Disney Wedding Dress: Help Wanted!

I am doing this for my dear friend, Holly. Please read her following blog post and help her win her Disney dream dress. All it takes is a "like" on Facebook, vote, and then simply "unlike" to help push her into first place.

This is my pathetic plea! I don't normally do things like this, but this is probably my only chance to get my dream dress!

If you've read any of my posts, you understand that I don't come from a rich family, I don't have lots of money, and I live a rather average lifestyle. But its my life that I'm completely happy with! Since becoming engaged, I'm realizing just how expensive the whole wedding planning/process is.

I know we will have to have a budget wedding, and the vision I have is totally doable! I think I've finally settled on a venue too! The one thing that really concerns me, that is most important to me, is my wedding dress. A budget wedding doesn't really have the wiggle room to plan for my dream dress. Not to say my dress is outrageously expensive, but its over my budget. This means that I will probably have to settle for a  very pretty dress, knowing that its not truly the one that I want!

And what is my dream dress? THIS is my dream dress!

The Ariel Disney Princess dress from Alfred Angelo's Disney Bridal collection! Its absolutely gorgeous and everything I want in a dress. Its just the right shape and style to make me look great on my wedding day! I stare at the dress a lot and I can completely envision myself wearing this dress down the aisle! But alas, it is outside of my budget.

That's where the HELP part comes in! I recently found a contest through Pear Tree Greetings, the company we are looking at to do all our wedding invites and other stationary items, to win $1500 towards my dream dress. That is more than enough to cover the cost of the Ariel Dress! The contest rules stipulate that I must enter a picture of Pre-Hubby and I and tell our engagement story. After that, I am to get  friends to vote for us! For the first two days after I entered, we were in the lead, and now we are bordering on 5th place! I need to be in the top 5 to even be considered for the grand prize!

The contest is held on Facebook. You have to go to the contest page and vote for the couple you want to win. You can only vote ONCE during the whole contest. I need as many votes as possible to win this dress and would love if you all would vote for us and share with your friends to vote for us as well! Vote for us here! You may have to like their page in order to vote, but I know people who have unliked the page afterwards and the vote still remained! If you see this picture, you know you are in the right place!

Pre-Hubby and I all dressed up in Vegas!

EVERY VOTE IS FOREVER APPRECIATED!!! And any shares with your friends and votes from them are greatly appreciated as well! Please help us win. I want nothing more than to wear my dream dress on my wedding day!!

Thank you to everyone!

Hoop De Doo's Cornbread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 T. baking powder

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Begin by blending the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Then in a different bowl mix eggs, milk, and oil. Slowly combine the ingredients and put in a greased 9*13 pan (or bread pan) and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Please go to www.magicaldismom.com for another recipe with Krystal tomorrow.

Akershus' Chicken Salad

I have been thinking about this recipe for over a month, and finally decided to just give it a try, it was well worth it! If you're wanting to remember either your Scandinavian roots, or a time in the World Showcase this is a good treat.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked and diced chicken
½ cup sliced, blanched and drained mushrooms
½ cup blanched asparagus

Dressing: 
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon sweet pickle juice
to taste salt
to taste white pepper

Blanch the asparagus and mushrooms, and cook chicken. Mix together, and mix the dressing. Pour dressing  over the salad and mix well.

Dressing

All the essentials minus the dressing

Complete

Gode å spise (good eating)

       

Go to www.magicaldismom.com for another magical recipe with Krystal tomorrow.

Port Orleans Resort's Beignets

Ingredients: 
1 pack dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
7 cups flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp Salt
1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
1/4 cup soft shortening oil, for frying
Confectioner's sugar

Pour the yeast over warm water, and stir till dissolved. Then add the sugar, eggs, salt, and milk. After combined, mix in the flour and cover and refrigerate over night. After it has completely set, roll out to desired thickness (about 1/4 inch) and cut into desired shapes. Fry on both sides for 30-60 seconds and cover in powdered sugar. *Note, the dough can see chilled for several days before using.

  For another wonderful recipe go to www.magicaldismom.com and see what Krystal has cooked up.

Main Street Bakery's Gourmet Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This is a delicious, wonderful cookie recipe. In all honesty delicious is an understatement, the dough was good enough that it tasted like ice cream. Definitely a must have for any chocolate lover!

1 cup Butter

1 tablespoon Brown sugar

1 cup Sugar

2 large Eggs

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 cup Cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups Flour

1/4 teaspoon Baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

18 oz. Semisweet chocolate chunks (I used chips instead of chunks)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter, sugars, vanilla, and cocoa powder together and cream them. Then, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes (if bigger cookies, cook up to 10 minutes).

Cream everything together

Add chocolate chips/chunks

Final baked product

Join Krystal tomorrow for another wonderful recipe at www.magicaldismom.com

Rose and Crown's Guinness Cake

I found this gem of a recipe a few weeks ago, and will admit to being hesitant to trying it. You see, I am not a fan of beer (and yes, I have tried many different types and still prefer other adult beverages), and the idea of mixing chocolate with something I don't really like seemed odd to me. Still, though, I decided that this challenge is all about doing things we normally wouldn't do, while sharing Disney with all of you. I am so happy that I decided to give it a try. I will also include a recipe for a Bailey's frosting that is not from Disney, but couples well with this cake (note, if you are serving this to family and want something non alcoholic, substitute with Bailey's coffee creamer, it works well).

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

6 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 TB baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups Guinness Stout

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Frosting:

3 cups of powdered sugar

1 cup (two sticks) of butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons of Bailey's

Begin by creaming the butter and sugar together. Gradually add in the eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. In a completely separate bowl stir together the cocoa powder and Guinness. Alternate between adding the flour and Guinness mixture to the mixing bowl. Once done, place in greased cake pans (I used one 10*10) and baking for 1 hour and 30 minutes (it took 1 hour and 8 minutes for me) at 275 degrees. Let sit for 5 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from pan and frosting.

Egg, sugar, and butter

After Guinness has been added

Cake cooling!

Combine all of the frosting ingredients together and mix well - it is best to use a hook instead of whisk for these types of frosting. Spread on cake as desired. 

Combine and mix well

Pour on top of cake

Enjoy!

Please join Krystal tomorrow at www.magicaldismom.com for another magical recipe

Thursday Fit-Day: Chicken Tortellini Caesar Salad

Thanks to my friend Holly (found at www.hefinator.blogspot.com) I was introduced to this recipe a few years ago, and loved it. I never tried to make it on my own, but a few months ago when I had Holly over for her birthday she requested this as her meal. I was surprised to see how fast and easy it was to make, and how healthy it really is - a big plus, my kids even loved it! It's something that can be kept exact to the recipe, or have extra veggies and what not added into it. For Holly's pictures of this wonderful meal, go here.


Ingredients:
1 Bag Caesar Salad mix
1 Package Buitoni 3-Cheese Tortellini (I have used any type of pasta I have in my cupboard as well)
2 large Chicken Breasts

Start by cooking the pasta according to the directions on the packaging. While that is preparing, cook the chicken through and cut into cubes. In a large bowl, put the salad mix, pasta, and chicken and mix well. It is that easy, and oh so delicious and filling!

Not so Wordless Wednesday

For today's Not So Wordless Wednesday I decided to share my son's video that was put together by Disney Junior. It was so cute, and brought a smile to the whole family.  Check out It's Your Birthday and then sign your child up to receive a phone call or personalized video as well!

Crystal Palace's Breakfast Potato Casserole

**Image update** Having some technical difficulties in connecting to my PC this morning. Hopefully you all will not let that deter you from trying this, it is a wonderful side to any breakfast dish!

Ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt 

1/4 teaspoon White Pepper 

1/2 teaspoon Salt 

3 cups Milk 

1 cup Cheddar Cheese - mild, shredded 

4 cups Potatoes - diced and cooked 

1/2 cup Flour 

1/2 cup Onions - diced 

1/4 cup Butter - melted

First, dice and cook potatoes. Then,  add butter to pan and melt and place in the diced onions and saute for a few minutes. Begin adding the flour to make a roux and stir constantly for about 5 minutes (or until golden brown). Put in the milk and stir until all of the lumps are gone. Now, add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 10 minutes - stirring occasionally. Put in an oven at 350 degrees and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and cream has thickened.

Saute the onions

Make the roux with the onions (turns out slightly sweet)

Combine everything and bake

Voila!

Join Krystal tomorrow at www.magicaldismom.com for another magical recipe!

D23's Spinach Gorgonzola Bruschetta

One of my favorite things to accompany a meal is bruschetta - it's so light, and can easily be made healthy. Plus, it is a perfect side to almost any dish. When I was looking through my D23 I got excited seeing a twist on such a simple recipe.

Ingredients:

5 cups spinach (ends need to be chopped off)

2 cloves garlic

1 pinch of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pinch of black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 loaf ciabatta bread (or French bread)

Begin by warming up oil in a pan, and adding the garlic until a golden color (about 1 minute). Then, add the spinach and salt/pepper/nutmeg and cook until the spinach is slightly wilted. Now, add the heavy cream, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheese and stir until the cream thickens.

Cut the bread, and place on a pan. Drizzle/brush with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove, and top with the spinach mixture.

Please join Krystal tomorrow at www.magicaldismom.com for another great recipe!

Thursday Fit-Day: Plugging Away

Hello all, sorry for missing last week's post. Things have been absolute crazy here between school, work, kids, and just life in general. I promise it will not happen again though, as I know my posting regularly will help keep me on track and accountable. Also, it hopefully is encouraging to any of you that feel it is too hard to make the changes to a healthier you - truth be told, it's harder to stay the same with the health risks then to get up and mix things up a bit.

Unfortunately I have not gotten measured yet as I still have not made it to the gym. The gym I belong to has very crazy hours (they're closed for three hours in the middle of the day, right at the point I get off work and would be heading to the gym, and close by 7:30 at night so no going after the kids head to bed). My only choice, really, is to get up at 5:00am and head to the gym before anyone in the family is awake. And that's only on mornings my husband does not work. So, as you can see, making the gym trek has been difficult to say the least. I do plan on going in the morning, though, and will update with a comment on here of the measurements. Let me say, I do not relish the idea of sharing those numbers with you all, but I shall do it!

I have been walking a lot more as my family was given a year long pass to the zoo (thanks mom and dad!). I have also started back up with doing my kickboxing dvd's regularly. The first time doing them again had me in pain after a mere 5 minutes, and I could barely complete the whole session (not to mention the countless stopping to see how many minutes were left). As of this morning, I completed the full 25 minutes with only checking for the remaining time once! Also, it is much easier and I no longer feel like the movements will literally kill me.

Last night I started an old yoga routine that I did back in high school and college. To my shock, I could do no more than a few minutes and even those few were shaky. Immediately, though, I could feel the results of being able to breath easier and hold my shoulders back better. So I will definitely be pushing foward with that. My plan is to perfect the routine in chunks by doing the same parts several days in a row and then add more. We shall see how I progress throughout the week.

All for now, hopefully some encouraging numbers on the scale next week!

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Disney Junior's Veggie Skateboards

With summertime approaching, I decided it would be fun to try these skateboards again. They're healthy and are fun for picnic dinners - plus my kids love them! A side note about the ingredients list, it really depends on how many skateboards are being made. Rule of thumb is one carrot can make two skateboards.

Ingredients:

2 long carrots
1 cucumber
3 slices of swiss cheese

Grate the rough exterior off of the carrots and then cut to make the wheels. Then, slice the cucumber lengthise and place it on top of the carrots. Cut designs in the cheese, and place it on top of the cucumber board.

 

D23's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
11 tablespoons butter
3/4 cups sugar
2 3/4 cups flour

Begin by sifting together the flour, salt, and baking powder then set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Then, add the vanilla and egg. Gradually pour in the flour mixture. Change to a dough hook and kneed the cookie dough until all of the flour has been combined.

Roll the cookie dough out to desired thickness (mine was about 1/8 inch thick) and use whatever cookie cutters strike your fancy! Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I use butter instead) and bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes.

Mickey's, Crowns, and Cars Oh My!

Please go to Krystal's page tomorrow at http://www.magicaldismom.com/ for more of our wonderful challenge!