Travel & Vacation: Epcot’s Gardens (Orlando, FL)
Our wild crew at Epcot!
Our family had a blast exploring Walt Disney World’s Epcot park. It was a lot of fun seeing all the beautiful sculptures made out of greenery all over the park. Many Disney characters were represented in the gardens. It was the kids first time visiting Epcot. They loved it so much we chose to do it 2 days instead of just one. Thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my family while seeing these amazing creations.
Lady and the Trump
Mickey Mouse instead a garden of flowers.
Beautiful flower gardens at Epcot. This was taken while passing through on the monorail.
Snow White
Kiddos in front of Beauty and the Beast
Pausing for a moment! These were my two favorite characters from Beauty and the Beast
My sweet girl.
They did an amazing job making these garden sculptures come to life!
Monorail, flower gardens, and lake.
Cinderella and Prince Charming
Hanging out next to Winnie the Pooh Bear (his red balloon glowed at night).
Look out for Captain Hook
Brina liked the Frozen garden!
Karlie, of course, liked the Buzz Lightyear
Tinker Bell
Too cute!
The Frozen characters garden at night
Beautiful garden across the water from where the boat drops you off at Epcot
Family Recipe: Green Bean Tator Tot Casserole
My Mom is a great cook and this is one of the recipes I remember her making when I was a kid. It is a great mix of flavors and the perfect casserole to take to someone for a meal or if you want to make two and freeze one for a busy day later that month. One thing I really love about this meal is that you can use what you have on hand in your pantry or freezer (you don’t have to buy a “special” type of green beans, hashbrowns, or cheese) to make it tasty!
Green Bean Casserole
- 2 lbs Hamburger, browned
- 1 can Mushrooms (optional)
- 1 pkg Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella or Cheddar or Mix)
- 2 to 3 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 pkg frozen Hashbrowns or Tator Tots
- 3 cans Green Beans (any style)
Brown the hamburger then add the mushroom soup and canned mushrooms. Stir and place on the bottom of a casserole dish. Then layer the green beans on top of the meat mixture. Spread the hashbrowns over the top of the green beans. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the hashbrowns. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Until cheese is golden.
CVS Savings: Use Your “Green Bag Tag” & Earn ECB’s
You can earn bonus ECB’s (Extra Care Bucks) by purchasing the Green Bag Tag. If you go to CVS regularly you should consider getting it.
- It costs $0.99 to buy the tag (I used an ECB to buy it a couple months ago).
- The Green Bag Tag is scanned when you check out and you earn ECB’s for using it.
- Every 4th visit to CVS that you bring and scan your Green Tag you will earn $1 ECB.
How to sign up?
- Ask the clerk at the store for a Green Bag Tag. When you purchase the Green Bag Tag with your Rewards Card it becomes linked to your account so you can get the bonus ECB’s every time you use it.
I have a reusable CVS bag in the van with the Green tag attached to it so I can quickly grab it when I head into the store. The Green Tag can be scanned any time after scanning your first item (unlike your Rewards Card that can be scanned before any items). Always make sure that they scan it, sometimes new employees are not aware of it. Also, double check on your receipt to make sure it is updated with your recent Green Bag Tag use. Each receipt will show you how many total Green Bag Tags you have used and how many more you need to get your next bonus ECB. Even though I have only had it a couple months I have been able to earn $4 extra ECB’s using the Green Bag Tag. At one time (several months ago) they offered it free after ECB’s but even if you have to pay the $0.99 to get it the Green Bag Tag will pay for itself pretty quickly.
Recipe: Cheerios Christmas Trees
We made these little Christmas Trees on our Christmas Baking Day. These were super fun but a little more difficult than I first anticipated. The trees were a little hard to make into the correct shapes and it took a little extra time to decorate. I had to keep reforming the trees but they did end up pretty neat once we figured out what we were suppose to do. I don’t think they looked as amazing as the ones from Betty Crocker but they looked cute and the kids thought they tasted great.Cheerios Christmas Trees
- 6 cups Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal
- 6 tablespoons Butter or Margarine
- 4 1/2 cups Miniature Marshmallows
- Green Food coloring
- Red Cinnamon Candies, Decorative Pearls, Sprinkles, Icing, and String Licorice
1. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. (May want to lightly grease because our stuck a little when pulling them off)
2. Pour the cereal into a 4 quart bowl. Set the bowl aside,
3. Place the butter and marshmallows in a 3 quart saucepan (I used the microwave instead). Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Stir in the food coloring until mixture is evenly colored. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and stir until the cereal is evenly coated.
5. Lightly spray your hands with cooking spray. For each tree, shape about 1/4 cup of the cereal mixture into a Christmas tree shape on the cookie sheet.
6. Press the candies into the trees to decorate. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store the trees in a a loosely covered container.
Makes about 18 trees. I did the whole box of cereal which was about 1 1/2 of the recipe. Our recipe made about 25 trees. Thankfully I had someone around to keep spraying my hands with spray because it was really sticky and I had to keep reforming the trees. They ended up looking pretty cute and seemed to be holding up okay but would probably be better if you ate it the same day. The Honey Nut Cheerios flavor really comes out in this recipe so if you like the cereal you’ll probably enjoy this too. You could do with any flavor of Cheerios, I think next time we’ll try the Multi-Grain Cheerios for different flavor and color. It was fun to do something a little more unique!
