Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Yes! We've been away. Instead of holiday travels, we pulled the kids out of school a week early. Three important planets aligned: low airfare, low house rental rates, and no business trips for my husband. Outta here!!!
And what this also meant... short lines at Universal Studios' new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction. So many people have asked me to review our visit there that I didn't want to delay... so have your wands at the ready and grab that portkey!

As you would expect at a Florida theme park, the wizarding world was very realistic and detailed. Hogsmeade village is located in the northeast corner of Universal Studios.
The Dragon Challenge roller coaster is the most intense ride, not for young children (so we could not ride it due to the height requirement of 54", not to mention I don't think I could have stomached it anyhow). This coaster existed before the installation of the Harry Potter portion of the park, and I believe it used to be called the Dueling Dragons (my husband rode it back when we were there a decade ago, before kids). It is a double inverted coaster, where your legs dangle freely. This is the only dueling inverted coaster designed by the Swiss inverted coaster pioneers, Bolliger & Mabillard. You might want to ride this one before you've had a few butterbeers & bottles of pumpkin juice! If you're not sure (and don't mind the ride spoiler) you can check out the ride via YouTube video here.

And yes, you can indeed try
some butterbeer and pumpkin
juice. Now the butterbeer is
not vegan, or even vegetarian
as far as I know, so I can't tell
you anymore about it. But the
pumpkin juice, although
sweetened with sugar, was
quite delicious! Its primary
ingredients are apple, pumpkin
and apricot juices. It has lovely
subtle spices, but mostly it's the
apricot juice that gives it such a nice flavour in my opinion.

The boys shared a big salty soft pretzel as well. There was a food stall that was heavy on fresh fruit: watermelon wedges, grapes, oranges, etc. But we ate largely the food we'd brought, to save money, since the admission into Universal's Islands of Adventure is already a small fortune.

If you are interested to know what other food options are available, check out PurpleChocolatHome's review here, which includes photos inside The Three Broomsticks restaurant and Honeyduke's candy shoppe, or Mouse Planet's muggles guide to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter here. If you're any variety of vegetarian and you plan to eat at The Three Broomsticks, you'll be ordering a meal full of side dishes. There is also a salad available, and a vegetarian potato leek soup. Another vegetarian blogger reviewed the food here.

The other thing we had going for us was the weather. The cold (for Florida) weather kept people away, plus it was a weekday, plus we were there before schools let out for the winter holidays. Triple win. Instead of wait-times of 2-3 hours for the most popular ride, the official ride times were 30-40 minutes, which actually translated to a 10-15 minute brisk walk through the twisting passages of Hogwarts castle...something you won't want to miss whether you choose to go on the ride or not.The most popular ride is the Forbidden Journey. The height requirement is 48", about the size of the average 7-8 year old. AJ just barely met the requirement at age 6 3/4. The line for the ride takes you through many rooms in Hogwarts, such as Professor Sprout's greenhouse, Dumbledore's office, the portrait gallery, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom (with holograms of Harry, Ron & Hermione very convincingly informing you about your impending journey). The animated portraits were exceptional!
























AJ pretty much kept his eyes closed through the entire ride...the first time. But Ryan convinced us to go again, and AJ and I were both able to enjoy it more the second time. And then we went a third time! It quickly became everyone's favourite. It's sort of a combo between a roller coaster and motion simulator, with multiple concave IMAX style screens interspersed with animatronics. You might also get spit on by giant spiders, or receive a steam bath in the face from a fire-breathing horn-tailed dragon. The ride seats 4 people in a row--I could reach AJ's hand around the seat-barrier though I couldn't actually see his face due to the restraints that prevent you from falling out or leaning too far forward.
If you have already been on the ride (or don't mind spoilers) there is a YouTube video of The Forbidden Journey at a fan site here... it is shaky and often in the dark since it was clearly taken with a cell phone (which is actually not permitted during the ride, though there are small compartments in the back of each seat to store small items like cell phones, glasses & hats during the ride).

The
ride
spits
you
out
into
Filch's
Empor-
ium of
Confis-
cated
Goods,
a dark
and
crowded
gift
shoppe
where
you
can
view
(and
purch-
ase) the on-ride photo of yourself if you'd like. Gryffindor scarves were very popular attire the day we were there. From there you can return to the school locker rooms (if you have a bag or backpack with you, you have to leave it in the free lockers for the ride).

From there you may as well
head just across the way to
the tamer Flight of the
Hippogriff roller coaster. A
shorter more family-friendly
coaster, we rode this ride so
many times we lost count!
The roller coaster cars seat
2 people, and the height
requirement is only 36".

The queue leads you past a
beautiful rendition of Hagrid's hut, and the coaster's initial ascent affords an otherwise hidden view of Buckbeak's nest. Once again, the wait time was listed as 10-15 minutes, but in reality it was no more than 5 minutes. If you have a smartphone you can also download the Universal Studios wait-times app so you don't have to trek around the park only to find out your favourite ride's line exceeds your patience. Unlike Disney theme parks, Universal Studios charges extra for its equivalent of the Disney "fast pass".
The one attraction we did not want to wait in line for was Ollivander's wand shoppe. The line was outdoors and Ryan had already purchased a wand at the stall just outside of Filch's. Apparently Ollivander's stages a recreation of the wand choosing the wizard scene in the Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone film. But during peak hours only about 1 in 20 kids will be chosen to participate, so don't count on it being an interactive experience.

Other shoppes include Dervish & Banges (for magical items), Zonko's (for you pranksters out there), or have a postcard canceled at the Owl Post post office.






















Be prepared to window shop, unless you have a hefty bank account! There are so many irresistible magical items to choose from. But you can always buy online later.
You can save a bit of money on accommodations by renting a house in the Orlando/Kissimmee area like we do, especially if you have a large family or are getting a bunch of friends together to go as a group. Renting a house not only saves money and gives you privacy, but you can save money on food and eat healthier home-cooked meals. And you are always allowed to bring packed lunches into the parks with you! Here's one last review I found that has some good videos & info.

Wacky Hair Day

For once I didn't recycle the school cafeteria menu immediately upon its arrival home in Ryan's backpack on friday. I decided to check out the month's choices and do a few healthier similar meals. Two options on the menu today were chicken patties and veggie sticks...
Ryan's lunch: steamed asparagus; carrot sticks; cucumber wedges; yellow bell pepper strips; snap peas; chicken-free pattie w/ketchup on wheat bun.

AJ's snack: 1/2 a
chicken-free pattie
w/ketchup on wheat
bun; cucumber wedge;
carrot sticks; steamed
asparagus; chocolate
bears.




This week is Spirit Week
at Ryan's elementary school.
Monday's theme is Wacky
Hair. So Ryan wanted his
hair sticking out in a circular
pattern around his head.
Funny, because when he
arrived at school the other
Ryan in his class had the same
hairdo done with gel.

I used the excuse to play with
Maia's hair too. Here she is
sporting a piggie tail on top.

----

There are a few giveaways
I want to give everyone the
heads-up about...

The Kiwi Bento blog is giving away a lovely white clover bento--and yes, she'll ship internationally! Check it out! You have the entire month of May to enter to win.

Another I noticed was in the April edition of Vegetarian Times magazine (sorry, a bit late, I don't have lots of free reading time!). They are hosting a giveaway of all 5 cookbooks from their 2009 Dining Out regional winners (restaurant cookbooks of readers' favourite veg restaurants in the U.S.). Enter here for a chance to win!

maki sushi bento

Making sushi for a quick kids bento may sound daunting, but it's actually one of my short cut lunches. The key is having leftover warm rice in the rice cooker or portions of rice in the freezer that can be nuked and shaped in no time. Or if you know you'll really be pressed for time in the morning, roll the maki the night before, but cut it in the morning so the inside stays fresher...the nori might not be as crisp, but I haven't had any complaints!

What are your favourite quick maki sushi fillings?
Avocado and cucumber are an easy sell around here, along with takuan, shiitake mushroom, carrot, abure-age, spinach, and scallion.
But the possibilities are endless...I've used bell pepper, fried and pickled eggplant, tempura sweet potato, fresh mango, silken tofu...

Ryan's lunch: maki sushi of avocado, oshinko, asparagus (leftover from the previous night's dinner); cold spinach; sesame tofu; strawberries; dropper of soy sauce.

Vegetarian Books for Kids

I did something last week I'd never done before...I went shopping on Black Friday. Agh! Actually, it wasn't too bad. I took 3 kids (minus the 2 year old) and parked at the top of the mall parking garage. I hit Gymboree for boys pjs and girl-colored shirts. We browsed the Lego Store, ogling over the Lego Star Wars Death Star while Ryan fantasized about owning the newest Bionicle sets. We played briefly at the new playspace. And then we came home just before the rain started. Done by 9am!

But it got me thinking about holiday gifts. So I thought a book review of our collection of veg-friendly kids books was in order...

Baby & Toddler books:

One of our favourites is
Eating the Alphabet, by
Lois Ehlert. We actually
own 2 copies, one board
book and one paperback.
Both are well-used.

The bright watercolor
images are engaging,
and the text is simple: letters & labels of fruits & vegetables.

Lois Ehlert has many other great titles we enjoy too, such as Growing Vegetable Soup, Planting A Rainbow and Nuts to You!.

Another awesome book for the
whole family is Food for Thought,
by Saxton Freymann and Joost
Elffers. If you haven't seen any of
their books before you are in for
a real treat. All of their illustrations
are crafted out of fruits, vegetables,
beans and nuts. Some of the
creations are unbelievably cute and
jaw-droppingly realistic. Nate was
given this book by a friend for his
second birthday, and we have a few
of their other titles. You've gotta check them out!

Strawberries Are Red, by
Petr Horacek is a simple
little board book that has
been extremely well-loved
by our kids, especially AJ
and Nate (there's a bite
mark out of the spine from
when AJ was a baby). I
usually change a few pieces
of the simple text to my liking, for example "apples are [sometimes] green" and "grapes are [often] purple". The end of
the book is pretty cool,
revealing all of the pages'
colors at once in a bowl
of yummy fruit salad.
AJ often read this book
to himself, concluding with
the exclamation: "Look at
all the fruit!"

Preschool:

For young children there are a plethora of titles to choose from. Here are a few of our favourites for the 2-5 year old set...

Our boys have been
fascinated by this book
about fruit and how it
grows. Let's Look At
Fruit is a factual picture
book with lots to look at.



The Surprise Garden, by Zoe
Hall is a quick book about how
vegetables grow. It is a
fictional book about kids who
are given a handful of seeds
by their mother to plant.
They discover how the different
plants grow and eventually
reveal what food they are.
At the end the kids all have
a garden party.

One book that was missing in action (so I couldn't photograph it) is The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear, by Don Wood. The kids just love the suspense of this book, even though the bear never does appear and the mouse decides to eat the strawberry but shares half with the reader.

Early Childhood:

As the kids get older and
become more interested
in why we have chosen a
vegan diet, there are
fewer books to choose
from.
One of the more engaging
is Benny Brontosaurus
Goes To A Party, a story
about a brontosaurus boy who moves into a new neighborhood and makes friends with his neighbor, a tyrannasaurus rex. He learns how to politely decline the cake and ice cream at his friend's birthday party because it is made with milk and eggs and he is a herbivore. Later they go out to a fast food restaurant where there is a "nut burger" option for Benny, and his t-rex friend decides to join him and orders the same thing.
This book is great until the very end where in my opinion a little too much emphasis is placed on how different Benny's diet is. But a few verbal text tweaks can fix this fine. It's a good choice for the preschool-3rd grade set.

The Organic Adventures
of Tucker the Tomato, by
Rey Ortega and Amanda
Roeckel is an odd little
tale about an organic
tomato that falls out of a
truck and tries to get
back to his friends at the
natural food market. He
encounters a group of "conventional" tomatoes along the way, and learns that he prefers being a healthier organic tomato.
I wish this book introduced a few more facts about the differences between organic and conventional produce. It's a bizarre adventure, though Tucker is cute nonetheless.

One of the cooler selections
is Herb the Vegetarian
Dragon, by Jules Bass, (I
bought my copy from a
friend's store here). This
vegetarian dragon is
harassed by the other
dragons in the forest and
blamed for crimes. He is
sentenced to death for a crime
he didn't commit, but saved
by a little girl who has
befriended him and has witnessed his gentle ways. I wish Herb had just stood up for himself instead, but it's a fun book, and dragons are always enjoyable with the kids.

Yet another book that is probably hiding under the covers of Ryan's bed is Benji Bean Sprout Doesn't Eat Meat, by Sarah Rudy. I think ours boys love this one because Benji is a vegan boy who goes to school, just like they do. And he loves animals.
However, a lot of the text is full of teasing and the word "hate", so I tone it down with some verbal editing when I read it aloud. Benji is teased by 2 boys at his school, so he and his mother bring some vegetarian food to class to share, the kids try it, and the boys and Benji become friends. I would prefer to have seen some consequences for the boys who teased, but such is life.
Benji's visit with his dad to the animal sanctuary is quite enjoyable. He takes pictures of the animals and shares what he learns with his class.

School-age & Teens:

There aren't many books about
vegtarianism or veganism for
older kids. I stumbled upon the
book Eating the Vegetarian
Way: Good Food From the
Earth, by Lila Perl when I was
in my late teens and found a
used copy as it is now out of
print. The text presents the
basic concepts of vegetarian
diets in a simple format for
children as well as more
mature young adult readers.

There are many cookbooks for vegetarian kids (a topic for another post), and a decent variety of vegetarian parenting books too. But not a ton dealing with introducing a vegetarian diet to older kids, which is often when many kids make the choice to adopt a vegetarian diet.

I hope this review is useful if you're in the market for some veg-friendly holiday gifts. What are your favourite vegetarian children's books?

Book Review: Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy

Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy, by Hiroko Fukuhara & Yasuko Takahata

Have you always wanted to make more than just your basic maki sushi, but not anything TOO complicated? Are you looking for some more ingredients in your vegetarian sushi besides cucumber and avocado? Want to make some easy eye-catching sushi for your next party?
Time to check out this cookbook.

Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy
is packed with full color photos
of healthy sushi. There are
many simple styles of sushi to
choose from: finger sushi, sushi
rolls, tossed sushi, sushi balls,
sushi pockets & pressed sushi.

A great ingredient glossary
introduces an array of healthy
Japanese foods that can be
incorporated into your sushi.

If you're looking for a beautiful approach to vegan sushi, this is it. What a wonderful resource for veggie bento recipes! And if you want all the taste but don't have the time, a tossed sushi 'salad' is super quick. This book will inspire you to create gorgeous, healthy sushi no matter what your skill level.

Restaurant Review: Subs & More

Subs & More

Located amidst the construction
chaos on Concord Street in the
Saxonville area of north
Framingham, Subs & More
replaces a string of unsuccessful
restaurants in the little building
next door to Subway and across
the street from the Carpet Mill
Outlet Store. The only other review online I could find is here, with just a brief menu overview.

The dining area is very small,
but most people order take-
out. The restaurant also
delivers for $1.50 extra ($10
minimum). The decor is funky
and neat, but just don't come
here with a large family or a
big group.

The menu is mainly Turkish & American fare. There are a lot of appetizers, many vegetarian, some vegan, such as the Lentil Kofte, Humus, Saksuka, Dolma (stuffed grape leaves), & Falafel. The owner was kind enough to
give my husband a free sample
of Dolma when he said he was
taking photos for a blog review
(thanks to both, for the sample,
and to my husband for stopping
off on Halloween evening &
remembering to take some pics).
The Dolma were actually the
best I've had--any I've had
previously have been very oily and heavy--these were not.

My husband ordered a falafel wrap, and he got a second one for me with added humus. The plain falafel wrap was rather dry, but the one with humus was pretty good. The humus had grated carrot in it which was very tasty.

Most of the menu is heavy on
the meat. There are American
favourites like burgers, bbq,
pasta, subs & fries. And
familiar Turkish offerings such
as kebabs, gyros & greek
salads. There are also
gourmet panini sandwiches like
the regional "Red Sox" and the "Mass Pike", Turkish style sandwiches, or one vegetarian with mushrooms, roasted red pepper, cheese & black olive paste. All paninis are served with rosemary focaccia bread.

When my husband was asking
about ingredients, he was in
turn asked if he could eat
peanuts since some foods are
cooked in peanut oil. It was
nice to hear they were truly
looking out for their patrons'
interests. My husband did his
best despite the occasional language barrier. I would like to order again--maybe the falafel salad or the appetizer platter (choose any 4 appetizers for $10.50).

I hope this restaurant makes it in the questionable economy and not-so-stellar location. Their Halloween decorations were over the top and really caught my eye.

Subs & More is located at 1609 Concord Street and has off-street parking available. Open 7 days a week, 11am-9pm, closes at 8pm on sundays. 508-202-4688. subsandmore@hotmail.com

'09 UPDATE: Apparently I wasn't the only one who though the plain falafel wraps were a bit dry. The carrot salad inside the wraps now contains a yogurt dressing. So if you're dairy-free, you need to ask them to leave it off. Sigh...

'10 UPDATE: With the construction done and off-street parking available, stopping off for sides of falafel has become more enjoyable! It appears as if the restaurant is doing well. They are sporting new signage on the side of the building advertising "Mediterranean & Turkish" fare.

Restaurant Review: Acapulcos

We love Mexican food, especially when it's at a family friendly place like Acapulcos. The original restaurant is in Sudbury, MA on route 20, the location closest to us. But there are 12 locations around Massachusetts, and 1 in Connecticut.

On Father's Day at 5pm
the restaurant was already
pretty crowded. Service is
always quick though, with
a basket of hot tortilla
chips and both mild & hot
salsas delivered immediately.

The staff all speak Spanish
& English, and there were
a few Spanish-speaking families there that sunday evening as well, always a good sign.

The menu is large, and there is even a vegetarian section. We always order a few huge veggie green burritos for everyone. There is a children's menu, but nothing on it is vegan.

The portions are big! Here is
the veggie green burrito: rice
& black beans, tomato, onion,
peppers & lettuce wrapped in
a flour tortilla and topped with
fresh cilantro, tomato, onion
& salsa verde. We order ours
without the cheese or sour cream,
but there is a nice side of chunky
fresh guacamole with each dish.

Despite only ordering 3 burritos
for 5 people, we always leave
with leftovers (which make a
fabulous breakfast by the way)!

And there are crayons with
placemats to color, water for
the kids with tops and straws,
and helium balloons to take home.

No matter what your diet or how picky your kids are, you're
bound to enjoy Acapulcos!...or as the kids call it "Ah-po-cocos".

Happy Father's Day!