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From Scratch

I was raised to cook everything from scratch. My mother set that example each day as she feed and prepared food for our family. My first actual love of food comes from baking, and baking I mean treats. Lots of them. Don’t be surprised if you see plenty of sweet deliciousness here.
My mother set a perfect example for me as I grew up. During the summer, she would take my sister and I to peach orchards to pick peaches to can for consumption during the winter. We would drive out to a local diary and purchase whole pasteurized milk and would gleen the cream for pies and home-churned butter.  Homemade bread was a staple in our home as was delicious jumbo Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies for after school snacks. I may not be the cook she was, but she set that wonderful example of being self sufficient in the kitchen.

Almost Paleo/Clean Eating

Like many families, we have a good mix of who can eat what. Most of us can eat anything, where a few of us are very allergic to certain foods. Mom’s get to bring a second meal for those individuals to group dinners, and many times we fix a small second meal to those accommodate dietary needs. You might find some recipes here that fit your same scenario.
It was recommended recently that I should change my eating lifestyle to No Grains, No Sugar, No Dairy. Since I was already sugar free, and had previously been grain free, I found that the  no dairy requirement was oh so hard to give up. Currently I am successful because I have found some excellent recipes to fuel my body with. I’ll share these too.

Larger Gatherings

Though I have not mastered the extra large crowds, just our immediate family group exceeds 2 dozen. When I host a group larger than that, everyone does their part and brings a portion of the meal. Many of the ideas presented here are for large gatherings, families and hearty appetites. When I became an empty-nester, it took almost 3 years to scale down those evening meals. It was a tough, but I managed. A few of my favorite meals for two included within.
Cooking for the larger crowds is a skill I haven’t yet mastered, though I have helped in the kitchens of these events plenty of times. Some of the recipes I share are from these wonderful cooks.