Monthly Archives: March 2021

My Top 5 Mac and Cheese Toppings

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I love macaroni and cheese. When it comes to my obsession with this dish, my reputation precedes me. I mean come on, not everyone is called upon to judge a mac and cheese cookoff. Nor does everyone write about their “favorite macaroni and cheese spinoffs.” Most people who are neutral about noodles and cheese wouldn’t dream up a hand soap based off it.

Tonight I wanted to offer my top five macaroni and cheese toppings. Of course a topping is never imperative for a dish that has no trouble standing alone but for those who want to sprinkle a little fun on their mac and cheese, I can help you out. In no particular order, here is my list…

Tonight we are talking mac and cheese toppings but chicken isn’t one of them.

Ritz Crackers – This suggestion is a true Brent Reser original. In my head it just occurred to me that the texture and taste of Ritz crackers would really complement macaroni and cheese. My brain was not mistaken. Take four crackers and crush them into pieces but be careful not to turn them to dust. Now sprinkle them on top of your mac and cheese. You will now have a dish with a very agreeable consistency and perfect crunch. Try it…trust me.

My inspiration for this blog post came when Sid and Sloan made mac and cheese last Friday. Yes, I topped it with Ritz crackers.

Parmesan cheese – Nothing better than adding more cheese to a dish with “cheese” in its name, right? That is what I am encouraging you to do here. Although most people will sprinkle parmesan cheese on their pasta, they will usually not equate mac and cheese as a pasta (which it is) and thus not even think about it. Amateurs. Grated parmesan on macaroni and cheese adds a little more flavor and a bit of beauty, but don’t take my word for it.

Parmesan cheese goes great on mac and cheese!

Rice –In college it was always a big deal when it was macaroni and cheese day in the dining hall. The stuff was AWESOME but the cheese sauce they used was very gooey. It could get pretty messy and had the tendency to stick on the roof of your mouth. My way of breaking up this stickiness was to put a scoop of white rice on the golden crack and then stir. It did the trick and tasted delicious at the same time.

Hot Dogs – I don’t think Sidney will ever let me live down the day when she came over to my apartment and I served her microwavable mac and cheese topped with chopped hot dogs. I guess it wasn’t gourmet enough for her. Hey, how can you go wrong with macaroni and cheese and hot dogs? Although I still think the combination is dynamite, I won’t be making it for any future anniversary dinners.

This is the actual dish that I cooked up for Sid.

Hot Sauce – I have managed to stay away from hot sauce more and more over the years but I still think it goes great with macaroni and cheese. There will be times when I don’t want to add a bold flavor to my bowl but if I am in a sweating mood I won’t hesitate to add some. But if you want to do it, make sure you do it right—add Sriracha.

If you are looking for a little kick with your mac and cheese, Sriracha is the best way to go.

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If you are looking for a good dinner idea on Fridays this Lenten season, consider macaroni and cheese. When you do, feel free to take a page out of my playbook and “spice it up” by using one of my recommended toppings…just as long as it is not hot dogs. Don’t Blink.

Returning to Our Happy Place

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Life is all about small victories and I feel like we notched one yesterday. Sid, Sloan, Beau, and I walked into the Spokane Valley Public Library for the first time since we moved to Washington. Our delay strolling through those doors wasn’t due to a reading aversion but, as you can probably guess, COVID-19. With our state graduating to Phase 2 in its re-opening plan, the Spokane County Library District found it appropriate enough to welcome back all the book worms.

We finally had the opportunity to go inside the Spokane Valley Library on Monday night.

Although we appreciated the curbside service offered for the past several months, there is nothing like pulling the books from the shelf yourself. I am not kidding you, Sloan and I were counting down the days until the library opened with the same anticipation that she is counting down the days until her birthday (minus the big countdown board). You see, the library is a special place for the two of us. We spent a lot of time playing and checking out books at our local Myrtle Beach library. With the shuttering of the libraries here in Spokane, it did feel like there was somewhat of a void. Call us crazy, but we would have taken the library before Chuck E. Cheese and the trampoline park opened (both of which swung open their doors before the library).

Sloan strolling the empty Spokane Valley Library on its opening day after being closed because of COVID-19.

Yesterday our family pulled up to the library for “opening day” at 5:35 p.m. Although it would close at 6 p.m., we made the most of our short time. Sid got her first ever non-South Carolina library card, Sloan found a “Corduroy” story, Beau pulled books from the bottom shelves, and I basked in the welcoming environment of a public library.

Beau grabbing books from the shelves at the Spokane Valley Library.

We had the whole place to ourselves. It was as if the red carpet was pulled out for our triumphant return to the library…up until the point that one of the librarians told us we had five minutes left before they had to kick us out.

The stack I started making of the books we were going to check out.

Like I said, we made good use of the short time we were inside those walls. We checked out 15 items, including a book just for Sid that allowed her to use her card for the first time. We raced home and after getting the kids ready for bed we read two of our new library books.

We ready “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” and “Corduroy Lost and Found” last night.

Thank goodness the library is back open. There will surely be numerous trips, most of them taking place on the weekend well before closing time, in the near future. Don’t Blink.

Homage to Cereal

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The Calendar of Gimmicks told us yesterday that it was National Cereal Day. I marked this “day” by reflecting on the current non-fiction series that Sidney and I are watching called “The Food That Built America.” One of the entrepreneurs featured in this program is John Kellogg, the father of cereal. Did you know what cereal was eventually made for? Well, you might need to Google the question for a more in-depth answer but Kellogg originally invented it as a digestive aid and as a brain food that would straighten a person’s moral compass.

But these days cereal is known as a breakfast food—perhaps the most popular morning staple there is. Although I count cereal as a pretty decent froyo topping, I also primarily recognize it as a breakfast mainstay. I have written a lot about cereal over the years, even going as far as to devote entire blog posts to my top three unhealthy cereals and my top three healthy(ish) cereals. What can I say? I enjoy a bowl of oats in the morning.

Just a few brief peroneal cereal notes…

– I eat a bowl of Rice Krispies-esque cereal pretty much every morning. I say “esque” because I usually consume a generic version. This type of cereal is easy to eat while working at the computer and doesn’t alter the taste of milk so it isn’t weird to drink after the Krispies are gone.

A couple of the Rice Krispies-esque cereals we have at the house right now.

– Probably one of the best wedding gifts we received was a set of cereal bowls. These things are meant specifically for your favorite Cap’n Crunch cereal. Pour as much cereal in the bottom as you want and top generously with milk because you won’t have to worry about anything overflowing.

I love these cereal bowls!

– My dad recently told a story about eating cereal growing up. He said his parents would only provide bland, healthy cereals. Along with his brothers and sisters, they would pour copious amounts of sugar on these cereals. One day they went to their grandmother’s house and she had those mini boxes of breakfast delights such as Trix and Fruit Loops. They couldn’t hold back their excitement and dug into these special treats. But they were disappointed. You see, they had poured so much sugar on the healthy cereals at home that the colorful, artificial, and fun cereals didn’t hold a candle in terms of sweetness.

One day my dad went over to his grandma’s and she had a pack of mini cereals. However, they turned out tasting a little disappointing.

Do you have a cereal that is especially meaningful and/or tasty to you? If you do, hopefully you celebrated with a bowl yesterday. Don’t Blink.

Fruity Pebbles Thursday Rundown

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Greetings, friends! I hope your March is off to a wonderful start. Speaking of “starts,” let’s begin this Thursday Rundown…

Online Checkout – A lot of people get their kicks from buying stuff online. Now there isn’t anything wrong with that, but I prefer not to spend the money. Instead, I have a different method of feeling the satisfaction of ordering something online but without the cost. I enjoy checking out library books online. You can literally browse thousands of titles and simply tap the box next to whatever you desire. The next day you just go to your local library for “curbside service” and they bring your books out to you. This has allowed us to feed Sloan’s hunger for new books but to be honest, despite the pleasant feeling of ordering online, I am excited that Spokane County Libraries will open their buildings next Monday!

Some of the recent books we checked out from our local library via the online system.

Fruity Pebbles Chocolate – Add cereal-infused chocolate as another candy option for your sweet tooth. This Fruity Pebbles white chocolate bunny I saw at Walgreens actually appeals to me. Perhaps later down the road I will try it but it made me think about other cereal chocolate bunnies I would like to try. What about a Reese’s Puffs bunny? Or a Cinnamon Toast Crunch one? Cookie Crisp? As long as it is not a Raisin Bran bunny, I think I would pretty much be up for anything.

This sounds good to me. But what about other cereal flavors?

Dollar Store Buy – Here is another Dollar Tree hack for those of us with small children. If you want an activity that will keep your toddler occupied for a half hour and is not messy, go to the toy aisle and pick up a Pom-Pom Stick-On Activity. Sloan loves “Trolls” so she chose the Poppy version. The board itself is sticky and all you have to do is place the colored “pom-poms” in their appropriate spots on the design. Both engaging and cheap, your child will be proud of their board after it is finished.

Sloan loved doing this pom-pom stick-on activity.

Nomadland – This week I watched the film that won the Golden Globe for best drama film—“Nomadland.” After I finished the movie I looked up some of the reaction on social media and one person tweeted along the lines of “A simple movie about simple people doing simple things.” In my opinion, that pretty much sums it up. The film follows a lady living in a van who travels around the west working various jobs and living in various communities. It is a slow, no-nonsense production. Do I think it is the best movie of the year? Um, perhaps during a pandemic when fewer movies were produced. What stood out to me were some of the images from the film. Fern, the main character of the film played by Frances McDormand, did a lot of mundane things but it came across as art. Whether she was preparing food, cleaning a bathroom, or driving silently in her van it was all captured in a certain way. If you have Hulu, give it a shot.

“Nomadland” is being called the film of the year.

Marilyn Advice – Every now and then, I share the advice of Parade columnist Marilyn vos Savant. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she has the world’s highest recorded IQ. This past Sunday someone asked her if freezing food items is actually a viable solution for extending their best-by date. She responded by saying absolutely. Essentially, according to Marilyn, freezing an item will “freeze” its natural process of going stale. Read below for her exact response but this is welcome news to someone like me who swears by freezing food.

It is not a myth, freezing your food will delay it from going bad.

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I appreciate you spending a few minutes on my blog this evening. Enjoy your weekend and please continue to pray for the complete eradication of the pandemic. Don’t Blink.

A Tangible Birthday Countdown

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Last week I came down the stairs to my lunch break and Beau was walking. Yesterday, I came down the stairs to my lunch break and Sid was almost finished with an elaborate birthday countdown sign. Dang, I really do enjoy working from home!

When I came downstairs yesterday, Sid was putting the finishing touches on this.

As I have mentioned in multiple previous posts, Sloan is, for better or worse, obsessed with her birthday. Since early this summer when we celebrated her cousin’s birthday, she has probably asked us every day thereafter whether it was her special day or not.

This longing for March 17 has forced many premature happy birthday songs in her honor, fits of jealousy at family members’ birthday gatherings, and countless questions about who could be on her guest list in this pandemic era. Quite simply, her birthday is always on her soon-to-be-4-year-old mind.

After brushing off a lot of Sloan’s incessant birthday chatter over the past several months, a page was torn off the calendar yesterday and it was March. I could finally tell Sloan, we will celebrate your birthday this month.

But leave it to my wife for going above and beyond just telling her. Sid took a couple hours yesterday morning to complete a Pinterest-inspired project. Titled Sloan’s Birthday Countdown, it will let our daughter inch closer to her birthday one day at a time over the next 2.5 weeks.

Sloan standing with her birthday countdown.

The board’s centerpiece is a three-layer cake covered in 17 “sprinkles.” Each sprinkle has a number written on it that represents one of the days until her birthday. Since yesterday was March 1, she crossed off the sprinkle with the number 1 on it. Today she crossed off sprinkle 2. And you know how it goes. I guess we are counting up instead of counting down…

Sloan marking off the “1” on her birthday countdown.

Great job to Sid for harnessing Sloan’s enthusiasm for her birthday in an educational and visually appealing way. Tomorrow we will just be two weeks until the big day! Don’t Blink.

Here Comes March 2021

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The start of March 2021 is unique because it begins the same way that February 2021 did: On a Monday. If you remember, I used the opportune timing of February 1 to write a pre-dawn blog post about the month ahead. With March being ushered in under similar circumstances, why not do the same?

March 2021 is here.

In my humble opinion, the fact that March has arrived is good news in and of itself. I often refer to January and February as “the gloomy months” so to be out of those woods is welcome by many. March is a sign of new life, warmer weather, and longer days. This particular March will hopefully also see COVID cases go down and vaccinations go up. I think we can all sense that the pandemic is finally starting to trend in a favorable direction and I am intrigued to see where we will be after these 31 days are over.

This month we will celebrate my daughter’s fourth birthday, a day she has been counting down to since the summer. I will also mark my one-year anniversary working for Washington State University. For sports fans, March brings the best tournament on the planet. This year will be especially memorable after the cancellation of March Madness in 2020.

At the same time, March 2021 isn’t entirely about basking in the longer daylight or celebrating the success of your NCAA Tournament bracket. Rather, a lot of it should be about sacrifice. Lent will extend throughout the entire month so if nothing else we should be focusing on the next 4.5 weeks to grow closer to God and prepare for Easter. When the month concludes on Wednesday, March 31, it will neatly lead us into the Holy Triduum that will begin with Holy Thursday on April 1.

No matter which way you look at it, I think we can all view March as an opportunity. I think it is entirely feasible to enjoy the month itself while still using it as a period of preparation for the major days that will come in early April. Have a productive Monday and get this month off on the right foot—I wish you nothing but the best. Don’t Blink.