Guests & Dinner Tracker

As a couple, Blake and I haven’t always been too social. But I’ve been really happy that since we moved here we’ve been having people over for dinner more often. It’s been really fun getting to know people.

With our food allergy issues, I was pretty nervous about hosting.  (Although I find comfort in hosting because I can be in charge of food and keeping it all safe for my girls.) It was just that at first I had no idea what I could make that was “normal” and was safe. (Not to mention, making something my picky eater will touch in front of other people.)

But slowly I’ve been growing more and more confident.

And lately I’ve been feeling pretty good about the stuff I’ve made when we have guests.

It feels like official “having guests over food.” Which I didn’t think I’d be able to pull off.

And I’m getting better at timing out how and when to make food through the day (or days before) to make that day less stressful. I’m not a natural hostess at all. But practice is a very good teacher.

(There have been some epic fails….like the girls bday party where I had no food made at all when our guests showed up hungry, so I had to send Blake out to buy lunch.  And then I was still frosting cupcakes instead of hanging out with anyone. But you live you learn. And to be fair, my house was still a constuction zone then, so just having a house that was free from paint cans and power tools did feel like a victory, in the face of failure. But lets be real, the fail was a hard fall, hurt some pride, and made the day WERID. lol.)

Anyway, while living and learning I’ve been telling myself I should be keeping track of these food adventures. I’ve been thinking I should keep a running tab of foods I’ve figured out for hosting. Just to build up confidence and have a good list of go-tos when I have a brain glitch. I’m also writing down who’s eaten it so I can kinda try and keep a rotation(ish) as I build up my repertoire.

Here’s a little picture of it.

I’m writing down a date (most of these are guesses since I am doing this later) and the guests names (I covered that up with those sticky notes for the internet) as well as any notes about if they have any allergy or food preferences I know of. And then I write down what we ate with them.

I’m keeping it in my home management binder.

Seeing it written out has given me a little kick. I feel kinda of accomplished. (You have no idea how intimidating food has been since learning my kid is allergic to TONS of stuff. AND that celiac disease runs in my husbands family.)

I’m also smelling some gluten free, iced, pumpkin brownies I made for some guests we are having over tonight in the kitchen while I type this -- so that makes me smile quite a bit too! Who knew I could still be fancy in the face of allergies? And those things smell GOOD! (Hope they are!)

If you want to use my Tracker too, you can access it here.

(Or you can easily print up your own too.)