More Footwear and a Twist on a Classic

As I try to enjoy my last few weeks of vacation, I have been reading about all the copycat McDonalds icy coffee drinks and I was jealous.  I don't drink coffee.  Then I remembered that iced chai tea is amazingly refreshing so I ordered some Pacific green chai tea mix from Amazon(I can't find it locally) and it has been my afternoon beverage of choice.  That and a good afternoon read make me feel like I really am on vacation.  My son is done with his summer job so I can sleep in on days we don't have an annoying appointment! We have a teeth cleaning appointment this week and my son has a hair cut.  I used to love teeth cleanings but that was before I had so much tooth sensitivity and my dentist began deciding he wanted to "replace" some of my old fillings.  I wonder if my family is secretly putting one of his kids through college!

This week I made some slippers from a pattern.  They were a little fussy to sew the soul

on and ease it all in neatly but I think they turned out cute.  I got an idea on another blog to put minky in as the lining.  How cushy would that be?!  Flannel would also be a good lining or even terry cloth for some spa slippers.  Now that I have made one pair, I am sure I won't wait too long to make another.  

Lately, I have been trying out alot of new recipes.  I have been increasingly daring with altering even new recipes and making them my own.  So far, my family has been pretty happy with my efforts.  I must say, I am very lucky that my husband and younger son are not picky eaters and love a good experiment.  My older son is like me-he's a little fussy.  I don't eat much meat and he eats very few vegetables.  At any rate, I believe this taco chicken mac and cheese I came up with was a winner all the way around.  Are you ready?  Here we go:  Cut up 1 large red bell pepper and a couple of scallions.  Cook those on low heat with a little butter and salt and pepper.  You just want them soft.  Meanwhile cook about 12 ounces of rotini or your favorite pasta.  Drain the pasta and make your cheese sauce.  In a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter.  Add 1 tablespoon flour and cook and stir until you feel you have cooked out the raw flour taste.   Whisk in 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder and a pinch of salt.  Add 1 1/4 cups of milk and whisk until smooth and starting to thicken over low heat.  Add 2 cups of shredded monteray jack cheese.  You can use whatever cheese you want but this was good for us.  Stir until thickened.  Take off the heat and add the reserved cooked macaroni, the pepper and scallion, and some shredded rotisserie chicken.  You can serve it from here but I chose to put it in a greased casserole and crush up tortilla chips on top.  I put it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.  If you worry that it will dry out in the oven, add a little milk to make it creamier before you put it in the casserole.  I was making cornbread to serve with it, and I didn't want the mac and cheese to cool off while we waited for the cornbread to finish.   Well, there you have it.  It was very good and the leftovers were good too.  That is always a plus! 

Have a great week everyone.  I have some back to school shopping to do along with those errands.  Here's hoping my dentist finds nothing to replace!  Take care.     Nancy