I love homemade mac'n'cheese - it is my absolute favorite comfort food. Last night I attempted it myself for the first time, and it turned out GREAT! Now that I have a good base, I'll likely start experimenting with it a little adding this and that, from time to time. Here is the recipe I used after looking online at several different recipes and piecing one together myself.

Mac'n'Cheese

4 cups elbow noodles
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2-1/2 cups milk
2 tsps mustard (you can use dried or prepared)
1 lb cheese, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Cook pasta for about 5 until very firm. Drain. In a small bowl beat egg. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't let it burn. Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low. Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour into beaten egg to temper it, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the egg. Whisk until smooth. Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth. Add in cheese and stir to melt. Add salt and pepper. Pour into a baking dish and top with extra cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes on 350 degrees farenheit until the top is golden and bubbly. Serves 6.

I am absolutely loving Rolling in the Deep by Adele. Her voice is just so stunning and I seem to have the song stuck in my head day in and day out. I also love the version of the song that was performed on Glee last season. The addition of a rich male voice adds so much to the song, in my opinion.

I came across this at The Mouthy Housewives and had to share!

How To Stop a Child From Eating Boogers

Dear Mouthy Housewives

Please, please, please tell me how to stop my kids from picking their noses and then eating the boogers. It’s so disgusting! I’ve told them a million times to stop. Nothing works. Help.

Signed,

Disgusted in Denver

_________________________________________________________________

Dear Disgusted in Denver,

I feel your pain. And nausea. I have a nose-picker/booger eating child too, and if I had a glass of wine for every time I told him to stop, I would be too drunk to write this.

Obviously, our current tactic to stop this repulsive habit isn’t working. So what can we do differently?

We can lie.

We already lie about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, leprechauns, whether or not we inhaled…the list is endless! What’s one more lie? I’m convinced we should come up with fake reasons why our kids must not eat their boogers. I suggest the following:

#1 Eating boogers leads to blindness and insanity. (Just like masturbation!)

#2 Every time you eat your boogers, a child in Africa goes hungry. (This is partly true and shouldn’t count against us as a full lie.)

#3 Santa Claus breaks a toy every time you eat your boogers. (Two lies in one, score!)

#4 Eating boogers depletes the vitamins in your body. You now must eat an extra helping of broccoli to make up for it. (Punishment through food is always a wise parental choice.)

#5 When you eat your boogers, Satan eats a puppy. (Using the religion/fear combo to make people do what you want is an ancient tactic…because it works.)

Hopefully our readers will offer even more booger-eating lies and I’m sure our children will be on a booger-free diet in no time.

Signed,

Heather, TMH

***Note on #5***

For those of us with different religious beliefs, one could insert some type of monster here.

I had a heartbreaking conversation with a 13 year old girl today. 

I don't know how we came upon the subject of religion, but come upon it we did. I told her that I was Pagan and she scrunched up her face and physically backed away from me; visibly uncomfortable. I further told her I was a Witch and I'd swear she was trying to resist the urge to walk out the door to get away from me. 

When asked to explain her reaction, the young lady told me that it would be very easy for her to start a fight about religion because of what I had told her. I asked her, why a fight? Why not simply a discussion? It ends up being a fight because people just don't understand, she said. Understand what, I asked? She basically (I don't remember her exact wording) stated people don't understand that what she has been taught by her church is right and that everyone else is wrong. I nodded sadly, because it was pretty much what I expected to hear.

I asked her to tell me the first thing she thought of when I told her I was a Witch. Devil worship, she said. Again I nodded sadly. I explained, in layman's terms, a little bit about both Paganism and Witchcraft. I said for me, Paganism is how I explain that I believe in many different things stemming from many different belief systems; a snippet here, a tidbit there. I also explained that, for me, Witchcraft is about reverence, respect, and worship of the Earth in all her splendor.

She accepted it, warily, when I compared spellcasting to praying, but was still very reluctant to believe that I don't practice "black magic" and perform hexes and curses.

The girl informed me that she had just recently been baptised. She said that she believes very strongly in her beliefs and knows that to be the truth over all else.

But she sometimes wonders about other beliefs.

I asked if she had ever researched other belief systems and she said she was not allowed to. She said that she hasn't even been allowed to talk about other beliefs because she is told that is wrong and not allowed. Her friends and family have told her this.

I was floored when she told me she's been told that meditation and yoga are not allowed because these allow one to clear their mind and let Satan in!

I know I must sound a little like I'm rambling, but I am just so very sad for this girl. In my opinion she has been brainwashed and doesn't really even have the sense of self to go against the grain if she doesn't agree with something that others in her religion say is the way it should be.

I told her that beliefs/religion are very personal and that NO ONE should dictate what she should believe or what is right for her. She is the ONLY one who can know that, and there is nothing wrong with figuring out what works for oneself, even if it is different from others.

I suggested that she do some research if she is curious. Even if she keeps it to herself. At least maybe she can find some answers to her questions.

Finally, before leaving, I asked her to do me a personal favor and look up both Paganism and Witchcraft on the computer. I see this young lady on a regular basis and I want to put her mind at ease so that she knows I am not inherently evil and that I intend her no harm.

Somehow I feel as though I am failing her, though I know it is not my place to feel thus.

And my family wonders why I don't believe in organized religion...

*smh*

What a shame...

Yesterday was a good day. It was super hot again, so we decided to go somewhere nice and cool. The pools would have been packed and unruly. The beach is too far away to travel in our van that has no A/C and windows that can't be rolled down. So we chose to go see a movie. We went and saw Transformers 3 in 3D. It was AWESOME! The third movie has so much more heart than the other 2 put together; I cried AT LEAST twice. Rose Huntington-Whiteley was 10X better than Megan Fox ever was. She and Shia LaBeouf had so much more chemistry. And the visual effects were wicked! It was a fantastic way to spend a humid Summer afternoon.

I REALLY strongly dislike the heat. Today is 48 degrees Celsius with humidity! And the kids are being almost unbearable because of it. Ugh. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I can't wait for Winter to come back again!

We've had a beautiful Summer, so far. At least up until about 2 days ago. Now it is ridiculously hot! It's 9:44am and it's already 34 degrees C! Ugh. And that's not the worst of it. Tuesday is supposed to be 47 degrees C! I think I'm going to spend a lot of this coming week in my living room in front of the A/C!

I haven't done too badly with my mini-goals, so far. I DID eat breakfast on Friday. And I DID eat breakfast yesterday - even if I did only have toast again.

Today's Mini-Goal:

• Be sure to drink lots of water to stay hydrated, and make sure the kids do the same.

It is hot as hell here today - 34 degrees C with the humidity! I think I will spend the day in the living room in front of the A/C. I'm going to take advantage of the time and work on organizing my computer. I might even work on my Book of Shadows a bit.

Today's Mini Goal:

• Eat something besides toast for breakfast.

I finally finished my Fractions unit tonight; got 95% on the exam! Now my overall average is 92%! Woohoo!

I have a hard time sticking to most things long-term, so I am thinking that I should start setting daily mini-goals for myself. Maybe that would help me accomplish them...

Today`s Mini-Goal:

• Eat breakfast.

Trying to find the balance...

"We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have. There are occasions where saying no is the best time management practice there is." Catherine Pulsifer, from We Never Seem to Have Enough Time

"Most of us are trying to balance work, home, and a family life. We tend not to accept the early symptoms of burnout and carry on our daily lives."Yasmeen Abdur-Rahman, from Recognize the Early Signs of Burnout

It`s time to start over.