Nov. 22, 2023

The Power of Food Prep with Amy Lawrence [Ep. 70]

The Power of Food Prep with Amy Lawrence [Ep. 70]
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Eat Well Live Well

Getting ahead with meal prepping is never a bad idea. But it can often seem overwhelming when you see all those containers of chicken and rice and vegetable–not to mention boring to eat the same leftovers all week long. 

Enter Amy Lawrence and her Gourmet Done Skinny method! You’ll learn her tricks and tips for getting ahead in the kitchen and how utilizing some unique tools, plus your freezer can really help. Her book is actually the title of this podcast: The Power of Food Prep.

I’ve been meal prepping in this way for years as well and didn’t know Amy made it into a whole method so I was delighted to have her on the podcast. 

Some of the products Amy and I discussed:

Souper Cubes

Food Saver (what I have)

Anova vacuum sealer (the one Amy has)

Cookie scoops (for meatballs too)

Meatball Master

(note: these are affiliate links 🙂)


Be sure to listen to my holiday episode for  more help around this time of year

6 Tips to Handle the Holidays [Ep. 15] LISTEN HERE


UPDATE! Free Get UNSTUCK Sessions now available through the end of 2023!

If you haven’t lost your first 5 pounds just by listening to the podcast, you might be stuck. I’ve created this new free session just for you!

Schedule yours  HERE

If you can’t find a session that works for you, send me a quick message on IG or email me with some times that work for you and I’ll see what I can do! 


More from Well with Lisa:

More from Amy Lawrence:

About Amy: 

Amy Lawrence helps listeners save time, money, stress and calories with her Gourmet done Skinny food prep method. She is the CEO of Gourmet Done Skinny. She has combined her talents and love of cooking to produce healthy gourmet recipes for her company and food blog gourmetdoneskinny.com. A former restaurant owner and tea blender, she has been in the food and tea industry officially since 2003 but jokes it has been her “calling” since the day she was born. She has taught cooking classes, written more than 15 books, has produced numerous instructional cooking videos and continues to keep up with her weekly recipe blog and Food Prep for Foodies Membership. Her former tearoom won best small tearoom in the US in 2004. Amy is dedicated to showing others you don’t have to suffer eating boring, bland&

More from Well with Lisa:

Transcript
WEBVTT

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This is the Well live well podcast.

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I'm Lisa Salsbury.

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and This is episode 70, the.power of food prep with Amy Lawrence.

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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.

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I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury.

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I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter.

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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.

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I know we are all busy this time of year.

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So I wanted to get this episode published sooner rather than later.

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I know we've been publishing one interview after another lately, but I thought this conversation was so timely that I wanted to get it out to you.

00:00:48.442 --> 00:00:51.142
Getting ahead on meals has always been important to me.

00:00:51.442 --> 00:00:54.381
In fact, in another life I used to teach freezer meal workshops.

00:00:54.591 --> 00:01:02.871
So when Amy asked if she could come on the podcast and share her method, I was happy to say, yes, We share many of the same methods.

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She has just really dialed it in and has way more ideas for you than I do.

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And she shares several tools that she uses.

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I found all those things actually, and linked them in the show notes for you.

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So if you're dying to use some of those things that she mentioned, you can find them in the show notes.

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Speaking of this busy time, I didn't rerecord my handling the holidays episode from last year, but I wanted to make sure that you knew about it.

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It's episode 15, it's called six tips to handle the holidays and I've linked it in the show notes as well.

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So that is there for you.

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It's still a great episode.

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To really help get you dialed in just a few little tips to, for you to think about during this season.

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Lastly, before we get into this episode, I want to remind you I'm extending my get unstuck session availability through the end of this calendar year.

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I want to make sure you're ready to hit 2024 running.

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So linked to get your session scheduled is again in the show notes.

00:02:00.052 --> 00:02:04.731
I've had a couple of people come just to discuss how to make it through the holidays.

00:02:05.121 --> 00:02:07.072
And that has been super helpful for them.

00:02:07.072 --> 00:02:11.901
But everyone that has done this has been like, wow, I have never thought of it that way.

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I think that's probably the most common comment I get.

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So I can't wait to talk to you and help you also.

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I get unstuck.

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If you're thinking like, well, this really isn't the best time.

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I don't know how I would start something like that at this time of year.

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I want to remind you that.

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Buying waiting.

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Anytime we wait to start something, if we think, well, we'll be less busy than.

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We're just reinforcing the kind of like overeat diet cycle mentality, or just reinforcing the diet mentality of there has to be a good time to do it.

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There has to be less, uh, less busy time.

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There really is no better time than during the holidays to start paying attention to your health and weight loss.

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Because if you can do it, then you can do it any time.

00:03:01.431 --> 00:03:03.562
And there just really is.

00:03:03.651 --> 00:03:06.561
No better time to let your brain know.

00:03:06.591 --> 00:03:13.251
We don't actually have to overindulge in order to have an amazing time with our friends and family.

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Now, just so you know, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try every single thing on the Thanksgiving table tomorrow.

00:03:18.561 --> 00:03:19.941
I absolutely am.

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But there's a difference between overeating every single thing and trying every single thing.

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So anyway, lots to know about the holidays.

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It's really a great time.

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Don't wait.

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As I always say, you can start working on your health and the very next bite.

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It is my very next bite strategy.

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So without further ado, let's get into my conversation with Amy.

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Welcome to the eat well, think well, live well podcast.

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I have Amy Lawrence here who is an author and a blogger, and we are going to talk about something I've never talked about before on the podcast, which is food prep.

00:03:59.236 --> 00:04:09.257
So Obviously, you know, if you've been listening for any length of time, I encourage pre planning your food, just deciding ahead of time with your higher brain, what you're going to eat.

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Usually that's happening the day of you're planning for the day, but there is some value in preparing food well in advance.

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And that's what Amy and I are going to be talking about today.

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So I'm super excited.

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Welcome Amy.

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If you could introduce yourself and tell everybody what you do and how you came to this work, that would be great.

00:04:29.307 --> 00:04:29.947
Thank you.

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Thanks for having me.

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I'm very excited.

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Yes, I'm Amy Lawrence and I have a food blog called Gourmet and Skinny, but I didn't always have that.

00:04:39.326 --> 00:04:41.766
Um, I was in the tea business for a long time.

00:04:41.766 --> 00:04:44.226
I was a special ed teacher, did a bunch of different things.

00:04:44.752 --> 00:04:55.581
Life was going along great in 2014 and I had a Pilates accident actually and tore my vertebral artery and it caused a stroke.

00:04:55.831 --> 00:04:59.432
And so after that I kind of had a wake up call to life.

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I sold my tea business.

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I decided to go to India and see all the different tea fields.

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And when I got back from India, I saw the pictures and oh my gosh, I had gained like 40 pounds and it was all from just, I was just grateful to be alive.

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And so I was just eating whatever the heck I wanted.

00:05:16.694 --> 00:05:22.345
And when I saw those pictures, I'm just like, I mean, I knew I'd gained weight, but oh my God, it was just so depressing.

00:05:23.115 --> 00:05:25.964
And like everybody else, or I don't know, but that's how I feel.

00:05:25.995 --> 00:05:28.615
Um, when you want to lose weight, you, what do you do?

00:05:28.634 --> 00:05:29.615
You join weight watchers.

00:05:29.625 --> 00:05:30.564
So I did that.

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For all the fad diets.

00:05:32.285 --> 00:05:32.634
Yeah.

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Lots of my clients and listeners have done all the diets.

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So yeah, Weight Watchers is right up there.

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exactly.

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And so I did that and I lost 40 pounds and, you know, I was, I was happy, but I was not happy with their recipes.

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and when I had, a tea room, in Northern California for many years.

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And I created my own recipes.

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Of course, those were all like butter, sugar, fat, you know, but I thought.

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If I could create those recipes, I could certainly create healthier recipes.

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And so that's how my blog, Gourmet done Skinny was born.

00:06:03.490 --> 00:06:10.800
And so I was doing that but I was really tired of the whole counting the points and saving your points for the weekend.

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It was all about the food.

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And it was, there was just so much stress wrapped around the food.

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it just drove me crazy.

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And so I knew there had to be a better way.

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So I started digging into, um, more intuitive eating.

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And I found somebody, a coach that I worked with and, um, it was just wonderful.

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I learned a lot of different principles about only eating when you're hungry and all those kinds of great things.

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And, so life was going along great with her.

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And one day she asked me to be a guest speaker in her membership group.

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And she said, do you mind talking about, food prep?

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And I said, yeah, No problem.

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And I hadn't really thought about it.

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I mean, I did a lot of food prep for me, but I just hadn't really thought about it teaching other people until she asked me to teach that class.

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And so I taught the class to her members.

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And oh my gosh, they were so excited.

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They had never, I just thought my techniques were just, you know, normal, whatever, but apparently they weren't.

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And so that got everybody excited.

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It got me excited.

00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.990
So I ended up writing my book, the power of food prep.

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And that's the one that went number one on Amazon international and, U S and then from then at the same time, I decided to, um, to do a food prep membership.

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And so that's how that got born.

00:07:22.829 --> 00:07:26.560
And so I am such a proponent of food prep and.

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The way I do food prep is a little bit different.

00:07:29.911 --> 00:07:39.331
So, I mean, first of all, and this is a really common question that I ask most of my clients is I always start out with the why, why do we, why would we even care about this?

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Why would we bother food prep?

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Why not just make every meal when you're ready to go?

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right.

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Well, it's, it's a great question.

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Food prep saves you time.

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It saves you money.

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It saves you stress and it saves you calories.

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And the thing is we're going to eat and we're going to eat what is available.

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And if we have healthy food available, we're going to more likely eat healthy food than if we have, you know, junky food available.

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And so it's a self care.

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That's how I look at it.

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Doing something nice for yourself.

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So in those things, like, tell me more, like, how does it save you time and money?

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How does it save you calories?

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Even though we don't count calories in my program, calories are still a measure of energy.

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And so it still is something to, to know about because it is a measure of energy.

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right, exactly.

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And I don't count calories anymore either.

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However, so here's a good example.

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When I'm making, and I, and my, my idea of food prep isn't the five black boxes that you see with chicken, rice, and broccoli, and you eat the same thing every day.

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And that's, that's not my idea at all.

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My idea is, you know, making a wonderful meal and preserving it for later or preserving the parts for later.

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And I, I'm a big proponent of using the freezer.

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So an example of how you might, you know, save calories or save, you know, save yourself some time and some headache when I make a batch of cookies, say, I will double a batch of cookies and I will take a little tiny ice cream scoop and I will scoop out all the little cookies.

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I'll flash freeze them, which means you put them on a baking sheet with parchment paper and you just.

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Stick it in the freezer just like that.

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No covering, no nothing.

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Then when they're frozen, then I package them into little packs, about six in a little pack.

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And then whenever we want, you know, say we do want some dessert and we plan for it and we're like, Ooh, that sounds good.

00:09:24.811 --> 00:09:25.301
Okay.

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So then we will thaw out, takes 15 minutes.

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We'll thaw out that little pack of six cookies and I'll toast them up in the toaster oven and everybody gets one but it's a nice little treat that you've kind of planned for and you're don't, it isn't like the cookies are on the counter and every time you go by the counter, you grab a cookie.

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It's all, you know, it's just six little cookies that you made.

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They're fresh, they taste wonderful.

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And then that's it.

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And so the focus is on having a nice little treat whenever you want it, but not overindulging, not making that big batch of cookies and eating the whole batch.

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And so that's, my method is a lot like that.

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I do everything in little portions.

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I freeze things in portions.

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And then that way, when you go to your freezer.

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You might pull out, you know, like, I don't know what I'm having for dinner tonight, but I'll just go to my freezer and maybe I'll pull out some chicken.

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Maybe I'll pull out some caramelized onion, some pesto, and maybe I'll whip it all up and put it in a pasta.

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Maybe I'll put some things over salad.

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It all depends on what I'm in the mood for at the time.

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And so the way my method works is You make things ahead of time, but it's not the big cook day like everybody, you know, like everybody thinks about meal prep.

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I have, I have three different methods that I use, for prepping.

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let's get into that.

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tell us how your method is different and what it looks like to food prep, the way you teach it.

00:10:40.941 --> 00:10:41.341
Sure.

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So there's three different parts.

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There's the big cook day like everybody thinks, you know, the big exhausting where you cook everything you make, you know, all the lasagna or all the enchiladas or whatever you're making.

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And then you, freeze it.

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But it takes all day and that's what most people think of.

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They think of that, you know, it's just exhausting and then there's batch cooking.

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So like, well, I'll do is I'll make a batch of my crustless chipotle egg cups, which are great for breakfast.

00:11:06.716 --> 00:11:08.885
And so I'll make that's what I call a batch.

00:11:08.905 --> 00:11:10.485
So you might make a batch of something.

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And then, for breakfast, I might pull one of those out and then it takes, you know, about 30 to 60 seconds in the microwave or toast it up in the toaster oven.

00:11:19.750 --> 00:11:27.061
there's lots of things I get all excited about food prep, but people always think that you can just reheat things in the microwave and that's the best way.

00:11:27.061 --> 00:11:28.681
And that's not always the best way.

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So there's different ways of reheating things.

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Um, but that might be the batch cooking.

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So I'll make, pull out the chipotle eggs and I'll either.

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Put them in the microwave or toast them up in the toaster oven.

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And then there's also what I call the multiplat method.

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So if you think about it, if you're going to make a batch of say, chili or spaghetti or whatever.

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Like for dinner that night, like I'm going to make spaghetti tonight for dinner.

00:11:50.533 --> 00:11:50.763
Yeah.

00:11:50.763 --> 00:11:51.062
Okay.

00:11:51.062 --> 00:11:51.982
So here's a good example.

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You're going to make spaghetti So you've got to make a list You've got to go the store you've got to make the food you need to do all the dishes and put it all away.

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And so you do that Now, if you think about it, if you would just multiply that by two times, just two times, you save all you, cause you're going to go to the store anyway to get the ingredients.

00:12:10.773 --> 00:12:13.413
So my, why not get double, you're going to cook it.

00:12:13.503 --> 00:12:16.293
It's going to take maybe a little bit more time, but not really much.

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Um, and then, you know, and then you're going to eat it and then you put away the rest.

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Now the portioning takes a little bit of time and the way I portion is way different than other people.

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A lot of people will portion.

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like a casserole, they'll portion the whole casserole.

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I don't do it that way.

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I portion things in one cup increments.

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So like when I make my bolognese sauce, I portion into one cup, increments in a little bag.

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And so then I'll pull out and it depends whoever's here for dinner.

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I mean, we have kids that aren't here half the time, so, um, they visit or whatever, and so I'll pull out, you know, if I know everybody's going to be here, I might pull out two cups of that bolognese, whereas if.

00:12:51.337 --> 00:12:57.538
If not, if it's just me, you know, then I might just pull out one cup and so it all depends on, on what you need.

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And the thing is food doesn't go to waste.

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and when you package it, you know, like you're supposed to, like if you do it in the vacuum seal bags, it keeps all the air from getting out.

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It prevents freezer burn.

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Cause a lot of times people don't like, meals in the freezer because they don't taste good.

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And so if you suck all that air out, you prevent all that freezer burn, then they'll taste great.

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And they last for a long time.

00:13:20.378 --> 00:13:21.357
So, which is great.

00:13:21.508 --> 00:13:23.207
So, you're using a food saver

00:13:23.677 --> 00:13:24.697
Something like a food saver.

00:13:24.697 --> 00:13:24.988
Yeah.

00:13:25.207 --> 00:13:25.418
Yeah.

00:13:25.457 --> 00:13:27.278
I mean, food saver is one of the things you could use.

00:13:27.278 --> 00:13:31.217
I actually use a different one that I like better, but, um, A different brand.

00:13:31.217 --> 00:13:36.857
Yeah, I like a Nova just because it's only three buttons and it's easy and it's cheaper and, and, uh, yeah,

00:13:37.118 --> 00:13:38.217
But any kind of vacuum

00:13:38.418 --> 00:13:44.687
any kind of vacuum seal because when you put something and just say even a Ziploc bag in the freezer, it has freezer burn in less than a week.

00:13:44.738 --> 00:13:45.687
I mean, it's fast.

00:13:46.138 --> 00:13:46.567
And.

00:13:47.212 --> 00:13:47.552
Yeah.

00:13:47.552 --> 00:13:54.753
And the thing is, if you take your time, if you're going to take a little bit of time to prepare your spaghetti, you know, you want it to be the best it's going to be.

00:13:55.043 --> 00:14:01.062
And so if you vacuum seal it away, that spaghetti, I mean, literally it'll, it'll last over a year for sure.

00:14:01.123 --> 00:14:02.893
If you've done it, you know, right.

00:14:03.072 --> 00:14:04.633
If, and didn't allow the air in.

00:14:05.488 --> 00:14:07.947
And just to clarify, I'm sure this is what you're talking about.

00:14:08.118 --> 00:14:13.347
You're not talking about saucing up the spaghetti and putting it all in, in the noodles, you're talking about just the sauce.

00:14:13.403 --> 00:14:14.283
Yeah, exactly.

00:14:14.312 --> 00:14:14.673
Yes.

00:14:14.712 --> 00:14:14.932
Yes.

00:14:15.013 --> 00:14:34.982
Some pasta you can freeze a little bit, but like for spaghetti, I wouldn't, I would, I, so what I would do is I go to my freezer, I'd pull out my spaghetti sauce and then I would saute up some vegetables that night, which I mean, takes literally five or 10 minutes and then make your pasta, which takes, you know, about 11 minutes for the pasta to heat up and cook and then just whip it all together.

00:14:34.982 --> 00:14:37.572
So less than 20 minutes, you've got a meal that's fresh.

00:14:37.913 --> 00:14:42.493
So it sounds like sometimes you do the big cook day then because you said there's three ways.

00:14:42.513 --> 00:14:44.403
So sometimes you do the big cook day.

00:14:44.695 --> 00:14:46.020
Yeah, mostly I don't.

00:14:46.541 --> 00:14:49.311
I mostly do the multiply it method because that works best for me.

00:14:50.191 --> 00:14:56.410
so it's basically multiplying things that you're already going to make for dinner, just make more.

00:14:56.910 --> 00:14:59.010
right, but it all depends too on the part.

00:14:59.030 --> 00:15:18.981
So you might do, um, you know, it depends not everything you can freeze So I will do the batch it method like say I'll make a whole bunch of grilled chicken I'll go to Costco and I'll buy one of those seven pound bags of the boneless skinless chicken And I'll brine it and then I'll put it on the grill and it takes me about an hour and a half to two hours.

00:15:19.032 --> 00:15:20.341
And then I've got it all cooked.

00:15:20.371 --> 00:15:23.802
I'll chop it up and I'll put it in the little, one cup, packages.

00:15:23.831 --> 00:15:33.221
And then whenever we want, like, say pasta with that or salad or wraps or grain bowls or whatever you want to do, you've got chicken already, um, to go.

00:15:33.721 --> 00:15:34.851
So I'll do that as well.

00:15:35.767 --> 00:15:36.067
Nice.

00:15:36.826 --> 00:15:45.491
Sometimes what I do with my meat from Costco is, just kind of one step back from what you're doing, which is I'll cut it up and season it.

00:15:45.631 --> 00:15:47.572
And then freeze it with my food saver.

00:15:47.572 --> 00:15:53.111
So actually like last weekend, I pulled out a flank steak that had, a marinade on it.

00:15:53.111 --> 00:15:54.912
And I was like, okay, just grill this up.

00:15:55.322 --> 00:15:57.461
And I sliced it for fajitas.

00:15:57.861 --> 00:16:11.631
So I do a lot of that where I'm, I don't like to freeze meat in packages that it comes home from the store or from Costco in, because it takes so much longer to thaw out when it's in that like big.

00:16:11.668 --> 00:16:13.368
thick brick kind of of meat.

00:16:13.408 --> 00:16:13.658
So.

00:16:14.347 --> 00:16:15.748
Yeah, I'll slice it up.

00:16:15.748 --> 00:16:17.187
I especially with chicken.

00:16:17.197 --> 00:16:23.807
I a lot of times will, cube it up for stir fry and then put it flat in the bag or I'll pound it flat.

00:16:23.807 --> 00:16:26.148
So it's ready to, put in the skillet.

00:16:26.408 --> 00:16:32.217
So that's kind of like one step back really from doing the whole grilling method.

00:16:32.217 --> 00:16:35.048
And I think that has helped me quite a bit.

00:16:35.087 --> 00:16:39.138
That's one of the things that I do for food prep, but I do like I have.

00:16:43.092 --> 00:16:44.182
I'm going to go to the effort.

00:16:44.212 --> 00:16:45.143
I might as well

00:16:45.148 --> 00:16:47.477
Yeah, no, that's exactly what it is.

00:16:47.738 --> 00:16:50.908
But the thing is too, like it's the, and you already have a food saver.

00:16:50.918 --> 00:16:59.347
So, or food sealer, which is great because a lot of people don't do that step or like they'll make a batch of soup, but then they won't portion it out.

00:16:59.592 --> 00:17:01.793
And so they'll just freeze a whole batch of soup.

00:17:01.793 --> 00:17:03.913
like you said, it takes forever for it to thaw out.

00:17:04.272 --> 00:17:07.972
Whereas if you portion soup into one cup portions, you can go in your freezer.

00:17:07.972 --> 00:17:09.333
I have a box that says soup.

00:17:09.663 --> 00:17:12.073
I've got all these different kinds of soups in my freezer.

00:17:12.313 --> 00:17:14.423
Everybody can pick out which kind they want.

00:17:14.482 --> 00:17:16.113
And then we heat it up and have dinner.

00:17:16.113 --> 00:17:17.063
I mean, it's, and it's quick.

00:17:17.678 --> 00:17:18.127
So,

00:17:18.452 --> 00:17:22.843
So on that kind of thing, I do have to say and maybe it's different.

00:17:23.182 --> 00:17:25.833
By different brands of vacuum sealers.

00:17:26.182 --> 00:17:32.192
How do you successfully vacuum seal something that's very, very liquidy like chicken noodle soup or something?

00:17:32.212 --> 00:17:35.383
I just, I have such a hard time with that.

00:17:35.393 --> 00:17:41.532
So those are the kinds of things I just store in glass Mason jars with just, you know, leave a significant amount of headspace.

00:17:41.563 --> 00:17:44.373
If you're going to do that, because of course it will expand.

00:17:44.863 --> 00:17:47.593
Um, it's a little bit different when you've got it in the plastic.

00:17:47.847 --> 00:17:49.528
Bags with the, the food saver.

00:17:49.528 --> 00:17:53.377
But what's your best method on freezing things that are very liquidy

00:17:53.498 --> 00:17:55.718
there's a trick, obviously with the food sealer.

00:17:55.758 --> 00:18:03.958
I like, I balance it on the counter and then I kind of let the liquid hang down and then you do it that way, but there's been a huge game changer in the last few years.

00:18:04.357 --> 00:18:08.607
And I don't know if you've heard of souper cubes, but they are, oh my gosh.

00:18:08.998 --> 00:18:10.938
Yeah, but I take it one step further.

00:18:10.938 --> 00:18:12.438
So the super cubes

00:18:12.498 --> 00:18:16.107
tell, I I've heard of them, but other listeners may not have.

00:18:16.107 --> 00:18:17.377
So tell us what super cubes

00:18:17.593 --> 00:18:21.762
Yeah, so there are silicone molds and you can actually bake in them as well.

00:18:21.762 --> 00:18:29.403
I don't typically because I like baking in pans, but, um, but you put, so you, you make your soup and then you put it in these silicone molds.

00:18:29.653 --> 00:18:37.363
Like they look like mini, well, they have different sizes, but the ones I like are the one cup for soup, the one, and there's like four and a little mold.

00:18:37.643 --> 00:18:41.262
And so you put the soup in there, you put the lid on and then you freeze it.

00:18:41.782 --> 00:18:42.242
Now.

00:18:42.883 --> 00:18:43.772
That works fine.

00:18:43.772 --> 00:18:47.482
But however, I don't like my super cubes always taken up with whatever's in there.

00:18:47.482 --> 00:18:49.512
I like, because I, I prep all the time.

00:18:49.573 --> 00:18:52.002
I mean, every time I cook, I pretty much save something.

00:18:52.343 --> 00:19:00.583
And so what, what you do with the super cubes is you let it, thaw out for about 15 minutes and then you can pop those little guys out and they're little bricks.

00:19:00.883 --> 00:19:04.343
And then you vacuum seal the little bricks and then they'll last a lot longer.

00:19:04.623 --> 00:19:09.682
So just in the super cubes themselves, I don't feel like they last, they, you know, they still can get freezer burned.

00:19:10.258 --> 00:19:10.647
Right.

00:19:10.827 --> 00:19:13.377
Well, and there, I mean, I've looked at them.

00:19:13.377 --> 00:19:14.538
I actually don't own any of them.

00:19:14.548 --> 00:19:15.718
They're a little bit spendy.

00:19:16.087 --> 00:19:19.327
So if you want to have a lot of them to have enough

00:19:19.423 --> 00:19:19.732
right.

00:19:19.732 --> 00:19:22.232
And you don't need to have a lot of them if you do it my way.

00:19:22.363 --> 00:19:22.722
Yeah.

00:19:22.863 --> 00:19:23.262
Yeah.

00:19:23.272 --> 00:19:29.603
So that's a good idea to just get a small set and then you can pop them out and then they're ready for the next time you make broth or soup.

00:19:29.952 --> 00:19:34.603
Another thing that I do that I think is really applicable for the super cubes, which is why I keep looking at them.

00:19:34.603 --> 00:19:36.173
I need to just pull the trigger and get them.

00:19:36.772 --> 00:19:42.042
Um, but when I get, when I roast a whole chicken or even sometimes I do this with a.

00:19:42.472 --> 00:19:52.212
Rotisserie chicken from Costco is I throw that in my Instant Pot and I make chicken broth or, you know, bone broth is what you're making really when you're using bones and vegetables in their water.

00:19:52.373 --> 00:20:01.950
You can get a recipe anywhere for this, but, I generally in the past, what I do with that as I put it in Mason jars, I just have gobs and gobs of Mason jars from my grandmother and my mom.

00:20:01.950 --> 00:20:05.119
So they're just like coming out my ears sometimes.

00:20:06.265 --> 00:20:13.555
But trying to thaw out a quart of chicken broth when I need a half a cup for the recipe is so annoying.

00:20:14.375 --> 00:20:30.444
And so I'm like, I have got to get some of those super cubes, but that's another way to just kind of get ahead too, is even if you're not making soup that week, if you've got bones, throw those in the instant pot and make some bone broth because that makes the, the best soup.

00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:31.079
Oh, it does.

00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:32.559
And I, I have a couple of those recipes.

00:20:32.569 --> 00:20:37.170
I have a beef bone broth on my website for Instapot and also a chicken one.

00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:48.019
And the great thing about the super cubes for the bone broth too, is And because I, I mean, I do this, so I have a lot of them, but I have the two cup, ones, and I also have the half cup ones.

00:20:48.059 --> 00:20:55.200
And, and so what I'll do is when I make my bone broth, I will freeze them some in two cups, some in one cup, some in half cup.

00:20:55.490 --> 00:21:01.319
And then when a recipe calls for two and a half cups, I can just, you know, I can make it mix and match it forever.

00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:02.039
I need it for.

00:21:02.049 --> 00:21:03.000
Yeah, definitely.

00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:04.269
Yeah.

00:21:04.470 --> 00:21:09.609
so I think there's probably some people out there that are like, Oh my gosh, this sounds like a lot of work.

00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:11.410
Those people must be really organized.

00:21:11.430 --> 00:21:18.829
Like, I mean, I'm not like, I don't have like the full book like Amy does, but a lot of these things I, I highly recommend this is.

00:21:19.125 --> 00:21:22.845
This is the way I food prep as well, which is why I had Amy on, by the way.

00:21:24.375 --> 00:21:26.904
Because it's boring for me to just talk by myself about it.

00:21:27.404 --> 00:21:30.295
So, I think these ideas are so great.

00:21:30.365 --> 00:21:35.105
I think it's just makes your planning for the way we do planning.

00:21:35.634 --> 00:21:43.525
each day, your 24 hour plan so much easier because you can just look in the freezer, see what you've got, see what you can pull out, see what can be fast and easy for that day.

00:21:43.525 --> 00:21:47.795
If you've got a busy day, or maybe you look at your day and you're like today, I have some time.

00:21:47.795 --> 00:21:53.365
So today I'm going to make something from scratch and it's, and it's a doubling day or a tripling day.

00:21:53.694 --> 00:21:57.424
And also, I just want to throw out, this is such a great time of year.

00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:06.289
I hope I get this published before the holidays, because I was just talking to my sister in law and it was the first week in November that she told me this.

00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:08.049
And she was like, well, I'm going to Costco.

00:22:08.049 --> 00:22:09.140
I'm going to do some food prep.

00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:11.000
I've got all the kids coming for Thanksgiving.

00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:13.210
She's got older adult, young adult kids.

00:22:13.210 --> 00:22:15.559
And she's like, everyone's coming for Thanksgiving.

00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:17.720
So, you know, I'm going to get some granola in the freezer.

00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:19.430
I'm going to get this sauce and that.

00:22:19.750 --> 00:22:22.309
And I thought so smart, so smart.

00:22:22.329 --> 00:22:24.640
It's just so handy to get ahead.

00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:25.769
Like you can actually.

00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:29.490
You can make your cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving ahead of time.

00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:34.869
I mean, there's so many things so that on the day of for these kinds of events.

00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:41.849
And like you said, the cookies, if you've got cookie exchanges coming up at Christmas, you can do so much of

00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:43.490
It just makes your life so much

00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:48.259
Yeah, it really does is when you, on a day when you have time is.

00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:52.039
Is the day as opposed to, you know, the day where it's crazy.

00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:52.849
And then you're like, Oh no.

00:22:52.849 --> 00:22:54.029
And I have this party tonight.

00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:59.920
So anyway, it sounds like Amy and I are really organized, but, or

00:23:00.049 --> 00:23:02.130
I'm not, I'm not, let me tell

00:23:02.259 --> 00:23:02.660
Yeah.

00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:05.069
So like, how do you do this?

00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:07.089
If, if you're like, not really a type.

00:23:08.029 --> 00:23:08.240
Yeah.

00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.180
And I am a, I guess I'm a wannabe type A.

00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:16.509
So in my freezer, I have like what I call plastic boxes and it might say soup.

00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:19.170
It might say meat, it might say chicken broth.

00:23:19.220 --> 00:23:29.710
And then, so things are just thrown in there when the box gets low, then I pull out whatever, you know, I, then I decide I need to make some more, but the way my method works is you cook three days a week.

00:23:29.710 --> 00:23:34.950
So, and it depends on what, how you want to do things, but like every Sunday, I clean out my refrigerator.

00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:42.799
And I look to see like what vegetables need to be used up and I might make, you know, spicy roasted vegetables and I'll make those up for the week.

00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.730
And then I look at my week and I see what kind of time I have this week.

00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:48.720
Oh, maybe Tuesday I can make something.

00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.240
So I pick three recipes for the week that I want to make.

00:23:51.829 --> 00:23:57.559
And then on the other days, I just go to my freezer and I just pull out, you know, we have sliders in there.

00:23:57.559 --> 00:23:58.829
We might pull out sliders.

00:23:59.109 --> 00:24:01.140
one little tip that's kind of a nice little tip.

00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:08.089
Like if you ever go to Costco and you buy, like Croissants or their Shabbat bread or any other their good bread.

00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:10.829
most of the time, you know, nobody ever eats all that really.

00:24:10.829 --> 00:24:12.019
I mean, unless you've got a lot of kids.

00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:13.529
And so what I do is.

00:24:14.125 --> 00:24:15.595
Yeah, yeah, because they're so big.

00:24:15.884 --> 00:24:21.454
So I'll just bring home like say the croissants and I'll figure out how many we're going to eat in the next couple days.

00:24:21.505 --> 00:24:26.244
And the rest I will package into two in a, in a bag and I will suck the air out.

00:24:26.244 --> 00:24:27.404
You kind of have to be careful.

00:24:27.404 --> 00:24:31.664
You want to use the pulse setting and not the regular, cause you don't want to, you don't want to deform the bread.

00:24:32.214 --> 00:24:33.835
And then I'll throw those in the freezer.

00:24:33.865 --> 00:24:46.785
And then whenever we need, like, if we have soup and we want a little piece of bread, or like, if I want a little sandwich, I'll pull out one of those croissants, I'll put it in the microwave for about, wrap it in a paper towel for about 20 seconds, then I'll split it.

00:24:46.835 --> 00:24:52.275
And then I'll put it in the toaster oven for about three minutes on broil, about 400 degrees.

00:24:52.674 --> 00:24:57.505
Of course, it's not as great as if you just went to Costco and got it, but it's pretty darn good.

00:24:57.525 --> 00:24:58.585
I mean, it really is.

00:24:58.625 --> 00:24:58.835
And.

00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:03.200
You saved yourself all this money because you're not buying croissants all the time.

00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:09.519
And, you're making it all last And, and I do that with pretty much any bread, any, a nice good artesian bread.

00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:11.440
I'll put like a couple of slices at a time.

00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:16.029
And what I'll do is like, you don't want to put like slices all packed together.

00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:21.769
You want to kind of, layer them a little bit, like two or three, however many you think you might eat, and then freeze it that way.

00:25:22.019 --> 00:25:24.660
And then that way it, it, you know, it thaws out a lot quicker.

00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:28.779
But always use the toaster oven when you're going to do bread to toast it up just a little bit.

00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:29.160
So,

00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.727
Yeah, I make the majority of my, of my bread.

00:25:32.727 --> 00:25:37.752
So one of the things that I do is I usually make five loaves of sandwich bread at a time.

00:25:38.202 --> 00:25:41.192
Just because again, same, same idea here.

00:25:41.212 --> 00:25:45.313
If I'm going to make one loaf of bread, I might as well make five loaves of bread because that's how

00:25:45.403 --> 00:25:45.823
Right.

00:25:45.903 --> 00:25:46.373
have.

00:25:46.373 --> 00:25:50.442
but I only have one child at home that I make sandwiches for for lunch.

00:25:50.472 --> 00:25:54.393
And so I actually slice it all up and I double bag it.

00:25:54.442 --> 00:26:02.623
I don't use the food saver for that only because I, what I do is then each morning when I make her lunch is I pull out two pieces.

00:26:02.952 --> 00:26:09.042
And I make her lunch on literally frozen bread, which is nice because It kind of keeps the lunch.

00:26:09.512 --> 00:26:12.803
cold, you know, for a little bit longer.

00:26:12.803 --> 00:26:16.333
And then it's like, she has fresh bread like every single day.

00:26:16.712 --> 00:26:21.663
So, you know, when you buy bread from the store and it's already sliced, you can freeze that.

00:26:21.673 --> 00:26:24.952
So I've just decided, why don't I just slice it before I freeze it?

00:26:24.952 --> 00:26:27.712
And that has really helped a lot.

00:26:28.410 --> 00:26:28.869
Okay.

00:26:29.028 --> 00:26:33.242
do you have any ways we can get ahead on simple lunches?

00:26:33.282 --> 00:26:38.803
I noticed that for my clients, lunch seems to be the sticking point.

00:26:38.843 --> 00:26:39.883
They don't know what to make.

00:26:39.903 --> 00:26:41.542
And usually it's because.

00:26:42.032 --> 00:26:48.133
Breakfast tends to be easy for my clients, you know, eggs or oatmeal, it feels easier for them.

00:26:48.643 --> 00:26:54.732
Dinner tends to be more planned out because many of my clients tend to be the cook for their families.

00:26:54.732 --> 00:26:56.323
Not always, but they tend to be.

00:26:56.323 --> 00:27:00.583
So that's kind of like, while I'm, I'm gonna be making something for the whole family.

00:27:01.028 --> 00:27:04.557
Whereas lunch tends to be something they're making just for themselves.

00:27:04.897 --> 00:27:09.048
Kids are eating lunch at school or they're needing, you know, they're at work.

00:27:09.067 --> 00:27:12.748
And so they're eating lunch by themselves with meaning without their families.

00:27:13.268 --> 00:27:18.678
And so I find that people get really stuck on what should I eat for lunch?

00:27:20.117 --> 00:27:30.198
well, and the good thing is like with my method, you really don't get stuck because whatever you're making, if you're doubling and you're putting like, I have this drawer that's called, um, the grab and go drawer.

00:27:30.692 --> 00:27:31.942
And it's just one off.

00:27:31.952 --> 00:27:36.512
So like there's one piece of lasagna, one slider, or one, one piece of whatever.

00:27:36.512 --> 00:27:38.282
And those make great little lunches.

00:27:38.653 --> 00:27:42.123
Um, the other thing is grilled chicken makes a great lunch for anything.

00:27:42.123 --> 00:27:47.722
I mean, if you've already got it grilled, and you throw it, you know, throw a salad together, super easy.

00:27:47.972 --> 00:27:52.323
Have, you know, I've got a lot of salad dressings that you make up and it'll last two weeks in the fridge.

00:27:52.512 --> 00:27:54.633
So you're not having to make that up every day.

00:27:55.012 --> 00:27:59.942
the other thing I like to do is like the, the spicy roasted vegetables that I was talking about earlier.

00:28:00.292 --> 00:28:01.113
I have another one.

00:28:01.113 --> 00:28:03.262
It's called, Indian cauliflower medley.

00:28:03.657 --> 00:28:28.883
you make that up and it'll last about four or five days in the fridge, and then you can pull that out and put that with some grilled chicken, put some like green salsa on it, you could do a wrap, you could do a bowl, I mean there's all sorts of different things, so really, you know, with my method it's real easy to just, I mean I just go to the freezer and whatever looks good, I've got this orzo that I made a couple weeks ago for my members and I was, Talking about it and I could pull that out in 30 seconds.

00:28:28.893 --> 00:28:30.343
It'll be hot and ready to go.

00:28:30.522 --> 00:28:32.123
Soups, soups are great.

00:28:32.133 --> 00:28:34.282
You know, have them frozen and just ready to go.

00:28:34.732 --> 00:28:38.482
are you talking about more people that have, that work somewhere else or work from home?

00:28:39.258 --> 00:28:39.807
Oh, both.

00:28:39.837 --> 00:28:42.067
I have clients in both situations, but,

00:28:42.712 --> 00:28:48.212
Cause most of the time they, everybody has a microwave, you know, uh, wherever they are, uh, toaster oven helps though.

00:28:48.212 --> 00:28:50.633
I mean, cause not everything does well with the microwave.

00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:55.960
But anyway, those are just some of my, you know, those are some of my quick, but the thing is, that's so great.

00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.599
And like my son, I mean, he's living at home right now and he takes, he takes whatever he wants to work.

00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:04.710
Like today he took leftover ribs that we had, like, I don't know, last month.

00:29:05.049 --> 00:29:08.160
And we just packaged them in little pieces and, you know, in little bags.

00:29:08.190 --> 00:29:14.329
And he took that and a couple of rolls, he just grabs that and goes, or he'll take little sliders or, you know, whatever.

00:29:14.369 --> 00:29:16.200
But the thing that's great is it.

00:29:16.404 --> 00:29:17.244
It doesn't matter.

00:29:17.244 --> 00:29:24.285
I mean, you can just take whatever dinner recipe you had, because I package everything into one or two, portions.

00:29:24.285 --> 00:29:26.434
And so it's easy to grab whatever you want for this.

00:29:26.525 --> 00:29:26.835
So,

00:29:27.515 --> 00:29:33.545
So, a lot of times when I'm talking to people for the podcast, I think of what my listeners are thinking.

00:29:33.595 --> 00:29:41.015
And I'm wondering if anyone's thinking that feels like a lot of frozen, like what if I don't like frozen food?

00:29:41.244 --> 00:29:42.994
How else can you meal prep?

00:29:43.035 --> 00:29:45.829
Is there any way other ways that you use?

00:29:46.430 --> 00:29:53.230
I mean, I do do a lot in the fridge too, but the thing about frozen is it, you know, you can have great tasting things.

00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:56.640
if you leave it in the fridge, it doesn't, you know, I like things fresh.

00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:00.369
So what I do is I'll make the meat dish and I'll put that in the freezer.

00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:08.079
But then I'll do sauteed veggies, everything, all the veggies, I pretty much do fresh at the time, you know, cause they don't take very much time.

00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:11.859
But this, that is my method, my method, it does have to do with the freezer.

00:30:11.869 --> 00:30:16.099
But I think a lot of people think too, that they just think they're going to stick it in the.

00:30:16.410 --> 00:30:22.720
microwave and that's not, you know, that's one way to reheat, but that's not always the best way there's like little tricks and tips.

00:30:22.730 --> 00:30:32.309
So like, here's an example of just, uh, when, when we order and you could do it with homemade pizza too, but when we order pizza, like the kids will order pizza and stuff.

00:30:32.309 --> 00:30:33.369
And I like pizza hut.

00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:35.160
They don't, they like something else.

00:30:35.869 --> 00:30:38.220
I'll order a pizza and I'll eat one piece.

00:30:38.589 --> 00:30:41.380
And then I'll put the rest in single little packs in the freezer.

00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:44.880
And then when they order pizza again, I'll pull out mine.

00:30:44.890 --> 00:30:46.180
But there's a trick to do it.

00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:48.650
I mean, people just think, Ooh, microwave pizza, yuck.

00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:51.710
Well, if you, if you do it my way, it's not yuck at all.

00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:54.039
So I microwave it for about 20 seconds.

00:30:54.369 --> 00:30:58.500
And then I'll put it in the toaster oven for about three minutes, and it crisp it up.

00:30:58.740 --> 00:31:05.029
And so I think a lot of the hesitation with the frozen food is, they think it's just going to be this yucky, globby mess.

00:31:05.190 --> 00:31:06.829
And it's not.

00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:09.150
I mean, it all depends on how you reheat things.

00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:11.029
The reheating is the key.

00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:11.880
Yeah.

00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:12.400
Yeah.

00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:14.250
Um, okay.

00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:24.000
I make a lot of stir fry type meals, whether they're curries or Asian stir fries, things that have meat and vegetables in them.

00:31:24.289 --> 00:31:26.519
How would you prep that ahead?

00:31:26.529 --> 00:31:36.660
Would you stir fry just the meat and put that aside and then just do the vegetables day of, or what would you suggest for combo meals of that?

00:31:37.730 --> 00:31:42.890
I pretty much do vegetables day of, I'm not a big frozen vegetable person at all.

00:31:42.890 --> 00:31:44.059
I like fresh veggies.

00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:46.000
and stir fries are so quick.

00:31:46.039 --> 00:31:52.641
So to me, I mean, Well, what I might do though, and I have been doing this, there's this great meat at Costco.

00:31:52.641 --> 00:31:56.080
Actually, it's very thinly sliced beef.

00:31:56.540 --> 00:31:58.530
And so I'll, I'll get that.

00:31:58.530 --> 00:32:08.111
And, you know, you get the big thing and I'll package that up and like little tiny packages of maybe one cup and I'll, I'll chop up the meat raw, like we were talking about earlier.

00:32:08.411 --> 00:32:10.201
And then I'll freeze that in the pouches.

00:32:10.230 --> 00:32:13.431
And then when I want to make stir fry, it doesn't take long for that.

00:32:13.580 --> 00:32:14.401
Thought either.

00:32:14.770 --> 00:32:21.441
And I will make a homemade hoisin sauce and sometimes I will freeze that in little tablespoons or my green scallion sauce.

00:32:21.441 --> 00:32:22.820
I'll freeze that in a tablespoons.

00:32:22.840 --> 00:32:26.840
And so then, you know, when I'm ready to do the stir fry, I'll do the vegetables.

00:32:26.840 --> 00:32:32.171
I'll throw in the meat, I'll throw in a tablespoon of the hoisin sauce or the green scallion sauce.

00:32:32.211 --> 00:32:33.000
And there you go.

00:32:33.351 --> 00:32:35.121
And leftover rice actually.

00:32:35.790 --> 00:32:38.971
In my opinion, I usually have 40 minutes, but not everybody does.

00:32:38.971 --> 00:32:44.411
And I do freeze leftover, but I mean, rice is very easy to freeze, so you could totally do that.

00:32:44.471 --> 00:32:50.540
the other great thing too, about the, the super cubes, the two cup ones that they have, if you put in rice.

00:32:51.611 --> 00:32:54.740
Um, and you put in, um, you could put in stir fry.

00:32:54.740 --> 00:32:58.080
I like it better fresh, but you could put in your meat and your vegetables in there.

00:32:58.310 --> 00:33:03.611
The cool thing about the two cup super cup cubes is you can freeze that just like that.

00:33:03.611 --> 00:33:08.681
And it's kind of, and then I put some, you know, you can put some hoisin sauce on it or something and freeze it just like that.

00:33:08.681 --> 00:33:10.010
And then you can just pop that out.

00:33:10.010 --> 00:33:11.911
And that's like a whole bowl ready to go.

00:33:11.921 --> 00:33:13.891
That's that's, that would be a great lunch.

00:33:13.921 --> 00:33:17.080
I mean, that's a time where I might do that just so I have a quick lunch.

00:33:17.145 --> 00:33:19.046
Yeah, yeah, that's a great idea.

00:33:19.635 --> 00:33:23.445
So, just to recap, I think this is just a good point.

00:33:23.465 --> 00:33:34.236
If you if you do like things that are kind of combo meals where they're meat and vegetable altogether, that's where you might want to be prepping just the raw meat, and you're not pre cooking it.

00:33:34.576 --> 00:33:40.711
And honestly, like, you think like, oh, that's not that that Really food prep to just cut up meat ahead.

00:33:40.721 --> 00:33:47.171
It makes a huge difference because then you don't have that Meaty knife and cutting board.

00:33:47.171 --> 00:33:48.871
You're only doing those dishes once.

00:33:48.871 --> 00:33:53.590
Like when I have pre cut up meat, I'm like, that felt like half the meal is already done.

00:33:54.040 --> 00:33:56.040
I know it feels dramatic, but.

00:33:56.411 --> 00:33:57.661
it really does make a difference.

00:33:57.671 --> 00:34:01.540
So I think that's a good, a good note on those kinds of combo meals.

00:34:01.590 --> 00:34:02.780
I just tend to make those a lot.

00:34:02.780 --> 00:34:11.451
I tend to make a lot of skillet meals or, um, just things where it's all kind of tossed in the same skillet with the sauce, but you can always do sauces ahead.

00:34:11.451 --> 00:34:11.630
And

00:34:12.405 --> 00:34:12.846
Right.

00:34:13.601 --> 00:34:13.981
and things

00:34:14.135 --> 00:34:20.326
And you could do that grilled chicken and just throw, you know, cook your little veggies in your wok and then throw in the, the grilled chicken at the last minute.

00:34:20.525 --> 00:34:22.726
And so then that would already be ready to go.

00:34:23.161 --> 00:34:23.780
that's true.

00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:24.360
That's true.

00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:24.701
I never,

00:34:24.726 --> 00:34:28.476
Having, having grilled chicken on hand is like a game changer for a lot of people.

00:34:28.476 --> 00:34:31.186
If you know what to do with it, you know, not just plain grilled chicken,

00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:34.601
Yeah, another thing I love to make ahead.

00:34:34.721 --> 00:34:37.181
I know we're just kind of getting a little random here.

00:34:37.181 --> 00:34:39.601
But, if you are making a batch of meatballs.

00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:40.331
Oh, my goodness.

00:34:40.451 --> 00:34:43.181
I love having meatballs in the freezer.

00:34:43.181 --> 00:34:46.541
And I do the same thing you do with the cookies, which is flash freeze those.

00:34:47.181 --> 00:34:52.740
And so I'll just do them fairly neutral, like well seasoned with salt and pepper.

00:34:52.740 --> 00:34:55.800
And, you know, maybe just a neutral, like parsley, something like that.

00:34:56.271 --> 00:35:01.161
And then they go in teriyaki sauce over rice with sauteed veggies.

00:35:01.161 --> 00:35:02.391
They go in spaghetti.

00:35:02.681 --> 00:35:09.311
They go in with, Suzuki and tomato and cucumber, and they go into PETA for like a little Greek gyro.

00:35:09.710 --> 00:35:12.351
There's so many things you can do with turkey meatballs.

00:35:12.581 --> 00:35:14.010
I like them turkey.

00:35:14.070 --> 00:35:21.501
yeah, totally and vegetarian meatballs but yeah, meatballs are so versatile and you can put them in a wrap, you could put them on a sandwich, you could put them on a pizza.

00:35:21.521 --> 00:35:23.951
I mean, there's so many different things that you could do with meatballs.

00:35:24.411 --> 00:35:24.760
Yeah.

00:35:25.041 --> 00:35:26.751
Have you seen the Meatball Master?

00:35:27.170 --> 00:35:29.090
I have to tell you about it.

00:35:29.311 --> 00:35:30.201
I'm in love with it.

00:35:30.201 --> 00:35:32.280
Oh my gosh it's the best thing since sliced bread.

00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:33.541
It's this meatball thing.

00:35:33.541 --> 00:35:35.900
So you, so you pack it full of whatever you're doing.

00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:39.550
And then you put the top on and it cuts the meatballs.

00:35:39.550 --> 00:35:40.661
You have to push really hard.

00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:45.181
you're supposed to be able to freeze it just like that, but I think it's too hard to get out.

00:35:45.181 --> 00:35:46.701
So I just use it as a cutter.

00:35:46.981 --> 00:35:48.590
And then you've got 32 meatballs.

00:35:48.590 --> 00:35:51.001
And I mean, you literally spent no time making them.

00:35:51.021 --> 00:35:53.260
So it was just, it's just so fantastic.

00:35:53.420 --> 00:35:54.501
the only downside is.

00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:56.880
I don't make my meatballs quite that big.

00:35:56.900 --> 00:35:58.561
So it's a little bit bigger meatball.

00:35:58.570 --> 00:36:03.670
Like maybe I would probably eat one or two versus, you know, three of my tiny ones,

00:36:03.826 --> 00:36:06.545
Yeah, I use a cookie scoop to portion..

00:36:06.596 --> 00:36:10.465
There are, there are a lot of things out there that can help us get ahead.

00:36:10.465 --> 00:36:17.115
I mean, don't fill your kitchen with just gadgets, fill your kitchen with tools that really help you in.

00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:22.570
In the kitchen, but, yeah, having the right tools certainly makes a big difference.

00:36:22.570 --> 00:36:34.481
In fact, that's probably one of my biggest kitchen tips when my clients are starting to cook more from home is get a good quality knife, get a good quality cutting board and one really amazing pan and just start there.

00:36:34.951 --> 00:36:39.851
And, um, so all of these extra little tools are, are extras, but.

00:36:40.811 --> 00:36:41.030
Yeah.

00:36:41.030 --> 00:36:48.001
You don't necessarily need all that, but, uh, but the meatball, I think that is, and the super cubes, those two things are really great for food prep.

00:36:48.001 --> 00:36:48.490
So

00:36:48.735 --> 00:36:49.166
Okay.

00:36:49.755 --> 00:36:50.096
Good.

00:36:50.695 --> 00:36:51.096
All right.

00:36:51.126 --> 00:36:53.106
Any last tips before I let you go?

00:36:53.847 --> 00:36:58.757
Oh, I guess one of my little tips and it, it sounds dumb, but it really is true.

00:36:59.273 --> 00:37:03.663
When you plan your menu and you go shopping, do not shop and cook on the same day.

00:37:03.952 --> 00:37:10.922
You go to Costco, you see avocados, you grab all this stuff, everything looks good, you have all these plans, you're going to make all this stuff.

00:37:11.342 --> 00:37:12.773
And when you get home, what happens?

00:37:12.833 --> 00:37:14.822
No, you order pizza cause you're exhausted.

00:37:15.052 --> 00:37:23.213
So you don't, you go to the freezer, you pull out with my method, you pull out whatever you want, but you don't cook on the same day that you shop because it's just, it's too much.

00:37:23.222 --> 00:37:23.932
It's a lot of work.

00:37:23.932 --> 00:37:26.483
So that's one of my little tips.

00:37:26.503 --> 00:37:27.592
I do sometimes.

00:37:27.702 --> 00:37:29.463
I'm like, okay, go on a Costco.

00:37:29.463 --> 00:37:31.123
I'm going to be a hunter gatherer.

00:37:31.873 --> 00:37:33.932
Like it feels like that much work, right?

00:37:34.358 --> 00:37:34.838
It is.

00:37:34.867 --> 00:37:36.108
You've got to put it in the basket.

00:37:36.108 --> 00:37:37.157
You got to put it in the car.

00:37:37.157 --> 00:37:40.478
You got to put it in the house and, and you have all these grand plans.

00:37:40.478 --> 00:37:40.918
That's the thing.

00:37:40.918 --> 00:37:44.237
I come back, I go to Costco and I think I'm going to make this, this and this.

00:37:44.458 --> 00:37:45.128
And then I get home.

00:37:45.128 --> 00:37:46.117
I'm like, no, I'm not.

00:37:46.128 --> 00:37:46.898
I'm exhausted.

00:37:46.907 --> 00:37:47.188
No.

00:37:48.947 --> 00:37:49.398
So

00:37:49.632 --> 00:37:50.083
All right.

00:37:50.083 --> 00:37:50.373
Yeah.

00:37:50.373 --> 00:37:52.943
Be kind to yourself and look at your calendar.

00:37:52.943 --> 00:37:56.543
See when you have time and, and plan a little extra time.

00:37:56.543 --> 00:38:02.702
But I just love how, how a lot of your method revolves around cooking when you're already cooking.

00:38:02.722 --> 00:38:04.972
I think that's a huge time saver.

00:38:04.983 --> 00:38:09.932
Huge time saver is to think what https: otter.

00:38:10.012 --> 00:38:11.487
ai So valuable.

00:38:11.938 --> 00:38:12.318
Okay.

00:38:12.338 --> 00:38:14.487
Well, thanks again, Amy, for being here.

00:38:14.527 --> 00:38:18.217
where can people find you online or obviously your book is

00:38:18.318 --> 00:38:18.518
you.

00:38:19.643 --> 00:38:35.492
My book's on Amazon, The Power of Food Prep, and I'm Gourmet Done Skinny online as far as my food blog, and then my membership is Food Prep for Foodies, which I'm working on a new, website just for that, but you can find information about that on Gourmet Done Skinny.

00:38:35.777 --> 00:38:36.197
Great.

00:38:36.268 --> 00:38:41.748
Well, we'll put all those links in the show notes, of course, and you have a great day.

00:38:42.242 --> 00:38:42.742
Thank you.

00:38:42.742 --> 00:38:43.063
You too.

00:38:44.494 --> 00:38:48.965
If this episode has helped you in any way, all I ask is for you to share it.

00:38:49.175 --> 00:38:52.655
Share it with one friend or share it on your social media tag me.

00:38:52.985 --> 00:38:54.664
And I'll give you a shout out as well.

00:38:54.994 --> 00:39:03.664
I have been getting a lot of comments lately about how beneficial the free content is that I have been putting out in the world and sharing it can really help someone else.

00:39:03.965 --> 00:39:10.414
You can also leave a five star rating on apple and Spotify and review the show on apple podcasts.

00:39:10.625 --> 00:39:17.135
That also really makes it easier for other people to find it because apple loves that and then they push it out to more people.

00:39:17.135 --> 00:39:19.835
So your review actually helps other women.

00:39:20.224 --> 00:39:25.054
Have a great week and as always, thanks for listening to the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast.
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Amy Lawrence

Author/CEO

Amy Lawrence helps listeners save time, money, stress and calories with her GDS food prep method. She is the CEO of Gourmet Done Skinny. She has combined her talents and love of cooking to produce healthy gourmet recipes for her company and food blog gourmetdoneskinny.com. A former restaurant owner and tea blender, she has been in the food and tea industry officially since 2003 but jokes it has been her “calling” since the day she was born. She has taught cooking classes, written more than 15 books, has produced numerous instructional cooking videos and continues to keep up with her weekly recipe blog and Food Prep for Foodies Membership. Her former tearoom won best small tearoom in the US in 2004. Amy is dedicated to showing others you don’t have to suffer eating boring, bland meals in order to lose weight and be your best self. Her latest book a #1 International Best Seller – The Power of Food Prep shows busy foodies how with minimal planning and prep they can enjoy these healthy, gourmet, home-cooked meals all week long with her Gourmet Done Skinny Meal Method.