I am in a strange place lately. I feel like I can’t keep up with everything and yet it is less than half of what I used to do. I think the pressure of the state of the United States (actual or just perceived from social media), a new schedule for schooling, the idea of my son possibly being exposed to Covid 19 at school and hence our exposure if he is, the fear of a slump in manufacturing threatening our income (again), the list just goes on. My mind just seems to swirl and I cannot hold onto any one thought or idea for too long. I know I am not in this spot alone but it sure feels lonely sometimes.

Dinner and meals often seem the last thing on my mind so I am trying to make my plan and stick to it. We are cleaning out the chest freezer so that we can move it upstairs to the garage. Right now it is in the basement and is just inconvenient. I think having it upstairs will also allow me to have a better handle on our food situation. In cleaning it out we found a bag of turkey soup from last year that we threw out. I hate to have waste like that when we go through the trouble of making and freezing food for later.

This dish is one that I have been wanting to experiment with for awhile. Next time I am thinking of using this exact same recipe in the oven to see how it turns out. We loved the flavor that much.

Verdict: So, this is one of those dishes that I REALLY wanted to like more than I did. The flavor was perfect but the texture of the macaroni was off. I have not been able to get it perfect. I am not sure if it is not watching it close enough or not letting it cook enough but it has an almost papery texture when you chew it. My suggestion is taste the macaroni often and when it gets to the desired texture stop the cooking process.

I serve this with broccoli and a green side salad.