Mom of eight still cooks for 'big family' of adult children: 'They're my kids'

Parents of families with aggregate kids person agelong known however to scrimp, prevention and agelong their meals and budgets — and present a ma of 8 successful Michigan is revealing however she spends conscionable $12,000 a twelvemonth connected shopping for food portion inactive cooking and preparing meal for her big children.

Heather Bell, 53, and her husband, Luke, 51, had tried to person a babe for 8 years erstwhile they adopted their eldest son, David, property 24, successful 1999, arsenic SWNS reported.

Wanting to assistance much children and proceeding astir occurrence from others they knew, they gave fostering a try.

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They went connected to follow six much children — and were capable to people conceive a lad arsenic well.

As the family expanded implicit time, ma Heather Bell had to larn to navigator for each of them and provender them adequately. 

Mom of 8 Heather Bell of Michigan inactive cooks meal for her big children. "I don't caput cooking for my household - I don't cognize however to navigator small," she said.  (SWNS)

She said that galore of her children came into her location with "food issues oregon trauma." 

Some had been utilized to eating mostly accelerated food, arsenic SWNS noted.

Today, with conscionable 4 of her kids surviving astatine home, she inactive cooks for her household and spends astir $1,000 a period connected groceries, she said. 

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She runs a poultry workplace and masonry concern successful the Upper Peninsula, Michigan.

She told SWNS, "I cognize they are adults, but they are inactive my kids. They each come present for dinner. They are very, precise close. I don't caput cooking for my household - I don't cognize however to navigator small."

She added, "They each conscionable emotion coming present - they are decidedly taking vantage of it."

Heather Bell has published her ain cookbook featuring "big-batch homestyle" meals. It's called "Mama Bell's Big Family Cooking." (Amazon)

Heather Bell said of however their household grew, "In six years we adopted six kids. It was bam bam bam. I came from a large family, but I ne'er truly thought astir having a large household myself."

In presumption of her cooking, she said she "had to alteration the mode I made things … When kids came successful my home, I didn't privation to acceptable them up for failure."

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She said that if they were "used to [foods] similar French fries and blistery dogs," past she'd "incorporate immoderate vegetables."

She added, "I marque a tater tot casserole successful a 17-inch dish."

Originally spending $500 to $700 per week connected food, she chopped backmost and present shops conscionable erstwhile a month, arsenic she told SWNS. 

Heather Bell (front, center) with her husband, Luke, and their children.  (SWNS)

She raises her ain beef and eggs and preserves her nutrient by utilizing techniques specified arsenic canning, saying she is present "more self-sufficient."

Despite trimming her spending passim the year, she doesn't clasp backmost connected Thanksgiving and Christmas for her kids, she said.

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She gets each of her children 7 tiny presents and 1 main one, she said, spending an mean of conscionable implicit $600 connected each.

She told SWNS, "I commencement my database aboriginal and connected a notepad. I perceive to my kids and marque notes. I've been buying for Christmas since July."

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Bell conscionable published her ain cookbook, "Mama Bell's Big Family Cooking," to assistance different large families with big-batch cooking. The publication contains implicit 100 recipes, according to her book, including recipes the kids person asked her to marque "over and implicit again."

She said, "I've ne'er recovered a cookbook for large families. Families similar maine are sick of quadrupling recipes."

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The cookbook besides shares a small astir the family, including the bid successful which her kids came into the household and however she adapted her cooking arsenic the household grew.