Full Transcript for How to Systematize Your Sunday Meal Prep

I've got friends who choose Tuesday night because that makes sense for their routine, or a Monday morning, whatever's going to happen. But we're not actually going to be able to have a plan or implement on a plan if we don't take time to plan. So that's a whole part of this entire process of deciding what days are going to work for me to sit down make that plan. The article doesn't talk about this, but I'm going to add making it something enjoyable as much as possible. Maybe you are person who enjoys looking up recipes and making plans, and that's great in and of itself. It's fun for you. But if this is a little bit of a dreaded task, then be kind to yourself in it. Do it in an environment that is peaceful or life giving to you, or pair it with snacks, or sit down with friends and do this whatever is going to make it appealing to you. But you do have to set aside time to even make the plan or do the prep and decide when is best for you. Don't just choose Sunday because that's what the Internet says you should do. Choose Sunday if it actually works for you. 00:07:42 Speaker 1: Yeah, Like, last night was Tuesday, and I was prepping onions. I put them in the Have a Little Ninja Food pulser. I was chopping onions, put them in a bag to freeze because I knew I needed to use I needed to chop onions for the recipe I was making for dinner that night. So I just decided to chop the rest of the onions that were there, since I already had the chopper out and it was dirty, and I mean, after I chopped the first onion, what are you gonna do? 00:08:18 Speaker 4: Keep going, keep going. You're already crying mine as well. Keep crying. 00:08:22 Speaker 1: Well, here is the first two oh one tip. Okay, if you wear contacts, wear your contacts while cutting onions. 00:08:32 Speaker 3: It is like a do do. 00:08:34 Speaker 1: It is like a barrier between your eyes and you will not cry. So that is that's that. And then second, just make sure everybody you love is out of. 00:08:45 Speaker 3: The house when you're doing it. 00:08:47 Speaker 1: I made sure, Yeah, my toddler was sleeping, my husband was gone, and I just did all of them very quickly and had my contacts in, and then very quickly cleaned up up all the onion afterwards and lit a candle. 00:09:04 Speaker 4: Look out the garbage. I've noticed this doesn't solve it. I don't wear contacts, but I've noticed that I will often lean over the onion when I'm chopping them. But since recognizing that seems to just bring on the water works, I step back from it a little bit. It has reduced my tears significantly. H trapping. I don't know, maybe everyone else has discovered that, but I'm like, I don't need to be over top of them. I can be a little bit removed. I'm like removing myself from the microphone. Sorry to display what I mean. 00:09:39 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it does not like when you're using a chopper, you're covering it while it's urnning, and then I just dump it into the bag. 00:09:47 Speaker 3: So that

helps as well. 00:09:49 Speaker 4: And that was our side episode on Onions. 00:09:52 Speaker 1: And then there you go. We'll have a lot of these little prep system ships throughout. 00:09:57 Speaker 4: Well. I like that too, because it doesn't always have to mean prepping doesn't always have to mean it all happens in one day. Sometimes our system what could work for us is prepping as we go, knowing that eventually, I'm going to mean more onions, so I can be kind to myself, my future self by chopping all the rest of this that will eventually go into future recipes. And you just happen to embed that in your process on Tuesday night. But it didn't mean that you prepped three straight meals. It just meant that you got rid of some of the chopping for the future, which really that is what prepping mostly is for me. It's like I don't mind cooking daily, but the chopping mm hmm, it takes forever. 00:10:43 Speaker 1: It is a big and I will say onions, chopping anything, but especially onions is a big barrier to entry for me cooking at home. So I love how Now I'll just take out a bag that is pre portioned one onion. I will not defrost it. Don't defrost your onions. Don't don't put chopped onions. 00:11:02 Speaker 3: In the fridge. 00:11:03 Speaker 1: They'll make your whole fridge smell like onions, no matter where they are or what container they are in. And so, and I won't do frost it because they're already chopped and there's such little pieces. 00:11:12 Speaker 3: I'll just put it right. 00:11:13 Speaker 1: On the hot oil in the pan and it. 00:11:16 Speaker 3: Very quickly will. 00:11:21 Speaker 1: So that takes away that little barrier to entry, uh for you know, making whatever I'm making. 00:11:26 Speaker 4: Wow. 00:11:27 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:11:28 Speaker 1: And also, don't be afraid to buy like the frozen onion and pepper. 00:11:33 Speaker 4: Guy. 00:11:34 Speaker 1: Okay, that just love this topic so much. Okay, so mine, are we ready to go to mine? 00:11:40 Speaker 4: Yeah? Going? Okay, Okay, keep spilling your wisdom. Okay. 00:11:43 Speaker 1: So number two, create a go to list of family favorites. And so this is helpful obviously for meal planning because when you have four to five favorites that you know your family loves, you can incorporate at least one a week, sometimes two, so that you know, I'm not gonna fight my husband on this, I'm not gonna fight my kids on this. 00:12:08 Speaker 3: Everybody loves this. 00:12:10 Speaker 1: Keep the ingredients on hand and if it's something that requires you know, requires chopped onions or something you know, YadA YadA, you can have those things pre prepped, like, just always have them on hand. So it's always very easy to go to these family favorites. So most like soups, if you can just have your mirrapoa just ready to go. 00:12:39 Speaker 4: What is that word? 00:12:41 Speaker 3: I'm so glad you asked, mirpooa. 00:12:44 Speaker 1: It is the combination of onion, carrot, and celery

that is in most soups. 00:12:51 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, okay, I knew it had a word. 00:12:54 Speaker 1: Yeah it is, So just have that preportioned, you know, like most most of the times, the recipe is gonna call for two sticks of celery, two carrots, and one onion. That is what I've found, And just have all those frozen cut up in a bag ready for a soup. If that's if you know your family's favorite soup already has that in there, Golden. 00:13:16 Speaker 4: I see what you're doing. I'm onto you. You are just crushing and slighing in these first five minutes of this podcast episode, just to make us miss you all the more. Well, when you're out on maternity lead. 00:13:33 Speaker 1: Yeah, you're gonna have some good guest co hosts, and I don't want. 00:13:36 Speaker 4: They are the listeners to be replacing me, right, Yeah, just remember this one and. 00:13:43 Speaker 3: Mirror par prav mirror. 00:13:47 Speaker 4: Mirror something or other and freezing our onions and wearing contact so Jen, Yes, and you. 00:13:54 Speaker 1: Can buy it pre cut too. They do come in pre cut frozen bags, so it's to you don't be afraid to stock up on those. And it's easier to stalk to know what to stock up on when you have this you know four to five family favorite list. 00:14:10 Speaker 4: Oh well, in no particular order, but number three to simplify your ingredient list. And I think this tip hits a variety of issues when it comes to eating at home. Are purchasing, our planning, and our prepping. So when we simplify our ingredient list, it helps us in all three of those other categories, and I love how they highlight that delicious does not have to be complicated. And this is where you've already mentioned it, Jen, But we can think an easy soup with a hearty bread on the side that is super easy to batch make. Soups usually freeze very well, even breads, baguettes, your crusty breads freeze so well they can come out amazing. Or other simple combinations like meat and potatoes or just a pasta and a salad. Think really simply, and I know we'll talk about this more as we go, but also where you could utilize those ingredients in similar recipes to come so that we don't have to keep reinventing or have a ton of stuff on hand. But simple ingredients that can be used in multiple ways, like in the mirror pla mirror pa mirror PA can also be used in other things like chicken salad. You know me, I love my chicken seace. I love the chicken salad and celer egoes and that too. 00:15:44 Speaker 1: I don't let me forget to talk about easy meal prep for chicken salad, Okay, I don't want to get ahead of myself again. 00:15:52 Speaker 4: Okay, I'm gonna make a note. 00:15:54 Speaker 1: Okay, so I'm gonna switch things up. I do love four, but I'm gonna switch things up and go all the. 00:16:00 Speaker 3: Way down to eight. 00:16:02 Speaker 1: Yeah, embrace make ahead and freezer meals. So we've talked about, I mean, we have a whole episode on this, but so we've talked briefly about freezing individual ingredients or groups of ingredients. But I will also do just whole meals, like uncooked meals in the freezer. So if I am doing and I will only do this for me soups and stews, that's the only like make ahead meal that I will do. I know a lot of people will do their lasagnas, they'll do their enchiladas. 00:16:41 Speaker 3: They they Yeah, that's not me. 00:16:44 Speaker 1: I just don't have the success that I want to see with those foods. So I'm a soup stew girl. Even even maybe a bake. 00:16:54 Speaker 4: Not a cast or, don't confuse. 00:16:56 Speaker 1: With a Yeah, maybe a bake, but that's probably his wild as I'll get with a make ahead freezer meal. But so if you're making one of these, like maybe a black bean soup, you're already making the black bean soup for dinner. Double the ingredients by double the ingredients. As you're pouring one thing into your pot, pour the same amount into a freezer bag. And then just as you go, you're making dinner for tonight and a freezer meal for later. 00:17:29 Speaker 4: I watched you do this a few weeks ago. We came over for we had soup and hardy bread, and it was lovely, and you did this and it did not look like any additional work. Maybe you're talking a few extra minutes because you are going to be chopping more, But what a great way to be able to stock your freezer, have more meals, and for people like me and my husband who don't love constant leftovers, like we can do it once, but this is a way to be able to have that meal again. But it doesn't have to be that week. It could be in a few weeks or a month from now, up to three months. 00:18:09 Speaker 1: So the way I'll do it is, I'll save the chopping for while the super stew is cooking. But as I'm doing the spices and everything, like, I'll chop you know what I need for tonight, and then as I'm doing the spices, I'll do just a double you know spice in the pot spice in the bag sort of thing. 00:18:28 Speaker 4: Oh oh, speaking of spices, here you go, sprinkling in our own little tidbits. If there's recipes speaking of family favorites, things that you know that you like that call for a specific type of spice blend where you've got to kind of make it yourself. It's our regano and time and paprika and onion powder and all this stuff. I will make an extra jar of whatever that item is. So I've got like a faheita seasoning one, I've got one for like the enchiladas. Like there's different ones that I've got a specific type of seasoning that I know I'm going to make a lot and that that can take a lot of time too, not just the chopping, but when you've got four to eight spices that you're putting into something, each one with a varying degree of ratio an amount that can take time. So wherever you can find ways to cut that out for the future and just have a jar of this is the spice blend for this recipe that that has been so helpful for me too. 00:19:30 Speaker 3: Yeah, again, time. 00:19:31 Speaker 1: We're

having a few tried and true family favorite recipes can come into handy because then you're not doing that for twenty recipes and you've got twenty different spice blends that you don't know when you'll use, but maybe you have four that you know you're going to use, and you're just doubling it every time, saving your time, saving yourself time the next time you make. 00:19:54 Speaker 4: It for a spice blend that you know you like for a homemade salad dressing. Eric and I love of dipping oil, and so there's a particular combination of spices that I'll do for a dipping oil for our bread. But a lot of times that's a barrier to me. Although I love it, it can feel like it takes so much time. But if I've got a whole jar of it already prepped and I can just add it in a bowl with oil, then that's great. 00:20:19 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:20:19 Speaker 1: The purpose of trying to find the way these systems kind of integrate into your life is to lower the barrier to entry, to eating it home, to following through with your meal plan. We just want to make it easier to eat it home than to order takeout. So whatever you that's like the rule of thumb, So whatever you need to do to make it easier to eat it home than to order takeout. That's how far you go with meal prepping, so you don't have to go all out with the beautiful you know, meal prepped meals and the glass jars of salad and like containers, like, you don't have to do that unless that is really what makes it easier for you to eat at home. Sometimes it's as much as like you're making dinner for the night and you are cutting up an extra onion to freeze for tomorrow night's dinner exactly. 00:21:14 Speaker 4: Yeah, And sometimes that is all that needs to have happened, is well, I did already put in some work for this, so I don't want that to go to waste. I've got the onion ready. Like even that just mentally helps me to get on board. 00:21:28 Speaker 1: We need to give some sunk cost into that to kind of make ourselves follow through. 00:21:35 Speaker 4: That's a great summary, all right. The last one I'm going to point out on this list is number four, take help or you can get it. There is no shame in choosing some level of convenience if again, it means you are more likely to then eat at home. So if there's a particular week where even chopping is a lot. There's no shame in getting the pre chopped stuff, especially when it comes to veggies that you can get already frozen. We've already talked about this before, but frozen vegetables contain just as much nutrients, if not higher levels of nutrients than even the fresh vegetables because they are frozen at peak ripeness. And so getting the frozen veggie bag and just dumping that into a stir fry is incredible and convenient and less expensive than going out and maybe sometimes even from buying fresh. So if it's helpful to take out the chopping, the grating, the preparing. I've not done this yet. I've been asking a lot of people about the pre minced garlic because that is something that I don't love to do, of chopping mincing garlic, but I still do it. I use the fresh stuff because I've been concerned that I wouldn't go through an entire tub of minced garlic. But something like that, if that is gonna help make it easier for you to cook at home, do it. Find some of these ways where you can cut those corners. They also mention places like Trader Joe's Ald We know these spots that have really great organic frozen food, some pre chopped stuff. I know, I cut corners with canned goods, like I'm not doing my own beans in a pot raw. I'm just getting the can black beans, garbonzo beans. We're keeping it simple. 00:23:36 Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't believe we haven't talked about garlic before. I buy big jars of minced garlic. 00:23:42 Speaker 4: How long does it last? 00:23:43 Speaker 1: I mean it has never gone bad on me. But I put garlic in everything too, Yeah, and so I use it up. I will consistently use it up before it goes bad. I will always use more than what the jar recommends because I find it to be less potent than fresh. So it's supposed to be two cloves is one teaspoon, and I will use one teaspoon as one clove. It's typically how I do it. But yeah, it is less potent, but I will use it in everything that's great. Yeah, and no shame. Yeah, because you know what you're eating at home. Yes, And I mean it cuts down on waste too, because chopping garlic is a barrier to entry for me. But other herbs too are Like I can't keep fresh herbs alive, so I will buy the refrigerated tubes of ginger and basil specifically, I'll go through those before they go bad, and that has saved me from wasting and it just saves me time in cooking, and they still are fresher and better tasting than the dried versions. So those are two other ones that I buy pre done. 00:25:00 Speaker 4: Help where you can get it, and I will throw in here too. Help can also mean friends eating together, sharing food, prepping together, planning together. Take the help where you can get it. 00:25:14 Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't have to be a weekly thing, but sometimes it is a fun activity to cook with friends. 00:25:21 Speaker 4: Yes it is. Yeah, I love it when we do that together. Sometimes we'll wonder the other will come over to the other's house and dinner's already ready. But it's also nice when okay, what do you got? What do I got? We'll just prep it together and it seems to go so much faster. 00:25:37 Speaker 1: The last time you came over, you just cooked in my kitchen and I laid down. That was great, but I was also eight months pregnant and that was really tired. 00:25:47 Speaker 3: You earned it, Yeah, all right. 00:25:50 Speaker 1: So my last one is the very last one on the list, and it is to make the most of pantry staples, and so this kind of goes along with getting help where you can, but it can help you to make these freezer meals or to follow through with your meal plan when you are using pantry staples instead of trying to

make everything from scratch. Like with the beans, I will have dry beans, but I also have canned beans, because some nights are can bean nights and some nights are dry bean nights. Most nights in my house are can bean nights. That's most. If I am lucky, then I will use my dried versions. 00:26:34 Speaker 4: I don't think I've ever used dried beans. I don't know what to do with them. 00:26:38 Speaker 1: It's you have to think ahead, and I think it's best for bigger families, Like if you have five six people in your family and you really do need very very refined systems and plans, then you can make the most of the dried beans because you're big and big back. But I think if you're there's just one or two of you, canned beans really are are great. 00:27:09 Speaker 3: So pick out. 00:27:10 Speaker 1: Your pantry staples and those can be kind of based on your tried and true family meal list. They say in here the final trick to simplifying your meal plan is to make sure your pantry is stocked with ingredients you use frequently. That's the keyword, frequently. You know you're going to use them. We're not going to Sam's Club or Costco and getting bulk deals on things that we may use. We're going and only getting the deals on the things we will use so that we can have our pantry stocked. We went to Sam's Club and the only bulk thing that I got can tomatoes. 00:27:50 Speaker 4: I was just gonna say that can tomato. You you were on top of it in checking and comparing prices of like the unit of items to what you could get it at a store not in bulk, and some things were a deal and some things weren't. And it was a deal, particularly on the dice tomatoes. And I think other than a churro or a hot dog, that was like the only thing you walked out of there with. 00:28:21 Speaker 1: I did get a honey dice. Well, so much of it was like a bulk on name brand and I will get the generic, And so I'm comparing name brand to generic. But if there was something named brand, which was this particular honey that I liked, so I did get that a big thing in that. But yeah, the only generic Sam's Club the member's mark that I found that I always use was on dice tomatoes, and Dice tomatoes are on this list. Tomato paste, green chili's. 00:28:53 Speaker 4: Oh. 00:28:53 Speaker 1: Just last night I opened a fresh can of tomato paste. I used one Tablespoo, what do you do with the rest of it? 00:29:01 Speaker 4: Freeze it? 00:29:02 Speaker 3: Freeze it? 00:29:03 Speaker 1: So I took a one tablespoon and I put it in a little silicone Each tablespoon goes in a little silicone mold. Ice mold gets frozen. And today I will take that out and pre portion one tablespoon tomato pastes in a little container. 00:29:22 Speaker 4: Perfect. 00:29:23 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:29:24 Speaker 4: Wow. 00:29:25 Speaker 1: I do the same thing with Chipotle chilies. I will blend them with a smage of water. So you got the chili and the adobo that it comes in, smidge of water and blend it and then you can do the same thing. One tablespoon of Chipotle chilis into the ice mold. 00:29:46 Speaker 4: She is beauty, she is grace. 00:29:49 Speaker 1: I'm just helping you not waste food and just create these systems. When you open something in a can that you're not going to use all of it, it immediately goes while like while dinner's cooking, immediately goes a tablespoon in each ice cube mold and then into the freezer. You don't have to think about it. 00:30:09 Speaker 4: Wow. Okay, let's get onto this next one, yes, where we're talking about prep. This article comes from Real Simple, and that's what we like, keeping things simple. It is eight easy tips to make your weekly meal prep a breeze, and we are going to go through all eight. 00:30:29 Speaker 1: Yes, So let's start with number one. Consider your family's personal preference. We touched on this with the first one of creating a list of their favorites, but also just in general with your whole list, you want to keep in consider it your family's personal preference, but that doesn't mean you have to let it dictate everything you make. You can just say, hey, I want to make this for me and my partner. My kids will not like it, but this is how I can serve it to them in a way that they might. So this is definitely something too when you are prepping, keep in mind the future and say, how am I going to serve this to my kids? This is the best way I can think of, like exampling this, how am I going to serve this to my kids, and how can I prep it in a way that when I serve it, I can keep these separate. 00:31:27 Speaker 4: Yep. They also reference with this tip of even making snacks or granola bars, and that's one of the things that has been a complaint of mind when it comes to articles or Instagram accounts centered around meal planning or meal prepping, it is primarily looking at dinner. It's like, but I eat more than just dinner in a day, and so where we can find opportunities to also prep some really simple and go items for breakfast or lunch or a snack. One of my personal favorites are energy Bites no bake energy bytes. Speaking of families preferences, Eric loves it. I love it. They freeze well, and they're so handy and way less expensive than buying the prepackaged granola bars, so that reduces waste, it saves money. They're so sustaining and yummy, and then I don't have to think about breakfast for a few weeks because of that. 00:32:31 Speaker 1: Yeah, every either Saturday or Sunday I will use because I'll pick up groceries on Sunday or Monday, so by the weekend, our bananas are at peak over ripeness. So every either Saturday or Sunday, I'm making a baked oatmeal that calls for It's the same base recipe and I'll just switch up the ad ins, but it calls for like two like ripe bananas, and that's that will feed us for like, you get a yummy hot baked oatmeal and then we'll put it in the fridge and have like for at least three days breakfasts. 00:33:09 Speaker 4: That's so true. I feel as

though having the similar thing for breakfast every day is way more feasible for me, at least than having the same thing for dinner every night. And so prepping for breakfast can be a little bit more attainable because most of us are fine with a rotation of two or three things always and forever for breakfast, So that makes that easy. Okay. Number two on here is to keep an eye on ingredient overlap. So in the planning process, this is when you're going to be selecting weekly recipes and prioritize making the recipes that have similar ingredients for that week. They use an example of if you've identified in that week you want to make two recipes that utilize quin wa, then great, do that in that week, make the larger batch, and then done, you're already ready for this second recipe that's going to call for that. One of the ways I do this, and it's then found in our meal plans that we provide to the membership is I will do a theme for the week, so it might be Asian food or Mexican or Italian or American fair. And sometimes there's ingredients that overlap in the different types of cuisines, where Okay, if it's a lot of Asian recipes, then there's going to be a lot of rice that week, and so what are the various ways that I can utilize rice? But just one day I've got to make the big batch. And then one of the days is when I'm throwing in one of those frozen veggie bags with rice and we're making fried rice. And another night is a bowl where we're putting meat on it. So kind of keeping that in mind in the planning process, but then that carries over into the prep process where it doesn't mean that all of the meals need to be cooked in one day, but some of the similar ingredients could be made in one day and you're really cutting down on time for the rest of the week. 00:35:11 Speaker 3: Yeah, I will do. 00:35:13 Speaker 1: Just if I'm making a grain like a rice or a keen wah or something like that, just always make a double batch and then have it later in the week with a different type of cuisine. So if I'm doing rice, I'm making a double batch. I'm having half of it tonight and doing something like a like beans and rice, and then later in the week I'm doing a stir fry. And for rice especially, it will dry out. But if you are just putting a splash of water in there, maybe a little more than a splash before you microwave it or before you recook it on the stove, then it will help it steam and get moist again. So that sometimes is a barrier when making a double batch of rice or something. But just know if you're tasting something and it feels dry, it needs moisture and so kind of quasi steam it and it'll bring back that moisture. So yeah, definitely always because it takes literally no extra effort to make two batches of rice than one, and then that's half of the dishes. Yeah. Third is to embrace the bowl. 00:36:30 Speaker 4: Yeah, love this. 00:36:31 Speaker 1: The fewer dishes the better in my opinion. 00:36:35 Speaker 3: So if it is. 00:36:36 Speaker 1: A one bowl meal, a one pot prep that is. And that's the thing I love about freezer meals is that once I put everything together, I can throw it in the instant pot and there is just one like one bowl to clean up and then two smaller bowls. Like it's fantastic. So they actually give a template for meal prep success and they refer to it as like meal prepping actual meals. So they say one or two veggies, one starchy carb one protein, and that is the that's the combo. And I find that very dull, so I don't do it a lot. But for those people who value simplicity over variety but not even riety, you can get a lot of variety in that, but it is a not a lot of variety in structure. 00:37:35 Speaker 4: Yeah, but if that. 00:37:37 Speaker 1: Feels good to you, I would say two veggies, one starchy carb, one protein. 00:37:42 Speaker 4: Yeah, And that doesn't have to be every single meal. But that's a really nice template for simple meals. And I will say some of my favorite meals are this. I'm not a huge fan of soups or your bakes slash casseroles, but a bowl. I like it's these things that are made separately that you can compile in the way that you want and with a really amazing sauce, aoli dressing. So this is some of my favorite ways of eatings. I make a salmon bowl at least twice a month. I would say we're doing a salmon bowl and that I make a homemade aoli for that. That's super simple, super tasty. Korean beef and rice bowls are a common go to for me, and it to me, it feels like an elevated meal, something that feels like what I might order out at a restaurant, but is super simple to make. So I love it. 00:38:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, And you can have the same bowl and use different seasonings and sauces and create two different meals with the same same template veggies, carb, protein, and have that in the same week and feel like you're eating a different meal. So that's a really great way when you're prepping this stuff to make it just like a little bit of salt and pepper, let's not customize the spices, and then once it's cooked and in the bowl, then you can customize the spices and make the meals different. And I will say so This is where I will add my meal prep tip that relates to chicken salad, but for really anything with chicken. 00:39:29 Speaker 4: Yes, let's do it. 00:39:30 Speaker 1: So I will buy a five pound bag of frozen chicken, and I will cook all of that in the instant pot at one time, like it's not cooked already, it's frozen, yes, okay, And then it all goes into the instant pot, cooks through, and then all of it goes into the kitchen aid mixer with the regular attachment. Nothing special, not the whisk or any paddle, just the paddle, and literally, in thirty seconds, five pounds of chicken is shredded and ready for any bowl you want to I mean anything you want to put it in. I've even used it for chicken salad. It makes a delicious like the shredded chicken, and you don't have to waste time. 00:40:20 Speaker 4: So it's chicken

breast. You're not doing bones. 00:40:24 Speaker 1: Bless, skin less chicken breast. And literally five pounds of chicken is shredded in thirty seconds without using the tedious two forks. 00:40:34 Speaker 3: To shred chicken. 00:40:34 Speaker 4: I have got to try that trick. 00:40:36 Speaker 1: Yeah, and then I will, so five pounds of chicken will cook down, so you'll get about just under four pounds. So I will separate it into four containers evenly, and then what and then I will freeze two or three and then use the shredded chicken, you know, once or twice that week, and just pull out the shredded chicken when I need treaded chicken. 00:41:06 Speaker 4: Welcome to the Gen Show, where she always knows what to do and how to do it. Dinner's always on the table, Yeah, the Gen Show. So I'm loving all these tips I'm learning from you. 00:41:19 Speaker 3: Thank you. 00:41:20 Speaker 1: It's so easy to do that once. And that's way easier than the onions, honestly, because you're throwing it in the instant pot, not thinking about it, and then literally just like putting, like getting your tongs and putting it in the kitchen aid, shredding it and then dividing it and there's chicken ready to go. 00:41:41 Speaker 4: There it is. 00:41:42 Speaker 1: So there's that takes probably the least amount of time, most bang for your time, buck wow. 00:41:48 Speaker 4: Number four. Set aside sufficient prep time, which you don't need. If you try Gen's tricks, you don't need much time. But there's not much to say on this. This is just related to thinking ahead. And setting aside the time, but it's also taking into account what is the week ahead. I think sometimes we can think that meal prep is going to take us so long, but if we actually look at our schedules, it's very possible that many of us have one to two meals that we're either going to a friend's house, or we've chosen in our budget that we're going to go out, or we're sharing meals with others, and it might not be as much as you think to prep. So setting aside sufficient prep time doesn't mean, oh, I've got to have an entire day. It could mean that, all right, I do a little bit on Sunday night, and then I'm going to do a little bit on Monday night, and then we're good for the week because I'm not necessarily going to have every single meal at home and it's planned for and writing it down takes away the guesswork, it takes away decision fatigue. It helps us feel ready and competent and prepared to actually then follow through on the plan that we've written down. So many reasons to think ahead. 00:43:03 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why. So when we say systematize your Sunday meal prep, it's it's a little tongue in cheek because I don't think we're gonna Sunday shouldn't be a day for meal prepping. Sunday is a day for rest. So I think if we can every time we cook food, which is probably gonna be four or five times a week, if you can when you are cooking your dinner every time, do one little thing to prep

for the next meal or for two meals down the road or whatever. You just do one little meal prep thing every time you cook, like while things are simmering, and it's not like active prep like cooking time. Then you are going to get to the point where you are just gonna be you know, rolling. 00:43:52 Speaker 4: And you learn what works for you, yeah, the systems you want to be implementing, and. 00:43:56 Speaker 1: It's gonna get the more you prep, the easy or it's going to get to be able to prep for the next one. So it's not going to be all prepping for this meal, cooking this meal, and then also prepping for the next meal. A lot of the prep is going to be done. You're going to build up to that so that it just feels easier to get one thing done. So I'm actually gonna skip number six which is investing quality storage containers, because I think you can use whatever. 00:44:26 Speaker 3: Storage containers you have. 00:44:28 Speaker 1: Yah, And I'll go to number seven is to keep your fridge organized. This is really important because I have seen some fridges that are chaos, and how do you know, How do you know what's in there? How do you know if you have what you need to prep I'm not saying your fridge needs to be barren, but it does need to be organized. 00:44:49 Speaker 3: You don't need to buy. 00:44:50 Speaker 1: Pretty little home edit plastic boxes to make everything look pretty, but you should have some kind of system of organization so you know where things are. 00:45:01 Speaker 3: And there's just. 00:45:02 Speaker 1: Some good rules of thumb to keep things lasting longer so they're not going bad before you get the chance to prep them. So move foods you're gonna eat first towards the front, along with fresh and roasted veggies. Foods you'll eat later in the week. You can kind of put those in the back. Proteins, any raw meats should go at the bottom. Leftovers on the top of ethylene producing fruits and veggies should be kept in your your little uh fruit drawer. 00:45:37 Speaker 4: Vegian fruit drawer. Yeah, that's your eggplants, carrots, yams, I'm not gonna lie. I don't keep my sweet potatoes in the fridge, but that's just me. 00:45:47 Speaker 1: You don't have to yeah, yeah, and then also be cleaning your fridge occasionally. This says weekly. We say when you can, when you can get to. 00:45:57 Speaker 4: Yeah, once you've emptied out your bridge because you've eaten at home and everything's gone and you have yet to get to the grocery store, then wipe it down. Yes. Okay, last, but not least number eight on here think outside the box and this tip is going to help us to continue eating at home, meal planning, meal prepping at home if we are able to incorporate flavors that keep things fresh and interesting. That doesn't mean that we need to overcomplicate or we need to get expensive ingredients, but even things like buying the fresh herbs or growing your own fresh herbs, considering the different spices that you particularly enjoy

incorporating citrus. One of the things I've learned from even engaging in the meal delivery kits that I have done sometimes because of the convenience during busy times of life. They love zesting limes and lemons, and I have come to love that. It was a technique that I was introduced to in like as far as a regular practice with things go, I'm not a zester. One of my favorite recipes that came out of a meal kit box is just carrots. Chopping up carrots, roasting it with oil, salt, and pepper, and then once they come out of the oven, putting lime zest on it and just stirring it around with the zest of a lime. Fantastic wow. And so that that was a really fun way to dress up carrots in a really simple way. I often have limes on hand because I also use it for smoothies and drinks. So even finding new techniques asking others what are ways that keep your ingredients fresh and flavorful, I also have come to embrace sauces. And this doesn't have to be expensive either. Making our own salad, dressing our own aolis, are own marinades, and trying new things in that regard out of what we already have in our pantry can keep it fresh and exciting, keep us eating at home, but also not taking up a ton of additional time. 00:48:14 Speaker 1: That's fantastic. You know what also keeps things fresh doesn't take up a lot of extra time is really easy to stock up on. 00:48:25 Speaker 4: Yes, the bell of the week. 00:48:38 Speaker 2: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, butffalo bills. Bill clon, This is the bill of the week. 00:48:58 Speaker 5: Hey, Jen and Jail, this is Olivia calling from Denver. Wanted to just say first, thank you so so much for your podcast. I love listening to y'all every single week. And my bill for the week is Target grocery pickup. I noticed at the bottom of my bill a couple of weeks ago that they are charging for bags now and that there's like an extra dollar that they add on. But I think that this extra dollar is well worth the time and energy and money I save with avoiding wandering the aisles of the store and putting extra things in my shopping cart. This has also allowed me to stay in budget for just buying the things that I need, planning my meals in advance, and only buying those specific things. So that is my bill of the week. Thank you all for what you do. 00:49:54 Speaker 1: Bye oh, Olivia. I also I love of picking up my groceries. I shop at Walmart, though, and Walmart gives you too many bags, like I wish. Honestly, I wish Walmart had charged me money for bags because I would just say, please, no more bags, right, no more bags. 00:50:16 Speaker 4: I don't know, it's something in their training. They just one bag, one back item. It's so weirdness I when I, yeah, I do shop in the store, so then I can bring in my own bags, which I do wish were possible for grocery pickups. Yeah. But I love what you're identifying here, Olivia, with how it is ultimately saving you money to not be wandering and impulse purchasing. I I can relate to that when I've done a grocery delivery or a grocery pickup. Even some of those additional convenience charges still brings my grocery build down to less than if I had walked into the store, because it just happens, or you don't always it's not always that we're impulse shopping. Sometimes we don't realize the cost difference between various types of onions or items in the produce section, where it's not until I'm online buying something that I realize, Oh, actually this way of purchasing onions is way less expensive then maybe the bagged version or fill in the blank, and so learning new ways of shopping through the online portal can be Or when. 00:51:25 Speaker 1: There's three different types of coconut milk and they're in three different places in the store and. 00:51:30 Speaker 3: You can see them right next to each other in the app. 00:51:33 Speaker 1: Yes, I do wholeheartedly promote grocery shopping. Doing pickup, even if it may cost a little bit extra, like a dollar for bags, well well worth it. And you can shop at night after the stores close and just simply pick it up when their stores are open. It's just so much savings. 00:51:56 Speaker 4: Congrat's Olivia, Well Don thanks for your weekly listen to Olivia and if you all listening, have a bill that you want to submit, if it has to do with convenience charges you don't mind paying because it saves you money in the long run, or convenience charges you got rid of because you realize you don't need that convenience in your life. Visit Brugal friendspodcast dot com, slash bill. Leave us your bill, even if it's even more vague than that we love it and now it's time for hurting around. 00:52:30 Speaker 1: I got that right, I got it wrong last time. 00:52:33 Speaker 4: I loved it though. 00:52:34 Speaker 1: Okay, So from Goldie, what are some things that help you actually enjoy meal prepping rather than seeing it as a chore? I love this one. 00:52:44 Speaker 4: I do love this book, Jill. I love making things luxurious wherever I can, fun, beautiful, enjoyable. So for me, a lot of it has to do with having the time. If I'm feeling super stressed in my schedule, then I'm not really going to enjoy anything that feels like a demand on me. So it can go farther back into just what am I saying yes to in my schedule? How am I creating margin? But then from there incorporating things that I enjoy. I really love cooking, and especially if I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen if I'm prepping, what I really love to do while doing that is sipping on some wine and listening to music, some of your classic like Frank Sinatra or Norah Jones on the radio, or like a rager, you know, like some Lizzo or Taylor Swift. Not necessarily back to back, did. 00:53:50 Speaker 1: You just did you just

prefer to Taylor supposed as a rager? 00:53:53 Speaker 4: No, I said Lizo first. Okay, but I can rage to certain tailor's songs for sure. 00:54:01 Speaker 3: I don't want to get canceled. 00:54:04 Speaker 4: I know, don't cancel us Bruno Mars or this other close to metal band called Thrice. I can really span the gamut, but the one common denominator is that it's music and that I'm probably sipping on some wine while I cook and create beautiful smells in the kitchen because I've had the time. If I don't have the time, forget about it. Nothing's going to make that enjoyable for me. But when I have friends help me in some regard and we share the load, that is so helpful and convenient and does even help when you don't have the time, Yes, because you're sharing the load. Okay, what about you? Jen? 00:54:57 Speaker 1: So similar for me. I don't like cooking, but wine helps, and also music. So my go to genre is like all the folk music you listened to in two thousand and six to twelve, I think so mumf and Sons Illumineers, the head and the heart, this. 00:55:20 Speaker 4: Civil Wars, I've been loving this guy PD p E t E Y check him out. 00:55:28 Speaker 1: That is he's I know, just some case be guys. 00:55:33 Speaker 4: I didn't want to people think it was like PT just pt PD. He's a comedian and a musician. Whoa Can you be two things at once? I think so? Really bestic good, Oh my gosh, he is both is both things okay in some phenomenal ways. 00:55:57 Speaker 1: But those are it's all the like folk music I listened to in college, so that is mine and I would say, yes, those two things actually are what get me through meal prepping is music and I've been missing wine. 00:56:15 Speaker 4: But not being pregnant helps you get through meal prep. 00:56:19 Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. Yeah, definitely know what. 00:56:22 Speaker 4: You get that baby out of you and you get other people to cook for you. I can't wait, life hack, have children. I don't want to get us canceled. Just kidding. 00:56:31 Speaker 1: That's like asking, should I have another kid to save money on my taxes? 00:56:36 Speaker 4: Nope? No, not just for that reason, but if you want to have another kid. 00:56:40 Speaker 1: No, not to save money. Don't have another kid to save money. 00:56:44 Speaker 4: Not a money saving hack. No, I hate to break it to you. Yikes, Wow, yikes, thanks for listening. Even though we gave ourselves many reasons to cancel ourselves. Many of you know we have a membership for our listeners. Those who are still listening and semi enjoy this. Most of them really do love Taylor Swift h We've got some Swifties we do. They are paying off debt. A lot of our listeners, a lot of you all are paying off debt. Many of you also have other types of monthly goals, but we do monthly money challenges that help with all of it. Whatever your personal finance goal might be. We offer accountability groups so you can do it with other people, because that's so helpful, whether you're meal prepping or paying down debt, having friends around you to help is great, and we want to congratulate one of these members for a big win. This comes from Britney, who said mindset winning. I have a scarcity mindset, so I sometimes struggle with wanting to save too much and not spend any money. Thanks to a lot of the challenges I've completed, I've been able to allow myself to spend on what matters to me. I recently went to a friend's bachelorette trip and was able to spend on drinks and good food without any guilt or shame. What a goal, Brittany. That is amazing because it is not just about deprivation or being so extreme in either area, but identifying what can we afford and how can that align with the things that we actually value and want to spend money on, and where we can remove the shame, Like removing the shame is probably the ultimate goal. 00:58:24 Speaker 1: Absolutely, Yes, thank you, Thank you Brittany for sharing that. 00:58:28 Speaker 4: So again, thanks for being here, thanks for listening. If you want to check out this membership off these monthly money challenges or courses or interviews or just having other friends in the similar space sounds helpful to you, go check it out see if it might be a good fit for you. Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club. Hopefully we'll see you there too. Yes. 00:58:54 Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric siriannim. 00:59:09 Speaker 4: So. 00:59:10 Speaker 1: A year ago today, on the day that this goes live, we closed on our house, our fixer upper. It's been a year in a Mexican restaurant and if you know. 00:59:23 Speaker 4: What today is go to my baby. 00:59:27 Speaker 1: So our realtor had to pay like a twenty five dollars cover for everyone to get into the Mexican restaurant because they were doing like a buffet. 00:59:36 Speaker 4: Yeah, and you didn't realize that it was just the place you ended. Yeah. 00:59:40 Speaker 1: But the lady, the mobile title lady like shows up and she is like not impressed, and she's like, we could just go to McDonald's across the street. And Calvin, our realtor, is like. 00:59:51 Speaker 4: No, we will eat eat at this buffet. 00:59:56 Speaker 3: Yes, it was delightful. 00:59:58 Speaker 4: Wow, and started to not believe a year ago freaking fixer upper, the fixer upper. We we've all got fixer uppers, whether they're our homes or our lives. Every one of us as a fixer upper. 01:00:20 Speaker 3: That is wisdom. 01:00:21 Speaker 4: That is wisdom.