☀️ Summer Meal Prep

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

Summer Meal Planning for Moms

Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to Don't Call Me Midlife . This summer we're shaking things up a bit with our special series called Survive or Thrive . We know moms are extra busy during the summer , so we're bringing you shorter , bite-sized episodes , 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 by or truly thriving this summer . Hi , my friend , what's going on ? Happy Thursday , yes , happy Thursday .

Speaker 1 0:32

I've got a busy weekend that's coming up and I have a lot of questions for you , my friend . But first I'm going to ask you what'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 have as much coffee , right , you know , I'm a huge coffee fan in the afternoon . So I have some Energize packets from Green Compass . It's more like a little like I don't know if it's natural , is it natural energy ? I don't know One of the energy things from Green Compass that you put in your water bottle so you can have a little boost of energy .

Speaker 1 1:05

But I don't have to grab , like , a Diet Coke or a coffee and it's good . The flavor is orange zest and it's actually really , really good . Oh , that sounds amazing . I'm going to have to . Maybe I can get a little sample from you . I can send you one in the mail , okay , thank you . Thank you , I am doing a little immunity shot . It's spelled S-U-J-A and it is like a turmeric shot and it's got like black pepper in it and it's really actually been helpful for like joint pain . So any of you midlife ladies with like perimenopause issues all of us it's a quick little shot , it's a little peppery , but it just gives you like a little zing and it's good .

Speaker 1 1:47

Okay , I've seen those at the grocery store . You can buy them in the box at like costco , so I just get them delivered . Oh , that's good because they're expensive . Yes , I know they haven't met a whole food . You can probably buy two from whole foods for an entire box at costco . Yeah , but that's . But that's a great idea for the summertime .

Speaker 1 2:05

I love that little trick because you can just take the little shot , because you really I mean I don't want to get sick any time of year , but I also don't want to really get sick in the summertime . I mean , being sick in the summer it's like sitting in your bed and then seeing the sun . It's just like the worst , it is because 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 at the pool and I am falling short on my dinners and I have been ordering out a lot and it doesn't feel good , and so I'm wondering if you've got like a great tip just to help . We're just shifting from like springtime dinners , just like going into summer , and it's just like I'm kind of getting sick of you know burgers , so I don't know 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 to do dinners and love to cook , but summertime is a little bit different , nicole , right , and I think I hear this a lot from moms . It's like we love the summer but it's also hard because we're not in the normal schedule . You know , whether you work in and out of your home , you're still probably driving your kids to more stuff , you're probably going to the pool , you're probably out about a lot more than you normally are , especially if you have like a summer Friday . So you know you could only grill so much . I agree with you , it can be a lot . I do love to grill . I'm just sick of grilling burgers . I just don't want you to not talk about grilling , because I love the convenience of a grill . I do . I think it keeps the kitchen clean . Some other ideas I agree with you , but my kids it's literally like been such a go-to is the burgers , because my kids would eat a burger every day . So I definitely get that .

Speaker 1 3:57

I think my advice and this goes along with sort of my meal planning method and philosophy is to actually take the time to think about , like , your purpose for this summer and I know that sounds like pretty deep , but that's one of the things that I do every single week for meal planning . I do think one of the things is , even though it's summer , meal planning is still beneficial and it can be a loose meal plan . You know , nicole , if you know you're going to the pool twice a week . If you know this , then you can also keep track a little bit of how much you're going to go out . So I think the first thing is think about , look at your week , look at your calendar and figure out your purpose for that week and stick with your meal plan . Stick with that habit of planning out your meals , even if during the you knowummertime you're making a fancy spreadsheet , like I do . I tend to not do that fancy spreadsheet in the summertime , but I do it in a different capacity Maybe . I just write it down on a little board . So I think sticking with meal planning is good .

Speaker 1 4:52

I also think we need to give ourselves grace as moms , as women , as families , to keep the meal 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 , like making it very basic and not too complicated , I think is a good idea . I mean , grilling is my go-to , you know , and I think marinating meats in advance is great . So on those days where you know that you're going to the pool tomorrow , you know the night before , 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 could do kebabs , whatever you have in advance . Because I think if you're planning it out and you have it done in advance , especially doing simply I'm not saying like , go make a whole casserole , because I don't like to eat those in the summertime , but just even marinating your meats in advance and planning ahead and having that , I think , is a really , really easy idea .

Speaker 1 5:51

I do think , though , we do tend to eat out more , so maybe it's not like you're saying , it's not the amount that you're eating out , it's what you're choosing to eat out . Does that make sense ? Maybe because when we're at the pool , it's like the snack shack , and obviously some pools have , like , more options grills and , you know , salads but the one that we've been going to this summer it's just like you know , hot dogs , nachos and chicken fingers for the kids , and sometimes it's hamburgers , and sometimes they're eating hamburgers twice in a day . So maybe on the days that we , you know , go to the pool , I'll have a healthier option , but you know , I personally like to have my house clean before I go . Like some people can just walk out the door , not worry about the chores around the house and just , you know , go enjoy their day . But me , like I need to have my house , my kitchen , just my kitchen at least cleaned up and at least maybe , and my , my kids I don't know , maybe they're just really spoiled , but they don't like leftovers . And so I think , I think maybe what I have to do in talking and listening to you is have some meats , have some things marinated and then freeze them and then I can just pull them out in the morning and that way they can have their , their fresh meals every day .

Speaker 1 7:09

And then , you know , maybe just grab some fruit or have the like frozen rice from Trader Joe's , like keep it simple . Keep , keep the side simple for sure . I mean why do like overthinking it ? I think you're overthinking . Sure I mean why do ? Maybe I'm just overthinking it , I think you're overthinking it . I also think you know I mean using easy sides , like using those microwavable rice , using the bags of quinoa . You know , whatever your kids are going to eat , I have little cups of rice because my oldest loves rice , so he can just make it himself .

Speaker 1 7:37

I think for the summertime I eat a lot of sandwiches , but I'll do a lot of like chicken salad , tuna salad or deli meats , because I think if you're going to a pool , that's a really easy portable food to bring and you could make a wrap . If you don't want to have bread , you can make it out of lettuce . Like getting creative with your sandwiches and sides and things . When you're going out to the beach or whatever , you don't want to have to worry about heating up something because we're not going to be heating it up right . So that's not totally possible and it's not in my wheelhouse . I don't have like a crock pot with me .

Speaker 1 8:12

But I also think embracing the salads you know if your kids eat salads or you eat salads and again using that grill and making extra things , right , like , if you're grilling burgers tonight , nicole , throw some marinated chicken on there , even if you didn't marinate it yourself . Like buy it pre-marinated so that you can use it , and that's not really in my mind like leftovers . Like I don't think your kids would know if you grilled the chicken the night before , would they ? I don't know , maybe my oldest , his palate has become very refined as he's started cooking on his own . I think , keep it simple . Keep it simple , nicole .

Speaker 1 8:46

I also think summertime with kids , our age in midlife it is empowering them a little bit , right , like we are busy too as moms and we'd want to enjoy our summer . I'm not like slaving over a grill or stove all summer , like our kids are old enough where they can make the food themselves . I will often . You know my oldest does also love all my kids love like a teriyaki chicken , so I'll make one in the beginning of the week and he can have the rice . He can eat up the chicken right , like . I think summertime , because our kids are around so much more , it is actually an opportunity to help them teach themselves how to feed themselves . Does that make sense , even though our kids are like teenagers , nicole , oh , mic drop , there you go . Say no more Mic drop . I think maybe I'll just have like 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 . But I think you know I mean .

Speaker 1 9:42

One of the other things I was just thinking about is with embracing . You know your kids being home is actually using it as an opportunity to try new foods . I don't know if you have any good farmer's markets or you know , bring them to the grocery store , but there's so many outdoor farmer markets and local places to go to Bring store , but there's so many outdoor farmer markets and local places to go , to Bring your kids there . Make it an outing and maybe they'll see something that they want to try . Maybe they won't , maybe you try it and they don't like it , but there's so much more . You know fresh fruits and vegetables especially . I mean where I am that incorporating them into that and seeing where the food comes from . I think you know John and I were just even talking about I had some strawberries from a local farm and he's like , oh my gosh , mom , these are so much more juicy . You know John loves that , and I said you know because summertime is the time right now strawberries are in season .

Speaker 1 10:28

So using , sort of using I think you need to shift . Keep it simple , use it as an opportunity , right ? Yes , I love it , and you don't have to eat burgers every day . But burgers are really good . But if you're going to grill and you're already going to go through the trouble of putting the burger on the grill , grill some other stuff with it . I think pork tenderloin is really good . I don't know if your kids like that , but it is also a really good leftover food . Pork you can use in a lot of different ways . That I love . Yeah , no , I don't know that I've ever really made it . I'll send you some good recipes . We eat a lot of pork . It's pretty easy to do , but there's lots of things that you can do on the grill .

Speaker 1 11:04

You know , what I want to get into the summer is kebabs . This is like , for some reason , I'm like scared of kebabs , that the chicken won't be cooked enough , for some reason . But I really want to get good . I love chicken kebabs , I love meat kebabs and I think that's also a fun way to incorporate your family into it putting it together . So that is one of my goals .

Speaker 1 11:22

This effort time is to master the kebab . I love kebab . I think you just have to rotate it 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 be good . I think you're going to survive or thrive , all right , right now I feel like I'm surviving . I'm like in survival mode with like dinners . Give yourself that grace

Thriving With Summer Meals

Speaker 1 11:45

.

Speaker 1 11:45

I think this summertime , if you're going to order out , then do that . It is a nice time to take a break and that's okay . But think about your choices of what you're going to eat out . Thanks . I think sometimes we just need a refresher . So I appreciate it . Yes , ladies , you got this . You got this . Okay , thrive this summer with your summer meals . All right , yay , bye , talk to you later . Bye , and that's a wrap for today's episode of Don't Call Me Midlife . We hope you had as much fun as we did . If you're just waiting in the carpool line , don't forget to follow the show , and if you're feeling extra spicy today , leave us a rating and review Before we part ways , join our newsletter to stay in the loop with all things Midlife , magic , bonus content and more . Head on over to the show notes for how to sign up . We can't wait to keep the conversation going and , of course , don't forget to fill up your own cup first . Cheers .