Feeding My Family Real Food Felt Impossible—But This Ancestral Shift Fixed Everything | Allison Schaaf

Welcome to Everyday Ancestral. I'm your host, James Barry. How many times have you heard me talk about the importance of meal planning? It's one of the most underrated, underused health tools. I recommend it all the time, whether it's on this show or when I'm guesting on other shows. I can't believe I'm finally getting to actually talk to someone That has made meal prepping their business. Alison Schoff is the founder and CEO of Prep Dish. It's a meal planning service that helps busy individuals and families save time while enjoying healthy, stress-free meals. And Alison is a trained chef and she's a dietitian. So she, she has the background, she's doing the work for you. And I'm very excited she shares her tips, her tools that she uses in the kitchen. And she also— Is someone who struggled to have kids and finally now has 4 kids during this episode, might be 5 by the time it airs. She had quite a journey getting to be a mom and she shares that as well, which I found very moving. Please enjoy this episode of Everyday Ancestral with today's guest, Allison Schoff. You are practicing and built a company around one of the I think one of the most underrated life hacks, which is meal prep. I really, I'm always on podcasts telling people this is the one underused tool that really makes some of the biggest difference. Before we go into specifically that business, I'd love to better understand like what actually got you into going down the path of becoming a chef and studying nutrition.

Yeah, it's interesting. You know, growing up, I was always involved in sports. I think also my mom wasn't that into cooking, so I think that kind of got me into cooking. Like, I can remember on Sundays she wouldn't want to have lunch right after church, so I started kind of taking on that role just because I was hungry. And I'm like, okay, let's— so I kind of took over in high school doing part of the cooking, just I guess practically. But I did have some grandmothers. Both my grandmothers are wonderful cooks, so I think I was always inspired by them and just had interest with being in the, in the kitchen. Gosh, even in, was it junior high? I created a catering company actually making cookies. So maybe not the healthiest, but I remember selling them to my dad for his board meetings. And it's kind of a double win for me because not only did my dad pay for the ingredients, but then he also paid for whatever price I put on the price list.

That's so great. And were you an only child or did you have siblings?

No, I had 2 younger sisters, so I was the oldest child. So I think also, you know, kind of liked to help out in that sense too. But yeah, I got inspired to go on to culinary school. I found a great program that combined culinary and nutrition. And I guess for me, I've just never quite understood how either of those can stand alone. If you're going to go into culinary arts and spend all this time cooking, wouldn't you want it to be something that's going to nourish your body and make you feel better? Not just in taste, yes, but also in like how your body feels. And then, you know, same thing with nutrition. How can you talk about nutrition without knowing how to cook? No one's going to long-term follow nutrition advice unless it tastes good. To me, it's just like the 2 fields can't be separated, but they often are. You know, I always kind of went down that path, but also had this like entrepreneurial streak to me always. Like, I was always creating businesses when I was little and knew that I was going to kind of set out on my own path as well, but just Had the interest in that culinary and nutrition piece. So that's how it started.

What school did you go to?

Johnson and Wales. It's a, one of the main culinary schools. But yeah, it gave you the requirements to go on and become a, uh, dietitian. I had to go, I went to Tufts then for grad school and they had a nutrition communications degree, which was nice because I, again, I knew I wanted to do a, a different path. And so I think having that communications piece just kind of gave me A better background to set off and be more creative in what I did.

Yeah, that's fantastic. I went to a program in New York that also fused nutrition with culinary skills. It's always been the same thing as what you said too. It's like, why are those separated? But yet they really are.

No, I did internships at some famous spas and I remember going in like, oh, this is going to be so great. These chefs are going to be so into it. And I always would find there were one or two in the kitchen that were, they were into it. But for most of the people, even at a health spot, it was just a job. Like they were a chef and it was a job. And yeah, maybe there were some requirements they needed to follow. So they did, but they didn't have that passion. And I was, I was surprised at the lack of, I guess I was just expecting so much more.

And you, you got to cook for, uh, you mentioned a rock star. Do you get to share who that is at this point?

Oh gosh, I don't know, probably not. I've never shared before. I don't think they would mind because it's been so many years, but I've lost touch. But yes, it was a famous drummer, and oh gosh, him and his wife were so sweet. And it was funny because they would be on the road and then he would get back and he would always be so grateful. He was one of my most grateful clients, I think, because, you know, after being on the road and all that, he was just excited to get back to some nice healthy home cooking and Very down to earth. And I think, you know, with my personal chef services, I wouldn't be there physically cooking the food. I'd more do the meal prep. And they liked that. Like I kind of would set them up, but then they would have these like home-cooked meals that the wife would prepare.

What sort of diet did you fall into right out of culinary school? And, and then what did you fall into prior to starting the business? Because I know your business actually was gluten-free. You were doing You were doing gluten-free and paleo, right? But did you come out of school already doing that?

No, I actually myself was not doing any of that. But when I got into cooking for clients, having that dietitian background definitely set me apart from other personal chefs. So I really leaned heavily into that. I started working with a lot of functional medicine doctors. And through that work, I saw how important, you know, a paleo diet or an autoimmune protocol, especially short-term, could be to getting people on the path to health. So that kind of got me inspired to, to do more of the dietary things. But then I think it was like halfway through the personal chef journey, my sister removed gluten from her diet because she was getting just terribly sick. This was years before it was so mainstream and she got better, like almost immediately. And it took a few years, but a few years later I did an elimination diet. Just, I really didn't have a specific issue that I had recognized or anything. But when I removed gluten from my diet, I think it's for 30 days. When I tried to bring it back in, it was just very clear that gluten did not agree with my body. And over kind of the next year, I start— it was actually my husband now, we were dating, and he came back home with me and looked at all these photos and he's like, that doesn't look like you. And I'd never put it together, but eating gluten versus not eating gluten, Allison, looked very different. There was a puffiness to my face. So much so that he almost didn't recognize me.

So, oh yeah, that's, that's really powerful. So just in case some people don't know what an elimination diet is, do you want to just share what you removed from your diet?

So when you're doing elimination diet, the idea is, you know, you kind of eliminate a bunch of items that might be causing inflammation or if you have a specific issue, and then keeping them out for a set amount of time, usually about 30 days, and then reintroducing like one at a time over a period. I do recommend it's something that's really helpful to do with a dietitian or a functional medicine doctor practitioner of some sort just to kind of help guide you through it. Because I didn't have an exact issue, I don't know that I followed a very specific protocol. I mean, I think I did like no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no grains. I think I did, you know, sort of like a paleo type diet. I don't know if I did full autoimmune protocol or not. I can't remember. It's been so long ago. But I just, I know that the only one that had the huge impact on me was the gluten. And I had done some sort of blood test back then. There were a bunch of blood tests that people could do. So.

You have quite the story around conceiving and trying to conceive, which inspired you to start a website. Would you want to just share what that website is so people can go and check out your story? I'll preface that it's primarily around miscarriages, but really powerful essays that you wrote just about your experiences. What website can they go to learn and check that out?

Yeah, it's miscarriagehopedesk.org and it outlines my journey to building my family. And yeah, we kind of went into it, my husband and I, just not expecting any sort of issues. You know, I thought we were both healthy. I mean, we were, and gosh, we just started running into this issue of we had, I had one miscarriage and then another and then another, and it just kind of kept going on. And in total I had, you know, 6 losses. You know, after you've had a few, it's kind of like you're more likely statistically to, you know, continue having them. But each one was just still like so shocking and so unexpected. And I felt like I was, you know, quote unquote, doing all the right things. And man, it was a very, quite the journey.

That's kind of where I was going is that so many times, like people in the field, particularly who are, you know, helping other people get healthy, uh, who understand nutrition or you do, you think you're doing the right things that how could this be happening to you? So I imagine it was almost It felt almost like you were drowning even more, you know, because it's like, I should know, I should be able to fix this. And yet, as your journey showed, it wasn't always just about the nutrition. Clearly.

I can't even sit here today and say that I know for sure, you know, it was this, this, and this, you know, that's the struggle with infertility is there's so many things that can be impacting it and a 50/50 thing, right? Like there's an egg and a sperm and both are contributing 50%. So there's so many things that can be going on. I did figure out I have an autoimmune condition, like a blood clotting disorder. So I was on blood thinners for most of my pregnancies, but still went on to have miscarriages even on the, uh, many of the pregnancies where I was on blood thinners. So I do think there were, you know, additional things that were going on as well.

And when people go to the site and learn more about you, uh, what you wrote, they'll learn you did adopt a child initially and then birthed another child. And then did you just adopt your recent 2 children?

Yes. So, in total, we have 3 adoptions and 1 biological so far.

Yeah, that's so powerful. But, I'm just curious, does your journey with getting pregnant and then adopting, has that shifted how you eat as a family and as individuals?

Gosh, the biggest way that it's shifted how I eat, I think in some ways with the fertility stuff, I actually learned to Well, now sort of loosen up because while I was going through it, I was just so concerned that it was something diet related because that's where my head goes. So I think in some ways I've maybe loosened up a little bit on that side of things. I mean, the biggest thing for me now that we have kids is I just feel so strongly about the power of like sitting down for a family meal and that yes, the food being, you know, healthy and whole foods based and all these things is important. But just as important is that we all sit down and that we're calm when we eat. And sometimes I do look back and be like, well, was I like eating in front of my computer? So was I eating the right things but in the wrong way? You know, like it's so powerful now to sit down and, you know, with 4 kids, it's not always like calm, but, you know, to sit down and take a deep breath. And sometimes my Oura Ring will say that I was relaxed and I'm like, oh my goodness, like this is what it is, right? Is sitting down, enjoying a meal. with each other and connecting. And I think that's kind of the power in food and why food is nutritious is not just the nutrients it's providing, but it's the connection.

Yeah. The how, right? How, not only how, how it's prepared, but how you, how you eat it. So many families though, they struggle with the time and decision fatigue around meals. And I know that's why you built your company, but do you have, I don't know, what's your approach to bringing like the simplicity without sacrificing nourishment?

I think it's one realizing like at the core, a healthy meal doesn't need to be fancy. And in fact, the fancier I try and get, my kids may or may not push back a little bit, but the simpler meals they don't push back on. So, you know, like a salt and pepper chicken drumstick, like always a winner, you know, and that's salt and pepper. I would love to have every meal be a little more gourmet, but sometimes the simple ones go over just as well. And, you know, usually wanting to mix up the flavor combinations and do fancier sauces, that's more for me. Starting there with a simple meal, that's just like a great place to start because if you start trying to do too much, it makes it too easy to fall off and like be like unmotivated to do it.

You've talked about food as medicine, and I think very much you exemplify that as, as during your journey of trying to get pregnant and through that whole process. Well, what do you think modern parents are overlooking? with current, you know, modern diets versus ancestral diets?

I don't know how to say this, like, in a nice way, but thinking what they're doing is just— it's been normalized, right? Like, a snack comes out of a package. My kids do not eat any snacks that come out of, like, a little tiny package. If you just start there, to me, that's, like, the simple place to just, like, give them a piece of fruit, chop up a vegetable. Those are our 2 options for snacks in our house. Like, we don't have anything that comes from a package. And there's nothing inconvenient about eating a piece of fruit, right? Like an apple, an orange, a banana. Those are convenience foods too. So I think part of it's just like shifting your mindset a little bit around like what's convenient. And like even if we're in the car, like we can still take fruit. Like we don't need these packaged items. So I think part of it's just taking a step back and realizing like how far away we've come from what we should be eating.

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you were like, you're not saying you have to make everything from scratch. It's like, 'cause I think that's, that's a trap everyone gets into, right? They think, oh, I have to, I have to be like a homesteader and I have to make everything from scratch, but I've got, you know, a business, I've got a husband, I've got kids and I'm just stressed out. But you're just trying to simplify and say like, no, no, just cut up some cheese, have some fruit, cut up some vegetables. You know, keep it simple.

Yeah, I see people, you know, they'll want to create these like healthy muffins and healthy cookies, and they add shredded vegetables. And I'm like, that's fine. And that's fun. And if you want to get your kids in the kitchen, do it. That's great. But let's just start with the basics of, yeah, slicing some cheese and some fruit. And there's your snack. It's like you kind of go overboard in the other direction. And it's like kind of missing the point.

Do you think like becoming a parent has actually simplified your process of eating and how you look at food?

It's added a little more structure. So my husband and I were always good about coming together and he's also an entrepreneur and works from home. So we were always good at usually breakfast and dinner coming together and eating. With kids, it's a lot more, okay. I especially have one and it's like, if we do not eat dinner at 5 o'clock, he is like going downhill. So, you know, the timing, there's no flexibility on timing anymore. Yeah. I mean, we always did start with the family meals, but now I really try and get in there and sit down, you know, even if I can sit down with them for lunch. And then also there, there are gone the days of like, you know, sometimes it'd be like, oh, we're just gonna like kind of, you know, not do a full meal tonight. But now I really do try and have something. Although I will say every now and then I'll do like once a month on Sundays, like a snack board where it's just kind of like chopped up different things, whatever's left in the fridge. And it's funny that that's like my kids' favorite meal of the week.

It is interesting though. It's like, I, cuz even as a parent, I found that I'm just like, To your point, I don't, I'm not cooking as many gourmet meals anymore. I'm just kind of like following kind of formulas. It's like, okay, it needs a protein, it needs a veg, and it needs some kind of like starch or something. If that's what we're eating, then we just like build it that way. Are your kids, I know the oldest is 6, you said, right? And then it goes down in age from there, but are you dealing with picky eating yet? And if so, how are you coping with that?

I definitely see it. It's interesting because from what I've observed with my kids, I don't have any true, like what you, I would call picky eaters by any means. I've noticed when it happens, it's more like a developmental change of like, I wanna be able to like say this and have you listen. Like, oh, I don't want this tonight. And I'm like, but he's had that like several times before. And so I'm just like, okay. For the, my one that says it, it's usually not like a true, I don't like this. It's more like, I want to be able to have this opinion and you listen. To it. The one thing I have changed is like if I'm going to do a pasta dish or like something where everything's mixed together, I will sometimes separate out the ingredients because I find it's a little easier for them when like the ingredients are separate. So that's the one thing I have changed, or like maybe the sauce is on the side, you know, like if I have a chimichurri, I don't smother everything with it, I put it on the side. But yeah, I've really tried from the beginning, you know, to Always, you know, just introduce them to everything early and often and really work on my language around mealtimes and how we introduce foods. And of course, having them involved in the kitchen, and man, that makes a big difference.

Do you have any tips for people of how they can, like, let's say they are struggling to kind of get the family together or to establish routine dinners. Do you have any tips for how someone might go around and start to Co-create that in their family?

Yeah, gosh, so much. One, having a plan for the week is good because you can step back, kind of know what you're going to have each night. So at least— because if you're going into it frazzled, it's going to make it that much harder. Like, you need to be able to go into mealtime, this is what we're having and at this time. And that way you've already set the tone for like, we're not going to ask questions about this, like, this is what's happening. But yeah, the more you can get them involved, the better. I like to Know kind of the meals that work. Like there might be a meal where you're just like, oh, tonight I'm like so tight on time and it's going to be frustrating. But as much as possible, I get my kids in there and give them tasks and let them help out. And it just gets everyone on board with kind of the whole cycle of diving into mealtime. And gosh, so much so my 6-year-old recently came to me and told me he was going to make every meal for me. And if I wanted to sleep while he cooked, I could sleep. So you can tell what I prioritize. He's like, if you want to sleep, I can cook. He's already like, from now on, like every meal, I just need to sleep at every, like every dinner preparation time.

I mean, that's hilarious, but he's already exhibiting, you know, how you talked about yourself when you were younger, how you're like, I'm going to start taking over the cooking. He's exhibiting those characteristics.

Yeah. We've had to have talks about that because he'll want to just like come up with something new to create on his own. And I'm like, okay, we can do this. And I've told him, I've even said, you know, you remind me of me, but, and this is great, but we can't just. You know, 10 minutes before dinner, create a whole new dish. I'm like, if you want to create something, let's meet at the beginning of the day and decide like when and where and how it's going to work. So we have a garden this year and that's been a really good, because they'll go into the garden. They love to pick things out of there. And then if an herb came from the garden, all of a sudden they want to try it. But if it just shows up on their plate, they're like, I'm not touching this.

Oh, okay. So help maybe establishing some kind of garden, whether it's an urban one or in the back and really helping them to see the food growing. You're finding that inspires them to actually eat it too.

Well, the other day I brought in a zucchini from the garden and before I could even say anything, my 4-year-old was peeling it. And, we cut it up and sautéed it. And, I'm telling you, I don't usually peel my zucchini. I don't know why I don't peel my zucchini. It was so much better peeled. I enjoyed the sautéed. I think roasted, it's fine, but sautéed zucchini, that's my new hack courtesy of my 4-year-old. Peel your zucchinis before you sauté them.

Do you have any rituals around the table? Do you do prayer or do you have any— I know you sent your oldest to a Waldorf school. Do you do any Waldorf songs or anything like that?

Yep. So we do a prayer before, and sometimes that gets into an argument, but you know, who gets to say the prayer? Everyone joins in. But yeah, we have some of the Waldorf ones that we do, and then we're Christians, so we sometimes will do more of a Christian one. One thing they do at Waldorf, it's the teachers that serve, but of course now he comes home and he wants to serve. So We sometimes will have dinners where the kids will serve and they love that. But again, we kind of have to— okay, we can't do that every meal because it's a process. But it's so funny watching them imitate what they've learned, you know, because everyone has to stay seated and then he gets to call everyone to come up one by one and he serves them. And then they have to— we have to like light our candle if we want seconds and he'll serve seconds for us.

Oh, wow. Now, I want to talk a bit about, your company. But before we go into what people would experience with your company, if someone's not using your company, how would you recommend they get started with meal planning? Like, what can they use just that's around the house? Or what steps would you recommend they take with what they already have?

The number one thing is just, and I know it kind of sounds redundant, but like, have a plan, you know, but, and do it in advance, right? Like either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, look at your calendar for the week, jot down an idea of what you're going to have for dinner each, each night. And you can do all the meals, but dinner's usually the one to start with. It's just having an idea of what you're going to have for dinner each night will get you on the right track. Even if it changes, at least that sets you up to one, be able to write a grocery list, buy the groceries, and then when you get to that time of day If it's already written out, it's just like having that one less thing to think about makes a huge difference. Because if you're sitting there at 5 o'clock, I mean, this is the biggest, I think, hiccup to healthy eating is at 5 o'clock being like, oh my goodness, what are we going to eat? That's the hardest time to try and think of something healthy, you know, and that's the easiest time to try and to decide, oh, maybe we'll just like DoorDash, you know, or whatever it is. So the more you can have that plan and have some intentionality of how the week is going to go, The more likely you're, you're at least going to stick to it, a portion of it.

So let's walk them through what they could do. So if they're maybe starting that process on a Friday, what do you recommend they do? Are they looking at whatever cookbooks they have or are they, are, what's their thought process you recommend they have?

Yeah, I'll tell you some of the things we think about, um, when we create our meal plans. First, you know, get in the calendar. So write out how many meals you may be surprised, like, oh, we have 3 events next week. I'm not going to buy meat, you know, like we're not even eating at home or we're eating at, you know, family's house this night, whatever it is. So make sure you know how many meals you actually need so you're planning for the right number. So start with the calendar. Then from there, I look at it as protein, carb, vegetable, and the carb can be a vegetable as well. It just kind of depends. So that's kind of the like first thing I, I think about. I like to switch up my proteins throughout the week. So, you know, beef, a seafood, and then from there you can like chicken, pork, kind of whatever it is, but kind of switch things up. Although sometimes I'll do something like You know, a big roast at the beginning of the week and then use those leftovers. So once you kind of look at it, are there places where you can do things like that? Like, can I double up on my chicken thighs and the next night have them on a salad and the first night just have them like a different way? You know, so figuring out that or same thing with like sauces. I'll do that a lot. Like, okay, I'm going to make a chimichurri and have it over salmon on Monday and again with flank steak on Wednesday. So it feels like a different meal, but making chimichurri, like a double batch of chimichurri, doesn't take that much longer. So, you know, just really looking at the week so you can have this more holistic view of like what you're going to have. And in terms of, yeah, finding the recipes, we have a recipe creator and meal plan editor. She's also a chef and dietitian by background. Her background is more Mediterranean diet, but we will brainstorm and we actually look at our meals. Like three months at a time, so we'll plan three months at a time just to make sure we get the right variety of not only flavors but just ingredients and are they seasonal. So there's a lot of little like nuances that you can add to it. But again, in the beginning, maybe it's like okay, what are the four recipes that are really easy for me that aren't going to make me stumble at five o'clock that I know my family's going to eat and start there. You know, start with the really basic ones and then. As you get into it, then you can add on in more of the nuances and maybe this week we'll try a pesto sauce or something.

Do you find that there's a timeframe for repetition? Do people really need a different, you know, meal plan 30 days of the month? Or do you find it's like, it's actually practical to just have like 7 and just keep repeating that 7 or mixing and matching that 7? What do you recommend?

I find this is a personal preference and I haven't quite figured it out. I mean, there's some, you know, I've heard some people say, I won't even eat leftovers. We wouldn't eat lunch if we didn't have leftovers. Like lunch is always leftovers. But then there's other people and it's like, okay, Tuesday's always tacos and Wednesday's always stir fry and Friday's always this. And it's like, you know, maybe they vary the ingredients and I'm like, I don't know. That doesn't sound all bad, but I personally like a little more variety and I enjoy it. So, and I also think Are you a live to eat kind of person or an eat to live kind of person? That can make a difference. I really enjoy, you know, trying out new foods and there's something to be said even with the nutrition aspect of like having a variety of flavors and incorporating a variety of different foods is going to be, you know, helpful from that aspect. But yeah, in terms of what's the right balance, I think it's figuring out your family and like who has the strong preference. You know, sometimes there's one spouse that like. Really wants more variety, and sometimes there's people honestly that prefer less variety. You know, they'd rather kind of have the same thing every week, and so it's just figuring out where you guys are as a family.

So we kind of laid out a lot of a lot of different things people have to think about when they're on their own. So what does Prep Dish provide for people?

You know, if you want variety, we can help. We do try and keep in mind that when subscribers are hitting us, some might be brand new or some have been with us. For years. So we, you know, are always doing tried and true in terms of like ingredients, or approachable, I should say. But we provide meal plans each week. So we're giving a grocery list, meal prep instructions, and then night of instructions. So basically taking that meal planning process I talked about earlier, but having it be done for you. Like, hey, if you want, you know, someone to plan out nutritionally balanced meals with a variety of flavors That we feed our own families and just kind of hand you the instructions, then, you know, that's basically what we provide.

And are people picking the diet that they want, or are they all fitting a specific diet?

So we have 4 different options to choose from. So one is paleo, one is gluten-free, and then there's a low-carb one and a super fast, which is just family-friendly, but like really So actually our goal with that is 1 hour of meal prep or less to get you prepped for the week in terms of your meals.

Just outta curiosity, do you find one is more popular than the other? Like how are most people eating these days?

So Superfast is the most popular. We do yearly surveys and, cuz I've wondered that too, I'm like, okay, is it time to like cut one of them out? Because I think like, and some people switch between them. I know for sure there was, there's some of that, but it like 60% use Superfast, but the other 3, it's split so evenly, so I can't really drop any of them because they're all being used, you know. And especially the paleo one, I've tried to figure out if it's a— if I need to change the name on that or anything. But I think for the people that are looking for, you know, if they need grain-free for, you know, some sort of health reason, then they kind of know to look for that term, even though it's not the same, you know, in terms of trendiness or whatever as it was back when I started Several years ago.

And you, it sounds like you do incorporate seasons into the meal planning, correct?

Yes. Yeah, for sure. And even like things like in the summer, we'll incorporate some grilled items, always with the option to use your stove. The winter, there'll be like some hearty stews. I mean, we're not going to do that in July. You know, we'll bring in more tomatoes in the summer and squash in the fall. And yeah, we're definitely like watching the seasons and Even over the holidays, we'll be like, oh, and here, 2 of the plans will give dessert options. And so we'll maybe do something like, oh, if you'd want to bring something to a Christmas party, here's a flourless chocolate cake you could make. So we're really kind of keeping an eye on the seasons.

But you're focusing mostly on dinner, correct?

Yeah. Yeah. So dinner, the gluten-free and paleo are both set up where there's one salad that you make for the week. I really love having just one side salad I do for the whole week. And then there's a snack, breakfast, and dessert. But the way those work, everything's numbered. So if people want to make that, they can, but if not, they can just kind of ignore that number when they're going through the process.

Oh, so, but you are supporting people through their whole day of meals.

If they want. Yeah.

Oh, that's great. I'm curious, do ancestral foods have any place in your meal plans or have you built any into them? What would the ancestral foods that you're Well, like any more whole animal parts, so like organ meats or even like bone broths or anything like that?

Not as much. I include them in my diet, so I'm a big fan of bone broth and I make it a few times a, a month. And I do talk about that a lot and like, okay, if you wanna do it, here's how you do it. So when it comes up on a recipe though, you know, we just call for broth and they can decide if they wanna base— do store-bought. Organ meats, I don't know that we've done as much with. We talk about some of the, you know, using more whole foods or like even things come up like, hey, I bought a whole cow, how can I swap this? And so we have those discussions with people, but more like to the side versus like as the main thing. I would love to incorporate some of that stuff. I think, uh, maybe that's not quite where my audience is though.

How granular do you get around preparation? Like, do you recommend people, you know, soak things? Do you go to that extent?

So a lot of that stuff, again, we're kind of like in the area of like, we'll have either like blog posts or podcast episodes where we'll talk about like, hey, here's the like preparation and all that. But then on the meal plans, it's like, okay, if you want to get it done quickly, you know, here's how you do it as well. So we've kind of had to find that balance of making it approachable, like I said, for the new customers, but then You know, people who've been with us for a while, and I know people on our Facebook group, like maybe they belong to like a farm thing and they get something and they're looking for a substitution and stuff like that. So we try and support them wherever they're at on that side of things.

Yeah. I imagine most people that are coming to you are just looking, are really looking for time, time hacks, right? Like things that will speed up the process and make it easy. To that point, actually, do you have any kind of prep tricks That you can impart?

I think one, it gets back to that intentionality when you are sitting down and like looking at your week and planning it. And when you're looking at recipes, see, are there some ways that I can make this week easier for me? So again, like making that big roast and using it for a few things, making a sauce and making it once. Like if you want to experiment with something new and some new flavors, don't do like 3 different sauces for that week. Do the same one for that week. And then next week, try a new one. Batching your vegetable chopping is like one of my best hacks because there's just something about opening your fridge and having that onion already be chopped at dinner time that just makes dinner that much easier. I can chop an onion in like, I don't know, under 2 minutes, but it's so nice to just toss the pre-chopped onion. You know, it's kind of like that, you know, how they started the cake mixes. People are more likely to make a cake when all they have to do is add 3 ingredients versus 10. So I think if you can set yourself up to have dinner be a little easier by doing all of your chopping in advance, then you're going to enjoy it and be more likely to make it a habit.

Any preservation tips? Like, so when people bring in their groceries, are you a proponent of, do they take it out of the plastic bags? Like, how do you recommend they store it in their refrigerator?

It depends a lot on like per produce. So this is another thing. If you're creating your own meal plans, when we're doing ours, we are Specifically looking at like, okay, day 4 or 5, what are you going to have versus day 1? So that is something we do take into account of like, okay, is that, you know, salad really going to be good on that day? No, let's move it to this day and let's save the thing that has like carrots in it for the last day. Same thing, like if you're getting some fish, not going to have that on day 3. Fish is always like our first one, just, you know, to try and account for that. And chopping the vegetables, most vegetables do pretty well. There's a few exceptions of things that don't last as long. We have gone back and forth on this and like done some experiments. We've talked about doing just this full-blown like year-long experiment of chopping and seeing how long they last. Because it just, the problem is it varies a lot because you don't know if you're going to a grocery store. I could buy a carrot that's 2 weeks older than the carrot that you buy. Or same thing, like I get a head of broccoli and it's already like not looking great where someone else gets a broccoli and it lasts 2 more weeks in their fridge. So I can have some generalizations, but you don't know the produce that you're buying, how old it is, unless you're picking it out of your garden.

Should they store certain produce specifically? Like, should asparagus be stored in a glass of water? How about herbs? Do you have any recommendations on those?

Herbs, I do like to store just in a cup of water, like standing up. I find that that helps. All the others, I don't really have a lot of strict guidelines on. Currently there's things, potatoes I don't usually cut in advance. Those turn brown. I mean, those are not good meal prep things. The things you can do with potatoes, bake some potatoes and then, you know, use them later. Salad, I always, even just as simple as like flipping it so it's upside down, it lasts longer.

Obviously drain it first of the water right before you do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that's smart. Yeah. 'Cause you don't want it, the part that's been sitting is going to release more water and/or turn brown faster. Yeah, that's a really good tip. Any tips for when people are cutting onions, like so they don't get the teary eyes?

The thing I've found that works best, stick it in the fridge before you chop it, at least an hour before you chop it, and that helps to reduce it. I'm a big crier with onions. Like I really struggle. I don't know what that gene or chemical is, but whatever it is, I've got it.

Get out the stored, you know, emotions whenever you're cutting the onions. What about cookware-wise? Are you a, are you a stainless steel girl or cast iron? What's your favorite cookware?

Those two. I do cast iron and stainless steel. Well, this is controversial, but not into the air fryers. There's not one that has great materials. Actually, I did buy one that's like made of glass, but it didn't really work that well.

Any appliances that you think are a non-negotiable?

I think having at least a high-end blender or food processor, both is great, but you need to have at least one of those to make like sauces and stuff. So my biggest thing in terms of have what you need to have, a chef's knife, a really good chef's knife. It's probably going to cost you at least $100, $80 to $100. And then a really good cutting board as well. Like it needs to be a decent size and not plastic or glass. Like it can be made of bamboo or wood of some sort, but no glass or plastic for the cutting boards and a big size.

Do you wear an apron when you're cooking or do you not wear an apron?

I should wear an apron. I do not. Every now and then I do, like if I'm doing like a big baking session or it's like, you know, Thanksgiving Day, sometimes I'll put one on if I know like it's, you know, and depending on what I'm wearing on all that sort of, maybe if I'm hosting people, then I'll wear one. But no, not usually.

Yeah. I'm notorious for not wearing them. And then of course my clothes get stained.

I know the oil stains are the worst. That's where I'm like, I should wear one because when you get a little oil stains on your shirt, that those are really hard to get out.

Yeah. But you know what, one thing that helps, this is a crazy tip, but you actually use like Dawn dish soap because it's designed to help pull oil.

Yeah.

So you actually put it on the oil spot and then you rub it in and then put it in your washer and it usually will come out. Just like it does on your cookware. Isn't that interesting?

I need to, I have a few shirts that I have in mind. Yeah.

So I always get asked these questions and rarely do I get to ask someone else these culinary tips. What do you listen to when you're cooking or do you listen to anything?

I used to, but now my kids are always in the kitchen with me. So I used to listen more to like podcasts and stuff. And I also find like in the mornings I like listening to music. So like Saturday morning breakfast, I do. I think the afternoon, because I'm so tapped out, I prefer more quiet, but conversation with my kids. Like, I've learned now kind of like 4 to 5 is time to spend with my kids. So I've started to view it as that because I think for me in the past I was like, oh, I need to make dinner at this time. And then it was like me making dinner and then wanting my attention. So now I'm like, okay, I know I can get dinner prepared in this time frame, but I've really shifted my mindset of like This is me spending time with my kids and we just happened to get dinner made like together. So, and that's helped a lot with my patience.

Yes. That's such a good one. I went through that as well. When I had that other kind of get it done mindset, I would get so frustrated and yet that was exactly the wrong thing to do because you want your kids to be, to your point earlier, you want your kids to be involved with the cooking. You want them to be curious about these things. And once I changed my mindset of like, no, this is quality time and this is just what we're doing with that time, it was so much healthier for me mindset-wise. So that's really encouraging that you felt that too.

Yeah. And I've learned to just really pause and be like, when I try and like tell them they can't do something in the kitchen and be like, but why not? Before I say no to something. And I've been amazed at how capable they are of doing things. You know, my 6-year-old, he's on the stove. Cooking eggs by himself. He does things in the oven by himself. My 4-year-old is like really good with a knife and both of them can like chop a sweet potato. And it's a little terrifying at first, but you know, I've monitored them enough and watched them enough. I'm confident in their skills. They're confident in their skills. And yeah, they're just capable of a lot more than I think I initially would have thought. And just by biting my tongue and sitting back and being patient. It's like, oh wow, they can actually help out.

Well, you mentioned that you're going to be entering homeschooling next year for the kids. And I'm curious, how are you preparing, you know, to run your business, to still be a mom of 4 kids and then to homeschool? I'm assuming, are you going to be running the homeschool or is your husband?

So I'm going to be running the homeschool. We've always worked with au pairs, so we do have some Some help in the house. So we have age-wise, it's 6, 4, the 4-year-old's almost 5, and then an 18-month-old and a 2-month-old. So being able to have someone else that's focusing on the 2 little ones is going to be helpful. And then I can do the homeschooling. And then the thing that I found, because even this year when the boys had school 4 days a week, when they were home, they're actually quite helpful, you know, like with the little ones. You know, it's like they can entertain the 18-month-old in a way that like, if they're not home, you don't have that. So I'm really excited to see us just kind of come together as a family and like function as a whole. But yeah, I mean, we have the childcare too. So when I work, like I'm very separate from them. I try not to work as much in front of them. It's like, okay, I'm going to leave the room and go and have my work time and then like come back. You know, of course, like if it's something in the kitchen or, you know, there's certain things, but for the most part, it's a separate task.

Well, I wish you well with it. It's not easy running a business and being a parent. So kudos to you for choosing this path. I'm excited to hear how it goes for you with homeschooling as well. I so admire the effort and the decision because I really, I believe very firmly after having not homeschooled and after having a household of 2 parents that are entrepreneurs that I really do believe Having one parent actually run the household and kind of be present with the kids and the family and helping to build that safe space in the home is more powerful and more important than I think we give it credit for. I feel like that's been our downfall a bit is because we've been so focused on our businesses sometimes, and our kids would see us working and they would think, well, you're always working, not knowing, of course, that Well, this is how all parents that have jobs are doing it. You just can't see them. And so it's confused them over the years and it's, we've had to really do a lot of repair work around that and kind of like reclarifying what work is and how good they have it that we're actually around all the time. And because we both work from home as well, but I do wish that one of us could have homeschooled or just really been in charge of the business, the home business, instead of always focusing outside of the home?

Yeah, no, it's so much to figure out. You know, this, I've been, I've tried to read a lot of books since having kids on that whole thing. And because it is, it's like your home is this whole business that needs to run. There's this whole like home management. And I even had someone on my podcast and she has, I think, 11 kids and homeschooled. It's so much like systems. So it's like, okay, what systems do we need to have into place? What are the rhythms? What are, you know, how do we run? And going back to the meal plan thing, it's like you've just gotta be intentional with that. Like if you don't like something, you've gotta figure out why is it not working and then go back and figure out the solution. But so much of that can be figured out. You just have to give yourself, self the space and time to do it. Yeah.

Well, I'm excited to hear how it goes for you. I mean, I, clearly you're not gonna just be doing that. You'll also be running your business, but it sounds like you're gonna do like a, You know, an off, off split, you know, something like a 70/30 or 60/40 or something, right? Like you're gonna—

Yeah, no, I've been very intentional with the business is more like, you know, kind of 20 hours a week or less depending on what we're going through. And I have a great team behind me of people at Preptish who have been with me for years. And that's the culture that I've created is like everyone on the team is a mom. So, you know, we all value that. We all know that like, you know, families first and, but we're all passionate about Preptish. Like we feed our families these meals and And they all have older kids, so it's nice they can kind of help guide me because here I'm in with little, little, little ones.

Thank you so much for joining me and for sharing your gifts with our audience. We're going to have links to Prep Dish. How can people kind of learn more about you on socials and whatnot?

Yeah, so @PrepDish on Instagram. I have a podcast, Meal Prep Monday. You're going to be a guest on there, so you can go check out that episode. And then we have a 2-week free trial set up, prepdish.com. I think it's prepdish.com/ancestral. So they can go there. I'll make sure that's set up and that can be in the show notes. But that's a good way to try out the meal plans. I even say after listening to this, if you wanna just kind of see our system for 2 weeks and try it out.

I hope everyone does. I really do. 'Cause I, like I said, I, I feel like meal planning is one of the most underrated and underused tools, but it truly does move the needle the most in my, my judgment. Having that plan, knowing when and how the meals are going to get done. Not only does that keep you from eating out, which is not the healthiest choice, but also like you pointed out earlier, it creates a regularity so that the focus suddenly is less on what are we eating tonight? And it's more on, okay, this is what we're eating. This is the time we're eating. And now we get to focus on each other. So if anything, I would offer the prep dish. Helps families be with each other.

That's what I've come to believe as well, is like, yes, I want to have nutritious meals and tasty meals and all this, but what I care about the most that I'm giving people is sitting down and having that connection with your family. And that is healthy, you know? Like, yes, nutritious healthy, but also emotional and all of these other pieces that it takes to be holistically healthy.

Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, thank you. And thank you everyone for listening or watching. If you like this episode, please leave a comment. It really does help us know what is resonating with you. And if you should so like to, please share it with someone else and maybe leave a rating. These are the ways to communicate with us what you enjoy, and we will keep doing that. So stay curious. Thank you so much for joining me on Everyday Ancestral. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe so you don't miss the next one. You can find the show notes, links, and resources mentioned at eatpluck.com. That's eatpluck.com. And hey, if you know someone who'd get something out of this, share it with them too. Stay curious, live well, and keep it ancestral.