I am often asked, “How do you feed such a large family?” Because I am a vegetarian, I get even more dietary questions. More so than being a vegetarian is my desire for whole foods, not processed junk, plus I grow huge gardens, I used to can or freeze a good bit of produce, but somewhere along the road to gaining such a large family, food preservation got ignored.

Now that most of my children are older, or at least not babies, now they are 4-33 years old, I am again concentrating on what I truly love to do which is gardening. Wonderful therapy for a busy, sometimes stressed older mama.

Last night I cooked red beans, corn and brown rice. It was enough to feed 30 people and it sustained them all through our evening’s schedule of softball and soccer games. These are dense calories, not fluffy, sugary, empty chemical calories. This is stick to your ribs, athletic fodder at its best and, to my children, proof of mama’s love and devotion.

I shop the perimeter aisles in the grocery store, swooping down the bean and rice aisle once a week to stock up. Tonight we’re having Cuban black beans and brown rice, garlic everywhere with melted cheese. If I have time, there’ll be a skillet of cornbread, but we have three different soccer practices tonight and another church league softball game. I have to have supper on the table between 4:30 and 5 in order to get us all to the ball fields on time, where I can’t afford to take a couple dozen kids to the concession stand. Like I would waste money on snack foods?

My kids came out of foster care, loaded up on sugar, white bread, processed meats and crappy dietary choices. My cooking is initially a shock to their systems, some refuse to eat what I serve, not surprising as food control issues are very common in older adopted children. Later these same foods that I serve become Mama comfort foods.

Everyone’s favorite is my weekly cooking of 10-12 pounds of pinto beans, either served in burritos, tacos, enchiladas or nachos. No one ever turns that down. I fried up spinach and cheese quesadillas for lunch today, doused in pepper sauce for some of my grown kids today.

I grow strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and figs. There is nothing better on earth than a sun warmed organic fruit. My kids adore them all; my grandkids are learning about the wonders of Abuelita’s gardens.

Adopted older children need layers of security and stability. Food is a primary need and I’m glad that my predictability requires little thought on my part. We try and eat in season, I’m a proponent of the 100 mile diet, and as organic as possible. I’ve always grown organic produce, purchasing it is challenging at times.

People wonder how much we eat, just multiply by what other families eat, maybe times 10. Breaking bread together as a family is very important to us, saying the blessing, and the cleaning ritual as well afterwards.

The kids’ll be asking me for the entire week’s menu, again a control issue on their part but also structure that I follow and produce for them, helping them to become stronger, better adjusted children.