That did not take long

I left my new cookbook layout on one recliner last night. Kyle found it this afternoon after church. I came out after getting out of my church clothes to find him flipping through it and studying the recipes. He is a child after my heart.

Me: “You found my new cookbook.”
Kyle: “I am looking at it and there are some good things in here. I found it on the recliner.”
Me: “Yes, I bought it yesterday.”
Kyle: “There are some things that look good in here, mom.”
Me: “That is good to hear.”

I left him to study and went and sat down in a chair on the other side of the room. He came to show me a couple of things that he seemed to be interested in. I think I will have him pick a couple of things to help me make when I decide which things I am going to do and when I am going to spend twice the grocery budget to do it.

Twice the grocery budget? Yes, I just typed that. Heaven forbid. No, it is not really that bad, but when you think about the fact that you are literally cooking 4-5 miles at a time for each recipe it is not really a bad investment any way you look at it. The part that makes it difficult for me is that I sometimes have to double it simply because I have to modify the recipe for me and my dietary needs.

I am not entirely mean to my family and make them cut out all the things that I no longer eat. I confess that it is no fun to eat a diet without pork, tomatoes, mint, bell peppers, and minimizing onions, corn, and vinegar. There are other things as well, but those are the big things. Do you realize how hard it is to cook certain foods without tomatoes? It is hard. Think about some of those every day foods that you eat and think about how many of them contain some form of tomato product. Then think about how many recipes contain the same. It is not always easy to just leave those items out because it does affect the taste and texture.

For my picky eaters, it is no fun. For my tolerant eaters they try it but it is no fun. So I have submitted to cooking two meals many nights. The good news is that it does help stock the freezer or leave us with plenty of left overs.