Episode 85
#85. Summer Series: The Never-Ending Again of Meal-Planning Gets As Simple As Possible | Part 2
We can avoid laundry for awhile. We can put off cleaning. We can let those dishes pile up, but if the kids are hungry they are going to let us know! If meal planning feels more like an unceasing punishment and less like a picnic, listen in as Jen and Steph talk about ways to reduce decisions to make this unavoidable, repetitive task feel less overwhelming! They will also discuss what to do about picky eaters, and list lots of their favorite meal options to keep it simple!
Books, Recipes, and Resources:
Yummy Crate (Kiwi Crate Cooking Kits)
Previous episodes mentioned:
Would you like to learn more about Entrusted with a Child's Heart, our biblical parenting study? Find us here.
Transcript
Welcome to the Again
podcast summer series.
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:I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox, and this
is brought to you by Entrusted Ministries.
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:This summer, we've selected some of our
favorite episodes that we think help
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:set the tone for biblical motherhood
in our hearts, but also have great
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:practical wisdom for you to apply.
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:I've shortened these as much as I can,
so you can get what you need as quickly
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:as possible and get back to swimming,
splashing, and snuggling those kiddos.
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:Whether your summer is a bunch of
schedule managing or a blank open
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:canvas to architect, we pray that
you find time to sit at the feet of
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:Jesus and to enter in with your kids.
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:If you are looking to redeem
those mundane, repetitive tasks of
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:motherhood, You are in the right place.
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:And we believe that the meals
that you cook over and over for
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:your children truly matter to God.
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:And the more, you know, that
the more joy and freedom
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:you'll have in your motherhood.
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:You can avoid the laundry, you can
put off the cleaning and you can let
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:your dishes pile up in the sink, but
those kids are going to get hungry
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:and they're going to let you know
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:Today, For part two of our conversation,
Jen Frackman and I continue to talk about.
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:The meal, planning, ideas and
tips we have for picky eaters,
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:our most common meal ideas.
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:And why we continue.
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:To contend
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:For mealtime being.
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:An important part of family time.
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:Keep listening to hear how you
can break bread as a family in
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:a way that doesn't break you.
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:We hope this just inspires you to
develop a system that works for you.
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:In an earlier episode, we had
set the mindset already for the
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:heart that we want to have behind
bringing order in our homes.
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:I'll link that in the show notes
because we certainly don't want to
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:have routines just for routine We want
to have our days ordered by the Lord.
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:Before I get to this conversation with
Jen Reman, I want to share an idea I
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:came up with at the beginning of this
summer that my kids are absolutely
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:loving, and that has brought me a
lot of freedom in meal planning.
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:I sat down with a few of my kiddos
at the beginning of the summer and we
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:created a three week meal routine that
we're just going to cycle as long as we
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:need to to get us through the summer.
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:We created a different genre
for every night of the week.
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:So for example, we have a Mexican
night, an Asian night, an Italian
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:night, a soup night, a grilling night,
and a pizza night, and we just put
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:in there some really simple meals
that everyone's pleased with that
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:require very little thought on my part
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:as I am really working on some
big projects this summer, it's so
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:helpful to know that my meal plan
is taken care of and very simple.
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:And then when I go to just grab
the ingredients, I can decide,
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:okay, it's quesadilla night.
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:Am I just gonna grab the basics
or do I have the capacity to
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:add a bunch of fun toppings?
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:Perhaps that would be a really
simple way to get your kids involved
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:and to take that mental load off
of your shoulders for the summer.
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:And now to that conversation
with the amazing Jen Breckman.
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:Jen: It's interesting because we have
a youth group that meets in our home
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:and one of the main things that we
do is we make a meal together and it
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:was very intentional in doing that.
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:But the beauty that I have found is that
when you get boys hands busy, they will
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:talk.
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:And so as
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:they're chopping vegetables
or cutting up those fruit.
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:Pieces.
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:They're discussing things and
we're talking and they have not
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:stopped talking the whole time.
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:And I just love that.
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:Sometimes it's a little hectic in my
kitchen as we have 12 children cooking
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:but
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:it's been very sweet to stand
back sometimes and listen to
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:the conversations that happen.
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:And there's just such a beauty around it.
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:I love that, God.
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:Mealtime, he didn't need to
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:do that, but he,
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:there is
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:something so holy about taking a meal and
making a meal together and sitting down
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:and having quiet time together to eat.
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:And sometimes it's not quiet.
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:Sometimes it's a very talkative meal, but
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:I love that.
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:I love
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:mealtime, even
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:the
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:preparation of it.
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:It just is such a extension of a way to
show someone love and care And even when
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:someone is sick, to be able to bring
a home cooked meal just means so much.
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:And not that it has to be,
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:but when those
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:times come up and you have a freezer
meal already in the freezer that you can
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:bring to someone, it's such a blessing.
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:Stephanie: For sure.
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:you talked about the idea of pickiness,
and we do want to teach our children
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:to be grateful and With all of those
options today, sometimes we think
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:it is just about what we like, and
that does make it hard as a mom.
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:Sometimes, gonna not let
my kids listen to this
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:Jen: listen to this episode.
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:Stephanie: Sometimes what I do is if
I know I'm serving a vegetable that
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:they really don't like, I will make two
vegetables and maybe neither of them are
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:really their favorite, but Sometimes I
will say, I want you to eat a vegetable,
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:but which one are you going to pick?
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:If I put Brussels sprouts and cauliflower
in front of them and they have to pick
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:one, it's just helpful to see, because
sometimes it seems they don't like
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:any, and you're, no, actually, you will
eat the cauliflower, it's or you'll
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:eat the Brussels sprouts if I, roast
them really great and they're crispy.
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:But you're not going to eat them if
they're a steamable bag or something, and
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:you learn what really matters to them and
we do try to do the no thank you bites.
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:I will say sometimes I allow them
one substitution meal per week.
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:Jen: Oh,
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:I like this.
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:Stephanie: this.
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:Now, it might seem like a lot to
manage, but I find that for the
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:most part, they don't ask for it.
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:But I say that this is completely on them.
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:It is not my responsibility
to tell you what's for dinner.
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:It's not my responsibility
to ask you if you like it.
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:It is your responsibility to see I'm
in the kitchen and cooking, and to say
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:kindly, Mom, what's for dinner tonight?
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:And if you realize, ooh, I'm going to
have a hard time with this one, then
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:they say, may I have a substitution?
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:And I'll say yes.
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:And then they can go make
themselves a different dinner.
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:I will not make it for
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:Jen: them.
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:Do you have parameters on what
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:they
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:can
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:Stephanie: Yes.
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:Yes.
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:So I mean it, and again, with the food
share, this is going to depend on what
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:they're having or what we have available.
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:But, maybe they're going to
make themselves scrambled eggs.
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:and something.
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:And maybe they want part of the
meal, they're just substituting part.
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:But I found that because I'm putting the
ownership on them, all of a sudden they're
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:like, actually I'd rather keep playing.
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:I don't want to make anything.
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:Thank you for what you're making mom.
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:And it mitigates most of it.
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:My oldest, he likes his substitution
and I'm okay with that because
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:it's also teaching him to
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:Jen: cook.
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:Yeah.
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:We say fasting is a spiritual discipline.
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:You can start early and you can
fast from this meal if you need
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:to, but I'm not making another one.
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:So we're sitting there, but
yeah, I probably won't let
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:my kids hear that option.
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:Stephanie: Yeah.
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:Um, One year for Christmas, I
used the aunt and uncle money,
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:and we got a subscription to,
there's a KiwiCrate cooking
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:Jen: Oh, that's cool.
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:For
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:kids?
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:Stephanie: yes.
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:And it talks about the science of it.
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:We just did it for maybe six months.
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:That's how much, it would purchase.
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:And it was about leavening agents.
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:And another was about like
phytonutrients and how the
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:colors have different nutrients.
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:And it was so cool to see them learning
and baking these recipes together.
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:And they'll give you fun little
kitchen gadgets with it that
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:then help you make the meals.
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:And then, but there are recipes that
you can keep repeating each time.
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:And those have been some of our
funnest memories in the kitchen.
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:And I really like learning the
science behind it, because
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:Jen: that's really cool.
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:Stephanie: these are science experiments.
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:Jen: I like that.
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:Stephanie: And then I was
researching the other day.
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:Honestly, I don't even know how I
came across this, but Leah Huber has
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:something called Cook the Seasons.
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:And I love the idea of cooking seasonally.
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:It's so healthy and makes sense to use
what's going to be at the grocery store
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:or at the farmer's market or And it's
a pretty inexpensive program, but she
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:will let you click on the vegetable.
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:This
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:is if Fresh produce is really
important to you and you want a
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:lot of vegetables on the plate and
then healthy grains and proteins.
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:She says click on the vegetable and
then she provides a bunch of recipes
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:for how to cook those vegetables to
do it well she was a food editor
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:for a pretty big time magazine.
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:And she found that even meal planning when
she had kids was incredibly overwhelming.
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:So I felt so respected by that.
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:I'm like, thank you for sharing that.
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:what her premise is, let She wanted
her daughter and she wanted other kids
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:to be excited about vegetables, and
she wanted us to do them well, and
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:she is a believer, so that's neat.
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:She wrote a book, haven't read
it yet, but it's on my list now,
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:about food, faith, and something.
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:But.
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:So she teaches you, okay, these are
great ways to cook the vegetables so
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:that everyone's liking them, and then
you're going to cook extra of that
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:vegetable, and then you're going to
add part of it to a reinvention recipe,
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:it's called, like later in the week.
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:So it's the idea, cooking more
right now that you'll use later.
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:So I'm going to grill this asparagus,
but later in the week I'm going
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:to add this into this pasta, and I
don't have to start from scratch.
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:And it's pretty reasonable.
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:I'm just going to try
it for a couple months.
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:And she has a meal planning calendar
that you can do, but there's also videos.
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:that come with it about teaching your kids
how to love vegetables and some of her
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:ideas with that and what she's seen work.
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:And she says that the word
EW actually means new.
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:Jen: Ah!
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:I'm
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:Stephanie: I'm like,
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:that's new and I don't know
what I think of it yet.
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:And To provide not a ton of
pressure, but to realize that
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:children do need a lot of exposure
to certain foods before they like it.
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:Try to make it well and often
they will develop a taste for these
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:things, especially if we start young.
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:Jen: develop a taste for these
things, especially if we start young.
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:Stephanie: Deficiency.
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:Deficiency,
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:Jen: thank you.
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:All I could think of was density.
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:I was like, that's not it.
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:Deficiency.
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:That it can be a nutrient deficiency.
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:And so if some of those nutrients
are put back into the diet,
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:that their picky eating goes
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:away.
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:So there's always
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:something to look into there.
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:Like, why is this child so picky about
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:this?
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:Yes.
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:And
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:is it a way of manipulating
and controlling mom?
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:To get what I want.
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:I just want
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:to eat.
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:What I want to eat, when I want to eat
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:it.
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:Stephanie: I will notice
a huge difference.
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:My child that takes fish oil,
there is a huge difference.
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:If he's been taking fish oil,
he will be a lot less picky.
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:Even about taking the fish oil itself.
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:It's if he takes it regularly,
it's not a big deal.
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:But all of a sudden, if we lax up on that,
it's Oh, do I really have to take this?
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:It's gross.
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:And it's made a huge difference.
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:Have you ever heard of Deceptively
Delicious, that cookbook?
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:That's a fun one written
by Jerry Seinfeld's wife.
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:Jen: I remember that.
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:Stephanie: And just a way that you can
sneak veggies in all sorts of things.
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:Jen: I remember that one.
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:I had it for a while and my husband saw it
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:Stephanie: it and said,
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:Don't do that.
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:If
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:Jen: If you put vegetables
in, just tell me, but don't
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:deceive me and think that I'm
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:Stephanie: eating pasta when
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:Jen: when I'm really just eating
like cauliflower or cucumbers,
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:you I know.
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:Stephanie: It's silly, but one of easy,
go to dinners is scrambled eggs and
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:then just shredded hash browns, like
sauteed in olive oil or smoothie bowls.
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:Jen: yes.
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:Stephanie: These are things
that I have the ingredients on
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:hand for, it's in the freezer.
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:I try to make sure I always have
eggs and in a pinch, If it's just
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:not going to work, I can have
dinner on the table in 15 minutes.
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:And that one works really well for us.
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:Jen: That's great.
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:Yep.
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:Stephanie: Sometimes nachos, which
I had once at your house and, it's
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:gluten free, you just take a bag
of, tortilla chips, put them on a
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:pan, brown some ground beef, put the
seasoning in, and then you scatter
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:that over the nachos, sprinkle cheese.
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:Just bake it for a little bit and then
you can add the toppings, but that
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:one's an easy one that you often have
the ingredients for too, I feel like my
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:perfectionism is the thing that stands
in the way the most of my meal planning.
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:Because I feel like, oh,
it's never good enough.
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:Like here, maybe that fit the
budget and everybody liked it,
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:but it's not the healthiest meal.
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:And just trying to have balance in that.
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:And, you find out new information
all the time of Oh, actually
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:that's not the healthiest thing.
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:Just trying to do the best, but
an absolute crowd favorite at
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:my home is Parmesan chicken.
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:And it's so simple, because I just
take pasta, and then Costco has
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:frozen panko breaded chicken breasts.
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:So I will bake those, and then at
the same time, yeah, doing the pasta,
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:and then also the marinara sauce.
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:And, yeah.
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:At the last couple minutes of the chicken
breast baking, I would just throw some,
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:like a cheese on, some swiss, or some
mozzarella, and then you just cut the
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:chicken breast up, throw them on the
noodles, put broccoli on the side,
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:sprinkle some parmesan, and the marinara
on top, and my family loves that meal.
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:Or a quick stir fry or even a quiche.
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:I found if you know how to make
a quiche, that can be so simple.
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:Again, always trying to have eggs and
then you add some fresh veggies in
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:and you can keep pie crust frozen.
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:So that's when we gravitate towards.
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:Talk about what your breakfast
routine looks like with your kids.
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:Jen: Breakfast tends to
be a battle in our home.
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:I want them to get the protein in,
and so I'm always saying, please
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:have at least an egg or a chicken
sausage or something with protein.
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:My boys love cereal, and I have
tried to dwindle down buying
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:it, but That's just not a
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:hill I'm willing to die on yet.
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:I'm like, that's something that I'm
just gonna deal with later, I think.
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:So I allow them one bowl,
we have like very tiny Ikea
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:bowls,
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:I'm like
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:when
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:they were four.
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:I allow them that one
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:bowl of cereal.
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:And we actually have what
we call Friday cereal.
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:where they're allowed to have sugar cereal
on Fridays and they're allowed one bowl.
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:But the other cereal is very low
sugar, but it is, it's cereal.
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:But I still allow them to have it.
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:And then I just ask them that they
have some type of protein with it.
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:But I often will have sourdough toast
with butter and a couple of eggs
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:and maybe some chicken sausage or
something in it quick ISH type meal.
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:But I try really hard to get
protein in, especially the
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:first, well at, at every meal,
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:Stephanie: Huh, yes, but to
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:Jen: for some reason, breakfast is just, I
don't know, it's just a hard one for them.
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:Stephanie: Sure, if you don't start
out right it's hard to get right
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:on Yeah, I think I shared in that.
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:episode about, being committed to the
word, I had to realize at one point
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:you can give your kids smoothies and
eggs and everything every breakfast
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:or you can have time with the Lord.
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:And I just felt again, that I'm
going to have to give in to the
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:cereal battle for a little while, but
try to make them lower sugar ones.
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:But then maybe instead of.
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:giving a snack at 10 or 1030, I might
scramble some eggs and that's okay.
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:So we're having it then instead and
it just works a little better for us.
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:Jen: a good one.
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:It is interesting though, because
Being a homeschool family we
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:do have the ability to make.
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:Bigger meals.
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:And
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:I said to Eric one time, I
was like, why is our house and
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:our kitchen always the area?
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:Like, why is
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:it always dirty?
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:He's
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:you're eating so many
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:meals at home.
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:that's true.
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:It's breakfast, snacks, lunch,
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:Stephanie: yes.
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:We do eat a lot of oatmeal.
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:And I need to look up the science
again of it, but there's something
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:about sprouting the grain if you soak
it overnight, at least 12 to 24 hours.
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:So you, just like how you would
make normal oatmeal, but you put
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:it in the water overnight and then
that makes it easier to digest.
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:So I will often soak oats and then the
next, morning cook it and add chia seeds
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:and hemp hearts and chocolate chips too.
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:And, yeah, eggs or sourdough toasts.
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:They do like yogurt and
smoothie bowls, I said,
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:Jen: we like the chia pudding where you,
I'll do milkadamia and chia seeds and
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:then some collagen vanilla protein powder
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:Stephanie: Okay.
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:Jen: we let that soak
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:overnight
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:and then in the morning they'll have
that with roasted almonds or dried
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:cherries or cinnamon something on top
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:and that's pretty filling.
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:And good too.
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:So I
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:Stephanie: I heard, I think Josiah
told me you like tapioca pudding.
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:Is that correct?
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:Jen: I do.
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:Yes.
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:Stephanie: I love it too.
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:So I, that made me
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:Jen: think about, that's funny.
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:Stephanie: Some people don't
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:Jen: those
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:Yes, you're right.
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:Stephanie: but I do.
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:Overnight oats too, I
think are a really fun one.
377
:And that one, because you're making
it probably in Mason jars, it's
378
:really easy to say, okay what
are your mix ins going to be?
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:And baked oatmeal.
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:I can link a great recipe
on there that often I'll try
381
:to have a special breakfast.
382
:Like maybe on Saturday night I will
make a special breakfast for Sunday.
383
:But I try to make a double portion so that
we have enough to eat on Sunday and Monday
384
:when we're heading out the door for co op.
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:Jen: that's smart.
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:Stephanie: So baked oatmeal
is a good one for that.
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:Jen: I have a really good
baked French toast that
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:uses
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:all the ends of the bread.
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:My kids don't like the ends.
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:I actually like them.
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:So I will tend to eat them,
but not as many as what we have
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:in
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:the bag.
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:So all the ends that are loosely
in the bag, I will take that out.
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:Put them in the freezer and it and then I
take them and I grind them up and make a
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:baked French toast.
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:It's really good
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:Stephanie: Okay, yum.
400
:Yes, we definitely have to link that.
401
:And this is it might seem silly, but
at one point I had a snack routine.
402
:Because I realized the dinner
question wasn't as stressful
403
:as the, Can I have a snack?
404
:Can I have a snack?
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:Can I have a snack?
406
:Yes, I understand you're hungry, but
I'm wanting them to eat healthy things.
407
:And I have a rule you better
have eaten a fruit or a
408
:vegetable before you even ask me
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:that question.
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:So if I hear the pantry door open, like
often even one of my kids will yell out,
411
:have you had a fruit or vegetable yet?
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:But just assigning okay,
Monday we're going to have.
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:Popcorn and peppers.
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:Tuesday we're gonna have
celery and, and nut butter.
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:And then maybe have pistachios
and carrots another day.
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:Or apples and Swiss cheese,
or just having that assigned.
417
:And then also having one of your children
hey, how about you get that ready?
418
:It doesn't always have to be on us,
but I try to not do as many packaged
419
:things, another easy breakfast one,
which not everyone may love this, but
420
:if you have bananas that are going
bad, you can make paleo pancakes.
421
:So mash up one banana with two eggs
and then, you know, double that.
422
:So if you're doing six
bananas, twelve eggs.
423
:So you just really mash
it up well together.
424
:Butter your skillet or your griddle.
425
:And then you just, take your ladle, pour
on the batter, and then I do add chocolate
426
:chips in ours, but that is a really
satisfying, I mean it's high protein,
427
:it's gluten free, dairy free, and that
is often one that will have bananas going
428
:bad, and I just use them that way, and
then I will make double for the co op too.
429
:Jen: I end up taking my bad bananas
and I peel them and put them in a
430
:baggie and put them in the freezer for
431
:Stephanie: Yes.
432
:Jen: But I
433
:like this idea.
434
:I'm going to try that.
435
:You don't put any flour of any sort?
436
:What about collagen powder?
437
:Stephanie: I haven't tried
that, but that sounds great.
438
:Jen: it
439
:Stephanie: I think you
could do protein powder too.
440
:They are harder to flip.
441
:There's an art to it and they're not
going to be your prettiest pancakes.
442
:Jen: Are they like a
443
:crepe?
444
:Stephanie: Almost.
445
:It's between a pancake and a crepe, yes.
446
:Yeah, they're great.
447
:It's funny, my kids have learned
Lincoln will always say, if I'm
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:making pancakes, and what are in these
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:Jen: are in these
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:Stephanie: Like,
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:What's the trick?
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:Jen: These true
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:pancakes, mom.
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:Stephanie: They order pancakes in the
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:Jen: they're like, she's been
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:Stephanie: lying to me!
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:all my kids like pancakes, but, If
you're going to go for straight,
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:just Non healthy regular pancakes,
lemon ricotta pancakes are the most
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:amazing pancakes I've ever made.
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:We had a bunch of ricotta cheese
from the food show once and I was
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:like, what can I make with this?
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:And they said that in magazines when
they photograph pancakes, they're
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:generally ricotta pancakes because
they make them so light and fluffy.
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:You whip the egg whites, you add ricotta
cheese, which adds so much protein.
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:When my son came up, I was like,
what kind of pancakes are these?
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:What are you putting in?
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:I went through all the ingredients, but
then he said, and some extra protein.
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:And I was being honest.
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:And then after he ate it,
I said, did you like it?
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:He said, yes, I did.
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:And I said, okay, that extra protein
was ricotta cheese, just so you know.
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:And then he was like I
knew there was a catch.
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:Jen: That's, so it's
ricotta not cottage cheese.
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:Interesting.
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:Stephanie: I'm not a big
ricotta fan, but the texture of
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:it, they're light and fluffy.
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:I think because of that extra
protein you don't get that tired.
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:Jen: Yeah.
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:Stephanie: as Nate Bargatze
called it, your loaf of bread
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:with syrup feeling afterwards.
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:Jen: syrup feeling.
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:Stephanie: That was a lot of ideas.
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:Yeah.
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:So, Hopefully that was
inspiring and not overwhelming.
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:Hopefully you saw that sometimes we have.
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:a lot of a plan and sometimes we're
winging it and needing to be flexible.
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:We would just encourage you to
start out with a plan and then
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:you know where you can flex.
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:That's really worked for both of us.
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:If you found.
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:Hope peace or encouragement
through this podcast.
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:Would you share it with a friend,
either share this episode, share
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:the show or go and write a review.
494
:So other moms can find it too.
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:Thanks for listening.
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:We know you're busy, Mama, so
we are truly grateful you joined
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:us for this episode of Again.
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:If you're looking for more information
about building your home on the
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:foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.
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:EntrustedMinistries.
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:com to learn more about our study for
moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.
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:This scripture saturated study
has blessed families around the
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:world, and we want it for you, too.
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:Before you go, I want to pray
this benediction over you
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:from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.
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:We're rooting for you.
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:To this end, we always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of His
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:calling, and may fulfill every resolve
for good and every work of faith by
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:His power, so that the name of our Lord
Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in
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:Him, according to the grace of our God.
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:And the Lord Jesus Christ.
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:Amen.
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:Until we meet again.