Eating Healthy: Zoodles and Chicken Parm

Zoodles and Chicken Parm

I don't know anyone who doesn't love spaghetti and chicken parm. It is definitely one of my favorites, but the problem is the traditional meal leaves me with such a food baby, I end up regretting eating it all afterwards. We decided to replace some carbs with some vegetables so the taste is still delicious, but we're cutting the calories almost in half. (Less guilt for that second piece of chicken parm? :/). By the way the kids love all of this as well!

Prep/cook time: no more than a half hour! It is easy to cook both at the same time.

What you need:

• A spiralizer (super cheap at Bed Bath and Beyond, especially with a 20% off coupon)
• Zucchini - depending on  how much you need to serve, 2 should be plenty
• Light virgin olive oil
• Chicken breasts-sliced thin
• 1-2 eggs
• Some sort of bread crumbs-go with panko if you want to cut out even more calories
• Shaker cheese (Parmesan)
• Mozzarella cheese-go low calorie here. Look for labels like 1/3 less fat, used with skim milk, ext. Sargento has a great one that is cheap at BJ's.
• Tomato sauce-your favorite brand or go home made. We went with Muir Glen here-organic, lighter, and has a fruitier taste although I will be sharing our home made sauce that is organic and light on another post, very soon.

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Bring a pot of water to a boil
• Heat up oil on a frying pan (this is key to getting the chicken cooked perfectly-too many people throw the chicken on before the oil is heated up enough)
• Layout all of your chicken parm ingredients (scramble the eggs in a bowl big enough to dip the chicken in and sprinkle a significant amount of bread crumbs on a plate).
• Use your spiralizer to turn your zucchini into spaghetti-like noodles.

Cooking:

• Throw your zoodles into the boiling water and let that cook for about 10 minutes-really just as long as it takes you to prepare the chicken.
• Take each piece of chicken individually and dredge it in the egg, then bread crumbs, then right into the now heated oil. (Note: I do not use flour when making chicken parm, I find it completely unnecessary and it just tacks on calories!)
• Fry each piece of chicken parm until each side starts to brown then throw them on to a tin-foiled baking sheet.
• Add your sauce, shaker cheese, then mozzarella cheese. In the picture above, I really loaded the mozzarella cheese, you really don't need that much.
• While you let the chicken bake until the cheese is melted, you can drain the zoodles and add your pasta sauce. Zucchini holds a lot of water, so you will want to press some out with the back of a cooking spoon for awhile.

Overall, this is a family favorite. Everyone loves it and it is loaded with veggies and focuses more on the protein instead of the carbs, which is exactly what our crew needs! As mentioned before, cooking the chicken parm to perfection is key. It is hard to resist that second piece, but not killer if you go for a second as long as you choose the lower calorie ingredients and keep the chicken cut super thin!

Tricks for Getting Your Little One to Eat Healthy

Any parent knows it can be a struggle to get your child to eat right. My little guy especially will not even come close to eating vegetables, fruits are rare, and if it is a day where he is eating nothing but toast, we are doing okay. He is without a doubt a picky eater and would rather starve than eat the meals I would prefer he eats. The following are some ways I have disguised nutrient-rich foods and tricked him into eating something that he thinks is just decent, but is actually pretty darn healthy.

Scrambled eggs and avocado. This is one of my favorite breakfasts for myself, so I make it often. My son will agree to eat eggs most days, so I just mix in some avocado and he never notices the difference. Avocado is a wonderful super food as well. The strawberries are just a bonus.

Smoothies full of anything healthy under the sun. I often use smoothies as a meal replacement for breakfast or lunch and it always piques the kids interests. I will make K the same one I am having. All the more reason to load up on fruits and veggies. I have figured out certain flavors he favors so I try to make it taste mostly like that by the end.  We are not big fans of berry flavors, so we have to resort to some other fruits, watch the texture as well. As long as it is in their favorite cup and they have a fun straw, they are normally always game to at least try.

Pasta. There are so many homemade sauces you can make that are much healthier than what you buy in the store. We have gone with traditional tomato sauces but have also tried out avocado sauces. Also if you feel like your child gets enough carbs, try using spaghetti squash instead of noodles. Our children never notice the difference and spaghetti squash is a vegetable itself. Same goes for using zucchini to make zoodles.

Spaghetti squash w/ tomato sauce

Zoodles w/avocado sauce & turkey meatballs

Pizza. What kid doesn't love it. We have disguised very tiny shredded piece of chicken as well as very shredded up pieces of spinach. Notice I said very shredded. If not cut up enough to disguise, kids will always find it. We are also big fans of cauliflower pizza. Lower in calories for us and a veggie for my son to eat. If you make it right, it is exactly like normal pizza.

The absolute last resort, the bribe method. Once your child starts talking they will let you know of everything they want to eat, which is always sweets when it is not appropriate. If my son refuses to eat anything because he wants something he cannot have, sometimes I will give in, but only if he eats all of the healthy food I have out for him first. To gain their trust that you are actually going to give them what they want, it may take doing some bites of the healthy and one tiny piece of the unhealthy. Best advice, try to keep the least amount of unhealthy options available in the house. Our worst times are right after we host parties or something of the sort where we have leftovers.

How to Do Disney Character Experiences Like a Pro

When in Disney World, meeting characters has to be on your list of things to do. However, with so many different characters to meet and in so many different ways, how do you know which ones are actually worth it? Well in short time we were able to meet many characters on our last trip. Here is our breakdown of which ones you should bank in on and which ones you should skip.

Character Meals: Although pricey, they offer a unique experience. Here is a breakdown of our personal experience with some.

O'Hana Breakfast at the Polynesian = worth every penny. I found this breakfast to be on the cheaper side for a character meal, but we will get to that later.

The Polynesian itself is gorgeous. Parking is free for visitors, so definitely take advantage of the views from their little beach and their stores, which are nicer than most, while you are there.

If you are lucky, like we were, you will get a window view of the resort. We did not have to specifically request this, but were pleasantly surprised to be granted a great view from the start. This should not make or break your experience though.

One thing about character meals, is that they are more about the experience than the food. However, the food was phenomenal here. They serve it family style, which is nice because you don't have to worry about getting up and missing something. They also will keep serving you until you ask them to stop. It is tough to decide on a favorite food item, as it was all awesome, even the "Stitch Juice" had a wonderful tropical blend that had us chugging down multiple cups.

As for the characters, you will meet Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey, all in Hawaiian get-ups. The characters spend plenty of time at your table signing autographs and taking multiple pictures. They also have a photographer following each character, so if your pictures are not up to par, you can purchase them through the PhotoPass later. You will also probably experience a chance to dance with the characters where they do a sort of conga line around the restaurant. Our son had a lot of fun with this.  After tip and gratuity the whole experience comes to about $37 a person (pending on season).

Chef Mickey's = a great way to meet all of the favorite characters

Chef Mickey's is at the Contemporary Resort, which is full of history considering it was one of the first resorts built back in '71. It has a unique design and the monorail system runs right through the hotel. It is another resort that has good shopping, penny machines, among other free entertainment.

Chef Mickey's is your typical buffet style meal where you get up to select your food. We went for Brunch mostly because it was the only time available, (booking 45 days in advance) but we wanted the choice of breakfast or lunch food. I had seen bad reviews on this previously, although I think it worked out well for us. The Brunch is slightly cheaper than the dinner, and I think offers more choices. I believe the breakfast is slightly overpriced considering there is nothing particularly special about the food.

More on the food ... If you are like us and love children-aged food, then you should have no complaints. I think a lot of people complain about the food here because they are expecting something spectacular. I would compare it most to the food you get on a cruise buffet, pretty much unhealthy, but delicious. Our families favorites included Mickey waffles (of course), Mickey Mac and Cheese, chicken fingers and the make your own sundae with soft serve ice cream.

The characters you will meet are Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald, all in chef gear. The characters definitely move through fast and you will see all of them seconds after one another, so be prepared to stay in your seat once they start coming so you do not miss anything! I felt like they spent slightly less time and they do not make a point to see your whole party, although they will take pictures and sign for everyone, you just have to instigate it. Adults have to be a little more upfront if you want to be in pictures. However, the little actions they do with the children make for absolutely perfect pictures that are easy to snag. They do not have additional photographers, so make sure you are just snapping away. Overall, I think my best pictures came from this experience and my kids had an absolute blast. After tip and gratuity, the experience was about $47 per person. Definitely on the more expensive side, but it was a rewarding experience and it is one of the most popular character meals.

Sing a Long with Chip and Dale at Fort Wilderness.
Okay, so this isn't really a character meal, but you do have the ability to make s'mores alongside Chip and Dale, so it is pretty similar.

The location: Fort Wilderness is ... big, a lot larger than we expected. To get to where Chip and Dale is you have to take a bus. Or fall for the trap we did and take a van with a tour guide who basically tries to sell you on staying at the resort one day. Basically if you want to get there in time, TAKE THE BUS. Make sure you check a map so you know which stop to get off at. The resort itself is gorgeous though and has neat touches like how everyone decorates their RV's in lights. If you have free time before, it is definitely worth exploring.

The food: As mentioned before, it is not really a character meal. They do offer a little concession stand and the big seller is s'mores, which you can purchase for $10. They give you a fair amount with two sticks that is good for the whole family. You can also bring your own food. I saw people brought their own hot dogs to cook up in the fire pit, among other things.

The experience: I thought it was cute. As mentioned, we arrived late and my son was not in the best of moods due to a lack of a nap that day. Chip and Dale move around, separately, but they will sign autographs and take pictures. They only do this for about a half hour and because there are no permanent seats you may have to grab them for your chance to meet them. Even though it may take a little work, keep in mind it is a free meet and greet and there are technically no lines. Before heading in they dance to a couple of songs with the crowd, which is adorable if you have little ones in your party that are digging it.

Overall the experience is worth it, especially if you have elementary-aged kids, just make sure you give yourself PLENTY of time to get situated and find everything. For essentially nothing, you can meet Chip and Dale, enjoy s'mores and catch an outdoor movie. Definitely a unique experience considering you are in Florida.

Character Spots in the Parks. These are designated areas where you are guaranteed to meet the characters at any time throughout the day. Some of these are worth it, considering it may be the only way you can meet a particular character. Others you should definitely skip as you will waste too much time waiting in line instead of experiencing other parts of the park.

Epcot Character Spot: We only went in this one because we were told it was where we could meet Baymax. Turns out he wasn't there and we stood in line for over 20 minutes to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy for the 2nd time that day. Considering they are in their normal clothes, I would skip this. If you have a Disney credit card, go to that meet and greet around the corner for a more personal experience and ultimately no wait.

Pete's Silly Sideshow: You can meet Goofy and Donald or Daisy and Minnie, or both. Once again waits are upwards of 20 minutes and you only see two characters in each line, meaning over a 40 minute wait if you want to see all 4. The characters are in different outfits, so if you are particular about seeing each one in different gear, than this is for you. We only did this one to meet Daisy. If you do not catch her in Epcot, this is the only other spot to find her. I found the get-up to be weird, but hey, our son loves Daisy, so waiting in line for this one it was. My personal advice, catch all of the characters at Epcot and go enjoy yourself on the rides at Magic Kingdom instead.

Mickey at Town Square Theater, Mickey Avenue, Adventurer's Post: Once again the only point would be to see Mickey in a different outfit. Waits are usually at least 20 minutes, although you can get Fastpass. Personally, I would just pick your favorite Mickey get-up and see that one. Or catch him at a character meal.

Disney Friends in Town Square: When we arrived Marie from Aristocats and Pluto where there. These get mobbed because it is right at the entrance and you cannot miss them. We opted to skip Pluto since we had already met him twice, but went to meet Marie since that was a unique experience. My tip, have one person of your party stand in line while the other runs around to get other things done. I had time to grab first time pins from the Emporium, Fastpasses to organize, diapers to change, and of course had to get some pictures of the castle. I jumped in line with the kids right when it was our turn. Overall the line moved fairly fast and it was only a 20 minute wait. Where they have the picture set up is very nice as well (pending if they are working on the castle and there is a gigantic crane).

Princesses at Fairytale Hall: Typically Anna&Elsa, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. Definitely worth it if you are a fan of these characters as this is pretty much the only place you can meet them. However, you should definitely get a Fastpass, get there first thing when the park opens, or go at night right before Wishes. Do not waste your time being in line for over a half hour or hours if you are trying to meet Anna and Elsa. We skipped this, although I noticed the lines were under 20 minutes right before Wishes started. We opted to see the fireworks instead.

Ariel at her Grotto: You could waste a Fastpass or just wait until the Electric Parade starts. We waited in line two seconds because everyone was busy watching the parade (which replays again an hour after Wishes with way less crowds). Ariel stays in her grotto until 10 PM.

Tinkerbelle at Town Square Theatre: Worth the Fastpass. We got to skip all the lines and got a more personal experience. They tend to bring a few groups in without the Fastpass. Instead it was only our family. So we saved 25 minutes and got a little extra time with Tink.

Toy Story Friends near Splash Mountain: This line typically isn't too bad of a wait. Although, we found the best time to go is right after a parade. They will take a break then so no one will be in line. If you beeline it here right after the parade, you will be first in line right as they come out!

Peter Pan: If the line is towards the end of the ropes, you may want to come back later. Peter Pan spends A LOT of time talking to each group, therefore the line moves very slow. We were one of the last ones to jump in this line before the cutoff and what was only about 7 groups ahead of us turned into almost an hour. If you see this area line-free and with no Peter Pan yet, that is the time to jump in line. You want to be one of the first groups there as he comes back from breaks within 5 minutes.

Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit at the Thotful Spot: Same deal as Peter Pan. The line didn't look bad but with three characters signing autographs, taking individual pictures, and then group pictures, it takes awhile to get through the groups. We sat through two character breaks and ultimately ended up in line for an hour. However, we walked past later when they only had an hour left before packing it in for the night, and the line had gotten even longer. My suggestion put this on your list of things to do first since there is no Fastpass available. The greet is definitely worth it for any little fans of Winnie the Pooh. Our kids had an absolute blast once we finally made it there. You could also try catching just Winnie and Tigger at Epcot or doing a character meal.

Disney Princesses and more in World Showcase: Mulan in China, Snow White in Germany, Aladdin/Jasmin in Morocco, Aurora or Belle in France, Mary Poppins/Alice in UK. There are no Fastpasses for these characters, but it is a good way to see some rare characters. Each character is normally only out for a half hour and then on break or awhile before they come back out. Once again, try to jump in a line before the character is actually out because it will be short. You also may luck out at the end of a line that is short. We were last in line for Aladdin and Jasmine and only had to wait less than ten minutes. The key is knowing where exactly these characters will be. Feel free to ask a cast member or check exact location on the map on MyDisneyExperience.

Disney Junior Characters at Animation Courtyard (HS): Jake, Minnie, sometimes others. We happened to stumble across this section around dinner time. The lines were super short and it only took 5 minutes to meet the characters. Definitely worth it if you have a fan in tow. Not sure if the line ever gets super long as they are geared more towards the younger Disney fans. I would also strongly suggest this as a way to see Minnie if you have not seen her yet. Shortest line for her we experienced and it was during busy park hours. She even came out and did a special greet for our daughter who wasn't in line at the time.

All Animal Kingdom Meet and Greets: I am putting all of these together because there is no Fastpass for these and they are similar. Waits are usually 15 minutes or shorter. I found Animal Kingdom to be an awesome spot to meet characters. Less wait time than the other parks and they have many unique characters to the park including Tarzan, Pocahontas, King Louie/Baloo, Dug/Russell, Flik and Rafiki.

Overall: I enjoyed using the character meals for meeting the characters, even though they cost extra money. A special note: children under 3 are also free for the meals, and they still get to eat. We definitely took advantage of this. My two-year old ate like a king at every meal and even my 8 month old enjoyed the Mickey waffles. We still spent a lot of time in lines to meet the characters again in the park since we didn't have a lot of ride-goers, but that is something else to consider. If you have a lot of ride fans in your party, the character meet and greets are an awesome experience and allow you to have more time in the park for ride lines versus character lines.

BJ's Savings Tricks

So as I have mentioned before, BJ's is one of the retailers I shop at most. There are a few products I personally like to have in bulk, especially if it saves me from having to shop as often. However, not only is BJ's great for stocking up, but they also provide major savings as well. A membership costs around $50 a year. Now I am not a fan of paying memberships to shop places, but the following is a list of tips and tricks that make it worth it.

1. BJ's brand. BJ's has their own brand on many of their products including household items, health and wellness products and many of the food items. I find their store brand to be of a better quality than most store brands out there. Plus they are typically always cheaper than the name brand products.

2. Pick and Pack deal. If you are a fan of Lays chips (Tostitos, Doritos, ext). it is way better to go to BJ's for those items. For just under $6 you can get two bags of chips. Try price comparing that with wherever you normally buy chips. Not only that, but these bags are significantly larger than your typical grocery store, so you are getting much more bang for your buck.

3. Use Similac checks towards BJ's brand baby formula. This is one of the primary reasons why I shop at BJ's so often. BJ's brand formula is almost straight-up comparable to Similac, once again proving to be a higher quality store brand. However, at $21.99 it is much cheaper than any other brand out there. A typical name brand is usually around $35 and other store brands are normally around $25. Not only does the price start out cheaper, but 98% of the time they will accept Similac checks (sign-up for Similac Strong Moms). There has only been two times my checks have not been accepted, since I was not purchasing the actual Similac brand, which they also offer at a better price than most. Typically the cashier just doesn't even realize I did not purchase the name brand or they just don't care. Therefore, I get an additional $5 off each formula bringing down the price to $16.99, an absolute steal.

4. Double your coupons. Yes, I said double. I had suspicions of this being possible months ago, but I put it to the real test just recently when I decided to do the check out yourself option. Apparently the in-store coupons on BJs.com and the ones you receive in the mail monthly have different scan codes, even though they are for the same product. Therefore you can get double the money off on each one you are interested in. The registers take it, without question. Check out my below receipt for a better understanding of this serious trick...

Highlighted are the items I had coupons for. If you notice, certain items have two highlights in the coupon section. That is because I had two, essentially identical coupons, however one came from printing online while the other came from the coupon book that is mailed.

Items bought:

Quinoa (organic): $11.99 with $2.75 off x2 = final price of $6.49.

Lays Pick and Pack Deal: $5.98 with $.75 off x2 = final price of $4.48

Digiorno Pizza (3 pies): $13.99 with $3 off x2 = final price of $7.99

Tyson Honey BBQ strips: $14.99 with $3 off x2 = final price of $8.99

Bertolli Pasta Sauce (3 jars): $5.99 with $1.50 off x2 = final price of $2.99

You do the math, that is some major savings. If there are products that you like, it is totally worth making another trip later to stock up.

5. Manufacturer coupons widely accepted. Check coupons.com and your local newspapers for even more savings on your favorite products. Do not be deterred if you find a coupon that says you have to buy a certain amount of a product. Since BJ's items are in bulk, you do not have to buy two large packs of something to get the deal, they will typically just accept the coupon if you have the brand at all. For example, I had a $1 off a purchase of 6 Gerber stage 2 fruits/veggies. At BJ's they come in a box of 15. They will still accept the coupon because you are still purchasing 6, in a way.

6. Check your rebate apps. Ibotta offers rewards on BJ's as do all of the other apps. Make sure you add the items to your shopping list before you check out though. After purchasing everything on the above receipt, I got $5 back for the Digiorno purchase because I was working towards a goal of $30 on Savingstar on Nestle products that was already adding up. Ibotta also gave me money back on my purchase of eggs. The big one was on taco kit. At $6.99, it is already a great price, but I also had an in-store coupon for $2 off and then I had a $1 rebate. Therefore I only paid $3.99 to load up on a party-sized taco kit.

As mentioned before, there are only a certain amount of products I buy at BJ's regardless of if I have coupons or not. If my favorite brands have coupons though, I am stocking up here. I can get certain items for close to nothing and enough to last me a long time. Just remember to stock up on coupons at the following places:

• BJs.com
• BJs mailed coupons (if they aren't sent to you, just ask at Customer Services. As long as it is not towards the end of the month when they run out, they should give you a book).
• In-store coupons when you first walk in. (These are usually different than the ones above, however I have seen opportunities to triple up on coupons on very rare occasions).
• Manufacturer coupons (coupons.com, Sunday paper, name brand websites, and more).
• Rebate Apps

Must Have Apps for Saving

There are so many apps out there that help you save money on groceries among other thing. Here is the list of ones you should without a doubt find room for on your phone today...

Rebates/Cashback Apps

• Ibotta. Definitely the leader in this category right now. Save on some of the essentials like bread, milk, and eggs, plus a ton of name brand products.
• Checkout51. Similar to Ibotta, has a lot of different, not as mainstream brands. I often take advantage of their healthy offer, which is always a different type of fruit of vegetable each week. They also have cashback on a lot of popular beers and personal care products.
• SavingStar. I like this one because it offers big discounts, although you often have to spend $20-30 on multiple products. You also don't need to upload a receipt, which is convenient considering a lot of stores only give you one if you ask these days. Just make sure you redeem the offer before you go to purchase the items and you have to use your store rewards card!
• Snap by Groupon. This is a newer app and does not have the best offers yet, but I hear some changes are coming soon that could make this one very rewarding in the near future.
• Shrink. This one is great for discounts on organic products. We all know how much more expensive it is to switch to organic, well this app is key to bringing down those prices a little bit.
• Shopmium. They never have many offers, although once in awhile you catch one on a product you love. They also send rebates that can help you buy a product completely free of cost, so once again if you catch one you like, its definitely worth it.
• MobiSave. Also fairly new, but they have recently come out with a few products I buy on a normal basis, including some produce items. What is neat about this one is that they send you money directly to your Paypal account, no minimum requirement.
• Receipt Hog. My favorite app that has been around for awhile. All you do is take a picture of every receipt you ever get and watch the money add up, slowly, but you are getting paid to take a picture of a receipt, not a tough job.
• KrazyCouponLady. Good to have on hand. You can set the app to show you specific stores you frequent and great deals that are going on each specific day.

Store Specific Apps

• Cartwheel. Do not shop at Target without using Cartwheel first, end of story. Especially when it comes to grocery shopping and having to buy the essentials for baby, this one helps you save big.

Apps that Help you Make Money on the Side

• JobSpotter. All you have to do is take pictures of for hire signs. They give you $1 towards Amazon for every 100 points you get. You get 50 points for each picture.
• ShopKick. If you have extra time while you are out shopping, all you have to do is take pictures of certain requested items, maybe answer a short survey or two.