Anyone who's known me for any length of time knows that I'm frugal: I shop at thrift stores, I search for Manager's Specials (foods being sold at significant discount as they approach their "sell by" date), and I never waste leftovers (even taking gluey oatmeal once and turning it into cinnamon bread).

People who know me also know that I'm a romantic. And I've never cared whether someone had fabulous wealth or not, whether they'd spoil me like a princess or buy me luxurious meals at expensive restaurants. Because that's not what's important. (Not to mention that I can cook a pretty good meal myself!)

One of my mottos in life is that "You can always eat 39-cent macaroni and cheese; what matters is having someone to share your 39-cent macaroni and cheese with."

And so, when deciding upon dinner one night, Tom and I decided to be exceedingly frugal, as well as celebrating having someone to share the 39-cent macaroni and cheese with.

I'd mentioned to him once that you could make a mock tuna casserole by tossing peas and tuna into the macaroni; he'd never had that before, usually adding chopped hot dogs to his. So we made the variation for dinner one evening: Tuna Mac 'n' Cheese.

I prepared our dinner while Tom lit a candle and set the table with cloth napkins. Then we enjoyed a meal of consummate comfort food while appreciating that each of us again has someone whose priorities are in the right order.

It didn't matter that we may have been eating the cheapest meal we've ever shared; it only mattered that we were eating the 39-cent macaroni and cheese together.

Tuna Mac 'n' Cheese

1 7.25-ounce box macaroni and cheese 1 cup frozen peas 1 5-ounce can tuna, drained 2 tablespoons butter 1/3-1/2 cup milk, to taste generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add macaroni and cook for 6 minutes. Add peas and cook for 2 more minutes until macaroni is tender; drain. Return macaroni to the saucepan, and stir in tuna, butter and milk. Empty the cheese packet over the macaroni and add the pepper; stir until combined well.

Serves 2-4.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less ... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.