February 7, 2025 • 23 mins
Getting together with the ENTIRE family is always fun and exciting, but planning the meals can feel overwhelming and stressful. I’m excited to break it down for you and offer a manageable way to approach this situation.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Kelsey Nixon and this is Kitchen Prescription, the podcast
you listen to and you don't know what to make
for dinner. Today's episode one hundred and sixteen, Cooking while
on vacation. I hope everyone has had a great week
and that you're settling in nicely to the new ish year.
We all survived January, albeit barely, and I feel the
momentum for the year just starting to pick up a bit,
(00:28):
which is nice. I spent a huge chunk of time
this past week working on a new product for Recipe
Club that will be launching, and I'm genuinely so excited
about it. It's our slow Cooker Printed Recipe collection, where
we have taken our most popular slow cooker recipes and
Recipe Club and printed them on our premium paper and
slipped them into our signature sheet protectors, and they really
(00:52):
just are so great. It's such a valuable resource for
someone who's super overwhelmed. We also included this cheat sheet
that is really helpful, where if you like batch cooking
proteins shreaded chicken, tread to pork threaded beef that you
can use in lunches and quick dinner stout the week.
I've broken it all down for how to prep those
in both the slow cooker or the instant pot and
(01:13):
incorporate them into Recipe Club recipes. One of my favorite
features that I spend so much time on this week
is I converted all of those very popular slow cooker
recipes to instant pot recipes and tested them all because
I know that there are times that you want to
get dinner going in the morning and kind of set
it and forget it, and then there are other times
(01:33):
when you just need dinner done fast. So it is
such a fantastic product. It's going to be launching within
the coming days, and I cannot wait for you guys
to get it, especially if you have recipe binders. This
is a great way to just populate that slow cooker
tab with some really reliable, delicious slow cooker recipes that
(01:56):
are going to save you for those super chaotic days.
In addition to me like putting the literally burned the
midline oil trying to get this product ready to go.
We are preparing to go to Hawaii, so we're going
on a family vacation, my parents, my siblings, all the cousins.
We're headed to Maui, and we are so excited we
(02:17):
can hardly stand it. We've been counting down the remaining
sleeps for days. Every morning my girls wake up and
say three more sleeps, two more sleeps. So we're really
really excited. And speaking of Hawaii, it shouldn't come as
a surprise that my job on the family vacation has
been to make the family meal plan. So we're staying
at a villa type property that's got a full kitchen,
(02:41):
so we have got a lot of casual cooking plan
for the week, meaning no one's stressing. We're all there
to relax and be on vacation. But with as many
little kids as we have in the age of the cousins,
it certainly does not make sense to go out for
every meal, not to mention that is crazy expensive, especially
in Hawaii, and so we are going to cook a
fair amount. So I want to walk you through how
(03:02):
that planning process has gone and what we're.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Planning to make.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
But first let's get into a few recipe ideas you
could throw on your meal plan for the week. Now,
this is varying a little bit from the traditional recipe
club meal plan.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I know some of you guys like to.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Follow it closely, and then the podcast almost always compliments that.
But this week I'm updating it with what we're actually
making on vacation. So first recipe. This has been a
hit the past two times you've gotten together as a
family and cooked for a large group my sesame chicken subs.
It's nearly a five ingredient recipe. The magic is in
(03:38):
this CPI sesame dressing that is so good, so so
so good, and Costco almost always has it, but there
was a time about a three month period last year
when they didn't, and so I made a homemade version
of this recipe or of this sauce, and it was
every bit is good. So whether you make my homemade
(03:58):
version of the recipe or you use this awesome shortcut ingredient,
these are so good. You marinate chicken in this dressing,
you're gonna grill off some peppers and onions, and you're
gonna do it on sub rolls. You do sliced avocado.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And it is just delicious.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And we have a grill, so we're gonna grill this all.
But you could also do this in a skillet or
on a sheet pan. But it's just a really delicious
sandwich and something you should consider if you are ever
feeding a big group. Second recipe is we're gonna do
some sort of shrimp or fish taco situation based on
what we pick up that's local in Hawaii, and then
(04:35):
for the kids that don't like fish, we'll do chicken
tacos and quiesandillas. But I'm going to do my cilantroal limeslot.
I'm gonna make my pickled onions to go with that,
and it's just going to be perfectly delicious.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We're also thinking about making Hawaiian haystacks, which is a
throwback from our childhood.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
We might have to do both.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So we're flip flopping back and forth, and then we
will be there for the big game, the Super Bowl.
So even though my family has already had this recipe,
this week, we are gonna make my Keeso chicken chili.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Again because it's so good, you guys it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I foresee this becoming one of my most popular recipes.
It's not quite yet because it's only like six months old,
but when people make this, it's like next level so
and it's kind of like a protein kazo. If I'm
being honest, because it tastes like Keeso, but it's not
quite as heavy, and it's got all this shredded chicken
in it. It's so good, so I'm very excited to
(05:32):
make that all right, There are your recipes for the week.
You can find and print all of these recipes in
addition to our standard weekly meal plan in recipe Club individually,
or in our set weekly meal plan with an easy
to follow shopping lists broken down by recipe, where you
can also take advantage of our one click shopping where
you can put all of the ingredients for a recipe
directly into a shopping cart that is determined by your geolocation,
(05:56):
so we literally pull up the stores that are in
your area. How many of our members rely on this
every single week to simplify their shopping and cooking.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Recipe Club is a resource.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It allows you to access family tested recipes that are
quick and simple and live on the internet, but also
live there without ads, so you're not bombarded with pop
ups and things like that that make the recipe process frustrating.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
We are also doing.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
A code this month, so if you're interested in checking
recipe Club out but you're just not sure, it would.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Be a good fit for you or your family.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You can use the code try me and that will
get you Recipe Club for just one dollar, just one dollar.
You can try it out for a month, you can
easily cancel if it's not a good fit, or you
can either upgrade to an annual subscription, which is our
best value, or you can.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Go month by month.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
All right, let's jump into the back half of the
podcast and discuss what's on our Hawaii meal plan together
with the entire family is always super fun and exciting,
but planning the meals can definitely be one aspect that
feels overwhelming and stressful. So I'm excited to break it
(07:10):
down for you and offer maybe a manageable way to
approach this situation, especially since I have been living and
breathing this this week. So I really think that the
key to successfully feeding family while on vacation, and I'm
really saying beyond like maybe your nuclear family, but more
of an extended family, it's all in the planning and
getting a few things done before your reunion or your
(07:33):
get together, whatever you're calling it begins. Cooking for a
large group doesn't have to be and really shouldn't be
crazy stressful I promise you can do it. But before
we get into it, I want to address the fact
that it should be obvious that your numbers can vary greatly.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Hear.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So, obviously, cooking for a group of fifty or sixty
people is wildly different than cooking for a group of
fifteen to twenty. So I did my best to make
these suggestions work for whatever your group size is, and
so you know, keep that in mind. So the first
thing you want to talk about is dividing up the
meals and the responsibilities. So there are endless ways to
(08:10):
divvy up the meals and responsibilities. And even if you're
going to have like a point person, no one should
ever be in charge of all of the cooking with
a really large groups. So I find that the most
convenient way to divide things up is to have each
family take a day or a meal. So for us,
we're going to go with the day method for this trip.
(08:32):
That family will be in charge of not only the meal,
but also clean up for the meal that day. And
I'm trying to make expectations clear so that there's no confusion.
But that way, you really do feel like you get
a break. So the way we did this by is.
We had a call with everyone and we went through
the days of the week and decided.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What are we eating? Are we ordering in?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Are we getting pizza this night? Are we going to
a restaurant this night? Are we making breakfast, lunch and
dinner or just lunch and dinner? And on that call,
each family takes a day to be in charge of
so this is a great time for anyone to speak
up and say I have a specific request, So I
really want the Hawaiian haynas that we grew up with,
(09:14):
or can we please have this dessert or this dip
for the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And then after that call wrapped, it was.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
My responsibility because I'm the point person to put what
we discussed into a big Google doc with the meals
laid out each day and the families that are assigned
to those meals. Then I'm printing it and I will
bring it to the villa. I'll tape it up so
everybody can see it. I thought way, there's no confusion
about who is in charge of what. So my parents
(09:45):
are getting there a day earlier, going to do the
physical shopping, but you could also do grocery delivery depending
on where you're going and how accessible that is. Maybe
some people already lived there, so it's easier for them
to do the the grocery shopping, and that's something that
obviously can be dipped up into the responsibilities, but set
(10:07):
the expectations, make it really clear. This is what we're eating,
this is what your family's in charge of, and this
is when you get a day off, because everybody wants
a day off on vacation. Okay, Next, you want to
know what's available to you, Like how much kitchen space
will you be working with? Are there dishes provided? Are
there any pots and pans or cooking utensils? Is there
(10:28):
a dishwasher? Because all of these things are going to
be important, You're going to want to know ahead of
time before you get there because it might affect what
exactly you're going to make. So on that same text
thread where I sent the schedule, my mom shared the
listing to the villa or renting, and given the way
these rentals work now, you can usually find a very
(10:50):
detailed rundown of what will be available to you and
the property before you even book your accommodations. So, like,
I know we have a grill, and that's why we're
planning to grill to three nights that we're cooking. The
fact that we know that there's a blender means that
we can plan on smoothies for breakfast in the morning.
So keep that in mind, and when in doubt, just
(11:10):
assume knives will be dull and then it probably won't
be as great. So pick simple things. Do not pick
overly complicated recipes to make. Think about what you can
prep ahead of time. And this is like for us
in Hawaii, this is not no one's prepping anything ahead
of time because we're all flying to Hawaii and.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
No one lives there. But if you are.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Staying local or you were just going somewhere drivable, think
about what you could prep in advance to kind of
maximize vegging out when you're all together. I don't think
it's necessary, but I do think it's something to think about,
because you should only really have one day that you
should be thinking about meals, depending on the size of
your family, and hopefully it doesn't feel too overwhelming. But
(11:55):
you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Here's a good example for you.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
So the first day we are kind of getting in
within a couple of hours of each other, but all
in the afternoon, so it's somewhat unrealistic to think that
we're going to cook dinner that night. So my parents,
who are in charge of that day, are going to
order pizza, and they happen to be doing a costco
run that day as well, so they're going to get
a big family size Caesar salad and we're going to
(12:19):
have pizza. So that's not the day to plan to
make some big, extravagant meal. If you're celebrating someone's birthday
in the family while you're there, maybe let them pick
the menu for the night and plan for cake for dessert.
So you'll just want to prep a bit ahead of
time so you're not being reactive while you're there. You'll
want to be aware of your refrigeration and how much
(12:41):
you have. This will largely be dependent on your group size,
but if you have a big family, you don't want
to buy all this food that needs to be refrigerated
if you don't actually have a refrigerator available. So one
good way to approach this is by letting the group
know if you think you'll need a signific I can
amount a fridge space in advance. You obviously can also
(13:03):
use coolers or plan a second grocery order or something
like that. But that is one thing. You don't want
to get to this massive grocery shop and get back
and realize we don't have enough.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Room to store all of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Buying in bulk is always a good idea. This is
kind of obvious, but especially if you have a super
large group. Don't forget about whether their restaurants supply stores
near you. Costco, Sam's Club for things like paper goods and.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Snacks or meat.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
We actually have two shopping lists for our vacation, one
for Costco and one for a local grocery store for
things that you can't get or don't need to buy
in bulk quantities. Okay, here's a tip. You want to
cut down on the dishes in any way you can,
And I know this isn't the most environmentally friendly advice,
but cleaning thirty people's dishes twenty people's dishes while at
(13:52):
a reunion when you're wanting to spend time with family
is never fun. So this is one time when I'm
willing to opt for paper or plastic goods and have
trash bags readily available to encourage everyone to throw their
stuff away when they're done. To cut down excess, you
could have everybody bring like a marker and write their
name on plastic cups. Or what we're actually doing is
(14:13):
we're just having everybody come with a water bottle. I
feel like we're in a we live in a water
bottle world. Now everyone's got one, and so then you
don't have a bunch of cups lying around, especially with
all this sickness that goes around. Just have everyone stick
to their water bottle. That's what we're going to do
this time around, all right, So let's run through some
basic meal ideas. So breakfast recipes. We decided to have
(14:36):
a list of general breakfast items that will be eaten
half of the days and then cook a bigger breakfast
kind of every other day. So we'll be there a week,
so we're kind of going back and forth. So general
breakfast is yogurt, cereal, granola, fruit, orange juice. We are
getting some pancakes, but we're just getting the just add
water mix because we're not trying to make our lives
too complicated. We're not buying baking soda here. And then
(15:00):
you're gonna make my five ingredient veggie for Tata and
the bacon cheddar scowgon strata, and then my dad is
kind of known for making his Papa breakfast and we
always have it when we get together, and so he'll
spearhead that, which will be really fun. Lunch recipes, we're
buying stuff for sandwiches and wraps that we can reach
for daily, but are also planning to make a hearty
(15:21):
salad to go with lunch each day. So that includes
my rainbow white bean and corn salad, my Mediterranean salad
with blueberries and feta, just having a I always prefer
a salad to a sandwich, and so I like having
both options. And then for dinner recipes, I feel like
this is the category that most people have the anxiety over.
(15:42):
It feels like, oh, this is the hardest one. It's
typically the hardiest meal, so it requires a bit more planning.
But like I said, consider asking if anyone feels nostalgic
about anything like our Hawaiian haystacks, and that's a really
fun thing to add to the list. So we've got
those sesame chicken subs.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
One night, we're gonna grow.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Hot dogs, We're gonna do tacos, and I think we're
gonna fit in those Hawaiian haystacks. Side dish recipes on
the nights where you are maybe ordering in like pizza,
consider making a salad or like I said, even picking
up a salad from Costco. That's what we're going to do.
In the past, I've also made my Italian subsalad to
go along with a pizza night that's also really delicious.
(16:22):
And then snack and dessert recipes. So at our family unions,
we usually include a snack in dessert that someone will
be in charge of each day, something that the kids
can munch on throughout the day when they get snacky.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
But a few ideas.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I've got this Dale pickle dip that is so delicious,
Muddy Buddies, that chewy almond coconut snack mix. There's a
new slow cook or creamy corn dip in recipe Club
that's so delicious. You've got seven layer dip or guacamolele in,
things like popsicles, Texas sheet cake brownies for a crowd.
Stuff like that that's really easy to make. And like,
(16:57):
on this trip, we've decided we're definitely gonna go and
get shape at least two or three nights, so we're
kind of building that into.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
The food schedule as well. So there you have it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
That's our plan for our big Hawaii trip. We cannot wait.
I'll after report next week how it all went. But
before we wrap up today, I want to finish the
way I always do, which is with my weekly gimme five.
So these are five things that made my life easier
or more enjoyable this week. And as you know, I've
been working on this slow cooker collection, and so I
(17:27):
was testing out. I've had my slow cooker for like,
I don't know, a decade, and I thought, you know,
I want to try new.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Like one thing I really wish.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
My current slow cooker did was sere because especially for
things like beef and pork, I really do think you
get a better result even with slow cooking if you
seer beforehand. But it is kind of annoying to seer
in a skillet and then transfer it to the slow
cooker because then you got to wash the skillet and
it just feels like it adds an extra step. So
I treated myself to a slow cooker that after doing
(18:01):
I don't even know how many hours of research, and
it is a the prettiest slow cooker.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
You've ever seen. I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
It's I love the shape of it. I love the
way it looks on my countertop. I love the way
it sears and cooks. It's amazing. So I have officially
upgraded my.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Slow cooker and I could not be happier.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's the green Pan brand and I got this kind
of topee color and it matches my kitchen and literally
thrills me. So another thing on my list that was
number one. Number two meat shredding tongs, because I was
testing those bulk proteins for our cheat sheet. I made
(18:44):
so much shredded chicken, beef, and pork this week, and
I typically would just use forks, but I had a
friend who's like, you got to get these like bare
claw tongs things. They are the best for shredding meat.
And I finally went on Amazon and spent the fourteen
dollars and oh my gosh, they are a really really
great tool. So, especially if you're someone who likes to
(19:05):
batch cook protein and you're doing the shredding.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
That's a great tool, really great tool.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Definitely made my life easier as I was shredding so
much meat. Number three.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
You guys know, I was.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
In Mexico, a couple of weeks ago, I am headed
to Hawaii and I think I've got a new favorite swimsuit.
So I love the colors on the simsuit. It's a
beach the brands Beach Ryot. It's kind of like a
really high waisted two piece. I feel comfortable in it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
I love the ripped material.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
The colors are kind of like a sea foam green,
but like muted a blue and kind of a gray.
So it feels fun but not like hot pink fun,
which there's nothing wrong with hot pink, and don't worry,
I do have a hot pink simsuit packed in my suitcase,
but this one just feels like a suit that I
know I'll have for a really long time. And it
(19:57):
was like a little bit more well, it was more
expensive than maybe like a Target SIM so obviously, but.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
It wasn't crazy expensive.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I just am so happy with my purchase there. So
that's that Beechrite brand. And then travel toots, okay, specifically
for beach for beaching and going to the pool, I
needed like a good straw tote, and I went on
my search and a bunch of surf brands Billabong, Volcom, Roxy, Quicksilver,
(20:30):
all of those iconic brands. Their parent company just filed
for bankruptcy, so everything on their sites right now is
sixty percent off site wide. And let me tell you,
there are some deals to be had. So I picked
up a tote on what was it, bill Abong billibang
dot com and.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I filled the cart like that.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Now, granted, we live in a beach community, so my
kids live in those brands, and so there are so
many great deals. If you are either preparing for a
beach vacation or warm weather vacation, or you just want
to stock up for summer, pop over to those websites
and take advantage of that uncharacteristically very good sale. Okay,
(21:13):
last number five, number five. So when I was on
that trip with my friends celebrating our fortieth I felt
like I was the last one to learn about these
immune revival sticks. And essentially they're just their little packets.
But what it is is it is powdered colostrum, and
I had multiple friends swear that this is how they
(21:34):
are avoiding sickness this winter, especially with travel. I normally
would turn my nose up to this and be like, no,
it's good for us to get sick. I don't know,
but the sickness season is so bad this winter that
I am terrified of finally making it to the vacation
and not being able to enjoy it because we're sick.
(21:55):
So I jumped on the bandwagon the Colostrum Immune Revival sticks.
The brand is AMARA or AMRA anyways. It'll be linked
in my Gimme five email and on social and on
the blog post on my site as well. But these
seem to be all a rage. It seems to be
what everyone's talking about, and I am I am on
(22:16):
the bandwagon. All right, that's it for today. You guys
make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you
never miss an episode. This podcast is meant to be
a quick twenty to thirty minute listen while you map
out your own meals for the week. You guys all
know that I've listened to a podcast for years while
my own meal planning has happened, and I just like
that it's part of my system. So I hope that
this podcast can be helpful to you as you do
(22:37):
the same. Next week, I'll be taking off because I
will be enjoying Hawaii with my family, but I'll be
back in two weeks and we'll look forward to that
until next time. Happy Cookie, I'm kilthy. I'm look forward
to chatting with you all in the two weeks. Thanks
(23:01):
pastor still because the Dela
Hi everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Kelsey Nixon and this is Kitchen Prescription, the podcast
you listen to and you don't know what to make
for dinner. Today's episode one hundred and sixteen, Cooking while
on vacation. I hope everyone has had a great week
and that you're settling in nicely to the new ish year.
We all survived January, albeit barely, and I feel the
momentum for the year just starting to pick up a bit,
(00:28):
which is nice. I spent a huge chunk of time
this past week working on a new product for Recipe
Club that will be launching, and I'm genuinely so excited
about it. It's our slow Cooker Printed Recipe collection, where
we have taken our most popular slow cooker recipes and
Recipe Club and printed them on our premium paper and
slipped them into our signature sheet protectors, and they really
(00:52):
just are so great. It's such a valuable resource for
someone who's super overwhelmed. We also included this cheat sheet
that is really helpful, where if you like batch cooking
proteins shreaded chicken, tread to pork threaded beef that you
can use in lunches and quick dinner stout the week.
I've broken it all down for how to prep those
in both the slow cooker or the instant pot and
(01:13):
incorporate them into Recipe Club recipes. One of my favorite
features that I spend so much time on this week
is I converted all of those very popular slow cooker
recipes to instant pot recipes and tested them all because
I know that there are times that you want to
get dinner going in the morning and kind of set
it and forget it, and then there are other times
(01:33):
when you just need dinner done fast. So it is
such a fantastic product. It's going to be launching within
the coming days, and I cannot wait for you guys
to get it, especially if you have recipe binders. This
is a great way to just populate that slow cooker
tab with some really reliable, delicious slow cooker recipes that
(01:56):
are going to save you for those super chaotic days.
In addition to me like putting the literally burned the
midline oil trying to get this product ready to go.
We are preparing to go to Hawaii, so we're going
on a family vacation, my parents, my siblings, all the cousins.
We're headed to Maui, and we are so excited we
(02:17):
can hardly stand it. We've been counting down the remaining
sleeps for days. Every morning my girls wake up and
say three more sleeps, two more sleeps. So we're really
really excited. And speaking of Hawaii, it shouldn't come as
a surprise that my job on the family vacation has
been to make the family meal plan. So we're staying
at a villa type property that's got a full kitchen,
(02:41):
so we have got a lot of casual cooking plan
for the week, meaning no one's stressing. We're all there
to relax and be on vacation. But with as many
little kids as we have in the age of the cousins,
it certainly does not make sense to go out for
every meal, not to mention that is crazy expensive, especially
in Hawaii, and so we are going to cook a
fair amount. So I want to walk you through how
(03:02):
that planning process has gone and what we're.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Planning to make.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
But first let's get into a few recipe ideas you
could throw on your meal plan for the week. Now,
this is varying a little bit from the traditional recipe
club meal plan.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I know some of you guys like to.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Follow it closely, and then the podcast almost always compliments that.
But this week I'm updating it with what we're actually
making on vacation. So first recipe. This has been a
hit the past two times you've gotten together as a
family and cooked for a large group my sesame chicken subs.
It's nearly a five ingredient recipe. The magic is in
(03:38):
this CPI sesame dressing that is so good, so so
so good, and Costco almost always has it, but there
was a time about a three month period last year
when they didn't, and so I made a homemade version
of this recipe or of this sauce, and it was
every bit is good. So whether you make my homemade
(03:58):
version of the recipe or you use this awesome shortcut ingredient,
these are so good. You marinate chicken in this dressing,
you're gonna grill off some peppers and onions, and you're
gonna do it on sub rolls. You do sliced avocado.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And it is just delicious.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And we have a grill, so we're gonna grill this all.
But you could also do this in a skillet or
on a sheet pan. But it's just a really delicious
sandwich and something you should consider if you are ever
feeding a big group. Second recipe is we're gonna do
some sort of shrimp or fish taco situation based on
what we pick up that's local in Hawaii, and then
(04:35):
for the kids that don't like fish, we'll do chicken
tacos and quiesandillas. But I'm going to do my cilantroal limeslot.
I'm gonna make my pickled onions to go with that,
and it's just going to be perfectly delicious.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We're also thinking about making Hawaiian haystacks, which is a
throwback from our childhood.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
We might have to do both.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So we're flip flopping back and forth, and then we
will be there for the big game, the Super Bowl.
So even though my family has already had this recipe,
this week, we are gonna make my Keeso chicken chili.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Again because it's so good, you guys it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I foresee this becoming one of my most popular recipes.
It's not quite yet because it's only like six months old,
but when people make this, it's like next level so
and it's kind of like a protein kazo. If I'm
being honest, because it tastes like Keeso, but it's not
quite as heavy, and it's got all this shredded chicken
in it. It's so good, so I'm very excited to
(05:32):
make that all right, There are your recipes for the week.
You can find and print all of these recipes in
addition to our standard weekly meal plan in recipe Club individually,
or in our set weekly meal plan with an easy
to follow shopping lists broken down by recipe, where you
can also take advantage of our one click shopping where
you can put all of the ingredients for a recipe
directly into a shopping cart that is determined by your geolocation,
(05:56):
so we literally pull up the stores that are in
your area. How many of our members rely on this
every single week to simplify their shopping and cooking.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Recipe Club is a resource.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It allows you to access family tested recipes that are
quick and simple and live on the internet, but also
live there without ads, so you're not bombarded with pop
ups and things like that that make the recipe process frustrating.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
We are also doing.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
A code this month, so if you're interested in checking
recipe Club out but you're just not sure, it would.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Be a good fit for you or your family.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You can use the code try me and that will
get you Recipe Club for just one dollar, just one dollar.
You can try it out for a month, you can
easily cancel if it's not a good fit, or you
can either upgrade to an annual subscription, which is our
best value, or you can.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Go month by month.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
All right, let's jump into the back half of the
podcast and discuss what's on our Hawaii meal plan together
with the entire family is always super fun and exciting,
but planning the meals can definitely be one aspect that
feels overwhelming and stressful. So I'm excited to break it
(07:10):
down for you and offer maybe a manageable way to
approach this situation, especially since I have been living and
breathing this this week. So I really think that the
key to successfully feeding family while on vacation, and I'm
really saying beyond like maybe your nuclear family, but more
of an extended family, it's all in the planning and
getting a few things done before your reunion or your
(07:33):
get together, whatever you're calling it begins. Cooking for a
large group doesn't have to be and really shouldn't be
crazy stressful I promise you can do it. But before
we get into it, I want to address the fact
that it should be obvious that your numbers can vary greatly.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Hear.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So, obviously, cooking for a group of fifty or sixty
people is wildly different than cooking for a group of
fifteen to twenty. So I did my best to make
these suggestions work for whatever your group size is, and
so you know, keep that in mind. So the first
thing you want to talk about is dividing up the
meals and the responsibilities. So there are endless ways to
(08:10):
divvy up the meals and responsibilities. And even if you're
going to have like a point person, no one should
ever be in charge of all of the cooking with
a really large groups. So I find that the most
convenient way to divide things up is to have each
family take a day or a meal. So for us,
we're going to go with the day method for this trip.
(08:32):
That family will be in charge of not only the meal,
but also clean up for the meal that day. And
I'm trying to make expectations clear so that there's no confusion.
But that way, you really do feel like you get
a break. So the way we did this by is.
We had a call with everyone and we went through
the days of the week and decided.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What are we eating? Are we ordering in?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Are we getting pizza this night? Are we going to
a restaurant this night? Are we making breakfast, lunch and
dinner or just lunch and dinner? And on that call,
each family takes a day to be in charge of
so this is a great time for anyone to speak
up and say I have a specific request, So I
really want the Hawaiian haynas that we grew up with,
(09:14):
or can we please have this dessert or this dip
for the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And then after that call wrapped, it was.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
My responsibility because I'm the point person to put what
we discussed into a big Google doc with the meals
laid out each day and the families that are assigned
to those meals. Then I'm printing it and I will
bring it to the villa. I'll tape it up so
everybody can see it. I thought way, there's no confusion
about who is in charge of what. So my parents
(09:45):
are getting there a day earlier, going to do the
physical shopping, but you could also do grocery delivery depending
on where you're going and how accessible that is. Maybe
some people already lived there, so it's easier for them
to do the the grocery shopping, and that's something that
obviously can be dipped up into the responsibilities, but set
(10:07):
the expectations, make it really clear. This is what we're eating,
this is what your family's in charge of, and this
is when you get a day off, because everybody wants
a day off on vacation. Okay, Next, you want to
know what's available to you, Like how much kitchen space
will you be working with? Are there dishes provided? Are
there any pots and pans or cooking utensils? Is there
(10:28):
a dishwasher? Because all of these things are going to
be important, You're going to want to know ahead of
time before you get there because it might affect what
exactly you're going to make. So on that same text
thread where I sent the schedule, my mom shared the
listing to the villa or renting, and given the way
these rentals work now, you can usually find a very
(10:50):
detailed rundown of what will be available to you and
the property before you even book your accommodations. So, like,
I know we have a grill, and that's why we're
planning to grill to three nights that we're cooking. The
fact that we know that there's a blender means that
we can plan on smoothies for breakfast in the morning.
So keep that in mind, and when in doubt, just
(11:10):
assume knives will be dull and then it probably won't
be as great. So pick simple things. Do not pick
overly complicated recipes to make. Think about what you can
prep ahead of time. And this is like for us
in Hawaii, this is not no one's prepping anything ahead
of time because we're all flying to Hawaii and.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
No one lives there. But if you are.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Staying local or you were just going somewhere drivable, think
about what you could prep in advance to kind of
maximize vegging out when you're all together. I don't think
it's necessary, but I do think it's something to think about,
because you should only really have one day that you
should be thinking about meals, depending on the size of
your family, and hopefully it doesn't feel too overwhelming. But
(11:55):
you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Here's a good example for you.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
So the first day we are kind of getting in
within a couple of hours of each other, but all
in the afternoon, so it's somewhat unrealistic to think that
we're going to cook dinner that night. So my parents,
who are in charge of that day, are going to
order pizza, and they happen to be doing a costco
run that day as well, so they're going to get
a big family size Caesar salad and we're going to
(12:19):
have pizza. So that's not the day to plan to
make some big, extravagant meal. If you're celebrating someone's birthday
in the family while you're there, maybe let them pick
the menu for the night and plan for cake for dessert.
So you'll just want to prep a bit ahead of
time so you're not being reactive while you're there. You'll
want to be aware of your refrigeration and how much
(12:41):
you have. This will largely be dependent on your group size,
but if you have a big family, you don't want
to buy all this food that needs to be refrigerated
if you don't actually have a refrigerator available. So one
good way to approach this is by letting the group
know if you think you'll need a signific I can
amount a fridge space in advance. You obviously can also
(13:03):
use coolers or plan a second grocery order or something
like that. But that is one thing. You don't want
to get to this massive grocery shop and get back
and realize we don't have enough.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Room to store all of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Buying in bulk is always a good idea. This is
kind of obvious, but especially if you have a super
large group. Don't forget about whether their restaurants supply stores
near you. Costco, Sam's Club for things like paper goods and.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Snacks or meat.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
We actually have two shopping lists for our vacation, one
for Costco and one for a local grocery store for
things that you can't get or don't need to buy
in bulk quantities. Okay, here's a tip. You want to
cut down on the dishes in any way you can,
And I know this isn't the most environmentally friendly advice,
but cleaning thirty people's dishes twenty people's dishes while at
(13:52):
a reunion when you're wanting to spend time with family
is never fun. So this is one time when I'm
willing to opt for paper or plastic goods and have
trash bags readily available to encourage everyone to throw their
stuff away when they're done. To cut down excess, you
could have everybody bring like a marker and write their
name on plastic cups. Or what we're actually doing is
(14:13):
we're just having everybody come with a water bottle. I
feel like we're in a we live in a water
bottle world. Now everyone's got one, and so then you
don't have a bunch of cups lying around, especially with
all this sickness that goes around. Just have everyone stick
to their water bottle. That's what we're going to do
this time around, all right, So let's run through some
basic meal ideas. So breakfast recipes. We decided to have
(14:36):
a list of general breakfast items that will be eaten
half of the days and then cook a bigger breakfast
kind of every other day. So we'll be there a week,
so we're kind of going back and forth. So general
breakfast is yogurt, cereal, granola, fruit, orange juice. We are
getting some pancakes, but we're just getting the just add
water mix because we're not trying to make our lives
too complicated. We're not buying baking soda here. And then
(15:00):
you're gonna make my five ingredient veggie for Tata and
the bacon cheddar scowgon strata, and then my dad is
kind of known for making his Papa breakfast and we
always have it when we get together, and so he'll
spearhead that, which will be really fun. Lunch recipes, we're
buying stuff for sandwiches and wraps that we can reach
for daily, but are also planning to make a hearty
(15:21):
salad to go with lunch each day. So that includes
my rainbow white bean and corn salad, my Mediterranean salad
with blueberries and feta, just having a I always prefer
a salad to a sandwich, and so I like having
both options. And then for dinner recipes, I feel like
this is the category that most people have the anxiety over.
(15:42):
It feels like, oh, this is the hardest one. It's
typically the hardiest meal, so it requires a bit more planning.
But like I said, consider asking if anyone feels nostalgic
about anything like our Hawaiian haystacks, and that's a really
fun thing to add to the list. So we've got
those sesame chicken subs.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
One night, we're gonna grow.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Hot dogs, We're gonna do tacos, and I think we're
gonna fit in those Hawaiian haystacks. Side dish recipes on
the nights where you are maybe ordering in like pizza,
consider making a salad or like I said, even picking
up a salad from Costco. That's what we're going to do.
In the past, I've also made my Italian subsalad to
go along with a pizza night that's also really delicious.
(16:22):
And then snack and dessert recipes. So at our family unions,
we usually include a snack in dessert that someone will
be in charge of each day, something that the kids
can munch on throughout the day when they get snacky.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
But a few ideas.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I've got this Dale pickle dip that is so delicious,
Muddy Buddies, that chewy almond coconut snack mix. There's a
new slow cook or creamy corn dip in recipe Club
that's so delicious. You've got seven layer dip or guacamolele in,
things like popsicles, Texas sheet cake brownies for a crowd.
Stuff like that that's really easy to make. And like,
(16:57):
on this trip, we've decided we're definitely gonna go and
get shape at least two or three nights, so we're
kind of building that into.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
The food schedule as well. So there you have it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
That's our plan for our big Hawaii trip. We cannot wait.
I'll after report next week how it all went. But
before we wrap up today, I want to finish the
way I always do, which is with my weekly gimme five.
So these are five things that made my life easier
or more enjoyable this week. And as you know, I've
been working on this slow cooker collection, and so I
(17:27):
was testing out. I've had my slow cooker for like,
I don't know, a decade, and I thought, you know,
I want to try new.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Like one thing I really wish.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
My current slow cooker did was sere because especially for
things like beef and pork, I really do think you
get a better result even with slow cooking if you
seer beforehand. But it is kind of annoying to seer
in a skillet and then transfer it to the slow
cooker because then you got to wash the skillet and
it just feels like it adds an extra step. So
I treated myself to a slow cooker that after doing
(18:01):
I don't even know how many hours of research, and
it is a the prettiest slow cooker.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
You've ever seen. I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
It's I love the shape of it. I love the
way it looks on my countertop. I love the way
it sears and cooks. It's amazing. So I have officially
upgraded my.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Slow cooker and I could not be happier.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's the green Pan brand and I got this kind
of topee color and it matches my kitchen and literally
thrills me. So another thing on my list that was
number one. Number two meat shredding tongs, because I was
testing those bulk proteins for our cheat sheet. I made
(18:44):
so much shredded chicken, beef, and pork this week, and
I typically would just use forks, but I had a
friend who's like, you got to get these like bare
claw tongs things. They are the best for shredding meat.
And I finally went on Amazon and spent the fourteen
dollars and oh my gosh, they are a really really
great tool. So, especially if you're someone who likes to
(19:05):
batch cook protein and you're doing the shredding.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
That's a great tool, really great tool.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Definitely made my life easier as I was shredding so
much meat. Number three.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
You guys know, I was.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
In Mexico, a couple of weeks ago, I am headed
to Hawaii and I think I've got a new favorite swimsuit.
So I love the colors on the simsuit. It's a
beach the brands Beach Ryot. It's kind of like a
really high waisted two piece. I feel comfortable in it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
I love the ripped material.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
The colors are kind of like a sea foam green,
but like muted a blue and kind of a gray.
So it feels fun but not like hot pink fun,
which there's nothing wrong with hot pink, and don't worry,
I do have a hot pink simsuit packed in my suitcase,
but this one just feels like a suit that I
know I'll have for a really long time. And it
(19:57):
was like a little bit more well, it was more
expensive than maybe like a Target SIM so obviously, but.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
It wasn't crazy expensive.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I just am so happy with my purchase there. So
that's that Beechrite brand. And then travel toots, okay, specifically
for beach for beaching and going to the pool, I
needed like a good straw tote, and I went on
my search and a bunch of surf brands Billabong, Volcom, Roxy, Quicksilver,
(20:30):
all of those iconic brands. Their parent company just filed
for bankruptcy, so everything on their sites right now is
sixty percent off site wide. And let me tell you,
there are some deals to be had. So I picked
up a tote on what was it, bill Abong billibang
dot com and.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I filled the cart like that.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Now, granted, we live in a beach community, so my
kids live in those brands, and so there are so
many great deals. If you are either preparing for a
beach vacation or warm weather vacation, or you just want
to stock up for summer, pop over to those websites
and take advantage of that uncharacteristically very good sale. Okay,
(21:13):
last number five, number five. So when I was on
that trip with my friends celebrating our fortieth I felt
like I was the last one to learn about these
immune revival sticks. And essentially they're just their little packets.
But what it is is it is powdered colostrum, and
I had multiple friends swear that this is how they
(21:34):
are avoiding sickness this winter, especially with travel. I normally
would turn my nose up to this and be like, no,
it's good for us to get sick. I don't know,
but the sickness season is so bad this winter that
I am terrified of finally making it to the vacation
and not being able to enjoy it because we're sick.
(21:55):
So I jumped on the bandwagon the Colostrum Immune Revival sticks.
The brand is AMARA or AMRA anyways. It'll be linked
in my Gimme five email and on social and on
the blog post on my site as well. But these
seem to be all a rage. It seems to be
what everyone's talking about, and I am I am on
(22:16):
the bandwagon. All right, that's it for today. You guys
make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you
never miss an episode. This podcast is meant to be
a quick twenty to thirty minute listen while you map
out your own meals for the week. You guys all
know that I've listened to a podcast for years while
my own meal planning has happened, and I just like
that it's part of my system. So I hope that
this podcast can be helpful to you as you do
(22:37):
the same. Next week, I'll be taking off because I
will be enjoying Hawaii with my family, but I'll be
back in two weeks and we'll look forward to that
until next time. Happy Cookie, I'm kilthy. I'm look forward
to chatting with you all in the two weeks. Thanks
(23:01):
pastor still because the Dela
Host
Kelsey Nixon
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