I am beating a dead horse here I know, but since the pandemic started, we have really embraced cooking at home, finding new recipes and incorporating EV as much as we can. I have said a thousand times over how much cake mix and frosting we invested in since it was one of the hottest commodities at the beginning of all of this, so I do not feel this needs to be one of the things talked about again.
At the height of everything, there were two kitchen accessories that although are completely unnecessary have been something that we have used so much, that they have been worth the price tag several times over. The first is the Mickey Waffle Maker. It was definitely pricey at $75, but I loved that they made the actual small thick waffles that you would get at any of the Disney hotels/restaurants. Many of the Mickey waffle makers although at much lower cost, make the flatter waffles. There is something about a Mickey waffle at one of the buffets that just adds to the experience of a Disney breakfast before hitting the parks. I will say, I am not sure where this waffle maker was being delivered from, but even with pandemically slow delivery, this waffle maker took FOREVER to be delivered. Worth it, yes, but still epically slow. You know what made the wait worth it, the inside scoop that my mom got from the amazing ShopDisney host when my mom basically told her our life story and the importance of getting her grandkids this waffle maker (don't know...read HERE for how Baby D's 1st Birthday was supposed to go). As she and my mom are schmoozing and she is basically telling her everything, but my social security number she begins to tell my mom that the waffle maker is useless unless we also have the special Disney waffle mix in which to make said waffles. She not only tells my mom the company, but provides her the link to order. There is NOTHING, that will make you turn your nose up and ruin every other waffle mix for life, than Golden Malted (we buy the 3 pack 2lb resealable bags and I believe it is $8 a bag doing it this way). It smells like a light cake mix and that is all that needs to get said about that. The waffle mix is the real deal and the one that Disney uses to make their own waffles, so as you see...Wait. Was. Worth. It.
The Hearth and Hand spatulas from Target are adorable and the say Chef and Sous Chef
On Saturdays we create a waffle bar for EV on our kitchen island complete with syrup, powdered sugar (pixie dust), sprinkles and chocolate chips. All the amazing fixings you would need to create an amazing Disney waffle experience (complete with Mickey kitchen utensils). I had recently read on one of the blogs or saw a picture on the Insta to add food coloring to make rainbow Mickey waffles, so that is definitely next on the list.
We added chocolate chips to the ones above
This brings me to the second unnecessary necessary buy...The Toy Story Pizza Maker. Yes, we could have bought a pizza pan on Target for like $7, but does it cook the entire pizza in fifteen minute?! If it does, I do not want to know about it, this pizza maker is the bees knees and we literally use it twice a week concocting new pizza ideas every time. I will say a trick of the trade is to even out the pizza dough directly on the pizza maker itself (once it has rested...do I sound like Paul Hollywood yet). We were trying to make the dough round and then put it on the pizza maker and it was a disaster every time (case in point the first pizza picture below). If you can accomplish this feat, you are not my kind of people ;). Once we figured this out, perfectly round pizza every time and a non-annoyed Hubs, so win-win. You can buy THIS packaged pizza crust for $1 at Walmart and it works beautifully with the pizza maker.
Why yes that is a neck tattoo on my daughters neck and that is where she chose to put it (my youth is coming back in full force).
Over the years we have collected a lot of Mickey Mouse kitchenware, such as; spatulas, whisks, pizza cutters (which are more of a decorative piece lol), mixing bowls, mommy and me aprons, etc. so being able to have a piece of Disney in the kitchen when making all the Disney inspired food just adds to the Disney snack life experience. #someonedoashotforeverytimeisaiddisneyinthissentence #butnotme #mamacantholdherhardliquour #onlywine
Technically, my apron is Harry Potter, but EV's is made to look like Belle's dress
Pinterest has a bevvy of amazing recipes to recreate the Disney snack life magic at home. At the time, I was holding out for yeast so that I could make beignets with the hopes of succeeding in making them so that I could recreate the holiday versions #hullopumpkinandpeppermintmocha. Hopes are high people, hopes are high! EV is not your normal kid, she is her mama's kid and will choose the savory life over the sweet every time (unless ice cream is an option and then #alwaysicecream). I think she loves the idea of a cupcake, making the cupcakes, and the aesthetic of the cupcake, but once she is eating said cupcake, she is over it in a bite or two. However, we are very much pretzel people...with cheese (those that are sans cheese are barbarians plain and simple and shouldn't be allowed to partake in eating the pretzel #imnotsorryisaidit). I was thrilled when I came across THIS recipe on Pinterest and it is every bit as simple and most importantly delicious as they make it out to be. Yes, folding the dough into Mickey heads are a tad tedious, but it is totally worth the outcome. I actually have a When Not In Disney We Still Disney board on Pinterest where I save all my Disney theme-ing ideas and activities that we want to do. We bought THIS refrigerated pizza dough that the blogger suggested which you can get at Target for about $3 (I bought a couple of extra cans because if we liked them I wanted to be able to make them again and not worry that pizza crust was going to be the next hot pandemic item). It was amazing, super easy to work with, and took no time to defrost. I suggest if you know you are going to make them, just take it out the night before and pop it in the fridge. For the cheese, we just got Velveeta and popped it in the microwave with a 1/4 of milk (keeps the cheese gooey and melted), but I am sure there are all kinds of amazing combinations you can do for an extra kick (#hereslookingatyousalsa).
baking mats of awesomeness
I know parents talk about sudden aversions to food, but EV was a big fan of broccoli for AWHILE and now she won't go near the stuff, she will try it though and I give her credit for that, but it is the smallest of the tastes and it promptly comes out of her mouth followed by an "ewwwwwww". Thankfully her love of blackened shrimp and grits is still going strong. Therefore, I have to do that mom thing and find creative ways to introduce veggies into her diet. One way I have done this is chickpea pasta. My girl loves her some pasta and she really loves chickpea pasta. I love THIS brand because it comes in a lot of fun easy shapes for small hands and forks and even comes in alphabet form. Success! Protein and veggies in one fell swoop. When Galaxys Edge in Hollywood Studios opened we went to the fast-serve restaurant for lunch and on the menu was Ithorian Pasta which is basically Beyond/Impossible "meat", a marinara sauce, and pasta.
EV is a BIG fan of pasta with meat sauce and I could not get over how much she absolutely loved this meal, as in ate the entire thing which I have NEVER seen her do (she is a snacking kind of kid). Right before the pandemic, Sean and I noticed that the Beyond plant-based meat had a "ground" version and all I kept thinking about was being able to replicate this meal at home. I could use regular pasta, but I thought a more creative way to get even more veggies into her was to use chickpea pasta.
It was a raging success in our household, so much so that now it is also one of Hubs favorite meals and the prep is soooo easy. All the ingredients that I use, are below This. Is. It. EV likes a good kick to her sauce so I use the Arriabiata, but really you could use any sauce that you prefer. I only use a quarter of the jarred sauce (I will use half a jar of sauce if I want leftover sauce for something else like chicken parm) and then I take the sauce and an entire can of crushed tomatoes, put it in the blender and puree the crap out of it. I am a complete and utter weirdo that should have her Greek card revoked as I hate stewed tomatoes with a passion (I literally strain them out with a fork if they are in my meal).
Ta-dah, the results!!
Lets just say we love the Disney Snack Life so much, that we have clothing that celebrates it as well....Okay so maybe this was a little far, but I really love these pictures.
Seriously, is there anything better than snacking around Main Street? Or Snacking around the World Showcase with a cocktail?!
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