Home Cooking Made Easy with Mel Gunnell [Ep. 111]

0:00 This is the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast. I'm Lisa Salsbury and this is episode 111. Home cooking made easy with Mel gunnel. If you follow any home cooking bloggers, you have probably heard of Mel's kitchen cafe. She's definitely an OJ when it comes to the food blogging world. And I was so excited That she accepted my invitation to come on the podcast. I'm passionate about helping you cook more from home and I'll touch on the very real health reasons why that is in the beginning. Mel is going to help us with ideas for getting dinner on the table quickly. Some semi-homemade ideas and what's really worth making from home. And what's better to just get as takeout on occasion. We also agree wholeheartedly on one of my favorite topics, which is planning.

0:42 So listen for how we both make our meal plans specifically for dinner. But we also talk about some favorites for making lunch for yourself. Mel is delightful and it was such a pleasure to put a personality and a face to all of her lovely recipes. Welcome to Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well; the podcast for women who want to lose weight, but are tired of counting and calculating all the food. I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury. I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter. I'll teach you to figure out why you are eating when you aren't hungry, instead of worrying so much about what you are eating.

1:22 Welcome back to the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast. I am more than delighted to have Mel Gunnell here from Mel's Kitchen Cafe on the podcast. So excited that she accepted my invitation. We are going to be talking about cooking from home today. As you know, I've shared this a couple of times before, but according to a few studies and specifically on Harvard Health, People that cook at home have a healthier diet. They consume fewer calories. They're less likely to be obese or have type two diabetes. And even Harvard says a growing body of scientific evidence supports that teaching patients to cook from home is actually an effective medical intervention, which I find absolutely fascinating because It just seems like there's so much food available, like why do we really have to cook from home, but there is a growing body of evidence that says that the benefits of cooking from home are actually like a health, habit.

2:18 it's just, it's beyond just learning to cook low fat. Like eating anything at home is actually going to improve your health markers, which I find super interesting. So, I wanted Mel to come on and help us. She is an accomplished food blogger and I would love for you to introduce yourself. Let us know how you came to that and just a little bit about what you do. Okay. Hi. Thanks for having me, Lisa. so I came into blogging unintentionally about 18 years ago, which is a little bit crazy because that puts me as a very definitive grandma in the blogging world. But, um, I just started a blog back when my kids were really little.

3:01 And to be honest, I just needed to do something other than changing diapers and running around with my little kids, which I loved, but I wanted something else. So anyway, I started my blog. It was very much in intentional to just share recipes with my mom and my sisters who lived far across the country from me. And I took really bad pictures and some of my early recipes were really bad. And I just kind of started that way. So fast forward, you know, through the years, it's just kind of taken a life. On a life of its own. I've gotten more traffic and I remember when I first got my first comment, that wasn't my mom or my sister. And I thought there was some creepy stranger internet person and come to find out that person still follows me to this day.

3:45 So that's kind of fun that they've seen. But anyway, so over the years, obviously blogging has changed in the sense of like how it's done and what we do. But, um, really, I feel like my motives are still the exact same that they were 17 or 18 years ago, which is I have a really strong love of food. And even more than that, I have a really strong love of sharing. Those recipes with the world and hopefully along the way, being able to give like approachable tips about life and how to make food for your family and still keep your sanity. So that's kind of where it started. And then where I am now kind of doing the same thing, just with a larger platform. Yeah. Well, and your photography apparently has gotten better because I think it always looks great.

4:28 Well, thank goodness. I think I would have edged myself out of blogging forever. Had I stuck with the food. From the beginning. So, but I have learned a lot. I've learned a lot about photography. I've learned a ton about technical computer stuff that who knew would even be part of this. So I think sometimes people have this view that. Like I'm dancing and singing around my kitchen, you know, making chocolate chip cookies and dinner for my family every day and taking pictures. And the truth is I'm not, I mean, I do love cooking, but there's a whole flip side to the blog world, which is all of that backend stuff of, you know, optimizing and getting your posts ready and none of that really matters. To most people, except that it's like a whole, it's a whole ball of blogging business.

5:09 But the truth is I wouldn't still be blogging if I didn't really love connecting with my readers and also just really love still putting out recipes that make me so happy. I want to cry. So, well, it's kind of like podcasting too. I love the conversations, but all the tech behind it. right, right. It's a mixed bag. So a lot of my clients want to cook more from home. They see the benefit. They, they hear me talk about it, but they're like, it just doesn't. Like taste is good. It's not as yummy as when I get it from takeout. So if you want to cook more from home, what do you think is the biggest difference in why food tastes different from home?

5:50 Like what are we missing that we could be doing that maybe restaurants or ready made food has? Sure. I mean, I see that as maybe twofold, which is the first part being, what are our expectations of when we're eating out? If it's going through a drive through and grabbing fast food, which we all do, right? That's sometimes like a necessity. Sometimes that food is not going to be able to be replicated at home. I mean, quite honestly, like, it sounds silly, but like, McDonald's french fries. Like I can't make those at home and have them taste as good. Um, so in some ways I think it's that expectation of what are we really trying to replicate at home. But in, in general, if we're saying we just aren't getting that same, just like delicious taste at home, I would say a hundred percent.

6:35 it would be Just seasoning your food correctly. And I think people are afraid to do that. And some of it, um, first of all, make sure the spices in your spice cupboard are not expired. So even me who cooks a lot and works through my spices, um, when spices are expired, they lose their taste. And so that is one thing to keep in mind that could be, but also don't be afraid to season food. I think bland food, it does not matter how much effort went into it. It does not matter the recipe. It doesn't matter how long it took and how. Beautiful. It is. But if food is bland, it's not going to taste good. So I think when food isn't tasting as good at home, I would say, let's address the expectations, but also like, let's season that food really well.

7:16 And along with that, like, choose the right recipe that works for you. I mean, even for me, who I love to cook, I recognize there are some recipes and foods that are not approachable at home. And so even though I want to eat sushi, or I want to eat this, like amazing dish that I have at this really nice restaurant, uh, it's not going to taste the same at home because I don't probably have the same ingredients, access to the expensive ingredients, whatever, you know, whatever it is. And so I think sometimes we have to say there are foods I'm always going to enjoy better when I eat out. And then there's a lot of really approachable, delicious foods. And I think maybe stop comparing the two, like getting rid of that expectation that it has to taste the same might be different.

8:00 So the other thing I think is I think for people that have eaten out a lot, our taste buds have to acclimate. To home cooked food a little bit. It is a little bit of a different taste. It's like a down home taste. And so letting yourself like being patient with yourself as you adjust to that different style of food and taste. I think it's just a process, but I think it's totally doable. Yeah, on the on the seasoning note, um, one of my favorite cooking technique books is the salt, fat, acid, heat. Great book. Yeah, it's a great book. And so when she talks about seasoning, It's not just the spices. It's not just the garlic and the paprika and the chili powder and those kinds of things, but it's really the salt and that you have to salt your food as it's cooking and that no amount of salt added at the table is going to make up for not properly seasoning with salt during the cooking process.

8:56 And I just, That was really amazing to me, the way that she described that and just salting the water for grains and pastas and pre salting meats to really like get that seasoning in there. So I think that, that too, along with like the flavory kind of Yeah, absolutely. just the Salt is, I mean, salt will work wonders enough and that's salt. You know, I know people want to be careful of like sodium intake and things like that, but I don't think we're talking an excessive amount of salt here. I think we're talking about a really good amount to bring out the flavor. So I think what it's an excellent point to bring up. I totally agree with that. And the sodium content of salting at home is nothing compared to, um, packaged foods, restaurant foods, and, you know, a bag of chips, like, that's really where you, you're going to be concerned with sodium content.

9:48 Salting your chicken is not the problem when we're talking about sodium. Yeah. Um, good. So, What do you find then that you like better? Homemade. So obviously we're like not trying to duplicate McDonald's french fries. 'cause if you want that, like just go get them. That's Just go, go get them. Yeah. Also they're a dollar, right? So go Yeah. It's not worth the effort. So like what do you love? Homemade. I will say like, I think my pasta, like my, just like basic spaghetti is like way better than Olive Garden or like any kind of just like kind of chain Italian restaurant. I'm like.

10:28 It's not even close. My kids are like, let's never go to Italian because we would rather just eat your spaghetti. right. do you, what do you think is better homemade than getting from a restaurant? I mean, this is subjective, right? Because it's kind of boiled down to my taste buds, but I would agree with you like same in our family, the Alfredo or spaghetti I make, it's hilarious to me. I make spaghetti a lot. And every single time, My husband, when he eats is like, Oh my gosh, your spaghetti is the best. And I'm like, we have this all the time. Like I just, it's, it's adorable. I'm so grateful. He's still raving about it, but basically that's like, if we were at a restaurant, I don't think anyone in my family would order spaghetti.

11:10 Um, there's a couple other things. Some of them are like desserts. Like I, I don't order creme brulee anywhere because it is so easy to make at home and it is, you know, world's better. So that's something that I feel like at home, um, I would make the other thing for me that is really satisfying to make at home is just homemade bread, like breads, like breadsticks, homemade breadsticks or something. And a lot of those recipes. aren't really all that difficult. They don't take all day to make. And so for me, I find that's another thing that unless it's like a really high end restaurant or high end bakery, which I live in a small town, I don't, I don't have access to those things. Homemade bread is another one that I really like to make at home. And then the final one I would say is this sounds really silly because it's so simplistic, but.

11:54 Yeah. I think when people can get a handle on taking over cooking meat and grilling, it really opens up this life changing aspect that you can eat pretty healthy at home, you know, high protein lean meats, but also really delicious. And it's so simple. So we grill a lot of meats. We smoke a lot of meats and that's kind of opened up. A way for me to be like, I don't think I would, I don't think I'd get this at a restaurant. Like I can make it at home and it's usually so much cheaper to do that. So those are a few things that come to mind. Even if you're buying really high quality meat, which that is one thing I would love for people to buy as high quality meat as you can afford because it does end up It does make a difference.

12:40 easier. Yeah, you can kind of mess it up and it's not messed up, you know, but if like you, if you mess up really cheap chicken, it's never, you're never going to not, you're never going to ever want to make chicken again. So yeah. okay. If we're like trying to, trying to cook from home, but It's sounding overwhelming. What are some of your favorite, shortcuts that maybe you can kind of combine with, things you buy at the store and things you homemake? Like, I don't know if she's still on the Food Network, but one of those original Food Networks girls was, like, semi homemade, I don't Oh, I totally remember Sandra Lee. Oh yeah. Yeah. remember. And, like, half her stuff was using, like, a can of soup, which I'm like, eh, no, not so much hate too.

13:26 And I was like really like, it was such a brilliant. It's such a brilliant way to view things. So I really feel like if people are overwhelmed with cooking at home, this, this diverges just a little bit from your question, but I would say the very first thing to do is to just sit down and plan a menu. I think, I think one of the biggest reasons it's overwhelming to a lot of people is What on earth do I even cook? And, and most of us are cooking, even if it's for ourselves, we have schedules, right? We have a work schedule and we have busy lives. And so when five o'clock rolls around is not the time. I mean, all of us are going to jump to something quick and easy and fast food or whatever in those moments.

14:08 So, Planning a menu, I think is huge. It takes the guesswork out of what to eat. And, and I don't think it has to be like Monday meeting this Tuesday meeting this, but I really encourage people to say, look at your week and just plan even three to four meals, get the groceries for them. And then on that day, say, Oh, this meal slides into this day really well. So that you don't get to Tuesday and you're like, I actually don't have time or I'm not in the mood for, you know, chicken Alfredo or whatever it is. So I think planning a menu is really important, Sorry, let me, let me just interject here. That's exactly how I plan, by the way. And I love yeah, plan a grouping of meals, and then when it comes to the day, you pick, okay, so today this meal will fit best with my schedule. I love that way of planning. It's like, I call it like the fluid menu planning, where I think sometimes too rigid of menu planning is actually a curse and can turn people off to wanting to cook from home or even menu planning in the first place.

15:00 But I do the same. I have these meals as if I have the ingredients. The other thing is, I, I would say don't over menu plan, don't plan seven meals in a week. Um, generally not many of us are. Cooking maybe seven homemade meals in a week, but you can include a leftover night, you know, pulling out the leftovers or, you know, something, something easy, but to your original question about how to help it not be overwhelming, I think starting really simply. So some of those like. I think what we have to say is we don't have to make every single thing from scratch, right? So if we decide that dinner needs to be like, let's say, you know, barbecue pulled pork sandwiches by the buns.

15:40 You know what I mean? We're not, we're not having to like make homemade buns or homemade barbecue sauce. I think some of it is Especially if you're starting out is to start out into that slowly. And then if it becomes something that you want to do, or it becomes a hobby where you want to learn to bake the bread, bake the bread, but otherwise there's so many things I would say in any given meal, there's things that you're going to be able to do to. Like for lack of a better term, cut corners a little bit to make it a little bit more doable. So some of that is, um, one of my favorite hacks right now that's saving me is, um, Costco and I've seen him at Walmart and Albertson sells those microwavable rice packets and rice is not that hard to cook, but being able to pull out that microwavable rice packet and know that I'm just going to focus on the main component of dinner and we're just going to microwave the rice.

16:29 Means we're still going to get a meal. Do you know what I mean? But it doesn't, it doesn't have to be every component. The other thing I would say, is not every weeknight meal or even a week weekend meal needs to have a million side dishes. So my favorite thing to do is what's in season. So we just chop up fresh fruit. I mean, very often like our side dishes, like fresh fruit and vegetables and, and then like a main dish. And so I think taking out this, this. Maybe expectation that every meal needs to have so many different components. A well rounded meal doesn't have to include five different homemade recipes, if that makes sense. I think we can include just fresh cut up vegetables with branch.

17:11 If you want, you know, some dipping something in there and then taking a look at each recipe and saying, what of this can I buy and what of it can I, can I make and kind of go from there? Yeah. When you said, you know, Costco has them. I thought you were going to say all the pre prepped meats. I, I've been doing more pre prepped meats from Costco, like their carnitas. Cause like that, it's just shredded pork. It's called carnitas, Yeah. just shredded pork and I've used it for barbecue sandwiches and Hawaiian bowls and just lots of different things. Obviously the rotisserie chicken is. It's a staple. a it's a staple. Yes. And that's true.

17:51 I know not everyone may have access to Costco, but places like Costco or even there's a lot of ready made type ingredients, even at your kind of regular grocery store in like smaller packages. Costco doesn't more in bulk. I think those are fantastic ways. Um, Costco has like a Panera Mac and cheese that often like we serve, you know, That I'll get that and we serve it alongside, you know, whatever else we're eating, you know, a grilled meat or something. So I think incorporating both is a very sensible way to approach cooking at home. Yeah. And then too, like you're kind of easing in if you're like really trying to transition from going out most nights a week, then you're like, well, if I get Panera mac and cheese, it's not the same as going to Panera.

18:34 But if you're putting it with your own homemade grilled meats, like it's a nice ease in, into making things from home. That being said, one thing I love to make from home is salad dressings, because I think the flavor of like a really good olive oil makes a salad dressing. And that's really hard to find, because when you refrigerate a salad dressing with good olive oil, it becomes solid. And so it's not easy to sell because then it's not fluid coming out of the refrigerator. So I think that's like my one thing that I'm like, but if you're going to make something, Make it be the salad dressing. Yeah. No, what's yours on disagree with that. I, I like that salad dressing.

19:16 The other thing I found with salad dressings, which it's, it's, it's Really good olive oil and a really good balsamic vinegar. You can just whisk a couple tablespoons of that every time you want salad. Cause you don't need much else besides a sprinkle of salt and pepper. So I do think starting with really good base ingredients when it's, there's not many ingredients in there, like salad dressing and you're not cooking it is a really good tip for having things taste good, someone told me one time balsamic vinegar, um, to always look and make sure that the first ingredient is grape must. And if not, then like, it's going to not taste as good, you know? So things like that, I think like it's, it's not that, that bottle will last you forever too.

19:58 It's just worth maybe that extra good quality. So you asked me a question there. What were you? Oh, just what's your favorite thing that most people buy? Cause I feel, feel like most people buy salad dressing, you know? So that's kind of like an uncommon one. Yeah, I, I would say with that, probably barbecue sauce, which sounds silly. Cause I think earlier in this, I said, go buy the barbecue sauce, which I think you shouldn't just go by the barbecue sauce, but I have a recipe for barbecue sauce, which is so good that, if I'm out, I obviously buy it and everyone can tell, you know, they're like, wait, where's the homemade stuff that lasts forever in the fridge. So barbecue sauce is kind of one of those things that I probably go out of my way to make.

20:38 Because I think it tastes well, it's hard for me to when I turn over the barbecue sauce and the first three ingredients are sugar. I'm like, uh, I surely could do this better. I know, right? Right. I mean, I think there's some things not worth making at home, like mustard, no. Ketchup, probably not. You know, things that I just The other thing that I have dabbled in every once in a while, I don't do this consistently, but homemade mayonnaise is, like it is, tastes better. So it's almost like you've never had, I was like, this cannot be the same thing that's in that jar of mayonnaise I buy from the store. I don't do it all the time, but that's another one that I think is kind of more of a fun thing to make at home. okay, I make a lot of things homemade.

21:20 more than I think anybody needs to like how you said, like, go buy the barbecue sauce. It's fine. But because cooking is, you know, I mean, I'm not a food blogger, but it definitely is a hobby for me. I also like make all my own breads and I started making my own mayonnaise a few years back and now like, I cannot buy mayonnaise. It's so different. I mean, it's like luxurious. It's so delicious. And then good. It's so choose exactly what kind of oil. So I usually use a really light olive oil and a combination of a really light olive oil and avocado oil. And yeah, it's really, really, good. Oh, I bet that's amazing. I bet that's so good. Okay. That was a sidetrack, but if you want to know how to make something like there's a recipe out there, which is nice because Yeah, there You know, if you're out of something, if you're like, Oh, I'm, I'm out of mayonnaise.

22:07 And I really wanted to make this, um, you know, tuna melt for dinner and you actually can make it. And if you have a stick blender, it literally takes five minutes. So, um, Look for those kind of recipes. I think there's a lot of times where I just think why, why did I make this dinner? It's just, I should have just grabbed takeout. It's taking me so long. But then there's other times where I'm like, wow, I got this on the table and there's no way even like Uber Eats could have gotten here faster than what I got this meal on the table. What is your favorite thing that is just so fast that you're like, Oh, I can make this like with my eyes closed? Yeah, I just made one of those meals last night, actually.

22:47 And I would say most stir fries are like that for us because if I have the chicken thawed or fresh or whatever, but last night I just, um, it's the meal we always turn to, and it's just like an egg roll in a bowl type meal, and you literally like cook the ground turkey, you put in some minor seasonings like soy sauce, you know, some kind of more Asian style ingredients, and then you throw in some cabbage and carrots on top and let it steam, and it is like such a crowd favorite for my family. And I think, I mean, I've never officially timed it, but it has to be a 20 minute or less type of meal. And I feel like it's, it's one of those meals that I feel good about my family eating and has a ton, ton of flavor. And it's really fast. And really that one, I don't have to plan too far ahead.

23:28 If I, even if I had like ground turkey or ground chicken in the freezer, you can thaw that pretty quickly. So there's meals like that, that are really, yeah. Kind of a lifesaver for me. And the other one is we have a homemade Alfredo sauce, which is, so quick and easy, and that's another one that every time I make it, I'm like, there's not really an Alfredo sauce I've had at a restaurant that can beat this. And it's, I was able to make it in 15 minutes. So I would say those are kind of maybe like the two things that we make a lot other than, you know, You know what we talked about before. I do have some Costco favorites, like their lentils and rice we eat, but, you know, homemade, those are kind of the meals that I did every time. And it's not fancy. We usually sit up at our kitchen. We have like a dining room table, but we also have like this kitchen bar Island thing.

24:12 And. It's like I'm throwing it out there. We're sitting up there. It's not fancy. It's not plated fancy. It's not like we have this elaborate, family dinner, but it's so delicious. And, and it feels really good to make something so delicious when it's so fast. I mean, there's other things I feel like a rock star when I make, and they've taken like all day and it's amazing. And it's like this great meal. But I'm equally as satisfied when dinner's on the table really quickly. And like you said, faster than you could get it dropped off. I mean, I, I don't get anything dropped off in my neck of the woods, but faster than I could go pick something up and, and everyone's raving about it. You know what I mean? So that feels, that feels pretty Is that Alfredo recipe on your website or is it in your book?

24:54 Yeah, it's in both places. Yeah. It's just the, so I don't know, garlic Alfredo sauce. It's really good. And it's, it's, it's a little bit. I'm not a health food blogger. And I have to be like, I'm always saying that because I get a lot of people that are like, um, anyway, a lot of hate mail when I post cupcakes or when I don't post cupcakes either, either side of it. But that the, uh, the reason I love that Alfredo a little bit is it's a little bit lightened up. So that was my caveat. I didn't try to make it lightened up, but it doesn't have any heavy cream in it. It's. It's just kind of like a cream cheese milk garlic based and it's just, it's really yummy. My, it's definitely my kids. I would say if they had to pick a favorite recipe out of the 17 years I've been blogging, I would say four fifths of them would choose that one.

25:36 Oh, wow. Yeah. It's very popular. Well, my clients know all foods can fit. We don't have to, I mean, even, even Alfredo put some chicken on there, put a broccoli on the side. Yeah, it's perfect. So I think one of the bigger challenges for, um, us, uh, A lot. Well, not a lot of my clients, but some of them have been stay at home moms. And then the other ones that work are still needing to like prepare a lunch for themselves. And it's that lunch time where it's different than the family time. So for the women and for my clients that are in charge of making dinner for their families, generally everyone's eaten the same thing. Right.

26:17 But then when it comes to lunch, And breakfast. But for some reason, my clients don't struggle with breakfast. It's the lunch. They're like, I don't know what to make. I don't want the peanut butter and jelly or the chicken nuggets or the corn dog that I make for the kids. But I don't want to like cook a meal from scratch for just, for just me. Obviously my go to is leftovers, but lately my daughter works evenings. And so I package up the leftovers. on Wednesday night, and she takes it to work Thursday night. And so I'm like, all of a sudden, I have no leftovers. And so lunch just seems to be a challenge. What what's some of your go tos for lunch for just yourself?

26:59 So I am really mentally allergic to cooking lunch, like making a recipe for lunch. I feel like maybe I've gotten burned out, not burned out because I do love to cook, but you know, just like, I know that I'm going to be cooking for dinner. And I do try to cook breakfast for my kids on school morning. So I just, that's that middle of the day where I'm like, I am not cooking anything, but I also like, I want to eat something yummy. So it's like that hard balance of, of wanting it. So I'm like you, I sometimes rely on leftovers or I hide the leftovers deep in the back of the fridge so that I have access to them. Um, but on days that I don't, there's a couple of things that I. Always keep the ingredients on a hand for so I have this little like, I don't know what I would even call it, like a tuna sushi bowl, I guess, where I just use the packets of tuna, you know, like the lemon pepper, whatever packets I put one of them in there and then I usually like chop up a cucumber and some cherry tomatoes, put some cottage cheese in there and then I get the little nori, um, seaweed, I'm Things and crumble them over the top.

27:59 So I mean, that's like, maybe not everyone's food style, but like I eat that a lot for lunch, or then I'll dip crackers into it. there's also, probably one of the oldest recipes on my website. It's this tuna and white bean salad. I think it's called, but you literally just dump like again, tuna and white beans and some seasonings. And it's so fast. So I guess technically it is a recipe, but I'll sometimes just whip that up on a Monday. And then, you know, have it several days through the lunch. And that's kind of my thing. If, if I am going to make anything that's specifically for lunch. I'll make like several portions of it so that I can put it in the fridge and eat it for several days. I don't, I don't necessarily mind eating the same thing for lunch a couple days in a row.

28:40 I know some other people get fatigued about eating the same thing. Um, so that's something that I'll do. And the other thing is I think we can like redefine sandwiches. So I also don't really want to like make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but sometimes I'll grab like a tortilla or a wrap and I'll like wrap up meat and cheese. And whatever I want in there in the tortilla. And I mean, it's just different, right? It's not, it's not something quite as boring as, you know, a sandwich or things like that. So I don't know. I try to think outside the box, but then I also am like kind of a lazy lunch eater. I don't want to put a whole lot of effort in for lunch. my favorite lazy lunch is a bag salad and whatever leftover protein I have.

29:21 Yeah. That's a great idea. Yeah. Because I find like, I actually made salads last night. It was just my younger daughter, my 16 year old and I for dinner. and I had been to Costco, so I had a rotisserie chicken. So I just, we just made salads and just whatever vegetables we had. Luckily I had some tomatoes from the garden and my favorite thing on a salad is actually fresh basil. So we did that with, with some registry chicken. So that's fine. But like, Thinking about doing that for lunch is like, no, I'm absolutely not going to be getting out that many ingredients. Like I, for some reason, like you said, mentally allergic. So I love having a couple of bag salads on hand for lunch because then I don't have to do any Yeah, no, I agree with that.

30:07 The other thing that I love, I love like meat and cheese, like charcuterie things, which is just a fancy name for like growing meat, cheese and crackers together. And sometimes that's what I'll eat for lunch. Like I, I tend to keep that kind of stuff on hand. So even getting like the, pre sliced squares of cheese. You can get so many different varieties, even at a regular grocery store, like Havarti and Swiss and all of these, I'll just keep them in the fridge. They last for a long time. And so sometimes like for lunch, I'll just pull that out and then I'll grab like some cherry tomatoes from the garden or the fridge or whatever, and just throw that on there, like I would, I call that like more of like my snacky lunch, and I actually really love it. It's like when I'm wearing more favorite ones where it doesn't have to be like an actual, it doesn't feel like an actual meal, but it's pretty filling. The protein in crackers.

30:47 So I do that a lot, too. I'm not like a huge fan of crackers, so I'll do that, but I'll just toast up some sourdough bread and have that with it. Yeah. In the winter, I don't love salads as much because, like you said, eat for the seasons. And so, Sometimes I will just pull all the vegetables in the fridge and do like a veggie and bean soup, and then Oh, that's a great several days in a row in the winter, because I, I kind of call it like, it's like salad in the winter, because it's all the same vegetables except for the lettuce, you know? Yeah. That's true. That's true. I like that. I find in the winter, I tend to like want to eat something maybe a little warmer for lunch.

31:28 I eat a lot of like, I'll, it's like kind of more breakfast food, but I'll fry up a couple eggs and then just saute some vegetables in the same skillet, you know, with the eggs and, and do that for lunch. So I think, I think it's a little bit of like thinking outside of the box. So I think we think of these foods as like traditional. Foods that fit in another box. Maybe it's the breakfast box or the snack box. But I think actually like lunch can be so many different things. You know, we can eat a lot of different varieties of food and it's okay. Like lunch is for everything. Yeah. I definitely, I think lunch is my favorite time for fruit too. I eat a lot of fruit at lunch, so. Yeah. all right. So, any last tips, like, Getting dinner on the table as a busy, I, I know you kind of probably consider yourself a stay at home mom.

32:12 Cause you work from home us like work from home. Moms are like, I don't know. I stay at home, but like really we're working. It's kind of a weird, it's a weird balance. Yeah. a weird balance. So my kids actually laugh at me because. I started, I put a recurring event on my calendar called dinner every day because sometimes I forget to stop working and I'm like, look at my calendar. I'm like, oh yeah, I got to stop working and make dinner because that is my job. Like I do consider it part of like my, my job. It's like my agreed upon, you know, thing. It doesn't bother me that I'm the cook, you know So, but sometimes like it is hard when you're busy, when you're working.

32:53 And especially for those that like. Skate in they're like, okay, I got, I got to get this done really quick. So any last minute tips on how to get dinner on a table? Well, first of all, I have a lot of respect for whoever it is that's cooking at home. That's also working full time out of the house because I think that is a special challenge that can be really hard. And then I also have to say like, you are so much of a, Nicer person than me because I actually daily get annoyed that everyone around you, it feels like they have to eat dinner. I'm like, really like every night of your life. Like that's like, anyway, I, I'm a big delegator. I sometimes I say to my kids, like, I think you're the one that needs to throw something together and they like panic.

33:34 And I'm like, that's the feeling, right. Of like, when we don't have something ready for dinner, what happens? Well, mom always figures it out. So maybe. Maybe try your hand at that. But anyway, um, but I would say in terms of last tips, I would just I would be realistic about your schedule and then use the tools available to you. So I think like for people that are out of the home, a slow cooker is such, you just cannot beat a slow cooker. There are so many meals that you literally can throw in. Most of the components and let it cook all day and you have dinner. So using the tools at your disposal, if you have quite a bit of time at one o'clock in the afternoon, but you know, you're not going to have a lot of time at five 30 or whenever you need to eat, um, finding meals that you can prep ahead or that can easily just be warmed up, or if you're have soccer practices that can be on the go type meals can be wrapped in foil or, you know, put on a paper plate.

34:29 So I think my, my biggest thing is I've heard from so many readers over the years of. How do you just Find a love for cooking or how do you just continue cooking day after day and for a family and not kind of go crazy. And I just, I really think for me, the biggest tip is figure out what works for you and your schedule. It's going to look so different than how your neighbor's doing it next door or your friends or how people are doing it on social media. Each schedule is so individual, but there's so many tools that can help us. There's instant pots that can make things really quickly. There's slow cookers that can go all day. Um, planning and menu and getting those meals really written down and dialed in. And the other thing is, I think, depending on your family structure, like, don't be afraid to delegate and say, this is one of my family members that's home at 3.

35:16 30 in the afternoon. Can you, you know, chop this up and have it in the fridge? I think, I think preparation and a plan is absolutely the key to making it work. And then, The other thing is just being patient with the execution. Sometimes meals just don't come out the way we want them to, or um, our family doesn't like them. I mean, I still have kids that gag on dinner sometimes, and I think giving ourselves some grace to say, not every meal is going to be like a 10 out of 10, but it's the effort. And I think, honestly, I really feel this, It's the love. And I think the care that goes into it, that means the most for who we're preparing it for, whether that's for ourselves or for other people. Yeah, I love family dinner.

35:57 Like I love to just sit around and, and feel, feel that like, Hey, we came together for just these few minutes. And I only have one left at home right now. Well, I have two, but one's like works nights and kind of is out of the house. Um, so just one that's consistent, you know, and. We still do it. We It's special. Yeah. The nights that you can make it happen. Yeah, for sure. I would say I want to read it for, for my last tip, I will, I would want to reiterate something that you said earlier, which is the plan, like, I hate walking into the kitchen at five 45 and being like, Oh yeah, I'm the mom. I'm the one that this is our job. That is so frustrating when I don't know what.

36:38 I'm making so, actually last week when it was time to meal plan, I was sitting on the couch and my two girls that are home. I know I just said that she's not home, but she's kind of home. Just kind of come half halfway home. She's halfway. So I gave them each a cookbook. One of them was yours. And I was like, Pick some stuff out. And they were like, this is the best way we've ever meal plan. Cause I'm I love needs to think of two things they want this week. And they can't think of it off the top of their head, but I gave them a cookbook and they start thumbing through and they're like, Oh, I want this. Or, Oh, this reminds me of this other thing that you make make that. And so that was a really fun. So even if they're not going to be around for the actual cooking portion, Yeah.

37:22 Getting some help on the plans. And that has really helped me a lot because it's also that mental load of making the decisions. And so offloading some of that has, has, really helped me lately. for sure. I like that. All right. So thank you again so much, Mel. I'm going to let you go. Let us know, um, a little bit more about where people can find you online and where they can get your cookbook. I know I have my copy. It's so beautiful. Yeah, thank you. I am really easy to find. I'm just Mel's Kitchen Cafe everywhere on Instagram online. just all of those places. And then if you go to my website, there's a link. To buy the cookbook, which the response has been so fun.

38:05 So thank you for having one and letting your daughter look through it. I love that. So I actually have found that my kids are wanting to cook more simply because I have a cookbook. I find them like rifling through and saying, I want to make this. And I'm like, you know, that. Like I've had recipes online for 17 years. We haven't found this level of interest yet, but for whatever reason, that's been, so it's been fun for them too. I just think having a hard copy, I don't know, like you said, having a hard copy there to actually look at. So anyway, those are all the places you can find me. Good. Okay. Well, we'll put all those links in the show notes as well. Thank you again. Oh, and by the way, if you follow her on Instagram, you get to see cute pig videos too, because she kind of lives on a farm. I do have some weird farm animals that occasionally I share.

38:47 I don't even ask their permission first. I just put them up on Instagram. They don't even care. I'm sure they get All the love. Yeah, our recordings. Cutoff in a weird place there, but many thanks again to Mel of Mel's kitchen cafe for all of her expertise and sharing with us today. If this episode has helped you in any way, could you do me a favor and just share it, take a screenshot of the episode you're listening to and post it to your stories and for sure. Tag me and Mel, you can also just send it to a friend. If you're looking for that extra bit of personalized help with your weight loss and maybe your food planning, be sure to schedule your free coaching call with me and see how much you can benefit link for that is in the show notes. Have a great week and as always, thanks for listening to the eat.

39:30 Well think. Well live well podcast.