Countdown to Disney {FFMN--Toy Story}

We actually went to eat with friends on Friday night, so I guess I should call this Saturday Family Movie Night.  One of B's (and let's be honest EVERYONE'S) favorites movie series is the Toy Story trilogy.  They are touchingly emotional and completely hilarious for all ages.  So I clearly could not leave it out of the countdown.  I did let B pick which of the three movies he wanted to watch, and he chose Toy Story 2.  While we do not own it, we easily rented it through our TiVo using Amazon Instant Video.  Super Easy and only $1.99!  So anyway, here is the menu:

(For the record, I have no idea why the last few pics are coming out so odd looking.)

I saved this menu for a time that I knew would be busy because it is pretty much just frozen foods heated in the oven.  And since C's birthday party is scheduled for Sunday, this was the perfect night for the easy menu.  So I pulled out more of the frozen cupcakes and made these seriously adorable (if I do say so myself) green alien cupcakes.

The kids (and the hubs) really enjoyed the food--which can be seen clearly in the pics below.

Only one more movie night to go!!

Countdown to Disney {FFMN--The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh}

I will admit that while Pooh is a classic, it is not one of my favorite Disney movies.  Is it endearing?  Absolutely, but I don't love it.  B, however, does.  And it is the basis of one of the most popular rides at the Magic Kingdom, so I really couldn't pass it up.  So here's the menu:

And here is the spread:

And the close up:

When we had Tangled night and I made the Rapunzel cupcake towers, I baked an entire box of Devil Food Cake mix as cupcakes.  Some I baked in the ice cream cones, and the rest were baked in regular, old cupcake liners and frozen for future use.  So I pulled four of them out of the freezer and set them out on the counter to thaw.  A little lavender icing and "HUNNY" printed on them and voila, hunny pot cupcakes.  And in spite of being frozen, they were moist and delicious.

Now, I have tried numerous times to get B to eat carrots with not much luck.  Call them Rabbit's Carrot Sticks and Roo Ranch, and ta-da, they are delicious and one of his favorite items from the night.

And, of course you can tell what C's favorite food of the night was.

I have been posting these little movie nights on Facebook and had more people than I can remember ask me where my movie nights have been for the last two weeks.  It has been more than flattering that people have actually looked forward to Friday night to see what we are having.  It is very sweet, and we have truly had a blast!

Countdown to Disney {FFMN--Peter Pan}

As classic as the movie Peter Pan is, the ride Peter Pan's Flight at the Magic Kingdom is just as classic.  And I definitely wanted the kids to understand the ride and its connection to the movie.  It was pretty easy to add this movie into the list and come up with a menu to fit.  So, here is the menu.

Oddly enough, tilapia (which was my substitution for 'cod fish' because I had a bag of frozen fillets in the freezer) is a fairly accepted meal at my house, so it was served up with mushroom rice and green beans.  Fruit is WILDLY popular with my kids, and since we had just been to the strawberry farm, it was easy to create these adorable fruit swords.  Here are the fruit swords and 'Pixie Dusted Donuts' with a few Peter Pan (or more accurately Jake and the Neverland Pirates) related toys as the centerpiece.



The tilapia, rice, and beans went over pretty well.  But the real hit was the donuts.  I mean, look at those faces!!

With teeball games and the upcoming Homeschool Conference (which I am SUPER excited about), we will be skipping the next couple of FFMNs.  But they will return in two weeks!



Countdown to Disney {FFMN--The Jungle Book}

The countdown continues, and we are getting closer and closer to our trip!!!  This week's meal (I'll admit) was not my most creative, but it was awfully tasty and very easy.

I really thought the kids would enjoy this meal, but the ravioli was not the hit that I thought it would be.  C wouldn't eat it at all, and B only ate it with MUCH persuasion.  Now, the monkey bread, on the other hand, was a big hit that night.  And will be breakfast for the next couple of mornings!  Here's the spread.

I am looking forward to this week's showing of Peter Pan and definitely hope that that meal goes over better than this one did!



Countdown to Disney {FFMN--Aladdin}

Aladdin was one of the only Disney movies that I had growing up.  In fact, I am pretty sure it was the only animated Disney movie I had as a child (or pre-teen to tell the truth).  So, it is not one of my faves, mostly because I am just kinda tired of it.  BUT it is one of B's faves.  In fact, you should hear him sing the opening song "Arabian Nights."  It is a hoot!  So what did we eat?

(Is that a gourmet meal or what?)

This was one of the easiest meals I had planned.  I mean does it get any easier than hot dogs, store bought cole slaw (the Diamond in the Rough-age), and sliced apples?  The "beanies" aka baked beans were pretty easy.  But (and that is a big BUT) the baklava was another story.  Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't necessarily difficult to make.  But it sure was time consuming and multi-stepped.  And, holy moly, is phillo dough a pain to work with!  And to top it all off, I was the only one who actually ate any of it!!!  The hubby said it tasted like well flavored paper, and my kids wouldn't even put it in their mouths!  Nevertheless, the movie was a hit.  And the baklava was a hit at the covered dish lunch that we had after church a couple of days after movie night!  haha

Countdown to Disney {FFMN--Tangled}

I have looked forward to Tangled night since I decided to add it to the FFMN list.  Tangled is my favorite Disney princess movie.  I love the characters, the music is amazing, and the animation is top notch.  And as you probably know, the story of Rapunzel has been told about a million different ways.  And this particular one is unexpected and delightful!  The scene at the end when she is hugging her parents . . . *tears*

So here is our menu for the evening:

This was my first attempt at sliders and potato salad.  Pretty much overall I was completely inexperienced at this entire meal, but it was a HUGE success.  I plan to do the sliders again soon.  Yummo!

The hubby's sister H was in town from Colorado, so she got to share in the festivities with us.  AND she was huge help when it came to making these beauties:

These are the "Rapunzel's ice cream towers" that actually wound up as cupcake towers instead.  They were super fun to make and surprisingly easy.  I made a regular old box of Devil's Food cake mix, but instead of putting the batter in cupcake liners, I put it in ice cream cones and baked them as usual.  I frosted them with canned frosting, frosted the pointy cone with purple frosting, and stuck it on top.  I added the "grass" and Rapunzel's hair as accents.  And as you can see, they were a big hit with B!

Overall, this night was tons of fun.  I am so glad that I have taken the time to do something special for the family.



Countdown to Disney {FFMN--Cars}

I guess I should have technically said Cars 2 since that is what we actually ended up watching per B's request.  So here is the menu for the evening:

Now I can't take full credit for all the menu ideas this week.  While the Bacon, Lettuce, and Tow-Mater sandwiches were 100% yours truly, the rest actually came from the original source of my idea in the first place.  You can read all about her countdown meals here.

So here is what the meal looked like.  I was pretty proud of myself because I actually set the table, served it family style (as opposed to our typical buffet style service off of the counter/stove) and decorated with some of B's toys.  I also discovered that any child who owns FOUR Maters has enirely too many toys!

This was a remarkably easy meal to prepare.  The BLTs are pretty self-explanatory.  I use Paula Deen's recipe for "The Lady's Cheesy Mac" from her Lady and Son's cookbook.  It is delicious and pretty easy.  The Leaning Tower of Tires is mini chocolate donuts; the traffic lights are graham crackers, cream cheese frosting, and M&Ms. 

Overall, this meal was a big hit with the hubby, myself, and C.  B was not a huge fan which I wasn't completely expected.  I mean, what kid won't eat mac and cheese, for Pete's sake??  He did enjoy the bacon, and when we finally let him have a traffic light (after wheeling and dealing with him to eat some other food), he liked those too.

And I think judging from the amount of icing on this little face, the traffic lights were a hit with C as well!

The kids had a blast watching Cars 2.  C is not big into tv, but B LOVES both of the Cars movies so he was in hog heaven.  'Til next time!



Countdown to Disney {FFMN-Beauty and the Beast}

It's the tale as old as time, and I am a HUGE fan!  Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies--the music is so much fun, the storyline is captivating, and the characters are loveable.  And with the new expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom being partially based on the movie, I had to include it in our countdown.  Now, I had plans to print another of my fun menus for the fridge, but our computer was on the fritz (which is why I have been absent for a while), so I was not able to.  Today was also extremely busy.  I had a fabulous lunch date with a couple of friends at the newest Mexican restaurant in town, one of those friends came over to our house (which was embarrassingly gross!) after the lunch, and then I went to help the hubs and his co-workers decorate for prom.  As usual, my kids were with my parents (affectionately known as Pop and JuJu) because Pop has Fridays off of work.  So the kiddos went with my parents to Waffle House and had supper.  Which meant I dined on the Beauty and the Beast meal alone.  And what was the meal, you ask.  Well, sit right down and Be Our Guest for a meal of "Soup du jour, hot hors d'oeuvres, why [I] only live to serve.  Try the grey stuff.  It's delicious.  Don't believe me?  Ask the dishes."

The soup du jour was Corn Chowder.  I have a small crock pot that I tossed all the ingredients in and just turned it on to cook while I went to decorate for prom.  A can of evaporated milk, a can of creamed corn, a diced potato, and some black pepper and that's it!  Easy and yummy!

The original plan for hot hors d'oeuvres was a mini chicken pot pies that use canned biscuit dough as the crust.  But since I was the only one eating, I just did biscuits. 

Once again, the best part of the meal was dessert, aka The Grey Stuff.  I call it Oreo Fluff, and it doesn't get much easier than this.  It is 16 Double Stuffed Oreos crushed and mixed in with a tub of thawed Cool Whip.  Chill it for couple of hours or overnight and you're done.  I enjoyed my meal thoroughly and C enjoyed nibbling on The Grey Stuff when she got home. 

We will be taking next week off of our FFMN because we have a CRAZY busy weekend planned.  But I am looking forward to picking it back up the next Friday night with a movie that is yet to be determined.

Countdown to Disney {FFMN-Finding Nemo}

It's Friday night, and that means Friday Family Movie Night as a countdown to our family vacation to Disney World!  Tonight, we are watching Finding Nemo.  Our Nemo themed meal is:

The kids really loved the menu that I had created for the refridgerator.  C kept pointing to it and saying, "Mahmo."  B loves Finding Nemo, but he finds the SCUBA divers during the scene where Nemo is 'fishnapped' kinda scary.  So, he 'hides' in the play room during that part of the movie and then comes back to watch the rest.  That silly boy!

Here are the eats.  This meal was actually much more of a hit than I had anticipated.  The kids really liked the shrimp (which is just the frozen Sea Pack brand popcorn shrimp).  And as you can see from C's face below, the Doritos were clearly a hit!

The best part of the meal (to me, at least) was the Sea Turtle Cheesecakes.  These are really yummy, and I have made them plain several times and served them with canned cherry pie filling.  This night was an experiment.  The basic recipe comes from the cookbook my school sold as a fund raiser when I was in elementary school.  But, as is my modus operandi, I alter things to fit me.  So here is MY version of Cheesecake Cupcakes:

2 8-oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sugar

Cream together with electric mixer.  Place cupcake liners in muffin pan and put a Double Stuffed Oreo in the bottom of each liner.  Scoop filling over the Oreos until each cup is about 3/4 full.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Cool and chill in refridgerator until ready to serve.  Makes 18 cupcakes.

To make them "turtle" cheesecakes, you need pecans, chocolate sauce, and caramel.  I used caramel ice cream topping, Hershey hot fudge, and pecan halves from my in-laws pecan trees.  I arranged the pecans in a way that I thought looked turtle-ish by using a pecan half as a head and pecan pieces as front flippers and a tail.  Momentarily, I thought that maybe I should have put back flippers on them too, but when I tried, it just didn't look right.  And judging from B's face, they were a hit as well.

The kids really enjoyed the fun, family evening.  B has been talking about what we ate that night for days and has been asking about my plans for other movies as well.  I am so glad he is enjoying it.  Seeing these sweet faces makes the extra effort SO worth it.

Countdown to Disney {FFMN--The Little Mermaid}

Last night marked the first of many Friday Family Movie Nights aka FFMN.  I saw this idea on a Disney advice board and loved it.  But like most things, I had to tweek it to make it fit me and my family.  So, the jist of FFMN is that your family sits down together and watches a Disney movie after enjoying a supper that is themed around the movie of the night.  I've got a slew of these nights lined up for our family leading up to "the big trip."  I know several of the rides at "the World" are based on movies, and I want the kids to at least have a clue about what is going on.

My oldest B, at 4 and a half years old, is a total tv junkie.  Or at least he would be if we would let him.  We recently completely cut him off of tv and have seen a huge improvement in his behavior, his play, his imagination, basically his whole life.  So, these FFMNs are a way to slowly add a little bit of "the boob tube" back into his life.  My youngest C, at 21 months, is really not at all interested in tv.  She will glance up at it occasionally but would much rather be plundering a kitchen cabinet or generally destroying another area of the house.  But I still think she will enjoy the time together as a family and dancing to the music.

Now, my oldest is a boy, but like I said, he is a total tv junkie and loves pretty much any Disney movie we have showed him.  (He has declared a couple of them 'scary' but for the most part, he'll watch them all.)  So, we are starting off our FFMN Countdown with The Little Mermaid.  I know it is one of the quintessential Disney princess flicks, but B thinks Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle are hilarious.  Honestly, I love this movie, too.  The characters are a hoot, the music is brilliant, and really, who doesn't think Prince Eric is just the cutest?

But for me, the best part of these FFMNs is getting to channel my creative side and come up with a menu to fit the movie.  And while I did see the idea for these FFMNs here, many of those menus just didn't fit my family's preferences.  So, without furthur adieu, here is the menu:

Peanut Butter and Jellyfish Sandwiches

Sebastian's Crab Salad (for Mommy-not pictured)

Poor Unfortunate Bowls (of Fruit Salad)

Scuttle's Snickerdoodles

My kids LOVE PB&Js, and I have to confess, I really do love that imitation seafood salad that you can find on the salad bars of all those all-you-can-eat buffets.  And I really thought "snickerdoodle" sounded like a name that Scuttle the sea gull would assign to whatever human artifact Ariel questioned him about--just like a snarfblat or dinglehopper.

B has been talking about our fun meal all day today and asking what we are going to eat with our next movie.  He had a blast watching the movie and pretending to be Sebastian!

So there's our family's first FFMN.  Stay tuned for next Friday's movie--Finding Nemo!