As a woman of strong faith, Lee King is a dedicated mother who homeschools and has a love of cooking for her family, as well as offering hospitality. She and her husband, Kyle, have four children, one biological, and three adopted from foster care. Lee is sharing her thoughts on being a mother and her ideas for offering warm and welcoming hospitality.
A native Opelikan, Lee and her siblings attended Opelika City Schools, and enjoyed sports and athletics. Growing up they would ride bikes to friends’ houses.
“It was a beautiful and safe environment and it is still the sweetest place to raise children,” Lee said. “We had large family gatherings that are my fondest memories growing up. Both of my grandmothers, Maxine Mann and Barbara Dunson, are excellent cooks and incredible hostesses. They taught me what hospitality really looks like and how to prepare food that is delicious, comforting and inviting but not fussy.”
Kyle also grew up in Opelika, but they didn’t meet until he was attending Auburn University and she was taking college classes online. They met at a church event for college students. The couple decided to get married while in college and finish their degrees.
Lee and Kyle said they wanted to stay in Opelika since they thought it was important to have their families near them when raising their family. Kyle owns a small business, King Network and Media Services, an outsource IT department that services businesses across the country.
The Kings have four children: Miles, 17; Bear, 11; Evy, 9; and Cammie Claire, 3. Lee homeschools, and the children go once a week to Arrows Home School.
“We knew early on in our marriage that adoption would be part of our story, but we didn’t know what that would look like,” said Lee. “We had been married about four years, and opened our hands to the Lord to say, ‘however you want to build this family, we trust you.’”
Lee gave birth to their oldest, Miles. They waited for about four years to adjust to parenthood, and then asked the Lord to pick what is next.
“He led us toward foster care and adopting,” said Lee. “We came to learn and understand the incredible need in Lee County for the foster care system to have people, especially the people of God connected to this need and serving in this way.”
Lee began meeting with Micah Melnick, director of the Big House Foundation, and her mother who had adopted out of the foster care system.
“I was mentored well by them,” Lee said. “We entered into it with our eyes wide open. Still, it was one of the hardest things we have ever done. We ended up adopting our second son, Bear, from the foster care system. Three weeks after his adoption date, we had a call from DHR that he had a little sister that was just born and asked if they could bring her to us. It was the easiest ‘yes.’ We fostered her before adopting.
“Then we took a long break because adoption is beautiful, but it can be challenging for the children coming from a traumatic situation,” Lee said. “The children go through waves of grief. Sometimes, they are born into difficult substances. We needed time to huddle up and become a family.
“Life was the most beautiful years of God revealing His plan and intentions for our family. At the age of 40, the Lord called us back into the foster care system. A couple of weeks later, we had a call about a seven-month-old girl who needed a home and had been through some really hard things.”
Cammie Claire came to them from an emergency room at midnight. She was asleep when they laid her in her crib for the first time.
“We prayed and asked the Lord to let her wake and feel comfortable in her surroundings,” Lee said. “She opened these big beautiful eyes and smiled at us with the biggest smile. My husband said, ‘I am in love.’”
She was fostered for two years and adopted last November.
“We are officially a forever family of six,” said Lee. “It is the most beautiful life we could have ever dreamed. My husband and I see parenthood as the highest calling. Jesus said to go and make disciples. We believe it is our calling to make disciples of our children. Being a mom is my biggest responsibility.
“I want my children to see me sharing the gospel, to see me serving the Lord Jesus and for that to be a templet for them to follow into their parenthood,” she said. “I feel it is my greatest joy to parent my children in the hardest days and the funniest days because what a gift it is to be able to shape and love a child well.
“I want them to remember the tears that were shed when they were bickering, and we came together and figured it out. I want them to remember Play Doh at the kitchen table, playing with the hose and going on vacation. I want them to remember the hard moments too, because I think that is what propels them to the Lord in knowing even in the worst of times He is there.”
Lee and Kyle said they want to help their children see how to overcome and work through the hard times in life.
“Our kids are going to have to endure things for the rest of their lives, and they need to know who the Lord Jesus is in every season of their lives to endure whatever is in front of them,” Lee said. “Our hope is for our children to be raised in the hope and knowledge of the grace of Lord Jesus, and everything else is secondary.”
Conversation is important to the Kings, which is why their dinner table is important to them. Lee’s favorite thing to do is to put a spread of food on the kitchen bar, which is never anything fancy. It is always accessible and food that makes people feel welcome.
Her grandmothers are still cooking and hosting get-togethers in their home. They taught Lee that hospitality is more about the feeling people get when they are in her home that the food she serves.
“If we focus more on the food than the people, then we are missing the mark,” Lee said. “I have carried that into my hospitality. I want to have plenty of food, but want people to feel the presence of the Lord. I like for the food to be served in a buffet style, so if someone comes into our home who doesn’t care for one thing or another, they still feel there is something they can grab. I want our conversation to be important, which is why our dinner table is to be the most accessible thing when people enter our home.”
Her grandmother Barbara Dunson calls herself a pot cooker. She cooks in pots and serves from the pots. She doesn’t put food in another dish when people arrive. She leaves her food on the stove in the same pot she cooked the food.
“When people come in her home, they know the food tastes delicious and feel welcome because there is nothing fussy about it,” said Lee. “My grandmother Maxine Mann puts a buffet of food out when we are all at her home. You fill your Styrofoam cup with ice out of a bag, and it feels like home to me. I want people to come here and have it feel like home to them.”
When the Kings have people in their home, Lee makes it a point to have food available, especially when having teenagers.
“I want this to be the place they want to be,” she said. “There is always food, desserts and drinks out on the counter. I want people to feel they were wanted in this place.”
She is sharing recipes that have been used for generations in her family. One of her recipes is fajitas baked in a sheet pan that is easy to assemble for a crowd.
“In the book of Acts, God talks about fellowship together and breaking bread,” Lee said. “I think food is a beautiful way to share the love of Christ. It does not have to be fussy and fancy. When you welcome people into your home, you are saying, ‘I thought of you and I wanted to spend this time with you,’ and that is how we see food around here.
“As a mom of 17 years, I want mothers to know that we are not going to be able to do it all and not expected to live a perfect life. We are to first seek the kingdom of God. Our children need us to spend time with the Lord for Him to fuel us, so we can be a fragrance offering to our children.”
Fajita Sheet Pan Chicken and Black Beans
Cooking spray
Boneless skinless chicken breast
White onion, sliced
Red, yellow, green bell peppers, sliced
Fajita seasoning mix
Canned black beans, drained
Pico de Gallo
Lime juice
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with sheet pan inside.
Combine chicken and vegetables, coat with spray and seasoning.
Spread ingredients in pan and cook 15 minutes.
Add beans and cook until chicken is done and vegetables tender. Serve with Pico de Gallo and lime juice.
Nanny’s Chicken Pie
32 oz chicken broth
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and chopped
1/2 bag frozen peas or mixed veggies
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups self-rising flour
2 Tbsp Crisco
1 cup buttermilk
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine broth, chicken, veggies, milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place into a 9×13-inch greased baking pan.
Mix flour and Crisco, and cut together until crumbly. Add buttermilk to form dough. Divide dough and drop into mixture. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on top.
Bake at 375 degrees about 45 minutes until bubbly and browned.
Rice Pudding
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. melted butter
Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased casserole dish.
Place dish in water bath.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour 15 minutes until set.
Nanny’s Crockpot Brunswick Stew
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 medium-sized cans petite diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
3 boiled chicken breasts (cut or pulled when cool)
1 lb. Curley’s pulled pork with barbecue sauce
2 cans creamed corn
Salt and pepper
Brown beef and onion: drain. Add ground beef and onion along with remaining ingredients to crockpot. Cook on low 5 to 6 hours. Nanny serves it over rice with fried okra on top.
Barbara’s and Dear’s Crockpot Gumbo
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sliced okra
3 cups water
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 onions, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 can chicken broth
Seasonings (garlic salt, salt, pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, Bay leaves)
Shrimp/crab
Make roux with oil and flour until dark. Add okra and cook 2 minutes. Add water, tomatoes, vegetables, broth and seasoning.
Cook 4 to 5 hours on low in a crock pot, then add seafood and cook 30 minutes.
Dear’s Crab
Pancakes
3 eggs (Lee will use 7 eggs when she wants the crabcakes to be thin.)
1 onion, chopped and sauteed in butter
1 cup milk
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 pint crab meat
Seasonings (salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce)
Combine all ingredients.
Refrigerate 2 hours. Fry crab cakes until golden brown on both sides.
Peanut Butter
Cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, mix peanut butter and sugar. Add egg and blend well. Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet. Press with a fork. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Tailgate Sausage Dip
1 lb. hot sausage
Two 8 oz. cream cheese
Rotel tomatoes
Cook sausage and drain. Add cream cheese and Rotel tomatoes. Heat in saucepan until smooth.
Shrimp Dip
1 cup cottage cheese
1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 pkg. pkg. ranch dressing mix
1/2 lb. shrimp, cooked and chopped
Lemon juice to taste
Combine cottage cheese and cream cheese. Add ranch dressing mix and blend well. Stir in shrimp and lemon juice. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Rotel Cream Cheese Dip
- 10 oz Rotel tomatoes
- 8 oz cream cheese
Heat cream cheese in saucepan. Add Rotel and mix well.
Sugar Free
Brownies
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups Splenda
17 Tbsp. melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar-free
chocolate chips
3 eggs
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9×9-inch pan.
Mix together flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix Splenda and butter.
Combine all ingredients and add eggs and vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake brownies for 20 minutes or until done. Test with a toothpick inserted near the center.
The Family’s Fix
3 cups milk
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
Angel food cake, cut into cubes
Fruit of choice, cut into cubes
Heat milk, butter and vanilla in a saucepan until hot but not boiling.
In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and eggs. Add mixture to milk and stir until thickened. Stir in cake and fruit. Serve in bowls.
Maxine’s Chicken Casserole
1 cup cooked rice
2 small cans chicken in water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
In a casserole dish, layer rice, soup, chicken, soup and continue until all ingredients are out. Finish with rice as the top layer for a nice crunch texture.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 45 minutes until bubbling.
