The past 6 days have been a whirlwind, but full of wonderful things. I feel rested and healthy and truly loved. I have mixed feelings about going home.
My brother and I drove down to my parents place in NJ on Friday once I was done teaching. The drive was smooth and we made it to my parents place by 7, right in time for dinner. Anyone who knows my parents knows that they show love with food which means that you eat well. We had a great dinner and then just relaxed for a bit before bed.
Saturday was Christmas Eve which is my favorite family day ever!! It was a little different this year, as it has been since my parents moved to NJ, but it is still a favorite. This day started well, 9 hours of sleep! I can't even remember the last time that happened!! Mom and I went and got our nails done which was a special treat and then did a little shopping which was unexpected. I ended up finding 2 nice dresses, once for church that nice and one for Christmas dinner. When we got home I helped do some cooking and then changed before a family from my parents church came over for dinner around 4:30. Dinner was delicious as usual, rib roast, with garlic mashed potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, salad, bread, and all sorts of cookies for dessert! Christmas Eve church services are always a favorite of mine with the carols and the Christmas story being told, not to mention the candle light. This year was no different. My parents church is bigger than what I am used to but they are happy and it is a nice place. After church we went over to one of their neighbors houses for drinks and dessert. It was nice to meet the people that my parents are spending time with, but it made for a very long night. By the time we got home we had one more family tradition left before bed. Every Christmas Eve we open our stockings before going to bed. We've always done this since we were little and my Dad always did it when he was little. It's just another reason why I love Christmas Eve!!
Christmas Day was just as wonderful! Busy, but wonderful! I got another good nights sleep, but my body still knows it's Christmas and I was up around 8. Once the rest of the family woke up and we made the traditional fire in the fireplace and everyone got coffee we opened gifts. Everyone loved theirs! I love watching everyone open the things I find for them. I was also blessed with some wonderful gifts as well! Once we were done opening presents we made Grandma's waffles. Now these are basic waffles but we put french vanilla ice cream and strawberries on top of them. So delicious, even when they are gluten free! After breakfast, which was really around lunch time, we talked to my grandparents on the phone and then took turns getting dressed and ready for the day. My parents made a few things to take with us to dinner. Then we were off to one of my parents friends houses for dinner. This is a childhood friend of my dad and they have stayed friends since that point and now that they live close to each other they hang out more often. They had a few other families over for dinner as well, a total of 14 people for dinner. It was a lovely meal! We were there until after 11 just talking and socializing. It's kind of funny to watch my parents interact with other adults, and then to be involved in some of the same conversations. Odd what growing up can do.
Monday brought time to relax but also meant saying goodbye to my brother. He had to fly back home because of work. I'll see him once I get back home, but my parents were sad to see him go. My Dad brought him to the airport and my Mom and I went shopping. We had to bring a few things back from Christmas so we went to a few different places. Once we got home we had dinner with Dad and then watched the first of the older Star Wars movies. My Dad got all 6 on Blue Ray for Christmas, so it just seemed right to watch some of them!
Tuesday was another relaxing day. I got another 9 hours of sleep. All week as been at least 8 or 9 each night :) We had a lazy morning and then Mom and I did a bit more shopping. We went to the mall, just to spend time together and look at things. We were looking for a few things in particular and were able to find them which was quite nice. We got home and had left-overs for dinner and then watched Empire Strikes Back! Yay more Star Wars!!
Today was super relaxing!! We did next to nothing! My Dad wasn't feeling great, just kind of fighting a cold, so we all just kind of vegged out. We watched tv and movies all day. And we did watch Return of the Jedi tonight, so we got all three of the older Star Wars movies in!
The plan right now is to drive home tomorrow and spend a few days there before spending New Years with a few friends in Albany. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the reality of "real life" after being here for almost a week. It's been nice not to have any responsibility for a little while. Oh well, life always catches up with us, and I know I needed this time off. I still have a few days of not working, hopefully I'll be able to limit all the thoughts in my head and just continue to relax and enjoy everything.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Another long week
This week has been long and emotional but nothing too exciting has happened. There will be a lot going on the next few weeks I'm sure.
Monday was my last grad class of the semester!! It was nice to be almost done with things.
Tuesday was a rough day for a lot of reasons but it turned into a very long day. School and work were both fine, nothing too out of the ordinary. It was a hard day because of some emotional stuff, which I spent a lot of the night talking to a few friends about. I had to finish up some homework, which made for an even more stressful night on top of the emotions. Long story short, once I finished the homework I talked with friends so that I could feel somewhat sane and calm myself down a bit and somehow ended up being awake until 12:30 or so. Not exactly a good choice when my alarm goes off at 5:45.
Wednesday felt even longer than Tuesday. After only 5 hours of restless sleep I went to school, dealt with a few rowdy kids but for the most part the morning went fine. I did find out that I got a 49/50 on the very long paper that I turned in a few weeks ago. That was a huge relief. I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll take it for sure! I talked with another good friend between jobs which helped a bit and then went into job number 2. Directly after leaving that job I had to tutor for an hour. As much as teaching math until 8:30pm is hard sometimes, the mom of the student I tutor is wonderful. She is always super kind and encouraging to me. At that point it was exactly what I needed.
By Thursday I was emotionally starting to do a little better, I was also physically a little more awake and in less pain. I had to put a few extra hours in at my second job which was frustrating but someone had to do it. One of my coworkers made me a card to cheer me up. A handmade card, with words that rhymed and even a cute math saying on the front. It was kind and heartfelt and honestly was probably the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time. I've only known her for a few months now but it meant a lot! After I finally finished work I went over to a friends house. It was exactly what I needed. A low key night with 2 friends. I looked at their honeymoon pictures and helped them decorate cookies and just hung out and talked. Seriously a perfect ending to my night, and my only social interaction of the week and weekend. It was emotionally strengthening and just reminded me that no matter what crap is going on in life, there are people out there that that can make it better, even if it's just for a night.
Friday was super productive! I was only running on about 6 hours of sleep and caffeine but it was totally worth it. After school I got 2 new tires put on my car, then bought a few Christmas presents, and then got a drink with one of my old coworkers from school. It was so great to catch up with her for a little while. There were supposed to be other math teachers there but it ended up being just us, which worked out great. It was nice to be out having a drink with another adult talking about life and catching up instead of out with the intention of getting drunk or drinking all night. I'm starting to realize that my priorities and likes are different than those of the people I have been hanging out with lately. Anyways, after our one drink, I came home, had dinner, and then went to work at Old Navy 7-11pm. It was steady for a little while and then slowed down to the point of being boring. By the time I got home I was ready for bed.
Saturday was full of work and then a lame night off. I worked 10-2 and then 3-7. Both jobs were busier than usual. It was nice to be busy and have things to do. I ran a few errands after work and got home around 8. By that point most of my friends were busy with other things so having a night off was pretty pointless from a social aspect. So I wrapped some Christmas presents and watched a few tv episodes on my computer. I enjoyed a glass of wine and then got some sleep. Not quite what I would have liked to spend my Saturday doing, but it was productive so I can't complain. I had a few students in the morning who were very kind and just made my day. They were high school girls, and they just said a few things that reminded me that teachers do more than just teach and sometimes we can be positive role models for the kids we interact with.
Today was also productive. I worked 8-12 and then came home and did laundry and wrote almost all of my Christmas cards (a little late, but they should go out in the next day or two). I was able to relax a bit which was definitely needed. I'm currently trying to ignore other situations in life and not think about them too much.
This coming week will be rather busy. I will be working around 45 hour plus hopefully adding in a few social things on top of packing and driving to NJ for Christmas with my parents. It will be interesting for sure. It will all fit and work out!
Monday was my last grad class of the semester!! It was nice to be almost done with things.
Tuesday was a rough day for a lot of reasons but it turned into a very long day. School and work were both fine, nothing too out of the ordinary. It was a hard day because of some emotional stuff, which I spent a lot of the night talking to a few friends about. I had to finish up some homework, which made for an even more stressful night on top of the emotions. Long story short, once I finished the homework I talked with friends so that I could feel somewhat sane and calm myself down a bit and somehow ended up being awake until 12:30 or so. Not exactly a good choice when my alarm goes off at 5:45.
Wednesday felt even longer than Tuesday. After only 5 hours of restless sleep I went to school, dealt with a few rowdy kids but for the most part the morning went fine. I did find out that I got a 49/50 on the very long paper that I turned in a few weeks ago. That was a huge relief. I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll take it for sure! I talked with another good friend between jobs which helped a bit and then went into job number 2. Directly after leaving that job I had to tutor for an hour. As much as teaching math until 8:30pm is hard sometimes, the mom of the student I tutor is wonderful. She is always super kind and encouraging to me. At that point it was exactly what I needed.
By Thursday I was emotionally starting to do a little better, I was also physically a little more awake and in less pain. I had to put a few extra hours in at my second job which was frustrating but someone had to do it. One of my coworkers made me a card to cheer me up. A handmade card, with words that rhymed and even a cute math saying on the front. It was kind and heartfelt and honestly was probably the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time. I've only known her for a few months now but it meant a lot! After I finally finished work I went over to a friends house. It was exactly what I needed. A low key night with 2 friends. I looked at their honeymoon pictures and helped them decorate cookies and just hung out and talked. Seriously a perfect ending to my night, and my only social interaction of the week and weekend. It was emotionally strengthening and just reminded me that no matter what crap is going on in life, there are people out there that that can make it better, even if it's just for a night.
Friday was super productive! I was only running on about 6 hours of sleep and caffeine but it was totally worth it. After school I got 2 new tires put on my car, then bought a few Christmas presents, and then got a drink with one of my old coworkers from school. It was so great to catch up with her for a little while. There were supposed to be other math teachers there but it ended up being just us, which worked out great. It was nice to be out having a drink with another adult talking about life and catching up instead of out with the intention of getting drunk or drinking all night. I'm starting to realize that my priorities and likes are different than those of the people I have been hanging out with lately. Anyways, after our one drink, I came home, had dinner, and then went to work at Old Navy 7-11pm. It was steady for a little while and then slowed down to the point of being boring. By the time I got home I was ready for bed.
Saturday was full of work and then a lame night off. I worked 10-2 and then 3-7. Both jobs were busier than usual. It was nice to be busy and have things to do. I ran a few errands after work and got home around 8. By that point most of my friends were busy with other things so having a night off was pretty pointless from a social aspect. So I wrapped some Christmas presents and watched a few tv episodes on my computer. I enjoyed a glass of wine and then got some sleep. Not quite what I would have liked to spend my Saturday doing, but it was productive so I can't complain. I had a few students in the morning who were very kind and just made my day. They were high school girls, and they just said a few things that reminded me that teachers do more than just teach and sometimes we can be positive role models for the kids we interact with.
Today was also productive. I worked 8-12 and then came home and did laundry and wrote almost all of my Christmas cards (a little late, but they should go out in the next day or two). I was able to relax a bit which was definitely needed. I'm currently trying to ignore other situations in life and not think about them too much.
This coming week will be rather busy. I will be working around 45 hour plus hopefully adding in a few social things on top of packing and driving to NJ for Christmas with my parents. It will be interesting for sure. It will all fit and work out!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Life, Pain, Stress, Happiness, and a Day Off!!
I will preface this whole post with this statement: it will be long, full of lots of stories, and lots of emotions.
Last weekend was very stressful for a variety of reasons, some of which I will outline and some of which I won't. Most importantly between Friday, Saturday and Sunday I worked a total of 23 hours, which doesn't sound horrible, but I also had to write a paper, that ended up being 25 pages long (with appendices). The paper had to be about a misconception in math that students face, that has been researched, that I could interview a couple students about, and then relate it to the research I had done. I chose division of fractions.
Friday was mainly working, and the time that wasn't spent working was spent prepping for the next job. Saturday was supposed to be split between working, then writing, and then working again. It did not work out that way for a variety of reasons. Writing a paper about division of fractions while emotional doesn't work, so nothing was written on Saturday.
Sunday was an interesting day. I woke up and there was water leaking out of the bottom of the baseboards underneath my sink in the kitchen, so I cleaned it up and ran to work. I came home from work 5 hours later to a full sink, water all over the counters and the floor. Now neither my roommate nor I had been home in that period to use the water. So I called the emergency number for our apartment building and within an hour a maintenance person was looking at it. Writing a paper while there is someone running stuff through your drains is a lot of fun, let me tell you!! I left for an hour to tutor, came home to what was still a mess but there was no one in my apartment. 20 minutes later an actual plumber shows up and finally fixes the problem within 45 minutes. Yay working sink!! By that point I needed a break so I went to a friends house and had a lovely pizza dinner! They were wonderful enough to make a gluten free crust and everything :) I seriously have some awesome friends! Sadly I only stayed for an hour or so and then came back to face the daunting paper. I wrote until 10:45, (45 minutes past my bedtime) at which point the words I was typing and the words in my head weren't making any sense and I gave up and just went to bed. At that point I only had 12 pages of substance, meaning 22 with all the appendices.
Monday rolled around and I headed into school on about 6 1/2 hours of sleep. The students were relatively good, nothing too out of the ordinary. I went straight home and continued working on my paper. Class started at 6pm so the paper had to be done before then. I got home from school at 1, had lunch and typed. I was done writing around 3:30, took a short break and then edited it once and sent it to my professor around 5. In the end it was 16 pages of substance, 25 total. I'm alright with how it turned out and we'll see what kind of grade I get. The class itself went alright, more interesting than normal. Plus we got out 40 minutes early which was a plus for sure. I even got 7 hours of sleep that night!!
The rest of the week had a few long days but for the most part they were worth it. Tuesday included coffee with a good friend between jobs. It was a much needed conversation that reminded me that things will get better and they could always be worse. It also showed me that I can handle most of the things going on in my life but that it's okay to ask for help and talk it out.
Wednesday night a few friends had people over to make gingerbread houses. I couldn't get over there until 9pm (after working and tutoring), and only stayed for about an hour but it was so good to see people! Just to get hugs and be reminded of the true kindness of people made it worth the lack of sleep.
Thursday was a pretty typical day that left me emotionally conflicted for a variety of reasons. I was physically exhausted because of work and was starting to stress out about the fact that I was going to be cooking for 15 people the next day.
Friday was intense! Let's just say that when I planned to make food for friends once a month I wasn't planning on feeding this many people. It was a lot of fun and totally worth it but I hadn't really thought it through when I invited everyone. As of Friday morning I was planning for about 15 people. So after school I went to BJ's to get a ham and then went to Wegman's to get everything I needed to make macaroni and cheese. I spent the next 4 hours making brownies, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, and cooking ham and mac and cheese. The recipe for the mac and cheese is at the end of the post. The ham was just a pre-cooked one that you had to stick in the oven and put the glaze on top of so it was super easy. I'm slightly amazed it all turned out well. I didn't stop moving all day! People started coming over around 6:15 and we were off running! Almost all of the food was gone! People brought salad and bread and wine and desserts. We had a great time, playing games and talking. It was a wonderful night, I couldn't have asked for anything more! I'm honestly shocked by how many people fit into my apartment, ate food, and had fun. What a wonderful reminder of the power of friends. Most people left around 9:30 to go to a show, but a few friends stayed to help me clean and play games and just hang out which was perfect!
Saturday was another long day. 4 hours of work at one job, then a quick break, a 4 hour shift which was kindly cut down to a 3 hour shift. I got home, finished cleaning from the night before and then went to a friends place to watch the debate and relax. I wasn't too interested in the debate, although there were some interesting topics discussed, I really just wanted to be social and spend some time with friends. It was a good night. I've been reminded lately how important it is for me to be out of my bubble and not stuck in work.
Today I was off!! It was my first day off in 20 days. Since I went to Boston I've worked at least a 4 hour shift everyday, most days at least 8 hours. So today, I slept until 7 and laid in bed dozing until 9. My body hasn't been letting me fully sleep in but it let's me sort of sleep after it wakes me up initially so I'll take it. I got up and tutored for an hour, which I'm not counting as really working. I ran a few errands and then came home. I wrapped Christmas presents, watched a few tv shows online and tried to sort of clean my room up a little bit. Basically I did nothing. It was so nice to not have to be places at specific times! Let's just say 20 days straight was too long and hopefully that won't happen again.
The title of this post includes a lot of things and most of them have been touched upon. The one that hasn't is pain. There has been some emotional pain/conflict within the past week, which I'm not going to get into. It seems to be working itself out and I'm handling it the way I know best. Physically today has been good for me. My body was definitely attacking me for working a lot. By the end of the week I was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. I'm feeling better. My headaches have been holding steady for the most part. Last week was worse because of the stress and lack of sleep for sure. The past few days have been a little better. I'm hoping they continue to lessen in intensity, or at least stay at this level. There are always bad days but if I can avoid them I'd like to.
I know this is a long post and there is a lot of randomness going into it. Somehow it is all connected in my head and it all makes sense. Hopefully it isn't too boring to anyone who is reading this. If it is feel free to stop reading.
I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately and the lyrics are so powerful! One song by Relient K has been sticking with me. It's called "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More." The first verse and chorus is copied below because it is the part that just hits me. Lately the feelings expressed in the beginning of this song are exactly how I've been feeling. And you get to the chorus and it's just the reminder I've had each time I've been with friends lately. Even if they've been different groups of friends, and not situations I'd normally put myself into, it's been enough to remind me that I'm not totally alone and that things aren't that bad. They've added to the happiness factor in my life for sure.
I made it through the year and I did not even collapse
Gotta say, "Thank God, for that"
I'm torn between what keeps me whole and what tears me in half
I'll fall apart or stay intact
With tired eyes I stumble back to bed
I need to realize my sorry life's not hanging by a thread
At least not yet
So look at me now
Its finally Christmas and I'm home
Head indoors, to get out of this weather
And I don't know how
But the closest friends I've ever known are all inside
Singing together
Singing merry Christmas, here's to many more
Last weekend was very stressful for a variety of reasons, some of which I will outline and some of which I won't. Most importantly between Friday, Saturday and Sunday I worked a total of 23 hours, which doesn't sound horrible, but I also had to write a paper, that ended up being 25 pages long (with appendices). The paper had to be about a misconception in math that students face, that has been researched, that I could interview a couple students about, and then relate it to the research I had done. I chose division of fractions.
Friday was mainly working, and the time that wasn't spent working was spent prepping for the next job. Saturday was supposed to be split between working, then writing, and then working again. It did not work out that way for a variety of reasons. Writing a paper about division of fractions while emotional doesn't work, so nothing was written on Saturday.
Sunday was an interesting day. I woke up and there was water leaking out of the bottom of the baseboards underneath my sink in the kitchen, so I cleaned it up and ran to work. I came home from work 5 hours later to a full sink, water all over the counters and the floor. Now neither my roommate nor I had been home in that period to use the water. So I called the emergency number for our apartment building and within an hour a maintenance person was looking at it. Writing a paper while there is someone running stuff through your drains is a lot of fun, let me tell you!! I left for an hour to tutor, came home to what was still a mess but there was no one in my apartment. 20 minutes later an actual plumber shows up and finally fixes the problem within 45 minutes. Yay working sink!! By that point I needed a break so I went to a friends house and had a lovely pizza dinner! They were wonderful enough to make a gluten free crust and everything :) I seriously have some awesome friends! Sadly I only stayed for an hour or so and then came back to face the daunting paper. I wrote until 10:45, (45 minutes past my bedtime) at which point the words I was typing and the words in my head weren't making any sense and I gave up and just went to bed. At that point I only had 12 pages of substance, meaning 22 with all the appendices.
Monday rolled around and I headed into school on about 6 1/2 hours of sleep. The students were relatively good, nothing too out of the ordinary. I went straight home and continued working on my paper. Class started at 6pm so the paper had to be done before then. I got home from school at 1, had lunch and typed. I was done writing around 3:30, took a short break and then edited it once and sent it to my professor around 5. In the end it was 16 pages of substance, 25 total. I'm alright with how it turned out and we'll see what kind of grade I get. The class itself went alright, more interesting than normal. Plus we got out 40 minutes early which was a plus for sure. I even got 7 hours of sleep that night!!
The rest of the week had a few long days but for the most part they were worth it. Tuesday included coffee with a good friend between jobs. It was a much needed conversation that reminded me that things will get better and they could always be worse. It also showed me that I can handle most of the things going on in my life but that it's okay to ask for help and talk it out.
Wednesday night a few friends had people over to make gingerbread houses. I couldn't get over there until 9pm (after working and tutoring), and only stayed for about an hour but it was so good to see people! Just to get hugs and be reminded of the true kindness of people made it worth the lack of sleep.
Thursday was a pretty typical day that left me emotionally conflicted for a variety of reasons. I was physically exhausted because of work and was starting to stress out about the fact that I was going to be cooking for 15 people the next day.
Friday was intense! Let's just say that when I planned to make food for friends once a month I wasn't planning on feeding this many people. It was a lot of fun and totally worth it but I hadn't really thought it through when I invited everyone. As of Friday morning I was planning for about 15 people. So after school I went to BJ's to get a ham and then went to Wegman's to get everything I needed to make macaroni and cheese. I spent the next 4 hours making brownies, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, and cooking ham and mac and cheese. The recipe for the mac and cheese is at the end of the post. The ham was just a pre-cooked one that you had to stick in the oven and put the glaze on top of so it was super easy. I'm slightly amazed it all turned out well. I didn't stop moving all day! People started coming over around 6:15 and we were off running! Almost all of the food was gone! People brought salad and bread and wine and desserts. We had a great time, playing games and talking. It was a wonderful night, I couldn't have asked for anything more! I'm honestly shocked by how many people fit into my apartment, ate food, and had fun. What a wonderful reminder of the power of friends. Most people left around 9:30 to go to a show, but a few friends stayed to help me clean and play games and just hang out which was perfect!
Saturday was another long day. 4 hours of work at one job, then a quick break, a 4 hour shift which was kindly cut down to a 3 hour shift. I got home, finished cleaning from the night before and then went to a friends place to watch the debate and relax. I wasn't too interested in the debate, although there were some interesting topics discussed, I really just wanted to be social and spend some time with friends. It was a good night. I've been reminded lately how important it is for me to be out of my bubble and not stuck in work.
Today I was off!! It was my first day off in 20 days. Since I went to Boston I've worked at least a 4 hour shift everyday, most days at least 8 hours. So today, I slept until 7 and laid in bed dozing until 9. My body hasn't been letting me fully sleep in but it let's me sort of sleep after it wakes me up initially so I'll take it. I got up and tutored for an hour, which I'm not counting as really working. I ran a few errands and then came home. I wrapped Christmas presents, watched a few tv shows online and tried to sort of clean my room up a little bit. Basically I did nothing. It was so nice to not have to be places at specific times! Let's just say 20 days straight was too long and hopefully that won't happen again.
The title of this post includes a lot of things and most of them have been touched upon. The one that hasn't is pain. There has been some emotional pain/conflict within the past week, which I'm not going to get into. It seems to be working itself out and I'm handling it the way I know best. Physically today has been good for me. My body was definitely attacking me for working a lot. By the end of the week I was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. I'm feeling better. My headaches have been holding steady for the most part. Last week was worse because of the stress and lack of sleep for sure. The past few days have been a little better. I'm hoping they continue to lessen in intensity, or at least stay at this level. There are always bad days but if I can avoid them I'd like to.
I know this is a long post and there is a lot of randomness going into it. Somehow it is all connected in my head and it all makes sense. Hopefully it isn't too boring to anyone who is reading this. If it is feel free to stop reading.
I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately and the lyrics are so powerful! One song by Relient K has been sticking with me. It's called "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More." The first verse and chorus is copied below because it is the part that just hits me. Lately the feelings expressed in the beginning of this song are exactly how I've been feeling. And you get to the chorus and it's just the reminder I've had each time I've been with friends lately. Even if they've been different groups of friends, and not situations I'd normally put myself into, it's been enough to remind me that I'm not totally alone and that things aren't that bad. They've added to the happiness factor in my life for sure.
I made it through the year and I did not even collapse
Gotta say, "Thank God, for that"
I'm torn between what keeps me whole and what tears me in half
I'll fall apart or stay intact
With tired eyes I stumble back to bed
I need to realize my sorry life's not hanging by a thread
At least not yet
So look at me now
Its finally Christmas and I'm home
Head indoors, to get out of this weather
And I don't know how
But the closest friends I've ever known are all inside
Singing together
Singing merry Christmas, here's to many more
Ok here is the Mac and Cheese recipe as promised
Mac and Cheese (can be multiplied easily- I quadrupled the recipe)
Mac and Cheese (can be multiplied easily- I quadrupled the recipe)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour (if gluten free use white rice flour)
2 cups milk
1/2 cup Velvetta
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. paprika
few grains cayenne pepper
1/2 box elbow noodles (1/2 pound- if using gluten free I used brown rice noodles)
Directions:
Cook noodles as directed. If using gluten free noodles cook for about half the time because they will soak up liquid as it bakes and will become mushy otherwise. If using regular noodles slightly under cook noodles.
Melt butter and add flour whisking together to thicken. Stir in the milk slowly (it helps if you have microwaved the milk so it is at least room temperature already) and allow it to boil momentarily. Reduce heat slightly and add cheese. Once melted completely add seasoning.
Mix noodles and sauce together and add to a baking dish. I use a large foil pan (for lots of people) or a small casserole dish for only a single batch. For a single batch-bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered. For a very large batch-bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered.
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