Elizabeth Ries: Beautifully Simple Food

In this episode of Regenerative Renegades, we're shaking things up! Host Matt Maier steps aside to introduce a special guest host- his daughter and the show's producer, Melissa Maier. Melissa takes the reins to interview Minnesota's media powerhouse, Elizabeth Ries.

Elizabeth has been co-hosting Twin Cities Live for 16 years and is a weekly contributor to Minnesota Live. She shares her passion for intentional living through her blog, Home to Homestead, and her podcast, Best to the Nest, where she explores how to bring your best self to your home life with her husband and their children. Beyond her media career, Elizabeth is a dedicated urban homesteader—growing her own food, raising chickens, composting, and cooking—all from her home in Minneapolis. She believes that every household, regardless of size or location, can embrace homesteading principles and live more sustainably. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to Regenerative Renegades. In this episode, I'm delighted to welcome Elizabeth Reese, one of Minnesota's most beloved and bold media personalities. If you know about Elizabeth, you know she's passionate about understanding where her food comes from and what's in her food and what's not in her food. Case in point, she's been to Thousand Hills Farm several times doing her research. As a mother, Elizabeth cares deeply about providing for her children with the best nutrition and teaching them food values like farm to table and regenerative agriculture. That's why for this episode, we have a very special guest host, my daughter, Melissa Larson. She has also dedicated her professional life to public health and nutrition. It's her passion, along with parenting, much like Elizabeth, so you know they'll have a lot in common and it'll be a great conversation. Hope you join us.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Well, hello, Regenerative Renegades. Welcome back to the Regenerative Renegade podcast, where we are talking to people focused on regenerative agriculture, guests who are passionate and resilient people telling their stories of trial, hope, resiliency. And we are here with the amazing guest, Elizabeth Reese, who I consider a local media Minnesota powerhouse who has strong food values and a wealth of knowledge. Elizabeth Reese has been the co-host of Twin Cities Live for 16 years, I think I just heard, and is a weekly contributor to Minnesota Live. Raised in Apple Valley, a Minnesota girl, Apple Valley graduate. And with all of that, she finds time to grow her own food, raising chickens, composting, cooking in the city of Minneapolis for more than a decade, living here in Minneapolis. She believes every home can incorporate some homesteading principles, even if you have a tiny yard, apartment, or balcony. She shares her adventures in garden and kitchen on her blog, Home to Homestead, and has a podcast called Best to the Nest, bringing your best self to home. Elizabeth is a proud parent to three wonderful kiddos who I just had the chance to meet, and she shares her home with her husband, Jay. Welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

This is so fun. It's kind of like interesting to hear all that stuff about yourself. You realize, wow, I do do all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

You are amazing. Some

SPEAKER_01 2:55

days are better than others. You're doing your best every day. That's the truth. We can see it. freedom to run is the best thing.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Well, they're city kids, but they understand agriculture and food and where their food comes from, which is incredible. So kudos to

SPEAKER_01 3:36

you, mom. Thank you. They do. That's a really important thing for me. It's an important value. That is really the reason why we have the chickens and the garden and why we selfishly make friends with farmers like you so that I can be like, let's go visit. Because I think... That is just really one of our core values. It's important to me. It's important to my husband. And they know where their food comes from. They know what everything is. We say our motto in our house is nobody works harder than a farmer. And so we really just have the utmost respect for what you and your family does. And it's just so important to me to not only share that with the people who follow me on all sorts of different media areas, but then to really integrate that into my home and how I raise my children.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

What an honor. Thank you. Thank you for being here. food journey. How did you become so knowledgeable and engaged in food and where your food's coming from?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Well, there's kind of, I mean, throughout my life, there's been a few sort of aha moments where I've, you know, realized some things and then made some big shifts. And one of them started, you know, I grew up in the 80s and 90s in a real typical time where I think a lot of our food was from scratch. And then it became cheaper and easier to buy more convenience food. And so my parents definitely did that. But my parents were really big into juicing. They would juice. They had an electric juicer on the counter all the time. And both of them lost parents really young to cancer. So my mom's dad died at 48 of colon cancer. My dad's mom died five days before I was born of fallopian tube cancer. And I think, you know, my parents were really young. I mean, they were in their young 20s. They really missed out on having– You know, we never got those grandparents. It was just a short relationship with those parents. And so I think they sort of looked at juicing as like this insurance policy. Like my mom was very into reading about like alternative cancer treatments and different clinics in Mexico and Germany and all these different things. And so they sort of, even though I don't consider our, you know, our diet to have been perfect by any means, I remember them always like they would have the juicer out and And it'd be first we would start with apple carrot and then they would add a little bit of greens and then they would add some ginger. And then it was just like you take it down like a champ, whatever they gave to you. So that I think was was sort of a core experience. And then when I was in college. I worked at Aveda part-time, and I just needed a job, and I wanted a discount on products. And so I got a job at Aveda, and that was really interesting because at that time, Aveda, I think there's still some values there. It's owned by Estee Lauder now, but it was owned by Horst Ruckelbacher, who... who is an Austrian native, but ended up living much of his life in Minnesota and was really groundbreaking. And so much of the ethos of that company was about, I remember this book that you get when you first start working there and one of his quotes was, everything we put in and on our bodies must be nutritious and safe. And so they give you this book and I thought, oh my gosh. And I met people who worked there who had that same value. And that was a really big, shift for me when I started to really pay attention and that was when I was in college and then I'd moved into my own apartment and so I started cooking I started like understanding where food came from when I got to my first job in television was in Duluth I was 21 years old I started as a reporter and then I got the morning anchor gig six weeks in and I had no idea what I was doing but I had to get up at 2 30 in the morning and I really learned how much what I ate and like drank, like anything like that, how much it contributed to how I felt. And I mean, it's just such a shock to have to wake up at that hour and live your life and function. And so that was another part of just learning like, okay, what I'm putting in my body really impacts me. And then I read a couple of books by John Robbins. I had a boyfriend at the time whose sister was vegan. And he said, if you read these books, you're probably going to become vegan. But it was Diet for a New America and the Food Revolution And I'm not a point, it was like all the co-ops were selling tofu. It was like veggie stuff. And then it became just one thing after another of just my curiosity was just never ending. And I became so curious and I just wanted to read everything about food and learn. Authors like Michael Pollan have been really influential on me and learning about how food impacts us and how food impacts the environment. And then a lot of understanding that maybe the narrative that we have been told about what is great for the environment isn't necessarily the truth. And

SPEAKER_02 9:45

for our bodies

SPEAKER_01 9:46

and for our food. Yes, exactly. And so it's been a long journey and a long process. And then just really getting to know farmers. I do remember as a kid, Growing up– and we grew up in the suburbs, so we didn't grow up like near farms or anything like that. And I remember going up to northern Wisconsin and staying with my aunt and uncle, and my aunt took us to a farmer friend's house, and we drank goat milk, right? Like literally milked the goat and drank the goat. You know, milked it, drank it, and I was like, this is unbelievable. It's like a core memory for me. And so it's just– Really continued. So I would say it's, you know, it's been well over 20 years of like pretty intensive food research.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

And it's all based on curiosity.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

All based on

SPEAKER_02 10:31

curiosity. All based on curiosity. Yeah. Starting with a juicer. I know. And I think it's interesting you mentioned vegan and vegetarians and those lifestyles. Yeah. What I find when I start having conversations with people who have those food values and choose to become vegan or vegetarian, we actually have a lot in common. Yes. Because we care. We care about what's happening to the animals. We care about what's happening to people, our bodies. We care deeply about, first ourselves probably, but then beyond that and animal welfare. And there's so many similarities in kind of regenerative agriculture and And vegan, veganism, if that's a word.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

It is. I think it's like a religion. I mean, it's a whole thing. But,

SPEAKER_02 11:19

you know, it's interesting because we, you know, we are here raising cattle. We have grass fed beef, but there are so many animals. you know, when you start having those conversations, really common ground

SPEAKER_01 11:31

there. I totally agree. There's, I mean, really when it comes down to the core, for me, it was about animal welfare and I cared more about the animal welfare than I did about my own. And, um, And I think that's probably true for a lot of vegans and vegetarians who would say, like, I want to sacrifice what probably is, I know, is a nutrient-dense food, but I want to do that in the name of welfare. Right. For animals, I think it just gets a little bit wonky in terms of execution, in my opinion. For sure. For sure. Yeah. Not interested in a Beyond Burger over here, I'll just say it.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Absolutely right. Yeah. Yes. I think there's all kinds of interesting studies. We don't need to go too far down that path, but comparing certain non-meat burgers with grass-fed beef and the nutritional values. So there's a lot to be said there. And then who knows what else is in there from a chemical compound

SPEAKER_01 12:30

perspective. For sure. Yeah. And it really, to me, it's about like, let's cut through the noise and let's get more simple. Let's just get... to the base of what's good and utilize that. I mean, we've just overcomplicated food so much. We've industrialized, centralized, and overcomplicated to a point where it's killing us. And that's not an exaggeration to say that because you can look at the statistics and I don't have to have an MD behind my name to be able to say that. It is a real crisis.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

It

SPEAKER_01 13:02

is. And the simplification is actually a really beautiful thing. I was just talking with the founders of a cool cereal company yesterday, and they're just doing something totally different. They left a major cereal manufacturer and said, we don't want to do this anymore. We want to make something different. And I was discussing with these guys kind of their journey, and I was like so curious about it. We were talking about how people can get really overwhelmed with the idea of shifting their diet into what I like to call a nutrient-dense philosophy or eating philosophy. And But I've actually found it really liberating because when I go to the grocery store or a lot of my food dollars I spend directly with farmers. So I'll have certain farms, some things I go pick up, some things I get delivered to my house. And then I certainly go to the grocery store just like any normal person. But when you look in the aisle of anything, We are overwhelmed with choices. It's almost like paralysis level where you stand there and you're like, there's 45 yogurts. Like, what are we doing? There's so many things here. And so... And cereals, for that example. Crackers, pastas, all the things. And when you really clearly define your food values and you know... which producers and brands align with those food values, it's actually so freeing because I go in and I go, okay, I'm either choosing between this pasta or this pasta and that's it. I'm getting this yogurt or this yogurt and that's it. I'm getting these eggs and that's it because you know that these are the ones that align with your food values. I'd love to have it where I went in and everything just aligned because I think that would make our system a lot better. But in the meantime, instead of thinking of it as this overwhelming thing mountain to climb, you can think of it as, I just have fewer choices. That is great.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

And so you're really far down that journey of defining your food values, knowing where they are by food category. But what about somebody who's thinking about, hey, I just need to start somewhere? Where do you recommend to start?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Well, I think starting local is really important. I think if you can start local... and that can sort of be your first food value, that really cuts through the clutter because you can choose where you're shopping and what you're buying, and you can really contribute to a decentralized food system. I mean, I don't think anybody would say, except for these giant producers, that it's a great idea to have a handful of meatpacking buildings and that's it in the entire country because you see what happens when they shut down or there's a problem or there's something and when we are so heavily relying on just one operation that operation has essentially a monopoly and then can get away with a ton of maltreatment of workers of the environment they're too powerful so thinking about local is great and then you're immediately cutting out stuff getting shipped a really long distance you are You're saying miles. choosing the one that's local versus not makes a really big difference. And then I think defining your food values is important. I think defining your values in your household is important for all sorts of things. We all think about that. We look at like, okay, what's our values for the schools that we're going to send our kids to? What are our spiritual practices going to be? And what are those values? And food is something that's almost... overlooked in those other two areas.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Yeah. At home and outside of

SPEAKER_01 17:11

the home. Yes, for sure. I mean, I grew up in the church. My dad was a Lutheran minister. Nobody talked about food values when it came to churches. And I think it's like a white space. It's empty because it's something that is so huge in terms of our bodies and How can we be mentally well if we're not feeding our bodies well? It's very difficult. It's a foundational need for everything. Have you tried to survive off of like cupcakes and cocktails for a weekend? You're not going to feel very good. And we all know that. Try it. You'll see. It's not great. So defining what your food values are is important. And maybe some of that is, I mean, it certainly, I think, can be nutrient density. It certainly can be making things from scratch, animal welfare should be significant in there. And then as you start to make those decisions about, okay, what's important to us here, then you can make your buying choices accordingly.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Right, right. And I think that's a great point, local, starting there. And then with that, ideally, or hopefully, those farmers or local producers will be open to having you come in. Maybe not always, but at least you can be comfortable asking or saying, hey, can I see what's happening here? Or start asking questions because then they become real people.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

You know, there's people tied and associated with the food and their livelihood depends on you, us, purchasing that food. Totally. Yeah. And just I think people underestimate the power that they have in the dollar and what they're spending. And it matters. Spending a couple extra cents on anything, a couple pounds of ground beef or your produce, and you can and you could taste the difference. Kind of we like to say the way food was, but you can taste it and you can you can. it almost, it triggers a certain nostalgia sometimes when you have high quality, nutrient dense foods. And then your point of being local you can make those connections or do what you do. The perfect role model of bringing your kids and having them see and experience what's going on and making this a community.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, having those relationships is important. And your dad said something that I thought was really important. Last time we were here and we did an interview with him, And I said, is it, you know, do you want people to know your farmer? And he said, it's not enough to know your farmer. You need to know your farmer's practices. And I was like, wow. What is happening there? It even pushes it even further because I'm kind of Minnesota nice and I'm thinking like, well, I don't want to intrude. And he said, no, you need to know your farmer's practices. You need to know what their values are and then you choose accordingly. Right. Yeah. But it's, you know, the thing is too, the bottom line is once you start, once you start eating well and nourishing your family this way, you can't go back because you realize the difference that It makes. And I see it all the time. I mean, I see it with kids all the time. I have three little kids. We're all the time with kids. We're part of the community just like anybody else. We go to the pool and the other kids are crushing ring pops and all this garbage. And you see the meltdowns. You see the reactions. And I'm not going to say that my children are perfect by any means. There's absolutely no expectation of that. But I do know that their little bodies are fueled and their little minds are even. And you think about what that's doing to our children. I mean, do you think that they want to be losing their minds and freaking out and dysregulated? And I don't think that they do. And it doesn't mean that they're not gonna have a bad moment, but it means that you could have maybe 10% of meltdowns versus 60% of meltdowns. And that's really significant. And you think you're doing the easy thing by just handing them a package of Oreos or handing them a package of this stuff. And I don't think it's overstating it to say that it's not treating your children well. It's just not. And I know that's hard because it's like there can be some guilt that goes along with it. And I don't like the idea of... necessarily demonizing food, but I also think we need to define what food is. And something that can sit on a shelf in a package that has been completely denatured from what its original plant or animal was is not a food that's a food-like product that's sitting out there. And the difference is important.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Very carefully crafted to taste good in the short term, right? Yes. very carefully but offering your body no no nourishment right that's such a great point and then you know that brings me to thinking about what's served in our schools and and yeah making you know and there are wonderful wonderful people serving school meals um but They're limited so tightly on budget and regulation and meal components. So... what do you do? How do

SPEAKER_01 22:43

you solve that with your kids? Well, I send them to school with food and I know that there are, you know, and that's difficult because I, I'm really, I love that in the state of Minnesota school lunch is included in the cost of doing business. I think that's just a recent change. And I think that's how it should have been forever. And so it, I mean, it gets tricky because, you know, you're like, oh, we don't necessarily want to talk politics, but food is political. Access to food is political policy. Political policy impacts how we eat. And so, um, I consider this a totally bipartisan issue. I think it should be an everyone issue. And so I send my children to school with their food for the day. And then there are certain days on school lunches that they like. So then we'll sign them up for school lunches on those days. And I really try to just make sure that we eat at home most of the time. So I set them up for success with a really solid breakfast. I do a lot of quick prep the night before. for. We do sourdough waffles almost every day. And I make them a few times a week. Homemade waffles. Homemade.

UNKNOWN 23:49

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

I make them a couple days a week, though. And then I pop them in there. We might need to trade some jerky for waffles. Listen, I am always willing to barter. And your jerky is worth more than my waffles. I'll tell you that right now. That's totally true.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

You haven't met my daughter who loves waffles.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

They're so good. So I do the I do you know, things like that where I'm really setting them up for success during the day. And then because I have to leave room for the reality is that there's going to be junk that gets in there. You know, I mean, my daughter just the other day was like, I tried Cheetos. And I'm like, where are these Cheetos coming from? You know, but it's happening at school. You know, how do drugs get into prisons? I don't know. Cheetos are getting into schools. It's getting in there. And then I think also, you know, just trying to crowd out the the quote-unquote bad with the good and then also really teaching my kids to notice how they feel after certain things and to honor that when we have treats or we have things that it's totally okay to just be done i mean i i baked brownies last night they had sugar in them but they had they also had sourdough starter they had you know really great pasture-raised eggs all these things but it's still like a super sugary treat right and then Heathcliff, my four-year-old was– I gave each kid their own brownie and then Heathcliff got through about half of it and was like, I think I'm done. And it's like, it's great. Just like honor that and let it

SPEAKER_03 25:13

go.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

And understanding. We will go– here's an example. So I make popcorn. with butter all the time. And we get great popcorn from local farms and sometimes it's purple and it's all these different things. And then I do really great butter that I melt and put on it and really great salt. And then I took them to a movie theater Oh no. And we got popcorn at the movie theater because I'm not going to be like, you know, I guess I could smuggle it in in a bag, which would be one way to go, but I'm not a total lunatic. I might be. So I said, okay, we're going to go to see this movie. We're going to get the popcorn. And they ate the popcorn and they were like, this is not popcorn. Like this doesn't Tastes like popcorn. This doesn't feel like popcorn. And it was so interesting. But those little lessons... Next time, I probably will smuggle in our own popcorn because... There you go. My children were so averse to it. But it was a cool opportunity for them to learn, wow, like... Popcorn isn't just popcorn. And that's the thing about all food. An apple isn't just an apple. Eggs aren't just eggs. Strawberries aren't just strawberries. It matters where it's coming from, where it's grown, whose hands have touched it, and how it's been produced.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

I love that example. I love the popcorn example because I've had similar experiences where I bring my kids somewhere and they– Well, a hot dog. They'll see a hot dog and want to get it. And then now they're questioning, wait, what kind of hot dog is this? Where does this come from? What's in this? And if we're at a concession stand, usually the person working at the concession stand doesn't know the answers. And so we'll find something else. But they do. They recognize it. And their little senses can pick up probably a lot better than us who have been trained for many years to have Anything,

SPEAKER_01 27:06

anything to fuel us up. For the short term. Totally. I feed my kids hot dogs all the time. I mean, we have hot dogs all the time. They're Thousand Hills lifetime grazed hot dogs. They are in my fridge at all times. We did not ask her to plug. I'm a happy longtime customer. You know, I've been buying Thousand Hills for years and years and it is the best. I tell everybody about it. But that's another example. It's like we put on this guilt of going– oh, I just fed my kids hot dogs. Well, you don't have to feel that guilt if you're just making the choice about hot dogs. It's even, you know, you can say, oh gosh, I did mac and cheese for dinner. Well, guess what? I feed my kids mac and cheese all the time and I use really great pasta. I use really great milk that I get straight from the farm, cheese straight from the farm, a little bit of flour and butter, and I make a roux. It takes me maybe five minutes longer than doing a box with a powder. And I feel absolutely zero guilt whatsoever because I know it's a really great food.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

And at the same time, for us, our family, we have moderation. We have a box of mac and cheese every once in a while. That's what we have. That's what's available. And that's okay. For us, that's okay. We do have very similar food values in our house of making sure we know and we're thoughtful about where it comes from. And just like you, local. But you know what? Sometimes We just go out and we just order whatever because we're really tired. But to your point again, they recognize the differences of those

SPEAKER_01 28:44

things. Yeah, they do. They totally do.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Yeah, they do. And sometimes we'll– going back to your senses, sometimes we'll have our kids– well, my kids actually encourage us. They want to close their eyes and they'll do taste tests and they will– Identify either what they're eating for maybe it's a new produce or something or the differences in different types of oranges. And they'll really recognize this one has more flavor. This one's juicier. And so they're really it's fun. It's fun to see them grow and develop. And their brains are working in different ways, too, by changing. increasing their senses. I love

SPEAKER_01 29:25

that. Oh, that's so fun. The kids, it's so fun to be around them. You're totally right. And I think it is important too that when you're making those convenience choices or you're going out to eat. I mean, we just went out to eat as a family the other night and we went to a great local restaurant. I mean, I don't know what kind of beef they're using. I don't know if the bun is non-GMO. I don't know any of that, but we all sat together. We had a really great dinner. We had a wonderful conversation. We were like playing tic-tac-toe and playing games. And so that intentional time is important too. I think it's just... It is worth investing in. It's worth investing your time and your money in. And I know that can be an unpopular thing to say because of the economic climate and people feeling like everything is so expensive. But I will tell you there are a lot of things that I forego and that I did forego even when I was making$19,000 a year at my first job in TV and feeding myself. I was making choices that, you know, I don't go get my nails done. I don't go, you know, I'm not getting like eyelash extensions. I'm not doing things like that because... I want to be conscious about our food budget is definitely higher than probably the average American families. And Americans on average spend a lower percentage of their income on food than a lot of other countries. It's true. And we're fed worse. I mean, that's just the way that it is. You have to invest in what's important. And there's a cost on either end. If you're not paying for it, that means that somebody along the chain is being taken advantage of because the cost is the cost. So either it's being subsidized, we're having massive crops that are subsidized by our government, so taxpayers are paying for it, or you have farm workers that aren't paid well, that aren't treated well. You have shortcuts in nutrition because it's a highly processed cheap food that's being sold at a large markup. You're lying to yourself if you're telling you that cheap food is just cheap because You're

SPEAKER_02 31:30

absolutely right. And thinking about kind of on the economic side of things, back to our farmers. If we cut out and decentralize some of that system, we are building up farmers. And we need farmers. I mean, farmers are retiring. On average, they're, I don't know the exact statistic, but they're, I think, creeping into the 60s as an American farmer. Now what? What happens next? And how can we help boost up those who are emerging farmers coming into the market, wanting to steward our land, steward our bodies and raise good food? We can have a direct impact on them and building up the economy of and the livelihood of farmers who are wanting to do the right thing.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Well, and I almost think even to, you know, you think about like, how comfortable people feel going to a farmer's market and being like, oh, would you take$2 for that bag of potatoes instead of$3 for that bag of potatoes? Sure. Would you ever go into the Target in your neighborhood and say, hey, cashier, would you take$2 for this bag of potatoes instead of$3 for this bag of potatoes? I would really encourage people to think that bartering with a farmer, and I will go so far as to say is offensive, because it is so devaluing to the work that they are doing. Farmers should be exalted. Farmers are absolutely a gift. Without farms, we have no food. And without small, diverse farms, we are on our way to environmental disaster, which we are. And so think about when you're going into a small business and you feel okay asking them for a discount, would you do that at a big box store? If you'll do it at a big box store and you're successful, then maybe okay. But if you're not, then I think pay the person what they're worth or say to the farmer, oh my gosh, these potatoes are so beautiful. It's$4 a bag. Here's a five. Keep the change. Give the farmer a freaking break.

SPEAKER_02 33:39

Well, and I think we're safe to say no farmer goes into this for money. No. To become rich. I mean, that's not what they're doing. They're trying to make a living for raising good food. And it's not about making the big bucks anywhere. So you're absolutely right. Yeah. Let's pay the true cost of food. I mean, you mentioned subsidies. We're already paying for the cheaper food indirectly through

SPEAKER_01 34:07

our subsidies. You're right, though. I mean, money is hard to talk about. And I think it can be difficult when people can, you know, and I understand this when people go, oh, well, you're on TV. You're probably making a ton of money. Well, yeah, I'm doing better than I was for sure. Yeah. If I was at an Oprah level, guys, we'd be in a whole different ballgame. We'd be

SPEAKER_02 34:27

sitting in this

SPEAKER_01 34:27

farmhouse studio. I would have bought you a farm, a different farm, whatever. I own my own farm that I'd be losing money on. But I think you have to talk about it and you have to think about what your food values are. And if you're in... A severe poverty situation, obviously, that's a different ballgame. But even in those situations, there are a lot of opportunities. We work with tons of organizations on Twin Cities Live where we talk to food banks and food pantries who have tons of fresh food, but a lot of folks come in and don't know how to use it and don't know how to put it together. And so the other element of teaching people how to cook, teaching people what real food is, valuing that as a skill, and not just a throwaway of, oh, you know, I have to cook. I think learning how to cook is by far the best skill that you can possibly have when it comes to your health of your body and the health of your finances.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

That's so true. So what's your favorite thing on the menu?

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Oh, gosh, all the things on the menu. I do a lot of like kind of strategizing things. Yeah, absolutely. Brining chicken has totally changed my life. Are you brining your chicken?

SPEAKER_02 36:01

No, I have one ready for dinner

SPEAKER_01 36:03

tonight, but tell me more. Okay. So I buy pasture-raised chickens, which can tend to be like a little bit leaner, a little bit smaller. And so I do a brine and it's really simple. It's just some sugar, salt, some spices, and then you just have to heat up water a little bit to make those dissolve. You know, I'll do like peppercorns and a bay leaf and some thyme, whatever. And then... dilute that brine with extra water and then put the chicken in my Dutch oven and let it sit for, you know, 12 hours. And then I take it out and I kind of pat it dry. And then I do a compound butter. So I just mix in some butter with some garlic, some lemon zest, salt, pepper, and herbs. And then you got to get in there between the skin. You got to get intimate with the bird. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 36:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

So I rub that in between the skin and the flesh of the chicken all over, even the thighs and the drummies. You've got to wiggle in there.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

You're dedicated.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

This is how it's going. Wash your paws regularly. And then I just pop it in. I usually stick the rest of the lemon in the cavity of the chicken and then maybe cut up a small onion or shallots or something and put it in the cavity, tie the legs together, and then pop it in the oven at 400 for an hour until it's like done, but the butter really helps make it so tender and juicy. And then the moisture from the brine, and then the brine also seasons the bird all the way through. I

SPEAKER_02 37:34

am hungry. I know.

UNKNOWN 37:37

I'm hungry.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Now I can't go back to not brining. It's changed my life.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Okay. I'm in. Okay. All right. You're invested. So that's a Sunday meal. What's a quicker weeknight? You got to run, you're doing something with... Kids sports, activities.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

A lot of... I'm not just saying this. Last night, we had Thousand Hills Burgers and I did some really good buns. And then I just did really simple oven fries with potatoes. That was... And then... That's exactly what we had last night. No way. That's it. That's it. That's what we had. And it was easy. And it's easy. And you feel good. I know. And I just pop them on the griddle on my stove. And then I toast up the buns and then do like some pickles and cheese or whatever we all want. And then... Really easy roasted potatoes. And then my kids love frozen fruit. Like they love frozen mango. Yeah. So I just put that in a little dish on the side. Oh. And that's, I mean, it took 20 minutes. Wow. Maybe a little longer to get the potatoes to roast, but I just like pop them in and get it done. I do a lot of sheet pan dinners. Sure. I always keep like sausages on hand and I love to just put those with some potatoes or with some squash or sweet potatoes on a sheet pan and then maybe add broccoli or summer squash or something and then just serve that up and serve like cheese on the side or something. I mean simplicity is really your friend. Chicken thighs I like to do a lot. I love to do like chicken thighs with rice. We do a lot of– We do sloppy joes. We do taco meat. And for that, I've told you this before, but I always use the– I love to use the renegade blend. There's also a bison that I buy from a farm in Cameron, Wisconsin that I love, North Star Bison. Shout out to all the farmers that I love. And then I will do– Then I mix in the organ meats in there and no one has any idea. My husband has no idea he's ever eaten organ meat, just so you know.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Yeah. So the renegade blend secret, it has organ meat in it with the ground beef. So there's some heart and liver that's worked into the renegade. And you can't even tell. No, you can't tell. We have it for tacos, spaghetti, chili. You can't tell for a burger. Yeah. Yeah. It's great. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Yes, we love it. I do a lot of meatballs and a lot of like other meals I like to do are like ground chicken or ground pork, kind of like an Asian bowl that we could do with like make a rice bowl. I'll do just either the ground pork or the ground chicken with... Different, you know, lots of garlic, lots of ginger, some green onions, some like soy sauce, a little fish sauce, rice wine vinegar. I mean, sesame oil. So like really simple things. And then just serve that with rice. I think it's it's tempting to go like dinner has to consist of five different things on the plate. Dinner really needs to consist of like two things on the plate, if even that. And then for kids, I think it's always really great to serve some fruit on the side because there's just one additional thing that they– like I don't really do fruit with dinner. I'm not going to sit there with apples dinner or something dumb like that.

UNKNOWN 40:42

You know, my kids like it.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

Like I don't need blueberries with dinner, but they like it. Great.

UNKNOWN 40:52

Eat it. Eat it.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

And I think that's a really good point. You said earlier cooking is one of the easiest or best things that we can do to help nourish our bodies and ourselves. Well, cooking doesn't have to be complicated. No. And you just proved that, that it can be something very simple. Applying your food values and thinking about and thoughtfully sourced ingredients and putting it in the oven. And you can be quick. It can be convenient. And so good food doesn't have to be inconvenient. It can be very convenient for families and lifestyles and the way that we live and even delivery services. Right. It's just thinking about what delivery service do I have? What's coming into my house? And so I hear sometimes that it's overwhelming, but it really, what you're saying, it can be very simple. It's

SPEAKER_01 41:47

very simple. And sometimes I do a little tough talk with this kind of stuff. And I think that that's okay. I come from a long line of German Lutheran ministers, so a little bit of Deutsche straight talk of like things, you know, this isn't that tough, you know, like that's good, I think. And it is... You are telling... You're buying into a lie if you're believing that it's faster and cheaper to always get fast food. It's just not. And I know this for a fact because I'll buzz over and take my kids to Shake Shack on occasion if we're going back to school shopping or something. And then we go over there and have it. And we order burgers, a couple orders of fries, and one shake for everybody to share. And it's$85. I mean, it's simply... not cheaper. And when I drive home and I see the Culver's down the street has a lineup of 20 cars in line, it's not faster to sit in that line and wait for the Culver's. Now, I mean, I get if you're like going from to and fro or whatever, things can be a little bit more complicated, but it takes me 20 minutes to put most of the meals together. Like it's Get the rice to come to a boil. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Do the other stuff in there. We are eating in 20 minutes. And then also just making some– sometimes you have to make some hard choices based on your food values. Our food value is I want to eat dinner at home almost all of the time. And so when we started having children, we– like I wanted to live out on six acres in Afton with all of my heart. And we had a purchase agreement signed on this like really great farmhouse.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Oh, it was real.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

It was real. And it was just down the street from my pig farmers, Karen and Sally, who lived out there. So I mean, it was like all the things, you know. And then I had to really get real with myself of going, okay, I also... Love my job. I need to work at this job in order to pay for the life that we have. My husband worked downtown Minneapolis. My husband has to do a lot of evening entertaining of like taking clients to wild games and doing things like that. It's a hard job, I'm sure, unless it doesn't sound exhausting. And we had to really get real about, well, how are we going to do that? How am I going to get off the set at 4.30 or whenever and have a meeting? get home with a child, get to pick them up or wherever, start dinner and I'm adding in a 45 minute commute each way. And it became, that's not gonna work. And so we made the choice, we stayed in a really tiny house in Minneapolis for a long time to save up to be able to stay in the city too. And then we integrate our food values into our life in the city. So we have a garden, we have chickens, we have those things. And we try to find the best of both worlds because, and really that decision was because of dinner. Food values. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

It's all connected. Yes. It's a lifestyle. Yeah. But wow, good for you. It's good for

SPEAKER_01 45:05

you and your

SPEAKER_02 45:06

family and

SPEAKER_01 45:07

you're doing that. I pay that city of Minneapolis property tax bill. Does it feel good? No, I do it.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

So what gives you hope, Elizabeth, in our food system or next generations of food and eaters?

SPEAKER_01 45:23

Okay, a couple things. I think, well, the relationships that I've built with farmers really gives me hope because, I mean, even just getting to know you over the last year, getting to know, you know, I could like start just saying the names of farmers who I've developed relationships with. And, you know, You're living it. You

SPEAKER_02 45:42

know your farmer.

SPEAKER_01 45:42

I know my farmer. I love it. Because I'm the biggest– I'm like a farm fangirl. My co-host on Twin Cities Live, Ben Lieber, makes fun of me because I'll be like, oh, he's a very– that's a very famous farmer. farmer. And he's like, what is wrong with you? You talk about farmers like people talk about rock stars. And I'm like, oh my gosh, Joel Salatin's like the biggest deal ever. Or even like food people. If I ever met Michael Powell and I would lose my mind, he's like, you talk about Michael Powell and people will talk about Mick Jagger. How about Alice Waters? Oh, Alice Waters. I mean, let's go. I mean, all of the things. So The more that I know farmers and the more that I know, especially young farmers who are saying, I want to raise my family, food values are really important to me, or meeting those guys who left the big cereal company to do something different and better. And their dads, one of them was like, I got a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a two-year-old. And I'm like, we can be friends. So that totally gives me hope because I feel like people... are out there on the ground doing the work. And I'm just trying to figure out how to elevate them and amplify them and support them. And then the second thing that really gives me hope, and I know this is going to be shocking, but is social media. Really? Yes. Because the amount of curiosity from people on social media... I am not kidding, Melissa. I spend... I don't know, probably half an hour a day replying to messages from people who say, hey, Elizabeth, where do you get your salmon? Hey, okay, so I want to do a CSA for the first time. Which one should I do? And how do I do it? Hey, you mentioned that you order from this farm. How do you do it? Where do you get your eggs? Hey, Elizabeth, I'm thinking that we're going to get chickens in the spring. We want to do this. How do I do it? And I am just like, my thumbs are tired from just writing this back. And it's the best form of fatigue because I just go, oh my gosh, everybody is waking up. They are waking up and they are going, I'm going to make a change. And then once you make one change and you realize that wasn't that hard, then you make the next change. And then you go, then you make the next change. And it is amazing to see how many people say, I don't want to rely on big systems for my health and my nourishment and my well-being. I'm going to know that that innate wisdom is within me. It's God given within me. And I am going to listen to that voice. And I'm going to seek out people who can provide those things for me and learn how to do it for myself. Wow. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 48:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Did you think I was going to say social media? You didn't think

SPEAKER_02 48:33

so. No, I did not think we were going there. Thank you for being a voice for farmers and for... so many people who are leaning on you as a resource. Thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for all of us because we're all part of this food community. And you have the courage to say bold things. So thank you for being a true regenerative renegade. Thank you. I haven't

SPEAKER_01 48:58

gotten canceled yet, so we'll just

SPEAKER_02 49:00

see.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

There's still time. And you're welcome

SPEAKER_02 49:02

back here anytime.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

Well, listen, I love coming here. And I do want to let everybody know, too, that you did a fabulous episode of my podcast, Best to the Nest, that came out on Earth Day 2025. You can find that podcast wherever you get your podcasts. And we just had such a fantastic conversation with you. And it was so fun and You're so knowledgeable and you're just so generous to share. And you're just, you know, you're like me. You're a mom kind of in the trenches. And I think the more that we support each other and share what we've learned with each other, the better off we're going to be. I'm humbled and honored. Thank you. Let's get some beef sticks. Let's go.