[Alice Ann]

Oh, that is so spiffy! Also very sweet of you. The site I linked you too actually has a list of commonly used words so that should help you out even just a little. I've been teaching myself Japanese for a wide range of reasons. I can read, and write it as well, though I'm still only semi-fluent.
Yes, my family does a lot of cooking from scratch - we're from southern Ohio, enough said. ^^;