You should see the three-ring binder I have been using to save and store my handwritten recipes for the last ten years! Bulging at the seams. It’s been 10 years since I wrote and published my cookbook, From Your Freezer To Your Family. I’m finally ready to share again and in an effort to get back into the swing of writing and sharing recipes again, I decided to start a Substack newsletter. It’s free! Sign up for it here.
These days I only cook once a week for my family. I no longer plate and heat up leftovers, or in any other way prepare and serve food to them other than Sundays. I’m also hanging up my lunch-making hat. The new school, where I am teaching, and my daughter attends, has a beautiful dining hall and food is included for students, faculty, and staff. I’ve only been at this school a few months, yet I’m convinced good food can solve many of the problems plaguing the American education system
Being of service to family through God-given gifts, or through skills that have been honed out of years of hard work, is sacred work. Sometimes even sacred work needs boundaries, or changes based on the different seasons of one’s life. Now that I am in my forties and perimenopausal, I’m just plain tired. After almost 20 years of service, I’m done with the day-to-day food service game. My husband is a grown man who is capable of heating his leftovers, or *gasp*, God forbid-actually cooking a meal from scratch himself. My daughter, now a teenager, needs to start doing more for herself and learning some basic life skills, so when she goes off to college, she’ll know how to make a few dishes and, at the very least, know how to use the microwave without burning the house down. This new boundary will help me focus my attention and energy on other hobbies I would like to pursue. After my father died two years ago, I realized how short life is. There is a fire in me to accomplish some other important goals in life, so I must focus and prioritize my time.
My family is now on their own. I will still grocery shop for them once a week and I will cook a nutritious and delicious family dinner once a week on Sunday. Then the rest of the week, it is freezer food, takeout, or (miracle of miracles) something my husband cooks for us. Setting this boundary has made me excited to cook and want to be of service again to my family and also to myself (especially my physical and mental health).
If you want to hear more of my stories and recipes, you can sign up for my Substack newsletter here!
I encourage you to set your boundaries for being of service to your family. Let the acts of service change and evolve as you and your family change and evolve. Like they say in Biology, “evolve or die.” Join the Substack newsletter community and evolve with me!
My recipes lean toward being animal protein-heavy and lower carb. I tend to be gluten and dairy-free, but will include options to make a recipe go either way. These days I am not strictly gluten and dairy-free, but I do tend to see gluten and dairy as condiments or accouterments to enhance flavor and texture, just not the main attraction. I will use gluten and dairy for flavor or texture, but will not rely on it 100%. I have found a small amount of dairy goes a long way for flavor, and helps keep my sensitive stomach happier.
My recipes feature whole food, nutrient-dense, and made-from-scratch options. Again, flexibility is key here, if I bake bread from scratch, make a stew from scratch, or make a salad and salad dressing from scratch, I will go with store-bought with dessert to balance it all out. I firmly believe you can mix and match store-bought and pre-made with made-from-scratch, based on your energy levels and the time you have available each week, and still offer your family highly nutritious and tasty meals.
I also love Sourdough recipes! Mastering sourdough is something I have been working on for the last couple of years, and while I am nowhere near being an actual sourdough master, I am pretty darn good, and pretty darn good is all you need to feed your family well.
In this monthly newsletter, I will also share stories from my life and classroom. I love to chat about what’s on my mind in the education world and anything else I feel is worth sharing.
Thanks for reading!
