I’ve been a farm wife happily married for 25 years (April 1995). We have 2 kids, a girl and a boy. We all help on the farm, so I guess that makes us a farm family. My husband and I decided when we got married that WE would make it work off of his income so I could stay home with the kids starting 4 years later with the 1st kid.. The summer is especially busy on our farm, because in addition to the spraying and fertilizing the planted crops, and putting up hay for the cattle, it is also gardening and canning time.
As the kids got older they would help more outside when they weren’t in school, at school activities, or it was summer. The house is where I would eventually stay because I couldn’t handle the heat (more on that in the next paragraph) and working in the garden with a cane didn’t work so well. That means I got mostly meal fixing–breakfast, dinner (lunch) and supper (dinner) depending on your lifestyle!
Farmers work hard all year, so they require a good meal at noon because they may be working late. Growing kids require food. Everyone requires food and on 1 i
ncome, eating out was not an option. Besides that, we live nearest to a town of about 200 people! I couldn’t serve much chicken because we raise cattle and get hogs from a cousin, so we have freezers full of meat. Buying chicken didn’t happen often because it was an added unnecessary expense. So I guess that’s where my collection of cookbooks began. I was always looking for something different to make with that many meals.
The plan was for me to work off the farm when the kids were older. I stress “plan” because 3 months after I got married, I spent the next 5 years with 2 different neurologists, and many tests, saying to me that I “might have MS.” I changed neurologists to hear the same thing. I couldn’t handle the heat. I would be down for about a week when it affected me, take steroid treatments and I would be back going again.
Prescription treatments weren’t an option to start because I wasn’t done having kids. Well when kid number 2 came and I had to change doctors again, because he moved, but decided what I was doing was working just fine. By the 3rd doctor it was a definite conclusion of MS.
The last doctor (#4) I’ve been with for over 6 years. She has seen me walk normal, to using a cane to a walker now. I do leg exercises daily at home to stay walking, but I know my limits. I’ve just recently quit driving.I’m determined to stay out of a wheelchair as long as I can. I saw 1 kid graduate high school with a walker and I have 4 years until the other.
Update: I started this venture of learning how to make a website and become an affiliate marketer the fall of 2017. I’m still going with it, but got some disheartening news in the winter. Because of my MS I can no longer drive. I even got a manual wheelchair at Christmastime to use for places with a distance to walk when I get there. I don’t use it at home, but my son has a good time playing with it! My cards have changed once again, but we just adapt to it.
I would LOVE to go to Mexico for an HSCT bone marrow stem cell treatment that has cured over 75% of MS patients, but it costs WAY more money than we can afford. It’s been successfully proven to work in Canada and other countries, but is only in trial stages in the U.S. To do that trial costs TWICE what it does in Mexico! That’s okay, I can dream!
I didn’t qualify for government disability when farming wasn’t paying so well. I don’t feel it’s every other taxpayers’ responsibility to pay for me not able to work at a job! We just do without luxury things we cannot pay for (new cars, vacations, etc). We have food, clothes, and a roof over our head. . .and each other, which you take the bad with the good. 🙂
That’s when I decided things had to get a little easier with fixing meals at home. I plan ahead and use the crock pot more and use easy to fix recipes also, saving leftovers to have again, because there’s just 2 of us during the day with 1 at college and 1 in high school. I might even make a double batch and put in the freezer for another time when I get a chance to rest in the afternoon. If it’s a chicken recipe, I may use pork sausage instead, but I can adapt it to our taste.
Nobody gets to choose the cards they are dealt, but I believe that attitude is everything when it comes to dealing with your cards. My family and I have accepted it and help me often. I just feel that cooking is knowledge that I can pass on and maybe help others.
WHY I WANT TO HELP PEOPLE
I get help from family, friends, or strangers, without asking, wherever I go someplace, so I would just like to pass on a little knowledge that I have with cooking. Kind of a pass it forward- type of thing. A few years after I got married my husband says that he was worried about eating meals because I didn’t know much about cooking. He followed that with “but you’re pretty good now. “I guess we’ll live!!” I’m trying to live with less stress in my life (another MS problem), so I would like to help others to do the same when it comes to cooking. Parents, brides, or whoever wants to learn more about cooking.
THE GOAL OF YOUR SITE
My goal is to help families put a healthier meal on the table even if they don’t know how. This gives families a quick break from busy lives, to connect as a family and to see how everyone is doing. If a family is cooking together then they are connecting as a family, maybe learning a little , and having a little fun!
If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best!
Susan
sooz@cook2connect.com
