Thanks for replying, Julia, SometimesBites, and others... I'm computer phobic and doing the best I can to keep up here. I'm not the best at quoting posts by others. ;)
"That explains the younger years, But it does not explain why as the kids got older their meals didn't progress with their ability. It's not like they were busy studying or out with their friends. Cooking is essentially a large part of their expected jobs, shit school was already at the dining table, it wouldn't have been a reach to include proper nutrition and recipes."
I'm a member of a foodie website and we recently had a discussion about this. It turned out that most of us like adventurous food. ;) Some of our 'extended family members' have 'midwestern tastes' as far as we could figure out. It boiled down to bland, ect and
YMMV, but there are people who 'live to eat' vs people who 'eat to live'.
I was raised fundie but I love to cook. My mom was a dyed in the wool fundie but also a believer in the post WW2 50s 'better living through science' thing, that included frozen and/or pre-prepared food served out of plastic pouches. Our family of 6 kids survived on instant mashed potatoes and TV dinners until I was old enough to cook- it was a skill born of self-defense. ;) The Joy of Cooking cookbook was one of my first and very much cherished links to the outside world. :)