On the Lighter Side

Traditional Mac and Cheese It Is Not!

I just tried to put together the WW recipe (a filling foods recipe) that purports to be "traditional" mac & cheese. Well, I have to confess, I did not do all the ingredients or all the steps, as my college age daughter was starving and breathing down my neck. I just cooked the noodles in one pan, while I threw the two cheeses and a little milk in another pan. It seemed similar to what you do when you buy the boxes, right?

Wrong!

After a minute the milk began to heat up enough to melt the cheeses, and it looked at first as if I was going to have an A-1 cheese sauce for my FF mac and cheese. But suddenly it did NOT look like a sauce, as it separated and looked like something you don't want to think about if you're about to eat.

Well, I took it off the heat, and stirred and stirred, then it became very stringy and chewy, almost like caramel.

I threw it in with the drained macaroni, thinking that would help it. But I tell you, that cheese took on a life of its own! It refused to marry itself in any way, shape, or form to the noodles. It sits in globs among them, but that is it! And if you try to scoop some pseudo mac & cheese onto a plate or bowl, you can never sever the cheesy strings that come along.

I tasted it, just to see. It is palatable, but just. And it is most definitely NOTHING like traditional mac & cheese!! LOL!

I hope you've enjoyed this little kitchen encounter of mine. I know I have. I enjoyed laughing at myself trying to provide a fattening meal with no fat for our daughter who has been away at college and therefore is not tuned into my fat free existence yet.

Have a nice day. I'm off to find some REAL mac & cheese, ready-made at the store - for my daughter, not me! 6:D

P.S. Yes, I know I did not follow the recipe as I ought to have. But what I want to know is, would it really have made any difference?

I shared that on the Weight Watchers website, and people got a kick out of it. But I thought it could have another application. Now doesn't this just apply very well to our walk as Christians? Sometimes we get in a hurry, or I know I do! And we want to see results NOW, Lord! We're tired of waiting, and we've done what we should all along - we think to ourselves.

Wrong!

You forgot to include ALL the ingredients in the recipe. So, what did you leave out? Let's see:

Bible - check! Prayer - check! Meditation/prayer time - check! Fellowship - check!

What's missing? This seems like a pretty exhaustive list to me. I mean, I even included TIME, which is what I usually prefer to leave out.

Well, I'm not saying you'll get immediate results, but there is one more thing I've found I must have in my recipe before it even begins to resemble the joy-filled Christian life spoken of in the Bible: Forgiveness.

You see, if I have all my ducks in a row, and I'm still holding out for something from someone who I think deserves to give it to me, I get nowhere. I just go on treading water, or running in place like a hamster on a wheel, wondering what's wrong. The best and most immediate results I've ever gotten in this life have come after I stop expecting some other human being to provide something I think I need before I can move forward. This doesn't mean my life is always perfect when I've forgiven someone, and everything flows smoothly in the direction I want it to. But it does mean I can begin again to move forward, and I certainly lose a lot of dead weight, extra baggage, from my sinking boat. The recipe does begin to resemble the one I've come to use most often for my direction.

Next time, follow the Recipe - oh I don't mean my little one up there. That one's for me. I mean the one in the Book. Take it and make your own recipe for life from it. I know I will, or at least try to from now on! And don't let someone else decide the state of your Walk.

Simply yours, Patty