REASONS I SMILE

Weekend in Disney

Last weekend, Christy and I flew to Disney for a 3 day weekend! The weather in North Carolina was terrible but it was amazing once we got to Florida!

Thursday night it was nice and warm so after getting to the campground we took a walk to the trading post to get ice cream and explore a little.

Friday morning we headed to Hollywood Studios for a few hours. We rode the Great Movie Ride, and it got stuck at one point (really just the moving tram was stopped for longer than it is supposed to be) and the actors have to improvise.. it was interesting since we knew that wasn't supposed to be happening since we have ridden it so much. Then we used our fastpass to ride the Tower of Terror. There were not 1 but 2 girls who were at least 10 years old crying as they walked in to the ride. Like hysterically crying, they were terrified. And the poor things had to go through the little video part and walk through, but right before getting on the elevator could exit... so really they would have to go through the scariest part to get off the ride! I have never seen someone so upset about the ride... it's so fun! Well one of the two little girls ended up on our actual ride and screamed at the top of her lungs, like it was the most terrifying thing she has ever been through... the entire time!! It was HILARIOUS. I laughed so hard I cried. I figured she would have gotten over it after the first big drop and realized it was fun. But no!

We did a few more rides in Hollywood Studios and then took a bus to Coronado Springs for the Race Expo. We had to pick up our bib and race info and walked around to see if we wanted to purchase anything. I did end up getting an iFitness belt. I have been using Christy's running belt with water bottles as we did our long runs in town, but needed one of my own. And this one fits my iphone so nicely :)

After the expo we spent the evening in Epcot! It was a gorgeous day. We went in and went straight for the countries... our favorite part. They are already beginning to decorate for the Flower and Garden Festival... it is so pretty! I love all of the extra touches during that time. We were there for it last year when we went on spring break and I would love to see it again. We stopped to get a drink at Rose and Crown pub and sat on the patio, overlooking the lake. We just hung out there for like an hour.. it was so nice and relaxing.

We cruised around the countries, rode a few rides and had drinks in a couple of countries. We caught the end of the Chinese Acrobat show... they are amazing!

We decided to try La Cantina the quick service restaurant in Mexico... sadly it was the worst food I've had in Disney :( I got chicken tacos and it was literally a corn tortilla with chicken in it. No lettuce, tomato, sour cream... just chicken and tortilla. Blah. I won't be going back there!

My Aunt Jackie, Uncle Tom and Nana flew in Friday night so we headed back to the campground to see them when they got in and check out the cabins, I've never actually been inside of one, they are pretty cute! There's a bedroom with a full bed and bunk beds, a bathroom, small kitchen (full size fridge and stove and all) and a murphy bed in the living room!

Saturday morning Christy and I got up and headed in to Magic Kingdom to ride a few rides before the rest of the family came. We were able to get right on Thunder Mountain, then used a fastpass to jump right on Space Mountain, rode the teacups and checked out the new Fantasyland!

We met my parents, aunt, uncle and Nana at Crystal Palace for lunch. It was a yummy buffet and a few characters stopped by while we were eating. Nana's birthday was Sunday and dad's was the previous Monday so they both got birthday cupcakes. There was a service dog at a table near us, he was super cute. He ate his food below the table and just hung out. Piglet stopped by to see that table and he was fine at first but when Piglet tried to talk to him he barked at him... haha I imagine he was a little scared. After lunch we rode the new little mermaid ride in Fantasyland and a few others with everyone. Christy and I went to the new Gaston's Tavern to get their special "LeFou's Brew" in the souvenir cups (to give her niece and nephew). It was basically frozen apple juice topped with passion fruit. It was pretty good, very sweet.

The two of us headed back to the RV to make dinner and get to bed early to prepare for our race. Around 9pm, we set our alarms for 3 am and headed to bed. I will post tomorrow all about our race!

Disney Bound: Follow My Race!

We're Disney bound tonight! Can't wait to run on Sunday. If anyone is interested in
following my run you can go to this website, register and have them send you email
or text alerts:

http://live.xacte.com/princess/alerts/

I am also going to have it post to my twitter, so you can follow me on twitter and
see my race updates! (Every 5k)

Follow me on twitter: @christywinoski

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

I found this recipe on pinterest, originally from here. It turned out really good and was pretty easy, so I thought I'd share it!

What You Need:
3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of mayo
1 bag of Kraft's Three Cheese shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, colby... the recipe originally called for 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup monterey jack & colby... I just bought the bag of them together!)

1 bag frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
salt & pepper to taste

What You Do:
Heat oven to 375.
Cook chicken and shred.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Put in a lightly greased 2 qt casserole dish.

Cook for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve over rice!!

Baked Ziti

This ziti recipe came from my mom, but I think originally from a Mueller's Ziti box! It's pretty good and serves 8-10! Or in my case plenty of left overs.

What You Need:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 jar pasta sauce (26 to 30oz)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
16 oz Ziti
15 oz Ricotta cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese (divided into 1 cup sections)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

What You Do:Cook ziti according to package.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large pan, heat oil. Add onion and garlic, stirring frequently. Cook until onion is relatively soft. Add ground beer and cook until it is done. Drain and return to pan.
Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce and oregano. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Mix together sauce mixture with ziti noodles.

Spoon half of ziti mixture to the bottom of 13x9 pan. Top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese.

Add the rest of the ziti mixture.

Bake, covered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, top with remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until heated through.

*Note: if you want to prepare ahead and freeze this, prepare the same as above, but do not bake. Cover with foil and freeze. Do not thaw. It will need to bake for about 1 hour or until heated through.

Valentines Rice Krispie Treats

I made rice krispie treats for our weekly dinner with friends, as our dessert last night! I bought a box of Rice Krispies, thinking that the directions would be on the box... they weren't! So after searching the web for a while I thought I would record how I did it.

I used marshmallow fluff, not actual marshmallows so I had to search through a few recipes to be sure of all of the best tricks with it.

What You Need:
1 (7 oz) jar Marshmallow Fluff
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) BUTTER (not margarine... not enough oil)
5 cups Rice Krispie Treats (get the real kind)
*Food coloring

What You Do:
Melt the butter on low heat.

Add the marshmallow fluff (I used a spatula to get it out, worked pretty well), heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add about 4 drops of the food coloring of your choice (I went with red for Valentines day... 4 drops gave me a light pink color... add more if you want more color!)