the taste.

A Review of ABCMouse.com

Photo Credit: ABCmouse.com

Being a mom with two young children, I am always on the look out for what can best benefit them that is both educational and fun. About a month ago, my daughter started pointing out ads for ABCmouse.com whenever they played during Disney Junior. The ads were vague, but definitely intrigued me since both of my kids were getting very excited over it.

So, two weeks ago I caved and told both of my kids that I would sign them up for ABCmouse.com. As soon as I went to the site, a page popped up requesting payment. Since I had already promised both of my kids that I would sign up, I felt that I had to pay to at least give it a try. I do wish that they had given a website preview prior to paying, but the payment options were reasonable - $7.95 per month, or $79.00 for a year, and I decided to give it a month long try.

After paying, I was immediately taken to a page to set up an account as a parent. One of their nice features is that there are four people allowed on each account, including a parental control. Each of the kids is allowed their own customized avatar and special teacher for their level.

Once everything has been set up, the child is taken to a virtual classroom that has daily lesson plans already set up, along with a virtual zoo and farm, art pages, music, and more; and have levels for toddler through kindergarten.

In seeing my daughter (who is in kindergarten) play on ABCmouse.com the content seemed almost too simple. It may be because her school is more advanced, but she is already able to read basic packets and what not, and the highest level of content (at least that I have seen so far) is the basic ABC's. For my son (who is pre-school level), everything is perfectly matched, and the lesson plan has worked wonders in adding to his knowledge.

ABCmouse.com does offer incentive to kids to keep going with their lesson plans. For each segment that is completed (and each lesson is broken down into four segments), there are tickets rewarded. The number of tickets given is in direct relation to the difficulty of the segment the child just completed. After a lot of tickets have been collected, the child is able to go to the virtual store and can get pets for the classroom, new clothes for their avatar, and accessories.

Now that I have seen my kids interact with the site, I feel their is more positive to it than negative, and love the fact that there is a safe, and controlled, virtual spot for my kids to play on, and know that there is no way for them to speak to strangers. The content is well thought out, and very broad, and is well worth the price. I am excited to see how the site changes and evolves over time.

5K Training Mia Style

As many of you have heard by now, Krystal and I are starting to train for a 5K and, eventually, the Princess Half Marathon. And while, for some, a 5K shouldn't need a training strategy for me it definitely does. As you can see, I am not in the world's best of shape, though I do work out daily. My working out consists of kick boxing, going to the gym, and walking for 3+ miles.

Running, though, is something I am horrible at, and have little confidence in my ability of doing without a serious plan. Last year, a dear friend of mine purchased a book for me so that we could train to run/walk a half marathon. After reading the first few pages, I could not put it down as it was a truly hilarious and informative read. It actually gave me the confidence to stop walking, and give running a try. After a few weeks, my speed had increased and so had my distance; unfortunately, though, I had to put a pause on my training to have foot surgery. After a year, I feel recovered enough to try running again.

As you can see, the book has been read through a few times (my husband also picked up this gem, and agrees it is not just for women). And though it is for training to run/walk a marathon (or half), I am using the principles and encouragement to simply get back into things. I'm using it to will myself to do this again. It is possible for an out of shape mom to run in public.

To start, I will be alternating between running and walking. Per books and everything I've read online I need to set a time limit; however, my body cannot handle that yet. So I will be running for as long as my body can handle it, and then walk for a short distance, then run again. Within a week I should be to a point that I can actually use a timing method. To ensure that I actually pick up my speed, I will "run" with my dog. Trust me in saying, that she can be a bit Beethoven like, and will literally drag me down the street (does the "run" count if the person is doing so by brute force in a dragging manner?).

I'm also doing my best to increase water intake, as I have done very poorly on that and mainly substituted with diet soda in the past few months. Fast food is also out, in any form - same with eating out. The only part of this rule I will relax is that on Sundays I can have whatever, and do whatever, I want. I usually go out to eat with my family that day, and figure that one day off a week is a good compromise to good health. That and I don't think that I could survive without any sort of cheat day.

In order to encourage me, hubby went out and purchased me running shoes, and is making me break them in. I'm hoping on lots of encouragement from all of you as well, either on here or on twitter :)