In this on air coaching call, Marie helps her guest, Emily, brainstorm strategies for getting dinner on the table faster after she picks up her four kids from daycare.

They talk about looking at the amount of time it takes to make a meal, freezer prep, deep-dive grocery shopping, and expanding cooking skills.

For full show notes, links, and a transcript, click here. 

It is July in Kansas and that means an abundance of summer produce. I haven’t had a garden in several years, but I still have access to lots of fresh tomatoes, zucchini and other summer produce either from friends or farmer’s markets.

This week’s podcast is for the people who use recipes as suggestions. I hope to give you lots of ideas to spark your creativity and get you thinking about how you can use summer veggies.

For full show notes and a transcript click here. 

It's the end of June and most of us are settling into our summer rhythm. This podcast has 5 tips for planning meals in the summer.

1-Your Meal Plan Serves You

2-Be Kind to Yourself

3-Balance Easy Meals with Project Cooking

4- It's Okay to Break the "Rules"

5- Use Summer Produce

For full show notes and a transcript, click here. 

If you are like me, you are feeling the "busy" creep back into daily life. The pandemic had a little silver lining and that was that we all slowed down.

I don't miss the fear, uncertainty, isolation, and brain fog of the early pandemic, but I do miss the slow pace.

Our family created deep connection last summer and one of the big reasons was because we had no expectations. We didn't feel like staying home was "missing out" on opportunities. Everything was canceled. The spaciousness created connection.

Many people are wanting to keep a little of the slower pace we had last year. One great way to preserve family culture is to eat together. Creating spaciousness and large blocks of unstructured time for family meals is an important way to make space for your children to bring up tender topics.  In our family that is Sunday brunch. You may have Friday night pizza or Saturday morning pancakes. The key is to have a regular meal in a large block of time.

For full show notes and transcript click here. 

Weeknight dinners are much more about time management than they are about recipes. Often people think having the right recipes are the key to successful dinners, but if you don't factor in time, even the best recipe is not going to help you. Be honest with yourself about your time and choose meals that work with your schedule. 

Full show notes and a transcript can be found here.

Part 2 of Vacation Food Planning focuses on planning food when you are staying in cabins or rental homes, road trips and large family gatherings. You can hear part one on food planning when you are staying in hotels here.

Plan ahead. What amenities are in the rental space? What meals will you eat at the home and what meals will you eat away from the home?

-Cook ahead as much as possible and make sure the containers you are using fit well in your cooler.

-Use online grocery ordering. You can pick it up on your way to your destination or some services even deliver. Walmart.com, Kroger.com, and Instacart are all great resources. Some even deliver.

-Plan one lunch and one dinner out. The best day is usually not the last day. The last day is a good time to eat up leftovers as you are cleaning up and preparing to leave.

Full show notes and transcript can be found here. 

Are you ready to get out of town? 

This episode is all about planning your food when you are staying in hotels. 

Next week's episode will focus on planning your food when you are staying in vacation rentals or cabins and family reunion planning.

For full show notes and a transcript click here. 

Do you ever go on Pinterest looking for the magic recipe? You know, the one that’s easy to make, inexpensive, nutritious and your family eats it without complaint. The recipe that will fix all your weeknight dinner woes. 

I hate to break it to you, but even if you find that unicorn of a recipe, you cannot use it five nights a week. Eventually your family will get tired of it, and then you’ve lost the magic of the magic recipe. No single recipe will fix all your weeknight dinner problems.

In Episode 75 I talked about the emotional burden of feeding your family. It’s so much more than picking a recipe. As moms, we try to be aware of the different nutritional needs of each family member. We calculate our kids’ likes and the dislikes to make sure everyone has something they prefer at least every other day. We have to factor in our own energy levels and how much time we have available to cook in between piano lessons and soccer practice. Then there’s the execution: When will I shop? Where will I shop? Did I remember to put everything on the list? All these micro-decisions are part of the process, and they are mentally exhausting.

I am here to give you permission to admit that weeknight dinners are hard. It’s OK to feel that way. But you still have to do it.

For show notes and a transcript click here.

I truly believe every mom needs a break from fixing dinner at least one day a week. My mother hosts our family for a weekly dinner at her house, so I can always count on one night a week where I don’t have to cook (or plan, or shop, or clean up). On this week’s podcast, I share four other ways to get a break from the kitchen.

Full shot notes and transcript can be found here. 

Do you ever wonder why I rarely have "dinner out" on my meal plans? 

This week's podcast is about eating out.

Even if you don’t see “dinner out” on my meal plan, I believe every mom needs a break from cooking at least once a week. For me, that comes in the form of a weekly family dinner hosted by my parents. Family dinner is my break from cooking and kitchen clean-up, and it’s something I can count on. Not every family has someone to host a weekly dinner, but there are lots of ways to plan a night off from cooking. Whether you pick up prepared items like fried chicken from the deli, order a pizza or go out to a restaurant, planning a night off lets you enjoy the break instead of feeling guilty about it. 

For full show notes and a transcript, click here.