Planned, Prepped, and Productive: Real Food Cooking for Busy Moms

Productivity is touted as a huge badge of honor, but for what purpose? Finding purpose of productivity will help you use it as a tool instead of a goal in and of itself.  Learn six facts about productivity that will help you put things in perspective and use productivity as a tool.

Cooking can feel stressful enough, but make it vegan and suddenly there's so many options and unfamiliar choices that it can be overwhelming. Don't get overwhelmed, instead learn from this week's guest on the podcast Brigitte Gemme. During this episode of the podcast we'll cover loads of exciting topics about vegan cooking including: Meal prepping veggies and preserving them so they taste great whenever you get to themHow to ease family members in who are hesitant about plant-based eating (in a way that they love)Managing multiple types of eaters without making several different meals each night. Techniques to ease into a more plant-based lifestyleBrigitte Gemme is the Chief Meal Planner and founder at VeganFamilyKitchen.com. She is passionate about how the simple (and often hated!) question "What's for dinner?" connects us to the health of our families, communities, and planet. Brigitte was born on a farm near Montreal (Canada) and became passionate about reducing our environmental footprint. After moving to the West Coast and becoming a mother, she decided to adopt a fully plant-based diet. In 2015, she left her career as a research manager in academia to become a vegan food educator. She uses her free challenges and vegan meal plan subscription service to teach beginners the art of meal planning and batch cooking, so that busy people and families can enjoy more plant-based meals without the headdaches.

For me, a paper planner for a mom is a irreplaceable. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for some awesome electronic planning tools as well. Listen to this episode to figure out which electronic planning tools help me keep all my "mom hats" (and head) on straight! Link to shownotes

Before you can master meal planning and meal prep, you've gotta master "life planning" and to do that you're going to need a planner. But with so many planners out there on the market, how do you choose one that will be right for you?  In this episode I'll be sharing 6 questions to ask yourself to help you choose the planner that will fit seamlessly into your life and help you get yourself organized! Link to shownotes

Do you want to make better food and health choices, but feel frustrated because nutrition is so confusing! I've been there, and I'm a dietitian.  It's so hard to know the right choices to make to give us the best chance at a long, healthy, happy life, but I promise it's not as hard as it seems.  Find out why nutrition is so confusing and then use that information to become a good judge of nutrition information and learn to make nutrition choices with confidence! Inside this episode we'll dig into the common misconceptions that make nutrition advice so confusing, and hopefully prove to you once and for all that you absolutely can make better choices for your family without it being stressful and overwhelming. Sources high BMIs are associated with an increase in risk in chronic diseaseweight loss not proven to be effective in preventing chronic disease risk in otherwise healthy obese individualsBMI and all-cause mortalitylong-term maintenance of weight-losslong-term effects of weight cycling or  yo-yo dietingEffect of diet high in fruits and vegetableshealthy eating for blood sugar controlthe effect of dietary fiber on digestion

Do you feel like your responsibilities feeding yourself and feeding your family 3 square meals a day plus snacks brings out all of your worst negative feelings?  You're not alone...there's a lot of resentment from moms about their kitchen responsibilities.  But...did you know that the way you think about the kitchen has a direct effect on how you FEEL while you are in the kitchen? Yup, mental health in the kitchen is a thing and we're here to talk about it today! The cool thing about your mental health in the kitchen is that it totally goes both ways.  So if you let negative, perfectionistic thoughts or unrealistic expectations creep in you're probably going to have a less than stellar experience.  BUT if you recognize the power of a little meal planning and meal prep you can actually start to use the kitchen as a tool to improve your mental health instead of constantly being a place that you dread.  This week I'm teaming up with Mallory Gleason of Mallory Jo Mindfulness (who also happens to be my sister) to discuss all things mental health in the kitchen.   Mallory is a young adult who was tired of anxiety running her life.  Through training her brain and her thoughts she found relief and she is eagerly sharing that with others on her platform @malloryjomindfulness as she trains to become a certified life coach. Inside the Mental Health in the Kitchen Episode of the podcast:How our expectations lay the foundation for how we will feel about cooking and meal prepSneaky ways perfectionism shows up (even if you don't think you fit the description of a perfectionist)What self-care *actually* looks like and why it's not as simple as bubble baths and chocolateHow a little meal planning can be the best thing you can do for YOU today

I don't think there are  many people that would turn down a piping hot cinnamon roll, do you? But making them at the crack of dawn so you can enjoy them for brunch or breakfast? That's a drag for sure! That's why I tested 4 different methods for making cinnamon rolls ahead of time so you can have the best of both worlds. Listen on to find out HOW you can do it and which method will be the very best!Link to recipe: Make-Ahead Cinnamon Rolls 4 ways!

Let's do a deep-dive into how to meal-prep a recipe, shall we? Any recipe can be meal-prepped in some way....and that my friends can save you loads of time when it comes to dinner-time and is the key to making you a meal-time master. Follow along with this episode where I'll tell you exactly how I meal prep this teriyaki meatball stir-fry  to fit into my busy life. Want to make it yourself? You can find the recipe right here! Recipe: Teriyaki  Meatball Stir-fry

Ever feel like there's something you're missing when it comes to meal time? Maybe it feels like you spend three times as long cooking as you plan on, or that the clean-up just never ends and it's not worth it. You've probably tried things to make it better, but in the end you're still as frustrated and burned out as ever from feeding your family. Well my friend, you are most definitely not alone.  I've been there! Making meals every single night while simultaneously doing all of the other "mom" things can be enough to make anyone want to scream. Out of desperation (and because I couldn't afford to get takeout every night) I started to make changes and I discovered that it really is possible to work smarter and not harder in the kitchen. To do so you'll need to implement the 4 habits discussed in this episode! Listen in to see how your evening and mealtimes transform when you implement the habits! Resources: Master Mealtime WaitlistMealtime mindset worksheetThe 4 secrets to mastering mealtime guide

So you want to change your diet. You don't want to fail (again)...so what are you going to do? You know that doing the same thing and expecting different results is completely crazy talk, right? So what if this time you try something, different.  Not something harder, just different. Listen now to find out the 5 ways you can make your healthy eating habits stick, like for good this time. Resources: Keystone Habits EpisodeHow to get in the right mindset to make dinner GET THE FEEDING YOUR FAMILY EBOOK! Use the code PODCAST10 for $10 off!