Kat's Mom

About Me

Welcome! Food.com, formerly Recipezaar, is where you will find me most often on the internet hosting the Word Games forum. Back in 2006, I visited here for the recipes, but I stayed because of the community. I now have a reputation as a really good cook because of Zaar. In fact, one of my co-workers refers to me as "our Paula Deen"!

My beautiful daughter, Kat.

She had both her father and step-father accompany her down the aisle in April 2006.


In memory of Kat's dad (on the left) who passed away suddenly on June 27, 2007.

Care for a cup of coffee or tea? Here is what has been going on in our lives.

February 7, 2010, Superbowl Sunday - A celebrity dropped in!

December 20, 2009 - EJ over for a visit.


November 22, 2009 - EJ's Christening, just two days after his 1st birthday.


August 15, 2009 - EJ discovers how much fun it is to wave Kat's hair around! :)


Our grandson, Edward James, March 2009


EJ was born on Nov. 19, 2008.




OUR 3/31/2009 DISASTER:


A FAMILY EVENT:







OUR KITCHEN RENOVATION:





I have four bulging discs in my back. Plus, Kat and I have fibromyalgia. We are always looking for shortcuts in the kitchen to reduce standing time. We both are tall, I am 5'10 1/2" and she is 6'2", so the less time spent bending over countertops, the better!

Working a fulltime consulting job as an Oracle Developer means I sit in front of a computer all day long. That makes me very stiff and achey. I love Emu Oil products since they have helped my family so much, especially the pain relief creams.



After raising 4 kids (Kat and three stepsons, Bill, Bob & Jim), I am now cooking for two. I now have the opportunity to try all the grownup recipes ;). I spent a year and a half working away from home and rarely cooked. Now that I am back home, Recipezaar has given me the incentive to cook again - I bookmarked more than 100 recipes in my first two weeks here!

My hubby & stepsons have always been willing to eat almost anything I put in front of them. The oldest boy preferred beef. However, one of the twins had trouble chewing meat after his two front baby teeth fell out. It took two years for the new ones to grow in. That started me cooking more recipes where the meat was shredded which was easier to chew and helped stretch the food budget too.

All of my kids learned to cook in my kitchen. By the time they were in high school, each took turns helping make dinner on week nights. They might not all cook now, but I'm happy I taught them how. They still roll their eyes, sigh and repeat my advice about seasonings: You can always add more, but you can never add less!

Kat has many food allergies, so cooking has been a creative experience for me. She is allergic to beef, corn, wheat, soy, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, baker's yeast and brewer's yeast. No cheeseburger and french fries lunch for her! Her allergy rotation diet meant that she could not have any one item on the list more often than every four days. Also, she is severely allergic to coconut and cannot have it at all. Coconut, soy and wheat eliminated almost all boxed cookies and store baked goods. Amazing to see what ingredients go into those when you take the time to read the labels.

If you have a child who is an extremely picky eater, please consider having them tested for food allergies. I wish I had done it sooner because Kat would have been in much better health as a young child. Sometimes "tomatoes are yucky" really means they may be making your child physically sick.

MY FAVORITE T-SHIRT:




TUT & NOXXY:

THE BOYS (Ptah & Tut):





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