Our 1st Visit to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival

 

  

Despite our many trips to Walt Disney World, last weekend was our first ever experience at Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. Mama was certainly excited! With 36 booths and only 2 half-days to visit in, there was no way we could get to every one and sample everything we wanted to. Personally, I had a very long list of food & drinks to try, and the rest of the family was pretty much just along for the ride. ;) The first night I visited several booth by myself, then the next day we toured many others as a family. The kiosks that I visited on my solitary journey are noted.

 

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All photos were taken by me. For other photos of the foods I mentioned but forgot to take pictures of can be found at www.easywdw.com and www.disneyfoodblog.com, along with their thoughts.

 

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Watermelon Juice

Terra

- Fresh Watermelon Juice * Everyone else really enjoyed this, but I found it to be a bit sweet & would just prefer to eat my watermelon.

Patagonia

*When I first looked at the menu, I wasn't sure I wanted to try anything here. However, we ended up trying two different items here & I'm certainly glad we did.

-Beef Empanada * Not overwhelmingly delicious because the flavors were a bit neutral, but the children and I found it to be tasty.

-Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Puree * This was VERY good and everyone enjoyed it! The beef was tender and juicy, G loved the Chimichurri sauce, but the boniato puree mostly just tasted like under-seasoned mashed potatoes.

Mexico

-Rib Eye Taco * This is tied as my favorite "main dish". Sadly, the hubs and I finished this off in about 4 bites before I remembered a photo! LOL Not much food for the price, but definitely delicious!

-Mango-Strawberry Margarita * I really thought I would like this, but since I rarely drink alcohol, apparently I forgot that I only like sparkling white wines and frozen mixed drinks. The big man finished this off for me and enjoyed it.

The Refreshment Cool Post

-Dulce de Leche Frozen Yogurt * Apparently this is always a choice here because this is not technically a F&W kiosk. If this is the case, we will be ordering this every time we visit Epcot! Caramel flavored ice cream on a hot day? Yes, please!

Singapore

-Lemongrass Chicken Curry with Coconut and Jasmine Rice * I'm just going to blame the alcohol and heat for me also forgetting that I don't like curry. *eye roll* So obviously I did not like this dish, everybody thought it was okay, although I seem to recall one child asking what that weird taste was...




Schinkennedeln

Germany

-Schinkennedeln Pasta Gratin with Ham and Cheese * This German version of baked mac n' cheese was fantastic. I was sad to have to share it! LOL Everyone liked it.

-Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll * This was strictly for the hubs and the kids who were interested, and the consensus was that it was just okay. He's also had the bratwurst from Sommerfest and wasn't impressed with that either. I guess when you've had the real thing in country you won't be satisfied with less.


Berliner & Bratwurst
 

-Berliner-Yeast Doughnut filled with Apricot Jam * If you like apricot jam and you like doughnuts, you will like this. I had to fight off children, particularly the one who eats apricot jam on a near daily basis & is now taller than me. *sigh* Maybe you should buy more than one if this is your dilemma as well?

Frozen "Apple Pie"

Poland

 

-Frozen Szarlotka-Apple Pie featuring Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka * A frozen cocktail that seriously tastes like apple pie. Very good!

 

Hops & Barley

-Artisan Cheese Plate: Cabot Cloth-wrapped Cheddar, Purple Haze Chevre Goat Cheese, Cave Man Blue Cheese * Nasty. The fact that this photo shows a near empty tray is surprising because I don't think anyone liked it enough to finish it off. Very disappointing.

Carrot Cake aka Deliciousness

Artisan Cheese Plate

-Florida Grass-Fed Beef Slider with Pimento Cheese * This sounded really good except for the pimento cheese that they added, so the hubs was the only one who tasted this. He said it was good; meaty and cheesy. I guess that means it was good....take it for what it's worth! LOL

-Fresh-Baked Carrot Cake with Craisins and Cream Cheese Icing * It's been over a week now since I had this, and I'm still thinking about it! Hands down the "best dessert" I tried. It was still warm, the cake was moist & the craisins were a great addition. The only complaint I would have would be that the icing was too sweet and sugary, but I don't usually like much icing or frosting on any cake. Everyone else enjoyed the icing, which I think is the only thing I let them taste. Again, buy more than one!

Morocco

*I visited this booth by myself.

-Kefta Pocket * Disappointing. The pita was too big for the one whole meatball I received as well as dry and flavorless. The meatball had okay flavor but was just too spicy. There was a slaw that had great flavor & helped to cool the heat from the meatball, but there was a tiny amount only on one side.

-Baklava * This is the item I was most anticipating. It is one of my most favorite desserts that I rarely have. So with a heavy heart I must tell you that this was THE most disappointing item at F&W. :( It had obviously been frozen and may have experienced frost bite because it tasted like paper and even the honey tasted bad. Just bad all around. Wal-Mart makes better baklava.

Belgium

Belgian Waffles & Cocada

-Belgium Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream * You can't go wrong with a warm waffle covered in chocolate!

-Belgium Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream * Personally, I liked this one even more than the chocolate one. However, I found myself combining the chocolate and the berries for an even tastier experience! Everybody liked both flavors.

Brazil

*I visited this booth both by myself and with my family.

Frozen Caipirinha

-Cocada-Brazilian Coconut Candy * This is basically like a huge portion of the inside of a Mounds bar, but a bit drier. Not bad, but VERY sweet & you must really like coconut to enjoy this. One kid polished this off, no problem.




-Frozen Caipirinha featuring LeBlon Cachaca * "Best Drink" in my book! It was cold, fruity & delicious. Not too sweet or strong. I would have bought another one the next day when we stopped there with my family if it wasn't $8.75!! :0


Crispy Pork Belly

-Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Tomato and Cilantro * Unfortunately, my mouth was preoccupied with the waffles from Belgium when my husband ordered this, so I didn't try any. He and some of the kids agreed that it was tasty.

Ireland

*I visited this booth by myself

-Kerrygold Cheese Selection: Reserve Cheddar, Dubliner with Irish Stout, Skellig * This was SO good! Wins for "best side dish" in my tastings. It came with a fruit compote that was fantastically delicious and paired well with two strongly flavored cheeses. It was also served with bread (mine was dry) and Kerrygold butter, which is good. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture!

 

Refreshment Port

*I visited this booth by myself.

-Croissant Doughnut with Cinnamon Sugar * Again, I don't think this is limited to the Food & Wine Festival, as this is a permanent kiosk. $4.69 is a LOT for a doughnut, but it was hot & the perfect combination of croissant and doughnut. Hard to describe, but easy to eat! I will buy this again if it is always offered. Again, no picture. :(




Kalua Pork Slider & Pineapple Wine

Hawai'i

*This was the first booth I visited on my single trip around the world.

-Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise * Long name for a tiny sandwich! Having said that though, it was several bites of pure yumminess. The little bites of pineapple were nice surprising complement to the pork. Ties for "best main dish" for me!

-Maui Splash Sweet Pineapple Wine * I bought this on a whim. It was dry, fruity & tasted like pineapple. Go figure! LOL It was very good, so if you like fruity wines, try it.



 

Scotland

-Glenfiddich 15 year * Yes, my husband braved the 15-year-old scotch! He said it was good, but didn't like it warm. He's really just a Bud Light kind of guy, so this was kind of a stretch and just for fun. I'm not sure he'll be trying that again. ;)

15-year-old Scotch!

Have you ever been to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival? Have you been this year or are you planning to go? Let me know what you've tried or want to try! I still have a lot that I want to try and at this point have no plans to go back while F&W is still on.

Christmas House Tour 2013

Hey there! 

Welcome to The Beazhive's 1st Christmas House Tour!

I am so excited to be joining Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday House Walk Linky Party this year! If you haven't already checked out all the amazing houses on the virtual holiday housewalk yet, you really must. They are simply gorgeous!

If you're visiting from Holiday House Linky Party, thank you! I can't wait to see all the gorgeous houses YOU have decorated for the season!

Now, there are a few things you must know 

before we get started:

1. I am NOT an interior decorator. In fact, I pretty much fail at decorating my home, but I am getting better. At Christmas time I feel as though I do a bit better. Maybe it's because it's not permanent? At any rate, please do not expect Macy's worth displays!

2. I am NOT a photographer. I really, really, really love taking photographs, and I really, really, really want a DSLR. That is probably not ever going to be in my budget, though, so for now I take pictures on my phone. Mediocre pictures. I probably should read all those posts about taking better pictures on your phone that I have pinned.

So, please be kind! :)

3. I went BIG this year! Why? Well, last year we moved the day after Christmas. The year before we moved right around Christmas. The year before that we were living in a hotel until December 23rd. I feel like we were cheated out of three beautiful, peaceful Christmases in a row! I know that Christmas is not about the decorations and the presents & we try very hard to keep our family's focus on Jesus during the season. I just really love all the other aspects of Christmas that make it so lovely and magical. So this year, I'm going BIG.

Without further ado:

 

 We moved to Florida last year & rented this beautiful house. Doesn't that entryway look beautiful with all the icicle lights? How about the 3 palm trees decked out in their holiday best?

My hubby did a great job!

Shall we go in?

 

We have named this the "Grand" tree because, well....it's grand. LOL

It's 7 1/2 feet tall with a base of 60 inches.

It sits in our foyer that for 11 months out of the year is basically 150 square feet of wasted space.

In my opinion.

I think the idea is the "wow" factor of opening that front door and being able to look across the entire house through the back WALL of sliding glass doors onto the patio & out onto the yard. It is very dramatic.

It may have suckered us in, too.

We didn't consider the cost of air conditioning that much square footage with up to twenty foot high ceilings in the main living areas. YIKES!

But now, the foyer is home to my beautiful blue & silver tree!

 

My husband and I are having a debate on where & when we bought this tree, which is weird because in the 10 or 11 years we've owned this tree, we've never even discussed it!

He thinks we bought it in Watertown, NY when Ames was going out of business.

However, our last Christmas at Ft. Drum we had a big beautiful live tree that really resembled this one. It was perfect, and the model for our "Grand" tree. We moved just over a month later.

I think we bought it the next year when we were in Hawaii and getting a real tree was bad option.

Not that it matters. It's still a gorgeous tree & we love it.

This simple yet stunning paper star was acquired at the swap meet in Hawaii.

I am smitten with it. 

The tree would not be complete without it.

This year, I used a couple of cans of spray snow to lighten the green of the tree and adorned it with varying shades of blue, silver & white.

 

The dining room is off the left of the foyer. All of the walls in living areas are an interesting of yellowish, orangish, peach that I'm not a fan of. It took awhile to decide on a color that complimented it, but we finally decided on purple. Purple is not exactly a Christmas color, so this took some creativity. Luckily, the Advent candles matched nicely.

Hanging those ornaments was harder than I imagined. I love how it turned out, though.

Normally, three mirrors live on this wall.

Two of them had an accident, so we finally replaced them & put a wreath in lieu of the center one.

The wreath was one that I got at a yard sale this year. It was horribly ugly with old fake flowers hot glued to it. It's my first attempt at styling a wreath from scratch. 

Not too shabby.

My china cabinet is still a work in progress, so check back next week for the update!

Did I mention there are no overhead lights in this room?

To the right of the foyer is our school room. It's the room we spend the most time in.

I have a yellow, grey & black theme in this room because of our "bee" theme at the Busy Beaz Academy.

However, this is where the "Family" tree is located.

I let the kids decorate this one!

This baby is loaded with decades of special ornaments that we've all received over the years.

I really felt like a momma when I received that first gold spray painted macaroni Christmas ornament!

Here is our favorite ornament. It's a peek-a-boo Tigger!

PEEK-A-BOO! I have a thing for Tigger & have had this ornament for a LONG time.

Here is the gigantic built-in entertainment center in our living room. The living room is right behind the foyer. When we moved in we had a 32 inch tv in the spot. It was teeny looking! We scored that giant flat screen for $200 bucks off Craigslist! Of course, it's not currently working, so...

There will be 5 other family members joining us for Christmas this year! We are so excited.

We put up stockings for everyone from our extensive stocking collection.

For some reason, we seem to buy more every year.

It's getting a bit out of control. Kind of like the trees. 

Maybe you should start keeping count of how many stockings and how many trees there are!

Our glitter silver nativity cut-out.

Sadly, this is the only nativity in our house. It's very had to find one that is both affordable and not breakable.

But that adorable baby in the manger is THE REASON FOR THE SEASON and we should never forget that!

MELE KALIKIMAKA!

(may-lay kuh-leaky-mah-kuh)

For those of you who don't speak Hawaiian, that means Merry Christmas!

This is the "Romantic" tree. So dubbed by J because it's in the master bedroom

Ahem. Moving on.

I'm not really a fan of skinny trees, but when I was working at Hobby Lobby last year, this tree was returned because the "lights didn't work". Mmm hmm. I rescued it from the trash chute for $5. Yes, five dollars.

This may be a good time to mention that most of the Christmas items you see here were all bought at after Christmas clearance sales. A great deal of them were 80% off (or more) plus my employee discount. I rarely pay full price for any Christmas item.

Back when we only had one tree, I used to rotate between my blue & silver ornaments and my maroon & gold ornaments and the family ornaments usually got mixed in too.

I always felt a little selfish wanting a "family" tree AND a "pretty" tree.

Now I don't have to feel guilty!

I did reserve that maroon ornament from some very dear friends of ours from our ARMY days in Hawaii for this tree, though. That Mrs. Bradley had a house straight from the pages of Southern Living & I loved it. Her tree had more lights and decorations on it than I thought possible!

Do you remember when I said we rent this house? Yeah, I didn't pick any of the paint colors. I'm very thankful that my master bathroom is not still the mauve color hiding underneath this color! However, I found some great ornaments in the Dollar Spot at Target (plus an extra 10% Cartwheel!) that compliment the lime green.

What? You don't have a tree in your bathroom?

A little more color for the bathroom.

My "Candy Land" tree! Love this one! It is so fun & whimsical.

This is the tree we bought last year when we celebrated Christmas in an empty house because the movers had already taken all our furniture. It was a bright, fun spot in that trying time.

I really need to take some daytime pictures because it's so cute!

 One of the neighbor kids said they wanted to eat it up!

My kids love the "snow" in the jars.

I was going to hang red and white pot holders from the cupboards but J came up with this free solution of putting wrapping paper on them after how well my china cabinet turned out. Smart, frugal kid!

Yes, I already owned all those different red wrapping papers.

I'm pretty sure only one of them cost more than .25 a roll.

This post is so long & I've only just begun! I will leave you with this fantastically adorable snowman that is hanging in the hallway between the kids rooms,

but I really hope you'll come back to view the rest of my decorations!

Mr. Snowy wants you to come back too!

*Please feel free to ask any questions or leave a comment!*

*I love visitors!*

Vacation on the Cheap: Orlando 2013 - Meal & Snack Ideas

Welcome back to my Vacation on the Cheap Series! I hope that you have been following along and gathering some ideas that you can use on your next vacation.

Today’s topic is food! Yummy! Food can be one of the biggest, if not the biggest cost when vacationing. A family can spend anywhere from $30 for some mediocre chicken strips that have been sitting under warming lights for 5 hours, all the way up to several HUNDRED dollars for a sit-down meal with a certain princess in her castle. That’s just per meal! Over the course of several days one could easily go bankrupt.

This is not to say that you should skip on food and dining experiences that you believe to be worth the money. Like I’ve mentioned before, we do NOT skip on the Dole Whips. (If you’ve had one, you know why I keep mentioning this!) We have several character meals that we really want to do, but have yet to save the money for. When it becomes a priority, I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to save that money.

Figure out what your food priorities are and save for those. Get creative in areas where you know you could save money. We’ve already discussed finding a hotel with a kitchen, free breakfast, a mini-fridge and/or a microwave. Now we’re going to talk about specific ideas for each of those situations, and a few ideas for when you can’t find a hotel with any of those things.

No matter where you stay, do as much as you can before leaving home. If you are striving for a “real food” diet, make snacks such as homemade goldfish crackers rather than buying them. Homemade baked goods will add a special touch to your brown bag lunch. Strive to include treats that will set your lunch apart from run-of-the-mill kids meals so that no one feels deprived. Don’t forget lots of fruits & vegetables to keep it healthy!

*Please note that these are suggestions, and I have not personally tried every recipe*

The No-Frills Hotel

*Many items will need to be kept cold. Use discretion when choosing items to bring based on how much space your cooler has, number of days items will remain in cooler, and if they must be kept very cold or only cool*

 

Breakfast

Oatmeal (packets)– use hot water from the coffee maker or the tap

Muffins - these are really yummy & what we took with us; I also added blueberries to some of them

Cereal – keep milk in the cooler

Breakfast cookies

Granola Bars

*Don’t forget the fruit!

Lunch & Dinner

Homemade lunchables -meat, cheese, crackers

Pasta salad (recipe coming soon!)

Sandwiches or Wraps: meat, pb&j, cream cheese & jelly, cream cheese & ham, Nutella & banana, egg salad, tuna salad (could be made with avocado, it's yummy!) - could also be served on bagel or with crackers

*I would highly recommend wraps because of their portability. No squished bread!*

Cucumber and tomato salad    

Layered salads - in plastic jars because glass may not be permitted

California Taco Salad (recipe coming soon!)

Cucumber, dill, & Greek yogurt salad

Tortellini salad (recipe coming soon!)

Snacks & Desserts

Cookies

Yogurt

Fruit

Granola bars

Muffins

Hard-boiled eggs

Hummus & veggies

Peanut butter in bottom of jar with celery - could add raisins

Rice crispy bars/brown rice bars (recipe coming soon!)

Banana, pumpkin or zucchini bread (one or more recipes coming soon!)

Fruit cups (could make your own!)

Trail mix

Homemade soft pretzels

Homemade graham crackers

Avocado hummus

Homemade goldfish

Homemade fruit leathers

Cake

Fruit with Nutella or other dip

Lemon bars

Cheese wedges or sticks

Mixed nuts

Hotel with a Mini-Fridge and Microwave

(Including all of the above suggestions)

Breakfast

Sausage Pancake Bites – made at home, kept in fridge & reheated

Waffles - made at home with maple syrup in mix & reheated

Mini sausages in biscuits – made at home & reheated

*If you can find these really cool slow cooker liners, you can use your crock-pot to make delicious food for you while you are sleeping or out enjoying the sites!

Crock pot Oatmeal

Crock pot French toast

Crock pot Egg casserole

                                                    

Lunch & Dinner

Buffalo or BBQ chicken wraps – keep sauce on side until eating time

Ham & cheese pockets or calzones

Pasties – a tasty hand-held meat pie, referred to as a hand pie or empanada in other parts of the country (recipe coming soon!)

Picnic pizza rolls

Chicken, pork, or steak skewers with microwavable rice

Biscuit meatballs with marinara dipping sauce

Black & Blue Salad - mixed greens with thinly sliced steak, blue cheese & blue cheese dressing

Again, you can use your slow cooker for these meals:

Crock pot meatloaf

Crock pot Meatballs – party (recipe coming soon!), buffalo chicken, meatball subs (recipe coming soon!)

Crock pot buffalo chicken sliders

 

Snacks & Desserts

Popcorn – take advantage of the microwave; try the paper bag method of popping to avoid nasty chemicals!

Layered fruit parfaits

Fruit salad

 

Hotel with Kitchen

(Including all of the above suggestions)

Breakfast

Whatever you like to eat at home! (Okay, so I've never made those yummy looking caramel pecan cinnamon rolls, but they're on my short list! Anybody else try these yet?)

Lunch & Dinner

Taco salad to go – layered seasoned beef, beans, olives, chopped  veggies, cheese, lettuce in a lidded bowl (or plastic jars) pack sour cream, salsa & chips on the side

Chicken taco salad – mixed greens diced chicken, shredded cheese, beans, and tomatoes with yogurt/salsa mix on side

Sesame noodles- I double the sauce for these noodles!

Quesadilla strips with yogurt/sour cream, guacamole & salsa on side

Nachos

Tacos

Spaghetti

Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

 

Snacks & Desserts

Smoothies (freeze in freezer jam jars, or those cool reusable smoothie pop thingies)

Jell-o cubes or jell-o w/ fruit (can pour right into lunch containers to set up overnight)

Deviled eggs

Fruit salad

Raspberry cheesecake jars

Strawberry shortcake in a jar

This is just a sampling of ideas that I’ve culled from my own recipes, recipes from family and friends, and that wealth of information known as Pinterest! I’m sure that you probably have recipes in your repertoire that could be used to save you money on vacation as well. If you’re serious about saving money on vacation food, take the time to make lists of meals that you think your family would enjoy, which will be easy to transport & prepare. Make sure you share your ideas here with the rest of us!

Miss a "Vacation on the Cheap" Post? Find them here:
Part 1 - Itinerary & Menu
Part 2 - Tips & FREE Things to Do at Disney
Part 3 - Tips for Saving on Food



*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything through one of the links, you will be supporting our home school! Thank you!