Welcome back friends to another edition of Muting and The Mouse as we continue to escape into the magic, no matter how far. Disney has always been part of my life as a kid and continues to be as an adult. It has always provided me an escape from everyday stresses and enters me into a simpler time. A time that reminds you of being a kid, a time that takes you back to a great dinner or lunch, a time that reminds you of the things in life you enjoy. This time, I enter into Disney life in my own home. Disney recipes are always fun to enjoy. When you are at the parks, at the restaurants and enjoying the food, you cannot help but think about cooking that at home. Well, maybe that is just me, but Disney food at home is something that brings the magic of Disney to you. After all, that is what we are about at Muting and The Mouse. Entering the magic of Disney, no matter how far. That is the beauty of cooking foods you have at Disney at home, no matter how far you are, it reminds you of meals you had right there in Orlando, Florida. This week Abby and I decided we wanted to enter into her favorite dining experience at Disney. This dining is found over at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not sure if you noticed, but we sort of like Animal Kingdom Lodge. At the lodge, if you head over Kidani Village you find the restaurant Sanaa. They have some pretty fun options for food but two items are our favorites. We really enjoy the bread service and their butter chicken. Those photos can be found below:
We did not have a specific recipe we followed and we sort of took an easy way out as we pre-bought a lot of the items. Sanaa has a variety of Naan bread they provide you with. For ease of the night we optioned to only have regular, premade Naan. We bought our Naan bread from Aldi and then decided we would make our own version of a couple of the sauces we knew were included in the actual bread service at Sanaa. Sanaa has a variety of sauces that range from creamy, to a little spicy, to really spicy. All of them are very good. For our mini bread service we decided to make a couple of them that we always enjoy.
The first sauce we made was a tzatziki sauce. Using sour cream, cucumbers, lime, dill and garlic- it was the perfect fresh creamy tzatziki for the naan bread. This one is easy to make and adds a nice fresh flavor. The tzatziki at Sanna is one of my favorites with the different variety of beads. Another sauce we made was an attempt at one of the spicy dips. We decided to doctor up some pre made red pepper salsa. We added some brown sugar and red pepper flakes to ensure a sweet yet spicy flavor to the roasted red pepper salsa. This one one we just sort of concocted to add a new flavor and dip to our arsenal. It reminded me of one of the red chili sauces at Sanaa. The next dip we chose was a red pepper hummus. We added some red pepper salsa to the regular hummus and it was the perfect blend to add to the sauces. This is a mild flavor to hit a cooling agent from the heat. We also buy some mango salsa to add some variety. This was a easy attempt to do the mango chutney they serve at Sanaa. Lastly, we made a salsa verde mixed with a variety of basil and it served as a sort of “pesto” dip to enjoy. This was another concoction to add to our bread service. This is the fun thing about Disney cooking, you can tweek things to experiment and add some of your own flair to the cooking! All of the sauces were very delicious. It did remind us of the experience at Sanaa. We set up a board with the sauces and a board of the naan to treat it as if we were actually there. Next up from there was cooking the entree we so love!
Next we decided to make our favorite entree. We love the butter chicken dish they have. The butter chicken is some of the best they have to offer if you ask me. It is now served with veggies and basmati rice but back in the day, you could get two butter chicken bowls and one basmati rice bowl. We just made the butter chicken and the basmati rice but it would be super easy to add the veggies to the dish. The rice we pre-bought and it was super easy to make as rice is. Boil some water, add the rice, cover and remove from the heat and before you know it, half of the dish was made! We cut up some chicken tenders into cubes and seasoned them with salt and pepper in a pan until the chicken was cooked. Now, if we wanted to get fancy, we could have attempted to make the butter chicken sauce, but why do that when you can buy a pre made jar for a quick dinner option. That is just what we did, the jar of butter chicken sauce was from Aldi and it was super simple to add to the chicken. When the chicken was cooked, we added the sauce and then simmered for some time. The sauce thickened a bit and coated the chicken completely and the meal was done! We plated half rice and chicken and before you knew it, a Disney meal was ready to be had at home. Photoed below is the final dish!
The butter chicken dish was very good. The flavor was very mild and was not signature Sanaa, but it was a very good quick option to remind you of the dish you adore at Disney. Next time, I might try to doctor the pre made jar a bit to see if we can nail in that classic Sanaa flavor. Mixing the rice all together in the sauce with the chicken is the way to go for the perfect bite. Overall, the ease of the dinner and the nostalgia of the dish had us escaping into the magic of Disney! We recommend our cheap and easy option of making the dish. If you have had it, it will remind you of it. Personally, for me, the mini bread service was the star. This is such a classic dish at Sanaa and everyone seems to talk about it. It might not have been the exact sauces but the combinations we had with Animal Kingdom music in the background hit differently at home. Below are the photos of our complete entree.
Disney cooking can be easy if you find the right recipes. Whether you google the recipe, have a Disney cookbook, or just wing it based on what you know the dish is, it can have you flash back to the parks. We have tried googling recipes, we have tried winging it, and we have tried cookbooks. All are very fun. They have you entering into the food you enjoy when you are on vacation. The food is some of the fun on a Disney Vacation and can have you thinking about it constantly (me and my dreams of Via Napoli). When you have time, enter into the magic of Disney cooking. Get the Disney cookbooks, get on Google and see what recipes are on there, use your memory of what you liked and attempt to make it based on that. It provides a fun date night or family dinner. Abby and I had fun making one of our favorite foods from Sanaa. It had us laughing and trying to make new things. The food was good and the memories will last a lifetime. What is your favorite food from Sanaa if you have eaten there? What is your favorite Disney food? Have you tried to make them at home? Let us know in the comments below or on our posts. I love to hear what others like and if they have tried to make some of their favorite Disney foods. After all, we are all here to escape into the magic, no matter how far! Thanks for reading and we will see you all next time for Muting and the Mouse!
Muting & The Mouse 