Sep 6, 2023 5 min read

Dear Heloise: Some kids like toasted cheese sandwiches, but they usually need an adult to make them. Well, not anymore!

All they have to do is toast a couple slices of bread and put lots of grated cheese (or a couple of slices of cheese) between the two toasted pieces of bread. They can place the sandwich on a napkin or paper towel and microwave it for 12 to 20 seconds. Then, just remove it from the microwave and eat! — Amy R., Anaheim, Calif.

SEND A GREAT HINT TO:

Heloise

P.O. Box 795001

San Antonio, TX 78279-5001

Fax: 1-210-HELOISE

Email: Heloise@Heloise.com

HELOISE’S COUNTRY-STYLE BEEF SOUP

Dear Heloise: My wife did 99% of the cooking at home for 24 years. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), and now I do all the cooking for her. She always loved a beef and vegetable soup, and I was told you had a recipe for this kind of soup that was a time-tested treat. Would you print that in your column so I can make it for her? Many of the things she enjoyed doing are now impossible for her to do, so I like to prepare meals for her that I know she loves to eat. — Earl N., Bowling Green, Ohio

Earl, I’m so sorry to hear about your wife’s illness. I hope she enjoys this recipe for my Country-Style Beef Soup:

In a large 6- to 8-quart pot, boil a large soup bone in 8 cups of water (add more if needed) and 8 ounces of tomato sauce for 4 to 6 hours (depending on size). Then add:

n 1/3 cup rice

n 4 large garlic cloves, minced

n 1 large onion, cubed

n 1 cup carrots, cubed

n 1 cup celery, cubed

n 1 large potato, cubed

n 1 small zucchini or yellow squash, cubed

n 2 teaspoons salt (add more or less according to personal taste)

n 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

n 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Boil for 20 minutes. Add 4 to 6 ounces of medium-sized egg noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with cornbread.

With cooler weather on the way, it’s always so nice to come home to a hearty bowl of soup and warm bread.

If you enjoy a cozy room and a yummy bowl of soup, you’ll absolutely love my pamphlet “Heloise’s Spectacular Soups.” It’s so easy to get a copy, too. Just go to www.Heloise.com or send $5 along with a stamped, self-addressed, long envelope to: Heloise/Soups, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001.

These recipes have been a part of my family for many years, and I hope they become a part of your family, too. — Heloise

MUSHROOMS

Dear Heloise: Do mushrooms have any nutritional value? — Rita R., Minot, North Dakota

Rita, mushrooms have a number of vitamins and minerals. Just to name a few, white button mushrooms contain, on average, 2.89 g of protein, 4 g of carbs, 16.3 mcg of folate, 2 mg of vitamin C, 8.6 mg of magnesium, 82.6 mg of phosphorus, 2.9 mg of calcium and 1 mcg of vitamin K. They are also one of the very few plant-based foods that have vitamin D. In other words, mushrooms not only look and taste great, they’re also healthy for you. — Heloise

CHECK IN ON ELDERS

Dear Heloise: Here’s something to add to your reminder list in this oppressive, unrelenting heat: How about reminding those who are able to check in on the elderly neighbors and long-distant parents? -Joan, Houston

FEEDING HUMMINGBIRDS

Dear Heloise: Instead of using hummingbird feeders, which are filled with sugar water and have to be cleaned once a week during the summer, we plant flowers. There are several red tube-shaped flowers that hummingbirds particularly like. We currently have pots of cigar plants (Cuphea ignea), and hummingbirds fly around them often.

In addition to requiring less care than a feeder, the nectar is probably healthier than sugar.

Also, the birds become pollinators when they use real flowers instead of feeders. — Sarah Thomas, Springfield, Ill.

DOWN THE HAwTCH

Dear Heloise: As a mother of two and a grandmother of three, I know what a chore it can be to get babies and toddlers to take their medicine, but my family came up with a genius idea. Unscrew the top of a bottle, pour the liquid into the nipple, and then hold the nipple for the baby to drink out of it. It works every time.

I read your column every day in the Daily Freeman in Kingston, New York. — Joan Alberts, Saugerties, New York

CROCKPOT COOKING

Dear Heloise: Here’s an ingenious idea for CrockPot meals. We go fishing several times a year to June Lake. There aren’t a lot of options for places to eat after getting off the lake at a later time, so my sister came up with this idea. She fixed some chili beans in the CrockPot with a CrockPot liner, removed the beans in the liner and froze them. Now, all we have to do when we are ready to cook them is return them to the CrockPot. Then, dinner will be ready when we return from fishing for the day.

Now, we prepare meals ahead of time, so we can quickly fix our CrockPot meals. It’s a very easy cleanup as well! — Terry and Patty, Bakersfield, California