Disneyland, Home Edition: Walt's Chili

Yesterday Thatbaby turned 5.  5!!!!!  He'll always be my baby, but he certainly isn't one anymore. 

All he wanted for his birthday was to go to Disneyland.  He's been talking about it since November.  When we figured out that couldn't happen we decided to bring Disneyland to him the weekend before his birthday. 

We started the morning off with Mickey waffles.

And then we headed to California Adventure.  One of the things we've never done at California Adventure, but I knew the kids would enjoy, was the Animation Academy, where you learn to draw Disney characters.  We worked on a couple different versions of Mickey Mouse.

Thatkid LOVED this, and he spent all of Thatbaby's nap drawing more characters, then got up the next morning and did some more. 

Then we virtually rode some of the California Adventure rides.  Including some Thatbaby would never ride in real life, like Guardians of the Galaxy.

After we rode all our favorite rides, we crossed over to Disneyland park and went on a cruise.  A jungle cruise.

We took a break to watch some parades and eat lunch - Monte Cristo sandwiches!

Next we headed to the Tiki Room (this one was really for me, I love the Tiki Room!).  And you can't go to the Tiki Room without stopping for Dole whip.  I used the "official" recipe posted by Disney, but after several friends passed along their experience I'll give you my super secret tip.  Everyone I know who made it claimed it was more of a smoothie than anything else, so after making it, I threw it in the ice cream maker to process for a couple minutes which gave it that awesome soft serve consistency.

This is the point where Thatbaby went down for his nap and Thatkid spent more time in the Animation academy.  After that, it was all rides for the rest of the afternoon.

We did take a little churro break while we rode the Mark Twain.

And the great thing about virtual rides is that you don't get sick if you eat right before going on them!

For dinner we headed over to the Carnation Cafe for a little chili in a bread bowl while we watched the Disney Family Sing A Longs.

And we watched a little World of Color while having our dessert.

About that chili.  My initial thought was gumbo in a bread bowl.  I love gumbo in a bread bowl at Disney.  But the kids are not gumbo fans.  The sausage is too spicy for them.  Bah.  But chili is something we can all do.  And Disney published the recipe for Walt's Chili served at the Carnation Cafe.

When I actually went to make it, I ran into small problem.  The recipe was a mess.  The ingredients didn't match the instructions.  There were ingredients listed that were never used in the instructions, and the instructions told you to use ingredients that weren't listed.  Not to mention the fact that the ingredients called for canned beans when the first step involved rinsing, sorting, and soaking the beans overnight.  So I don't know how authentic this is, but if you're looking to make Walt's chili, at least know this is going to get you closer than Disney's recipe!

Walt's Chili

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 green pepper, diced

3/4 lb beef stew meat

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1 1/2 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tbsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp beef broth

1 1/2 cups water

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add beef and green pepper and cook until beef is browned.
3. Add tomato paste, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, beef broth, and water.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
5. Stir in fresh tomatoes and beans.  Continue cooking until they are heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.