20: Back to School Meal Prep Tips for Busy Families

In this episode, Sarah talks with Beth Stark, to discuss the challenges and strategies of meal prepping, especially during the back-to-school season. They explore:

- How parents can navigate the busy schedules to create balanced meals

- How to involve children in meal planning

- Redefining meal prep for busy families 

- Creative Lunchbox Ideas for Kids

- Encouraging Variety in Kids' Diets

- How to create a variety of meals that are both nutritious and appealing

Beth Stark, RDN, LDN is a nutrition and food communications consultant based in Pennsylvania.

As a dietitian for over 20 years, Beth has worked in a variety of practice settings including inpatient, outpatient, community, and retail. In 2021, Beth launched Beth Stark Nutrition, where she partners with like-minded brands, people, and organizations to create engaging recipes, content, cooking demos, webinars, nutrition communications tools and more.  She also oversees Nutrition Outreach efforts within the PA and NY Beef Councils.

Beth received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University and completed the ARAMARK Metro NY Dietetic Internship. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Meal Prep and Back to School
• 1:46 Back to School Routines and Meal Planning
• 5:46 Challenges in Meal Prep for Parents
• 8:34 Redefining Meal Prep for Busy Families
• 11:24 Strategies for Efficient Meal Planning
• 15:06 Creative Lunchbox Ideas for Kids
• 18:55 Encouraging Variety in Kids' Diets
• 22:59 Reframing Meal Prep Mindset
• 27:37 Actionable Tips for Meal Prep Success

Transcript

Sarah Schlichter (00:00)
Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I'm so excited to be here with our guests today and I do apologize my voice I'm slowly starting to get it back just getting over some sort of cold so hopefully we'll have our guests do most of the talking today but I'll go ahead and let her introduce herself.

Beth Stark (00:17)
Well, good morning, Sarah. It's just such a pleasure to join you this morning. I'm so thrilled to be here. It's been a minute since I've done a podcast interview. So I'm just really excited to be back in this seat and having a conversation with you this morning. So yeah, my name is Beth Stark. I'm a registered dietitian that's based in central Pennsylvania. And my role is kind of a little bit of everything, which I really enjoy being someone that likes a lot of variety. So I've been a dietitian.

for over 20 years, which I still find myself doubting in different times, right? How has it been so long? So I've been a long-term dietician, worked in a lot of different settings, currently working on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, which will integrate into our conversation today, but doing some recipe development projects and food photography, some media work, and dabbling into a lot of my past experience as a retail dietician for over a decade and gained a lot of good skills there that have been transferable into this.

new chapter that's now going on between four to five years in this kind of role of the variety, you will, outside of retail. yeah, long-winded introduction of myself there, but so happy to be here.

Sarah Schlichter (01:18)
Yeah, but

I think you're the perfect guest to talk about our topic today, which is kind of like back to school, getting back in the swing of things, maybe starting to find a gentle route to meal prepping if some of us were a little bit more chaotic over the summer, especially with your background in retail, kind of knowing maybe what some of the shortcuts are, or I know it's been a little bit since you were there, but I'm sure you still kind of have some of the tips knowing what consumers are wanting or asking for. So I think that'll be helpful to have. So I want to start off

Beth Stark (01:47)
Absolutely.

Sarah Schlichter (01:48)
by asking you as a mom and dietitian, what does back to school season look like in your house right now?

Beth Stark (01:55)
Yeah, I mean, I have to say our household is back into school mode just as of yesterday. You know, my daughter just started third grade yesterday, which I have to say just now two days into the morning routine and just that structure, I really think I missed it over the summer. So I'm thankful that we're kind of here, you know, and honestly, she thrives with structure and routine as well. So I think she, is happy to be back as well. back into the swing of things, starting third grade.

I'm thankful for the routine, just even myself over the summer where we've been really running and jamming in all the summer adventures, which is just kind of my tendency. I like to be busy and on the go and really taking advantage of a beautiful season within the state of Pennsylvania. But that doesn't always allow for time to plan meals and to eat, a balanced diet all the time. So I'm glad for that structure to kind of get back on board with.

regular meal planning, even just doing that myself this week, I feel like I'm so much more organized at dinnertime. We're not pulling random things. I'm not trying to order food or run to the grocery store at the last minute. I feel like I'm in, you know, a good place at that. But yes, as soon within the next few weeks, some different sports activities will take over. ⁓ Coaching girls on the run for the first time that my daughter is eligible for that program. So really excited for that.

So lots of different activities will replace the beach trips and the late time and the camping that were happening over the summer to get back to sports and back to school. So chaos, I guess, and I only have one child.

Sarah Schlichter (03:15)
Yeah. It's funny because

it's like our summers are still pretty busy, right? Like many people are going to the beach and camping, like you said, but it almost feels harder when we are out of that routine. So you talked about even this week looks a little different. So did you come into this week with different plans? Was there anything you did differently to kind of set up this week for success?

Beth Stark (03:37)
Yeah, I mean, for sure. One of the things just to ensure that like we're winding down at a reasonable hour at the end of the evening, we have to eat dinner between, you know, maybe 530, 630, where in the summer, you know, we might not be throwing anything on the grill until 730, eating at eight ish, then suddenly it's 930 and all those things. I think just like really looking at the afternoon schedule, you know, meal prepping and like, you know, getting ahead of some of those shortcut types of things like I can to ensure that we do have dinner.

earlier than we have and just honestly really being more thoughtful about the grocery plan that was in place for the week where Previously, I would kind of just you know pulled together things at the last minute But now last evening we literally had spaghetti and meatballs, tonight We're doing homemade pizza, and tomorrow will be leftovers But just really structuring things, in a different way, which makes me feel so much better. I just in control of the plan

Sarah Schlichter (04:26)
Mm-hmm. I hear that. And are you someone who does, do you like to go to the grocery store being a former retail RD and do your shopping? Or are you someone who does like mobile shopping, grocery delivery? What does that look like?

Beth Stark (04:38)
Well, it just kind of depends. I feel like within the last year and a half, we've been doing grocery delivery and I really do love it or grocery pickup for that matter. So if I do find myself in the grocery store, which I do still love going back into the retail setting and seeing what's new and just like the smells and the sights of all the foods, like I do really still love that. But time is typically the essence. So it is more efficient to do a grocery delivery or pickup.

But that's what really keeps me on track. I mean, for me, I feel like it does help to just structure my meal plan better because you have to be really thoughtful with what you're ordering. So you don't necessarily have to do this last minute, trips into the store. ⁓ And also I find that it helps me stay on budget a little bit better. It helps to minimize food waste, which is so important for sure.

Sarah Schlichter (05:21)
It's funny you say that because I had to go in the store a couple of weeks ago to prepare for a segment that I did in partnership with beef. And, you know, I had my business car and then I had my personal things and I splurged on so many more things being there in person, seeing they weren't on the list, but they looked great, new products. So I almost feel like grocery delivery saves me money. It saves me time for sure, but I'm not getting these impulse buys that I might get in the store.

Beth Stark (05:48)
Exactly. Well, and if you're kind of established with a platform, I mean, you can kind of default to your former orders, which is always what I do, because, I know we'll get to this, but I kind of like follow a similar structure of a meal plan over week to week to week. So it's like you just default to those same ingredients and items and things like that. And it's kind of uninspiring, I guess, but you're more inspired when you see all those beautiful food options and new products in the store. So I can completely relate to you there. And grocery stores are built for that reason.

Sarah Schlichter (06:07)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right. You probably know all the tips. Yeah. So what are, in your opinion, some of the biggest challenges that parents face when it comes to meal prep? I like to think about busy seasons and you said it before we hopped on, back to school is kind of like New Year's in a way. And I totally agree with you. I think that's a great way. It's kind of like a starting new. So what are some of the challenges that parents are facing right now?

Beth Stark (06:14)
They love shoppers like you. ⁓

Right, I mean, think we would all agree time is just one of the most obvious challenges, trying to find that time to carve out, whether it's to do something as simple as pre-chop your vegetables and storing them for the week so you have something easy to throw in the oven or onto a salad or what have you. But I think one of the bigger challenges that I personally face is just coming up with the different ideas. And I don't think I'm alone in that, where I love having default recipes and kind of like...

know, meals that we always have as a template, but feeling uninspired and kind of always like leaning on the same things can also be boring. So sometimes it's just like, where do I find new recipes and how do I integrate those into my meal plan? And will my family enjoy them? And will they come out the way I hope they come out, after our first trial run and some of those different things. I think.

some of those different things are just really part of the challenge. To be honest too, coming again from retail and loving to talk about these types of things, even just in conversations with family and friends, it's just people don't really know where to get started with meal planning and it's just, it feels overwhelming. So you think of a meal plan, it sounds like maybe a little bit overwhelming and intense, but simple things can really add up to a lot of time saving and just better eating habits and money saving, all those different things. Like we know that, but.

And I think the other thing would be people getting stuck into the weeds with always feeling like they need to follow a recipe. I mean, I love like no recipe recipes, just kind of pulling things together. Sometimes you create that great dish, your family loves it, and then a family member says, oh, can we have this again? It's like, well, how did I actually make this? That happens to me sometimes too. So think it's like time coming up with recipes and meal ideas that your family will enjoy and just making all of that happen for sure.

Sarah Schlichter (08:06)
I gotta pull it out from the archives.

And I think that's a great way to rephrase it because what I hear, I do hear, time is a thing and people are like, well, I don't want to spend three hours in the kitchen on Sunday meal prepping. So are there other ways we can maybe redefine it to make it feel more approachable to busy parents?

Beth Stark (08:34)
Yeah, think if it's just, small bites, maybe if you can, look within your overall schedule when you first do that grocery shopping trip or if you're grabbing those grocery, that grocery delivery from your front porch or whatever, you know, maybe.

if you can do one thing just as you're putting the groceries away, and maybe it takes an extra five, 10 minutes or sometimes I like to do batch cooking. So if I'm doing something like a lasagna, for example, I mean, I love a good classic lasagna. So I'll actually do like a larger bulk package of lean ground beef, for example, cook that all and then do a lasagna and then two, two casserole dishes of stuffed shells. So then two of those meals go into the freezer, the lasagna we eat for a number of days.

but you're kind of making the mess once and then you have multiple meals out of it. So batch cooking is really a good strategy ⁓ for time saving and you can prepare just as you like and that your family likes, but then you get more out of it. So I love that strategy for sure.

Sarah Schlichter (09:27)
I love that too. And thank you for giving us a concrete example. I tell people to like, if there's a recipe you really love, just double it, like make two of the same things since you have all of these ingredients and then in a week or two weeks, just grab it out of your freezer. So it's kind of like, again, that you're really doing the same amount of time because they're both going to go in the oven together or on the stove. But you're saving a lot of time in the future and you're making those ingredients stretch a little further too.

Beth Stark (09:34)
Mm-hmm.

Exactly, I have to laugh when I do have that, you the kitchen kind of in that state of making multiple things. Sometimes my husband will be like, are we having people over? Like, why are you making so much food? It's like, no, no, this is for us. This is just like seeing big picture and planning ahead and, know, just really saving that time at the end of the day. But and also for me too, I'm one of those people that really loves leftovers. I know that that can be like a very hot and cold kind of conversation for some folks. Me, I'm like, if you can do it once and reheat over a couple of days, I'm all for it. ⁓ You know, so I think that's another big thing is being

and kind of planning leftovers if you can. So my husband and I both work from home, so we're eating lunch at home, we're not going out for lunch. So even like, you know, thinking about when I'm making the meals and just kind of considering recipes to make, like how much can I stretch this to get into, you know, other meals throughout the week to save time and just, you know, be more thrifty.

Sarah Schlichter (10:43)
Yeah,

and I love that just the little bites that you mentioned too, because when you're taking the groceries in, if you can do one thing, know, chop some berries for the week or pre-portion certain snacks. Do you have any other strategies like that? Do you make lunches ahead of time or you mentioned leftovers, but any other things that you might be making on repeat?

Beth Stark (10:53)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, mean, goodness. do kind of follow almost, I've kind of like, in my mind, I think of it as like a capsule kind of menu if you wear it well for like, know, a capsule wardrobe. You have a few of those key staples that just mix and match with anything. And they're like the core pieces of clothing that you wear day to day. So I kind of think of that even in terms of like the way that I...

consider meal planning in my household that over the course of the week we'll do a taco night. could be classic ground beef tacos or it could be pulled chicken tacos. We usually do some kind of pasta dish. That might be something again, as simple as spaghetti and then meatballs.

we'll do like, I love to buy just a prepared pizza dough to do a lot of different toppings. I love having my daughter involved with that because she likes to dress up her own pizza and get involved in the stretching of the dough and all those things. So some of those things will repeat basically every single week, maybe not on the same day, but just, why stress myself out when we know these recipes go over well, they're easy to prepare, they don't take a lot of time, and we all enjoy them. So I feel like I kind of default to some of those different things.

⁓ over the course of the week. And then one of my processes too is I typically will cook Monday through Wednesday and then we eat those leftovers. Then Thursday, Friday, Thursday is usually clean out the fridge leftovers night Friday, same thing, or maybe we'll do something different on a Friday evening. And then Saturday and Sunday

just kind of finishing up anything else and then like it's restarting. So I feel like you don't have to feel like you have to cook a meal from scratch, even if it's using convenience, items and things like that, which I'm all in favor of, but you don't have to cook every single night, like work smarter, not harder and you know, repurpose those leftovers later in the week if you can.

Sarah Schlichter (12:39)
I totally agree. And I think for people who are new to meal prep or just feeling overwhelmed, that's a big takeaway. Like start with one meal, start with two meals a week. I mean, it's feel so much less overwhelming to think about planning a meal every single night versus just aiming for one or two and then double it or make extra so you can have leftovers one night. I love the clean out the fridge or we kind of say for us the pantry kind of night. Like we do a lot of

Beth Stark (13:04)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (13:05)
canned goods, canned vegetables, canned beans, like what can we throw those on? We can mix it with some ground beef in our tacos. We can make quesadillas. We do this thing called pizza beans, which is just some spices with some white beans and they're delicious. And things like that, that kind of like to your capsule point, I mean, we might switch up the flavors or the protein, but they're easy ideas that we can code to over and over again to kind of reduce that mental fatigue too.

Beth Stark (13:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah. Well, and I mentioned something like tacos. mean, another strategy that I like to employ is, maybe you, kind of just prepare, the protein. So if you're doing like a taco season ground beef or, know, or whatever your protein choice would be, you could season that and then have that for tacos one night. And then for enchiladas another night. And then, maybe you have it over a taco salad at lunch because you work from home when you want something quick and easy. I've just, even recently, you know, having kind of like that core base filling have started is to have like a nacho kind of mixture for

for lunches, with like roasted vegetables and cheese and sour cream, a little guac, the protein, the chips, it's just, it's it's a big old mess. I will say that, but it tastes delicious. It's satisfying. You know, so yeah, kind of employing that, that strategy really does, does help for sure. And one thing I was going to say back to lunches, thankfully now at third grade, my daughter has finally adopted the school lunch menu and is more interested in buying lunch at school, which I'm thankful for. but lunches.

you know, think planning ahead even a lunch, which it's like yet another thing. But what we do for her is like when I'm doing the grocery plan, like look at the week ahead for lunches, like what days will she be buying lunch at school? What days do we need to factor in a lunch for her as well? And then kind of strategize and obviously involve your kiddos. I know you're really a big advocate for involving your kids in the kitchen and making them part of the conversation. so I do the same thing. So having her really helped me.

do the work, figure things out. so it's not just on the parents to come up with those lunch ideas because if it's just you, your child may not even eat the food. They may be bringing it home, which is so frustrating and discouraging. So involving them, even on a super young age, is a big, big benefit for sure.

Sarah Schlichter (15:07)
Yes, I love that. We're trying to get in the routine and today was my daughter's first day back. So we'll see how this goes, but right when she gets home from school, let's empty our lunchbox and let's pack one for tomorrow. And then it goes in the fridge, we don't have to think about it. But to your point, she has some agency in doing that. ⁓ What are some simple lunchbox ideas if your daughter is packing from home that she likes or that you all may do regularly?

Beth Stark (15:17)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Yeah, I mean, she is a little bit of a creature of habits. We kind of like rotate through about three different types of, easy, quick and easy lunches. for a long time, she was bugging me to buy the packaged, the deli meat, the cheese, the crackers to kind of do like a little, you know, a little situation like that, you know, so I personally would rather take control over those ingredients and have her involved. So we've done, you know, different things like, beef jerky or beef sticks, those that have

no added sugar if possible or, low added sugar. And, know, so that would be like the protein and then having some whole grain crackers and hummus.

some kind of fruit or vegetable. And then she always has a little treat, whether that's a couple of like, you know, gummy fruit snacks or a little piece of chocolate. Because I mean, personally, I love to end my meal with a little bite of something sweet. So why doesn't she get to do that at school too? So there's just something like that factored into the lunch. So it's kind of like that, almost like a mini snack bar, chocouterie board, a situation happening at the lunch hour for her, we're not in a peanut free school, so she can do peanut butter and jelly.

And I still, she's one of those kids that doesn't enjoy the crust. So we do the shapes and then I eat the crust. You know, I love that when I'm packing my lunch, peanut butter and jelly bread crust. so, those types of things. And, you know, she does always have some kind of like salty snack and usually a dip and then a fruit or a vegetable and that, that treat. So I mean, there is some balance in there for sure. And there are a couple just of the quick and easy go-tos.

Sarah Schlichter (16:51)
Yeah, we do something similar and I love the deconstructed charcuterie board snack board idea for lunches because sometimes they just want different choices and different flavors and textures. So we can just kind of pack that up for them. And the same

Beth Stark (16:55)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and she's not really

like a big like a sandwich eater. So like we'll occasionally do a lower sodium kind of like deli meat sandwich and that kind of thing. But she really does more so favor like the finger foods and things like that that you can use as a fun little food picks and stuff in the lunchbox. ⁓ So I mean, that makes it harder to when your child doesn't enjoy sandwiches, coming up with ideas, you know, can be even trickier, but.

Sometimes it's just a smattering of things she enjoys, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Sarah Schlichter (17:28)
Mm-hmm.

Right, totally. And I think like sometimes just thinking out of the box and sometimes I'll just ask my daughter, what did your friends have? What looked good? What's something that you'd eventually want to try? And we got these little mini pancakes at Costco. It was kind of like a fun impulse buy, but I was like, you know what? This will be a nice way to switch up lunches occasionally. So I put some little mini pancakes in there today and we had some cheese and some fruit and

⁓ I think we did pepperoni or something for our protein. So she's got a little bit of mix and match there, but we want to keep it fun too. I don't want it to be like so rigorous and this is exactly what you have every day. Cause I feel like that's, we don't eat like that. I mean, maybe some people do, but I like to try new flavors and mix things up too.

Beth Stark (17:59)
Yes.

Yeah.

Absolutely. Now I love that idea. And I've even seen too, it kind of inspired like a, just a former idea I've shared, I guess over time, but you know, even making a sandwich on a waffle, you can kind of like press, you know, if it's like roast beef and cheese or, even peanut butter and jelly and like a, you know, a waffle and kind of cut it into triangles or something like that. she really does like the, like a tortilla, like a roll up with whether it's like a hazelnut spread or peanut butter with some fruit down the middle. She calls it a crepe, a crepe, which you know.

she loves to think of it like that and she can make it or you bananas inside so there's yeah some different things like that too that are very versatile.

Sarah Schlichter (18:48)
Yeah, I love that.

Totally. And changing up, like sometimes we'll do sandwich bread, sometimes a tortilla, sometimes we'll do like those mini naan bread. I get those from Costco too. Sometimes a mini bagel. So I think even just changing up the vehicle can make a big difference too.

Beth Stark (18:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

absolutely.

Sarah Schlichter (19:07)
So many parents worry about variety. You know, they might say, my daughter, my son's a picky eater. They only eat the same things. How can we balance giving kids familiar foods, but also not being afraid to introduce new ones throughout the school year?

Beth Stark (19:21)
Yeah, I mean, I think you kind of just touched on such a vital thing right there where, know, the familiarity so, you know, kids will kind of default to those foods that they eat regularly. So I mean, think that's a prime opportunity to try something new if they have in their lunch or a dinner at home and.

I mean, I wouldn't necessarily suggest trying too many new things at a lunchbox just because if it is something that they don't really enjoy, then they're at lunch and they may be hungry then throughout the afternoon. So I would try those in a safe, comfortable place at home, again, in a familiar setting with other familiar foods. So I would say.

That would be one strategy just to try to include more variety. And again, just to, guess something we're both sharing just on our own personal experiences is just really getting your child involved in not only just the assembly of the meal, if that's possible, or the lunch, but having an involvement in shopping for the different ingredients or identifying things that they made and might enjoy like at the supermarket or online, however you're your groceries, just so they have a little bit of empowerment in that process as well.

You know, and we kind of think of those familiar foods like something like beef meatballs or tacos. you're having a familiar type of food.

know, children love hamburgers typically and things like that. So maybe that's a good time to pair it with something like pepper strips they wouldn't have tried otherwise, or, having maybe one unfamiliar food amongst many familiar foods can just make them feel more comfortable, less overwhelmed to try something new. And my daughter's nine, even at that age, I'm still trying to insert new things and, you know, she's becoming more and more receptive to those different choices too. So it's just keep trying and...

Your kids will surprise you. feel like sometimes the things that she opts to enjoy, I'm like, what? Like, I never would have seen that coming.

Sarah Schlichter (20:58)
Mm-hmm. Yeah,

yeah, it's so true. And I've had a guest, and I'm really apologizing for my voice, all you listeners, hopefully you can stand it, a former guest who's actually a dietician and a very former picky eater, used to be extremely picky and is less picky now, but her point of view was really interesting talking about how we...

should try not to label our kids that way. know, if they hear they're a picky eater, they may internalize it or I'm a picky eater. I don't need to eat those things. And they really can surprise you. And I'll agree with you, like my daughter's seven and she's already becoming so much more adventurous. Out of my three kids, I would say she's most open to trying new things. And I don't know if that's just age, experience or wanting to be more adultish, but.

Beth Stark (21:23)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (21:44)
A lot of times kids do go through phases, it's not forever, but I think being consistent helps. You do want to keep introducing those new foods and pairing them with those safe foods like you talked about, but them watching you eat it is already such a great example. Even if they're not trying it, them watching you eat it has a lot more meaning than we realize.

Beth Stark (21:50)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. And I think too, just the influence of peers, you so to your point of asking, your daughter what others around her at lunch might be having just to get ideas for her lunch as well. I do feel like there's a difference in some of the foods that my daughter's tried because of that or because of what's being served on the lunch menu, or just those, you know, in eating with other friends and family, like seeing what others are also enjoying. if a friend that's over for dinner is, opting to serve themselves something that, you know, we're having for dinner.

and my daughter may not have typically been able to do that, then that helps to build just more confidence too. So there's definitely some value in that influence from others too. They see and they're like, well, if she likes it, then I might like it too. So I think we all kind of do that, don't we? Across the board. So yeah, that can definitely be an effective tool for introducing new foods and just broadening that variety.

Sarah Schlichter (22:58)
So I loved our point about kind of rephrasing meal prep, especially for people who maybe just get intimidated, don't even like the words meal and prep together. They would choose to go other ways. So I love the idea of kind of like try to do one or two meals a week or do small things here and there. What advice can we give to parents? How else can we reframe if they are overwhelmed and maybe they start to feel guilty or, quote unquote bad parent if they aren't

prepping the way they want to each week. Are there any reframes we could use here or kind of pick me up so that we could give them tips to help them feel a little bit more empowered?

Beth Stark (23:36)
Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think we know just as dieticians across the board, people like it's a lot of folks are like all or nothing. So they feel like if they aren't meal planning and preparing a fresh, you know, home cooked meal every day of the week that they are not doing what they should be doing. And that's just completely false. So I think, if you can start with one meal, one snack, one lunch, whatever is kind of.

within a place that you are right now with your time constraints, with your food access, with all of those things, considering how you can start small. And I'm a big advocate for progress over perfection. wherever you are just starting to improve is just one step in the right direction. So maybe evaluating your day, your schedule, where something can fit, how you can do better and starting there. ⁓

And there's obviously a ton of different resources for people that are just really so unsure of where to begin to kind of nudge them in the right direction. know a lot of your audience members are looking for those types of resources. So feel like leaning into a professional that can give you some of those ideas is a really great step in the right direction too. Yeah, would say just start basically and start to make it happen. And then you'll start to see the benefit over time.

Sarah Schlichter (24:38)
Mm-hmm.

Beth Stark (24:46)
you know, then you'll do more and more and more. You'll be like, it just becomes part of the day to day and part of your routine.

Sarah Schlichter (24:52)
Yes, and I've heard a phrase that I think applies here really well. It's don't compare your beginning to someone else's end. So if you're seeing people with these beautiful meals, meal prepping every night, and how do they have the time, you you don't have to compare yourself to that person. That might work well for their family or their lifestyle. Maybe their time is split differently, but whatever works for you. And honestly, meal prep doesn't even have to look like cooking. It can mentally be

we're going to be at soccer on Tuesday. So maybe I can plan, you know, a snack like dinner to your point, a snack board when I bring my other kids with me to watch and sit on a picnic. Like what a fun experience to me. That's kind of meal prepping because you've thought ahead, you brought the meal to the game. You're still kind of enjoying a family meal, which I'm very big on too. And it can look just a little bit different. So I also think encouraging people to look out of the box and

Beth Stark (25:39)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (25:45)
and really define what meal prep means for them, because it definitely doesn't have to be cooking a meal from scratch every night in your kitchen to enjoy sitting at the table, everyone perfectly not talking and sitting there for 30 minutes, because that's just kind of unrealistic in my opinion.

Beth Stark (26:01)
No, I fully agree. And you one thing I failed to mention is, you know, kind of in my own process, when I'm thinking about meal planning, it's also like, well, what do we have Monday night? What do we have Tuesday night? really looking and assessing at, you know, what the schedule looks like in the week, because, you know, if it's a Monday evening, we have a soccer practice in the middle of the evening, I probably wouldn't prepare.

certain recipes. Maybe I would do a slow cooker recipe that evening or something that, it's cooking while we're at practice and, you know, it can be ready and take out of the oven when we return home. So I think factoring and also those commitments you have within the week, how does that play a role within your meal planning as well? And I really do love the idea of having a picnic, changing the location, whatever it is and really what works best for you. And further to your point, I mean, a bowl of cereal with some fruit on the side.

can be dinner. If you're having a particularly hectic day, there's nothing wrong with that. Keeping it just really realistic and simple, as long as everyone's nourished and feeling well. I mean, it's not the ultimate goal. It doesn't have to be even a hot meal. Sometimes in my own head, I even struggle with that. Something like a quick sandwich, that can't be dinner, but it can. Why not? ⁓

Sarah Schlichter (27:06)
Mm-hmm.

Yes,

those are such great points. think we tend to, especially as dieticians, can get caught in the details and, our type A side can come out. But I think we also want to be real with people and, and discouraged from being, you don't need it to look perfect. Better is done than perfect. And whatever works for you and your family in a certain season, even grabbing takeout on the way home or a frozen lasagna from the grocery store to heat up.

you know, if that works for you and you can all eat together before busy activities, like I am all for that.

Beth Stark (27:36)
Mm-hmm.

yeah, mean really lean into those convenience, know, and ready to eat, heat and eat types of options that, are available in so many different places. And, absolutely. I mean, they fit well within the context of an overall nutritious diet. And sometimes you have to factor in like what, is most realistic and a hundred percent lean into those things and save yourself the headache and the stress whenever you can.

Sarah Schlichter (28:03)
Yeah, yeah, I've

really enjoyed this conversation. I'm hoping it'll give some listeners some actionable tips. So I feel like we've been kind of sharing tips throughout, but to round things out, maybe you can summarize or in your opinion, what are two to three realistic tips that listeners can start doing this week to make meal prep easier?

Beth Stark (28:24)
Yeah, well, and you like you alluded to earlier. mean, just with the start of school here in our district, you know, I'm like really looking at this week as this is like the first week of January. It's like new chapter, fresh start, get back on track. So if you're in that place, you know, I would say, within the next week, you know, give yourself some grace over the weekend. Start on, Saturday, Sunday as you have a little bit of time and look at the week ahead. choose one to two meals that you can plan within your family's routine, and make it happen. If it's something like, frozen heat and eat.

meatballs that you throw into some sauce in your slow cooker and that serves as sandwiches for one night, spaghetti and meatballs another night, or some variation over the course of the week, that's a win. So starting small and making it happen in that one to two meals over the week. And goodness, would say too, just for thinking of back to school season, think wherever you can prepare those school lunches the evening before.

just mornings can be so tricky and so stressful. giving yourself that time in the evening, maybe as you're cleaning up from dinner or whatever it is when you're already in the kitchen, kind of assembling things where you can or have them all ready to go right into the lunchbox that next morning with your child's input, even better and save yourself that hustle in the morning. it's just one less thing, one less thing. There's so much other stuff going on in the morning.

Sarah Schlichter (29:38)
Mm-hmm.

Beth Stark (29:41)
You'll be able to relax me via another couple of minutes.

Sarah Schlichter (29:44)
Yeah. Enjoy your hot coffee or make sure

you're feeding yourself breakfast. You can spend that two minutes doing that. Yeah.

Beth Stark (29:48)
Yes, yes. Yeah, that's a

whole other conversation, right, Sarah?

Sarah Schlichter (29:53)
it totally is.

I used to work with clients and they would tell me, I forgot to eat. I'm like, how, did you forget to eat breakfast? then enter kids. I get it. I get it now.

Beth Stark (30:03)
Yeah,

exactly. Sometimes you do, you're so focused on other things. It's like, you know, the noon hour passes and suddenly your stomach's growling. You're like, I missed lunch. yeah, you can relate. But yeah, nourish yourself too. Yeah, don't forget about that.

Sarah Schlichter (30:13)
Yes.

Yeah, and

hopefully all of these tips can help you, just thinking ahead and sometimes set a timer on your phone if you need to. Sometimes I have to do that to pull myself away from the computer.

Beth Stark (30:25)
Absolutely.

Sarah Schlichter (30:27)
All right, Beth, well, thank you so much for sharing all of your insight here. If listeners want to learn more about you, how can they find you?

Beth Stark (30:35)
Yeah, well, I have a website. It's Beth, BethStarkNutrition.com. I do have some recipes on there. Again, know, knowing that I do some recipe development projects and things for some clients. If you're looking for me related to beef nutrition, you can find me at pabeef.org's website. have some, I have a way to contact me through there if you're looking for different recipe inspiration or nutrition information about beef. So this would be a couple ways to connect.

Sarah Schlichter (31:00)
Awesome. Well, thank you so much and we'll look forward to following along this year.

Beth Stark (31:04)
Yeah, sounds great. Thanks, Sarah.