A Little Friday Housekeeping

Heather says:

Last Saturday I posted a reader survey and many of you responded and I thank you for your time, suggestions, and criticism. If you didn’t value this site, you wouldn’t have had anything to say. There are a few things I would like to address.

As of this time, I am discontinuing Fearless Fridays. Participation has always been low and really, how long do you beat a dead horse?

Several readers want kid friendly recipes. Let me introduce you to the recipe testing crew. All of the recipes here are prepared by me and eaten by the family unless otherwise noted. As the site grows, perhaps I can allocate funds to more test kitchen style cooking, but at the moment recipes are added as they are prepared and consumed. Unless the recipe is a “fancy” one for special occasions, the meals are eaten by the kids. If I’m the only one who likes a meal, it doesn’t get added. I do take their opinions into consideration. I try not to have an agenda on parenting topics, but with kids who don’t have special needs, I believe exposure to normal foods is extremely important. No, they won’t like everything the first time. Just keep cooking. Those of you dealing with special needs kids, you have my sympathy, if you have insurance a consultation with a nutritionist may be covered.

With regards to children and chores, I will work on guidelines for age appropriate chores / chore charts, but it must be understood that when children are part of the equation, there is no one size fits all. Parents, I feel your pain or I’m at least familiar with it. I call them my minions, but they have definite opinions and I’m told frequently that I’m the MEANEST. MOM. EVER.  Hang in there. I’m right in the trenches with you.

One reader asked why I focus so much on gluten free cooking, wanting to know if it was really that common. Well, it is probably more common than you expect. Personally, I have several close friends who have to deal with the restrictions of a celiac lifestyle. I tag or make special note of these recipes to make their lives a little easier. I don’t specifically chase down the recipes, but I note them so individuals searching on Google have an easier time. In the future, I will try to do a better job of tagging recipes that fit other allergies better.

As far as recipes for one or two, it is on the list and I will do my best to get more meals for this readership as time, energy, and budget permit.

I will bring back Retro Saturday, I was wrong in assuming there was no interest. Thank you for correcting my assumption.

I will also try to focus more on basic household maintenance and upkeep as a category. Thank you for the reminder.

I will be travelling later this month, but when I return, I will be launching a short, weekly podcast. This is an additional means of answering reader questions, not a replacement. If you would like to submit a question, you now have two means. You may email helpme@home-ec101.com or call 843-608-9708. This line goes directly to a special voice mailbox.

Last but not least, to those of you who asked, provided everything goes as planned, Home Ec 101 the book should be in stores in March.

The feedback was incredibly helpful and inspiring. Thank you all for being a part of Home Ec 101. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

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