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August 1, 2024 12 mins

Is your summer meal planning more chaotic than calm? You're not alone! Join us for a sizzling episode where we dive into the mayhem of summer meals. From burger burnout to pool-side munchies, we're serving up some tasty tips to keep your family fed and your sanity intact. 

In this episode, we cover:
1. Simple meal planning strategies for busy summer days.
2. Creative alternatives to the endless burger cycle.
3. Empowering kids in the kitchen and exploring new foods.


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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Don't Call Me Midlife.
This summer we're shakingthings up a bit with our special
series called Survive or Thrive.
We know moms are extra busyduring the summer, so we're
bringing you shorter, bite-sizedepisodes, focused on one hot
topic at a time.
Join us as we share tips,stories and laughs, helping you
decide if you're just getting byor truly thriving this summer.

(00:23):
Hi, my friend, what's going on?
Happy Thursday, yes, happyThursday.
I've got a busy weekend that'scoming up and I have a lot of
questions for you, my friend.
But first I'm going to ask youwhat's in your cup.
Well, you know what?
It's been crazy around here too, and I actually, instead of I'm
trying this summer to not haveas much coffee, right, you know,

(00:46):
I'm a huge coffee fan in theafternoon.
So I have some Energize packetsfrom Green Compass.
It's more like a little like Idon't know if it's natural, is
it natural energy?
I don't know One of the energythings from Green Compass that
you put in your water bottle soyou can have a little boost of
energy.
But I don't have to grab, like,a Diet Coke or a coffee and it's

(01:09):
good.
The flavor is orange zest andit's actually really, really
good.
Oh, that sounds amazing.
I'm going to have to.
Maybe I can get a little samplefrom you.
I can send you one in the mail,okay, thank you.
Thank you, I am doing a littleimmunity shot.
It's spelled S-U-J-A and it islike a turmeric shot and it's

(01:29):
got like black pepper in it andit's really actually been
helpful for like joint pain.
So any of you midlife ladieswith like perimenopause issues
all of us it's a quick littleshot, it's a little peppery, but
it just gives you like a littlezing and it's good.
Okay, I've seen those at thegrocery store.
You can buy them in the box atlike costco, so I just get them

(01:53):
delivered.
Oh, that's good because they'reexpensive.
Yes, I know they haven't met awhole food.
You can probably buy two fromwhole foods for an entire box at
costco.
Yeah, but that's.
But that's a great idea for thesummertime.
I love that little trick becauseyou can just take the little
shot, because you really I meanI don't want to get sick any
time of year, but I also don'twant to really get sick in the
summertime.
I mean, being sick in thesummer it's like sitting in your

(02:15):
bed and then seeing the sun.
It's just like the worst, it isbecause you just want to be out
there, yeah, but math on wood,this will help keep me, you know
, healthy and going Good, good,speaking of going summer is just
go, go, go, go, go, right, yes,yes, and we have been spending
a lot of time outdoors and atthe pool and I am falling short

(02:40):
on my dinners and I have beenordering out a lot and it
doesn't feel good, and so I'mwondering if you've got like a
great tip just to help.
We're just shifting from likespringtime dinners, just like
going into summer, and it's justlike I'm kind of getting sick

(03:00):
of you know burgers, so I don'tknow Grilling is a great thing
in the summertime, right?
No, I think you know burgers,so I don't know Grilling is a
great thing in the summertime,right?
No, I think you know I love todo dinners and love to cook, but
summertime is a little bitdifferent, nicole, right, and I
think I hear this a lot frommoms.
It's like we love the summerbut it's also hard because we're
not in the normal schedule.
You know, whether you work inand out of your home, you're

(03:22):
still probably driving your kidsto more stuff, you're probably
going to the pool, you'reprobably out about a lot more
than you normally are,especially if you have like a
summer Friday.
So you know you could onlygrill so much.
I agree with you, it can be alot.
I do love to grill.
I'm just sick of grillingburgers.
I just don't want you to nottalk about grilling, because I
love the convenience of a grill.

(03:43):
I do.
I think it keeps the kitchenclean.
Some other ideas I agree withyou, but my kids it's literally
like been such a go-to is theburgers, because my kids would
eat a burger every day.
So I definitely get that.
I think my advice and this goesalong with sort of my meal
planning method and philosophyis to actually take the time to

(04:04):
think about, like, your purposefor this summer and I know that
sounds like pretty deep, butthat's one of the things that I
do every single week for mealplanning.
I do think one of the things is, even though it's summer, meal
planning is still beneficial andit can be a loose meal plan.
You know, nicole, if you knowyou're going to the pool twice a
week.
If you know this, then you canalso keep track a little bit of

(04:25):
how much you're going to go out.
So I think the first thing isthink about, look at your week,
look at your calendar and figureout your purpose for that week
and stick with your meal plan.
Stick with that habit ofplanning out your meals, even if
during the you knowummertimeyou're making a fancy
spreadsheet, like I do.
I tend to not do that fancyspreadsheet in the summertime,

(04:45):
but I do it in a differentcapacity Maybe.
I just write it down on alittle board.
So I think sticking with mealplanning is good.
I also think we need to giveourselves grace as moms, as
women, as families, to keep themeal simple, right, do not
overcomplicate anything.
I need some sort of salad,fruit and vegetable and I need
some sort of protein.
Like thinking about it, likemaking it very basic and not too

(05:08):
complicated, I think is a goodidea.
I mean, grilling is my go-to,you know, and I think marinating
meats in advance is great.
So on those days where you knowthat you're going to the pool
tomorrow, you know the nightbefore, if you plan ahead, you
can defrost that pork tenderloin, right, you can do that grilled
chicken, you can do that steak,you can do veggie burgers, you

(05:31):
could do kebabs, whatever youhave in advance.
Because I think if you'replanning it out and you have it
done in advance, especiallydoing simply I'm not saying like
, go make a whole casserole,because I don't like to eat
those in the summertime, butjust even marinating your meats
in advance and planning aheadand having that, I think, is a
really, really easy idea.
I do think, though, we do tendto eat out more, so maybe it's

(05:55):
not like you're saying, it's notthe amount that you're eating
out, it's what you're choosingto eat out.
Does that make sense?
Maybe because when we're at thepool, it's like the snack shack
, and obviously some pools have,like, more options grills and,
you know, salads but the onethat we've been going to this
summer it's just like you know,hot dogs, nachos and chicken

(06:16):
fingers for the kids, andsometimes it's hamburgers, and
sometimes they're eatinghamburgers twice in a day.
So maybe on the days that we,you know, go to the pool, I'll
have a healthier option, but youknow, I personally like to have
my house clean before I go.
Like some people can just walkout the door, not worry about
the chores around the house andjust, you know, go enjoy their

(06:38):
day.
But me, like I need to have myhouse, my kitchen, just my
kitchen at least cleaned up andat least maybe, and my, my kids
I don't know, maybe they're justreally spoiled, but they don't
like leftovers.
And so I think, I think maybewhat I have to do in talking and
listening to you is have somemeats, have some things

(07:01):
marinated and then freeze themand then I can just pull them
out in the morning and that waythey can have their, their fresh
meals every day.
And then, you know, maybe justgrab some fruit or have the like
frozen rice from Trader Joe's,like keep it simple.
Keep, keep the side simple forsure.
I mean why do like overthinkingit?
I think you're overthinking.

(07:22):
Sure I mean why do?
Maybe I'm just overthinking it,I think you're overthinking it.
I also think you know I meanusing easy sides, like using
those microwavable rice, usingthe bags of quinoa.
You know, whatever your kidsare going to eat, I have little
cups of rice because my oldestloves rice, so he can just make
it himself.
I think for the summertime I eata lot of sandwiches, but I'll
do a lot of like chicken salad,tuna salad or deli meats,

(07:44):
because I think if you're goingto a pool, that's a really easy
portable food to bring and youcould make a wrap.
If you don't want to have bread, you can make it out of lettuce
.
Like getting creative with yoursandwiches and sides and things
.
When you're going out to thebeach or whatever, you don't
want to have to worry aboutheating up something because
we're not going to be heating itup right.
So that's not totally possibleand it's not in my wheelhouse.

(08:09):
I don't have like a crock potwith me.
But I also think embracing thesalads you know if your kids eat
salads or you eat salads andagain using that grill and
making extra things, right, like, if you're grilling burgers
tonight, nicole, throw somemarinated chicken on there, even
if you didn't marinate ityourself.
Like buy it pre-marinated sothat you can use it, and that's

(08:32):
not really in my mind likeleftovers.
Like I don't think your kidswould know if you grilled the
chicken the night before, wouldthey?
I don't know, maybe my oldest,his palate has become very
refined as he's started cookingon his own.
I think, keep it simple.
Keep it simple, nicole.
I also think summertime withkids, our age in midlife it is
empowering them a little bit,right, like we are busy too as

(08:54):
moms and we'd want to enjoy oursummer.
I'm not like slaving over agrill or stove all summer, like
our kids are old enough wherethey can make the food
themselves.
I will often.
You know my oldest does alsolove all my kids love like a
teriyaki chicken, so I'll makeone in the beginning of the week
and he can have the rice.
He can eat up the chicken right, like.
I think summertime, because ourkids are around so much more,

(09:17):
it is actually an opportunity tohelp them teach themselves how
to feed themselves.
Does that make sense, eventhough our kids are like
teenagers, nicole, oh, mic drop,there you go.
Say no more Mic drop.
I think maybe I'll just havelike an idea and then send them
to the kitchen and be like okay,you make this.
Yeah, dinner will be.
Tell me what's time to eat,boys.

(09:37):
But I think you know I mean.
One of the other things I wasjust thinking about is with
embracing.
You know your kids being homeis actually using it as an
opportunity to try new foods.
I don't know if you have anygood farmer's markets or you
know, bring them to the grocerystore, but there's so many
outdoor farmer markets and localplaces to go to Bring store,
but there's so many outdoorfarmer markets and local places

(10:00):
to go, to Bring your kids there.
Make it an outing and maybethey'll see something that they
want to try.
Maybe they won't, maybe you tryit and they don't like it, but
there's so much more.
You know fresh fruits andvegetables especially.
I mean where I am thatincorporating them into that and
seeing where the food comesfrom.
I think you know John and Iwere just even talking about I
had some strawberries from alocal farm and he's like, oh my
gosh, mom, these are so muchmore juicy.

(10:21):
You know John loves that, and Isaid you know because
summertime is the time right nowstrawberries are in season.
So using, sort of using I thinkyou need to shift.
Keep it simple, use it as anopportunity, right?
Yes, I love it, and you don'thave to eat burgers every day.

(10:41):
But burgers are really good.
But if you're going to grilland you're already going to go
through the trouble of puttingthe burger on the grill, grill
some other stuff with it.
I think pork tenderloin isreally good.
I don't know if your kids likethat, but it is also a really
good leftover food.
Pork you can use in a lot ofdifferent ways.
That I love.
Yeah, no, I don't know thatI've ever really made it.
I'll send you some good recipes.
We eat a lot of pork.
It's pretty easy to do, butthere's lots of things that you

(11:03):
can do on the grill.
You know, what I want to getinto the summer is kebabs.
This is like, for some reason,I'm like scared of kebabs, that
the chicken won't be cookedenough, for some reason.
But I really want to get good.
I love chicken kebabs, I lovemeat kebabs and I think that's
also a fun way to incorporateyour family into it putting it
together.
So that is one of my goals.
This effort time is to masterthe kebab.

(11:25):
I love kebab.
I think you just have to rotateit enough and just maybe not
have the chicken cubes so big,right, right, it has to be, has
to be all similar.
But get creative.
You know, I think you'll begood.
I think you're going to surviveor thrive, all right, right now
I feel like I'm surviving.
I'm like in survival mode withlike dinners.
Give yourself that grace.

(11:45):
I think this summertime, ifyou're going to order out, then
do that.
It is a nice time to take abreak and that's okay.
But think about your choices ofwhat you're going to eat out.
Thanks.
I think sometimes we just needa refresher.
So I appreciate it.
Yes, ladies, you got this.
You got this.
Okay, thrive this summer withyour summer meals.
All right, yay, bye, talk toyou later.

(12:05):
Bye, and that's a wrap fortoday's episode of Don't Call Me
Midlife.
We hope you had as much fun aswe did.
If you're just waiting in thecarpool line, don't forget to
follow the show, and if you'refeeling extra spicy today, leave
us a rating and review Beforewe part ways, join our
newsletter to stay in the loopwith all things Midlife, magic,

(12:26):
bonus content and more.
Head on over to the show notesfor how to sign up.
We can't wait to keep theconversation going and, of
course, don't forget to fill upyour own cup first.
Cheers.
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