The Raw and The Cooked - Simple Rhythms for SAHM, Honest Motherhood, and Books Worth Reading

Today, I'm sharing  the impulse buys that shaped a year at home with four kids, from sleep-regression gear that flopped to kitchen tools, kid storage, and one antique desk that changed everything. Honest wins, painful misses, and the small upgrades that make family life smoother. 

Kitchen:

• Apple Slicer
• Sour Dough Bread Knife
• USA Loaf Pans
• Silicone Tipped Metal Straws
• Martha Stewart Cake Stand with Glass Dome

Home

• Moss Poles for Plants
• Fine Mist Continuous Spray Bottles
• Rosemary and Ginger Handsoap
• Puzzle Glue 
• Sharpie Pastel Highlighters
• Mesh Laundry Bags
• Small Bluetooth Speaker
• Automatic Pet Feeder

Baby

• Corolla Mini Baby Doll
• Tripod Clip Fan
• Slumber Pod
• Baby Gate
• Infant Stanley Cup

Big Kids

• Bubble Machine
• Bug Boys Graphic Novels
• Hot Wheels Displays
• Lego Organizer
• Initial Fanny Pack

Clothing, etc. 

• Steamer for Clothes +

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I’m sharing my favorite books of 2025 — the ones that stayed with me, challenged me, comforted me, or simply pulled me through a heavy season.

This year, I read 55 books (and counting), and today I’m narrowing it down to the 13 books I loved the most. These picks span fiction and nonfiction, parenting, faith, health, and pure escapism — a true snapshot of my reading life this year.

December feels heavy. The sun sets early. Everything feels like effort. And yet, there is nothing like a really good book. This episode is for anyone craving depth, distraction, or nourishment through reading.

Books Mentioned in This Episode (in no particular order):

1. God of the Woods by Liz Moore
2. The Wedding People by AlisonEspach
3. Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy
4. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5. The Bright Years by Sarah Damnoff
6. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
7. The Rational Bible by Dennis Prager
8. Good Energy by Casey Means
9. Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
10. Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens
11. What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella
12. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
13. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

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Today I'm sharing Winter Dinners that will save your sanity. One-pot and one-sheet-pan meals for busy, cold nights that'll make winter cooking easier. 

Recipes & Meals Mentioned:

Slow Cooker Sunday
• Simple slow-cooker chicken
• Honey Butter Chicken (Naptime Kitchen–inspired)

Ground Beef Monday
• Meatloaf
• Chili
• Meatballs

Asian Tuesday
• Coconut milk chicken with kale
• Korean tacos
• Fishbird Chicken
• Butter Chicken Meatballs

Salmon Wednesday
• Sheet-pan salmon + roasted vegetable

Thursday Simple Night
• Grilled cheese + tomato soup
• Minestrone
• Carrot ginger soup
• Turkey sandwiches

Friday One-Pot Chicken
• Chicken pot pie
• Butternut squash–chicken–rice bake
• Quinoa–sweet potato–chicken sausage bake
• Marry Me Chicken

Bonus Meals
• Sheet-pan chicken thighs, potatoes & Brussels sprouts
• Extra batch rice & mashed potatoes prep

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We celebrate 200 episodes by tracing the path from a 2015 blog to a no-ads show, then unpack the five listener favorites that keep you coming back. Books lead the way, followed by kids’ reads, cleanup systems, family routines, and flexible budgeting.

Top Book Review Episodes:

1. #25 Paper Palace
2. #104 Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
3. #109 The Collected Regrets of Clover
4. #179 The Wedding People
5. #159 Here One Moment
6. #99 Remarkably Bright Creatures

And Other Top 10 Listener Favorites:

1. #46 Toddler Books We Currently Love
2. #140 Systematically Cleaning Up the Kitchen After a Meal
3. #178 Bedtime Routines with Four Kids Under Six
4. #31 Fluid Budgeting, and a Spending Freeze

Please leave me a review on Spotify or on Apple Podcast!

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Today, I dive into Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together by Ilana Kurshan, a memoir that ties parenting to the Bible's rhythm, and how I used it to build a curated list of 92 children’s books for our family library. I share what resonated, what I skipped, and how I turned the list into holiday gifts you can copy. 

The 92 Children's Book Recommendations. 

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Laundry doesn’t have to be overwhelming, even in a big family. In this episode, I walk you through the system that works for us:

• Why one small load every morning is the backbone of my laundry routine
• How I fit switching loads into our natural daily flow (even with preschool drop-offs and activities)
• My simple rhythm for sheets, towels, and diapers — and why bi-weekly is plenty in our house
• The trick to keeping laundry folded and put away (without it piling up)
• Why doing smaller, steady loads beats saving it all for one exhausting laundry day

This isn’t about doing laundry perfectly — it’s about finding a rhythm that fits into real family life, accidents, messes, and all.

If you’ve ever felt buried under laundry, I hope this episode gives you permission to keep it simple and manageable.

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In this week’s episode, I’m diving into one of my all-time favorite books, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer — a gentle but radical call to slow down and live with more peace, purpose, and presence. 🌿 I share how this book has shaped my family’s rhythm, deepened our Shabbat practice, and reminded me that we’re allowed to live differently — unhurried, intentional, and grounded in what really matters.

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Fall settles in as we map a full week of family dinners, pack smarter school lunches, and share the exact grocery spend that made it work. From soup and meatloaf to salmon and chili, we show how one plan and a few batch tricks stretch flavor, time, and budget.

• soup Sundays with tomato soup and sourdough grilled cheese
• meatloaf Monday with buttery mashed potatoes and a green
• quick Asian Tuesday chicken with coconut milk over rice
• hot sheet-pan salmon, rosemary mushroom cream, and leftovers strategy
• chili Friday and an easy family rotisserie Saturday
• three dozen hard-boiled eggs for snacks and gym mornings
• DIY lemon ginger shots to replace store-bought wellness shots
• Bento lunch system to pack eight lunches in two sessions
• nut-free lunch ideas and cleaner snack swaps for kids
• full grocery tally at $210 and $61 dining out
• small wins and mishaps, from missing milk to better ketchup

We’ll post the chicken with coconut milk recipe in the show notes.

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I'm sharing ten simple shifts that made our home calmer, kinder, and more joyful, from fall break routines and kid chores to one-pot dinners and paper cycle tracking. The theme of this episode is gratitude!

1. Long fall break without school rush
2. Kids stepping up with dishes, sweeping, resets, laundry
3. Monochrome gym uniforms to cut decisions
   • Favorite cropped tee
   • Plum quarter zip
   • Navy quarter zip
4. Building a small real-clothes capsule
5. Early mornings with Scripture and prayer
6. One-pot curries, rice on repeat, frozen ginger cubes
7. Habit stacking coffee maker and feeding sourdough starter
8. Boxed pumpkin bread as a seasonal shortcut
9. Page-turner thrillers to restart reading joy
10. Paper cycle tracking with daily body cues

#44: 10 Things Simplifying My Life Right Now, Part I, #115: 10 Things Simplifying My Life Right Now, Part II, #131: 10 Things Simplifying My Life Right Now, Part III

Blog Post

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Our first sukkah, a broken foot, and a reminder that curveballs aren’t rejections — they’re invitations. This week taught me about slowing down, showing up anyway, and finding joy in the middle of the mess. 🕊️

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