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Writer's pictureKathryn Bechen

How to Raise Your Cozy Home, Clothes, & Casserole Quotient


Our new cozy Costco fireplace stove.

Hello my lovely readers,


What's your home's "cozy quotient?" In times when the world swirls with utter craziness, I think cozy touches at home are a necessity to take care of ourselves the best we can, body and soul. I've personally practiced a cozy lifestyle m.o. for pretty much forever and I heartily recommend this way of life because it's comfortable, affordable, and just plain feels good.


Here are some ways I do cozy, and why ...



COZY NOT-AT-HOME SIDE NOTE: I have a cozy-comfy clothing m.o. too, not just a cozy m.o. at home. There is a good reason I do this. For instance: I wore my fave cozy dress/lounger to a difficult dentist appointment recently and the dentist and her staff commented on my pretty dress, and how it even matched my turquoise cane, (it's hard to get out of a reclining dentist chair at age 66 so a cane helps!), so I shared with them that when I have to do something hard, I purposely wear something cozy-colorful-pretty. They both kind of looked bewildered by my comments, so I don't know if they didn't grasp my "creative pain management concept" since they were wearing sensible all-black uniforms, or if they felt bad that they caused me lots of pain -- about 12 shots, a lot of my blood I could have donated, and $3000. (It's a toss up which hurt more; the shots, the blood loss, or the money, and let's just say I couldn't wait to get home to my pretty cozy garden-style bedroom and rest!) Well, with the cost, at least I do this so that I have money saved when something unexpected happens. And now I have also taken it upon myself to read the book Kiss Your Dentist Goodbye, written by none other than a dentist. I am not suggesting that you read this book or fire your dentist, but personally, I want to educate myself more about my own teeth so I can speak intelligently to any future new dentist I hire.


But back to positive cozy at home ...


My husband Steve and I ramped up our "cozy quotient" lately with a new cute little faux fireplace that's just the right size for our small home. Similar. It's so charming; we just love it! We had been considering one of these FP stoves for awhile as it gets chilly sometimes in the fall in Arizona. (Not too long after the +110 degree heat stops, we go into chilly sometimes, just like that!) These little FP stoves are a nice alternative to blah-looking small space black heaters, so when Steve called me all excited from Costco about this stove, I told him "Yes! I think we should buy one before the snowbirds all come to AZ as they will buy them out, I'd bet." And sure enough, the next time he went to Costco about 10 days later they were all sold out, so apparently other people are onto this cozy m.o. lately too, yes?


You can run the flame on this without turning on the heat element, so if it doesn't bother you to watch a fireplace flicker romantically when it's over 100+ degrees in the shade outside and therefore your AC bill might be approaching $2000 that month, you can turn your fireplace on as it's just fake flames and no heat! (I kind of just thought back in my mind my past of growing up in frigid blizzards in the Midwest while I was actually living now in Arizona, and that did the trick of ignoring our 100+ degrees heat while the fireplace flames danced beautifully in my living room!) Also, the stove model we bought at Costco was about $130 including tax which was a great price. (My husband, a former career banker of 40-some years and now a tax-organizer-employee part-time during tax season, loves both Costco, and a great price.) I don't see this stove on the Costco website, but here is one online that's similar to ours.


Our homemade tuna casserole!

Okay, one other thing I think you need to "up your cozy quotient" at home is good ol' tuna casserole. And I don't mean some gourmet-ish version you find from some "chic chef" online touting three kinds of cheeses you have never heard of, let alone don't have the budget for. I mean plain ol' real tuna casserole like the kind of tuna casserole served at every church potluck in the Midwest in the 1960s. (Or, if you were from Minnesota, like my ancestors were, you proudly called it a Hot Dish.) The creamy kind like your Grandma made. (She's now called Nana, Mimi, Bubby and such, and she likely runs a software company, takes her grandkids on cruises, and texts them for fun, but back in the day, we called her Grandma and she made us tuna casseroles, read us real paper books that were not on a Kindle, and taught us to knit, crochet, and to be sure we said please and thank you!) :)


Here's the "recipe" we made as kids with the "secret ingredient" that makes it qualify as real comfort tuna casserole in my opinion ....


INSTRUCTIONS:


  • Boil a big amount of egg noodles or elbow macaroni in boiling salted water and drain and rinse in a colander.


  • Add cheese of your choice and melt 'til creamy on the stovetop in a big pan. Add more cheese if you like it really cheesy. Note: In the 60s people used Velveeta cheese. I don't use that anymore, but since this is a trip down "comfort food memory lane" I thought I would mention Velveeta. :) Now I use Violife brand shredded vegan cheese. But you can use whatever "American cheese" you like.


  • Add in milk or nut milk, (I like coconut milk but almond milk is fine too), until it's the consistency you want.


  • I add in about 1 T. dry minced onion and some minced garlic, but both are optional.


  • Salt helps it taste better, but it's optional.


  • Add in 1-2 small cans flaked tuna depending on how "tuna-ish" you want it.


Put it all in a greased 9x13 baking dish and ...


  • If you want to make it pretty, sprinkle paprika on top.


  • If you want to make it special add crushed potato chips all over the top. (Crushed potato chips are the "secret ingredient" we used in childhood in the 60s. If you use the ruffle-y kind, even better!)


Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees.


So YUM!


Tuna casserole freezes well.

Steve Bechen's cornbread muffins!

Serve with your favorite homemade muffins. We like cornbread muffins like Steve made here with our tuna casserole. Lots of recipes for those online.



Our cozy retirement home in Arizona.

May your home be cozy, your clothes be comfy-pretty, and your teeth be healthy!


Kathryn :)





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