Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Previously on the Three Mousekateers , Agent K foiled the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, my daughter found her Voice and my son upped his defenses. With four days of magic on the books, we were very much in need...  Some time to take a breath and appreciate the details. Of a little bit of a break! Groundhog's Day crowd level predictions for the parks were medium, so we decided to take a day to kick around the resort and Downtown Disney and just rest. Racing cars at the Lego Store. After returning Susan's iPhone charger , we played at the Lego Store for a while, then window shopped and the kids collected another few pressed pennies from the various machines. Our friend, the Lego Dragon! When we started to get hungry, we headed back to the Downtown Disney buses. It was time to resort hop! Disney's Beach Club is a lovely place for a break. We arrived at Beaches and Cream with plenty of time to wander a bit before our ADR. Kylee and I split the falafel while...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Chocolate Chip Pecan Mickey Pancakes (GF and Vegan) Location: My Kitchen! Cost: The Cleanliness of My Kitchen Magical breakfast for one! My kids love making pancakes at home because they get to be in charge of creating their very own culinary magic. The chocolate chips may have something to do with it, too. I love mixing up our own pancake batter at home because it's easier to mix our own than to find gluten free vegan pancakes anywhere outside of Disney. Honestly, there is no telling how much milk or vegetable oil went into these. They seemed to taste pretty awesome regardless of exact measurements! Ingredients: 1 cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix 1 cup almond milk 1 egg substitute (your choice. We like 1 TBSP Chia Seed to 3 TBSP hot water.) 2 tsp. vegetable oil 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup pecan chips 1/2 cup chocolate chips (Vegan and GF)        or blueberries Earth Balance ...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Dark Side Gingerbread Cookies Location: My Kitchen, Texas, y'all Cost: Time, love and a couple Imperial Credits In honor of National Cookie Day, we spent an afternoon earlier this week making some gingerbread cookies. As I tweeted on Wednesday, #ThanksToStarWars my children prefer their gingerbread a little bit on the dark side. Thankfully, I've adapted a lovely gingerbread man recipe that is both Gluten Free and vegan, since that's how the Sith roll these days. Dark Side Gingerbread Cookies - GF, Vegan, Dairy, Nut, Egg Free Ingredients 3/4 cup vegan margarine, softened (we use Earth Balance) 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup black-strap molasses 1 Tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer and 1/4 cup warm water 2 3/4 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix (we like Bob's Red Mill) 2 teaspoons baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or a smidge more if you like spice.) Extra flour ...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Berry Basil Dessert Pizza Location: Palo, Disney Magic Cost: $25 fee plus Cruise Fare A classic Palo dessert that isn't always on the menu, the Berry Basil Pizza is (in my mind) worth the cost of a cruise as I've previously discussed . From the crisp, warm crust to the ripe, sweet, fresh berries and basil, this is (again) a work of art and a beautifully balanced dish. November 2012. Best. Pizza. EVER!   The crust, crisp enough that you could eat this with your hands like a traditional pizza, remains soft inside. Rather than flouring the work surface with flour, powdered sugar acts as a sweet substitute without being too sweet in the finished pie.  February 2013, back for seconds. Chef Silvio Jr. let me know that he liked playing with this recipe so each subsequent cruise I received variations on the original. This one incorporated more of the berry reduction and less whole berries. Still delicious. Still worth a cr...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Ocean Spray Craisins Location: Popcorn Stand, Future World West, Epcot Cost: $2.25   Sometimes we encourage our children to try new and foreign cuisine to expand our palates. Sometimes we go for gourmet and unusual tastes on vacation. After touring all morning, when  Kylee goes through a rare grumpy spell is not one of those times. This is when I am glad that the popcorn in all of Walt Disney World is vegan (coated in a lovely "butter flavor" oil). My nondairy princess would usually partake, but as the afternoon proved to become a bit warm and muggy, hydration and a cool snack was in order.   Craisins even make being to short to ride Mission: SPACE a happy event. I did not want to ply her with sugar (a quick route toward a crash later in the afternoon). Inspiration struck in the form of one of her favorite sweet snacks from home that are easily available at many of the snack stands around Walt ...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! White Bean Crostini Location: Palo, Deck 10 Aft Disney Magic Cost: $25 plus cost of cruise fare After arriving at Palo, getting a glance at the open kitchen design and enjoying a lovely Specialita’ Del Palo: Antipasto Freddo, the ordered portion of your dining experience begins. If you have any form of allergy or dining restrictions, this is where the chef begins to dazzle. One of the lovely parts of a Disney Cruise is the opportunity to try some truly delicious appetizers and those of us who eat slightly off menu (I'm a vegan) enjoy the royal treatment at sea. My last cruise I received this lovely new creation from Chef Silvio Jr.   Vegan White Bean Crostini A warm, aromatic white bean served rustic style atop crostini easily made a dent in my appetite. Homey comforting and garlicy (my three favorite food words after basalmic) this playful vegan appetizer satisfyingly sated my appetite without fe...

I excused myself to the hall to wrestle with technology and just generally start walking in the direction of the Club/Lab (since they were probably the ones trying to get ahold of me). It ended up Kylee almost  had an accident.   She made it just barely in time but got a little (insert body fluid euphemism here) on the lower part of one legging (still not exactly sure how that’s possible, but Kylee’s talented.) So the counselors had procured spare shorts for her to wear back to get changed in her room and then come back to the club. (Yay!) So I took her to get changed out of her top and skirt and leggings (no jacket!   Pretty sure this is when and where it was lost forever) and into a different top and leggings. I made it back to the Studio in time to see Ernesto’s M&M cream sauce risotto with beef medallions crush Sergei’s sweet potato mash, cheese shell, turkey creation (which had very high marks for presentation, but did not utilize the M&Ms in as many componen...

Thanksgiving Dinner, y'all!   Our servers said we were welcome to keep these menus!  So happy. Heading to the aft and Parrot Cay, our table already had the cornbread service and butter out, along with some nondairy rolls for the vegans. All apparently super yummy. Love this! Aromatic, light and flavorful. Kylee and I had preordered stir fried veggies and the servers brought us more couscous, since we’d liked that the other day. You aren't in danger of starving. They also brought us the Gingered Soba Noodles, “just to try it”. Stir Fried veggies. I think the noodles were pretty good, the couscous was quite yummy but the stir fried veggies had this greasiness that was hard to get around. Chris and Ben enjoyed their standard Thanksgiving Dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, and cornbread and honey butter. I ran to drop Kylee for a short time in the club and headed back in time to eat some dessert. This showed up… Tort...