EPCOT Food And Wine Festival

It's fall which means Food and Wine Festival in EPCOT. I visited Disney World recently and wanted to share the foods I loved and my recommendations for must-try dishes.

If you haven't been to Disney's Food and Wine Festival, it is in EPCOT. There are food booths located around EPCOT's Future World and World Showcase. Future world is near the main park entrance. World Showcase is around World Showcase Lagoon, which features all of the different countries. It's a beautiful park to walk, shop, and eat!

Of note, EPCOT typically opens at 9 AM. However, most of the countries in World Showcase do not open until 11 AM. One exception is Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe in Norway, which is open for breakfast. The booths for Food and Wine Festival are not open until 11 AM. Also, the booths closed at normal park closing even when there were extra magic hours at EPCOT.

Here's what we ate!

Almond Orchard

We had the hot spinach and artichoke dip with chicken - yummy! Not pictured: We had the the Almond Breeze strawberry smoothie - twice. This was my husband's favorite. It was cool, creamy, fruity and refreshing. It was in the 90s when we visit, so this was the best refresher!

Australia

This was another one of my top pics - the lamb chop from Australia. It was so good, it was gone before I got a picture. It's one lamb chop with mint pesto and potato chip crumbles. I love it! But I would pass on the potato chips. This was one of my favorite bites!

Chocolate Experience

Tip: you can get free chocolate squares from this shop! We tried the drinking chocolate. It was the richest hot chocolate I've ever had.

Earth Eats

We had the steakhouse blended burger and the impossible burger. Both sliders were super tasty. I loved the the steakhouse burger and my husband loved the impossible burger. The steakhouse burger had beef, mushrooms, fire, arugula and a truffle potato chip on a brioche bun. Come on; how could that not be good?!? The impossible burger was a vegetarian burger packed with flavor and topped with a wasabi cream and spicy Asian slaw on a. sesame seed bun. Great sliders!

Flavors from Fire

I had the shared chimichurri skirt steak. It was a tender, juicy,  flavorful steak. It was served on a smoked corn cake with a pickled vegetable slaw and cilantro aioli. I love the aioli. The corn cake had great smoke flavor but was dry. It definitely needed the aioli and slaw for moisture. Overall, it was a great steak and a good bite.

Greece

We enjoyed the Greek food as my husband is part Greek. The spanakopita was fantastic - second only to my mother-in-law's recipe. The taste of Greece was a great sample plate filled with chicken souvlaki, feta cheese dip with warm pita, and lamb sausage with a dill tomato ragu. All were great! 

Hops and Barley

We tried the carrot cake from Hops and Barley. It was more like a spice muffin with a cream cheese glaze, but either way it was a yummy sweet bite. I mean, look at that glaze!

India

We had the bread and trio of dips from India. It had warm pita slices, coriander pesto, pickled garlic, and mango salsa. All of the dips were good. I couldn't pick a favorite dip; all of them were so delicious. The mango salsa was sweet with a kick of jalapeño at the end. The pickled garlic was packed with pungent garlic flavor. The coriander pesto was the one I found myself dipping again and again and mixing with the other dips. So good! 

If you like this dish, you should get the bread service at Sanaa in Disney. It's a bread service with 9 dips and 5 types of flatbread; super packed with flavor. 

Japan

I had the teriyaki bun from Japan. It was a super, soft bun that reminded of a bao bun. The inside was full of teriyaki meat and vegetable filling. It was a great bite!

Light Lab

This was a really cool location. It was dark with black lights and lots of science-experiment theming. My husband got the phosphorescent phlight, which was a trio of slushes. They aren't labeled with flavors. You guess the flavors and get a card and decoder to reveal the flavors. It's a super fun, interactive experience! He also had the InfarRED, which involved some melting cotton candy. Such a fun location!

Morocco
We also tried the hummus fries from the Morocco booth. I would describe it as fried hummus squares, with a cucumber and tomato salad and sauce. I was expecting French fries with hummus and toppings.. They were ok, not my favorite bite. If you want to try them, they are also served at the Spice Road restaurant in World Showcase.

Taste Track 


This booth is located near Test Track in Future World. We had the chocolate marshmallow croissant donut or cronut. My husband liked it; I thought the cronut was dry. Next time, I'd like to try the cinnamon sugar croissant donut. 

Wine and Dine Studio

I got the butternut squash ravioli. Y'all, this was so good! The butternut squash ravioli was perfectly al dente toped with browned butter, parmesan cheese, pumpkin seeds and balsamic vinaigrette. This was possibly my favorite dish. It was so good I got it twice! And, I tried to recreate it at home. 

Top Bites

My husband's top picks: Almond Breeze strawberry smoothie from Almond Orchard, the phosprescent phlight from Light Lab, and bread and trio of dips from India

My top picks: lamb chop with chimichurri from Australia and Butternut squash ravioli from Wine and Dine Studio and the Greek sample plate with chicken souvlaki, feta cheese dip with warm pita, and lamb sausage with a dill tomato ragu.

If you have a chance to visit Disney World during EPCOT's Food and Wine Fest, I would highly recommend it. It's a great way to try new dishes and flavors from around the world. The small plates are often dishes that are served in different restaurants from around the park, so it's a less expensive way to try dishes. I loved that I could try so many different dishes. I love trying new foods! 

I want to hear from you! Have you been to EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival? What were your top picks or favorite booth. Please comment below or on social media. 


For more tips, encouragement, and recipes for a healthy lifestyle, you can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

 6 Tips for Eating Well On-the-Go

 Easy Empanadas with Chipotle Dip

Tips for a Healthy Vacation - Roundup

July Favorites Roundup

Thank you for all of the love this month! The Summer is a busy time for me as I prep for Fall classes and finish some consultation work. If you missed any of the posts this month, here are the top five favorite posts you visited this month. Enjoy!

Five Things You Should Know About Becoming a Registered Dietitian

What Can Dietitians Do: A to Z

Being a Collegiate Professor Roundup

Vacation Tips Roundup

Being a Collegiate Professor: 10 Basic Principles of Human Nutrition

Let me know if there are any nutrition-related topics you would like to know more about. Please comment below. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Vacation Tips ROUNDUP

Eating Healthy While Traveling

It’s that time of year. The end of school is approaching. Some students are graduating and others are finishing up this school year. Some are celebrating the end of the year. Others are focused on new starts in the Fall. Either way, the end of school signifies the beginning of Summer! I always looked forward to Summer vacation with my family.

But, traveling can bring challenges for healthy eating. So, today we will discuss some ways to be healthy when you are traveling.

1) Pack healthy snacks

 It is great to have healthy options accessible. Plan to bring snacks for traveling and while on vacation. Think about healthy, portable snacks like: fruits, vegetables, peanut butter for dipping, low fat popcorn, etc.

2) Cook one meal at “home”

While on vacation, I would encourage you to cook or make one meal per day at your vacation home or hotel. This creates some normalcy to your eating routine and saves money. I usually think about packing or purchasing breakfast items that way your morning is easy and not rushed.

I also think making a picnic is a great vacation lunch idea. You can easily purchase or pack some picnic snacks. Picnics are a great way to enjoy your vacation surroundings. 

3) Incorporate physical activity into your vacation

Physical activity is a great way to see different cities while traveling. You can walk or bike around most cities hike in parks, swim on the beach.

Being physically active is one component of a healthy lifestyle. Physical activity can help offset some of the additional vacation calories that you will incur. So, make it fun! Incorporate some physical activity on your vacation and be active!

4) Enjoy your vacation

 All diets (aka eating patterns) should be flexible. Your diet should be a healthy pattern of eating that allows some flexibility. So, relax and enjoy your vacation!

I hope these ideas will make it easy for you and your family or friends to have a healthy vacation. What are your ideas for a healthy vacation? Share them with me on Instagram and Twitter. I would love to hear your tips on incorporating physical activity and healthy eating into your vacation.

Healthy Vacation: Be Physically Active

Good morning! This is the time of the year where students are taking finals, teachers are grading furiously, seniors are graduating, and many are planning summer vacations. My husband and I  are enjoying a beach vacation. How do you make a vacation fun and healthy? Here are a couple of my tips to a happy, healthy vacation.

• Be Physically Active
• Include physically activity into your vacation just like you do in your life.
• Walk to your destination instead of driving.
• Rent a bicycle if walking is too strenuous.
• Swim!
• Hike a mountain or trail.
• Play Frisbee on the beach.

Check out this post for more tips for eating healthy on vacation and . . .

• Packing Healthy Snacks
• Relaxing
• Splitting a Meal
• Packing a Picnic
• Hydration

I hope these ideas will make it easy for you and your family or friends to have a healthy vacation. What are your ideas for a healthy vacation? Share them with me on Instagram and Twitter. I would love to hear your tips on incorporating physical activity and healthy eating while on vacation.

6 Tips for a Healthy Vacation

Good morning! This is the time of the year where students are stressed taking finals, teachers are grading furiously, and many are planning summer vacations. My husband and I  are enjoying a beach vacation. How do you make a vacation fun and healthy? Here are a couple of my tips to a happy, healthy vacation.

• Pack Healthy Snacks
• Check out this post for ideas for healthy snacks.
• Relax
• We know stress is not healthy. You can read more here about the consequences of lack of sleep. Then, relax, rest up, and be healthy.
• Split a Meal
• This is an easy, economical way to be healthy. Most restaurant portions are notoriously large. So split and entree and add an extra salad or vegetable side.
• Pack a Picnic
• Picnics are a great way to get a variety of healthy foods. It is economical and fun! Simply visit a grocery store on vacation, pick up a checkered cloth, and enjoy time with your family.
• Hydrate
• We know hydration is important especially in the summer months. So, keep hydrated by keeping a water bottle handy for each member of your family. And, order water with meals, which is an easy, cheap, healthy choice.
• Be Physically Active
• Include physically activity into your vacation just like you do in your life. We will discuss more ways to include physical activity into your vacation later this week.

I hope these ideas will make it easy for you and your family or friends to have a healthy vacation. Stay tuned this week on Instagram, and Twitter for more tips on healthy eating while on vacation.