My daughter's mouth was really sore after her trip to the orthodontist, so last night I told her I was going to cook lentils. I said that they would be very soft and feel good in her mouth.

I had bought ingredients for a lentil and barley recipe. Half way through cooking, I decided it didn't smell very flavorful, so I added the spices (marjoram, thyme, garlic and celery) from a lentil recipe on RECIbase.

I fixed frozen blueberries for her and a salad with fresh cauliflower for my husband. They came to serve their plates and looked suspiciously at the pot of lentils. "Don't tell me what it is," said my husband. "I don't want to know. I'll just call it gumbo."

They took tentative tastes. "It's not bad," said my husband. "It's not my favorite, but I'd eat it again," said my daughter. Soon they both got up and went back for seconds. It took great self control not to jump up and shout "YES".

Lentils and barley are both avoids for me, so with my salad I had a ground beef patty, yellow squash and grilled onions. A two blood type family sure generates a lot of dirty pots and pans!