Adventures in the USA part 7 - Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney World Florida

Day number 8 (Thursday) of our 10 days in Florida actually started with my observation that my bow-drawing arm (my right arm, seeing as I'm right-handed) hurt.  To actually see if it was still aching at various points during the day, I actually positioned my arms as if I was holding a bow and drew my right arm back as if preparing to shoot an arrow at an imaginary target.  You can probably see how excited I was already to start properly going to archery at uni in September!  Anyway, although I didn't encounter any Disney character who was experienced in archery (such as Merida, Robin Hood or even Mulan) while I was there, my day at Disney Hollywood Studios was actually the first day that I'd really encountered characters in the parks (although I'd briefly seen Pluto while entering Epcot on Monday).  This was the day of many Frozen sing-alongs as various areas of the park were struck by Frozen fever!  In light of this, Frozen attractions will appear in my top 5 for Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Top 5

• For the First Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration - Before seeing this show, my brother had managed to avoid seeing Frozen or really hearing the story of it.  Obviously, he'd heard Let It Go and Do You Want To Build A Snowman multiple times (like on the radio or from my iPod or from me just singing them), but for the times I'd seen it, he'd been a) at school when I first saw it in cinema (I saw it the day after finishing my first set of uni assessments in 1st year), at home while I saw it at my uni's student cinema with my friends, or just in another place in the house when I'd watched it on DVD at home.  He has now watched Frozen since coming home from Florida, but this 30 minute abridged version of the most recent film in the Disney Princess franchise was actually his first experience with it.  This version told the story of Frozen in 30 minutes using two narrators, the newly appointed historians of Arendelle, actors playing Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa, and was punctuated with a screen that showed clips from the movie for each song and had the lyrics of the songs for the audience to sing along.  Of course, my brother was not happy to have me sitting next to him as I excitedly sang along to Let It Go, Love Is An Open Door and the other songs.  In the evening was "Coolest Summer Ever" Dance Party, a DJ-led mini disco which included Uptown Funk and YMCA, followed by the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular accompanied by even more singing along to the songs from Frozen!

Grass sculptures of Elsa and Anna.

• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - This show based on Raiders of the Lost Ark invited volunteers from the audience to learn a few low-level stunts and participate in an Indiana Jones stunt show that included falling from building into soft beds, acrobatics from a Cairo marketplace set, staged fight sequences, a giant boulder chasing Indiana Jones, explosions, and fires.
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show - There are little changes to this ride between times of seeing it, but the premise stays the same - cars do stunts including flying through the air off a ramp, driving across the roof of a "fruit stand", high-speed car chases, cars changing behind the scenes (ssshhhh), motorbikes driving through a line of fire and the cyclist being extinguished, and a remote control being handed to a member of the audience so that they "control" a seemingly empty car.  On a previous visit, the well-known Disney car that visited in this show was Herbie (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Herbie Fully Loaded), but this time it was Lightning McQueen of the Disney Pixar film Cars.
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream - I think this is a new attraction in the past 5 years, because I don't recall having seen it before.  It's an exhibition of both original and replica artefacts used by Walt Disney himself (including a school desk) or clips and items used in landmark Disney films, short films and television shows, including new camera and motion techniques, the development of Mickey Mouse from an earlier version of his appearance to the appearance that we know and love today, merchandise, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the promotional programmes surrounding the opening of the Disneyland Park in California (which celebrated its 60th birthday on 17th July 2015, while I was at the Magic Kingdom park in Florida instead).  The exhibition actually charts most of Walt Disney's life, as well as plans for the developments of the parks after his death (including the different parks at Disney World Florida, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort (due to open in 2016).
• Fantasmic! - This fireworks display is a story told through the colourful imagination of Mickey Mouse as the Sorceror's Apprentice (as seen in Fantasia).  The audience sees scenes from Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid through Mickey's imagination, but when Mickey encounters Disney villains including Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil and Scar, his dreams quickly turn into a nightmare.  Disney's animations projected onto walls of water, fireworks and laser lights bring this show-stopping performance to life as Mickey fights against the villains of Disney films past.

It's very dark, but a statue of a 1930s movie director
 using the viewing scope on his camera.  More information here.

Long have I heard about smoothies or homemade juices with carrots in them, but I've not tried it in person before.  This may be about to change.  In the past year, you've probably seen me go from only drinking water (and the irregular cup of coffee or tea) to really getting into my smoothie recipes, which is thanks to Ally Sheehan and the smoothie bike at uni.  This time, I have found a smoothie recipe on the Disney Mickey Check website that I found while in Florida, and it's probably sure to leave you with plenty of orange energy as it has both carrots and oranges!

Ingredients (serves 2, but may only serve 1)

1 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup carrots
1 orange, peeled
1 medium banana

Instructions

1. Cut up strawberries, carrots, orange and banana.
2. Pour orange juice into the blender and then add the cut up fruit.
3. Blend until the smoothie reaches your desired consistency.

A Couple of Minutes With Kara

Just over a year ago, while I was looking through the Instagram of Ariel Kaplan (Imogen Willis from Neighbours, or going a bit further back, Lisa from The Saddle Club), I found a comment from an account called "greengirlsgang".  They were a group of gorgeous young women from Melbourne and Brisbane who joined up over a mutual love of health, happiness and good food.  For a few weeks, they introduced themselves and shared a few plant-based recipes (such as Ally's banana and blueberry ice cream, which is very yummy) and met up to discuss their plans for the group.  Unfortunately, they are now on hiatus for health reasons.  One of the introductions described one of the group as "a self proclaimed 'human encyclopaedia of Lizzie McGuire episodes'" (one great show - I rewatched all the episodes in the summer holidays last year, I have a pin of the cartoon Lizzie that I got at Disney World when I was 11, and I realised in November that Lizzie McGuire is probably my fictional soul-twin).  This girl is Kara Ready.  I've only spoken to her a couple of times, but we brought down a Twitter troll who was denying gender inequality together, we're both feminists and LGBT rights supporters (and Lizzie McGuire lovers), and she gave me some great advice when I was struggling a few months ago with tiredness and not eating enough.  I'll let her introduce herself in this little interview.

Name:

Kara :)

Age:

22.

Where in the world are you from?

I live just outside Melbourne, Australia in boring ol’ suburbia.

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

2015 marks the year that I graduated from my journalism degree and entered the big, bad world. I’m very passionate about media and the journalism industry so at the moment I’m spending a lot of time working on my community radio show, writing for magazines on a volunteer basis and just generally figuring out the type of journalist I want to be. I’ve discovered that not knowing where I’m headed- although very daunting at times- is half the fun of getting there.

What is your food philosophy and lifestyle?

I follow a vegan lifestyle and it’s something that I’m very passionate about on an environmental and ethical level. I guess you could say that at its core, my philosophy is to do as much as I can to avoid hurting others in every aspect of life. I’ve always felt that way but it wasn’t until late last year that I realised my eating habits didn’t align with those beliefs- so I changed to a cruelty free diet and lifestyle and haven’t looked back!

This wonderful vegan Chinese restaurant in Melbourne basically outlines my reasons for being vegan. We don't need to harm other for our food :)

How long have you been following this lifestyle and why?

I have been vegan for just over 6 months now and was vegetarian for 6 months before that.

What is your favourite fruit [or vegetable]?

My absolute favourite vegetable without a doubt is potato, preferably sweet potato but regular ol’ white potato is a winner too. Sometimes I genuinely think I could eat nothing but potato for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy.

Food wise, what country have you enjoyed visiting the most?

I absolutely adored my trip to India for a million different reasons and the food probably contributed to about half of them. The flavours, the variety, the fact that whole foods make up a very large part of their diet. It was just heaven and every Indian meal I’ve had since back in Australia has failed to match up.

Helping to make roti bread in a Sikh temple in India. I love the community and culture behind their food!

What are your views and tips for health and happiness?

This is such a huge question and one that I receive quite often on Tumblr because so many people struggle with it. I think my first tip, and perhaps the most cliché one, is to listen to yourself- your body, your mind, your thoughts and try and teach yourself to respond to them with kindness and compassion. When you can be open, honest and supportive towards yourself and how you’re feeling, your perspective starts to change because you allow yourself the room to make mistakes and learn from them without beating yourself up and dwelling on it. Health and happiness go hand in hand- I really think that when you master one, you master the other and that’s a beautiful thing.

Plans for the rest of 2015?

2015 has been a bit of an adjustment year for me so far as I’ve just graduated from university and entered the ‘real world’. This year has predominately been focused on writing as much as possible and searching for a job that will make me happy to go to work each day. Overall though, I’m just taking everything as it comes at the moment and trying not to put unnecessary pressure on myself by pretending that I ‘should’ or ‘need’ to be doing more than I already am.

My go to recipe is-

Easy vegan strawberries and cream smoothie!

The best thing about smoothies for me is that you don't need to do much weighing or measuring and can instead just chuck everything into the blender as you go! Perfect for lazy meals or snacks when you can't be bothered preparing something.

This recipe is for a yummy strawberries and cream smoothie using only 3 ingredients. Don't be afraid to add in more than what I've written- I've made versions of this with almond milk instead of water, cherries as well as strawberries and I frequently double the ingredients if I'm feeling really hungry or halve them if I just want a snack.

Things you'll need-
- 2 frozen bananas
- 2-4 fresh bananas [or more depending on your hunger!]
- A couple handfuls of frozen strawberries
- .5-1 litre of water
- A blender!

Blend all the ingredients together until you get the consistency you like. I like mine to be thick and creamy but if you want yours a little bit thinner just add more water! I told you it was super easy!

This recipe is also great because it can be made into a delicious summer nice cream for those warmer days! If you want more of a thick, ice cream consistency, just swap out the fresh bananas for frozen ones and take out the water and you're good to go! For now though, in this awful Australian winter, I think I'm just going to stick to my smoothie...

Social media:

Tumblr: eveningdreams.tumblr.com
Instagram: @kara.ready
Twitter: @kararready

Healthy Green Smoothie

Today marks the official end of my 2nd year at uni with Party on the Amp, at which I'm helping with the media coverage as a runner.  That means that I'll be liaising with the technical crew about musical acts, posting on the university student union's social media accounts about what's going on, and hopefully interviewing a few bands.  With a little luck, the weather will be nice (I didn't go last year due to work, but it apparently rained a lot) and there'll be ice cream, candyfloss, popcorn, BBQ stuff, and smoothies.  Speaking of smoothies, today's healthy green treat was inspired by this smoothie from the wonderful agirlnamedally (a.k.a. Tie-Dye Girl or My Aussie Soul-Sister).  Imagine if I was sipping that at Party on the Amp - mmmmmmmm.

Ingredients (to fill a pint glass of smoothie)

3 bananas
3 dessert spoons spinach
a handful of cucumber sticks
a dash or two of cold water

Instructions

1. Cut bananas into slices.
2. Blend banana slices a bit at a time, and add cucumber sticks, spinach and water gradually (i.e. add a bit of bananas, cucumber, spinach and water each time and blend).
3. Pour into a pint glass/mug and enjoy!

Watermelon Wonder Smoothie

Another recipe from the recipe cards handed out at the healthy eating stand at the health fair at uni last week, this time for a Watermelon Wonder smoothie.

Ingredients

chopped watermelon
fat-free plant-based milk of your choice
ice

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender.
2. Pulse until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Kiwi Smoothie

On Monday morning, I headed to Student Central for my student radio show and came across the Health Fair (there seems to be a lot of things like this at the moment).  I didn't have much time to spare, so I went straight for the stand where there were trays of smoothie samples.  I tried a Watermelon Wonder smoothie (the recipe for which will come next week) and a Strawberry and Kiwi smoothie.  We were also given questionnaires which had the question of "How would you define healthy eating?"  I would define healthy eating as eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water, but also treating yourself in moderation to things like chocolate.  How would you define "healthy eating"?

Ingredients

apple juice, chilled
1 banana, sliced
1 kiwi, sliced
frozen strawberries

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender and pulse until mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
2. Enjoy!

Apple, Orange and Grape Smoothie

Carrying on from the theme of the Food Festival last week (and while it is still Fairtrade Fortnight), I'm going to take the time to share another recipe found at the Food Festival.  This time, it came from my visit to the Sustrans smoothie bike.  The last two times I attended events that had the smoothie bike around (a stall where you could have a smoothie and a massage as a break from exam revision on 8th January, and at the Sustain Health and Wellbeing Fayre on 29th January), the smoothie you could pedal on the smoothie bike to make was a mixed berry smoothie, but last week's smoothie at the Food Festival consisted of green grapes and orange segments as an alternative to the mixed berries.  This now sounds an awful lot like how to make a smoothie containing the fruits I normally have in containers to eat for lunch and as snacks at uni (apple, oranges and grapes) ... Here's the recipe to make at home!

Ingredients

1/2 a banana
3/4 cup apple juice
handful of green grapes
handful of orange segments

Instructions

1. Peel banana and cut into two halves.  You can eat one half.  Peel an orange and cut into segments.  Rinse a handful of grapes.
2. Cut remaining half of banana into slices and begin to pulse in blender.
3. Gradually add orange segments, grapes and apple juice to the blender.
4. Pulse mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency.
5. Pour into glass and enjoy!

Berry Smoothie

First of all, a belated Happy New Year!  Second of all, it's the middle of exams here and everything's a bit of a mess, but after my deadline this afternoon, I have nothing until my presentation next Friday morning, so I'm going to give myself some time over the weekend to do a few non-academic things that need doing, such as writing a letter about an exciting little project that is coming up in February (the Food Festival), putting more stuff together for that, planning a few more radio shows, and catch up with a little bit of reading (which has been taking a back seat lately).  Thirdly, my only New Year's resolutions are to eat even more fruit and drink more water than I do already, and to sing, dance and enjoy life.  Tying in with the eating more fruit thing, yesterday, as well as three tubs of fruit (apple slices, oranges and grapes) during the day, I also rode the Sustrans smoothie bike that was at uni this week and made myself a yummy berry smoothie to drink while I was revising!  Here's how you can make it at home without a bike:

Ingredients (to make one cup)

1/2 a banana
a handful or two of mixed berries (e.g. raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, strawberries), chopped
a "glug" of apple juice

Instructions

1. Gradually mix all the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Once the mixture has reached a smooth consistency, pour into a cup and enjoy!

Banana and Date Smoothie

Similarly to a few of the recipes that I’ve included, this banana and date smoothie recipe has come from agirlnamedally.  Although I won’t eat as many bananas in a day as Ally does, my love of dates could possibly almost match hers, and a mixture of the two is fantastic.

Ingredients

3-7 bananas
7 dates

Instructions

1. Cut bananas into slices and remove seeds from dates.
2. Adding slices of banana and dates to blender gradually, pulse until mixture reaches a smooth liquid consistency.

Spiced Apple Smoothie

Last week, I found this recipe amongst several other delicious-looking smoothie recipes in Smoothies and Juices from The Marks & Spencer Essentials Collection, published in 2002.  I chose Spiced Apple Smoothie as the recipe to try as I already had the available ingredients at home.


Ingredients (serves 2)
250ml/9 fl oz apple juice
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
2 teaspoons grated fresh root ginger
2 bananas, sliced and frozen
slices of fresh banana on cocktail sticks to decorate

Method

1. Pour the apple juice into a food processor.  Add the cinnamon and ginger and process gently until combined.
2. Add the banana and process until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Pour the mixture into tall glasses and decorate with slices of fresh banana on cocktail sticks. 
4. Serve immediately.