"Oh Yum!"

Feeding my guys when they come home from a Sunday meeting

Making nice meals for my family is really rewarding to me! Dinner time is a gathering time—Daddy comes home from work, teenagers come home from their activities, those at home have been busy helping me cook, and as each chair is pulled up to the table, the room is noisy, happy and full of connection and togetherness. "Oh, yum!" . . . "this is my favorite, Mom!" . . . "thank you so much" . . . It is very satisfying to have a delicious hot meal ready for my family, especially when it is cold outside. It seems to be a way of administering to their relief, to comfort my family members and help fulfill their needs. And we have such a good time eating together.

I like healthy food. Nutrition (and keeping my children in glowing health) is one of my interests, so I am always trying to finagle a way to swap out sugar, white flour, white rice, and other vitamin-empty foods for whole grains, and honey or another natural sweetener. Sometimes I go way too far, like the time my chocolate chip cookies came out like biscuits. Nobody liked. But often, the results are satisfying and tasty, and I feel like I have had a victory, of sorts!

The other day, I made a batch of whole wheat bread dough. I baked 4 loaves, and then made scones for Navajo Tacos for dinner. But I still had dough left. What to do? I pulled it out thin onto an oiled cookie sheet and without a recipe—like an artist painting a picture—I topped it with crushed tomatoes, sprinkled on dried basil, Italian seasoning herbs, garlic powder, and then added sliced onions and sliced mushrooms. I baked it and took it out early because I thought I'd finish cooking it the next day so it would be hot for lunch. To my surprise, it was absolutely the best! The shorter cooking time made a soft tender crust that was delicious. I can't imagine a tastier pizza had it been white dough for the crust. This was whole wheat at its yummiest. It tasted so good that we decided to eat it for breakfast the next morning, which we happily did!

Administering to our families in a loving way. Food. It goes together. Being a comforter. It is a good job, and I like it.