As much as it pains me to admit, my family does not prefer soup. There, I said it. I really wish they loved soup as much as I do. One of my daughters is a big fan of soup, but the rest of my family would never choose it.

In Episode 75, The Emotional Burden of Feeding Your Family, I told the story of how I carefully served my husband the best part of a vegetable beef soup and he rejected it. As much as I want to have a family of soup lovers, I don’t. That means I have had to create some strategies to make soup a little more palatable for my picky family.

For full show notes, click here. 

Thank you listeners for joining me for 100 episodes! Today I want to reflect back a little and offer my sincere thanks to you the listener.

For many years I dreamt of hosting a podcast. Long before Feed Your Family Tonight existed I thought of hosting a show someday. Now, 100 episodes in, I am filled with joy. None of this would be possible if you were not tuning in and for that, I am so thankful. This audience is full of busy parents, singles, and couples, but we are all here to learn a little about food and getting dinner on the table even when life is crazy.

The most downloaded solo episode is #68 ALDI 101. It seems many of you are as big of fans as I am. Even with 7 grocery stores within a few minutes of my house, I still do most of my shopping at ALDI.

Many of you joined along the journey to episode 100. You may have missed my few episodes which lay out the Feed Your Family Tonight PSA for weeknight dinner success. 

Episode 2 "P" Plan and Prep

Episode 3 "S" Set a Dinner Bell

Episode 4 "A" Always have a backup

You can get the free weekly meal planning sheet here. 

As a thank you to the dedicated listeners I am doing a giveaway. It will run from October 2 to October 10, 2020. The winner will be announced in the Feed Your Family Tonight Facebook group on October 11, 2020.

I am giving away a package of my favorite kitchen gadgets. Full details for the giveaway and show notes can be found here. 

I first learned about deep dive shopping from Lisa Woodruff at Organize365. She recommends doing a big shopping trip at the beginning of December to buy enough staples to get you to January. I have found that doing a deep shopping trip 2-3 times a year can really save me time and help with meal planning all year long.

Stock up on paper products (like toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins.) Get all your cleaning supplies like hand soap, laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and bleach. Stock up on personal care items like shampoo, deodorant, and makeup. This will make your future grocery trips smaller and faster. You will only need to buy perishable items like fresh fruit, veggies, and meats.

By doing a deep dive shopping trip, you will help yourself meal plan. With a well-stocked freezer and pantry, it is easier to decide what is for dinner. You make meals around the ingredients you have on hand. It helps with decision fatigue because you have fewer choices. One ingredient can be used many ways. For example, I use frozen mixed veggies in pot pie, tater tot casserole, soup, and fried rice. One simple ingredient has many uses and helps me narrow my decisions.

Full notes can be found here. 

Lemons are so versatile. They can make the most basic foods taste extraordinary. They are not unlike salt. Kendra Adachi says salt makes things taste more like themselves and a little lemon juice used correctly can do the same thing. Acid is one of the most under utilized elements in American cooking. A little squeeze of lemon juice can transform a dish. If you haven’t read Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat I highly recommend getting a copy. You will learn so much about the chemistry of food and it will make you a better cook.

Years ago, I read and interview and the reporter asked the person what was one thing they always had in their refrigerator. This question has stuck with me and if I was ever asked, my answer would be lemons. I always have lemons in my refrigerator. Every night before I go to bed, I squeeze ½ of a lemon in a mason jar and fill it with water. I drink some of the lemon water at bedtime and the rest in the morning. I have been known to bring a lemon with me on airplanes to ensure I don’t have to go a day without my lemon water.

You can find full show notes and links at: https://feedyourfamilytonight.com/episode-98-for-the-love-of-lemons/

We just had an early cold snap in Kansas and it got me in the mood to organize. (This is a very rare occurrence and I try to capitalize on the moment.) As we transition from summer to fall it is a good time to tidy a few things in our meal plans and kitchen.

Take a look at your pantry and freezer. Are there items you purchased and then found out you don’t like them? Donate, share or toss those items. Every time you see them, they nag you and occupy brain space. Now is the time to get them out of your home. You can donate them or share with a friend. It is even okay to toss them.

Is there food you need to eat up before the weather changes for good? As we transition to fall, it is a good idea to think about “summer” foods and “fall” foods. Our family moves from grilling to meals in the oven or slow cooker. I have been known to grill in December but if you have summer foods, now is the time to eat them.

Pull out you Master Meal Planning Sheet. If you don’t have one, get your free copy here. Add any new recipes that worked well this summer and look at the recipes you haven’t made in a while. You may even want to break out a cookbook or two and talk with your family about things they want to try this fall. My sister in law did this last year with my cookbook. She went recipe by recipe and asked her kids which ones they were willing to try. Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner and From Freezer to Cooker both have lots of great ideas for family meals too.

Join me for a free live Fall Meal Plan training. It will be on Friday, September 18 at 10:00 AM Central in the Feed Your Family Tonight Facebook group. You can get the free printable worksheet packet here. You can also upgrade to a VIP pass. VIP participants will be live with me on the call and then will have additional time for Q&A. We will share ideas and get started on our Fall Meal Plan.

You can find full show notes here.

Back to school time is especially exciting this year after six months at home. We have had a six-month rest. Everything has had a slower pace and I know my family got used to this pace. Going back to school means adding stress. It may be good stress, but it is stress. That means our energy and our kids’ energy is going to be in short supply for a few weeks as we make the transition of back to school.

I encourage you to take your energy into consideration these next few weeks when planning dinner. Keep it as simple as you can. Try your best to serve familiar foods. Now is not the time to try and get your kids to expand their pallets.

Your kids will likely be extra-tired. You may want to consider moving up dinnertime so they can get to bed earlier. I am considering swapping after school snack and dinner. If I serve dinner right after school and my kids end up going to bed super early it is not a big deal. I know they will need the extra rest so their brains can manage all the transitions.

Be kind to yourself and schedule some breaks from cooking. This can come in many forms. You can serve hot dogs or frozen meal kits like Trader Joes Orange Chicken. You can use paper plates, or get take out. My mother is having us over once a week and that gives me a break from cooking. I predict there will be lots of families ordering pizza this weekend. That’s okay! Plan for it!

It is important as a parent to conserve your energy too. Rather than putting lots of effort into making elaborate meals, go simple so you can have the time to focus on your children. They need you during this time of transition and you want to be able to give them all the time they need as they go back to school this year.

Full show notes and a link to a transcript can be found here. 

No matter what school looked like last year, it will be a little different this year. All of us are having to face changes this year and that may affect how we feed our kids lunch. Kendra Adachi would say to embrace the season. Things will look different which means we may have to change our thinking and adapt to our new circumstances.

This week’s podcast talks about several different scenarios for lunch including schools requiring fully disposable lunches, packing lunches to go, and eating lunch at home.

You can find full show notes and links here. 

School may look weird this year for many of us, but many of our kids still have activities. I know that our family still needs to get out of the house and that often means packing snacks.

There are five basic snack categories:

Fruit

Veggies

Meaty/Higher Protein

Salty

Sweet

Full Show notes and links can be found here.

Kendra Adachi is The Lazy Genius. Her new book, The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done, came out this week and it was a treat to talk with her. One of the things I like most about Kendra’s approach is that you can choose what matters to you. We all have different things that are important, and it is okay if your ideals are different than your best friend, an influencer on Instagram, or anyone else. Once you know what is important to you it is easier to say yes to things that matter and no to things that don’t.

Our conversation was full of great tips to help you manage dinner and how to use her “magic question” to help you do something now to make life easier later. You will also hear us sing the praises of salt and talk about her infamous Change Your Life Chicken. It is an episode you won’t want to miss.

You can find full show notes here. 

Potatoes are one of the most versatile ingredients you can buy. They are inexpensive and can be used many ways. They are a great way to stretch a protein like in my Cheeseburger Baked Potatoes.

There are 3 main types of potatoes.

Russets- “Starchy” potatoes that cook up fluffy when baked. They are the most common type of potato and are great for baking.

Yukon Gold- Less starchy, but not as “waxy” as new potatoes. They are golden on the inside and have a thin skin. I like them for deep fried French fries and smashed potatoes.

New Potatoes- Also called red potatoes. They are a “waxy” potato that hold their shape when cooked. They are great for potato salad or “steam fried” like my Frozen Veggies You Actually Want to Eat.

Then there are Sweet Potatoes (Which aren’t really potatoes, but they still count in my house.)

Full show notes can be found here.