As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I didn't use recipes from this site (Found it after I had completed my shopping), but I thought it was pretty cool that not only are there menus, but there are also grocery lists, labels, and all are free!
Okay, I have a few minutes to send some of our favorites. I am not a creative person when it comes to the kitchen so I pretty much use cookbooks or recipes for all our meals.
My favorite freezer cookbook is Freezer Pleasers - I like this one as it has different sections: Now & Later, Made for Later, Single Servings, and Creative Leftovers (each section also has a savory and sweet section).
I haven't made any of the single servings yet or the sweet items as I'm still working on stocking the freezer and my kids usually have sandwiches or soup for lunches. Our favorite recipes are the Honey-Dijon Chicken (made with extra sauce), Sweet BBQ Pork Chops, the Make-Ahead Meatballs (can be used to make Meatball Sandwiches, Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs and Spaghetti & Meatballs) and the Three-Meat Spaghetti Sauce (my son hates spaghetti unless it's this sauce).
Some other cookbooks I've used in the past are The Best Freezer Cookbook, Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer and The Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook. But I haven't used these in a long time (and they must have ended up in a box in the shed and are still packed ). I stopped freezer cooking for quite awhile but recently started up again when we moved to the middle of no where. I have found for me, I focus on one cookbook and try many things and then move onto the next. I type the recipes and print them to put in my own binder that is easier to find the recipes I like and ones I don't I can easily eliminate. I have a list of all the most common ingredients I need for any of the recipes in my book and that is my master shopping list. I make sure that I have those foods on hand at all times, when I go to the store I restock the ingredient list.
Most of the things I make are not perfect for delivering meals, they are more starters for family meals. However, one of the cookbooks I used had specific ideas for taking meals to others, I just can't remember which one and I can't find it either (may still be packed). Might have been the Best Freezer Cookbook. For these meals unfortunately the best are the casseroles, lasagna, chili or soups. Paired with a fresh salad. In the Freezer Pleaser cookbook there are a few good casserole type dishes (Three-Cheese Kielbasa Bake, Sausage Rice Casserole and the Potluck Lasagna) that I have found work well.
My absolute favorite frozen meal is Chili of any sort, but especially my mom's chili. It freezes great and tastes like fresh. I freeze it in big and small bags. The big bags are for having just chili as a meal. The small we use for chili dogs, chili baked potatoes, chili fries, chili burritos, Frito pie etc. It is very versatile for a quick lunch and you can pull it from the freezer and eat in 15 minutes.
If you need any other info let me know. Feel free to PM me if you like.
I found the name of the book that had good meals for taking to other people. It is called Make It Now Bake It Later. It pairs main dishes with side dishes, so you can take a whole meal, not just a main dish. I can't remember which meals I've made out of that one, but I don't think any I tried were bad.
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One of the things I'm struggling with is making a master list of dishes to make all at once for a whole month. As I said earlier, I did much better for just a week or two. That way, I can take advantage of sale items as well.
I wound up downloading two books to my Kindle that I'm slowly planning around:
Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook by Candace Anderson
Fix, Freeze, Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik
Of the two I prefer the first as it's more realistic for the way we eat. The latter tends to rely heavily on buying from warehouse stores and assembling raw ingredients to be frozen. (I don't have a warehouse store close to me.)