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Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to make some decisions automatic,

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Speaker 1: In other words, the genius of Taco Tuesday. We like

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Speaker 1: tacos in my house. People complain about all sorts of dishes,

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Speaker 1: but nobody complains about this dinner option. We each fill

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Speaker 1: our tortillas with the exact combination of taco meat and toppings.

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Speaker 1: We wish the kid who loves tomatoes can pile those on,

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Speaker 1: and the kids who don't love tomatoes, which sadly is

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Speaker 1: all my children except one, well they can skip that part.

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Speaker 1: We are far from the only family to discover taco Night. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: if you believe the internet, Taco Tuesday is a real thing.

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Speaker 1: I think it's a brilliant thing. You can save a

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Speaker 1: lot of time by making some decisions automatic. If you're

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Speaker 1: smart about it, though, it can be about more than

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Speaker 1: just saving time. You can make these automatic decisions into

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Speaker 1: traditions and old a real sense of community around them. First,

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Speaker 1: for the saving time part, some people really love to cook.

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Speaker 1: But even if you do, getting dinner on the table

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Speaker 1: for your family on weeknights can be stressful. Someone has

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Speaker 1: to get home from work early, enough to prepare dinner,

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Speaker 1: and the decision about what to make tends to get

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Speaker 1: made at the time when people are hungry and have

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Speaker 1: zero energy. You can try to meal plan ahead of time,

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Speaker 1: but not everyone wants to spend their weekends researching recipes

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Speaker 1: that they'll then try for the first time when exhausted

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Speaker 1: after commuting. If you know you always have taco Tuesdays, though,

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Speaker 1: you can free up this mental space you simply buy

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Speaker 1: taco ingredients every time you go to the grocery store.

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Speaker 1: When you get home tired on Tuesday night, all you

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Speaker 1: have to do is brown the taco meat and add

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Speaker 1: the seasoning and pull the toppings out of the fridge.

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Speaker 1: With the energy you save, you can have better dinner

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Speaker 1: table conversations, or even do something fun like go for

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Speaker 1: a walk as a family after dinner. You can have

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Speaker 1: your culinary adventures on weekends when you have time to experiment,

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Speaker 1: but you can preserve your energy for different kinds of

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Speaker 1: adventures during the week. Indeed, the weekday meal rubric of

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Speaker 1: taco Tuesday is so genius that you could expand it

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Speaker 1: to other days. Maybe it's make your own sandwiches Monday,

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Speaker 1: or breakfast for dinner. Wednesdays throwback Thursdays might feature leftovers,

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Speaker 1: or Friday could be pizza night. You might think that

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Speaker 1: putting meals on autopilot in order to save time and

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Speaker 1: mental energy could cause resentment, but I'm not so sure.

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Speaker 1: When you think back to your own childhood, I'm guessing

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Speaker 1: that many of your fondest memories center around traditions, which

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Speaker 1: is really just another word for things you do over

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Speaker 1: and over again. That beach you always visited for the

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Speaker 1: Fourth of July, helping Grandma cook a roast every Sunday afternoon,

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Speaker 1: or how you always went out for ice cream on

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Speaker 1: the first day of school. When we're adults, a lot

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Speaker 1: of sameness stacked up can cause years to disappear into

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Speaker 1: memory sinkles. But things that are done repeatedly with meaning

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Speaker 1: attached to them can submit themselves into our brains. They

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Speaker 1: become sources of identity. Likewise, breakfast for dinner Wednesdays can

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Speaker 1: become something special about your family, a tradition you know

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Speaker 1: belongs to you. We are those wacky people who keep

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Speaker 1: having waffles on Wednesdays. This is the way we do

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Speaker 1: things in this house. This is who we are, and

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Speaker 1: that can build a real sense of community for your family,

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Speaker 1: and hey, since it saves time and mental energy, that's

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Speaker 1: definitely a win for everyone involved. Do you do Taco

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Speaker 1: Tuesday or any other meal traditions in your house, Please

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Speaker 1: let me know. You can email me at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch.