#97: Adoption, Meal Planning, and Big Family Cooking with Heather Bell

Heather Bell of @JusttheBells10 is a mother of eight and is a viral cooking and lifestyle influencer. She and her husband, Luke, hail from Michigan where they provide eggs to local grocery stores and restaurants. They raise Clydesdale horses and beef cows, and they operate a masonry business as well. She is the debut author of Mama Bell's Big Family Cooking: 100+ Big-Batch Homestyle Recipes Your Family Is Gonna Love!
Today, we talk about how her large family came together through adoption and how she managed a house full of growing kids! Heather talks about the joy and connection that food brings to her family and how that inspired her recent cookbook. Enjoy!

Find Heather's Cookbook here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Mama-Bells-Big-Family-Cooking/Heather-Bell/9781507222614
Heather's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justthebells10/

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Transcript

Roni: [00:00:00] Hi everyone. It's Roni. Before we get into today's episode. I just want to give a little disclaimer that again, my audio was not optimized for the recording this week, so I apologize again, that. As in December, the last episode in December, my audio sounded not so great. Same in this episode, luckily, Heather does most of the talking, so you don't have to listen to my bad audio, but just thought I would give you a little bit of a warning.

Thank you for joining me for a podcast in the new year, and I hope you enjoy. Welcome to the Plan to Eat podcast, where I have conversations about meal planning, food, and wellness. To help you save time in the kitchen, reduce your grocery bill stress less about food. And delight in dinner time. 

Hello, and thank you for joining me for another episode of the Plan to Eat podcast. Today, I have an interview with Heather Bell. She is a mother of eight children and [00:01:00] it's also a social media cooking and lifestyle influencer. She has a new cookbook out as of 2024. It's called mama Bell's big family cooking. And today we talk all about her large family. About food and how she has managed to cook for so many children. She has six boys. 

So we talk a lot about feeding. Growing children and growing boys. We also talk about the joy and connection that food can bring to your family. And we just hear a lot about her story and how she manages such a large family and manages to feed everyone. It was a really wonderful conversation. Heather is a very lovely person. And I know you're going to enjoy this interview. 

So without further delay here is my interview with Heather Bell.

Hi Heather, thanks for joining me on the podcast today.

Heather: Thank you for having me.

Roni: So why don't we just get started by having you give a quick intro of who you are and what you do.

Heather: Okay. Wonderful. [00:02:00] Um, my name is Heather Bell, but a lot of people call me mama bell. I have eight children. I've been married for 28 years. Um, we adopted seven of our eight children. We run a chicken farm. We have a Mason company. We live way up in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Uh, so things are a little different up here for sure, which reflects, uh, what's, I, what I've put in my cookbook, with the big family meals.

Um, so yeah, that's a little bit about us.

Roni: Wow, that's amazing. Have you always lived, um, in kind of a farm, had a farm lifestyle?

Heather: I actually haven't. Um, I was grown, I grew up a city girl. My dad was in the service. We traveled a lot. And until I met my husband, that's when kind of the whole farm life, I kind of got into the farm life because my husband grew up on a dairy farm and I just, I wasn't familiar with any of it. And so when I met my husband and we started dating, it was kind of a culture shock for me because I, I did grow up in the [00:03:00] city and, um, I wasn't a big animal person, cows, chickens, none of it. Yeah. My husband kind of introduced me to that whole farm life, which I love now, absolutely love it.

Roni: Wow, that's really cool. Yeah. So I know that you so part of the reason we're here to talk is because you recently put out a cookbook. But you're also a pretty popular lady on social media. What, what got you interested in sharing your family story? Um, just like with a broader audience. Yeah.

Heather: really, I wasn't on social media much and I, like I have eight children and so they're kind of more up on that than me and then, um, During COVID, when we were all home, um, my kids were talking about TikTok and I was like, what's TikTok? You know, I had no idea. I'd never even heard of, heard of it before.

And so I was talking to my kids. I'm like, Hey, I should go on TikTok. And my, my son Gideon's like, mom, you're too old to be on TikTok. People aren't going to watch [00:04:00] you. And I was like, what? That kind of sounds like a challenge. And so I, signed up on TikTok and I just kind of shared like who I was. I really didn't share my family.

I just did like some dances or tried to dance anyway. I'm not a very good dancer, but try to keep up with those trends. And, um, as I was just doing some, you know, Here and there things I had people start to ask me like who are all those children in your home? Do you have like a group home? Like why do you have so many kids?

And I was like, huh? and so then I just started to share our family and that we adopted our seven children and how each of them came into our home and and Just started sharing More of like our, our family traditions and things like that. And then people started asking me, well, how do you cook for your family?

How do you guys get groceries? How do you put up your groceries? And to me, I'm thinking like everybody else, like we go to the grocery store and we, you know, we, we, you know, shop like you guys. And we cook like everybody else. I guess I didn't see, [00:05:00] even though we were a big family, I just felt like we were like everybody else.

And we made meals like everybody else. And then people were just so fascinated. With what we ate and if my kids liked it and what were their favorite meals. And so then I'm like, well, maybe I'll start sharing our meals. And then I started sharing, you know, dinner ideas and breakfast ideas. And then my kid, so my kids, like our kitchen is like the, it's like the heart of our home.

And my kids have always been around me, even when they were little and I was cooking, they'd run into the kitchen and pull their chairs up and want to help me cook. So they, they also cook. And I thought, well, let's start sharing our meals. So I started cooking and my kids started cooking and people are so fascinated by the amounts of food, you know, the quantity that I would serve.

And, and, you know, I, I mean, I'll admit, sometimes I don't like to cook. Sometimes I feel like I'm a lazy cook. That's kind of how the casseroles came about. Because I just want to like get [00:06:00] it done. And especially when you're a mom of eight and my kids are so close in age, I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen, you know, and if I want to do something fun, like make a cake or cupcakes or, you know, things like that.

And so I just started making a lot of these one dish meals that you could put the veggies in and the meat in and, you know, whatever else I just started creating these meals because I wanted to get dinner done so we could eat. Because, you know, I have six boys and. They need to eat. And then when they see me cooking, they need to eat right away.

And still today, they're, you know, they're young adults. And they walk in the kitchen and they're like looking at the clock. Okay, mom, it's 5 30. We're starving. And because they work so hard. And so we just started sharing things that people were just so fascinated, like I said, about the quantities we use.

And so then I kind of expanded to grabbing out my cast iron, which I've had forever, but was so afraid to use it because I just wasn't a confident cook, I guess, and I wasn't sure what to do with these. And so I just started embracing, [00:07:00] um, my cast iron pans. And as my kids got older, I had to make even more.

So then I'd have to go to the grocery store and instead of getting the little tiny, you know, eight by 10 casserole dishes, I had to get the 10 by 18 and I had to get, you know, uh, 18 by 26 baking pan. So the things that were, I was using, I had to then like double those things or get even bigger because.

It just wasn't, I wasn't making enough for our entire family. And my boys are very busy. They were in sports and they worked and so they ate a lot. And so I had to learn how to make bigger portions, but people are just so fascinated with the amount of food and our grocery hauls, and then I have. A beautiful food pantry in my basement that my sons, Robert and David built me because I do a lot of canning and preserving and they built all these beautiful shelves.

And so I stack them all nice and organized. And I just eventually cleaned out the cabinets in my kitchen and just moved everything [00:08:00] down to our food pantry. So people were just fascinated. With how we prepared and, and just like the canning and just things that we did are, are the foods we made during the holidays.

And so then it kind of shifted from just me trying to dance to a family page, not only showing the food, but our family traditions. And, and of course, people love the fact that we have 4, 000 chickens. And that we sell eggs. And so we, you know, do farm related things too. And so that's kind of how it evolved to like a family page.

And then eventually I'd say our cooking's probably a little over half. Of what we share on our platforms. And so that's how we kind of got into the cooking side of social media.

Roni: Wow. That is really neat. And I am so impressed that you had teenage boys and managed to feed them all. I'm curious. So, I mean, you, you live on a farm and you have so many chickens. I'm certain that living on the farm helps with some of the [00:09:00] food costs, but I'm guessing you're not eating eggs for every meal every day.

So what are, how do you keep it budget friendly to cook for such a large family?

Heather: Yeah. Well, I have to tell you a little story. When my kids were younger, uh, and we started our chicken farm before we started selling eggs, we had so many eggs. And so we were, we would use them like we'd have breakfast and then we'd make, we'd make, I'd make quiches for dinner and because we wanted to utilize what we had because we weren't as financially stable as we are now.

And so we had to use every resource possible. And so every meal, the kids would come down into the eggs. And then finally, one day my kids come down and they're like, they're almost in tears. They're like, mom, we just can't eat any more eggs. I'm like, You know, and so we did try to, uh, serve eggs all the time.

And the kids are like, mom. We love eggs, but you know, and to the, to this day, it's one of the funny stories that they'll tell, um, like other [00:10:00] family members when they have friends come over, they'll share the egg story and they're just like, we can't do it, but we do, you know, being a big family, we really do have to be very careful and use our resources.

And that's why we plant two huge gardens. I just canned. For the first time I canned spaghetti sauce and I can like 40 jars of it and I can tomato sauce and my son, Noah, my youngest loves tomato soup with grilled cheese. And so I canned homemade tomato soup and green beans and potatoes and carrots and jam and relish.

And so I really do depend on our gardens. So I'm not so dependent upon the grocery store and we, you know, all summer, we're of course eating fresh veggies and stuff. And I, you know, I, I freeze zucchini and I shred it and I can it to add it to soups. So I do use my garden quite a bit throughout the whole year.

You know, right now I have four boxes of acorn squash, butternut squash, zucchini, yellow squash. My son just picked one [00:11:00] row of carrots for me and I have enough carrots probably to feed. Our whole community, you know, and so I I do make sure that we use our resources and like the the eggs You know, we have eggs because of our chickens.

We also do raise beef and, and, uh, we'll go to auctions, you know, to, to buy meat also, um, just because we do have such a big family and it does cost a lot. And so I, I don't feel like I'm as dependent on the grocery store. As most people, just because it is hard. I remember when my kids were little and we go grocery shopping.

And for some reason, I always had my kids with me, grocery shopping. I mean, they just, they want it to be around me. I'm like, okay, so here's like nine of us going to the grocery store together, which if you can only imagine is hectic. And my kids like to throw things in carts, but we had a rule because we didn't have a lot of money.

That we would only stay on the outside of the grocery store. And so we basically, that's what we did. Dairy, the meats, the cheeses, the veggies. I mean, don't get me wrong. We like treats, so we would [00:12:00] get treats. But we just couldn't afford to get, you know, cookies and pop and chips. And so I just kind of went around the edges.

And, and it's funny because as the kids got older, My younger kids didn't really understand. So then I'd hear my older kids saying, now, remember, we only go along the edges of the store, but whenever we have like birthdays or holidays, you know, for sure we get those treats, but I had to be very careful because we didn't have a lot of money and we had to be very wise when it came to, you know, cooking and making meals.

And, and I make, I bake all the time. I make cookies. I'm, I, People say, Oh, mama bell with the cookies. So I'm kind of known for making cookies. I call myself the, you know how there's the Christmas queen for Charlie Brown. I call myself the cookie queen because I make so many cookies. So I I've been really challenging myself to make a lot of things from scratch.

Like I. I make our own bread now and I've been trying to, you know, make all our, like I said, the [00:13:00] desserts and stuff, you know, I'm trying to make from scratch just because it is hard. And even now with my kids older, they eat even more. So my meals are even bigger and we go through so much. So I do make sure that we're eating everything before we go to the grocery store.

And so basically I know my cue to go back to the grocery store is it was one of my kids will come up and say, Mom, you really got to go grocery shopping. There's nothing in the fridge. So that's my view that, okay, I need to get going. We got to stock up the refrigerator, but I do make sure that we, you know, I don't go buy more carrots if I have a pile of carrots.

So I'm very conscious of that before I go to the grocery store because sometimes When my kids were like, I don't know, teenagers, I, I bought so much because I really was like, okay, we must need all this. And my husband finally was like, Heather, we're not going to be able to eat all that. You have to, you're going to have to start making better lists, you know, because I, I wasn't sure because my kids are starting to become teenagers.

And I literally had six teenagers all [00:14:00] at once. I had a 13 year old all the way to 17. All at once. And with six, I had five teenage boys at the time. And I just really was like, okay, now I got to change my cooking again, because. They eat so much. And so it definitely has been a learning curve. I feel like, uh, I guess I call myself a veteran cook now, but as somebody who's older with older kids, I definitely have changed the way I cook the way I grocery shop and the things I get.

Cause I feel like when the kids were little littler, you do more snacky things because they're constantly needing to eat. But when they're older, you can get away with, you know, just having the three meals. And I also can make, it doesn't have to always be pizza casserole. I can also make other things that are a little more inventive for dinner.

So it definitely has changed since my kids were little till now, the things I make. 

Roni: I'm curious. With all of this cooking that you're doing, were you a [00:15:00] very, did you have a lot of cooking skills before you, you know, had kids and then adopted all of the, all of your children or has it been, or was it like a, Oh, a steep learning curve for you? I'm just curious about kind of like your, like your home cook skills and, how you've maybe tried to, how you maybe have improved them through, you know, all of the different cooking that you've done.

And I'm guessing all of the kids have different. Preferences and like different things that they like that you're then having to work around.

Heather: Well, I tell you, um, I wish that I would have paid attention more to my mom. Because I really didn't feel the importance of being in the kitchen and learning. And my mom was a wonderful cook. My dad was a wonderful cook. I never really paid attention, I guess, until I got married. And I married a farm boy who his mom cooked these huge, wonderful meals, not only for their family, but for everybody who would help them on the farm.

Because in the summer they would [00:16:00] hay and she would have just tons of guys that she was making dinner for. And I never, like we had, I grew up on a big family too, but the meals were kind of different compared to like a farm family where there's just like substance and just lots of food. And so I, that's kind of when I, my mother in law, the way she cooked, that's kind of, I've never seen that before.

And I was like, wow, look at this. I mean, these are huge meals. And, and so my husband, that's the meals he got all the time. And so when we got married, I'm like, okay, I got to learn to cook. Like I, I, I haven't paid attention enough. And, and I just, I guess I was so busy doing other things that, that just really wasn't a priority for me.

So then I started to cook all these beautiful meals and I mean, I was going to just be like the best wife cook ever. You know, I was, my husband's going to just be like a king. And after about two weeks, he's like, you know, you don't have to cook like this every day. Are you sure? He's like, [00:17:00] yeah, you don't have to.

And I'm like, Oh, nice. And I, so then, you know, some of the meals were just maybe tomato soup and grilled cheese. I mean, I was cooking these lavish meals. Because I thought that's just, that's what you do. And I was like, man, I don't know if I can keep this up for, you know, 30, 40 years. But then as we started to get our children, I then had to learn to cook differently because me and my husband were foster parents for a little over 10 years.

And so we had children coming in and out of our home at different ages. And of course, When they come into your home, they might probably weren't eating the same things that you make, or maybe they didn't get as much food, or maybe they have. You know, some issues with textures and smells and things like that.

Cause you just really don't know, you know, where they're coming from or what they have dealt with. And so as kids were coming to our home and our own children, we adopted six of our kids through foster care. Um, I had to really change the way I, I made food. So I [00:18:00] finally got the hang of cooking for me and my husband.

Well, then I had to change it up again, just because. They did have some sensory issues and so the foods I made for us, I had to change it, maybe not put as many spices or make it more kid friendly, um, or I would, you know, make food that I, I know that they would like, but then add a little bit of sides for them to try and I felt like, I feel like as my kids kept coming to my home, our home and I got older and then more foster children came in and out, I then had to change again because, you know, You know, usually when you get different Children coming into your home, they have different things that they're dealing with.

And there's been many times where I've made food and, you know, the kids are like, I'm not going to eat that or they got sick or, you know, just because they weren't familiar with it. And I really didn't want to set any kids up for failure when it comes to eating, because They might've dealt with food trauma already coming.

And so I didn't want to set [00:19:00] them up for failure. That's why I tried to make so many different things. So my meals I made me and my husband became like, maybe I'd make macaroni cheese and hot dogs, but then I'd, I'd have a side of broccoli, potatoes, or French fries, like I'd had many sides. So the kids had lots of things to choose from because I just didn't want to set them up for failure.

I'd encourage them to try something they haven't tried before, but I had to change from these big lavish meals to just. a protein with lots of different sides for them to try. And I want things to be familiar with them and then maybe try some new things. So it did change. It was very challenging, you know, cooking for kids coming in and out of your home for 10 years, you know, but as they got older, then my cooking changed again because they, they.

You, the kids that we are children that we adopted, they were more familiar with my cooking, so then I could bring in other things. And it's so funny when, um, Brendan and Robert and Noah moved in their brothers and they, we adopted them [00:20:00] together. Uh, I would make my homemade Mac and cheese. And Robert would need it.

And I'm like, I thought you liked Mac and cheese. He's like, I do, but yours is way too cheesy. And I'm like, how can Mac and cheese be too cheesy? Like it's like noodles, cream and cheese. And so he just would not eat it. He liked the Kraft Mac and cheese, which was fine. My kids still like that. But now that he's older, whenever I asked my kids, what do you want me to make for dinner?

He says, can you make Mac and cheese? And so we kind of laugh about it. Cause I'm like, you know, eight years ago, you didn't, wouldn't have said that you just said, please don't make that Mac and cheese. So I just, I feel like they probably got used to my cooking. And so now I'm back to kind of how I was cooking with my husband, these more bigger meals, you know, so it definitely was a journey for me.

And, but what's really cool is. My kids, they love being in the kitchen and they'll ask me to cook and they'll ask if they can make dinner and they'll just make cookies. And like my daughter, Isabella, [00:21:00] she's amazing when she cooks. I mean, it looks like, like a professional chef did it. She'd have these like little garnishes and she'll, you know, simple baked potato.

She walks over with and you're like, wow, that's amazing. Just because we, we were always in the kitchen together. And I really encourage my kids to be in the kitchen. So. Even today they're like, Hey, would you mind if I made dinner tonight? I'm like, absolutely not. Please make dinner. That'd be so amazing. Because I, I really, I wasn't like that.

You know, I, I really just had no, um, no interest in cooking. I eat my mom's cooking and her cookies, but I really, you know, wasn't interested in actually being in the kitchen, but now I see how important it was because I didn't think I was going to have eight children. And here I am with eight children and they're all eaters.

So it worked out good.

Roni: Yeah. How did you get your kids to be involved and interested in the kitchen? I know that a lot of people with kids with just one or two kids [00:22:00] struggle because, you know, teaching a kid to cook is a lot of work. So how did you do it with so many kids?

Heather: you know, , I think kind of just, they just wanted to be around me, you know, and I feel like maybe when they were, I don't know any, you know, I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming they, they didn't have like that closeness. Especially when you are in and out of foster care, you, you know, you, you might not stay in one place long enough.

And I think they just wanted to be around me. And with eight children, I was always in the kitchen and they, I mean, they don't know. It's so funny. Like I said earlier, they walk in and they immediately look in the kitchen because they know I'm going to be here. And that's why when we redid our kitchen, we had a dining room kitchen.

We took out the dining room and just made it all a kitchen. So I literally have. A three foot by 12 foot Island with eight stools around it and a seven burner stove, because my kids just want to [00:23:00] be here. I don't know if it's just, you know, how food, food can just make you happy and it can be comforting and it can be welcoming.

Um, and so I think that they just really wanted to be around me and because it brought us all together. And I think that's, they're just so used to always being in here with me. That as they got older, it just kind of was a part of our family because they'll all come over and we'll literally just sit in the kitchen and talk.

And sometimes I'm cooking or sometimes I'm just visiting with them. Um, but we're always, I mean, unless we're watching a Detroit Lions football game or in the living room, but we're usually here in the kitchen and my kids are munching on stuff or they're opening cabinets, looking at stuff. So I think it's just, they just always wanted to be around me.

And, and because I was always in the kitchen, it's kind of what they knew. And now it's just normal for them to say, Hey, do you mind if I make a chili? You know, because that's the one thing when you're [00:24:00] in foster care or I've noticed being a foster parent is food is a big issue, that's probably one of the biggest issues that we've dealt with.

When bringing kids in and out of the home was food because lack of food, or maybe they didn't have the right food, or maybe they only got fed, you know, You know, maybe only had a meal once a day or every other day, you know, and so food is a big issue when it comes to being a foster parent and then foster children, they really, you know, I mean, we all depend on it.

Right. But they, I don't know if that even makes any sense when I'm trying to say, but, and so, you know, there is a lot of food trauma when you're doing foster care. And so I, I think that's why they just love being around me just because of, you know, They knew I was going to be there. They knew I'd take care of them.

They knew I'd always have food for them. And that was comforting to them. 

Roni: I think it's really great that you were able to create such a warm and welcoming environment and [00:25:00] hopefully change the kids that you were fostering and then obviously the kids that you adopted, like change their attitude and their like perception of food maybe and like have it be more of a positive experience rather than, you know, one of, you know, Scarcity and insecurity, or you may be just negativity in general.

Heather: Yeah. I mean, and it's, and we know food is so it's so important. I mean, it really does control a lot of our living, right? Like we have parties together and we have food holidays. You have certain foods you have, you know, you get together on the weekend, you have certain foods, like on Sunday we'll do big breakfasts.

And so food is a really big part of our lives. And, and like you said, I think that's it. It was more positive for them and reassuring that they knew that they'd always be provided for. And then I think they wanted to be a part of that. You know, maybe to start it was more a little hesitation [00:26:00] because, you know, Maybe they didn't get food like they should.

And then once they seen, okay, Hey, I know they love me. They're going to be taking care of me. Then they wanted to be involved in it, you know? And, and, but we're, it's so, I feel like our family is so unique because when people, they meet us or they come over or they see us, they are like, you know, I wouldn't even know you guys were adopted.

Like, I just feel like our family. We're just so close and we pretty much do everything together. Like when I go to the grocery store, even though my kids are older, I always have at least two kids with me because they, they want to, plus they know that I'm going to buy them lunch because we love going out for lunch for sure.

But they, they, they want to be together. And I love the fact that my kids are so close because, you know, I mean, I know this isn't a food, a food topic, but they, they understand each other because they all went through, they all went through similar things. So they. They're so close because they can [00:27:00] talk to each other and they understand where me and my husband don't necessarily understand what they went through, but they all understand.

And so there's just this closeness in our family. And I think that's one of the reasons they want to be around us and they want to be a part of the meals. Be a part of the farm, you know, three of my boys work for our masonry company. And my youngest, who's going to graduate wants to work for the mason company.

And my daughter wants to help on the farm and my daughter, Haley and Joshua, they run the egg farm. And, and so all my kids kind of work together, which kind of translates into our home also when it comes to meals and stuff, everybody kind of works together. And, and we are a very close family. You know, my kids are starting to find their own path in life, but they want to stay close.

Okay. They love each other so much and they, the first part of their life, they didn't have that stability with the family and, and now that they have it, they want to, they want to even physically stay close. But, but I have to tell you, they also have [00:28:00] wonderful birth families that we love so much and they come over for the holidays and they come over for meals and they're a part of things.

So we, we have a huge community. That has really helped us raise our children, which we needed, like me and my husband, we needed them to love us and to support us, um, because I just feel like it's important that my kids still have relationships with their birth families because it is who they are. And, and we want to, you know, we're just one big, we're like a huge, gigantic family that gets together for a lot of things like the lasagna I made in my cookbook.

It's the, the inspiration was from my son, David's birth grandma, because she makes amazing lasagna. So they've also been an influence in our life when it comes to cooking, you know, and just, Raising our children, you know, it's just, I just feel like our family dynamic is just so amazing that, yeah, I could talk for [00:29:00] hours about my kids, but,

Roni: I love it. It sounds like you guys have a really special connection and for multiple reasons, but I do really like how you, think about food in that sort of a way as something that really like connects and bonds you. And. And I think it's really true. I, I think that food is a really big source of connection.

And I think part of it is because it's such a sensory experience, you know, like it's you, you see it, you taste it, you smell it, all of the different parts of it. I think there's just like a, a really, not only a like physical nourishment, but there's an emotional nourishment that goes along with that.

And when it's prepared by somebody who, you know, like there's always a thing that you're like, I made this with love, you know, But I really do think that's true. I think there is an aspect of it where somebody really puts a lot of hard work and time and effort into something. You feel that when you're eating that food and you know, that it's like a reassurance that that [00:30:00] person really cares a lot about you, because they took the time to prepare this for you and they want you to be, nourished by the food that they made.

Heather: I completely agree with that. And that's what I, I tell people that my language of love is cooking. Now, if I, I wouldn't have said that 20 years ago, but I, I do now. And I get a lot of people. On our social media, we'll say, well, you know, your kids are older. Like, why do you still cook for them? Well, I cook for them just because that that's my way of showing them.

I love them. And they're still trying to start their lives paths, you know, and. I have to cook already for a lot of people. So if I include them all, I really think that's okay. And I just, my kids work so hard and they leave in the morning. They don't come back till the afternoon. And so it's not like they have time to throw things in a crock pot.

And what, and what boy is going to throw things in a crock pot and have his meal ready to go when he gets home? You know, I mean, they, they just don't, I mean, maybe some, but not often [00:31:00] or not, you know, as many. But, I, I like cooking for my family because they work so hard and my husband works so hard. And this is, I feel, my way of kind of giving to them and being a part of this whole fine family dynamic is.

cooking meals for them, you know, and I, and honestly, I don't know what's going to happen when my kids all have their families. Cause I don't know how to cook for two people. So I was telling my husband the other day, I said, you know, I think I'm going to do is when they start having their own families and not needing me to cook.

I think I'm going to make like a meal for me and you, and then to go meals for everybody else. So like every Tuesday and Thursday, I'm going to have, I might even get cubbies, maybe I'll have to figure something out and I'll have their meal there so they can just swing by. Mom's making dinner on Tuesday and Thursday for everybody.

And they swing by and they grab their food and that gives them, you know, their wives or husbands time to relax too. And so, um, so the wheels are already turning for when my kids are all gone. [00:32:00] How am I going to be able to still cook big, but, and still be a blessing to them and cook for them. So I've got lots of ideas.

I'm going to still be cooking like this. And when I have grandbabies, of course, you know, it's going to be a whole another ball game, right? Cause it's going to be like 10 plus. I don't know. Let's say each of them have three kids. That's like 30, 24 grandkids. No. Yeah. Yeah. 24 grandkids. If they all have three, but it's amazing though, because they all have said to me that they want to have big families and that they want to adopt, which is so to hear them say that.

But, but the wheels are turning for already cooking in the future. Like, how am I going to be able to keep this going and still be a blessing to everybody? Or maybe I'm just going to have to be making dinners for all my neighbors. Like just knock on the door and say, Hey, chicken noodle soup day, figure something out.

Roni: I'm sure your kids partners or maybe your kids whoever ends up being the more You know, predominant cook in the family will appreciate having dinner [00:33:00] made for them twice a week. That would be pretty amazing.

Heather: I hope so. Well, I tell you my, my mother in law, she's, uh, she's still cooks like that. Like she makes cookies. You go in and you're just like, who are these for? Oh, I just made it over to the neighbors and took them to church. And I mean, she just, she just, that's how she cooks. It's just so big. She doesn't know any different.

And so that's what she does too. She takes meals and she gives them to her neighbors and she's a blessing to everybody around her. And I'm kind of thinking I'm going to be real similar with that. I'm going to be just. Traveling around the town, just delivering cookies and bread and dinner and hot soups and I just don't know any different.

I mean, this is who I am. I just love to cook. It's, it's, that's my language of love. Like I said,

Roni: I want to pivot just a little bit. I'm curious. Are you a meal planner? You talked about how like your meals have changed over the course of your kids getting older, but I'm curious. Do you like sit down and do meal planning? And [00:34:00] like, how do you decide what meals to make? Meals to cook every week. Do you have like meals on rotation or do you choose new things?

Uh, I mean, it just feels like it would be a lot to, we kind of talked about this a little bit earlier, but like a lot to please so many people all the time.

Heather: right. Well, what I normally do is I'll ask my kids. Is there anything you'd like me to make this week? And normally Robert will say mac and cheese or him and Haley will say chicken pot pie. If it was up to them too, I would make chicken pot pie every day. If it was up to Brendan, I would make lasagna every day.

And if it was up to my son David, it would be biscuits and gravy. For every single meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And so I do ask my kids like, what do you guys want me to make? And they'll say like super, like, if you know, it's going to be cold. Like right now we're into soups 

it gets really cold where I'm at. And so I do make a lot, like right now I have my whole one side of my. Countertop already prepped to make white chicken chili. Like I've already got it all measured out. Everything's [00:35:00] ready to be put in a pot. And so I'm going to be making a white chicken chili for dinner.

Um, but I do have a board that I write all of our meals on. So when my family comes in the house, they can, they'll see what I'm going to be cooking for the week. But there also are times. Where it's just crazy. Like the holidays. Well, it's so hard to be consistent with the holidays because you just never know what's going to happen.

You know, I might have dinner and there'll be, I'll be like, Hey, let's go out to eat. Whoa. Well, you know, I just made dinner. So I do try a meal plan. Um, when I go grocery shopping, I basically buy the same things over and over. I check my food pantry to see what I need. And then if some things might pop in my idea for, cause my mind's always going like to try a new recipes.

Then I'll add that to my list. Um, so I do try and make a grocery list. I do check what I have. I do try and meal plan just because I feel like when you have a bigger family You you definitely have to be more organized Or it will go bad fast, you know My kids were [00:36:00] younger. We had a chore list. We had days that certain people did their laundry we would When, whenever we'd mass clean, we'd all go in one room and people would take a spot and we'd just go from room to room cleaning.

So I do feel like you have to be organized with a big family just because there's just so much going on with meals. And I homeschooled my kids until they were in high school. And, and so you really do have to be organized, but there are times where we're not. And I really struggle because I'm like, what, you know, you don't, don't know which way you're going.

But I do, I do have a meal board that I got and my kids will come in and look at that meal board. To see what's for dinner the next day. Sometimes it goes in order. Sometimes things happen and I don't make that, or maybe I'll make, um, I'll make a meal and it got way bigger than I thought. So then we'll have to eat it for like three days.

Like I just made chili. Cause everybody's like make chili mom. I'm like, okay, so I made chili and then. We ate it for a [00:37:00] couple of days and the kids were like more chili. I'm like, but y'all asked for it. But then none of you guys came and ate it. So, you know, you asked for chili, but then half the people showed up.

So there are times where we'll be eating leftovers. It doesn't happen often, but if I make certain things like the chicken pot pie, there'll be no leftovers. And my kids will actually take it and put it in a container and hide it in the back of the fridge. Because they want to take it to lunch tomorrow.

So that too, but I do try and do their favorites. My kids are pretty easy going when it comes to meals. They're not very picky. Um, I've made a couple of things where they're like, Oh, this might not be one for the books. And so I don't make it again. But, , with so many people. It is amazing though that I can just make one dinner and we're good because I know people who have to make different things for their kids because one child won't eat this, which I've never really had to do.

That's why I introduced when they were younger. So many sides to our main dish. So they would all kind of get used to the [00:38:00] food. I think that really did help, but my kids aren't picky at all. Um, they helped me decide the menu and then I'll, I'll make sure everything's down in the. In the food pantry, you know, for that week, if I have to go grab a couple of things, I will.

But, um, I do feel like we're pretty organized when it comes to dinners and meal planning. I just, I have to be, or I just, like I said earlier, it just will go bad so fast.

Roni: Yeah. Yeah. I actually feel like you would have to be pretty on top of it. Otherwise it would be like everybody's in chaos. Like, what are we having? I'm just eating a bunch of snacks and now I'm not hungry anymore.

Heather: Yeah. By Noah, he'll open the fridge. I'm like, what are you doing? There's a beautiful dinner here. Well, I was thinking maybe getting some Mac. No, no, no, no. Eat the Mac and cheese for a snack later. But could you please have some of the dinner? So if they walk in and They all, I mean, like, and we're pretty time too.

So when dinner served around 5 30 to 6 30, because [00:39:00] my guys work so hard and they'll come in and they'll meet, be like, mom, like I can hear them or they'll say, I smell something. So they are ready to eat right away. And they're full of grease and just. But they're like, I'm too hungry. And so I'll make sure that's all ready to go for them just because they work hard in it.

And the thing too, is, you know, I have a lot, like I said earlier, I have a lot of people question, like, why do you cook for your adult children? They don't ask me to do that. I just do it because I love them. And I want to be a help to them. And they're just so busy that like my boys, they just work so long that they don't have time to come home, cook a meal, or they won't be eating until 10 o'clock at night.

So I do it because I want to, not because they're asking me to or making me do it. I just do it because I love them.

Roni: Oh, that's really awesome. Yeah. And it sounds like they are stopping by your house pretty frequently. So,

Heather: Ooh, all day long. Yeah. Lunch break. They run to moms.

Roni: yeah. [00:40:00] So tell me a little bit about your cookbook. It's a, a batch cooking style cookbook. Correct.

Heather: It is. A while ago I was like, you know what? I don't ever, because I'm, I love Pinterest, so I'll go on Pinterest just to get inspiration. I'll find a cool recipe and I'll completely like destroy it and rebuild it to make my own. Um, and you know, you see these cookbooks and you go online and it's always for four.

It serves four. It serves six, it serves four. And I'm thinking, okay, so now I have to figure out how to triple it or quadruple it. And so I, I, I, I haven't come across a cookbook that's for big families. And so I started to get out, I have these yellow notebooks. I have a ton of them. This is where I write all my recipes down when I share them on my platform or, and then when I was making my cookbook, and so I would write down a recipe and you know, there just wasn't anything for big families and I thought, you know, this is.

I should like do a cookbook [00:41:00] on big families. And so I started just writing all my recipes down in my notebook. And then, um, I had a lady, she's now my friend, Danielle contact me. And she's like, have you ever thought about making a cookbook or write one? I'm like, I actually have. And I told her that I was going to do the mama Bell's big family cooking.

She was like, Oh my goodness. I love that so much. Well, then also I thought, you know what, how unique would it be to not only cause we have like 111 recipes, all of our family favorites, I said, I thought to myself, how unique would it be to not only write a cookbook, but to share our story and kind of intermix the both just because food was so important to us and it, and it really is.

My kitchen's the heart of my home. And we have so many memories in our kitchen of just. Just, I mean, even when the kids were little making cupcakes and things like that, you know, and I thought, how cool would it be to be able to share our family story and then also all these recipes. And so I started just, just writing, you know, these [00:42:00] short things about each of my kids.

And I thought, how cool would it be for each chapter to represent one of us in our family? And then I thought again, well, how cool would it be if we did it in order of how we came together? And so the cookbook starts with me, of course, because. I'm not the start of the family, but you know, um, I'm the author, I guess.

So the first chapter starts with me. It tells a little bit about me. And of course the casseroles because my husband calls me the one dish wonder. It's kind of catchy. Honestly, I had, I had a shirt made that says the one dish wonder. And so the cookbook is. Not like a normal cookbook. It's not going to be in the order that people are used to it.

It's going to go, go in the order of how our family came together. So me and my husband got married. We adopted our oldest son, David, and then we got into foster care, adopted Joshua, found out after eight years of infertility, I was pregnant with Gideon, which is the neatest story ever. Um, Joshua's adoption was a final July 2nd.

And then on [00:43:00] July 3rd, I found out I was pregnant with Gideon.

Roni: Oh, wow.

Heather: It was quite the, the 4th of July celebration weekend, a big, big weekend for us, um, we had, you know, two things to celebrate for sure. And so then it continues with, you know, Isabella and then Haley and, and the, the chapters on an order of, you know, appetizers, uh, breakfast.

Uh, you know, your main chicken beef and then like your desserts, it goes in order of my kids favorites. So like my son, David loves breakfast, like you name it, he loves it. And so his chapters breakfast, and then it ends with Noah, who. Is the master at making chili, chili, everything. So we, so his is soups. So it doesn't go in order of people would think it goes in order with how our family came together.

And so each chapter tells a little bit about their adoption story and how I changed, had to change once again, as a cook and a mother and a wife, and it continues [00:44:00] until Noah, who is our last son that we adopted. Um, and then with each recipe, there's a paragraph. Just maybe describing how we came up with that recipe or something funny about, you know, like the mac and cheese, how my son says it's too cheesy, but now he loves it.

So there's just like a little paragraph with each recipe, just kind of sharing a little bit of maybe what was going on in our lives at that time. So it really is unique. It's not just, you're not going to open it and be like, okay, I'm going to bake. You're going to open and be like, oh, let me grab a cup of coffee.

Let's read about Heather and then let's look at her recipes. So it's. I'm just so proud of it. I mean, it's just, it's so unique. And I think that's what drew, that's what's drawn people to it because they know our story and then to read it, but then to see all these recipes that our family loves. I just feel like, know, I, I want to make, I want to write more cookbooks, but I feel like this one is it.

Like, I don't feel like, I [00:45:00] mean, I have some great ideas. Let me tell you, I have some really good ideas for followup cookbooks, but I feel like this one is it like, this is, there's, it's going to, it's so unique that I'm not going to be able to write anything like that again. Because I mean, you can't, you know, I could write other cookbooks, but you don't want to keep putting the same adoption story in every one.

So I just feel like this one is. It's just, I love it, I'm proud of it, my kids love it, I mean, when, when the cookbook got sent to us, my kids came in and they're like, well, oh, where's my chapter? Let me see the pictures. What'd you put in it? Like they, I mean, it was, I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but it was so sweet.

They're in the corner of the kitchen all, well, four of my six boys. All hovering over each other, trying to see what their chapter looked like and what I wrote about them because none of my family had read any of the little inserts or the, the descriptions or like their story. They didn't read any of that until the cookbook was mailed to me done.

So they were very surprised at the pictures that were in it. They're surprised by what I [00:46:00] wrote. And I mean, the sweetest thing is you see him reading it and then like, tears are coming down their eyes. It's just like, be still my heart, you know, just because of what I said about them and, and they're just so proud of it too.

So it really is like a whole family. Thing, you know book, which I could never wrote this if it wasn't for my eight children and my husband They're a huge part of it. So I just I feel like it's so unique I feel like everybody needs to check it out because I I just don't feel like I've never seen anything like that I've never seen a biography slash cookbook anywhere.

I mean, I I could be wrong but I don't know. I just feel like it's so special just because of the uniqueness to it and the fact that it combines biography with a cookbook together. I just feel like, wow, that was a great idea.

I just love it so much.

Roni: Yeah. It's a really special idea. Really special book. I mean, I feel like your kids can then also have it and it's, you know, it not only [00:47:00] serves the purpose of being a cookbook that everybody can buy, but then it's almost like a special family cookbook as well, the way that you've set it up. So it's not, it's really special.

And. I have a feeling that there are probably people who really like follow your story and everything online who are probably like, Oh, well, I'm a, I'm a Gideon, you know? And then they're like, those are their recipes or something like they identify with one of your children as their, you know, their chapter that they love the most or something.

Heather: Right. No, for sure. And, and it's really neat because I've had a lot of people, like before I even wrote the cookbook, I had a lot of people say, thank you so much for sharing these meals because I have an adult home or I have a big family too, and it's so hard to cook for them. And, and honestly, my followers were a big part of it too, because they would they would watch my meals and they're like, you should write a cookbook.

You should write a cookbook. And I had already been thinking about it before they had said that, but just the confirmation from. Our community on, you [00:48:00] know, on social media platforms, they're like, you got to write a cookbook. Oh my goodness. You got to write a cookbook. You know, we, we want, we want these recipes on paper, you know, cause you see the recipe and you have to pause, write it down, pause, write it down.

They're like, we want, you need to write a cookbook. So we have all your recipes. And there are also recipes in here that. I have never shared on social media. And it's funny because when I started writing my cookbook, all these meals I used to make for my kids years ago started popping up in my head.

I'm like, Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. I haven't made that forever. I haven't made that forever. And, and when I, when I start the beginning of the cookbook, it's just like a little bit about me and, and, um, like our family, just like a really rough kind of, uh, summary of it. And when I was writing, I was like, you know what?

The very first meal I made my husband, we should put that in. And so it's the very first meal I ever made. made for my husband is in like the intro. And I thought, how cool would I do with that? Be to share them, share with them [00:49:00] my very first meal ever that I ever made as an adult and as a married woman.

And so as I'm writing it, all these recipes and meals that I made years ago started kind of popping up. And I, so I have to, you know, have a notebook with me all the time. Okay. I have to write this down because I would definitely forget because I had so much, I was trying to do it once. Um, so it really did.

Writing the cookbook brought a lot of memories and I, I think I laughed and I cried a lot because being a mom to older kids, all these memories of my kids when they're little and just seeing their faces in the kitchen with me and I'm probably going to cry right now because when you're in your fifties, you're super emotional and finding and I'm very emotional, but I, I really, it just brought back so many things with my kids and the, and the things that we need to start doing again.

And just all the special moments and I cried and laughed and, and, uh, so it was quite the journey, even writing it. It just really. Brought back so many different things. And, it was, [00:50:00] you have a lot of emotions when you write a book or write a cookbook or even, you know, a biography, you just have so many emotions because memories just pop up that you haven't thought of for years.

And so I was able to use a lot of those memories to share recipes that people haven't even seen. So they get a surprise when they open it up. They're gonna be like, I haven't seen that one before. Nope. So there is some in there that you can't find online.

Roni: That's great. That sounds like such a, a great experience, a really special experience to go through that and compile the recipes and go down memory lane. I love that.

Heather: Yeah, for sure.

Roni: Well, as we're wrapping up, why don't you, Tell everybody again, the name of your cookbook and where they can find you online and learn more about your family.

Heather: Sure. So the cookbook is Mama Bell's Big Family Cooking. And it's, it really is geared toward meals that are simple, that they're fast. And I always say in all my videos and amazing, um, we are, just the bells 10, [00:51:00] we're pretty much on every platform. So if you want to go check our family out and then the cookbook you can find at Amazon, I believe it's in Barnes and Noble.

There is a link in each of our platforms too. There's a couple other places that you can order it online. I'm, I'm not. Familiar with what they are though. But, um, I know Amazon and Barnes and Noble are the big ones. So yeah, that's where you can find the cookbook.

Roni: Amazing. Yeah. We'll make sure that we have some links in the show notes so people can find you and learn more about you.

Heather: Wonderful.

Roni: Yeah. Thanks so much for joining me today, Heather. This has been really fun to hear about your family and hear about your story.

Heather: Yeah. Thank you so much. I appreciate being on here and even talking to you, it even brought more memories. So much going on to writing a cookbook. You never think that you, you know, have all these experiences, emotions, but man, you really do. So, but I do appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much.

Roni: Yeah, of course. Thank you.

As always, thank you so [00:52:00] much for listening to this episode. There are links in the show notes to learn more about Heather and to find her social media accounts as well as to find her book online. And if you're enjoying the Plan to Eat podcast and you would like to support the show, the best way to do that is by sharing an episode with a friend. So please do that with this episode or any of the other episodes of the Plan to Eat podcast that you have enjoyed. You can also leave us a review on apple podcasts or Spotify. Thank you so much for supporting the podcast. 

And I will talk to you again in two weeks.