I got nothing. Have hit wall re: cooking. Between the vegetarian thing (husband and kids), the whining (kids. “Mac and cheese. We only like mac and cheese! That’s the wrong kind of yogurt!”), the sheer monotony… I got nothing.

Will search.

OK. How about this? (From About.com Busy Cooks.)

“This super simple recipe uses just four ingredients and takes just five minutes to put together. I’ve served it to company – it’s that good! I often add a one pound bag of frozen fully cooked meatballs to the casserole; just bake as directed.”

(Five minutes? Good ‘nuf. It’s cheese — but it’s not mac and cheese. Will never eat packaged mac and cheese, goldfish crackers or Gorilla Munch cereal ever ever ever again. wm)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 (10 oz.) pkgs. refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini, uncooked
* 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
* 1 cup water
* 12 oz. jar alfredo four cheese sauce
* 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In 3 quart glass baking dish, mix tortellini, spaghetti sauce, and water. Make sure all tortellini is coated with sauce. Drop cheese sauce by spoonfuls over casserole. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, until tortellini is tender. Serves 8.

Edited at 4:20 p.m. to say: Forgot that Wacky Girl’s best friend, Miss Honey Butt’s daughter, is lactose-intolerant. (You remember our own Miss Honey Butt? Here’s a post about her boobs.)

“Isn’t it a drag?” MHB’s daughter tells me, “Cuz I like dairy!” Little cutie. OK… how about pasta with sauce, just for something a little different?

“And vegetarian meatballs?”

“No,” sez she, “they make me gag.”

Me: “Real meatballs, then?”

(Both of my vegetarian kids, in unison, “ewwww…”)

MHB’s daughter, “That would not be very respectful of Wacky Girl, would it?” (No foolin’, that is a direct quote.)

Me: (Big sigh.)

Then one of the moms from school almost smashed into my van in the parking lot at the store, then the kids started acting up, then all the store employees thought they were “cute” and started “encouraging them” by laughing at their antics. Which were not even that funny.

New dinner plan: Amy’s Texas burgers; cornbread muffins made with rice milk; broccoli; salad; mashed sweet potatoes; premade Tollhouse cookies.

the end

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