Old family cookbooks rest on shelves of Our Daily Bread each morning just waiting to be put to good use.

The recipes on their pages inspired Shannon Rumley to open Our Daily Bread, which caters especially to families with hectic schedules.

“These days everybody is so busy. Nobody has time to fix a home-cooked meal because we’re here and we’re there,” Rumley said. “I wanted this to be a service to families so they could take a meal home, sit down and get a chance to talk with each other.”

For Rumley, cooking is all about family. At 9, she had a spatula in her hand helping grandmother Betty Bell Dial create cakes for arts and craft fairs. As a teenager, she watched her parents run their own restaurant, Diamond Jim’s and Miss Donna’s in Livingston.

Our Daily Bread is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Rumley offers up a daily menu with choices between two meats and four vegetables. She also serves homemade chicken salad daily. For lunch each day these items are served hot, but they can also be purchased in containers ready to be heated up for dinner at night.

Rumley said a typical family of four could eat for about $35. This includes a choice of meat and three veggies, plus bread. The options include items like squash casserole, chicken divan, beef tips and rice and steamed vegetables.

She also plans to offer up a full Thanksgiving dinner or sides to compliment a family dinner.

Rumley took the leap of faith a year ago and left her job as a teacher to open the restaurant. She hoped to help free up time for families stretched in 100 directions. Rumley said she feels blessed because the change has even given her more time with her son. She said she was surprised at how easy the transition was.

“It’s just natural … I loved teaching but I just felt it was time to do this,” Rumley said. “It’s my God-given talent and I felt he was telling me it was time to use it.”

To find weekly menus for Our Daily Bread, visit www.ourdailybreadmealstogo.com.