She plays shy with most others at first, laying her entire arm over her eyes when she first sees us, thinking we can’t see her that way. It’s so adorable.

While Carolyn and I visit in the living room, we can hear them chatting up a storm together. He fixes her chicken sausage and cuts it up into small pieces for her. She also wants a little custard cup full of dry Cheerios (“chee-ohs”) and her own little glass of water. Sometimes Carolyn and I will stop our conversation so we can eavesdrop on them, and it’s pretty heartwarming. It sounds like they are figuring out the issues of the world together.

His grandchildren are almost grown now, so it’s nice seeing him enjoying time with our little three year old. Children bless our lives so much!

Until next time,

About twenty-five years ago a friend of a friend told me about a simple and unique (and more healthy) recipe for macaroni and cheese. I was intrigued by the ingredients and made it right away. It was pretty tasty, and I made it again, tweaking the simple recipe a bit until it was something we loved, and I’ve made it often ever since.

My daughters grew up eating this Green Macaroni and Cheese, and they still love it. I think Carolyn makes it for her family now and then. Even my grandbabies enjoy it, and some of them are fairly picky eaters. Sara introduced this dish to her best friend, and now Layla talks to her about “your mom’s green macaroni and cheese.”  (I’m pretty sure they talk about other things too, but I’m honored that smart, beautiful and accomplished young women think highly enough of even one creation of mine to make it a topic of conversation.)

I’ve received enough requests for this recipe that I thought I’d share it on the blog. It’s simple enough to make, but there are a few putzy steps that can be better illustrated by photos than by me trying to write the recipe out on 3 x 5 cards. Anyone who knows me knows that a 3 x 5 card might be large enough for me to write my name and phone number on.

Julie’s Green Macaroni and Cheese

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

So here’s what you’ll need for a large batch:

A cup of milk, 16 ounces of spinach nests pasta, 4-5 tablespoons of soy sauce (I use low-sodium but you can use the stuff that’s brown liquid salt if you like), 2 containers of cottage cheese and some grated mozzarella cheese.

I have only been able to find these spinach nests at one store in our town, and it just so happens that last week when I went to buy some, they were gone and it didn’t look like they were coming back any time soon. So I put in a request with the manager and we’ll see if he does anything about my family’s regular need for spinach nests. Not being one to wait for another person to hold my destiny in their hands, I did a little search online and found our beloved spinach pasta nests through Amazon. The case of twelve 16-ounce boxes of spinach nests arrived today.

If you can’t find spinach nests where you shop, you could probably use other spinach pasta that isn’t made into little circular nests. And I have made this recipe with multi-colored rotini pasta and it’s yummy too. Play around with it until it’s something your family likes.

This recipe will need a fairly large baking pan – I use my deep lasagna pan. I make a large recipe because at our house we basically feed the multitudes, and some of us around here love leftovers for our packed lunches.

If you don’t have multitudes to feed, I would suggest you cut this recipe in half, and use a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Pour all the spinach pasta from a 16-ounce box into a large mixing bowl. See the cute little nests?

They look innocent enough, but they will cut your fingers into shreds if you try breaking them apart with your hands. Don’t try it.

You’ll need to break these nests up now. I use a metal measuring cup and just slowly crunch up the nests by pressing down on them in the bowl with the cup. If you have Miniature German Schnauzers with sensitive ears, they will probably run into the other room while you’re crunching up your spinach nests in a metal mixing bowl.

Just press and crunch until there are no more nests left – just bits of spinach pasta a couple of inches long.

See? Like this. If you use a pasta that already comes in a bag and looks like this, you won’t need to crunch and crunch it with a measuring cup and scare your dogs.

Now take two entire containers (24 ounces each) of cottage cheese, and dump it out onto the broken up spinach pasta. (Remember, if you want to make a normal-sized batch and are halving this recipe, you’ll only need one 24 ounce container of cottage cheese, 8 ounces of spinach pasta, etc.)

Be sure you get all of the cottage cheese out. You can use 4%, 2% or 1% cottage cheese, but I wouldn’t recommend using skim.

Now comes the soy sauce. I like Kikkoman best.

Add four or five tablespoons of soy sauce to the cottage cheese and spinach nest pasta.

And now add one cup of milk. Again, you can use whole milk or 1% or 2%, but I don’t recommend skim milk for this recipe. Pour the milk over the green mess mixture.

Give these four ingredients a good stir. You might be thinking, “This is awfully dry — how is this going to make a delicious, creamy macaroni and cheese dish?”  That’s what I thought when I first made it too, but I promise you’ll see how yummy it is soon.

I don’t think this recipe would qualify for Better Homes and Gardens or Bon Appetit magazines, because it’s too easy and it doesn’t photograph well. But I think we all know someone who doesn’t take a good picture who has a deep inner beauty that makes you completely forget about outward appearances. That’s the way this Green Macaroni and Cheese is. It has a deep inner beauty.

Pour all this into a greased (I use Pam) baking dish.

Be sure you scrape all the whey from the bowl too. You want all the liquid in there since the spinach nests aren’t cooked before you put all this in the oven.

Here’s how it looks spread evenly into my lasagna pan. Sara knows I like dark blue in my kitchen and gave me this pan a few years ago.

Bake this at 325 degrees and set the timer for 15 minutes. This will be the approximate halfway point, and you’ll have to take out the not-quite-done pasta and give it a good stir.

Below, here’s how it looks after about 15-20 minutes at 325. The pasta is softening up a little.

Now just stir it up a bit in the baking dish. Below, see the whey that the cottage cheese finally releases as it’s stirred? It’s pretty liquidy — just stir and fold, so all the dry bits of spinach pasta get covered with the whey. Experience has taught me that any little stray bits of pasta sticking up out of the liquid will get very dark and crisp, and will not taste very scrumptious.

We don’t want our spinach nests going rogue on us.

Stir those curds and whey, stir that pasta. This takes about a minute at the most.

Now spread it out again, making it even with the back of your spoon. It’s going back into the oven to finish baking. Set your timer again for about ten-fifteen minutes, and then pull it out again.

Here’s the part that just takes a time or two of making this dish to understand or recognize. When you pull out the pan the second time, if there’s still a lot of liquid and it hasn’t been mostly absorbed by the pasta, stir it again and put it back in the oven. Keep watching it every few minutes until the pasta has absorbed the liquid. It should be moist, but not swimming in whey. You don’t want to wait too long though – it will result in dry pasta, and you won’t like this recipe and your grandchildren won’t have a chance to try it.

I find that an oven thermometer is a very helpful tool. Even though my range is new and has two ovens, I leave an inexpensive oven thermometer in there all the time. One oven cooks a little hot and the other a little cool (yes, I’ve had the Sears guy out), and if your oven cooks at 375 when it should be 325, it could make a big ugly difference with your Green Macaroni and Cheese.

Once the liquid is mostly absorbed into the now-soft pasta, pull the pan out and sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese. As much or as little as you like. We like a goodly amount.

Above, here’s what ours looked like today before I put it under the broiler.

The final step: put the pan under the broiler and watch it carefully. Here’s my first peek after about 3-4 minutes — nope, not yet!

And here’s my second peek after about 5 minutes — yep, this looks just right! It’s ready to come out into the light of day again.

I let this sit for about 4-5 minutes before cutting it into squares and serving it on a small salad plate.

Can you see why I don’t try to write this all down on a recipe card? 

I hope you let me know if you try Green Macaroni and Cheese. It can be a side dish to whatever you’re making for dinner, or it can be lunch itself with a nice Honeycrisp apple and a few carrot sticks.

This makes good leftovers too — just store it in an airtight container in the fridge, and warm it up in the microwave when you’re ready to eat.

Now when I look at the other kind of macaroni and cheese we’re all familiar with, it seems so foreign to me, so orange looking.

I’ll let you know if the store manager calls me to say they’re back to carrying my spinach nests again. But just in case they decide not to, I’m equipped for several months, at least.

Green macaroni and cheese has definitely transformed our consumption of mac and cheese.

Blessings,

Michael died of a massive ischemic stroke after years of walking through the trials and sorrows of Parkinson’s Disease. He had been a vital and active man, and that diagnosis was of course, ultimately a devastating one.

This photo, which is very precious to me, was taken 2 1/2 days before he was escorted to heaven. It was his last known smile, a wondrous gift to us, his family. The nurses at the hospital called Michael’s stroke and the damage it brought to his brain “the velvet hammer,” because he didn’t suffer pain, and because death within four to seven days was certain. They knew this by what the CT scan revealed, and we realized that his consciousness would be fading each day as he got closer and closer to his departure.

By the third day after Michael’s stroke, he was near a coma, unable to respond to us at all, or to any medical stimulus the neurology staff applied. But two times, two glorious times, he smiled at us… and one time with great effort he sobbed and wailed, when God allowed his still very healthy spirit to rise from his body’s dying and show us he could indeed still hear and feel. He did this when two dear friends, Chuck and Sally Haavik, came to pour out their love and read Psalm 91 to him, and also when I arrived alone on the morning he was to be brought home for the last time.

I was in nearly constant quiet tears, and as I walked into the hospital I kept praying, “Lord, please let me connect one more time with Michael before you take him. One more time, please. Let him feel my love and presence.” And when I went to his bedside and rubbed his chest and bent down and whispered his name, declared my love for him again, he smiled.

And twelve days ago, Michael’s only sibling Pat died. She too had suffered with illnesses that made life so hard for her. I remember how Michael’s eyes would fill with tears when we merely spoke of Patty and/or prayed for her and her husband Joe. He loved her deeply, which moved me so much because my own two older brothers did not love me. It was such a blessing to see brother and sister care about each other. This picture below was taken probably 20+ years ago.

So much has happened in my life since Michael moved on ahead. How grateful I am that the Lord Jesus saw us through our tough times and made us happy we married each other. My whole existence would have been vastly different had God not brought Michael and me together. To be married to a man who truly loves and trusts Jesus Christ is a priceless gift. Neither of us walked out our faith perfectly of course, but there is no one else I would rather have bowed my head in prayer with, than my Michael.

He prayed fervently. He prayed with tears, with great faith. With compassion and humility. I am beginning to see now what sacred times those were.

I’ve said this before, but it becomes more true the older I get. As these eleven years have passed I don’t ever think of my life getting further away from Michael, with thousands of days between us. Rather, I think now that each day I wake up, I am one day closer to being with him again. Not in the marital sense, because we know that life in heaven will be way beyond earthly joys. But to see him again as the very essence of who he was created by God to be. To hear his voice, to see those hands (which on earth worked tirelessly to provide for our family) now pointing to what he might want to show me in heaven, to watch those strong legs lead me to my Savior, to see that toothy smile of joy…. that would be heaven.

And it has long been taught by the Church that gold was to signify that Jesus was a King, frankincense was given because it stood for worship and meant Christ was the heavenly deity (actually fully God, fully human), and that myrrh was given as a sign of Jesus’s future burial. I also read that myrrh was a medicinal, healing balm, and it foretold that Jesus would be (and is) the healer of our ills.

In one of my morning readings in a devotional where the writer isn’t credited, I read this:

“What then, is the gold that a Christian could place before Christ as a babe? The gold of a Christian…refined by fire mentioned in Revelation chapter 3, verse 18, is love. How do we obtain love? We purchase love with love itself — it is by loving that we accumulate love! Provided that he/she is capable of offering the pure gold of love of neighbor, the Christian can add to it — without being a liar — the frankincense of prayer: a life of prayer that ascends toward God as a sweet-smelling offering, because it is not mixed with hypocrisy.

But the incense of our prayers remains fleeting without myrrh, in other words, without our communion in the passion and death of Jesus. The myrrh in the life of a Christian consists of his/her sufferings, sacrifices, and death, offered…for the glory of God and the salvation of the world.” (Note: this is not saying that anyone’s sufferings, sacrificial living or death saves the world — these things can be offered to the Lord, used for His purposes if He wants, to speak to others and lead them to the salvation that comes by the death of Christ).

Oh my, I thought. I am not very loving. I could probably find hypocrisy if I dug a little deeper. And while I spend time in prayer every day, I am not where I want to be on that deep and mysterious journey of prayer. And when I suffer? I don’t remember very often to hand it over to the Lord, who can make anything beautiful that is given to Him. And sacrifices, which are the true sign of a lay-down-your-life kind of love, are not a huge part of my daily to-do lists.

As I read through this again and again, it came to me like my own kind of epiphany: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh are what the I want to give to the Lord this coming year. And probably all the years after that, however long I have left on this earth.

The pure gold of real love of God and neighbor…. that is the gift I want to give Him, yet I cannot, without a thousand mercies and graces.

The beautiful frankincense of a life of prayer…. not just a time of prayer, but a life of prayer. I have been seeking after this for a long time, and as I place myself before Jesus each morning in the dark, I ask Him to make the rest of my life one of prayer. I am not able without Him, but I know I’m praying His perfect will to ask this, day after day.

And myrrh… that somehow, miraculously (and I truly mean it would have to be a miracle of God), whatever hardships and sacrifices are to come to me as I age and move toward my end here, could be used of Him in some way. That I could be what my last name suggests, and bring balm and healing and help to someone, even if only by prayer.

I look at these attributes that gold, frankincense and myrrh could point to, and it might be laughable because I’m not being falsely humble when I say I’m not even close to living this way. But I’m still alive, there’s still time. I love Jesus and desire to love Him more fully and deeply. He can do miracles today.

It has been a long time since I’ve chosen a focus word for the coming year, as has been common in recent times. But for 2026, I think I have three words: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

I pray God will make me different than I am now — I want to genuinely love Him and others, I want to live a life of prayer, and I want to nevermore cause pain and hurt feelings to anyone, but to humbly bring His healing and hope, to suffer well, trusting Him with every part of my life.

Sixty years later, I don’t care about really nice presents (although I certainly received some), and instead I want peace and goodwill and a bit of quiet joy as we gather together.

On Christmas Eve we went to Jeremy and Carolyn’s for lasagna, panzanella, appetizers, Dairy Bars and spicy molasses cookies. We sat in their lovely living room with a fire crackling in the hearth, and sang a few carols as Jeremy and Elijah played their guitars and Margaret’s boyfriend played the piano.

On Christmas morning we gathered at Chris and Sharon’s, and enjoyed a potluck brunch, which is our custom. There was baked French toast, piles of bacon and sausage links, a coffee cake, democracy dip with fresh vegetables, beverages and various Christmas bars and cookies. I brought my usual sausage egg casserole, and Carolyn brought a delicious green salad with homemade vinaigrette. We leisurely opened presents, the little kids played with Legos, the cousins had white elephant gifts they swapped each other for with rolls of dice, and everyone grazed all day on the buffet spread.

Earlier in the week Sharon, Carolyn, Sara and I met at The Merryweather Inn for a lovely Christmas tea that Sharon arranged for us. We had scones and clotted cream, leek soup, exotic teas, and various bars. The inn is stunning and it was a wonderful way to spend some time with my beloveds. I call them The Blood in my Veins.

Today I’m listening to an audiobook I’m not enjoying yet. I’ve been in a wonderful national book club called Well-Read Mom for two years now, and this month’s book is Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I had high hopes since I’ve read his Les Miserables three times and loved it, but this one…. so far it is an absolute slog for me. I’m hoping it gets better. Most of the selections in Well-Read Mom have been worthwhile, even if some are quite difficult.

Before I got out of bed at 4:00 a.m. this morning my cell phone delivered an alert from the National Weather Service about a coming snowstorm. Beginning tonight or early tomorrow morning, five to eight inches of snow is predicted. I’m always happy for a good snowfall, because I’m a home body and getting snowed in feels so cozy. The below zero temps will descend after the snow goes, and I am not a fan of that part of a northeastern Minnesota winter.

What are you reading? Do you have New Year’s Eve plans? (me: zzzzz)

I want my 2026 to be marked by prayer and peace. If you would like prayer feel free to leave a comment, and I will be happy to pray for you.

Warm wishes to all,

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”

“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”

(Feniqo)

“The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”

“If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart.”

“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”

Parsley Salad with Toasted Almonds and Lemon

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups cold, cooked basmati rice
5 cups roughly chopped Italian parsley, with tender stems
1-1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds, skillet-toasted in 1 teaspoon butter, and roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely diced sweet onion, such as Vidalia
Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

Make the dressing right in the serving bowl: Combine the lemon juice, mustard, honey, pepper, salt and garlic in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking until emulsified.

Add the parsley to the dressing and toss to combine. Add the rice, toasted almonds, onions and lemon zest, and toss well. As a side dish, this would serve about 6.

If you make it, let me know what you thought. I will make this again and again.

Now, I pray for every single person who’s reading these words today, that the Lord would help you, bless your family, remind you often of His mercy and love for you, bring healing and peace, and draw you closer to His beautiful self.

I’m asking Him to do the same thing for me.

I’ve made a few batches at home over the years, and finally adjusted one I found online to be just what I like. I love a good Cobb Salad, and they’re so good with blue cheese dressing!

Best Blue Cheese Dressing

10 ounces blue cheese
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup sour cream
¾ cup mayonnaise
8 t. white vinegar
1 t. sugar
½  t. garlic powder
3/4 t. salt
Generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Mash the blue cheese and buttermilk together in a bowl with a fork until the mixture resembles large-curd cottage cheese.

Stir in the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and garlic powder until well blended. Add salt and stir well, then season with black pepper.

If you like it a bit more tangy, you could up the sour cream 1 T. at a time. The original recipe I messed around with was too tart for me, and I ended up using more mayonnaise than they recommended. This is the one I ended up with, and love the most. And it’s soooo good with steak, dipping veggies (raw or roasted), and for tossing a chopped salad in.

Let me know if you make it, and have a great week!

Then I think about brushing my teeth, getting dressed, starting my day. Laundry, dinner planning, errands, foster paperwork, and all the usual things I take such pleasure in doing. Right around this time is when I turn on some music on my bedroom Bose speaker. I usually play one song on repeat, sometimes for a couple of hours as I begin my day. I know exactly what song I’m supposed to play to nourish my soul, renew my mind, give me hope and elevate my thoughts. I don’t mean it’s only one song, I just know which song needs to go deeply into my inner being in the season of life I’m in at that time. I might play it every day for a week. I might play it every day for a month. Then another song might be what is needed. I just play it as long as I know God is using it in my life. Music is so powerful.

These days, this is the song I’m playing over and over and over. I’m sure most of you are familiar with it and I’ve mentioned it before on my little blog here. But this version is the one going deep into my soul, mind, and heart these days. These words say what I wish I could have said myself. I don’t view it as a Christmas song at all even though the video below is on Bob Bennett’s Christmas album. So if you listen, just take it in like it’s any day of the year. I put the lyrics below (I’ve also written them in my journal and I read them like a prayer) so you can see how beautiful they are.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit, and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit, and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasures dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasures dearly I have bought
I missed of all; but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile
I’m weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile
Under the shadow I will be
of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

(By Rev. Richard Hutchins)

Are there any songs you listen to on repeat? What do you think of this one?

God be with you all today,

Lord, it’s like you…

–Removed dark glasses
–Opened a door to a new universe
–Expanded my soul
–Awakened my mind
–Sat me at a new table with miles of feast before me
–Removed calluses from my heart
–Unveiled the scriptures anew
–Refracted the lenses of my eyes
–Plugged me in to new power
–Filled my lungs with fresh air
–Sensitized my hands and fingers to grasp some of You
–Put my feet on a beautiful path
–Confirmed my vocation
–Brought real help to my side
–Supplied me with a myriad of tools I’ve never had
–Infused me with hope and soberness and awe

Thank you.