Notice of Suspension Due to the Demise of my Windows Computer

It’s with regret that I announce the suspension of this Thrift with Flair blog. My Windows computer has gone to its eternal rest. Without it, I cannot access Word. The PsychDisABILITIES main blog happens to be stored currently as part and parcel of the book manuscript for RESPONSIBILITY--in Google Drive Documents! Hence, PsychDisABILITIES will be posted weekly, per usual.

At some point, I may resume the Thrift with Flair blog once I get the chance to develop new recipes and other posts within Google Drive Documents. But all of my Word documents--other than manuscripts of previously completed books--are lost. (The book manuscripts are on thumb drives, fortunately, as well as having been in Word.)

That’s the way the proverbial cookie crumbles! It ain’t the end of the world, but I am sorry that there will be an interruption in this Thrift with Flair blog.

May all of my loyal readers be well. Blessings, Deborah

RECIPE: Deborah’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

You will need 2 loaf pans, greased or lined, to bake the casserole.

12 oz bow-tie pasta (preferred) or other large shape of macaroni, cooked for least time specified on package directions. Drain and run cold water over the pasta to stop its cooking process.

You can prepare the sauce, following, in the same pot in which you had cooked the pasta.

3 T margarine

3 T flour

2 c liquid—milk preferred, but can use vegetable broth

1 tsp salt

Freshly-ground black pepper (about ½ tsp)

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried dill weed

1/3 bunch of fresh cilantro (preferred) or parsley, snipped small with kitchen shears. If you don’t have either on hand, you can substitute 2 scallions/green onions, snipped thinly.

2 5-oz cans of chunk light tuna

1 carrot, diced

Melt the margarine. (The heat already in the pot will do this nicely, without browning the fat.) Stir in the flour smoothly with a spoon-spatula (preferred) or implement of your choice. Then turn the flame on, to Medium-Low. Pour in ½ c of liquid. Stir/mix completely and try to remove all lumps remaining from the flour/fat roux. Add the rest of the liquid. Stir and immediately move the flame down to Low. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dill weed. Stir often until white sauce thickens to the consistency of honey. Stirring constantly, raise the flame and let simmer for 1 minute, until sauce thickens to a gravy’s consistency. Turn off flame. Add cilantro or parsley or scallions, and tuna, and carrot. Mix thoroughly.

Wash your hands and take some of the pasta out of the colander (using your hands) into the pasta pot with its sauce. Mix. Repeat until all of the pasta is in the pot. Mix again, thoroughly.

Put half of the casserole into each loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until some of the pasta on the top of the pans has browned.

Serves 4.

You Don’t Need to Buy Sprays of Oil or Flour-with-Oil….

Almost all baking requires a floured and oiled pan, and almost all recipes of any sort require an oiled pan. Yes, you can have sprays like Pam™ or Baker’s Secret™ on hand for emergencies, but here’s how to avoid using them on almost all occasions.

Pour about a tablespoon of canola oil in the pan. Use a brush—optimally a silicone pastry brush, but in actuality I use the much cheaper 1” or 2” nylon painting brush—to spread the oil around evenly.

For use with muffin tins, I do use silicone liners. They are easily cleaned by soaking in sudsy water. It is tedious to brush a tad of oil into 24 or more muffin cups!

To flour the pan, just add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the pan once it has been oiled. Over your sink, firmly tap each side of the pan until the flour coats all inner surfaces. (You may need to add a bit more flour.) 

Note that if you are baking a chocolate dessert, you should use cocoa instead of all-purpose flour.

Mind the pennies, and the dollars will follow!