#72: How Meal Planning Can Evolve with Former Co-host, Riley

Special guest and former Plan to Eat Podcast co-host, Riley, is back on today's episode! Riley is on the podcast to talk about how her meal planning has changed and evolved over the past year. We cover what it means to simplify a meal-planning habit, ways to make dinnertime less effortful, and why creating a meal-planning habit before life gets crazy is important. I'm so excited to share the mic with Riley for another episode and hope you enjoy!

Find the recipes in this episode:
Slow Cooker Carnitas
Basil Aioli
Best Southern Pinto Bean

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[00:00:00] to the Plan to Eat podcast. Where I interview industry experts about meal planning, food and wellness. To help you answer the question. What's for dinner. 

Roni: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the planty podcast, the last episode of 2023. I am so excited about this episode because my former coworker and cohost of the planty podcast, Riley is here with me today. I got to chat with Riley about how her meal planning has changed over the last year.

Uh, as she'll tell you, she's had a lot of changes happen in the last year. Not only did she have a second child, but a bunch of other life circumstances came up and it really affected her meal planning. So we just talked today about how meal planning can evolve, how it doesn't have to look the same all the time.

Um, and she gives a lot of tips and tricks for how she was able to simplify her meal [00:01:00] planning through challenging episodes in her life. And we also end the episode with some encouragement for new meal planners, for anybody who's listening, who's maybe not a regular meal planner, just about some of the benefits and the reasons why creating a meal planning habit, that is something you do on a regular basis is so important. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. I know I did being back with my old co host and without further ado, here's me and Riley.

RIley, thank you for being on the podcast with me today. It is so wonderful to see your face.

Riley: Right back at you. I'm so happy to be here. Uh, it feels a bit like coming home. Yeah. I was thinking about it this morning and just thinking, uh, I shared this with you before we started recording, but just, it feels like, it's like riding a bike. You just get right back on. You just start recording again.

Roni: Yeah, it feels very natural to be, um, well, I guess across computers from you on zoom.[00:02:00] 

Riley: it does. We did it so long that, you know, it's very comfortable environment for both of us.

Roni: Yeah, it really is. For everybody who's listening. If you're not familiar, if you're new around here, Riley and I started the Planteet podcast together, uh, two years ago, and then in January of 2023, Riley took her maternity leave from having her second baby, and we had pre recorded several podcasts, um, up until that point, so we were actually, like, covered on podcast content for several months.

So the last time you probably heard Riley in a podcast was I think in July, but she's actually been gone from Plan to Eat since January. So this feels very nice to be here talking.

Riley: It doesn't, uh, I mean, January I did work. So it was.

Roni: Yeah, it was the end of

Riley: month. Yeah. I just, I'm just thinking back cause we did a ton of recording in January. Um, it doesn't feel like it's been that long, but it has been quite a while. So,[00:03:00] 

Roni: As per usual, the year zoomed by.

Riley: Oh gosh. Yeah, it did just too fast. Honestly. I don't even know how we're back at Thanksgiving again.

Roni: I'm pretty sure the last time I checked it was October anyways, so part of the thing that I wanted you to be here for Riley is that I think it would be really interesting for you being somebody who is a meal planning expert. Having been on the team, um, I want to talk about how your meal planning has changed over the last year because not only did you bring a second baby into the world, but you've had a bunch of other changes happen in the last year.

So yeah, I want to dig into, just like how meal planning doesn't always look the same for different stages of our life. You know, we, I remember we did. A two part blog, uh, podcast series where we asked our customers for like their meal planning tips and how they meal plan.

And we did have several customers who told us like, this is the meal planning system that I've used for 10 years. Like this has gotten me this like tried and true, [00:04:00] gotten me through a bunch of different situations, but I just have a feeling that it's not always worth it. Yes.

Riley: Yeah. You know, because I'm so familiar with Plan to Eat, it is that thing. I mean, I'm almost at 10 years. I started playing, I started working with plenty, uh, over nine years ago. So I'm almost that person, you know, who's had this tried and true system. and I, I will say that the last year. , let me just give a little bit of like overview of what my year has looked like.

Just like everyone else. My life is insane and things come up that are unexpected and, um, and some things that are expected that you don't, you know, they go differently than you had planned. So I had a baby at the end of January that was my, that's my second daughter. Um, And that was great. You know, like that was going to be a big transition.

I knew that I took a maternity leave and then ended up deciding that I needed to stay home for a while, uh, with my kiddos. And then my husband, he got injured on the job. He's a firefighter. He got injured at work, uh, in early May. I think he'd [00:05:00] only been back off his paternity leave for like, maybe a month and a half, not very long at all.

So he got injured and then had about a six month recovery. And so he couldn't work his regular shift schedule until he was recovered from this injury. And so, uh, he ended up going to work every single day, which I know that that is normal for the majority of the world. But not normal for us, because he normally would work two days on and four days off.

And then he has a second job, and so those two things collided. He had two full time jobs that he was working and then gone like from really early in the morning until just about dinner time, which I know again is everyone's norm. But when it's not your norm, it feels like a really hard shift. We really love our shift schedule.

We love our two days on four days off. And that is kind of how I'd always done my meal planning. Like I usually plan for meals a week. And then those two nights that he's at work, I would just wing it or had leftovers often, um, [00:06:00] or really easy meals like breakfast for dinner, ask firewives across the country.

And I would say that breakfast for dinner is a common theme. And. So then I was on this different schedule of planning like seven meals a week, which is exhausting.

Roni: Well, yeah, cause we should say that, and we've said on the podcast many times that your husband is really not a fan of leftovers,

Riley: he's not. No. Yeah. So that's why those nights were like my leftovers night because I don't mind them one single bit. I love it. I cook with the intention of making leftovers and that has worked for us for the eight years. He's been a fireman and. It had been a great system. And so this hard shift to cooking every single night, was a lot, just in addition to him being gone every day, working every day he was off, it was just a really crazy summer.

And then on top of that, in order for him to be able to get his job done, we had a lot of help. Our nephew came and lived with us [00:07:00] for, uh, several weeks. And so I wasn't even just cooking for me and my kids and my husband. I was like cooking for my in laws or I was cooking for my nephew. I was cooking for enter any other person who was here.

So I just was like, basically, uh, you know, three meal a day kind of chef. And I like to cook, but that transition was very difficult. And I just found myself. Going the easy route as often as I could and what that means for me is definitely not what it means for other people. You know, like we all have our what easy route means for us.

For me, that meant a lot of like bulk cooking. So like making a huge. Pulled pork in my crockpot and then taking that pulled pork and turning it into five different meals and not the same week, you know, I often freeze food free using the freezer and plant eat is just something that I really utilize.

I utilize my freezer quite a bit and so I would take like a large batch of [00:08:00] something like the carnitas. Pork and freeze it and then make it into something different. Whether that was turning it into like a Mexican soup, you know, with pork or making it into nachos or chiliquiles or just barbecue sandwiches, or tacos like, you know, there's a 20 things you can make with that.

Probably more than 20. I found myself doing that a lot and that's kind of what the easy thing is for me. Is what can I make that can become a lot of different things? Uh, and that ultimately cuts down on my cooking. Because that's what I desperately needed was what can I do that is just easy. And so that's one way that it's changed quite a bit this year.

Uh, and just kind of like how my life got really hectic this year. And I've been talking for a long time, but I want to add one more thing is that my new daughter, uh, I really can't consume dairy and I'm nursing her. And so that means I can't have dairy. And as you know, from previous episodes, I'm also gluten free.

So this year has been just one curve ball after the next. And so, [00:09:00] so yeah, so that has been another aspect of meal planning that has really changed because dairy isn't everything, so it's gluten. And it has been quite exciting to figure that out. Thankfully, I will say that I have been dairy free before.

And so plan to eat has just this history of my recipes because it never, you'll never get rid of any recipes. And so. I was able to go back in and pull out tons and tons and tons of recipes that I knew were good from the past, um, because they were still there. And so I had a little bit of a backup plan when that curve ball came, 

Roni: Well, I mean, to me, it's like, um, just that change in your husband's schedule and all of the extra people at home is like, that's one big hurdle in and of itself, let alone the fact that you're taking care of a toddler and a newborn, uh, that's a lot of different things to job, juggle every single day and.

You know, in your normal shift schedule with your husband, there's at least some relief of him being like, he's off of work for four days. He can, [00:10:00] you know, help with the kids a little bit or help with food a little bit, but him being gone like all day long because he has a long drive to get to work, uh, that just like leaves it.

So everything is on your shoulders. Like that's a lot to take

Riley: yeah, yes it is. And I will add that. And as if any moms are listening to this podcast, My kids start to lose it at like 445, five o'clock. And I've, and from friends of mine, I feel like this is a common theme and it's really conveniently timed with when I need to make dinner. Like if I'm, so I have gotten really good at holding a baby and cooking with one hand, very challenging to chop things.

Let me just tell you. BUt yeah, you're right. It like that there's no extra hands to like, kind of like do any of those things. And he often was rolling into the house, like at dinner after dinner and with the kids, like in bedtime schedules and all the things we kind of eat dinner at the same time.

And so it just kind of varied on if he was there in time or not. And we often try to eat together as a family, but there were just some nights that [00:11:00] it. It couldn't happen. I would often wait, but our kids would have already eaten and just be kind of hanging out with us while the rest of us ate. But, um, yeah, it was definitely, it's definitely challenging.

Roni: I have a friend who, they have twins who are, they're older now, but when they were babies, I remember she told me that she was like, I got really good at cracking eggs with one hand like, and not getting any shells in the eggs.

Riley: Uh, yeah, that's, uh, that's definitely something I do. Uh, you definitely, yeah, you just kind of have to like. And you can even do it without breaking the yolk. Like you got, you know, if you want to like have a fried egg or whatever, you can just got to get your thumb in there, right apart.

Roni: Okay. So you started to do more easy things with your meals. Was there anything from your meal planning that you just ditched completely decided it was not going to happen right now?

Riley: The word that immediately came to mind when you asked me that was creativity. Um, I, like I said, I really like to cook. And if you've been a long time listener of this [00:12:00] show, while I meal plan, I don't always meal plan with recipes because I don't often cook from recipes. And so what my meal planning process can look like is I use the ingredient notes or just the notes feature, and I write in what we're having, and then I make my grocery list manually because.

I keep a lot of staples on hand. We live a long way from town, so we kind of have a good stocked kitchen. But then I'll just go manually add the things we need. Also, I utilize my freezer a lot. So we have a lot of protein, a lot of vegetables, a lot of things in our freezer that I can pull from to make meals.

And so my meal planning process is kind of just like. Enter title and then make a list. And then so, and often what I'll do is if there's like a side that has a recipe or if I'm trying something new, or if there's a sauce that has a recipe, that'll just go with that note. And then I'll wing it on the part that I'm winging it on.

And then I'll make the recipe that I'm trying to follow to like learn how to make something new. Um, what was your [00:13:00] question? Got derailed. What was your

Roni: completely?

Riley: Yeah, what I did completely. Um, the thing that came to mind is creativity. And that is kind of true. We got into a lot of ruts. I was making the same thing a lot because it just was very easy to like replicate these certain meals over and over again.

I was using our smoker a lot. But I guess I just, I feel like I just ditched enjoyment of the kitchen. Like it's just, I'm just here. To like make the food so that people can eat and then the people can be done eating. And so, and I, because I do really enjoy to cook, I think that was kind of really sad, you know, like, but it just became a necessity that it wasn't sad in the moment, but looking back on it was kind of sad, you know, like, Oh, I really do love to cook.

And I was just like cranking stuff out, you know, just like. Just cranking it out because I had to, and that is my real answer on what did I ditch? And that was enjoyment and creativity and the fun in the kitchen. And so it's been more [00:14:00] recently now that we're a little bit out of that kind of challenging season that's lifted a little bit.

And I've been really able to, um, lean into like, what can I make that's fun? What do we have at a restaurant that I can recreate? What sounds really good or what's something I've never made before that I want to learn how to make that kind of thing. And again, I feel like if you've been a long time listener, you've heard me say this before, but I'll do several staple meals or one or two easy meals a week.

And then at least once a week, I'm making a meal that is new or has a new component. Like I'm making a sauce from scratch or, you know, like something that takes a long time to cook those kinds of things. I'm just back into sourdough again. Like, uh, I've been using my Dutch oven a lot more. Just slow cooker kind of things, but like recipes I haven't made, like, I feel like I'm just getting back into, okay, where's that creative thing?

What do I want to cook? What's exciting to cook? Um, and so that's been really fun. So as I've shifted out of that[00:15:00] 

Roni: really glad that you mentioned that because Number one, I think it's really easy for, as with everything in life, for somebody to assume, Oh, it's like, this person makes it look easy all the time and it's really simple for them. But, you know, as with everything in life, it's like, we have these like ups and downs and ebbs and flows of the way that things work in our lives.

And something that you and I have talked about a lot. Is that there are a lot of people who come to meal planning because they have a dramatic life change, whether it is somebody getting injured, um, and not being able to cook for themselves, you know, like a, a new family member coming to live with them, something like a new baby, any kind of different life circumstance like that, where you are suddenly forced to essentially like care, take for more people, you know, and like feed more people than just yourself.

And I think

Riley: dietary change, did you

Roni: yeah. Oh no, but yeah, exactly. And, um, And I just think that that's like, like you having this, like, like, it's not so much about creativity enjoyment anymore. Like, [00:16:00] it's just about food is fuel. I feel like that's like a, almost like, like, that's a struggle that a lot of people who are getting started with meal planning could feel.

Um, I just realized you might get stuck like in that pit for a little while, but like it's possible to get back out of it and like gain your creativity and gain your joy again. Like you don't just because like right now things feel like, okay, we're just cooking to cook. , it can get better if you're somebody who enjoys the kitchen and enjoys cooking like that can get better.

The more that you're more than you, you get used to your circumstances or maybe your circumstances ease a little bit. Whatever. There's lots of different things that could change that.

Riley: totally. But there's just a season for everything.

Roni: Yeah, exactly.

Riley: You know, I will say that I have this past year, I've like gone back and forth on meal planning and the, when I am not meal planning, even the food is fuel kind of mentality of meal planning was really hard. Like, cause I would just realize like, Oh shoot, I didn't buy the thing I needed [00:17:00] because I was mindlessly shopping or, um, you know, making my list like on the fly and not thinking through all the details.

Because there just wasn't as much brain space available to like think about everything when you're not planning, it's a lot to keep in your mind, like five days a meal, seven days of meals, and the list is really hard without writing it down or putting it on a, like on a actual like digital meal plan or, you know, like in plan to eat or a notes or something like that.

But I find I found. In those like weeks or whatever, where I'm back using plant to eat every week, like in that little phase, because I'm way, I'm back into that every week. It's on the meal plan. It's added digitally. I've got a shopping list, the whole thing. And it is, I'm so much genuinely, I'm so much less stressed, even though my season has gotten less stressful.

I don't feel like I don't know. I don't have to think about it. Like, I don't have to think about it because it's already there. I already did the work for myself. a Sunday night meal planner. [00:18:00] Uh, I mean, sometimes it's like Sunday night at nine 30 and I'm like laying in bed and I'm like, Oh yeah, what are we going to eat this week?

But I really like Sundays to be my like planning for the weekday. Sundays are my day that I plan for the week. In every aspect. So what are we doing this week? Where are we going? Is anybody coming? What day am I cleaning? What day am I like, what am I, what am I doing this week? And so meal planning happens usually on Sunday nights and.

Just being able to open up that and be like, what are we even going to have for dinner tonight? And knowing that I planned it and shopped for it, but I don't have to think about it otherwise is awesome. The only downside is if I didn't pull meat out of the freezer to thaw or something, but for the most part, that's very easy to shuffle.

Roni: Yeah. I have the, I feel like I have that exact same experience of making my meal plan and then forget, totally forgetting what, like, cause I'll do that a lot in the morning. I'll be like, I don't really remember what we were supposed to have for dinner tonight. I should probably check to make sure that I don't need to take something out of the freezer.

And that is just really nice because. Even if you write it down, you know, you and I are both also [00:19:00] physical paper planner people as well. That's how I do all of my like regular scheduling is on my paper planner. But even if I were to write my meal plan down on a paper planner, I wouldn't, it's just not the same as having it in plan to eat because.

Yeah. I'm like flipping back through different days. I don't remember which day I wrote it on, you know, or if you do happen to just show up at the grocery store, you're like, okay, well, I don't even remember what recipes I was going to make because they're on the stupid piece of paper at home and they're not here in my phone.

iT really is amazing that realizing that like having that mindfulness and realizing how much brain space, just a little bit of planning gives you, it's a, it totally amazing. Like, you know, we talk about that all the time. Really when you experience the difference of like this week I planned and last week I didn't.

It's a game changer.

Riley: it is. Yeah it really is. I'm, I'm chuckling because I'm thinking about, um, Thanksgiving and planning for Thanksgiving and all the ingredients that are required for [00:20:00] all the foods that you, that one might make at Thanksgiving. And the reason it's on my mind is because I did my big Thanksgiving haul from the grocery store this morning, and I just know I have what I need.

Like I, I just know what I have. I know I have it. I know it's not going to be Thursday morning and I'm thinking I needed one more onion, you know, you know, like I have every amount of onions or every amount. I have all of the onions that I need. And that's a silly example, but that is something that would be crucial in that moment that you don't have, you know, Because I have it planned out for what I'm having and every little thing.

And that is a big example of like a weekly feeling that I have, you know, um, of just like, I just have what I need and it's going to be great. And that's just one thing I don't have to worry about or a thing I don't have to think about. And when you're managing schedules for other people, not just yourself and managing like what are they going to eat every meal?

What are they doing all day? You know, like I know [00:21:00] moms can relate to this. It's just like, there are so many needs and so many fires and so many things you're doing constantly moment by moment every day. Uh, and just not having to think about something is so nice. Just one thing. I just don't even have to think about that.

Well, I guess it's two things. I don't have to think about what we're having for dinner, and I don't have to worry that I don't have the ingredients. I just have them.

Roni: I'm one of those crazy people who decides that I'm going to make new recipes at Thanksgiving.

Riley: Oh, yeah. Good.

Roni: At least that's what I'm doing this year. Um, and so it's, it's giving me a lot of relief because I'm going to go to the grocery store and buy all the things that I need. But I don't feel like I have to like triple check my recipe or anything to be like, am I buying enough of this thing?

Did I like, I don't know if I actually have this stuff for this recipe. Like it's really nice to, because there's one aspect of, you know, if you make all of the tried and true recipes every year for your holidays, there's an aspect of like, I think my mom just shops [00:22:00] based off of memory when it comes to something like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or something, because we have like the same things.

But since I'm branching out and trying new things, uh, I feel like it's even more important that I have Plan to Eat to make my shopping list for me because otherwise I would just, I feel like I'd be in the grocery store being like, I don't know what I need. I don't know which is the thing. Like, uh, so it's really nice for those new recipes too.

Riley: Well, and especially with a new recipe, there's ingredients that are maybe new to you or the way they taste in a recipe is different for you because you've never made it before. And there's things that are like crucial,

Roni: Yeah.

Riley: know, you, you, there are things that are hard to just. like wing it on. Um, I certainly think there's a lot of wing in it that can be done in the kitchen with recipes, but if you're trying to make something very specific. You, I mean, I'm thinking

Roni: have nutmeg or something, you're not, there's nothing like nutmeg.

Riley: Yeah, exactly. And it's usually a spice. I feel like that's very crucial. I'm thinking about, uh, [00:23:00] this white chicken chili that I make that it has bay leaves in it, like cooks with bay leaves like all day. And I can tell when I don't have the bay leaf, because I feel like that's something I run out of and forget about.

I'm like, cause I don't use them very often. Um, but it is a flavor thing that I need in that recipe to make it like. Perfect. It's good without it, but it's perfect when you have it. And so, yeah, you definitely need that list with all those little details.

Roni: Okay. As a tangent, I read an article a couple of weeks ago that was talking about bay leaves because apparently bay leavs are controversial

Riley: Oh,

Roni: Some people think that it's like a hoax.

Riley: What?

Roni: Some people think, well, hoax, that's like silly, but like some people think that bay leaves are like, don't do anything because they're Because, I don't know.

I don't know why they don't think that anyways, is this whole article of like, do bay leaves work or not. And the end of the article, they decided, I think it was like an America's test kitchen article or something like that. Um, they decided, yes, bay leaves do add a specific clip flavor. And it's actually like a sweetness [00:24:00] is what they decided that the bay leaf adds like a slight sweetness.

I think the bay leaf comes from the laurel tree. Let me Google this really quick.

Riley: Okay.

Roni: Oh yeah. It's a laurel. Yeah. It comes from the Bay laurel tree. So whatever it is that's, that is in the bay leaf itself adds like a little hint of like sweetness.

Riley: What is it called when somebody, um, gosh, I shouldn't even be saying this because I can't think of all the right words, but when you do something out of habit or, or, you know, you do something and it literally is pointless, but you just do it because you have to do it

Roni: Oh right, yeah.

Riley: or something, you know, like.

It's not the right example, but the only thing I can come up with in the moment, but if that's what we've been doing this whole time with bay leaves, it's just a

Roni: I think that that was kind of, that was kind of what the purpose of the article was is is like, did people actually know like what Bay Leaf is giving to any of the recipes? Is it actually giving anything to the recipes? And then they tested multiple recipes like soups or stews or whatever, used a bay leaf, didn't use a bay leaf, and they decided yes, the Bay Leaf does [00:25:00] add a different flavor.

Riley: I definitely fall into that category, but now I'm wondering if it's all in my head. You know, like I know the soup tastes better with it, but is it just because I know I didn't

Roni: is it just like a placebo effect of the

Riley: Placebo! Placebo! That's the word. Placebo. I couldn't come up with that. That is not, okay. Placebo, everyone.

That's the word. Um, have you ever tried a bay leaf? Have you ever actually tasted

Roni: No, I don't. I haven't.

Riley: Taste one. Because I've done it before. It's been a little while, but I vaguely remember it tasting a little bit like a pine tree.

Roni: Oh, interesting. Okay. Well, like pine is kind of sweet because it's like sappy.

Riley: Yeah, but I mean, it's not, it doesn't even come from a pine tree, so it's funny, you know, I, everyone, it might be like cilantro, where everyone has a different opinion about what a bay leaf tastes like, but I just remember it being kind of that piney kind of thing, kind of

Roni: Oh yeah.

Riley: a specific, very specific flavor,

Roni: Okay.

Riley: love, I love tangents with you.

Roni: okay. Well, let's get back off of the tangent. Okay. So when we, when we were talking about this [00:26:00] whole topic, you had some ideas for how you simplified your meal planning. So why don't you talk about that a little bit?

Riley: Yeah, so, always trying to work smarter, not harder. I'm working hard in a lot of areas, okay? I gotta, I gotta be able to not work that hard in every area. So one of my favorite things that I do right now, and I know this is not something that everyone can do, um, but I will make or prep things when my kids are napping, and whether that's both of them or one of them, I'll prep something.

While they're asleep so that when dinner comes, it's not that witching hour. It's not that hardest hour of my day is getting them to dinnertime. And I'm also trying to make food. And so I'll do it during nap time. For a lot of things. It doesn't have to even be the same day that you were to make it, you know, and the, so examples of things I would make during nap time are some kind of sauce that's going to finish our meal, [00:27:00] uh, maybe a salad dressing, marinating a meat or something like that.

Maybe like say we're having hamburgers, maybe I pre mixed. The hamburgers up and form them into patties so they're ready, you know? Because when you just take that and put it on the smoker, or if you just take this thing and put it on the pan, that's way easier. with two hams, I'm trying to think what else I've done recently.

Uh, if I'm making a soup or something for dinner, I'll just throw the whole thing together. I, we prefer oftentimes a lot of recipes. We like simmer all day, like a soup. That's what I mean. And so just putting them on the stove. At noon and let or even before that, if someone's asleep and it's just a good time, or in the crock pot, you know, something like that and just doing it's something you can do early.

And it's not going to change anything. Oftentimes, it just helps because those flavors have time to work together. The other day I'm

Roni: that Bayleaf

Riley: Bay Leaf. Uh huh. It has time to like [00:28:00] give all its goodness to the soup, whatever the goodness is and whatever it does. Yeah, green chili. I think it just is better if you make it the day before, but if you only made it the whole day, it'd be good too, but, so those kinds of things are things that I'm just taking off my plate. And not having to do a dinner time. I love that. I love being able to, you know, it's 5. 15 and someone's like, What are we having for dinner? Like, you haven't started making dinner. And I'm like, that's because it's already made. Or that's because it's, you know, it's going to take me 20 minutes on the smoker or whatever.

You know, it's just so easy. A lot of sauces get made earlier in the day. So that's one thing that I do that's super helpful. But if you don't have a nap time, like I have, but the night before, you know, like all these things I mentioned can be made the night before. If you have space in your refrigerator to store them, um, you can just do it the night before even a soup that you cooked in a crock pot all day could be all the not liquid parts could be put in a ziplock [00:29:00] or like a, you know, a bag or a bowl or something in your fridge and then just dumped in the crock pot the next morning if you were gone to work all day.

But just. It's just that a little bit of thinking ahead and what can I do right now when I have this space to do it. And again, your future self thanks you for that thing that you did. I often find that if I was able to do something ahead of time. It I like dinner time isn't hard and I'm like, what's going on?

Oh, it's because I'm actually not trying to do two things at once. It's not that I like, it's not that that night would have been easier. It's just that I'm not trying to do two things at once. , so that idea that I talked about earlier is another one of upgrading leftovers, taking this like a neutral thing, like a pulled pork in the crockpot.

I'm going to just keep using this example because it's an easy one for us. You know, the, the recipe that I follow and I can share this with you, it's on my meal plan today, if you needed to find it, is, is very neutral. It's not like, I think it's intended to be kind of like Mexican [00:30:00] flavors, cumin and things like that,

Roni: Mm hmm.

Riley: Um, but when it's finished, it really doesn't have that like potent, like chili powder, you know, like chili flavor. Um, and so what we've found with this one in particular is that it cooks all day. It's done. And then you freeze half of it, and then it can be whatever we want it to be. It's very, like, diverse in its options, you know?

I think if I'm following this recipe, we're going to have barbecue sandwiches tonight with it. But I'm guessing we'll have it as tacos next week, just because I know my fam. And so those kinds of things. Doing a lot of prep but without a lot of work is ultimately my goal. Um, so if I'm marinating chicken already or I'm marinating a ton of vegetables for like a stir fry or something, just doing it Like a double batch so that I have leftovers for lunches.

Cause that just clears one thing off the list. I'm already cooking something on the smoker cook, multiple things on the smoker, cause it's already hot. It's a one and done situation. [00:31:00] And then just saving it again, if you have the space to save it and you're going to eat it in the next couple of days, and it's not going to go to waste.

It's really just doing you a favor.

Roni: hmm.

Riley: Um, Boiling a lot of eggs, you know, say I need one egg for a recipe. I'll boil five. And then I've got this option of whether that's someone's snack or whether that goes into a tuna salad, you know, or something along those lines, it's like, it's done, it's pretty ready. So I, you know, even though I'm not working a full time job anymore, my days are very full.

And so, I did a lot of these things before and I just feel like with the added kid and the way the year has gone, it's even more of a necessity than it was before. Um, because it just, it just makes it easier.

Roni: Yeah.

Riley: So it just makes it easier.

Roni: Well, and I'm thinking back to what you said about, that hour before dinnertime being the craziest hour of the day and thinking that like, you know, in the middle of the day, [00:32:00] If you have the spare time, I think that there's a lot of people who might be like, Oh, that's my time to vacuum or fold the laundry and which are all necessary things need to be

Riley: And I have to do those things too, you

Roni: Exactly. But I'm kind of, but I'm thinking like, okay, however, if you spent maybe 20 minutes of that time doing some things for dinner and prepping dinner, like then that witching hour, as you called it is less stressful, which I think kind of like lowers the stress load for the whole day. Right. Like, cause otherwise it's like this, like build up to this, like, Oh, and four 30 is here and everything is crazy.

And I'm trying to manage the kids and make dinner at the same time. And I was anxious about this part of the day for the whole day already. Um, so there's an aspect, there is that aspect too, of the, of giving your future self a favor, that's like. Yes. Folding the laundry is important. Yes. Those other things need to happen, but like maybe the folk, maybe like the, the number one thing on the list should be like, how can I make dinner easier tonight before I go and do those other things?[00:33:00] 

Riley: Yes, and I know that that means different things for different people. You know, how can I make dinner easier for myself? Well, I bought a pre made marinara for our spaghetti. You know what? That is okay. bUt yeah, just anything like that to just ease that hardest part is amazing. Um, my kids aren't old enough to like go play outside by themselves, you know?

I Love having my kids in the kitchen. It's just, sometimes it's not feasible. Um, especially when the baby is crying, cause she's not helping in the kitchen quite yet. You know, she is watching, she's very observant in the kitchen, but she's nine months old, you know, she's not like, she's not a chopping an onion and neither is my three year old.

Right. And so, uh, yeah, just, I don't have, there's, they, they can't do that. They can't just go be alone while I do my thing alone. And, and so, yeah, just, I don't even know, I'm frambling now, but it's helpful. So,

Roni: Well, I think that you're just in a, for, you know, people who are parents who are past this stage in their life, they understand that you're in a challenging [00:34:00] phase of having children who need you all the time.

Riley: And if I'm doing something, uh, that they are not involved in, I'm like a magnet, like they just, they just find me,

Roni: What are you, what are you doing? How can I help?

Riley: want to cook too. Can I also play with Play Doh and paint right now while, while I'm also helping you cook? I'm like, um, yeah, always a magnet.

Roni: oKay. Did we miss anything? Was there anything else you wanted to share about how your meal planning has evolved and changed? 

Riley: This isn't necessarily the most helpful tip. But we do talk about people coming to meal planning. You already mentioned it in this episode that they come to meal planning because of some big life thing that's made their life more difficult. But if you start meal planning now.

Roni: Mm hmm. Mm

Riley: It makes that difficult season a [00:35:00] little bit easier to navigate.

And I know that not everybody wants to do that. Nobody really, it's not everyone's personality to get on board with a plan. I love anticipating the needs ahead. Cause I like to be prepared. I love to have a plan. It's why I spend Sundays thinking about my entire week. And just for an example, like I'm thinking about my entire week this week and what I have ahead.

And it's like, well, we're not, we have a, we need a very quick breakfast on this day. Well, that means the day before I need to make muffins so that it's just done. I don't even have to do that. Or, you know, we're having, we're having pork in the crock pot in two days, but that porks frozen. So that means like, I've got to, like, I've got to take it out now.

And these are habits that are very like natural to me. I would say that meal planning is a learned trait. I don't know that anyone's just naturally good at meal planning. I think you definitely have to do it and put in the reps, like a lot of things to get good at it and figure out what works for you and your family and your schedule.

But ultimately, like, I just think that if you start meal planning now, [00:36:00] when these challenges and bumps in the road, and suddenly you're being told you have to be dairy free, or suddenly you have five people living in your house, you have to cook for or whatever it is, you already have that habit in place.

Um, you already have that know how, you already know what you're doing, um, you're, and so you're not having to force yourself into a new habit. And I think that that's one thing that really helped me this year, while it became less fun, it still happened, you know, and it wasn't, there was no night where I, where I was just like, Oh no, I had to got nothing.

And so anyway, my encouragement to people listening is if you're not a regular meal planner, or if you're listening to this podcast and it's your very first episode and you're listening to it, cause I don't know, somebody shared it with you or something. Uh, don't wait to start this thing. Because it can really help you when those things happen, because they will happen to all of us, right?

Like, there are weeks that you can't get your normal meal planning done, and there, you know, things will happen, and it just throws us off our game, our [00:37:00] regular routine, and it's just nice to have something kind of handled.

Roni: So I was actually thinking about this earlier, and I couldn't find quite the words to say what you said so eloquently, because I absolutely agree I was just thinking this exact same thing that if you're not already a planner and you have this big life event that comes up and happens, that is already stressful enough in and of itself.

And then to bring the, trying to learn new things, which I'm sure there are other new things you're trying to learn how to do as well. Like if you're a new parent, you're trying to learn how to be a parent, which is a job as well as being like, and now I have to learn how to be a meal planner and have to learn, you know, How I decide what recipes we're having and what people like and all of these things.

I was totally thinking the same thing that it really helps to start this process early before you get into that phase where you're just stuck in a rut of boring meals and we're just feeding people. Because it is so much the, the habit and the practice of meal planning is so much more enjoyable when you're [00:38:00] able to have creativity and you're able to go into the kitchen and be excited about cooking a new recipe and trying new flavors, trying new ingredients.

So yeah, building that habit and having that routine before you get in these moments where it's like, I'm just meal planning to get by is so important.

Riley: Yeah. And it's layered too, right? Because when you start meal planning, uh, maybe you're also new to the kitchen or new to, you know, cooking for other people, whatever your newness is, but you, then you learn these recipes that are kind of like your back pocket recipes. And then, so then you're a meal planner who's got recipes, you know, who like knows what to make when it hits the fan in your daily life.

You just, it's like, you're on a little bit more on autopilot, which just saves you in those stressful moments of just, I know what I'm doing here.

Roni: And if you do ever get caught with a time where you're like, Oh crap, I really didn't make a meal plan. You have all of these, you have more experience in the kitchen and more experience with ingredients and recipes that it's easier to pull things out and [00:39:00] just be like, okay, I know I have these items.

I've made a recipe like this before. We're just going to throw these things together. I'll make my meal plan tonight so that I'm have it figured out for the rest of the week. So like it gives you a little bit of like a grace period there as well.

Riley: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. You know, I just thought of something else, and I know we were trying to wrap it up,

Roni: No, it's okay. Go for it. Yeah. Yeah.

Riley: I did, um, that has really helped me, I was really struggling with side dishes a couple of months ago. I'm like, what are, I just bring the same side dishes.

And I have a few friends who all know each other, we kind of live all over the country, but we all Know each other and I sent them a message in a group and I was like, Hey, you guys want to just join a little group and we all just talk about what we're eating every week. And that's the only thing that happens in this thread.

And so we're all, we're all iPhone users. And so I could change the name of the group and it's like food friends. And. Like literally what gets posted in that group is it's not every day. It's not every week, but somebody will [00:40:00] say to the group, what are y'all eating this week? I have no ideas. And then everyone, like for me, I just take a screenshot of my plan to eat meal plan and send it to the group.

Um, they can just read it all, you know, read what I'm having. And then they'll send things and we'll share recipes. If someone says like, that sounds really interesting, like send that recipe or whatever. And it has really helped. One, expand my recipe repertoire just from a rut standpoint, like just what are other people eating at their houses, you know?

And it just has given me some new ideas to make a more creative meal plan. So if you've got three friends, if you've got one friend, just text them and say, let's make a little group that's just us talking about what to eat this week. And that is another, like, part of meal planning that's really difficult, is the actually, what are we putting on the plan?

Um, and that's been really helpful for me. So, and you and me do that, you know, we do that all the time. Where we're like, what are you eating? I don't know. What are you eating?

Roni: It's funny because, well, so it is that idea of like, it's, you have somebody to share that cognitive load with of like, I don't have to come up with all the ideas by myself. And it's also the aspect that like, [00:41:00] sometimes you get so stuck in your own problem that like you can't see the forest for the trees kind of a thing.

And, and you ask somebody else and they're like, Oh, here, I have like 15 ideas. And you're like, wow, my brain was just totally blocked. I couldn't think of any of those things. it's super helpful to do that. And we do that with each other. Like you said, all the time, you messaged me about the side dish thing.

And I was like, I was like, roast your vegetables, steam your vegetables.

Riley: Yeah. Yeah. Change the way you're cooking the thing you're cooking all the time. Yeah. It's funny. Yeah. And just knowing like everyone eats

Roni: Yeah,

Riley: every, I mean the majority of people that I know are cooking at home a lot, you know? And so everyone has this problem. You're not alone in this thing that you're doing.

And so a lot of that, that like idea of like, I get so blocked up in my own brain and then just ask for help. Just ask. And it's not even like help necessarily. It is just. Let's just share this burden together and give each other ideas and like, lighten a load. We all have, you

Roni: Yeah. And you might learn something about your [00:42:00] friends that you didn't know.

Riley: Yeah. It's really, it's really fun actually to picture people eating what they've said.

They're going to eat. I know that sounds so weird, but I have lived in this meal planning world for a long time. And just like, what are our customers doing? How are they utilizing Plan to Eat? What are they eating for dinner? Like, so then my friends send me this. Yeah. screenshot or they send out a list of like what they're having to eat that week.

And I'm like, wow, I would not have known that you eat that. Like that's very, like a diverse meal plan, like culturally diverse or it's like protein diverse or whatever it is. I'm like, that is awesome. Like, I love that. Cause you know, I get into ruts all the time, but my ruts are different than their ruts and we can share the ruts and then we're all not in a rut anymore.

Roni: Yeah. I think that even when you messaged me about the side dish thing, you were like, so we made pureed parsnips, but I can't make that again. And I was like, I've never made pureed parsnips. You know, so it's like, it gives you, it gives you some insight into like, Oh, I could, I could make that. I could figure out how to make [00:43:00] that.

We could see if we like that, you know, or you could have ideas for the next time you have your friend over for dinner. And you're like, well, I know that they love Brussels sprouts. So we're making Brussels sprouts.

Riley: a hundred percent

Roni: So Something I've gotten out of the habit of that you and I used to do all the time is talk at the end of the episode about a lovely recipes that we've eaten recently.

So why don't we do that? And, um, we'll bring it back for this episode. So tell me about a recipe that you loved that you ate recently.

Riley: Okay. You guys, I, I told you getting creative again. So I went out to dinner with Roni. So my husband and I went out to dinner with Roni and her husband. Uh, we are friends in real life, outside of this show and outside of work. , and my husband ordered this dish, uh, steak frites. And it was steak served with french fries and a basil aioli.

The steak had like a garlic butter on it. It was. Incredible. It was so good. Like both of, we shared it. I got something and he got [00:44:00] something and we split. Uh, and his was like stellar. Like it was like the thing we both wish we just ordered two plates of, you know?

Roni: Oh yeah. He said it was the best steak he's ever had at a restaurant,

Riley: and that is a big deal.

Roni: that's a big deal for your husband. I know that that's a big deal. When he said that, I was like, yes.

Riley: Very, very big deal. Um, It was very good. Okay. So I decided I'm going to make this at home. So I found a recipe for a basil aioli. We did French fries, ribeyes, and

Roni: you make the French fries in your air fryer?

Riley: Yep. So they're real crispy. Yes. Um, and so it was amazing. I would say it was one of my best like restaurant redos.

that I've probably ever done. Um, just, you know, like a copycat meal or whatever. Every once in a while you stumble upon like a copycat recipe and it actually is just so close to the thing you eat at this, at a restaurant or whatever. So this was, it was just so good. Like I'm drooling just thinking about it, but basically only I could have eaten on everything. And so [00:45:00] that's actually another example of something where I, I made this batch of aioli and then we had it with a steak and then the next night we had it on sandwiches with chicken and arugula and tomatoes. And it was like one of those things where like that were like that little work was already done and to make it into a sandwich was very simple.

But it made for a really like really delicious, simple at home meals. By just making that myself. very good.

Roni: Well, mine is not a full meal. Well, I guess maybe some people would eat this as a full meal, but so actually, about a year ago, we went to an event in a, like a local event. It was hosted by our local edible magazine. 

So we got these bags that had, like, so much free food in it. It was like, all of the, like, sponsors gave, like, samples of all the food and stuff. And some of the, the things that we got were, like, dried beans. And I got multiple bags of dried pinto beans that I haven't used yet. I'll admit I don't use pinto beans as often [00:46:00] as I use other beans.

I also will admit that I don't often use dried beans. I usually go for canned beans for the simplicity sake. Also, I feel like I have a hard time remembering to soak beans, all the things. Anyways, so this recipe is called The Best Southern Pinto Beans Recipe, and it does involve, you know, using dried beans and soaking them.

And then after you soak them, like I actually soaked them during the day. You just need to soak them for, I think like a minimum of eight hours. And I think I soaked mine for like 10 anyways, after you do your soaking, it's just, pinto beans, ham, hawk, chicken stock, an onion and your bay leaves, and you just put them all like in a stock pot, And let's say I put them in a Dutch oven and you just like let it cook for about like an hour to an hour and a half and it was really good.

Like I am not normally impressed when I make beans at home from scratch and [00:47:00] these were so yummy. Like the flavor of the ham really came through in the beans. And so they were really yummy. So because there's ham in it, I guess you could eat it as just like a meal potentially, like maybe some cornbread would be really yummy.

Um, but we used it as a side as for one of our dinners. But it made like, you know, a big pot of beans. And then, so I was able to free some, I like left, I like submerged, made sure I submerged the beans in the liquid before freezing it. And excellent, highly recommend really good winter time cozy meal.

Riley: It does sound like a cozy, especially if you ate that as your main, it would just feel like a really hearty, warm, cold night kind of

Roni: Mm hmm.

Riley: Yeah. That sounds great.

Roni: Riley. Thanks for being here. It was so wonderful to talk to you.

Riley: Right back at you.

Roni: As always, thank you so much for joining me for the plan to eat podcast. I'm going to link to some of the recipes that Riley and I talked about today in the show notes. If you would like to [00:48:00] check any of them out, they will be in the Plan to eat podcast account in plan to eat. You can connect to it, as a friend in your plan to eat account. So you can see all the recipes that Riley and I have ever talked about on the podcast, which is really cool. It kind of gives you a built in friend to get some recipe and for me recipe inspiration from. And I just want to say thank you for another year of the podcast.

This is the last episode of 2023. It's been so much fun. Uh, this year transitioned to just podcasting by myself and getting to talk to an interview. So many interesting people is really enjoyable and so fun to end the year talking to Riley 

it's so much fun to talk to her and we can talk about food and meal planning all day long. So as always, thanks for listening and I'll see you in the new year. [00:49:00]