List family favorites

Save time by knowing your crowd pleasers

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to keep a list of family favorites.
Make it easy to remember the crowd pleasers so you

(00:24):
can quickly make plans. Let go over will. If you
listen to my Best of Both Worlds podcast, you may
have heard last fall's episode with Claire Tancy, a blogger
and the author of the cookbook Dinner Uncomplicated. Claire aims
to make it easy and fun for families to enjoy
delicious dinners together. One of her tips for doing that

(00:48):
post your family's favorite meals. Make a list of the
five or so meals that reliably satisfy and delight everyone
at the table. Maybe everyone likes pasta with Mary narrow sauce,
or maybe it's tacos. Maybe chicken and veggie stir fry
is a hit at your house, or what about hamburgers
and hot dogs from the grill, or even a breakfast

(01:10):
for dinner option like scrambled eggs. You can probably identify
a few family favorites off the top of your head.
You can also ask your family members for their favorite
meals and take notes. Once you've found out the meals
that everyone around your table likes, post the list somewhere prominent,
like on your fridge or on the inside of a

(01:32):
cabinet or pantry door. You might want to make a
few notes next to the meals, like about which take
more time than the others, and which you're highly likely
to have the ingredients for, even if you haven't been
to the grocery store in a while. But most likely
you'll start getting in the habit of always buying the
ingredients for these meals when you do go to the store. Then,

(01:54):
as you're thinking about the upcoming week's meals, or if
you're pondering on Tuesday afternoon what you're going to have
for dinner, you can pull something from this list of
family favorites and know that everyone will be happy. Knowing
your family's favorites is useful for other aspects of family
life too. For instance, make a list of your family's
favorite weekend activities the science museum, the zoo, a bike ride, swimming.

(02:21):
Be sure you have some indoor options on your list
for days when it's too hot or cold or rainy
to want to be outside. You can mark things that
are seasonal or any that need a reservation, but most
will probably be things that you can do whenever. The
goal is that if you're thinking what should we do
this weekend, you can look at the list and pull

(02:42):
something off and know that everyone will be satisfied. A
list of at home family favorite entertainment can be wise too,
if you aren't going anywhere. What will make everyone satisfied
with the evening movie night with sleeping bags and popcorn,
baking and decorating cookies, building lego projects, board games, drawing

(03:05):
or painting whatever your family reliably enjoys. Right down. With
lists of family favorites at the ready, you won't feel
you have no ideas while simultaneously being overwhelmed by a
world of possibilities. Instead, you're just asking a multiple choice question.
Do I want to make breakfast for dinner chicken and

(03:28):
asparagus stir fry or pasta with butter and parmesan. Should
we go for a bike ride or two the children's museum?
Should we have a movie night or play monopoly? Multiple
choice questions like these require way less bandwidth and energy
to answer, especially when you are choosing from a list
of reliable success You know you can't go wrong. If

(03:53):
you try making a list of family favorites. I'd love
to hear how it goes and what's on your lists.
You can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and
here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

(04:18):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcast at i heeart Media dot com. That Before Breakfast

(04:41):
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or where ever you listen to your favorite shows. H

(05:10):
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