1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to reduce the mental effort 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: of answering the question what's for dinner. As the school 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: year starts, lots of families find themselves with very full schedules. 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: No one likes coming home from work or school and 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: standing in front of a fridge of mismatched ingredients and 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: making a decision when hungry about what to eat. While 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: the easiest solution might be to get take out or 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: delivery every night, I know a lot of families value 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: home cooked meals, either because they tend to be healthier 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: or because they tend to be cheaper. If it's the 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: case that it's a family value, then I'm going to 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: get up on my soapbox here and state that it 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: should not be any one family members responsibility. Making dinner 16 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: is a task that can be shared among any family 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: members who are older than about twelve. That said, there 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: are situations where the planning, prepping, and cooking fall to 19 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,119 Speaker 1: one family member. Today's episode is about how one family 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: in such a situation reduced the mental load on the 21 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: family cook our listener writes that the before Breakfast episode 22 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: on Taco Tuesday, which first aired in April nineteen, caught 23 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: her attention. I've been doing something similar for almost two 24 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: years now, our listener rights, but with a twist, I 25 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: call it the eight day rotation. The eight day rotation 26 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: came to be because her husband is in the military 27 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: and was deployed a few weeks after their fourth child 28 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: was born. Neighbors and friends delivered meals for a while, 29 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: but sadly meal trains don't continue forever. I needed a 30 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: way to make the task seems smaller, more manageable, less daunting, 31 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: our listener rights. Then she thought, I can think up 32 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: four meals that's not so bad, and I'll make double 33 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: so we can repeat them all that four nights. That's 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: more than a week done. Her eight day plan tends 35 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: to be a rotating journey of fish, chicken, beef for pork, 36 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: and vegetarian. At the beginning of the month, she lays 37 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: out the eight day rotation. She builds in off days 38 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: to order pizza, have breakfast for dinner, or get carry 39 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: out because life is happening and grocery shopping or cooking 40 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: are not, she says. She tries to plan out leftover 41 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: meals on the days she won't have time to cook, 42 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: and cooking on the days when she does have extra time. 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: Knowing what's for dinner, and that she only has to 44 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: cook four out of every nine or ten days means 45 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: my mental space is so much freer, she says. I 46 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: think this could definitely work for a lot of families, 47 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: particularly if each category in the eight day rotation is 48 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: fairly set. You don't have to hunt through a library 49 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: of chicken recipes. You only have to figure out two. 50 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: Given the addition of takeout nights, this means that after 51 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: eating the chicken recipe two nights in a row, you 52 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't see it again for about twenty days. That seems 53 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: quite reasonable. While our listener says she sometimes cooks all 54 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 1: four meals simultaneously and then freezes the parts she won't 55 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: use until later in the rotation, I think people need 56 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: to figure out in their individual situations if this is 57 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: the best way to handle meal prep. I personally don't 58 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: like the idea of giving up a chunk of my 59 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: Sunday to cook for the week. However, if you've got 60 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: four small children underfoot and your partners on the other 61 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 1: side of the world for six months. Maybe it's more 62 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: appealing to send them over to a neighbors for an 63 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: hour or two and knock out everything you can at 64 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: one time, rather than cooking with them around on any 65 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: busy weeknight. Finally, I just add a note that I 66 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: think we can be flexible about what's considered home cooking. 67 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: Food doesn't have to be elaborate. A supermarket rotisserie chicken, 68 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: a bagged salad, and a microwave in the bag package 69 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: of green beans is totally meal and it can be 70 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: on the table in less time than it takes to 71 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: enter a delivery order on one of those apps. Angel 72 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: hair pasta cooks in just a few minutes, which means 73 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: adding a jar of sauce and one of those brilliant 74 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: bagged salads also gets you dinner and under fifteen minutes, 75 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: including the time it takes your water to come to 76 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: a boil. Pre chopped veggies, cooked and eggs is dinner 77 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: in about ten minutes to or go with pre cooked 78 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: shrimp in a dipping sauce in a microwavable bag of veggies. 79 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: Convenient food is still food for most of us. The 80 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: point is to eat together rather than to channel Julia Child. 81 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and 82 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 83 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 84 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 85 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod 86 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 87 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 88 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: podcast at heart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is 89 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I 90 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a 91 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 92 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 93 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.