End of the Weekend Update

Good Evening!! The weekend has come to an end. It's been a nice weekend. We just finished watching Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides. I love Johnny Depp.

This morning we went to a local restaurant to have breakfast. We got there at 10:30 to find out that on Sundays they only serve breakfast til 10:30. So we had to have lunch. It was yummy but I was so craving breakfast food. For dinner I cooked some 15 bean soup. It smelled wonderful all afternoon and it tasted so yummy. Here's a picture.

While the soup was cooking and before we watched the movie, I did some Disney Trip planing. Remember I told you that October 2013 we are planning on taking our daughter and her 2 friends to Walt Disney World to celebrate their high school graduation. I have priced the trip out several different ways and I think we have decided a 1 bedroom villa at Bay Lake Towers is the way to go for us. It will give us 2 bathrooms, a separate bedroom and enough pull outs in the living room for the girls. Plus her friends have never stayed on site so what better way to show them then to stay in a Magic Kingdom View room. I priced it and it falls in our budget. I am now trying to figure out which dining plan to do. I think we will do the quick service dining plan because we don't want to be running to dining reservation times the whole trip but we still want 1 or 2 sit down dinners. I am trying to figure out cost of food not included in the dining plan and the food for the drive down.

My hubby has been laughing at me that I am planning this trip that is a little under 2 years out. What can I say??

On top of that I am trying to figure out taking our family next year Oct 2012.

I will keep you posted on everything.

Thanks for stopping by!!

End of Week and Saturday Update

Good afternoon!! I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!! I am so far. It has been busy. Sorry I am a couple days late on my blog. Life has gotten in the way again!!

Let's get started.

Thursday
Breakfast -- muffin and banana
Lunch -- hot turkey sandwich and baked potato from Danver's
Dinner -- chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuit

Friday
Breakfast -- muffin and banana
Lunch -- chicken, black eye peas, macaroni & cheese and cornbread muffin from Abbay's
Dinner -- homemade BBQ chicken pizza and sweet tea.

I am going to stop here and tell you about this pizza it is wonderful and low in calories!!! I buy the Kroger brand pizza dough that you make. It is so easy to do and the best part is is low calorie. The pizza feeds 3 (4 if you do a salad too). There are 640 calories in the entire pizza crust. Then I take 3 pr 4 chicken breast tenders and cut them up into tiny pieces and brown them in a skillet with Pam Spray. The chicken for all is 100 calories. Then I put BBQ sauce on the pizza dough which is 60 calories. Then I slice up an onion and put that on there. Then I put the cooked chicken and top with cheese. I don't have my cheese bag but it was low fat 2% cheese. So I think 1/3 of the pizza is like 400 calories at the most!! I think that is a great meal then add a salad.

Saturday
Breakfast -- eggs, bacon, biscuit, gravy
Lunch -- I haven't ate yet so it will be a lunch and dinner meal.

Jamie had some volunteer work today for Key Club selling some Christmas trees. She worked from 9-12 and had alot of fun.

Then we went and got our hair cut and brows waxed. I am now waiting on my color to finish. Hold on...

My color is now done and I have started dinner. I am cooking sauteed chicken with mushroom and onions, green beans, bow tie pasta and cheddar garlic biscuits. It smells so good!!

Well, that is about everything so far for today!!

Thanks for dropping by!!

Wednesday Update

Good Evening!! Let me start by saying that my roast last night was incredible. My husband said it was the best roast he has had in a very long time. I really don't know what I did different but it was so yummy!!

Today, We went to the grocery store and we bought lots of healthy things.

Here are some items:

• bag of apples
• bananas
• Cinnamon raisin bread
• 2% milk
• mixed nuts by planters called nutrition energy (very yummy snack)
• tuna
• lots of healthy soup for lunches
• mix to make some homemade soup
• beans to make 12 bean soup
• canned vegetables, beans, and peas
• fresh broccoli
• lettuce
• green peppers
• baby carrots
• pasta
• Alfredo sauce (I know it is not perfect but it is a quick meal and I add broccoli and mushrooms to it)

I can't think of what else we got but I was happy with my purchases. We are going to try and do some meatless meals. I got to work on my water. I have not done very well with that this week. In fact, let me go get a glass now.

Now with my water in hand. I can move on. It snowed last night and this morning here. We got a nice layer probably around 2 inches. I know that is not much for some areas but we are not use to snow. It melted on the roads so all was good there. It is almost all melted on the ground. :-(   I hope we get some more later in the month. I would love a white Christmas. I don't ever remember it snowing on Christmas.

I didn't get my work out in today since we went shopping so tomorrow will be a really good one.

Well, it's getting late so I am going to call it a night.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Review of Disney Hotels

First are the Disney Resorts that I have stayed in.

Deluxe Resorts

Polynesian Resort – 2 stays (2007 & 2009) – Tropical Themed – Large Room with 2 queen beds and daybed – Volcano Pool area along with quiet pools in other areas –Great food options: counter service at Captain Cooks, table service at Kona Café, and O’hana. O’hana also has a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. Monorail, boat or bus transportation. This is my family and my favorite of all. We love the theme and being close to Magic Kingdom. We love all the food too!! O’hana is our all time favorite restaurant at Disney World.

Contemporary Resort – 2 stays (2008 & 2010) – Modern Themed – Large Room with 2 queen beds and daybed – Tower rooms with Magic Kingdom view or Bay Lake view or Garden Wing – Main pool area with slide – Great food options: counter service at Contempo Café, table service at The Wave and Chef Mickey. Chef Mickey is a character breakfast and dinner. Monorail, boat or bus transportation. This is our second favorite resort. We love the Magic Kingdom Tower View and being able to look out our balcony and seeing Magic Kingdom. We enjoy Chef Mickey too!!

Animal Kingdom Lodge – 1 stay (2008) – African Themed – Medium Room with 2 queen beds – Pool area themed like watering hole – Great food options: counter service at Mara Grill, table service at Boma and Jiko. This was a beautiful resort with lots of wonderful details. We love being able to see the animals around Lodge.

Moderate Resorts

Coronado Springs Resort – 2 stays (2006 & 2011) – Southwestern Themed – Medium Room with 2 queen beds or king bed – Pyramid pool area along with quiet pools in other areas – Great food options: counter service at Pepper Market, table service at Maya Grill. Bus transportation. This is a very relaxing resort. It is like having a second vacation when you get back to your room. We love Pepper Market and all the options.

Port Orleans – French Quarter – 1 stay (2010) – New Orleans Themed – Medium Room with 2 queen beds (since update) or king bed – Mardi Gras pool area with fun animals – Great food option: counter service at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory Food Court.  We stayed at French Quarter before the update to the rooms so our room had 2 double beds. I think we would have enjoyed the room more with the queen beds. The Sassagoula gets our vote for best counter service!! The food there was incredible and there was tons to choose from.

There are so many different Disney Resorts to choose from. My family has just scrapped the tip. Our plan is to stay at them all!!

Here are all of the resort and a little something about them.

Value Resorts

All Star Movies – Larger than life icons from classic Disney films. These rooms have 2 double beds or king bed.

All Star Music – Celebrates the love of Music. This resort also have family suites for larger families. The regular rooms have 2 double beds or king bed.

All Star Sports – Larger than life icons that celebrate the fun of sports. These rooms have 2 double beds or king bed.

Pop Century – Larger than life icons that salute the different years. These rooms have 2 double beds or king bed.

Art of Animation – This resort is under construction but will be opening in phases starting May 2012. It will have family suites.

Moderate Resorts

The Cabins at Fort Wilderness – Great option of larger families. It has a kitchen, bedroom and living area.

Caribbean Beach  – Beachside Paradise. These rooms have 2 double beds or king bed.

Coronado Springs – See above

Port Orleans French Quarter – See above

Port Orleans Riverside – Rural Louisiana themed. New Royal rooms will be available Feb 2012.

Deluxe Resorts

Animal Kingdom – See above

Beach Club  -- New England Style lakeside hotel. The pool here looks incredible!!

BoardWalk Inn – Seaside themed of the 1940’s. The boardwalk looks like a lot of fun.

Contemporary – See above

Grand Floridian – Victorian Style. I have walked around this hotel and ate here but never stayed here.

Polynesian – See above

Wilderness Lodge – Themed in the spirit of the National parks. I have walked around this hotel, viewed the rooms and ate there but never stayed here.

Yacht Club – Vineyard themed hotel.

Villa Resorts

Animal Kingdom Villas – The villas are in separate buildings near the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They have their own pool area and Sanaa restaurant.

Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary – The villas are in a separate building attached to the Contemporary by a bridge. They have their own pool area.

Beach Club Villas – see above

Boardwalk Villas – see above

Old Key West – Themed like The Florida Keys. It looks very peaceful!!

Saratoga Springs – Themed like lakeside resort that is near Downtown Disney. It looks very relaxing.

Villas at Wilderness Lodge – The villas are in a separate building.

I just hit a little on each resort. If you want more information or to see pictures, just let me know. I will be glad to help you learn more about your resort.

This goes to show that there is a Disney Resort for everyone and every budget. That is another reason that I love Disney World!!

I hope this helps you see all the options at Disney!! I hope you enjoyed this.

Mid Day Tuesday Update

Just thought I would do a quick update while I am on lunch.  Sorry I didn't update last night, I went to bed early. I ended up cooking chicken and biscuits (very similar to chicken and dumplings except with biscuits).

Here is my menu for today:

Breakfast -- wild berry muffin that I baked last night
Lunch -- BBQ sandwich and baked beans
Dinner -- I put a roast, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms with gravy in the crockpot this morning.

I am doing good on my no fried foods but I need to work more to get my fruit and veggies in. I am going to the store tomorrow to stock up on bananas, apples, sandwich stuff, etc.

That's all I have for now. I gotta get back to work since my lunch is over.

Thanks for dropping by!!