Homemade Hungry Bear YUM

So, it's no secret that one of my absolute FAVES is the fried green tomato sandwich at the Hungry Bear in Critter Country. The green tomatoes! The aioli! The jicama slaw!

I had a couple green tomatoes I needed to use, so I figured I'd try a semi-homemade version of perfection, just using what I could find around the kitchen.

It was pretty easy to fry the tomatoes up - slice, then dredge in 1) flour, 2) beaten egg, & 3) breadcrumbs, fry in butter/olive oil for a couple minutes on each side till they're browned and tasty. For slaw I just used what I had on hand, which was red bell peppers. Likewise with bread (King's Hawaiian rolls) and "spicy aioli" (thousand island dressing + hot sauce, haha!). 

Yeah, very on the fly. But guess what, it was super tasty and was a refreshing taste of "home." Yummy! 

I have made Disney foods at home quite a bit - with varying degrees of success. I'll try to keep up with posting all our food adventures. 

Disney Crafts

I made this! I'll try to take pictures of all my Disney crafts - when I have the time to do them!
This is my Bert Bow. Made with ribbon leftover from my Bert Bag (I'll post about that another time). <3

my advice - DL during spring break, misc tips

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Hey Erin,
So we're in SoCal and we're going to head to Disneyland and we were wondering if you have any tips. Ride strategy, best place to get tix, etc. We're only going for one day. What's the word on Main Street USA?

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Hey!
Tix online are cheaper, usually...I don't remember if you've been recently or if you'll be there open-close, so forgive me if you already know some of this stuff or if any of it is irrelevant.
It's Spring Break so it's predicted to be pretty crowded all week.
According to the app I have, crowds are supposed to be 9 & 10 out of 10 every day this week - Fri & Sat are the 9s and Wed & Thurs are the 10s. Really not much difference...but I can't recommend the Touring Plans app enough. You can get real time Wait Time updates, which is really helpful.
Use single rider lines when available - you can get on rides way quicker. If you do Carsland, this is especially true for Radiator Springs Racers, which is a supercool new ride - standby line is usually 100+ minutes, but I never waited longer than 25 minutes for single rider. If its not clear, you can ask the cast member at the front of the queue about a single rider line.
Eat a Dole Whip. Eat a corn dog.
The Soundsational parade is my favorite, if you feel like a parade.
If you're there in the morning, Peter Pan first. ALWAYS FIRST. (This is true for most of Fantasyland; if you want to do those attractions, do it first thing in the morning)
Toy Story Midway Mania is always a 45 minute wait. It's worth it.
If you're trying to choose between fireworks and World of Color, do World of Color.
Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed right now, so you don't need to worry about that one.
If you're only going to ride one side of the Matterhorn, do the Tomorrowland side!
The Dapper Dans are my favorite.
If you're there at closing - get in a line a few minutes prior - if you're in line at closing, they have to let you get on the ride.
Good luck!
(Also if it seems overwhelmingly busy, ride the train around a couple times because its awesome, AND Haunted Mansion & Pirates always load fast and rarely have a crazy long wait.)

...Sorry if that's overwhelming. I'm a big Disney nerd. Basically, it's one day. You won't be able to do everything. When I have one day I just figure out what I really really want to do and stick with that. Realistic expectations.
Have a magical day! xoxo

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Thought I'd post a message exchange with one of my old friends from yesterday/today. I'm planning on doing a more thorough tips/tricks post, but this is a good taste of what my Disney advice is like - past midnight after a night of Portlanding (MIKA show + drinks + food), haha.
(This is slightly edited - to take out my own blog reference, fix spelling, and condense superfluous info.)
I hope they have a freakin' awesome time! I did, in Portland - I <3 MIKA and that's one of the first non-Disney things I've said on my Disney blog!

 

These are a few of my favorite apps – Touring Plans!

The only Disney app I need is Touring Plans. I first heard about Touring Plans through their Unofficial Guide books, and through the (best) Disney podcast Mousetalgia. Yes it costs money ($6.95 I believe for a year’s DL/DCA subscription, more if you add WDW). Yes it is absolutely worth it. So much information at your fingertips!

Here’s a sample of some of the information I use most regularly. If you’re familiar with the books, however, you’ll know that they also offer…well, Touring Plans, hence the name. Their website says that their plans can save you hours in line; for me the most helpful information is the crowd calendar and wait time features. There’s even links to restaurant reviews and menus, if you’re hungry in the parks or just trying to plan your trip.

 

In my experience, I feel like the crowd predictions may have been slightly “off” in the past year or so (some days have a lower crowd prediction than it ends up being, it seems), but that’s probably because the Disneyland Resort is so very popular! All of the new additions I’m sure have an effect on crowds (UNDERSTATEMENT). However, I feel like the reported wait times you get is worth the price of the app alone – you can find out (via another user) an attraction’s wait time, or if it’s been closed, without having to make the trek yourself. Also, is it possible that Disney's posted wait times are sometimes...wrong? Their predicted wait times have proven (for me) to be more accurate.

 
For me, knowledge is power. The reason I became such a huge Disney nerd is because I was planning a trip and just…got…so…INTERESTED! I never stopped; now I try to know everything, because why not. This app helps me know (almost) everything, and I love it. Thank you, Touring Plans and The Unofficial Guide! (I would work for you guys in a second if I could. Also their website touringplans.com is pretty great, too.)

It’s especially nice if you’re stuck at home in rainy Washington, just wondering about how the parks are today. Sigh!

Got my nails did

All Disney, all the time. :) Picked out a color called "Pink Elephants!" Pretty pretty; I'm on a pink kick lately. Fairly sure that's not going to change anytime soon. ;)

Disney Store trip - my haul for today

I preordered Wreck-It Ralph a while ago, and today was the last day I could pick it up and still use the coupon that came with it. This happened when I preordered Peter Pan, too - what can I say, I don't live superclose to my Disney Stores! Basically, when you preorder you get a coupon that could be used for either $10 your entire purchase or $20 your purchase of $40 or more. WHAT a deal, I can never resist. In fact, I used my Peter Pan coupon to buy Wreck-It Ralph, so 1) it's like the circle of life, and 2) they REALLY have me in the palm of their hand, that Disney Store.

We have two Disney Stores in the area, Alderwood Mall and Southcenter (either one is more than an hour away from my house). Alderwood is bigger, but Southcenter is newer. So take your pick. We were at Alderwood today.

Even though nothing really struck my fancy (I have way too many stuffed animals as it is - maybe you'll see them later, sigh, yes boys I'm single!), I wanted to buy SOMETHING, because hey, $10 off! So, I bought this mug.

Also I have way too many mugs, but whatever. Someday I'll definitely post all of them so I can officially hate myself. Seriously, TOO MANY. I really like this style of mug they've come out with - I already own the Dumbo and Fantasia ones. Beautiful art, a good shape and (most importantly, since this isn't always true with Disney dishes) microwave and dishwasher safe! Allegedly - I'll let you know I guess.

And now Wreck-It Ralph is mine! If only I had the time to watch it! Ah well. Hope we all have a magical week!

Subliminal Disney

So, I'm a preschool teacher, did I mention that? Anyway here's something I did but didn't realize I did - one of our projects this week was to make a handprint flower garden; I thought it would look cute on the wall for spring. I'm tired of winter! So I'm putting it up and had a few extra stems, so I created some flowers to go along with the rest.

crafty crafty

 

 

I chose the circle shape just because 1) it was easy, and 2) because I like making flowers that look like that - simple, bright, not really real. It wasn't until the next day (today) that I realized where I may have (unconsciously) drawn some inspiration!

 

 

Splash Mountain flowers!

Specifically these flowers. I notice them every time! So cute.

 

Oh, the Disney Things! Now when I look at the wall, my day is doubly brightened!

 

 

Splash Mountain LOVE. Have a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day!

Happy Disney Things

I know I said yesterday that I’d write about seeing Alice comedies at the Paramount today, but I want to spend more time than I have right now writing that post! So, another day. In fact, today has turned in to a pretty rough one, so I think for tonight I’ll just post some Disney Things that make me happy.

 

 

 

Okay, that's enough. Night night, xoxo