The Blonde Diaries

Crockpot Recipe Series - Recipe #2

This is an absolute favorite of mine. I think I’ll be making it again this weekend. To lighten it up I think I’m going to try the La Tortilla Factory flour tortillas instead of the normal mission branded ones I use. I’m also going to add a bit more broth to the bottom so I don’t scorch the bottom layer.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole
6 WW Pts/srvg

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and cut into 1″ pieces reserve about 1/4 c of broth **
10 6″ flour tortillas, cut into strips about 1/2″ wide x 2″ long
2 medium sized onions, chopped
1 tsp canola oil
10 3/4 oz can of ff chicken broth
10 3/4 oz can 98% ff cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
2 4oz cans mild green chilies, chopped **
1 egg
1 c low-fat cheese, grated

1. Pour reserved chicken broth in slow cooker sprayed with non-fat cooking spray. **
2. Scatter half the tortilla strips in bottom of slow cooker.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together, except the second half of the tortilla strips and cheese.
4. Layer half the chicken mixture into the cooker, followed by the other half of the tortillas, followed by the rest of the chicken mix.
5. Cover. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 3-5 hours.
6. Add the cheese to the top of the dish during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.
7. Uncover and allow casserole to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 8-10 servings. I got 8 out of mine. 280 cals, 7gms fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 28gms carbs, 2 gms fiber, 23gms protein.

** I used a cooking liner and did not spray with the nonstick spray. Part of the bottom layer of strips did stick and burn. Next time I am going to use the nonstick spray with the liner and add another 1/4c of broth at the bottom layer. I also boiled the chicken for about 30 mins and shredded it. Subbed 1 can rotel for the 2 cans of green chilies. Tasted very yummy.

Free Dining and WDW Booking Update

When we left off yesterday I had 3 choices to choose from. A quick recap: keep ressie as is at All Star Movies (Standard Room, 8 day hopper tickets, free dining plan), Upgrade ressie at All Star Movies (Preferred Room, 8 day hopper tickets, free dining plan), or Upgrade to Caribbean Beach Resort (Standard Room, 8 day park hopper tickets, free dining plan). The first choice would save $700, second choice would save $500, and the third would cost $700 more.

I was really nervous about what I might find out when I called this morning to change my existing reservations to apply the code for free dining. I had heard about what a mess Monday with the Disney Visa Holders was but knew it would be worse with it opening up to the general public. Boy was I right! I set my alarm for 5:45am and promptly jumped out of bed and logged onto DIS Boards and Sunshine Rewards Forums to see if there were any new updates to this promotion. I also happened to pull up the WDW website and see the advertisement for the promotion I wanted to book before 6 am when the phone lines opened. So curious me went ahead and clicked on it and found I could book online! YES!!! So I started booking a new reservation while I was trying to dial Disney. In the 10 minutes I spend dialing and either getting cut off or hearing all circuits are busy I had a reservation in for free dining meeting option #2 above. Option #1 was not available and after a long talk and sleeping on option #3 Mike and I decided against it. Once again frugalness has come over me and I happily agreed with what Mike and I discussed and had no issues giving up CBR. Plus upgrading to a preferred room was not that big of a deal cost wise and its covered in our earnings as well.
So if you are trying to book and getting busy signals or don’t feel like waiting book online! It saved me mucho time and frustration and now I just have to call later today when everything has died down and cancel the first reservation I made in March. Now I get to really plan out what we are going to see and do and will have a little cushion money wise.

WDW Trip Update

Ok so on to some positive trip planning after my downer news the other day. Mike and I are adjusting well to the realization that we will not be going to London & Dublin as planned. No more crying or sad thoughts. I did tell my team today I will not be leaving the country as planned in May but I am about to start losing vacation so I’ll be sitting at home during that time. Not terrible. Probably will play here on the blog some and earn some more money through Sunshine Rewards towards our trip.

So now onto where we are at in our planning. As you might have read on the internet the other day, Disney has announced their Free Dining dates. Luckily, Mike and I’s trip will just barely squeeze in to qualify so like all other crazed Disney fans we will both be calling in tomorrow morning to add free dining onto our reservations. This will save us close to $700 on this trip. That’s kinda nice considering we just lost $800 total on the UK fiasco.

So now our dilemma…

1. Do we keep our current reservations at All Star Movies - Standard Room - and just add free dining and save $700
2. Do we upgrade our room at All Star Movies - Preferred Room - for a net savings of $500
3. Do we say screw the values and stay at a moderate - Caribbean Beach Resort - and net out to $0 on the deal as Free Dining savings would equal the price difference between a value and a moderate

Right now I am torn. I love the idea of staying at All Star Movies. I like the larger than life Disney decorations from the pictures of the resort. What I don’t like is the idea of sharing the buses with the other 2 All Star Resorts. Also I don’t want to stay at the other 2 All Stars if this one is booked up/no rooms available for that code. Mike doesn’t want to stay at POP again so I think that leaves CBR.

Hmm decisions decisions. Right now with my survey and Sunshine earnings I have enough to cover #1 above and with another few months I could easily cover #2. #3 is a teeny stretch and we’d have to pay some for that which I was trying not to do. I guess I will see what happens when I call in the morning and see what the Disney gods think best.

Out of the three scenarios above what would you pick?

Disney PhotoPass Service is Expanding!

If you have ever been to Disney you may have come across the Disney PhotoPass Service. This service is actually fabulous. Why? Because Disney has staked out photographers in both randomly and in the most photogenic sections of the theme parks to take pictures of you and your family/friends on vacation. It takes the guessing out of who will take the picture and be left out vs. trying to track down someone to take a photo for you. When you find a photographer you just hand him a card the size of your room key/credit card and they scan it linking the photos they took to your account. You can then wait until you get home to view your pictures and decide if you want to purchase any or all.

Now this service can get a teeny bit expensive (this is Disney we are talking about). But there are ways to cut down on this cost.

1. Join a Disney Crazed Message board and get in a PhotoPass Swap for your vacation dates
2. Purchase just the photos you like
3. Prepurchase the PhotoPass CD from Disney

Mike and I will be doing #3 above. By visiting the Disney PhotoPass website you can buy the cd for a 20% discount. But the main reason we are going to do this is because you can book a private photo session with a Disney photographer at a deluxe resort and that photographer will spend 30-40 minutes with you taking professional photos of you. The cost is just an additional $25 if you prepurchase the cd and once again you get the rights to all photos. Right now the private session is only available at the Grand Floridian Resort but later this month it will open up to Saratoga Springs and the Polynesian Resorts! I can’t wait to see the first wave of photos posted on my Disney message boards so I can decide on which resort to pick for our pictures.

Weight Watchers End of Week 5 update

Week 5 on Weight Watchers has officially come to an end. It wasn’t a complete loss but it wasn’t a week I was particularly proud of. I seemed to do ok up until Thursday when we had a happy hour at work. I managed to lay off the wine and cake but ate a ton of the mini quesadillas instead Overall the weekend was a success for me though as Mike and I were good and stayed home and ate left overs all weekend - tuna helper and slow cooked chicken soft tacos - YUMM-O! I did use my one meal eating out on Breakfast at McDonald’s while Mike and I were on our oil change date. I went all out and got the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McGriddle meal since I haven’t had one of those in years. After finishing it and thinking about what I actually ate I can see why I haven’t had one in years. I think I might see if there is an easy way to sorta make one at home that isn’t quite so bad for me. I also managed to hit the gym 4 days last week - 2 weight training days and 2 cardio days. Not horrible but once again I’m just under my April goals each week of 3 weights and 3 cardio days.

I figure that I’m going to try a tad harder this week as the number of days before summer and vacation is dwindling very quickly. I went ahead and made a 2 week meal plan to try and keep myself on track and to also manage my food budget a little better. I hate how high prices are getting and well quite frankly I have a pantry and freezer full of food I need to eat so might as well start now and replace as things on sale. So here is my meal plan. I’m sure it will change some but not too much. I’ll post back how everything turns out with pictures and recipes if they aren’t linked below as I make it.

• Mon - Wed -> Cajun Dirty Rice
• Thurs - Fri -> Citrus Pork Tenderloin
• Sat - Mon -> Rice & Sausage
• Tues - Thurs -> Fruited Pork Chops
• Fri - Sat -> Cheesy Chicken Pot Biscuit Cups

So overall this week I had a .5 pound loss bringing my total to 5 pounds lost in 5 weeks. Not too shabby. I hope to keep this trend up.