Author: admin

• Broccoli-cheese casserole, made with just four ingredients, is a holiday favorite and crowd-pleaser.
• The easy recipe uses frozen broccoli, cream of mushroom soup, Cheez Whiz, and stuffing mix.
• This make-ahead casserole is budget-friendly, adaptable, and always the first dish to disappear.

Years ago, when I was flipping through a magazine, a cheesy recipe caught my eye. It was simple, quick, and cheap — the busy mom’s culinary trifecta. Plus, the glossy picture featured a vegetable both kids would eat: broccoli.

I remember tearing the page out and thinking it might save me on a hectic weeknight, when late afternoons were a scramble between homework, carpools, and hours on a baseball field.

At the time, I didn’t really know how to cook and was trying to build a small rotation of easy meals that everyone in the family would eat.

I forgot about it until the holidays rolled around and we needed a side dish to bring to a potluck party. The broccoli-cheese duo was a big hit — the first casserole to disappear — and people even asked me for the recipe.

As someone who didn’t enjoy being in the kitchen, I knew it was a keeper.

The steps are easy

Most every cookbook on my shelf at the time had long, confusing ingredient lists. This one, however, had no chopping, sauteeing or complicated steps—just four ingredients mixed together.

Depending on whether you buy store-brand or name-brand labels, the total cost of ingredients ranges from $5 to $10, with the most expensive ingredient being the Cheese Whiz. It takes about 10 minutes to assemble and can be made a day or more in advance. As a lifelong fan of anything make-ahead, this was a great selling point for me.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 1 package (20 oz.) frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained
• 1 can (10¾ oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup Cheez Whiz Cheese Dip
• 1 box (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

I also like to have about five tablespoons of butter on hand to melt and mix with the stuffing.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Next, spray a 2-quart casserole dish with Cooking Spray and set it aside. That’s the size I reach for most often because it gives you a thicker casserole with all the cheesy goodness tucked in.

I have some secrets

But here’s a pro tip I’ve learned after years of bringing this dish to get-togethers: if you’re feeding a crowd or know people will be coming back for seconds, grab a three-quart dish instead. Using the larger pan lets the casserole spread out a bit, so it serves more people without losing any of its flavor. It’s a small adjustment that has saved me more than once when extra kids or family members showed up around the holidays.

Mix the first three ingredients (broccoli, cheese, and soup) in the baking dish. If you are saving it to cook for another day, this is the point where you’d cover it with foil and store it in the fridge or freezer. The Stove Top stuffing mix should only be added just before baking, so it stays crisp.

One tweak I’ve made to the original recipe is to not cook the stuffing mix, but to use it dry, so that the breadcrumbs remain crunchy for the topping. Also, more butter makes it better. The original recipe called for three tablespoons, but I upped it to five. Trust me on this.

For the perfect crispy top, pour the stuffing mix into a bowl. Melt five tablespoons of butter in the microwave and drizzle it over the crumbs. Give it a good stir so everything gets nicely coated, and then spread it evenly over the top of your casserole.

Pop it into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the topping begins to turn golden brown. It makes eight servings of ¾ cup each.

It goes well with any food

Besides being economical, it pairs with just about anything: roast chicken, baked ham, grilled pork chops, even a big green salad—and it’s surprisingly tasty the next day. It’s also endlessly adaptable. If you’re not a broccoli fan, you can swap in cauliflower, green beans, or even a mix of whatever frozen vegetables you have on hand.

Since that original potluck party, I’ve made this casserole numerous times. For a holiday work party one year, we were each asked to bring something to share. Many of my co-workers had special diets or allergies, a few were vegetarian, and my deskmate admittedly had the palate of a finicky child.

After stressing about what to bring, I ended up making my broccoli cheese casserole. Hoping one or two people might have a bite, I planned to bring the leftovers home for my family. Once again, it disappeared quickly, and my picky office mate told me I should bring two the next time.

This simple side dish remains a hall-of-famer in my small repertoire. Even now, with grown kids, it’s still a favorite in our house. Not bad for a 10-minute recipe.

• My daughter wanted to invite her favorite local shop owner to her birthday party.
• I decided to support her wish, since we try to value community, so we invited him.
• He showed up at the end of the party and helped pass out cake to all of the other guests.

I was about to round up a dozen kids for cake when my daughter asked, “Can we wait a few more minutes? He’s not here yet.”

She was talking about the owner of our favorite local shop — the one with handmade cards, chocolate chip cookies, and an ink stamp at the checkout counter she was allowed to use. My child had insisted on inviting him to her seventh birthday party.

We waited, and a few minutes later, when I had almost given up, he showed up. He sang with the other guests and enjoyed a piece of cake. It was just what my daughter wanted, and I’m glad I made it happen.

An unexpected guest

I’ll admit, I laughed the first time she mentioned inviting a grown adult to her birthday party. We were walking back from refilling olive oil and picking up dried fruit from The Ditty Bag, Jason’s store, when she asked, “Do you have Jason’s phone number? I want to invite him to my birthday party.”

It was at least six months before her birthday party. I said yes, I knew how to get in touch with Jason, thinking she wasn’t really serious. That she would likely forget all about it when her birthday approached. She didn’t forget.

As the months passed and my kid narrowed down her wishes: a backyard party, potion making (which would only happen if it was nice enough to be outside, I insisted), with witch-themed cake and food, leaning into the fact that her birthday falls near Halloween, she never wavered in wanting to invite Jason.

She reminded me several times over the months that I said I could contact him. When it finally came time to sit down and make her birthday guest list, his name appeared right next to those of her friends, grandparents, aunt, and uncle.

As her mom, I wanted her to be happy

I was aware this invite was a somewhat unusual request, and I knew I was going to feel a little awkward inviting him. I was worried that he might also feel strange being invited to a kid’s party.

I could have said no at this point, told my child it was inappropriate. Was it? My daughter, though, had finished writing out her birthday invite by saying, “and mom, you can invite some of your friends too, they don’t need to bring me a present.” It occurred to me that her desire to invite Jason was a consequence of my own parenting and focus.

Over the last few years, I’ve been trying — sometimes awkwardly, but always intentionally — to center community in my daughter’s life.

We live in a time when connection can feel scarce. Many of our friendships are maintained through group texts. Sometimes I wonder and worry if we are forgetting what it means to live in a society. I don’t want my daughter’s sense of community to come only from screens or scheduled playdates. I want her to see community as something built in small, daily interactions, such as saying hello to the mail carrier, remembering the name of the woman who is always sitting out on her porch on our walk to the school bus stop, dropping off an extra bag of coffee for the neighbors, and chatting with the man who runs the corner shop.

There’s a scaffolding in these interactions I’m also trying to build for her. As more research emerges about the consequences of replacing children’s free time and free play with near-constant adult supervision, the importance of community is becoming even clearer to me. I am trying to create a mini world for my kid where she will one day be able to walk to the corner store by herself, knowing that there are other adults along the way who she knows can ask for help if she needs it. And I want her to be able to do the same for others. Communities are their own form of wealth, but they don’t just happen.

I realized that my daughter’s invitation was her own small act of community-building. She didn’t care that the shop owner was an adult or that they’d never shared a playground. What mattered was that this person was silly like her, remembered her name, and always asked about her latest project.

She got what she wanted

In the end, I sent out the Evite. Knowing that the party started an hour before his shop closed, I suggested to Jason that he didn’t have to stay long, but that my child would be thrilled if he stopped by after he closed for a slice of cake.

I looked at my daughter, cheeks flushed from running around the backyard with friends, and told her, “Sure, we could wait a little longer.” Jason arrived just as I was about to give up and was herding everyone to the table. He stayed long enough to help pass out cake and talk with the kids. He seemed genuinely happy to be there.

Later that night, my daughter said, “I’m so glad Jason came.”

“I’m glad you wanted to invite him,” I replied.

• Natalie Lynch, 56, moved to Europe in 2024 seeking a slower pace of life and a lower cost of living.
• She loved Florence but couldn’t afford it, so this year she moved to Audenge, France.
• Lynch says her life in Europe isn’t a fairytale, but it beats what she had in the US.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Natalie Lynch, 56, who relocated from San Francisco to Europe in 2024 and now resides in Audenge, France. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The pandemic, with its loss of freedom, loss of connectivity, and the very clear message that life can be short, was a real wake-up call for me. I decided I needed to make some big changes, even if I didn’t have a clear idea of what the endgame would look like.

I started working when I was 15, and I wanted to get off the hamster wheel. So, in 2021, I sold my house in Oakland, and a few years later, in 2024, I sold my home-staging business, which I had owned for 24 years.

After that, I wasn’t saving much money or making any headway in San Francisco, so I decided to cash in my chips and move to Europe with my little dog, Enzo.

It was a huge leap to push myself out of my comfort zone. I had owned my home for 17 years and was surrounded by a great support system of friends and neighbors, but I was in search of a new life.

At first, we traveled along the Italian coast. I spent a couple of months in Florence and a few weeks in Rome. I loved both cities, but I found that Italy wasn’t a great fit for a single woman with a small dog. After some time in Spain, I’m now in France, on the coast of Arcachon Bay near Bordeaux.

It’s been interesting navigating new towns, shops, languages, and people. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. But I had immigrant parents from France and grandparents from Russia, so the feeling of not quite fitting in is not new to me. Maybe that will make this experience feel a little easier.

I loved Florence, but I couldn’t afford to stay there

When we moved to Italy, Enzo and I traveled most of the coast, trying to find that unicorn place, but it never happened. While it was a great adventure, the only places where I felt truly happy were Rome and Florence.

Florence has a great mix of people; it’s a really friendly and vibrant place. While there, I made a friend on Facebook who had an apartment on the opposite side of the Arno River, away from the touristy areas, and she let me rent it from her for $2,400 a month.

Enzo and I walked around every day, at any time of night in Florence, it was such a safe place. My favorite part of living there was becoming a regular at local businesses. It got to the point where people would call out, “Ciao, Enzo,” when we walked in the door.

I knew it would be too expensive to live in Florence in the long term. I’m not working and am living on my savings, so even living there on a budget would be difficult.

I really wanted to be by the sea, and I didn’t picture growing old in Florence or Rome, so I packed up and headed to France. However, I was still sad to leave.

I’m building a life in France

As for becoming French — or riding a bicycle with a baguette in the basket — that’s not my dream. My dream is to meet kind people, live along a palm-lined promenade, ride with Enzo in the bike basket, and breathe in the sea air.

I’ve had a rental car the whole time in France, which has allowed me to have several bases and explore a lot of the surrounding towns.

When Enzo got sick in September, I decided to rent a place in a small, mostly French town on the Arcachon Bay. It feels good to settle down — we’ve stayed in more than 30 places over the past year, pushing both my poor little dog and me out of our comfort zones.

I’m renting a fully furnished duplex in Audenge. I’m paying €1,200, which is about $1,400, and that includes utilities. The duplex is very quiet, has a yard, and I share it with a friendly French couple.

We’ll have to move out in July for the summer season, when rentals tend to skyrocket. I’m not sure where we will go next, but I know it will be a home base where I can finally have the remainder of my belongings from California delivered, and we can establish a sense of stability.

I also finally bought a car last week for €18,600 ($21,802.83). It’s a relief because I’ve spent so much money on rental cars the whole time I’ve been in France.

I’m also studying for my French driver’s license — the test will be in French, a language I only speak at a very basic level. That said, I know I can do it because I’ve already managed to accomplish so many other things.

I don’t plan on returning to the US

During my travels in Europe, I’ve seen many beautiful places and met wonderful, kind, funny people. Having Enzo with me has facilitated most of this — he’s been the best travel partner I’ve ever had.

I’ve also learned a lot about myself throughout this journey, like how to adapt and figure things out. I’m not afraid to stay in new places, eat alone, visit government offices, make appointments in another language, or ask strangers for help. I’ll drive in a new country, take the train, make eye contact, and strike up conversations.

I’ve not once been so frustrated that I’ve given up. Each day, I remind myself how lucky I am not to be working, so I have the time to accomplish whatever I’m trying to do.

I’m still adjusting to being far from home and being away from my friends. I never had any delusions of becoming the best friend of an Italian or French person or being invited to Sunday dinner. You can’t move to another country and expect to be fully absorbed into that culture.

Still, I plan to stick it out in Europe. Returning to the United States would mean starting from scratch and rebuilding from the ground up. I can’t live off my savings there, but in Europe, I can survive on a budget of around $3,000 a month.

While I don’t think I’m living my best life here, it’s a better life than I had in California, so I’m headed in the right direction. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but the slower pace of life, not having to grind every day running a business, and being out of the rat race has been a huge gift.

• The Justice Department released new documents related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.
• They included photos featuring celebrities and politicians, as well as flight logs and documents.
• Here are five things we learned from the latest release.

The Justice Department’s long-awaited release of the Epstein files on Friday offered a deeper look at the jet-setting lifestyle of the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein — but few major revelations.

The data dump included thousands of files, mostly images, many of which were heavily redacted. The Justice Department released the documents to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month.

The department, citing the task of ensuring no information included in the release could be used to identify victims, did not make public its entire database on Friday, as the law required. The department said it would turn over more files in the coming weeks.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18. Nine years later, the financier was charged with the sex trafficking of minors. He died by suicide in 2019 while in federal custody.

Business Insider has been reviewing the latest files, which continued to roll out late Friday evening. Here are our biggest takeaways.

1. Lots of famous faces

The files contained numerous images of celebrities and politicians, including former president Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson, and British billionaire Richard Branson.

The photos are not evidence of wrongdoing.

Not all of the celebs were pictured with Epstein, and at least one photo — of Diana Ross with Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson — can be found on the professional photography service, Getty Images, suggesting it was not Epstein’s personal photo.

The context of many of the photos is also unclear, lacking dates, locations, and other identifying information.

Clinton featured prominently in the latest round of files, including several previously unseen photos.

Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for Clinton, said on X that the former president was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activity.

“There are two types of people here,” he wrote. “The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that.”

Other famous figures seen in photos in the documents include actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, The Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, and Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York. Business Insider reached out to them for comment.

Spacey had earlier called for the release of the Epstein files and said in a post on X in July that he has “nothing to fear.” In multiple interviews before the latest release, Tucker has denied any knowledge of criminal activity. Jagger has not responded publicly. Ferguson has said she cut ties with Epstein after his conviction.

2. Redactions draw criticisms

The Justice Department’s release drew criticism from some victims and Democrats for its heavy redactions and limited initial release.

In some cases, entire documents were obscured by black boxes, including one 119-page file. The DOJ has attributed its delay in producing all the documents by the December 19 deadline in part to its duty to safeguard the personal information of victims and other individuals.

3. 1996 complaint

The files shed some light on how long young women have been accusing Epstein of wrongdoing.

Among the thousands of documents was a 1996 FBI memo included in a complaint filed against Epstein by a woman whose name the Justice Department redacted. Business Insider confirmed the accuser was Maria Farmer, who has previously said publicly that she reported Epstein to the authorities.

In her original complaint, Farmer says Epstein stole pictures of her 16-year-old sister and is “believed to have sold them to potential buyers.” She says he once asked someone to take photos of young women at swimming pools.

“I feel redeemed. This is one of the best days of my life,” Farmer said in a statement to Business Insider shared by her lawyer.

4. More files to come

The Justice Department was required by law to release the documents by December 19, but US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday that the files would be released in batches over the coming weeks. Four sets of files were released on Friday evening. The Justice Department posted an additional three sets late Friday, which included photos of evidence files.

The Justice Department’s delay in releasing all the files at once has led to criticism from lawmakers. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said the move “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law.”

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna told CNN that he and Massie were now drafting articles of impeachment against US Attorney General Pam Bondi following the release.

Trump stays quiet

Trump is known to have socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, and photos of the pair together have been well publicized in recent years.

He didn’t feature prominently in Friday’s document release. There was a photo of a messy desk that contained a photo of Trump inside a drawer. Trump has previously said he ended his ties with Epstein years ago.

Blanche told ABC News on Friday that there had been “no effort to hold anything back because there is the name Donald J Trump.”

Trump had not commented publicly on the files as of Saturday afternoon.

• Christmas with adult kids brings new joy and less pressure for parents during the holidays.
• The author reflects on past Christmases, realizing adult children create lasting family traditions.
• Blending old and new holiday rituals with grown children can strengthen family bonds and increase happiness.

My daughter-in-law called me recently to ask about Secret Santa. She was wondering if everyone would get involved, if I had any thoughts on stocking stuffers, and if there was anything in particular I might want, other than the Costco-sized jar of peanut M&Ms I had mentioned about 1,000 times.

My youngest son texted not long after to let me know he got three full days off for Christmas. He’ll be bringing his cat for a visit. We’ll all buy him cat treats. We will prepare casseroles and cookies, as well as overnight cinnamon rolls for the morning. We will wait to watch the main event, the Christmas movies, until we are all together.

This is my Christmas with adult kids. The kind of Christmas I dreaded when my four sons were little and I thought I had just those magical 18 holidays with them before it would all end.

I thought the best times were when they were little

I thought those Christmases were the best I would ever see as a mom because I think that’s the story we are sold. Christmas is for kids. It’s better with kids. It’s more fun, more magical, more everything. And I’ll tell you that I really wrung every second of joy out of Christmas when my kids were little in an absolute panic of memory-making.

I pushed the Santa agenda far longer than was socially acceptable. I baked every day, built gingerbread houses, and attended every Christmas concert. I bought the matching pajamas, I collected special ornaments and kept them in boxes for the boys to hang on our tree every year, no matter what.

I think I idolized the holidays, like a good Christmas might make up for any other shortcomings during the rest of the year. I overlooked how tough it really was on me in favor of the good mom checkmark I might get at the end of it all.

I can finally admit it was hard

And it was hard on me. I can admit this finally. Not just because I was on my own with my sons or because we were living right around the poverty line. But because I genuinely believed that the only Christmases that mattered happened when my kids were little. It was like a Doomsday clock was ticking down on my every year, tied up with a neat red bow. I had to build memories for them at any cost so they would have happy childhood memories and not look back on our life together as a failure.

I wish I could go back and talk to the stressed-out mom I was then. I would tell her that she could stop spending important January bill money on December toys. I would tell her that her kids will be OK. And yes, they want a few toys, but they will remember about one quarter of them by the next year.

Most of all, I would tell her that she has way more fun holidays ahead than she thinks. I would even argue that Christmas with adult kids is better than it is with little kids. The pressure is off. Right or wrong, they are grown now. I don’t have to keep any kind of special magic alive for them; they’ve seen behind the curtain, and they know I was back there all along.

It’s not all just on me

They see me. They appreciate me. Best of all, they are back behind the curtain with me now, too. They provide, along with me, trips to the grocery store for forgotten spices, coffee cream, and extra napkins. They buy gifts and tell me not to worry about anything. They lighten my load. I’m no longer the keeper of Christmas; we all are. Bringing a different kind of magic to whatever days we might have together over the holidays.

We bring in the old traditions from when they were kids, but also leave the door open for new things. New recipes, new ideas on how to celebrate. Chinese takeout for Christmas Eve one year or homemade pizza, depending on everyone’s work schedule. A little Baileys in our coffee while we open stockings. All of us together. The five of us, along with new partners, are perhaps the best Christmas gift of all. New family members who bring their own family traditions. We stay up late, we play cards with fun playlists full of music that’s new to me. I sleep happily.

I miss my boys being little. I always will. But these men and their partners and our holidays together? This feels like the real reward.

• Google and Apple are advising some employees with visas not to travel outside the US, per memos viewed by Business Insider.
• The companies’ law firms recommended that staff who need their visas stamped for re-entry stay in place.
• A social media screening requirement for visas is causing appointment delays stretching for months.

Google and Apple have advised some employees on visas not to travel outside the US due to delays at embassies, Business Insider has learned.

Both companies’ outside counsels sent emails advising staff who require a visa stamp to re-enter the US not to leave the country because visa processing was taking longer than usual, according to copies of the memos reviewed by Business Insider.

“Please be aware that some US Embassies and Consulates are experiencing significant visa stamping appointment delays, currently reported as up to 12 months,” the memo sent Thursday by BAL Immigration Law, which represents Google, says. The firm recommended that employees avoid international travel as they would “risk an extended stay outside the US.”

A memo from Fragomen, a law firm representing Apple, sent to some visa holders at Apple last week similarly warned them not to travel.

“Given the recent updates and the possibility of unpredictable, extended delays when returning to the U.S., we strongly recommend that employees without a valid H-1B visa stamp avoid international travel for now,” the memo says. “If travel cannot be postponed, employees should connect with Apple Immigration and Fragomen in advance to discuss the risks.”

American consulates and embassies around the world are seeing delays with routine visa appointments following the introduction of a new social media screening requirement, which applies to H-1B visa workers and their dependents, as well as students and exchange visitors.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Department of State told Business Insider it was conducting “online presence reviews for applicants.” The department said it may move appointments as resources change, with applicants able to request expedited slots on a case-by-case basis.

“While in the past the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world, including in India, are now prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else,” the State Department spokesperson said. Appointments in Ireland and Vietnam have also been postponed, according to immigration firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC.

Google’s lawyers said in their memo that the delays were affecting H-1B, H-4, F, J, and M visas.

Neither company’s advisory specified what anyone on a visa already outside the country with a postponed appointment should do.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider

How enhanced visa vetting can complicate a routine trip abroad

The warnings from Google and Apple echo a wave of internal travel advisories that swept through corporate America in September, after the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas.

The H-1B visa typically lasts up to three years and can often be extended. If someone needs a new H-1B visa stamp, they typically must apply at a US embassy or consulate in their home country or a country where they have lawful residence.

As a general matter, said immigration attorney Jason Finkelman, who focuses on employment and family immigration, foreign nationals should be able to return to the US after travel abroad if they have a valid visa stamp and aren’t subject to any entry restrictions, including the Trump administration’s expanded travel ban, which the White House says takes effect January 1.

That’s where enhanced vetting can complicate an otherwise routine trip. If an H-1B worker leaves the US to get a new visa stamp and their consular appointment is canceled or delayed — sometimes by months — they can be stuck abroad until the visa is issued.

“My advice to clients is that if travel isn’t essential right now, better to stay put,” Finkelman said.

A spokesperson for the Department of State said consular officers “do not issue a visa unless the applicant can credibly demonstrate they meet all requirements under US law — including that they intend to engage only in activities consistent with the terms of their visa.”

The H-1B program, which is capped at 85,000 new visas a year, serves as a core pipeline for employers hiring skilled foreign workers. Tech giants have long been among the largest users of the visa, with companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta topping the lists of approved new H-1B petitions in recent years. 

During the 2024 government fiscal year, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, applied for 5,537 H-1B visas, while Apple applied for 3,880, according to Business Insider’s analysis of publicly available data from the Department of Labor and US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Under the Trump administration, the program has become a political flash point, with the White House framing H-1Bs as a threat to American jobs. Critics and some employers say the administration’s policies are making it harder and more expensive to hire new workers.