Speaker 1: Episode three oh seven, how to systematize your Sunday meal prep.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and de liver life.
Speaker 3: Here your hosts, Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 4: My name is Jen, my name is Jill.
Speaker 3: And today we are.
Speaker 1: Talking about meal prep systems because success is in the system.
Speaker 4: And the planning and preparing.
Speaker 1: Yes, but you can plan and you can prepare. But
Speaker 1: if you don't have the system, your willpower, your tiredness,
Speaker 1: all the decision fatigue, your lack of energy, it's all
Speaker 1: going to fall by the wayside.
Speaker 3: You're not going to be able to.
Speaker 1: Succeed without the systems that make executing the plan easier.
Speaker 4: Will say, we are going to be talking about both
Speaker 4: planning and prepping. Yes, they both go hand in hand.
Speaker 4: Both are necessary.
Speaker 1: Yes, but we're going to make a concerted effort to
Speaker 1: prioritize the prep to execute the plan.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: Because we talk a lot about meal planning. We even
Speaker 1: give a meal plan to our members in the Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends club. Every month. You get a monthly meal plan
Speaker 1: from us, from one of us. Yes, but really important
Speaker 1: to have some systems in place that work for you.
Speaker 1: Not every system is going to work for you. Also
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be done on Sunday. We just put
Speaker 1: Sunday in there, so systems that work for you, days
Speaker 1: that work for you to execute your meal plan. Yay. Yes,
Speaker 1: But first, this episode is brought to you by the
Speaker 1: Final Countdown Dinner, new copyright. Okay, when you hear this,
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Speaker 4: Day fifty eight months. I love it when people describe
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Speaker 3: Too many?
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Speaker 3: Yes, all right.
Speaker 1: So before we jump into this episode, if you are
Speaker 1: really interested in this topic right now, we have a
Speaker 1: lot of grocery meal planning meal prep episodes. Are current
Speaker 1: ones that we think are most aligned with this episode,
Speaker 1: episode two sixty two Meal prep and Freezer meal tips,
Speaker 1: so that one emphasizes the freezer, utilizing the freezer, getting
Speaker 1: the most out of it when meal planning and prepping,
Speaker 1: and then we have episode two thirty four meal planning
Speaker 1: apps compared. We love cook Smarts, which is a meal
Speaker 1: planning app that is a paid service, and we do
Speaker 1: talk about free ones in that episode, but we love
Speaker 1: that they have tips for meal prepping. So if you
Speaker 1: feel like that's something that you're missing, it's kind of
Speaker 1: there's like a disconnect. We think it's a great option
Speaker 1: if you want to pay for a year of cook
Speaker 1: Smarts kind of see how they recommend prepping their weekly
Speaker 1: meal plans to kind of bring that together and learn
Speaker 1: that skill. You don't need to do it forever unless
Speaker 1: you love it, but if it is a skill you're
Speaker 1: looking to learn and have somebody else do for you
Speaker 1: for a little while, cook Smarts is a really good one.
Speaker 1: We talk about that and some other free and paid
Speaker 1: meal planning apps. If you just want to check out
Speaker 1: Cooksmarts and not the episode, Frugal Friends, podcast, dot com,
Speaker 1: slash cs.
Speaker 4: SOMM, so many things for you to check out, how
Speaker 4: Field Savings, accounts, cooksmarts, love it, and this these headlines.
Speaker 1: Yes, so let's talk about systematizing your meal planning first.
Speaker 1: What'd you think of our first article?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so this one includes ten tips. We're not going
Speaker 4: to go through all of them, but it comes from
Speaker 4: living well, spending less. They're talking about how to simplify
Speaker 4: your meal planning routine, although I will say that there
Speaker 4: is a lot of meal prep stuff in here too,
Speaker 4: and some of it can be interchangeable. Some tips that
Speaker 4: work for meal planning also work for meal prepping. I'm
Speaker 4: picking three of my faves, and it does start with them,
Speaker 4: or one, which is make a standing date with yourself.
Speaker 4: We all know this, we know that it's necessary, we
Speaker 4: know that it's helpful. It doesn't have to look the
Speaker 4: same for every person what we do on this date,
Speaker 4: or that it always has to be the same day
Speaker 4: of the week. I know the title of this episode
Speaker 4: is Sunday. A lot of people love Sundays for meal
Speaker 4: prepping or meal planning. You could decide what works for you.
Speaker 4: I've got friends who choose Tuesday night because that makes
Speaker 4: sense for their routine, or a Monday morning, whatever's going
Speaker 4: to happen. But we're not actually going to be able
Speaker 4: to have a plan or implement on a plan if
Speaker 4: we don't take time to plan. So that's a whole
Speaker 4: part of this entire process of deciding what days are
Speaker 4: going to work for me to sit down make that plan.
Speaker 4: The article doesn't talk about this, but I'm going to
Speaker 4: add making it something enjoyable as much as possible. Maybe
Speaker 4: you are person who enjoys looking up recipes and making plans,
Speaker 4: and that's great in and of itself. It's fun for you.
Speaker 4: But if this is a little bit of a dreaded task,
Speaker 4: then be kind to yourself in it. Do it in
Speaker 4: an environment that is peaceful or life giving to you,
Speaker 4: or pair it with snacks, or sit down with friends
Speaker 4: and do this whatever is going to make it appealing
Speaker 4: to you. But you do have to set aside time
Speaker 4: to even make the plan or do the prep and
Speaker 4: decide when is best for you. Don't just choose Sunday
Speaker 4: because that's what the Internet says you should do. Choose
Speaker 4: Sunday if it actually works for you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like, last night was Tuesday, and I was prepping onions.
Speaker 1: I put them in the Have a Little Ninja Food pulser.
Speaker 1: I was chopping onions, put them in a bag to
Speaker 1: freeze because I knew I needed to use I needed
Speaker 1: to chop onions for the recipe I was making for
Speaker 1: dinner that night. So I just decided to chop the
Speaker 1: rest of the onions that were there, since I already
Speaker 1: had the chopper out and it was dirty, and I mean,
Speaker 1: after I chopped the first onion, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 4: Keep going, keep going. You're already crying mine as well.
Speaker 4: Keep crying.
Speaker 1: Well, here is the first two oh one tip. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you wear contacts, wear your contacts while cutting onions.
Speaker 3: It is like a do do.
Speaker 1: It is like a barrier between your eyes and you
Speaker 1: will not cry. So that is that's that. And then second,
Speaker 1: just make sure everybody you love is out of.
Speaker 3: The house when you're doing it.
Speaker 1: I made sure, Yeah, my toddler was sleeping, my husband
Speaker 1: was gone, and I just did all of them very
Speaker 1: quickly and had my contacts in, and then very quickly
Speaker 1: cleaned up up all the onion afterwards and lit a candle.
Speaker 4: Look out the garbage. I've noticed this doesn't solve it.
Speaker 4: I don't wear contacts, but I've noticed that I will
Speaker 4: often lean over the onion when I'm chopping them. But
Speaker 4: since recognizing that seems to just bring on the water works,
Speaker 4: I step back from it a little bit. It has
Speaker 4: reduced my tears significantly. H trapping. I don't know, maybe
Speaker 4: everyone else has discovered that, but I'm like, I don't
Speaker 4: need to be over top of them. I can be
Speaker 4: a little bit removed. I'm like removing myself from the microphone.
Speaker 4: Sorry to display what I mean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it does not like when you're using
Speaker 1: a chopper, you're covering it while it's urnning, and then
Speaker 1: I just dump it into the bag.
Speaker 3: So that helps as well.
Speaker 4: And that was our side episode on Onions.
Speaker 1: And then there you go. We'll have a lot of
Speaker 1: these little prep system ships throughout.
Speaker 4: Well. I like that too, because it doesn't always have
Speaker 4: to mean prepping doesn't always have to mean it all
Speaker 4: happens in one day. Sometimes our system what could work
Speaker 4: for us is prepping as we go, knowing that eventually,
Speaker 4: I'm going to mean more onions, so I can be
Speaker 4: kind to myself, my future self by chopping all the
Speaker 4: rest of this that will eventually go into future recipes.
Speaker 4: And you just happen to embed that in your process
Speaker 4: on Tuesday night. But it didn't mean that you prepped
Speaker 4: three straight meals. It just meant that you got rid
Speaker 4: of some of the chopping for the future, which really
Speaker 4: that is what prepping mostly is for me. It's like
Speaker 4: I don't mind cooking daily, but the chopping mm hmm,
Speaker 4: it takes forever.
Speaker 1: It is a big and I will say onions, chopping anything,
Speaker 1: but especially onions is a big barrier to entry for
Speaker 1: me cooking at home. So I love how Now I'll
Speaker 1: just take out a bag that is pre portioned one onion.
Speaker 1: I will not defrost it. Don't defrost your onions. Don't
Speaker 1: don't put chopped onions.
Speaker 3: In the fridge.
Speaker 1: They'll make your whole fridge smell like onions, no matter
Speaker 1: where they are or what container they are in. And so,
Speaker 1: and I won't do frost it because they're already chopped
Speaker 1: and there's such little pieces.
Speaker 3: I'll just put it right.
Speaker 1: On the hot oil in the pan and it.
Speaker 3: Very quickly will.
Speaker 1: So that takes away that little barrier to entry, uh
Speaker 1: for you know, making whatever I'm making.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And also, don't be afraid to buy like the frozen
Speaker 1: onion and pepper.
Speaker 4: Guy.
Speaker 1: Okay, that just love this topic so much. Okay, so mine,
Speaker 1: are we ready to go to mine?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Going? Okay, Okay, keep spilling your wisdom. Okay.
Speaker 1: So number two, create a go to list of family favorites.
Speaker 1: And so this is helpful obviously for meal planning because
Speaker 1: when you have four to five favorites that you know
Speaker 1: your family loves, you can incorporate at least one a week,
Speaker 1: sometimes two, so that you know, I'm not gonna fight
Speaker 1: my husband on this, I'm not gonna fight my kids
Speaker 1: on this.
Speaker 3: Everybody loves this.
Speaker 1: Keep the ingredients on hand and if it's something that
Speaker 1: requires you know, requires chopped onions or something you know,
Speaker 1: YadA YadA, you can have those things pre prepped, like,
Speaker 1: just always have them on hand. So it's always very
Speaker 1: easy to go to these family favorites. So most like soups,
Speaker 1: if you can just have your mirrapoa just ready to go.
Speaker 4: What is that word?
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you asked, mirpooa.
Speaker 1: It is the combination of onion, carrot, and celery that
Speaker 1: is in most soups.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, okay, I knew it had a word.
Speaker 1: Yeah it is, So just have that preportioned, you know,
Speaker 1: like most most of the times, the recipe is gonna
Speaker 1: call for two sticks of celery, two carrots, and one onion.
Speaker 1: That is what I've found, And just have all those
Speaker 1: frozen cut up in a bag ready for a soup.
Speaker 1: If that's if you know your family's favorite soup already
Speaker 1: has that in there, Golden.
Speaker 4: I see what you're doing. I'm onto you. You are
Speaker 4: just crushing and slighing in these first five minutes of
Speaker 4: this podcast episode, just to make us miss you all
Speaker 4: the more. Well, when you're out on maternity lead.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're gonna have some good guest co hosts, and
Speaker 1: I don't want.
Speaker 4: They are the listeners to be replacing me, right, Yeah,
Speaker 4: just remember this one and.
Speaker 3: Mirror par prav mirror.
Speaker 4: Mirror something or other and freezing our onions and wearing
Speaker 4: contact so Jen, Yes, and you.
Speaker 1: Can buy it pre cut too. They do come in
Speaker 1: pre cut frozen bags, so it's to you don't be
Speaker 1: afraid to stock up on those. And it's easier to
Speaker 1: stalk to know what to stock up on when you
Speaker 1: have this you know four to five family favorite list.
Speaker 4: Oh well, in no particular order, but number three to
Speaker 4: simplify your ingredient list. And I think this tip hits
Speaker 4: a variety of issues when it comes to eating at home.
Speaker 4: Are purchasing, our planning, and our prepping. So when we
Speaker 4: simplify our ingredient list, it helps us in all three
Speaker 4: of those other categories, and I love how they highlight
Speaker 4: that delicious does not have to be complicated. And this
Speaker 4: is where you've already mentioned it, Jen, But we can
Speaker 4: think an easy soup with a hearty bread on the
Speaker 4: side that is super easy to batch make. Soups usually
Speaker 4: freeze very well, even breads, baguettes, your crusty breads freeze
Speaker 4: so well they can come out amazing. Or other simple
Speaker 4: combinations like meat and potatoes or just a pasta and
Speaker 4: a salad. Think really simply, and I know we'll talk
Speaker 4: about this more as we go, but also where you
Speaker 4: could utilize those ingredients in similar recipes to come so
Speaker 4: that we don't have to keep reinventing or have a
Speaker 4: ton of stuff on hand. But simple ingredients that can
Speaker 4: be used in multiple ways, like in the mirror pla
Speaker 4: mirror pa mirror PA can also be used in other
Speaker 4: things like chicken salad. You know me, I love my
Speaker 4: chicken seace. I love the chicken salad and celer egoes
Speaker 4: and that too.
Speaker 1: I don't let me forget to talk about easy meal
Speaker 1: prep for chicken salad, Okay, I don't want to get
Speaker 1: ahead of myself again.
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm gonna make a note.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I'm gonna switch things up. I do love four,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna switch things up and go all the.
Speaker 3: Way down to eight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, embrace make ahead and freezer meals. So we've talked about,
Speaker 1: I mean, we have a whole episode on this, but
Speaker 1: so we've talked briefly about freezing individual ingredients or groups
Speaker 1: of ingredients. But I will also do just whole meals,
Speaker 1: like uncooked meals in the freezer. So if I am
Speaker 1: doing and I will only do this for me soups
Speaker 1: and stews, that's the only like make ahead meal that
Speaker 1: I will do. I know a lot of people will
Speaker 1: do their lasagnas, they'll do their enchiladas.
Speaker 3: They they Yeah, that's not me.
Speaker 1: I just don't have the success that I want to
Speaker 1: see with those foods. So I'm a soup stew girl.
Speaker 1: Even even maybe a bake.
Speaker 4: Not a cast or, don't confuse.
Speaker 1: With a Yeah, maybe a bake, but that's probably his
Speaker 1: wild as I'll get with a make ahead freezer meal.
Speaker 1: But so if you're making one of these, like maybe
Speaker 1: a black bean soup, you're already making the black bean
Speaker 1: soup for dinner. Double the ingredients by double the ingredients.
Speaker 1: As you're pouring one thing into your pot, pour the
Speaker 1: same amount into a freezer bag. And then just as
Speaker 1: you go, you're making dinner for tonight and a freezer
Speaker 1: meal for later.
Speaker 4: I watched you do this a few weeks ago. We
Speaker 4: came over for we had soup and hardy bread, and
Speaker 4: it was lovely, and you did this and it did
Speaker 4: not look like any additional work. Maybe you're talking a
Speaker 4: few extra minutes because you are going to be chopping more,
Speaker 4: But what a great way to be able to stock
Speaker 4: your freezer, have more meals, and for people like me
Speaker 4: and my husband who don't love constant leftovers, like we
Speaker 4: can do it once, but this is a way to
Speaker 4: be able to have that meal again. But it doesn't
Speaker 4: have to be that week. It could be in a
Speaker 4: few weeks or a month from now, up to three months.
Speaker 1: So the way I'll do it is, I'll save the
Speaker 1: chopping for while the super stew is cooking. But as
Speaker 1: I'm doing the spices and everything, like, I'll chop you
Speaker 1: know what I need for tonight, and then as I'm
Speaker 1: doing the spices, I'll do just a double you know
Speaker 1: spice in the pot spice in the bag sort of thing.
Speaker 4: Oh oh, speaking of spices, here you go, sprinkling in
Speaker 4: our own little tidbits. If there's recipes speaking of family favorites,
Speaker 4: things that you know that you like that call for
Speaker 4: a specific type of spice blend where you've got to
Speaker 4: kind of make it yourself. It's our regano and time
Speaker 4: and paprika and onion powder and all this stuff. I
Speaker 4: will make an extra jar of whatever that item is.
Speaker 4: So I've got like a faheita seasoning one, I've got
Speaker 4: one for like the enchiladas. Like there's different ones that
Speaker 4: I've got a specific type of seasoning that I know
Speaker 4: I'm going to make a lot and that that can
Speaker 4: take a lot of time too, not just the chopping,
Speaker 4: but when you've got four to eight spices that you're
Speaker 4: putting into something, each one with a varying degree of
Speaker 4: ratio an amount that can take time. So wherever you
Speaker 4: can find ways to cut that out for the future
Speaker 4: and just have a jar of this is the spice
Speaker 4: blend for this recipe that that has been so helpful
Speaker 4: for me too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, time.
Speaker 1: We're having a few tried and true family favorite recipes
Speaker 1: can come into handy because then you're not doing that
Speaker 1: for twenty recipes and you've got twenty different spice blends
Speaker 1: that you don't know when you'll use, but maybe you
Speaker 1: have four that you know you're going to use, and
Speaker 1: you're just doubling it every time, saving your time, saving
Speaker 1: yourself time the next time you make.
Speaker 4: It for a spice blend that you know you like
Speaker 4: for a homemade salad dressing. Eric and I love of
Speaker 4: dipping oil, and so there's a particular combination of spices
Speaker 4: that I'll do for a dipping oil for our bread.
Speaker 4: But a lot of times that's a barrier to me.
Speaker 4: Although I love it, it can feel like it takes
Speaker 4: so much time. But if I've got a whole jar
Speaker 4: of it already prepped and I can just add it
Speaker 4: in a bowl with oil, then that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The purpose of trying to find the way these systems
Speaker 1: kind of integrate into your life is to lower the
Speaker 1: barrier to entry, to eating it home, to following through
Speaker 1: with your meal plan. We just want to make it
Speaker 1: easier to eat it home than to order takeout. So
Speaker 1: whatever you that's like the rule of thumb, So whatever
Speaker 1: you need to do to make it easier to eat
Speaker 1: it home than to order takeout. That's how far you
Speaker 1: go with meal prepping, so you don't have to go
Speaker 1: all out with the beautiful you know, meal prepped meals
Speaker 1: and the glass jars of salad and like containers, like,
Speaker 1: you don't have to do that unless that is really
Speaker 1: what makes it easier for you to eat at home.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's as much as like you're making dinner for
Speaker 1: the night and you are cutting up an extra onion
Speaker 1: to freeze for tomorrow night's dinner exactly.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And sometimes that is all that needs to have happened,
Speaker 4: is well, I did already put in some work for this,
Speaker 4: so I don't want that to go to waste. I've
Speaker 4: got the onion ready. Like even that just mentally helps
Speaker 4: me to get on board.
Speaker 1: We need to give some sunk cost into that to
Speaker 1: kind of make ourselves follow through.
Speaker 4: That's a great summary, all right. The last one I'm
Speaker 4: going to point out on this list is number four,
Speaker 4: take help or you can get it. There is no
Speaker 4: shame in choosing some level of convenience if again, it
Speaker 4: means you are more likely to then eat at home.
Speaker 4: So if there's a particular week where even chopping is
Speaker 4: a lot. There's no shame in getting the pre chopped stuff,
Speaker 4: especially when it comes to veggies that you can get
Speaker 4: already frozen. We've already talked about this before, but frozen
Speaker 4: vegetables contain just as much nutrients, if not higher levels
Speaker 4: of nutrients than even the fresh vegetables because they are
Speaker 4: frozen at peak ripeness. And so getting the frozen veggie
Speaker 4: bag and just dumping that into a stir fry is
Speaker 4: incredible and convenient and less expensive than going out and
Speaker 4: maybe sometimes even from buying fresh. So if it's helpful
Speaker 4: to take out the chopping, the grating, the preparing. I've
Speaker 4: not done this yet. I've been asking a lot of
Speaker 4: people about the pre minced garlic because that is something
Speaker 4: that I don't love to do, of chopping mincing garlic,
Speaker 4: but I still do it. I use the fresh stuff
Speaker 4: because I've been concerned that I wouldn't go through an
Speaker 4: entire tub of minced garlic. But something like that, if
Speaker 4: that is gonna help make it easier for you to
Speaker 4: cook at home, do it. Find some of these ways
Speaker 4: where you can cut those corners. They also mention places
Speaker 4: like Trader Joe's Ald We know these spots that have
Speaker 4: really great organic frozen food, some pre chopped stuff. I know,
Speaker 4: I cut corners with canned goods, like I'm not doing
Speaker 4: my own beans in a pot raw. I'm just getting
Speaker 4: the can black beans, garbonzo beans. We're keeping it simple.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't believe we haven't talked about garlic before.
Speaker 1: I buy big jars of minced garlic.
Speaker 4: How long does it last?
Speaker 1: I mean it has never gone bad on me. But
Speaker 1: I put garlic in everything too, Yeah, and so I
Speaker 1: use it up. I will consistently use it up before
Speaker 1: it goes bad. I will always use more than what
Speaker 1: the jar recommends because I find it to be less
Speaker 1: potent than fresh. So it's supposed to be two cloves
Speaker 1: is one teaspoon, and I will use one teaspoon as
Speaker 1: one clove. It's typically how I do it. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it is less potent, but I will use it in
Speaker 1: everything that's great. Yeah, and no shame. Yeah, because you
Speaker 1: know what you're eating at home. Yes, And I mean
Speaker 1: it cuts down on waste too, because chopping garlic is
Speaker 1: a barrier to entry for me. But other herbs too
Speaker 1: are Like I can't keep fresh herbs alive, so I
Speaker 1: will buy the refrigerated tubes of ginger and basil specifically,
Speaker 1: I'll go through those before they go bad, and that
Speaker 1: has saved me from wasting and it just saves me
Speaker 1: time in cooking, and they still are fresher and better
Speaker 1: tasting than the dried versions. So those are two other
Speaker 1: ones that I buy pre done.
Speaker 4: Help where you can get it, and I will throw
Speaker 4: in here too. Help can also mean friends eating together,
Speaker 4: sharing food, prepping together, planning together. Take the help where
Speaker 4: you can get it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't have to be a weekly thing, but
Speaker 1: sometimes it is a fun activity to cook with friends.
Speaker 4: Yes it is. Yeah, I love it when we do
Speaker 4: that together. Sometimes we'll wonder the other will come over
Speaker 4: to the other's house and dinner's already ready. But it's
Speaker 4: also nice when okay, what do you got? What do
Speaker 4: I got? We'll just prep it together and it seems
Speaker 4: to go so much faster.
Speaker 1: The last time you came over, you just cooked in
Speaker 1: my kitchen and I laid down. That was great, but
Speaker 1: I was also eight months pregnant and that was really tired.
Speaker 3: You earned it, Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1: So my last one is the very last one on
Speaker 1: the list, and it is to make the most of
Speaker 1: pantry staples, and so this kind of goes along with
Speaker 1: getting help where you can, but it can help you
Speaker 1: to make these freezer meals or to follow through with
Speaker 1: your meal plan when you are using pantry staples instead
Speaker 1: of trying to make everything from scratch. Like with the beans,
Speaker 1: I will have dry beans, but I also have canned beans,
Speaker 1: because some nights are can bean nights and some nights
Speaker 1: are dry bean nights. Most nights in my house are
Speaker 1: can bean nights. That's most. If I am lucky, then
Speaker 1: I will use my dried versions.
Speaker 4: I don't think I've ever used dried beans. I don't
Speaker 4: know what to do with them.
Speaker 1: It's you have to think ahead, and I think it's
Speaker 1: best for bigger families, Like if you have five six
Speaker 1: people in your family and you really do need very
Speaker 1: very refined systems and plans, then you can make the
Speaker 1: most of the dried beans because you're big and big back.
Speaker 1: But I think if you're there's just one or two
Speaker 1: of you, canned beans really are are great.
Speaker 3: So pick out.
Speaker 1: Your pantry staples and those can be kind of based
Speaker 1: on your tried and true family meal list. They say
Speaker 1: in here the final trick to simplifying your meal plan
Speaker 1: is to make sure your pantry is stocked with ingredients
Speaker 1: you use frequently. That's the keyword, frequently. You know you're
Speaker 1: going to use them. We're not going to Sam's Club
Speaker 1: or Costco and getting bulk deals on things that we
Speaker 1: may use. We're going and only getting the deals on
Speaker 1: the things we will use so that we can have
Speaker 1: our pantry stocked. We went to Sam's Club and the
Speaker 1: only bulk thing that I got can tomatoes.
Speaker 4: I was just gonna say that can tomato. You you were
Speaker 4: on top of it in checking and comparing prices of
Speaker 4: like the unit of items to what you could get
Speaker 4: it at a store not in bulk, and some things
Speaker 4: were a deal and some things weren't. And it was
Speaker 4: a deal, particularly on the dice tomatoes. And I think
Speaker 4: other than a churro or a hot dog, that was
Speaker 4: like the only thing you walked out of there with.
Speaker 1: I did get a honey dice. Well, so much of
Speaker 1: it was like a bulk on name brand and I
Speaker 1: will get the generic, And so I'm comparing name brand
Speaker 1: to generic. But if there was something named brand, which
Speaker 1: was this particular honey that I liked, so I did
Speaker 1: get that a big thing in that. But yeah, the
Speaker 1: only generic Sam's Club the member's mark that I found
Speaker 1: that I always use was on dice tomatoes, and Dice
Speaker 1: tomatoes are on this list. Tomato paste, green chili's.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 1: Just last night I opened a fresh can of tomato paste.
Speaker 1: I used one Tablespoo, what do you do with the
Speaker 1: rest of it?
Speaker 4: Freeze it?
Speaker 3: Freeze it?
Speaker 1: So I took a one tablespoon and I put it
Speaker 1: in a little silicone Each tablespoon goes in a little
Speaker 1: silicone mold. Ice mold gets frozen. And today I will
Speaker 1: take that out and pre portion one tablespoon tomato pastes
Speaker 1: in a little container.
Speaker 4: Perfect.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 1: I do the same thing with Chipotle chilies. I will
Speaker 1: blend them with a smage of water. So you got
Speaker 1: the chili and the adobo that it comes in, smidge
Speaker 1: of water and blend it and then you can do
Speaker 1: the same thing. One tablespoon of Chipotle chilis into the
Speaker 1: ice mold.
Speaker 4: She is beauty, she is grace.
Speaker 1: I'm just helping you not waste food and just create
Speaker 1: these systems. When you open something in a can that
Speaker 1: you're not going to use all of it, it immediately
Speaker 1: goes while like while dinner's cooking, immediately goes a tablespoon
Speaker 1: in each ice cube mold and then into the freezer.
Speaker 1: You don't have to think about it.
Speaker 4: Wow. Okay, let's get onto this next one, yes, where
Speaker 4: we're talking about prep. This article comes from Real Simple,
Speaker 4: and that's what we like, keeping things simple. It is
Speaker 4: eight easy tips to make your weekly meal prep a breeze,
Speaker 4: and we are going to go through all eight.
Speaker 1: Yes, So let's start with number one. Consider your family's
Speaker 1: personal preference. We touched on this with the first one
Speaker 1: of creating a list of their favorites, but also just
Speaker 1: in general with your whole list, you want to keep
Speaker 1: in consider it your family's personal preference, but that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean you have to let it dictate everything you make.
Speaker 1: You can just say, hey, I want to make this
Speaker 1: for me and my partner. My kids will not like it,
Speaker 1: but this is how I can serve it to them
Speaker 1: in a way that they might. So this is definitely
Speaker 1: something too when you are prepping, keep in mind the
Speaker 1: future and say, how am I going to serve this
Speaker 1: to my kids? This is the best way I can
Speaker 1: think of, like exampling this, how am I going to
Speaker 1: serve this to my kids, and how can I prep
Speaker 1: it in a way that when I serve it, I
Speaker 1: can keep these separate.
Speaker 4: Yep. They also reference with this tip of even making
Speaker 4: snacks or granola bars, and that's one of the things
Speaker 4: that has been a complaint of mind when it comes
Speaker 4: to articles or Instagram accounts centered around meal planning or
Speaker 4: meal prepping, it is primarily looking at dinner. It's like,
Speaker 4: but I eat more than just dinner in a day,
Speaker 4: and so where we can find opportunities to also prep
Speaker 4: some really simple and go items for breakfast or lunch
Speaker 4: or a snack. One of my personal favorites are energy
Speaker 4: Bites no bake energy bytes. Speaking of families preferences, Eric
Speaker 4: loves it. I love it. They freeze well, and they're
Speaker 4: so handy and way less expensive than buying the prepackaged
Speaker 4: granola bars, so that reduces waste, it saves money. They're
Speaker 4: so sustaining and yummy, and then I don't have to
Speaker 4: think about breakfast for a few weeks because of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, every either Saturday or Sunday I will use because
Speaker 1: I'll pick up groceries on Sunday or Monday, so by
Speaker 1: the weekend, our bananas are at peak over ripeness. So
Speaker 1: every either Saturday or Sunday, I'm making a baked oatmeal
Speaker 1: that calls for It's the same base recipe and I'll
Speaker 1: just switch up the ad ins, but it calls for
Speaker 1: like two like ripe bananas, and that's that will feed
Speaker 1: us for like, you get a yummy hot baked oatmeal
Speaker 1: and then we'll put it in the fridge and have
Speaker 1: like for at least three days breakfasts.
Speaker 4: That's so true. I feel as though having the similar
Speaker 4: thing for breakfast every day is way more feasible for me,
Speaker 4: at least than having the same thing for dinner every night.
Speaker 4: And so prepping for breakfast can be a little bit
Speaker 4: more attainable because most of us are fine with a
Speaker 4: rotation of two or three things always and forever for breakfast,
Speaker 4: So that makes that easy. Okay. Number two on here
Speaker 4: is to keep an eye on ingredient overlap. So in
Speaker 4: the planning process, this is when you're going to be
Speaker 4: selecting weekly recipes and prioritize making the recipes that have
Speaker 4: similar ingredients for that week. They use an example of
Speaker 4: if you've identified in that week you want to make
Speaker 4: two recipes that utilize quin wa, then great, do that
Speaker 4: in that week, make the larger batch, and then done,
Speaker 4: you're already ready for this second recipe that's going to
Speaker 4: call for that. One of the ways I do this,
Speaker 4: and it's then found in our meal plans that we
Speaker 4: provide to the membership is I will do a theme
Speaker 4: for the week, so it might be Asian food or
Speaker 4: Mexican or Italian or American fair. And sometimes there's ingredients
Speaker 4: that overlap in the different types of cuisines, where Okay,
Speaker 4: if it's a lot of Asian recipes, then there's going
Speaker 4: to be a lot of rice that week, and so
Speaker 4: what are the various ways that I can utilize rice?
Speaker 4: But just one day I've got to make the big batch.
Speaker 4: And then one of the days is when I'm throwing
Speaker 4: in one of those frozen veggie bags with rice and
Speaker 4: we're making fried rice. And another night is a bowl
Speaker 4: where we're putting meat on it. So kind of keeping
Speaker 4: that in mind in the planning process, but then that
Speaker 4: carries over into the prep process where it doesn't mean
Speaker 4: that all of the meals need to be cooked in
Speaker 4: one day, but some of the similar ingredients could be
Speaker 4: made in one day and you're really cutting down on
Speaker 4: time for the rest of the week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will do.
Speaker 1: Just if I'm making a grain like a rice or
Speaker 1: a keen wah or something like that, just always make
Speaker 1: a double batch and then have it later in the
Speaker 1: week with a different type of cuisine. So if I'm
Speaker 1: doing rice, I'm making a double batch. I'm having half
Speaker 1: of it tonight and doing something like a like beans
Speaker 1: and rice, and then later in the week I'm doing
Speaker 1: a stir fry. And for rice especially, it will dry out.
Speaker 1: But if you are just putting a splash of water
Speaker 1: in there, maybe a little more than a splash before
Speaker 1: you microwave it or before you recook it on the stove,
Speaker 1: then it will help it steam and get moist again.
Speaker 1: So that sometimes is a barrier when making a double
Speaker 1: batch of rice or something. But just know if you're
Speaker 1: tasting something and it feels dry, it needs moisture and
Speaker 1: so kind of quasi steam it and it'll bring back
Speaker 1: that moisture. So yeah, definitely always because it takes literally
Speaker 1: no extra effort to make two batches of rice than one,
Speaker 1: and then that's half of the dishes. Yeah. Third is
Speaker 1: to embrace the bowl.
Speaker 4: Yeah, love this.
Speaker 1: The fewer dishes the better in my opinion.
Speaker 3: So if it is.
Speaker 1: A one bowl meal, a one pot prep that is.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing I love about freezer meals is
Speaker 1: that once I put everything together, I can throw it
Speaker 1: in the instant pot and there is just one like
Speaker 1: one bowl to clean up and then two smaller bowls.
Speaker 1: Like it's fantastic. So they actually give a template for
Speaker 1: meal prep success and they refer to it as like
Speaker 1: meal prepping actual meals. So they say one or two veggies,
Speaker 1: one starchy carb one protein, and that is the that's
Speaker 1: the combo. And I find that very dull, so I
Speaker 1: don't do it a lot. But for those people who
Speaker 1: value simplicity over variety but not even riety, you can
Speaker 1: get a lot of variety in that, but it is
Speaker 1: a not a lot of variety in structure.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but if that.
Speaker 1: Feels good to you, I would say two veggies, one
Speaker 1: starchy carb, one protein.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that doesn't have to be every single meal.
Speaker 4: But that's a really nice template for simple meals. And
Speaker 4: I will say some of my favorite meals are this.
Speaker 4: I'm not a huge fan of soups or your bakes
Speaker 4: slash casseroles, but a bowl. I like it's these things
Speaker 4: that are made separately that you can compile in the
Speaker 4: way that you want and with a really amazing sauce,
Speaker 4: aoli dressing. So this is some of my favorite ways
Speaker 4: of eatings. I make a salmon bowl at least twice
Speaker 4: a month. I would say we're doing a salmon bowl
Speaker 4: and that I make a homemade aoli for that. That's
Speaker 4: super simple, super tasty. Korean beef and rice bowls are
Speaker 4: a common go to for me, and it to me,
Speaker 4: it feels like an elevated meal, something that feels like
Speaker 4: what I might order out at a restaurant, but is
Speaker 4: super simple to make. So I love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you can have the same bowl and use
Speaker 1: different seasonings and sauces and create two different meals with
Speaker 1: the same same template veggies, carb, protein, and have that
Speaker 1: in the same week and feel like you're eating a
Speaker 1: different meal. So that's a really great way when you're
Speaker 1: prepping this stuff to make it just like a little
Speaker 1: bit of salt and pepper, let's not customize the spices,
Speaker 1: and then once it's cooked and in the bowl, then
Speaker 1: you can customize the spices and make the meals different.
Speaker 1: And I will say so This is where I will
Speaker 1: add my meal prep tip that relates to chicken salad,
Speaker 1: but for really anything with chicken.
Speaker 4: Yes, let's do it.
Speaker 1: So I will buy a five pound bag of frozen chicken,
Speaker 1: and I will cook all of that in the instant
Speaker 1: pot at one time, like it's not cooked already, it's frozen, yes, okay,
Speaker 1: And then it all goes into the instant pot, cooks through,
Speaker 1: and then all of it goes into the kitchen aid
Speaker 1: mixer with the regular attachment. Nothing special, not the whisk
Speaker 1: or any paddle, just the paddle, and literally, in thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: five pounds of chicken is shredded and ready for any
Speaker 1: bowl you want to I mean anything you want to
Speaker 1: put it in. I've even used it for chicken salad.
Speaker 1: It makes a delicious like the shredded chicken, and you
Speaker 1: don't have to waste time.
Speaker 4: So it's chicken breast. You're not doing bones.
Speaker 1: Bless, skin less chicken breast. And literally five pounds of
Speaker 1: chicken is shredded in thirty seconds without using the tedious
Speaker 1: two forks.
Speaker 3: To shred chicken.
Speaker 4: I have got to try that trick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then I will, so five pounds of chicken
Speaker 1: will cook down, so you'll get about just under four pounds.
Speaker 1: So I will separate it into four containers evenly, and
Speaker 1: then what and then I will freeze two or three
Speaker 1: and then use the shredded chicken, you know, once or
Speaker 1: twice that week, and just pull out the shredded chicken
Speaker 1: when I need treaded chicken.
Speaker 4: Welcome to the Gen Show, where she always knows what
Speaker 4: to do and how to do it. Dinner's always on
Speaker 4: the table, Yeah, the Gen Show. So I'm loving all
Speaker 4: these tips I'm learning from you.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: It's so easy to do that once. And that's way
Speaker 1: easier than the onions, honestly, because you're throwing it in
Speaker 1: the instant pot, not thinking about it, and then literally
Speaker 1: just like putting, like getting your tongs and putting it
Speaker 1: in the kitchen aid, shredding it and then dividing it
Speaker 1: and there's chicken ready to go.
Speaker 4: There it is.
Speaker 1: So there's that takes probably the least amount of time,
Speaker 1: most bang for your time, buck wow.
Speaker 4: Number four. Set aside sufficient prep time, which you don't need.
Speaker 4: If you try Gen's tricks, you don't need much time.
Speaker 4: But there's not much to say on this. This is
Speaker 4: just related to thinking ahead. And setting aside the time,
Speaker 4: but it's also taking into account what is the week ahead.
Speaker 4: I think sometimes we can think that meal prep is
Speaker 4: going to take us so long, but if we actually
Speaker 4: look at our schedules, it's very possible that many of
Speaker 4: us have one to two meals that we're either going
Speaker 4: to a friend's house, or we've chosen in our budget
Speaker 4: that we're going to go out, or we're sharing meals
Speaker 4: with others, and it might not be as much as
Speaker 4: you think to prep. So setting aside sufficient prep time
Speaker 4: doesn't mean, oh, I've got to have an entire day.
Speaker 4: It could mean that, all right, I do a little
Speaker 4: bit on Sunday night, and then I'm going to do
Speaker 4: a little bit on Monday night, and then we're good
Speaker 4: for the week because I'm not necessarily going to have
Speaker 4: every single meal at home and it's planned for and
Speaker 4: writing it down takes away the guesswork, it takes away
Speaker 4: decision fatigue. It helps us feel ready and competent and
Speaker 4: prepared to actually then follow through on the plan that
Speaker 4: we've written down. So many reasons to think ahead.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why. So when we say systematize your Sunday
Speaker 1: meal prep, it's it's a little tongue in cheek because
Speaker 1: I don't think we're gonna Sunday shouldn't be a day
Speaker 1: for meal prepping. Sunday is a day for rest. So
Speaker 1: I think if we can every time we cook food,
Speaker 1: which is probably gonna be four or five times a week,
Speaker 1: if you can when you are cooking your dinner every time,
Speaker 1: do one little thing to prep for the next meal
Speaker 1: or for two meals down the road or whatever. You
Speaker 1: just do one little meal prep thing every time you cook,
Speaker 1: like while things are simmering, and it's not like active
Speaker 1: prep like cooking time. Then you are going to get
Speaker 1: to the point where you are just gonna be you know, rolling.
Speaker 4: And you learn what works for you, yeah, the systems
Speaker 4: you want to be implementing, and.
Speaker 1: It's gonna get the more you prep, the easy or
Speaker 1: it's going to get to be able to prep for
Speaker 1: the next one. So it's not going to be all
Speaker 1: prepping for this meal, cooking this meal, and then also
Speaker 1: prepping for the next meal. A lot of the prep
Speaker 1: is going to be done. You're going to build up
Speaker 1: to that so that it just feels easier to get
Speaker 1: one thing done. So I'm actually gonna skip number six
Speaker 1: which is investing quality storage containers, because I think you
Speaker 1: can use whatever.
Speaker 3: Storage containers you have.
Speaker 1: Yah, And I'll go to number seven is to keep
Speaker 1: your fridge organized. This is really important because I have
Speaker 1: seen some fridges that are chaos, and how do you know,
Speaker 1: How do you know what's in there? How do you
Speaker 1: know if you have what you need to prep I'm
Speaker 1: not saying your fridge needs to be barren, but it
Speaker 1: does need to be organized.
Speaker 3: You don't need to buy.
Speaker 1: Pretty little home edit plastic boxes to make everything look pretty,
Speaker 1: but you should have some kind of system of organization
Speaker 1: so you know where things are.
Speaker 3: And there's just.
Speaker 1: Some good rules of thumb to keep things lasting longer
Speaker 1: so they're not going bad before you get the chance
Speaker 1: to prep them. So move foods you're gonna eat first
Speaker 1: towards the front, along with fresh and roasted veggies. Foods
Speaker 1: you'll eat later in the week. You can kind of
Speaker 1: put those in the back. Proteins, any raw meats should
Speaker 1: go at the bottom. Leftovers on the top of ethylene
Speaker 1: producing fruits and veggies should be kept in your your
Speaker 1: little uh fruit drawer.
Speaker 4: Vegian fruit drawer. Yeah, that's your eggplants, carrots, yams, I'm
Speaker 4: not gonna lie. I don't keep my sweet potatoes in
Speaker 4: the fridge, but that's just me.
Speaker 1: You don't have to yeah, yeah, and then also be
Speaker 1: cleaning your fridge occasionally. This says weekly. We say when
Speaker 1: you can, when you can get to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, once you've emptied out your bridge because you've eaten
Speaker 4: at home and everything's gone and you have yet to
Speaker 4: get to the grocery store, then wipe it down. Yes. Okay, last,
Speaker 4: but not least number eight on here think outside the
Speaker 4: box and this tip is going to help us to
Speaker 4: continue eating at home, meal planning, meal prepping at home
Speaker 4: if we are able to incorporate flavors that keep things
Speaker 4: fresh and interesting. That doesn't mean that we need to
Speaker 4: overcomplicate or we need to get expensive ingredients, but even
Speaker 4: things like buying the fresh herbs or growing your own
Speaker 4: fresh herbs, considering the different spices that you particularly enjoy
Speaker 4: incorporating citrus. One of the things I've learned from even
Speaker 4: engaging in the meal delivery kits that I have done
Speaker 4: sometimes because of the convenience during busy times of life.
Speaker 4: They love zesting limes and lemons, and I have come
Speaker 4: to love that. It was a technique that I was
Speaker 4: introduced to in like as far as a regular practice
Speaker 4: with things go, I'm not a zester. One of my
Speaker 4: favorite recipes that came out of a meal kit box
Speaker 4: is just carrots. Chopping up carrots, roasting it with oil, salt,
Speaker 4: and pepper, and then once they come out of the oven,
Speaker 4: putting lime zest on it and just stirring it around
Speaker 4: with the zest of a lime. Fantastic wow. And so
Speaker 4: that that was a really fun way to dress up
Speaker 4: carrots in a really simple way. I often have limes
Speaker 4: on hand because I also use it for smoothies and drinks.
Speaker 4: So even finding new techniques asking others what are ways
Speaker 4: that keep your ingredients fresh and flavorful, I also have
Speaker 4: come to embrace sauces. And this doesn't have to be
Speaker 4: expensive either. Making our own salad, dressing our own aolis,
Speaker 4: are own marinades, and trying new things in that regard
Speaker 4: out of what we already have in our pantry can
Speaker 4: keep it fresh and exciting, keep us eating at home,
Speaker 4: but also not taking up a ton of additional time.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. You know what also keeps things fresh doesn't
Speaker 1: take up a lot of extra time is really easy
Speaker 1: to stock up on.
Speaker 4: Yes, the bell of the week.
Speaker 2: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 2: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 2: is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
Speaker 2: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 2: that bill anymore. Duck bills, butffalo bills. Bill clon, This
Speaker 2: is the bill of the week.
Speaker 5: Hey, Jen and Jail, this is Olivia calling from Denver.
Speaker 5: Wanted to just say first, thank you so so much
Speaker 5: for your podcast. I love listening to y'all every single week.
Speaker 5: And my bill for the week is Target grocery pickup.
Speaker 5: I noticed at the bottom of my bill a couple
Speaker 5: of weeks ago that they are charging for bags now
Speaker 5: and that there's like an extra dollar that they add on.
Speaker 5: But I think that this extra dollar is well worth
Speaker 5: the time and energy and money I save with avoiding
Speaker 5: wandering the aisles of the store and putting extra things
Speaker 5: in my shopping cart. This has also allowed me to
Speaker 5: stay in budget for just buying the things that I need,
Speaker 5: planning my meals in advance, and only buying those specific things.
Speaker 5: So that is my bill of the week. Thank you
Speaker 5: all for what you do.
Speaker 1: Bye oh, Olivia. I also I love of picking up
Speaker 1: my groceries. I shop at Walmart, though, and Walmart gives
Speaker 1: you too many bags, like I wish. Honestly, I wish
Speaker 1: Walmart had charged me money for bags because I would
Speaker 1: just say, please, no more bags, right, no more bags.
Speaker 4: I don't know, it's something in their training. They just
Speaker 4: one bag, one back item. It's so weirdness I when I, yeah,
Speaker 4: I do shop in the store, so then I can
Speaker 4: bring in my own bags, which I do wish were
Speaker 4: possible for grocery pickups. Yeah. But I love what you're
Speaker 4: identifying here, Olivia, with how it is ultimately saving you
Speaker 4: money to not be wandering and impulse purchasing. I I
Speaker 4: can relate to that when I've done a grocery delivery
Speaker 4: or a grocery pickup. Even some of those additional convenience
Speaker 4: charges still brings my grocery build down to less than
Speaker 4: if I had walked into the store, because it just happens,
Speaker 4: or you don't always it's not always that we're impulse shopping.
Speaker 4: Sometimes we don't realize the cost difference between various types
Speaker 4: of onions or items in the produce section, where it's
Speaker 4: not until I'm online buying something that I realize, Oh,
Speaker 4: actually this way of purchasing onions is way less expensive
Speaker 4: then maybe the bagged version or fill in the blank,
Speaker 4: and so learning new ways of shopping through the online
Speaker 4: portal can be Or when.
Speaker 1: There's three different types of coconut milk and they're in
Speaker 1: three different places in the store and.
Speaker 3: You can see them right next to each other in
Speaker 3: the app.
Speaker 1: Yes, I do wholeheartedly promote grocery shopping. Doing pickup, even
Speaker 1: if it may cost a little bit extra, like a
Speaker 1: dollar for bags, well well worth it. And you can
Speaker 1: shop at night after the stores close and just simply
Speaker 1: pick it up when their stores are open. It's just
Speaker 1: so much savings.
Speaker 4: Congrat's Olivia, Well Don thanks for your weekly listen to
Speaker 4: Olivia and if you all listening, have a bill that
Speaker 4: you want to submit, if it has to do with
Speaker 4: convenience charges you don't mind paying because it saves you
Speaker 4: money in the long run, or convenience charges you got
Speaker 4: rid of because you realize you don't need that convenience
Speaker 4: in your life. Visit Brugal friendspodcast dot com, slash bill.
Speaker 4: Leave us your bill, even if it's even more vague
Speaker 4: than that we love it and now it's time for
Speaker 4: hurting around.
Speaker 1: I got that right, I got it wrong last time.
Speaker 4: I loved it though.
Speaker 1: Okay, So from Goldie, what are some things that help
Speaker 1: you actually enjoy meal prepping rather than seeing it as
Speaker 1: a chore? I love this one.
Speaker 4: I do love this book, Jill. I love making things
Speaker 4: luxurious wherever I can, fun, beautiful, enjoyable. So for me,
Speaker 4: a lot of it has to do with having the time.
Speaker 4: If I'm feeling super stressed in my schedule, then I'm
Speaker 4: not really going to enjoy anything that feels like a
Speaker 4: demand on me. So it can go farther back into
Speaker 4: just what am I saying yes to in my schedule?
Speaker 4: How am I creating margin? But then from there incorporating
Speaker 4: things that I enjoy. I really love cooking, and especially
Speaker 4: if I'm going to be spending a lot of time
Speaker 4: in the kitchen if I'm prepping, what I really love
Speaker 4: to do while doing that is sipping on some wine
Speaker 4: and listening to music, some of your classic like Frank
Speaker 4: Sinatra or Norah Jones on the radio, or like a rager,
Speaker 4: you know, like some Lizzo or Taylor Swift. Not necessarily
Speaker 4: back to back, did.
Speaker 1: You just did you just prefer to Taylor supposed as
Speaker 1: a rager?
Speaker 4: No, I said Lizo first. Okay, but I can rage
Speaker 4: to certain tailor's songs for sure.
Speaker 3: I don't want to get canceled.
Speaker 4: I know, don't cancel us Bruno Mars or this other
Speaker 4: close to metal band called Thrice. I can really span
Speaker 4: the gamut, but the one common denominator is that it's
Speaker 4: music and that I'm probably sipping on some wine while
Speaker 4: I cook and create beautiful smells in the kitchen because
Speaker 4: I've had the time. If I don't have the time,
Speaker 4: forget about it. Nothing's going to make that enjoyable for me.
Speaker 4: But when I have friends help me in some regard
Speaker 4: and we share the load, that is so helpful and
Speaker 4: convenient and does even help when you don't have the time, Yes,
Speaker 4: because you're sharing the load. Okay, what about you? Jen?
Speaker 1: So similar for me. I don't like cooking, but wine helps,
Speaker 1: and also music. So my go to genre is like
Speaker 1: all the folk music you listened to in two thousand
Speaker 1: and six to twelve, I think so mumf and Sons Illumineers,
Speaker 1: the head and the heart, this.
Speaker 4: Civil Wars, I've been loving this guy PD p E
Speaker 4: t E Y check him out.
Speaker 1: That is he's I know, just some case be guys.
Speaker 4: I didn't want to people think it was like PT
Speaker 4: just pt PD. He's a comedian and a musician. Whoa
Speaker 4: Can you be two things at once? I think so?
Speaker 4: Really bestic good, Oh my gosh, he is both is
Speaker 4: both things okay in some phenomenal ways.
Speaker 1: But those are it's all the like folk music I
Speaker 1: listened to in college, so that is mine and I
Speaker 1: would say, yes, those two things actually are what get
Speaker 1: me through meal prepping is music and I've been missing wine.
Speaker 4: But not being pregnant helps you get through meal prep.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. Yeah, definitely know what.
Speaker 4: You get that baby out of you and you get
Speaker 4: other people to cook for you. I can't wait, life hack,
Speaker 4: have children. I don't want to get us canceled. Just kidding.
Speaker 1: That's like asking, should I have another kid to save
Speaker 1: money on my taxes?
Speaker 4: Nope? No, not just for that reason, but if you
Speaker 4: want to have another kid.
Speaker 1: No, not to save money. Don't have another kid to
Speaker 1: save money.
Speaker 4: Not a money saving hack. No, I hate to break
Speaker 4: it to you. Yikes, Wow, yikes, thanks for listening. Even
Speaker 4: though we gave ourselves many reasons to cancel ourselves. Many
Speaker 4: of you know we have a membership for our listeners.
Speaker 4: Those who are still listening and semi enjoy this. Most
Speaker 4: of them really do love Taylor Swift h We've got
Speaker 4: some Swifties we do. They are paying off debt. A
Speaker 4: lot of our listeners, a lot of you all are
Speaker 4: paying off debt. Many of you also have other types
Speaker 4: of monthly goals, but we do monthly money challenges that
Speaker 4: help with all of it. Whatever your personal finance goal
Speaker 4: might be. We offer accountability groups so you can do
Speaker 4: it with other people, because that's so helpful, whether you're
Speaker 4: meal prepping or paying down debt, having friends around you
Speaker 4: to help is great, and we want to congratulate one
Speaker 4: of these members for a big win. This comes from Britney,
Speaker 4: who said mindset winning. I have a scarcity mindset, so
Speaker 4: I sometimes struggle with wanting to save too much and
Speaker 4: not spend any money. Thanks to a lot of the
Speaker 4: challenges I've completed, I've been able to allow myself to
Speaker 4: spend on what matters to me. I recently went to
Speaker 4: a friend's bachelorette trip and was able to spend on
Speaker 4: drinks and good food without any guilt or shame. What
Speaker 4: a goal, Brittany. That is amazing because it is not
Speaker 4: just about deprivation or being so extreme in either area,
Speaker 4: but identifying what can we afford and how can that
Speaker 4: align with the things that we actually value and want
Speaker 4: to spend money on, and where we can remove the shame,
Speaker 4: Like removing the shame is probably the ultimate goal.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Yes, thank you, Thank you Brittany for sharing that.
Speaker 4: So again, thanks for being here, thanks for listening. If
Speaker 4: you want to check out this membership off these monthly
Speaker 4: money challenges or courses or interviews or just having other
Speaker 4: friends in the similar space sounds helpful to you, go
Speaker 4: check it out see if it might be a good
Speaker 4: fit for you. Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club.
Speaker 4: Hopefully we'll see you there too. Yes.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric siriannim.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 1: A year ago today, on the day that this goes live,
Speaker 1: we closed on our house, our fixer upper. It's been
Speaker 1: a year in a Mexican restaurant and if you know.
Speaker 4: What today is go to my baby.
Speaker 1: So our realtor had to pay like a twenty five
Speaker 1: dollars cover for everyone to get into the Mexican restaurant
Speaker 1: because they were doing like a buffet.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you didn't realize that it was just the
Speaker 4: place you ended. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But the lady, the mobile title lady like shows up
Speaker 1: and she is like not impressed, and she's like, we
Speaker 1: could just go to McDonald's across the street. And Calvin,
Speaker 1: our realtor, is like.
Speaker 4: No, we will eat eat at this buffet.
Speaker 3: Yes, it was delightful.
Speaker 4: Wow, and started to not believe a year ago freaking
Speaker 4: fixer upper, the fixer upper. We we've all got fixer uppers,
Speaker 4: whether they're our homes or our lives. Every one of
Speaker 4: us as a fixer upper.
Speaker 3: That is wisdom.
Speaker 4: That is wisdom.