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

Today I want to welcome my amazing guest, Catherine Ryan Gregory of to and fro fam. Catherine is a family travel expert, and let me tell you, she definitely taught me a thing or to about meal prep & planning and made me more excited to travel with my young kids in the future. Catherine  shares travel hacks and kid-friendly destinations to de-stress family travel. She founded the family travel website To & Fro Fam and is the author of Virtual Travel Activities for Kids and Road Trip Games & Activities for Kids.Inside this episode we are talking all about meal planning and meal prep for a road trip.  Catherine's advice is real and gleaned from experience (she's a mom of two young girls herself, and is managing not only pickiness in her kids but some food intolerances as well, so she knows a thing or two about food. Inside this episode we talk about: >The real challenges facing families with young kids who WANT to travel, and actionable strategies to overcome these roadblocks. >Rocking cooler packing tips to ensure what you need is where you need it when you need it (bonus, your car won't double as a gigantic trash can anymore either)>How you can manage family preferences, intolerances, and hunger while also getting to enjoy a blend of eating out and in for a seamless food experience. >How you can manage your time to have food ready when it's needed without planning every single second of your vacation. >How you can meal prep a few things to make a world of difference in your vacation stress levels. This episode was so fun, and Catherine really knows her stuff! I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting with her!Hopefully vacations are right around the corner friends, until next week happy (vacation) planning! (a girl can dream, right?)Resources: https://toandfrofam.com/freebies/https://toandfrofam.com/courses/Cooler packing tips https://toandfrofam.com/how-to-pack-a-cooler-for-camping/Didn't talk directly about this but would be helpful RE conversation on picky eaters https://toandfrofam.com/make-kids-eat-vacation/

The time after the holidays can be stressful as you try to figure out how you ended up with so much stuff. Minimalism is a super hot topic, but we don't often talk about the things we could minimize in our minds or our lives as much as we talk about minimizing our stuff.  This episode of the planned, prepped, & productive podcast will dive into all of these topics helping you find more peace at mealtime with a simple and minimal kitchen and a cleared up mindset. Featured Episodes: Everything you need to know about kitchen knivesThe top kitchen tools for meal prep

Looking for a unique gift or a way to really serve those you love this holiday season? Food is a great way to show love and giving the gift of a home-cooked (or even storebought) meal during the busy Christmas season might be just the thing.  Inside this episode we'll dig into why you might want to consider serving those you love more, why food is the perfect gift, and 5 unique ways you can serve others with food this season. Resources: In Helping others, you help yourselfFeeding America: Impact of Covid-19 on Food BanksHappy Money Saver: Freezer MealsReview of hellofreshHow to parbake breadWholefully-Soups in a jar

I'm so excited to welcome my special guest to the podcast, Alli Kelley of Longbourn Farm. Alli is the creator of Longbourn Farm where she shares simple homemade recipes. She believes that family meals create special moments and those moments become treasured memories. In addition to tried-and-true kitchen favorites, she shares practical farm and garden tips for the hobby farmer or avid gardener.In this episode of the podcast we're chatting all about kitchen organization and how mastering kitchen organization can help you put homemade meals on the table more often, without stress. Alli also announces her new cookbook (available now!) full of homestyle slow cooker recipes (so naturally we had to throw some slow cooker tips in as well!) Inside this episode you'll find: >What keeps most moms from cooking more often>Why kitchen organization is the answer you didn't know you were looking for>The top 3 ways to get organized in your kitchen right now>How to utilize your slow cooker without settling for bland, mushy mealsLearn more about Alli and check out her resources here! At this link Alli offers: -Cooking at home course-The ultimate guide to keeping chickens-Garden consulting -Blog consulting And remember, you can get her cookbook here!

The holidays are never quite what we envision. We want love, peace, and family togetherness, but so often we get stress, overwhelm, and drama. Part of the reason for that is because we need to tighten our boundaries. This episode will go over: -What boundaries are-Why they are important-How to effectively set boundaries-What specific holiday areas you might want to look at tightening your boundaries. Don't let the holidays get you down, instead feel like you did when you were a kid again by letting go of the unimportant things, and enjoying the things you actually do care about!

25 Socially-Distanced Christmas ideasChristmas Money Drop Off-Check out the link for a clever way to drop off moneyLarge tip at a restaurant, for your doordash driver, or  your grocery delivery person-3 King's Day-Puerto Rican holiday! Leave straw and carrots out for the 3 king's camels and wait for them to bring you giftsGingerbread Houses-Make them or buy them, either way is fun! Christmas Cookies-We love using squeeze bottles to make this less messy and fun for kids!Drive-through Christmas Lights-If you're local in Utah, try the Willard Bay Christmas lights for a safe, drive-through option! Watch a Christmas Movie-Christmas Porridge-A swedish tradition! Read-a-thon-try youtube for some book readings of holiday books you don't haveHot Cocoa BarRead Luke 2Eat a traditional meal of your country of heritage-we're having a traditional Puerto Rican meal of Pernil and Arroz con gandulesMake Teacher giftsMake mailmen giftsService Exchange-Do this in your own home! Encourage your kids to come up with a service they would be good at and exchange as a familyMake Christmas CardsBuild a snowmanChristmas Jammie sleepoverChristmas Karaoke-Again, youtube is a great resource for free karaoke songs.  Put them on the big screen and sing your heart out! Christmas scavenger huntTake all your spare change to the salvation armyChristmas giving treeMake your own ugly sweaters Do a Christmas CraftDo zoom christmas caroling

Clear up oven space with one of these 4 unique ways to cook a turkey outside of the ovenLast year's podcast and post all about what to meal prep for Thanksgiving with FREE guide including recipes!Link to Post and Podcast: Make-ahead thanksgiving menu and timelineNotes on brining your turkey: wet brinedry brineTurkey Recipes: Deep-fried TurkeySmoked TurkeySmoked TurkeyPerfect electric roaster oven turkeyEquipment:  turkey fryerpropane burnerturkey fryer kitscampchef pellet smokerroaster oven

The Feeding your Family EbookA comprehensive guide byRebecca Mudrick and Sarah Mahaffey of Shift for Health and Amanda Spackman of the Planned, Prepped, and Productive Podcast. Get your copy here! Use code PODCAST10 for $10 off! Hi everyone!This episode is an exciting interview with Rebecca Mudrick of Shift For HealthInside you'll hear: The number one problem facing individuals trying to cook more from home (and how to solve it)How to find your big why so you never lose focus againHow a mealtime mantra can help get you through even the most stressful days in the kitchenThe key to finding motivation even when you absolutely don't want to cook. Also in this episode we are announcing an exciting collaboration between the shift for health team and, yours truly! Rebecca Mudrick is a health geek turned health coach living in Columbus, Ohio.  She’s a busy mom of 4 boys, Jeni’s ice cream lover, yoga teacher, and advocate of sustainable health goals rooted in moderation, instead of extremes.  She loves helping her clients tackle issues that are holding them back and empowers them to make forward progress in  smart, do-able ways .  But most of all, she loves helping her clients see how they can shift their mindset to shape their lives in extraordinary ways.

Ever wonder what these box meal delivery services like hellofresh are all about?If you are a busy mom (uh...like all of us) and you are looking for mealtime solutions you are probably super curious if a box meal delivery kit could be the answer to all of your mealtime woes. Give this episode a listen to find out what it's good for, what it's not, and if it lives up to all the hype!

Meal planning can feel really daunting especially when we are trying to make sure our family is getting everything they need and there's so many conflicting messages. Listen to this episode for a fill in the blank template for planning your own balanced meals to take that part of the stress out of meal planning. Useful Links: meriam webster definitions of healthyRead: #16 The 5 Powerful reasons we eat that aren’t nutritionPodcast on being being considerate but not cateringRead: Decision fatigue: what it is and how to overcome it