Fwd: Simple Times - 09/15/09 - Healthy Stovetop Mac & Cheese; Good Samaritans

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Simple Times - 09/15/09 - Healthy Stovetop Mac & Cheese; Good Samaritans

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Times

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Vol. 11, No. 11 -- September 15th, 2009

http://www.SimpleMom.com

DSimple

Copyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-Hough

ISSN: 1527-1269

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Celebrating more than a decade of saving your time, money and sanity!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

-- "Dear Readers":

-- Simple Living Quote

-- Thoughts on Good Samaritans

-- Fast and Easy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

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< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

 

Tupperware® Online Catalog

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Dear Readers,

 

Don't miss the great tomato-related Reader Tips in this issue. :-)

 

A good friend of mine, Diana Johnson, shares her favorite cheap

and easy comfort food recipe, Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese, in

this issue of Simple Times. It's so much better than the stuff that

comes in a box ... and much easier and faster than baked Mac

and Cheese. You won't want to miss it!

 

I wasn't sure this recipe would actually make enough food to serve

the four of us -- my kids usually don't eat just one bowlful of anything.

But this is surprisingly filling! Something about cooking the pasta in

the milk really seems to add substance to the meal. I did end up

making about a recipe-and-an-half, however. The regular recipe would

have worked for three of us, I think.

 

I prepared Diana's recipe using gluten-free pasta (two members of

our household need to eat gluten-free ... that's half of us!). If you try

the gluten-free option, be sure to stir CAREFULLY during the cooking

time. Gluten-free noodles tend to be much more fragile than regular

ones. But even though our pasta didn't completely hold together, it

was a really, really tasty family-friendly meal, enjoyed by all.

 

This past year I had the opportunity to teach several=2

0classes at my

church. I decided to put my teaching notes together into booklets ...

and I just finished the first one! These won't be fully developed or

professionally published books per se, just mainly a fleshed out

version of the outlines I used when teaching the classes. A number

of my blog readers and others had expressed interest in receiving

copies of the booklets once they became available.

 

Well, I have good news. The first booklet is done! :-) It's based on

my class, Introduction to Bible Study. For ordering information -- or

just to browse -- you can find the booklet only at:

 

http://www.lulu.com/content/basics-of-inductive-bible-study/7642225

 

 

And if you're thinking about ordering a copy, enter LULUBOOK at

checkout and you'll save 10% off your order (thru Sept 30th).

 

Simply Yours,

 

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular Frozen Assets series; A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity; and Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times and Bright-Kids email newsletters

________________________________

 

Visit my simple living blog!

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

________________________________

 

SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

 

"If you see your tasks in life as drudgery, then they are drudgery. On

the other hand, if you see them as gifts of the Universe manifest through

you, then your tasks are done in the spirit of love and generosity. You

step out of your ordinary life and make it extraordinary. Little by little,

you realize that your life truly makes a difference and you are filled with

a wondrous sense of gratitude and abundant flow. A heavenly feeling,

indeed!"

 

-- Susan Jeffers

 

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THOUGHTS ON GOOD SAMARITANS

shared by the editor, Deborah ("Debi") Taylor-Hough

 

 

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the story of the Good Samaritan. How

it was the religious/church people who walked by and left the man in

the ditch because they were too busy, too distracted, or too important

to dirty themselves with someone’s suffering.

 

It was just the average everyday Samaritan wandering by who stopped

to help. Someone who wasn’t even part of their group. A stranger.

 

That’s what I feel like I’ve been seeing play out in my life the past two

months. Since losing my job, the religious/church people in my life tend

to walk by on the other side of the road, avert their eyes, and continue

on with their business. But the average everyday folk (neighbors, friends

of friends, virtual strangers, online people) are the ones who have actually

taken the time to get off their do

nkey and see if they can help.

 

I’ve discovered that Samaritan’s aren’t necessarily found in the walls of

my local religious institution.

 

Samaritans are …

 

--the long-time friend I’d lost touch with who brought a couple of bags

of groceries

--the neighbor who shared information about local resources

--the friend’s husband who helped with the car battery

--the couple who came by and tore apart the floor to fix the broken pipe

--the friend’s boyfriend with the discount on auto parts who helped replace

car parts and brought me a coupon for an inexpensive oil change

--the two ladies who took time out of their day to just let me talk for an

hour or two (and shared some veggies, too)

--the woman I just met who brought me freshly picked fruit (grapes and

pears) from her small farm (and brought flowers, too)

--the unemployment support group leader who allowed me to speak and

sell books

--the dear friend who took me out to a gourmet dinner at a nice restaurant

just for a treat (and insisted I order both an appetizer and dessert!)

--the people who volunteer at the food bank

--the folks online who I don’t even know that have sent encouraging notes

--the gifts that show up from time to time in my Paypal account from virtual

strangers

--the kind doctor who took half an hour to talk

with me about the job loss

stresses in my life after removing the stitches from my hand

 

 

 

If you're like me, you may need a reminder now and then to remember to

focus on those people sent to help ease the burden along the way -- those

unexpected Good Samaritans hiding in the recesses of your life.

 

~Debi

Editor, Simple Times eNewsletter

http://www.SimpleMom.com

 

________________________________

 

 

MY AUTOGRAPHED BOOKS ON eBAY

More books -- new and used -- coming soon!

 

Debi's Current Book Auctions:

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage & userid=dsimple1001

 

Frugal Living for Dummies®

Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month

A Simple Choice: A practical guide for saving your time, money and sanity

... and more!

 

________________________________

 

 

FAST AND EASY STOVETOP MACARONI AND CHEESE

Copyright 2009 Diana Johnson

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

http://dianasaurdishes.com

 

 

Sometimes you need comfort food. Last week was one of the worst

weeks we’ve had in a long time. Some of things involved were about

30 pounds of cat poop/vomit, a

rguments at work, disappointments in

people/circumstances, and just plain old emotional exhaustion.

 

Yep, it’s time for macaroni and cheese.

 

I have a confession. My favorite macaroni and cheese recipe is actually

Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Yes, from a box. I know, I know. Velveeta

isn’t even real cheese! Believe me, I’ve said it myself many times. But

that’s what I had as a kid, and it’s what we kids considered “gourmetâ€

Mac and Cheese (of course, with tuna and peas which my mom always

added to give it some nutritional value). It’s the taste and texture I’ve

been trained to associate with macaroni and cheese.

 

But this recipe is a good substitute, and much better for you. That’s right,

a healthy macaroni and cheese recipe. The best part about it, is that it

only takes about 20 minutes to make!

 

Here’s what I love about this recipe:

 

ONE POT! - No boiling the macaroni in one pot, draining it in a colander,

making the cheese sauce in a pot, putting it into a casserole dish, etc.

I really like this step for Eric because he does the dishes and hates

washing the colander.

 

STOVE-TOP! - Hooray! No hot oven on for an hour in the hot summer

afternoon. Oh yeah, love it on the stove-top.

 

HEALTHIER! - This isn’t just healthier than macaroni and cheese from

a box -- this is=2

0healthier than your typical mac and cheese. Because

you cook the macaroni in the milk instead of water, it has a creamy

texture that doesn’t require actual cream. It also only uses only one

cup of various cheeses, and is light on the butter. Paula Deen would

NOT approve!

 

FAST! - It only takes about 20 minutes to make, so it’s a perfect meal

for when you haven’t planned dinner and want something easy to throw

together. Plus, I pretty much always have these ingredients on hand.

 

 

TIPS FOR PERFECT MAC-AND CHEESE

 

A couple important things are to make sure to keep the stove on

medium low at the highest. You don’t want your milk to curdle!

 

Also, keep stirring! You want all the macaroni to soak up the milk

evenly, so don’t go more than 10 feet from your pot and forget to stir

it every 30-60 seconds. It’s worth the effort, I promise!

 

Be creative with the cheeses, I used what I had on hand. You can do

the same! Growing up, my mom always put tuna and peas in our

macaroni and cheese, so to me it’s not mac and cheese without them.

You can give that a try, or add in your own favorites. I subbed my favorite

seasonings (Dijon mustard rather than mustard powder, and a little pinch

of turmeric which adds flavor and color). Mac and Cheese is supposed

to be fun, so play around with it.

 

 

Fast=2

0and Easy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serves 4.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 cups large elbow Macaroni, uncooked

2 cups low fat Milk

if needed, additional 1/4 cup milk for final cooking

1/2 tablespoon Butter

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp turmeric

black pepper to taste

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup Grated Cheese (I used cheddar, parmesan and gruyere)

1 small can tuna fish

 

 

Instructions:

 

1) In medium sauce pan, add milk, raw elbow macaroni, butter, mustard,

salt, nutmeg, turmeric and pepper.

 

2) On medium heat, slowly bring milk/macaroni mixture to a simmer,

stirring the macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. This will

separate macaroni and keep them from sticking together. DO NOT

LEAVE THE STOVE! The milk mixture will come to a boil very quickly

and leaving it unattended will leave a big mess on your stove stop.

 

3) Once mixture comes to a simmer, immediately turn down heat to

LOW. Macaroni will slowly cook in the milk. Having your heat too high

will evaporate the milk too quickly!

 

4) Continue to stir the mixture frequently so that macaroni will cook

evenly and absorb milk evenly. If you don’t stir your mixture frequently,

you will get a big clump of macaroni in the end! Stir, stir stir!

 

5) Cook for about 15 minutes or until milk

has been fully absorbed. At

this point, stir in the peas. If macaroni is not cooked fully, add a little

more milk to mixture ( in small amounts) until macaroni is fully cooked.

This will take about another 5 minutes.

 

6) When milk has evaporated, stir in grated cheese of your choice. Stir

the cheese evenly into the macaroni.

 

7) Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and cover for about 5 minutes.

This rest period will allow macaroni to plump up and absorb any excess

milk. Drain the can of tuna and stir it into the macaroni. Take a final

taste and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

 

8) Before serving, stir one final time to mix everything together. Serve

immediately.

 

 

Approximate cost/serving: The cost of this really depends on the cheese

you use. We get ours in BIG blocks so it’s pretty affordable in each dish.

Frozen peas are cheap and so is macaroni. The total cost of the dish

was about $2.75 so divided four ways it’s only 69 cents a serving! (And

very filling!)

 

Vegetarian/gluten-free: You can definitely make this without tuna and for

gluten-free, make sure you use gluten-free pasta.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Diana Johnson spent several years of her life thinking she couldn't afford

to cook or eat healthy. One month she lived off of a loaf of bread and jar

of peanut butter. She spent an entire year spending two dollars a20day on

the dollar menu at Jack-in-the-Box, and she's the Queen of cooking with

ramen. Then a few years ago, when someone gave her some groceries

they didn't want, she realized that she had a knack for putting ingredients

together to create delicious food. Diana began using her $14 a week food

budget to buy some affordable grocery items and was amazed by the

changes in her health and energy level. Her food budget has now gone up

(slightly), but she is constantly learning new ways to save money on food.

Her goal is to help others who are struggling financial learn that you can

create delicious, easy and healthy meals on a shoestring budget. For

recipes and money saving tips (including vegetarian and gluten-free

options), visit Diana online at: http://DianasaurDishes.com

 

________________________________

 

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPS

We'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.

Send your simple living comments and tips to: DSimple

 

 

Re: Tomato Shortcut

I thought I'd share a shortcut with your readers that I have used

over the years. When I am cooking spaghetti sauce or just putting

up tomatoes, I found a shortcut to dipping, peeling, and chopping.

M

y family doesn't really like chunky sauce so I wash the tomatoes,

cut the stems off, then whirl them, skins and all, in the food processor.

I add seasonings, if necessary, then boil it. The skins rise to the top

and can be skimmed off pretty easily. You may need to stir a little to

make sure you've gotten every last one. Makes putting up tomatoes

a WHOLE lot easier!

Glad to see you back! Blessings.

--Kim

 

 

Re: Tomatoes

Just got your latest newletter. Thanks for the sauce recipe. I will be

saving that one. We just made fresh tomato Pizza last night (when you

freeze homemade bread dough, make a few extra balls of dough with a

little extra olive oil and label them "pizza"). Can you think of anything

more gourmet than tomato sauce fresh off the vine, and yet so easy?

Most of the time, we don't even skin the tomatoes. I think ripe garden

tomatoes have such soft skin that it goes fine in the sauce. Last night

for example, we just threw the tomatoes in the blender. Other times we

make chile with chopped tomatoes, skin and all. Once you get used to

seeing the little pieces of skin, you realize that they are not hard and

bitter when they are from ripe garden tomatoes, and think of all the

nutrients in that skin!

--Richard H.

 

 

Re: Long time reader

Amazingly enough, I have b

een reading your newsletter probably

since the beginning -- back when I had the 1st version of AOL and

Windows 1.0. I have prayed for you along the way. I so appreciate

your update today, so that I can lift you up again very specifically.

Thank you for sharing your heart with us!

Praying,

--Kathy F., Matthews NC

 

Re: Encouragement

It's said in Isaiah 61.7, "Instead of their shame my people will

receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in

their inheritance: and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,

and everlasting joy will be theirs."

Times are tough and we must be thankful for what we have and

not the have-nots. It's a struggle economically and emotional stress

is always present, but as long as you stay positive and keep hope,

you will be rewarded with goodness from the people you have touched

and helped over the years through your work. I may suggest the need to

change your title to Hard Times Made Simple. As we all see devastation

and poverty throughout -- unemployment rising higher and higher, but yet

we must wake up and pursue our desires and never quit. I wish you well

and you will achieve success once again and look back and smile.

Hang in there my friend!!

--Arlen S., Buffalo Gove IL

http://www.taxsays.com

 

________________________________

 

SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Book list for frugality and simple living

Go to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks

________________________________

 

"FRUGAL LIVING FOR EVERYONE!"

A Community Outreach Workshop

 

This popular workshop presented by Puget Sound area author

Deborah Taylor-Hough, is the perfect Outreach Event to offer

your community during this time of economic uncertainty.

 

Be part of the solution for your neighborhood by offering this

workshop at your church, MOPS program, or through your

local civic group.

 

Community Outreach Workshops available include:

 

... Cooking for the freezer

... Saving money on food expenses

... Writing workshops

... Easy educational ideas for kids

... Living within your means

... Simplifying the holidays

... Parenting (preschool thru teens)

... Successful New Year's resolutions

... General homemaking

... Voluntary simplicity

&n

bsp; ... Christian growth & discipleship

... Inductive Bible study

... and more!

 

 

Deborah can provide themed workshops tailor-made for your group

or community's needs. Debi is also available for consultations for

individuals, churches, and other groups on outreach strategy,

missional living, publishing, writing, media relations, and low-cost

publicity planning.

 

Contact Debi at: DSimple for more information.

________________________________

 

As always, a special "Thank you!" goes out to Gary Foreman

and the friendly folks at The Dollar Stretcher for making this

mailing list possible!

 

== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==

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EDITOR'S BOOKS AND RESOURCES:

Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

http://snurl.com/debisbooks

________________________________

 

DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:

Website: http://www.simplemom.com

Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/

Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Cooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/

Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.com

Tupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

Kids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids

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NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

Subscribe: join-simple-times

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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think

might be interested. This is a private mailing list which isn't sold

or shared with anyone else. Tips and articles are printed for

entertainment purposes only.

 

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Copyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-Hough. .

3930 A Street SE, Ste 305-119, Auburn WA 98002

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