Podcasts about Instant Pot

How do you embrace slow living when the world demands speed? Lesley and Brad reflect on Lesley's interview with author and slow living advocate Stephanie O'Dea. They explore how intention, structure, and seasonal living can create a more fulfilling life. This episode is a reminder that it's okay to go at your own pace and that it might be the key to your peace.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Why structure and routine are key for creating freedom.How living with intention helps reduce overwhelm.What seasonal living looks like and why it works.How guilt and people-pleasing get in the way of presence.Small steps to start building a slower, more values-aligned life.Episode References/Links:eLevate Workout and Q&A - https://lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlistAgency Mini - https://prfit.biz/miniOPC Summer Tour - https://opc.me/tourLA Tour - https://opc.me/laBalanced Body - https://www.pilates.comUK Mullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comSubmit Your Questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsStephanie O'Dea's Website - https://stephanieodea.comFree Daily Journaling Worksheet - stephanieodea.com/dailySlow Living Podcast - https://stephanieodea.com/podcastBook: The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky - https://a.co/d/6f2NCI7 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! 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DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  Whenever we're trying to make things happen fast, but it usually means we want to skip ahead. And unfortunately, when you skip ahead, you miss out on like the muscle strength and experience you need for where you're going to go. So then when you get there, not only are you further along than you are strong enough to be, but now you don't have the skill set to handle the problems you have. Lesley Logan 0:18  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:01  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the sustainable convo I had with Stephanie O'Dea in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened that episode, you need to, as part of a slow living request, you got to go rush over and just make it.Brad Crowell 1:17  Just rush right now, get over there. Lesley Logan 1:20  Do not pass go. You gotta listen to it. She's so great. She's so fun. I got to be on her podcast as well. But also she's like, a famous, like, slow-cooking person, like she's.Brad Crowell 1:30  Yeah, Crock-Pot. Lesley Logan 1:31  Just the famous Crock-Pot. Brad Crowell 1:33  Not insta-pot. Lesley Logan 1:33  Yeah, no. Brad Crowell 1:34  She was very upset about the Instant Pot. Lesley Logan 1:37  She was and we were really in on the insta-pot, but we got off the insta-pot, we like made soup.Brad Crowell 1:44  Yeah, still do occasionally. It's good times. Lesley Logan 1:47  Just whenever we're home when it's soup weather. Speaking of what day today is, today is June 19th 2025 and it's Juneteenth here in the United States. The freedom of African Americans from slavery in the U.S. in 1865 is celebrated on the holiday Juneteenth on June 19th. Juneteenth is made up of the words June and 19th. Brad Crowell 2:06  Case you didn't know.Lesley Logan 2:08  Just, whoever writes these, it's always just the explanation of the day, using the day you can't. Brad Crowell 2:15  It's celebrated every year on this day. Lesley Logan 2:17  Yes, yes. And it is on this day that Major General Gordon Granger, wow, arrived in Texas, more than 155 years ago, to inform slaves that slavery had been abolished. Today is also.Brad Crowell 2:31  Yeah, well I just want to comment on that because, because they just ignored the messengers and they were like, nah, we're good. We're gonna keep doing.Lesley Logan 2:41  Not the slaves, the bad people. Brad Crowell 2:43  Yeah, the slavers. They were like, yeah, we're just gonna keep going. And then they, they sent, well, actually, I don't, I actually, don't know who first, who came first. It's possible that Gordon Granger got there to make the initial announcement, and then later it had to be enforced.Lesley Logan 3:01  Yeah, this is something that the day didn't give us information on. And I feel like I've read about, here's what I do, every Juneteenth I actually read about it and I find myself appalled that this happened. And then also, of course, it didn't, and also the time we're recording this. Brad Crowell 3:15  Also, of course it did what? Lesley Logan 3:16  I said at the time that we're recording this. Brad Crowell 3:18  No, no, before that you said. Lesley Logan 3:19  Of course, it did, of course, bad things. Of course it happened because they're shitty people. Of course it happened. But on this time that we are recording this, because the day after a very, very huge slave, like the largest slave sugar plantation, slave house burned to the ground, it was turned into a wedding venue, and so people are having those antebellum weddings, and it's like humongous tons of rooms like but was one of the worst slave places in Louisiana, and it burned to the ground. And I have to say, people are celebrating the fuck out of it online. And I have no problems with that. In fact, I have why I like was celebrating and smiling with them every reel of every person, like dancing and going, oh, do you need some water? And then pouring away from the fire. I was like, yes, yes to all of it. Because, I mean, I just, it's just, it's bad. So anyways, please make sure that you are honoring Juneteenth today. Take some time to read up on it. If you didn't know about it. We obviously still have some learning to do, but it's an important day. Brad Crowell 4:25  Remember this general. Major General. Lesley Logan 4:27  Yeah, Major General Gordon Granger. Brad Crowell 4:30  That's a mouthful. Lesley Logan 4:30  That is a mouthful. I mean, his parents didn't name him Major General, so.Brad Crowell 4:37  Fortunately for his parents. Lesley Logan 4:38  What if he become a ranger? Then he'd be Ranger Granger. Brad Crowell 4:42  Major General Gordon Granger Ranger. Lesley Logan 4:44  No, he would have just been a ranger. It would have been Ranger Granger. All right, today is also the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence and Conflict for everyone else there, out there in the world. So we wanted to, because it's an international show and so on this International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence and Conflict is observed every year on June 19th to raise awareness about sexual violence and conflict and to strategize ways to end these crimes throughout the world. On June 19th 2015, United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the date as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence and Conflict. This date commemorates the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1820 in which the Council condemned sexual violence as a tactic of war and an impediment to peace building. Yeah, wow. Brad Crowell 5:31  Yeah, this one's heavy. Lesley Logan 5:32  It's a heavy day. Brad, these are heavy. Brad Crowell 5:35  Yeah. I mean, you know, like, I listen to a lot of deep dive interviews about the conflicts in Europe, you know, and then a. Lesley Logan 5:45  Oh, it's terrible what they do. Brad Crowell 5:46  In the Middle East and in Africa. And, you know, like they're using rape as a tool of war in. Lesley Logan 5:54  So many countries. Brad Crowell 5:55  In the Ukraine, you know, in, in, it's historically.Lesley Logan 6:01  Yeah, it's happening. It's happened. It's happened for centuries and it happens everywhere, and it is horrifying. So I think it's, think it's, I can't believe it took till 2015 for the world to be like, this is a bad thing. Brad Crowell 6:16  Well, I mean, it's been, you know, it's a war crime. It's been war crime for a really long time. But yeah, maybe just this, you know, the day bringing awareness to it. Lesley Logan 6:27  Do you know who then, who gets to be the court for war crimes, like, who does it? Brad Crowell 6:33  Yeah. So there's the International Criminal Court, the ICC. Lesley Logan 6:37  Oh. Brad Crowell 6:37  Yeah and we're not a part of it, we don't honor the ICC as the United States of America, which is a complicated political decision. Lesley Logan 6:47  We are winning. We are winning in the history books right now, guys. Well, you know what? I think we need to bring this day up a little bit. So first of all, I think Juneteenth is like a positive holiday, right? Brad Crowell 7:04  Yeah, Juneteenth is a positive holiday. I think that it's important to remember, but also it's a day of celebration. So, love that. Lesley Logan 7:12  Okay. And. Brad Crowell 7:13  We can talk more about the ICC later, y'all, if you're really interested.Lesley Logan 7:16  I don't think anyone came here. We'll get Brad his own segment at the end. Brad Crowell 7:21  I listen to a lot of this kind of stuff, and, you know, it's interesting, it's interesting why we chose not to be, you know, part of it, but also we still. Lesley Logan 7:30  Well, because we would be in trouble for war crimes all the time. Brad Crowell 7:32  We would be in trouble for war crimes. That's right.Lesley Logan 7:34  Yes, that's right, okay, but you know what's happening that's going to be more fun than all this talk? July.Brad Crowell 7:42  Slow living. Lesley Logan 7:44  July 9th, we are hosting, wait, oh, we are doing this. Yes, okay. Brad Crowell 7:50  Yeah, this is actually happening. Lesley Logan 7:52  Okay, but there's a few things going on and July is very busy. Brad Crowell 7:54  July is a busy month for us. Lesley Logan 7:54  So, so it's June right now, obviously, Juneteenth, but July 9th, I am hosting an eLevate workout and Q&A. So if you're a Pilates instructor, this is a free workout. It's a way to get your questions about eLevate, my mentorship, answered. You can hear from people who've done eLevate and why they like it and why you should do it, because you shouldn't take it from me. You can take it from the people who've been part of it. So you want to go to lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlist lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlist. Then on July 17th, we are doing an Agency Mini. Guess we are bringing it back for Pilates instructors and studio owners. Brad Crowell 8:30  Yeah, that's exciting. Lesley Logan 8:30  If you remember, we used to, up until last year, do it a little week long coaching program for Pilate instructors and studio owners. And we loved it, and it was amazing, and then we stopped doing it, and we're like, we're never doing it again, because it was there's parts of it that were amazing, were amazing, and some of the parts were overwhelming, and they were overwhelming. Brad Crowell 8:48  Yeah, not just for us, but also for the attendees. Lesley Logan 8:51  Mostly, for, yeah, it was less about there's less about us, more, so we have been working behind the scenes on making some amazing changes, and now we have a new Mini. Brad Crowell 9:01  We've got a mini Mini, but we're just still calling it Mini, yeah, but yeah, it's only three days, not seven. Lesley Logan 9:06  Yes. And you get all the best parts of Mini, which is a workshop on how to actually attract clients you want to work with. Then you get to use Lesley on Demand, this amazing tool. So we'll help you with your I Help statement. And then you get to join office hours with Brad and I, includes breath work, and we're going to answer all the running questions about your business on this call. It's so much fun. You can see if Agency is right for you, but also you can get questions answered. And, you know, take that information with you. Brad Crowell 9:31  Just come party about your biz. It's gonna be good. Go to prfit.biz/mini prfit.biz/mini yeah.Lesley Logan 9:39  And then July, yeah, I believe we actually start on the 24th but maybe we start on the 25th Don't ask me. We start end of July, and we go to August 17th, and it's the OPC Summer Tour. You're gonna go to opc.me/tour to get your tickets for and see the cities we're going to. We are going up.Brad Crowell 9:58  We teach in Phoenix on the 25th So we could go down on the 24th.Lesley Logan 10:01  Oh, okay, cool. You know, we'll do whatever. Maybe we'll go to the Oatman Ranch and we'll go play with the donkeys. Brad Crowell 10:08  I don't remember that. ILesley Logan 10:10  Yeah, I told you about it. I told you about it. Brad Crowell 10:12  Oatman. Lesley Logan 10:12  I think it's called Oatman. Um, anyways, um, you guys, we're gonna start in Phoenix, and we go to San Diego, then it's Los Angeles, and it's Santa Barbara, and then maybe a city in between, and then San Francisco, and then Sacramento, and then Eureka, and then Portland and Seattle, Vancouver, yes, you just heard Vancouver, Canada, and then Kamloops, Canada and Calgary, Canada. And then we're gonna come down into Idaho and Utah. Brad Crowell 10:42  We're gonna swing through Montana for a bit. We want to see glacier. Lesley Logan 10:45  Well, for vacation, yeah, so, but, you know. Brad Crowell 10:48  We'll be posting about a coffee shop and white fish, probably. Lesley Logan 10:52  Yeah. Well, at any rate, you want to go to opc.me/tour to snag your tickets. And by the way, we end in Las Vegas, and that class already sold out. Brad Crowell 10:59  I know it's insane. I can't believe it. Bam. Lesley Logan 11:02  24 hours. Class sold out. We already have. Brad Crowell 11:03  20 seats in. Lesley Logan 11:04  Yeah. Brad Crowell 11:05  That's. Lesley Logan 11:06  Well, we did tell them if they wanted us to come, and they did. Yeah, yeah, opc.me/tour of course, we are sponsored again by Balanced Body and Contrology. We're bringing our Contrology equipment. It's gonna be so much fun. Then in September we are going to be in the U.K. We have two amazing stops, Leeds and Essex. Leeds, you can get two day pass there. There's only three spots left, so. Brad Crowell 11:31  Only three spots left in Leeds. Lesley Logan 11:33  At the time that we're recording. So we're recording this, obviously, before Juneteenth, so you never know. And then in Essex, we actually opened up the day passes, because we're doing Essex on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. So you could do an all day Tuesday. Brad Crowell 11:44  You'll come out for the day from the city. Lesley Logan 11:46  All day Wednesday. We know it's not easy to get two days away during the week, but also it's really hard to get away on the weekends, so we offered you two options, during the weekend, on the weekends, opc.me/uk that's where you want to go. And then, of course, in October and come with us to Cambodia. Holy moly, we are insanity. Have you heard this, this schedule, and then he wanted to take me camping in here, guys. Brad Crowell 12:08  Oh, we're going. Lesley Logan 12:08  We're going camping, apparently. Brad Crowell 12:10  Yeah, we're going camping somewhere in there. Lesley Logan 12:11  Very expensive storage that we live in sometimes. So Cambodia. Brad Crowell 12:16  Oh, you mean our house?Lesley Logan 12:17  Yeah, I love it so much. But Cambodia is you'll have, you'll be at our house in Cambodia, and we do retreat, stuff and workshops and temple tours. Brad Crowell 12:28  Oh men, it's just gonna be amazing. Lesley Logan 12:30  So go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com. The plural is on the crows and the retreats, but not the nest. So there you go. All right, before we got to get to Stephanie, but before we get there, Brad, do we have a question to answer?Brad Crowell 12:44  We do @creativesoulpilates on Instagram asked, hey LL, are you coming down to the IE anytime soon? IE is Inland Empire, which is Southern California. Basically, it's between Los Angeles and Riverside so, or I think actually, I think actually, Riverside is also considered IE.Lesley Logan 13:04  I think that Riverside is the IE, is it also, is Covina the IE? Brad Crowell 13:07  Covina and West Covina, I think they're south of L.A. I don't think they're technically IE. Lesley Logan 13:12  Like the Orange County. Brad Crowell 13:13  Closer to Orange County, I believe. Lesley Logan 13:14  Well, anyways. Brad Crowell 13:16  If I'm wrong, hit me. Let me know. Lesley Logan 13:20  If you all want to know L.A. well, go watch Everybody's in L.A. Just watch, at least the first episode. Brad Crowell 13:25  You know what, I'm 1,000% wrong. Covina is directly south of Glendora and Azusa, so it's where the 15 cuts down. Nope, it's not the 15. So it's towards Pomona. It's the beginning of IE, West Covina and Covina are like the beginning of the San Bernardino Valley, I think.Lesley Logan 13:46  Well, at any rate, to answer your question, we are not going to be anywhere near the IE, we are going to be in Toluca Lake. I guess that's not far from the IE, but it is. We are going to be, basically, we're in the valley of Los Angeles, close to Burbank. Right? Toluca Lake is like Burbank. Brad Crowell 14:01  Toluca Lake is Studio City, Burbank. It's between the two near Van Nuys, like, yeah. Lesley Logan 14:07  It's gonna be on our West Coast Pop Up Tour. Brad Crowell 14:09  I'm so excited. Lesley Logan 14:10  I know. Brad Crowell 14:11  I freaking love Los Angeles so much, and I cannot wait to just be back. Like, I literally used to live, like, two streets that were from where the studio is.Lesley Logan 14:20  Well, and also, for years, we're actually using the studio that we did the Accessories Flash Card photo shoot at. So I actually got to live in this part of L.A. for a week and now I can say I lived in that part of the valley. It's really, really fun. So we had Strong Body, but it's part of our summer tour. And so you got to come, because here's the deal. We, when we go to L.A. we typically go to hang out with friends, and we pretty much try to avoid working as much as possible, but because we're on tour. Brad Crowell 14:47  It's true. Lesley Logan 14:47  And we want an excuse to see L.A. again, we are making a stop as we're going by so go to opc.me/la for tickets to the L.A. event. Or if you go to opc.me/tour, you'll see San Diego, Santa Barbara. You know, because people who live in L.A. also live very far from the center of L.A., typically, so like Poway, as the San Diego city. So you know, there's some really good stuff. But thanks, you guys. You guys, we have a really easy place for you to send your questions in. You can text us at 310-905-5534, or you can actually submit your questions or a win at beitpod.com/questions. Brad Crowell 15:27  That's right beitpod.com/questions.Lesley Logan 15:28  Now you can just do it there, and it's so easy and you can be anonymous if you want to. You can whatever you want. Brad Crowell 15:36  Well, you know, so for the Friday episodes, we celebrate wins. And now, instead of people sending DMs, you know, fill out this form, it actually makes it easier for you, too. It's clear what it is, and we know what's going on, all the things. So beitpod beitpod.com/questionsLesley Logan 15:54  And you could put your win there too. I know, it's, which we didn't want to have two links. We just want to have one. So it's we could have called it quest wins.Brad Crowell 16:01  Quest wins. We could have, we could have really gone over well with trying to figure out how to spell that. Lesley Logan 16:07  All right. All right.Brad Crowell 16:08  Well, look, stick around, this, we're going to talk about slow living. This, this break will be fast, but the, but the conversation about Stephanie O'Dea is going to be really exciting. So we'll be right back. Brad Crowell 16:21  All right. Now, welcome back. Let's talk about Stephanie O'Dea. She's a writer, she's a coach, she's a teacher and a speaker who helps people embrace slow living. Lesley Logan 16:30  She's a teacher and a speaker. I like how that sounded. Brad Crowell 16:33  She's a teacher, teacher and a speaker. Her journeys began in 2008 on a viral blog where she used her Crock-Pot every single day for an entire year, landed her on national TV and got her a book deal, and that, she said, that journey lasted for about eight years before things really changed with the introduction of the Instant Pot. Fascinating. She said, when that, when that trend rose, she realized faster isn't always better. After stepping back to unplug, she discovered her true gift was helping others reach their goals in a slow, steady and sustainable way, a mission she now shares through her Slow Living podcast. Lesley Logan 17:13  I, so, so first of all, okay, I would just have to say, I was on her pod, and I was like, okay, like, this is great, you know, this is wonderful. And I really enjoyed her. I thought she was so sweet. And then she came on the pod, and, like, I was like, I'm in the presence of, like, a celebrity, like I and I was like, oh my God, she's, I'm sure, like your mom and your grandma and, like all these people, probably like, no, she is. And I'm sitting here going, oh my God, who are you? Oh God.Brad Crowell 17:48  Well, she, not only that, she is really fun. Lesley Logan 17:53  Oh yeah. Brad Crowell 17:53  And, like, snarky, and, you know, like the things that she was saying, she's got a lot of experience. You know, going through life. And I appreciated it, and I enjoyed it. And it was, it was, it was a really great conversation. In fact, I feel like it's probably a conversation, y'all, that you would want to save. So if you have not had a chance to go back and listen, I would recommend it. But. Lesley Logan 18:20  So slow living, you guys, stands for look only within. So, like, trusting your inner voice and intuition to find answers. And I really love that we talked about, like, slow living is meeting your goals. It meets all of them, but it just says it like, as you said in the bio, like in this nice, sustainable way, some of us are, like, really trying to make things happen fast. And this one book that I read every morning was like whenever we're trying to make things happen fast, but it usually means we want to skip ahead. And unfortunately, when you skip ahead, you miss out on like the muscle strength and experience you need for where you're going to go. So then when you get there, not only are you further along than you are strong enough to be, but now you don't have the skill set to handle the problems you have, and so that's why you don't get to skip ahead. So I really do believe it's sustainable to hit your goals in a way that is steady and allows you to evaluate and you and trust your gut intuition. And she said, she encouraged you to decide your next best step when you're in a good mood and not when you're feeling down. And I was like, that is so common sense and fucking brilliant.Brad Crowell 19:24  Yeah. No, that makes total sense. I mean, when we make decisions in a bad place, you know, we're making reactionary decisions. We're not making proactionary decisions. I just wanted to throw out there the 34% Rotten Tomatoes review on an Adam Sandler movie from 2006 called Click. Lesley Logan 19:44  There, okay. Brad Crowell 19:45  Which is exactly what you're just describing. It's all about how he somehow got a magic remote that fast forwarded through what, at the time, he was like all the bullshit so that he can get to what he wants to do in his life.Lesley Logan 20:00  Oh, but then, and then he got there and he missed everything. Brad Crowell 20:03  He missed everything. Lesley Logan 20:04  Yeah, yeah. I was in sixth grade, or fifth grade, when I read a story about a little boy who had this magic string, and he could just pull the string and it could, like, skip ahead. So like, he was, like, not ready for a test, so like, he pulled the string and he like, skipped ahead. Now he's in next grade. And then he, like, pulled the string a little bit more. And then he was in high school and, like, it's the same thing, I think, Click just came from the story of this little kid who pulled the string too much. At any rate, I, I wanted to say, like, going back to the good mood or bad mood. Sometimes when I'm in my email inbox, I start to get a little overwhelmed. Because, like, the only emails I have to respond to often require a little bit of research, of like, they're like, like, someone's asking me to do this event, and I already said I would do it, but I have given them rates before, and they like, want rates again, and they asked for my rates to be lowered, and I but, but they were like, oh, can we get your rates? And also, like, this is our first time so it would be great if you could lower your rates to help us support this event. And I was immediately pissed. I was so pissed off because I was like, what are you talking about? Like, what? And so I was like, and so, you know, I got this email. I'm really behind on my emails. I'm gonna you will have response from me by the end of this week. And I was like, because nothing good is going to come from what I want to say in this moment. And I just need to be able to get angry and feel my feelings, and also go, well, why am I in a bad mood now? Like, what happened? Well, it's not intentional. She personally did not intend to piss me off in any way, but it's the, this is, by the way, guys, this is like a constant, like, I'm asked is my inbox is mostly people asking me to do free things, or to negotiate the rates I say of things and so. Brad Crowell 21:50  Or to partner up, which means. Lesley Logan 21:52  Partner up, which means do it for free. Brad Crowell 21:53  Do it for free. Lesley Logan 21:54  And so, it's, so by the time I got to this email, I had already had gone through like seven people wanting to do things for free, and then this person wants to pay me, but not as much and I was like, I gotta walk away, because I have an appropriate response. I'm sure we can get to a place where it's gonna work for both of us. But I just was angry. And so, so it's always better if you're not in a good place to just like, give yourself a permission. And this goes to slow living, if, if my response to her at the end of the week means she can't work with me, then I don't. It wasn't for me, you know, like, like, slow living, like, I really love what Stephanie's talking about, because we used to live that fast pace. Do, do, do, do, do. We were in Australia, then Spain, then, then New York, then U.K. and it's like, and I don't actually want to do that anymore, and so, so I think it's like, really. Brad Crowell 22:47  We have tried to be more intentional. Before it was like, oh, you're willing to pay us, we'll be there, even if it's like, stupid, you know, for us to travel that way. Lesley Logan 22:56  Also, by the way, when you're new in an industry or new at a thing, I do think that you need to get your feet wet. I do think you need to, I want to make sure, like, I don't want any Pilates instructors like working for free, but I also sometimes you do, and so I think, like, I never flew anywhere for free, but I definitely wouldn't travel for the rates I used to travel on. However, I because I was willing to say yes to things and learn from those experience. I could keep changing my contract had I had my current situation set up now, well, one, I wouldn't know all the things I wouldn't have known all the things that drive me crazy when I travel, and it's like, no, I do need my own hotel room, and I actually do need pistachio milk for my coffee or something like, I know that, what I need, right? I sound like Mariah Carey. But, you know what? I know why Mariah Carey is now like that, because sometimes you don't have what you need, and then you perform at your best and you don't have it. So I wouldn't know all the things that really helped me be the person I am had I not gone through that stuff. So I don't think anyone should skip ahead. But also, at some point you have to go, okay, hold on. Do I need this, right? So anyways, I also just want to say share, to quote, discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most, and just going back to like you saying like now we're more intentional. It's like, it can be really flattering to be asked to do certain things and so, but also, what do we want most? And so is it like, is that part of the most, or is that actually just flattering? And then, you know, so you all have to decide, like, when you're saying yes or doing things like, what is ahead? Is it on the journey what you want most? But I really liked her, her definition, her quote of discipline, because most people think it's like, means like. Brad Crowell 24:41  But she was full of them. Lesley Logan 24:42  She was so, I mean, there's so much stuff I have to go.Brad Crowell 24:45  She defined FOMO as Figure Only Myself Out. Figure Only Myself Out. So, meaning, stop the comparison game, where we're probably scrolling the gram and then beating ourselves up about it, right? And she said, she also said, it's not too late to start now, right? So you can, instead of FOMO, as in, you're missing, you know, you're not doing what they're doing on Instagram. FOMO is figuring only myself out. What do you want to do? You know? How are you going to get you know? What is your path? Where are you going? You know, and you can start to figure that stuff out today. She said, Start pivoting. It's time. Let's do this, right? She also emphasized, setbacks are normal. And she said something that I laughed about, because we are, one of the things that we say a lot in OPC is, if you only have five minutes, just do five moves, you know, like, don't, don't make a big thing out of not having time. And we just had somebody quit the other day, oh, I only was able to log into class once this week, you know, and I'm barely getting to it, right, and so they quit their entire membership, you know. And now I'm, like, thinking that I'm gonna email her back and say, hey, that's okay, you know, like, think about that, even if you came, you know, only five minutes in a week, would it be worth it to start now and be consistent with five minutes and then consistent with 10 minutes.Lesley Logan 26:26  And also, like, what are you going to do without it? You're going to somehow be better at doing your Pilates some, somewhere, somewhere else, no you're not. Brad Crowell 26:33  No, clearly you're not. Clearly, if they can't log in at home, they're obviously not going to a studio to do it, right? Lesley Logan 26:40  And also, some people actually only do it once a week, and that's fine. Like, I only log into Max HBO on Sundays for John Oliver. Like, you know what I mean? Like, and I don't go. So I think we have to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves that it has to be all or nothing. If that's how you're living your life, you're going to miss out on a lot of things.Brad Crowell 26:59  Yeah. And Stephanie said, you know, if you're doing a 30-day challenge, but it takes you 45 days. You did not fail. You still did the challenge. You did it on your time, and that's okay. Lesley Logan 27:12  That's FOMO, Figuring Only Myself Out. Brad Crowell 27:15  That's right, yeah. And she said, you'd be way more proud of yourself for going even if you have to take a day off, right? I was just thinking about the video you showed me last night about the one-legged. Lesley Logan 27:28  The Pope, yes. Brad Crowell 27:29  No, no, but that's funny. The one-legged athlete.Lesley Logan 27:33  Yes, the Nike girl. Brad Crowell 27:35  Yeah, who, the reason that she is now the Nike girl is because she entered herself into a competition. She, she has a, like, a bionic leg. I don't really know what all the right terms are there, but she's, she, she was trying to do a.Lesley Logan 27:54  Looks like a thrust, a clean.Brad Crowell 27:57  Yeah, she was trying to do a clean with a barbell, right, and. Lesley Logan 28:00  That's hard with two legs, I'm just gonna be really honest, and she has one leg that doesn't really bend like her other leg does, so, yeah. Brad Crowell 28:06  So she, so she, she's in the middle of a stadium with all these people, everyone's watching. There's, like, you know, all the things, and she's being filmed, and she doesn't know she's being filmed, and she, she fails. She fails. She like, gets it halfway up and just can't go and drops the bar. And she's frustrated with herself, she's like, okay. Lesley Logan 28:24  She's also starting to cry and really emotional. Brad Crowell 28:27  So she, she drops the bar. Well, she leans back over. She's like, all right, I got it. She, you literally can see her say shit, you know, on this video, right? And, and there's no audio to it, but she's like, shit. So she leans over, and she tries again and she fails again, and it's this point that she, like, totally breaks. Obviously, she's been frustrated all day long, and she breaks, and she literally starts crying, and she and it's super emotional, right? And she leans over and she like, puts her head on her arms, and she, you could see herself make the decision, I'm not going to quit here. I'm going to get this, through this even though I probably have disqualified myself already from whatever this competition is, because I didn't get it up on the first try, I didn't get it up on the second try, and she tries a third time, and she succeeds. And it is like this heartfelt, amazing experience. And I, I have to imagine that she is more proud of herself for finishing, completing it, for being just making the decision to stay with it, than she was, you know, than, obviously, she quit, she would, she'd be beating herself up. Lesley Logan 29:40  Well and I think first of all, I got chills and emotional just like thinking about it, because I like, every time I watch, I've watched it multiple times. And trust me, you guys, she's on a list of like, okay, I gotta email her publicist. I gotta get her on the pod. I have so many questions. But everyday, I talk to women who are beating themselves up for how little they've done, that they think they've done, which, by the way, is more than most people will do in a day, right? And it.Brad Crowell 30:08  Specially moms. Lesley Logan 30:08  Frustrates me, because none, never have you ever shamed yourself into doing the thing you said you were going to do. It doesn't work. That is not how our brains work. Our brains avoid shame and judgment. It doesn't feel good, it doesn't bring your dopamine up. It's not what motivates your brain to do shit. And so we have to do some FOMO, figuring out myself, figuring my own self out, and start congratulating ourselves we did fucking five minutes. You know, like, first of all, if you don't, no one else is. No one else is going to come up and congratulate you on things that they don't know have happened and they won't know have happened. That's why we do the FYFs. And it is, do you know how many people won't share their wins? I don't want to share, it's so small. Okay, but you do understand that that's going to inspire someone else. So, anyways, be nice to yourself. Get the FOMO.Brad Crowell 31:02  Be nice to yourself. Lesley Logan 31:03  The new FOMO. Brad Crowell 31:06  You know, I think that decision to stay with it, to be consistent, will, will be so much more gratifying over the long run, even if it's smaller increments than you know, whatever the prescribed amount is, or whatever that thing is, you know. So, that, I love this FOMO, I love this idea of figuring only myself out. It helps get rid of that comparison energy, you know, and create a safe space for you to succeed in, so, very cool. Very, very cool. All right, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna cover those Be It Action Items from Stephanie O'Dea. Brad Crowell 31:48  Okay, welcome back. Finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What are the bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Stephanie O'Dea? She said, hey, funny enough, I'm gonna tell you to journal, but I'm gonna tell you how to journal in a very structured way. Lesley Logan 32:07  I, but I also, it's the only person I let journal, like, say journal, so.Brad Crowell 32:12  So it's funny because, I mean, I've heard Lesley say this about four, well, three, 250 times now, hey, if you're going to tell you know, use journaling as your, your Be It Action Item, you have to give us a structure how to do it. And she started laughing, and she said, I can do that. In fact, she has a free guided daily journaling worksheet that you can print out and you can write on if you go to stephanieodea.com/daily we will put that link in the show notes, but she's a big proponent it gives you structure. It tells you how to journal, what to journal about. It gives you prompts. But she also specifically mentioned that picking up a pen and paper, or pencil and paper, is different than typing on a computer. It just puts you in a different mindset. I mean, she's a writer, right? She got a book deal, she wrote a blog for eight years about cooking, right? She's like, constantly, constantly writing. And so she definitely would know she's the authority. She said that her tool will help you get in the right mindset. It gives you action steps, consistent, and consistency, it builds the muscle of slow, sustainable growth. And she said, your brain engages differently when writing by hand, which I think is interesting, and it helps you move towards your goals, even in off days. Lesley Logan 33:35  And also, your handwriting does not have to be good for it to actually still do the thing it does with your brain. I write things down which I like, which is why I like my reMarkable tablet. I actually don't even need to look at the tablet again. I remember it, but I. Brad Crowell 33:48  That's how I used to study for tests, hard copy my own notes. Lesley Logan 33:51  My nails are too long now, and it's, it's really annoying to type things. I'm like, I'm trying to learn how to type with the nails that.Brad Crowell 33:59  Hi, buddy. Are you trying to learn how to type, too?Lesley Logan 34:01  Yeah, Bayon's learning how to type. He's also truly found his voice this week. He's. Brad Crowell 34:05  It's pretty funny. Lesley Logan 34:06  He's like, oh, I'm gonna bark at this thing. And it's like, never did. Brad Crowell 34:12  Well, yeah. Lesley Logan 34:12  Anyway. Brad Crowell 34:13  His trip to Joshua Tree was a win. Well, you know what one thing that she said that I that I laughed about. She said, look, once you get into a routine, if something changes the routine, it's okay, because you, she said, you are not a spreadsheet. And I was like, oh, that's a really good idea.Lesley Logan 34:37  There's actually a whole study on, you know how, to go back to the long intro we had about politics, there's a study that shows like the more rigid your thinking is, the more likely you are to get stuck in beliefs that are not serving you. And so I'm a big habits coach, mindset coach, all those different things, but you'll notice that, like, I'm always going, giving grace. Giving lots of grace and kind of rolling with it. And I really love what she said here, because I have a morning routine and I have three hours, but, I don't have, oh, I have to be out the door at 6:01, otherwise it's, like, I just get outside. Brad Crowell 35:13  Facing the ice bowl, rub the banana peel, 6:11, take the elevator from 6:17.Lesley Logan 35:20  Yeah, yeah. Brad Crowell 35:21  So dumb. Lesley Logan 35:22  Right? I don't live like that. I do have and I post my schedule of the day with my outfit of the day. I'm like, here's my outfit and here's the schedule. And it might look rigid, but you have to understand, like, most of the things on there take 20 minutes, but I gave it the full hour so that I can be flexible. I can, I can roll with it. If I need to have a little bit more time with something, if I want to take a longer walk, I can. If I have longer Pilates, I take a shorter walk. And so by not being rigid, allows my habits and routines be very malleable and to serve me and what I need that day. And I think that's really important. We're not a spreadsheet. Okay, there's so many, you guys have to listen to the episode because I'm, she actually gave us so many Be It Action Items, to be honest. So I'm just gonna take a few. Celebrate your process, even if it's not linear. We actually have talked about that 17 times on this episode already today. So you celebrate your process, even if, it won't be linear, it is impossible. It never is, don't, you don't have to read the book. Go look at the cover of the book, called The Middle. The Messy Middle. It's bright yellow. When you see the graph, that graph of it going up down, up down, up down. It's like a heart rate monitor, and it's going up, but it's always going up, even though it might go down way lower than it did. And it goes up, Brad's looking at it right now, down, up, down. But like.Brad Crowell 36:34  It's not even a graph. It's like a squiggly line that goes in a square, in a circle and a triangle. Lesley Logan 36:38  Yeah, but if you take a bigger picture, it goes to the end. It's always going up. It's like the stock market. The stock market is not linear on the app, it goes up and down, up and down, up and down. But guess what? It always ends up. It's up, right? So hopefully, I don't know what it is today, guys. Anyways, she also said, use gold stars, stickers or a visible chart to track your small wins. Yes, it's a behavior from childhood, charts from childhood, but it's very important. You need to see it visibly. And then she said, choose non-food rewards, like a cozy nap or a pedicure or something like that. Like the things that you feel like are indulgent and you would never do, those should be your rewards. Make a list of them. That's what my therapist really had me do. And then she also reminded us, you can absolutely get to where you want to go, but you have to trust in yourself that you can do that and you'll get there when you get there. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 37:29  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 37:29  Thank you so much for listening. What a longer recap we had today. We were very chatty, so we hope you enjoyed it. Send your questions and your wins in we want to celebrate them. And we want to answer your questions. So beitpod.com/questions and then make sure you share this episode with a friend, especially the Slow Living episode, because Stephanie has, obviously, so many great tips. She is amazing. And check out her journaling prompts. I know I am. Until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 37:53  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 37:55  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 38:37  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 38:42  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 38:47  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 38:54  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 38:57  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Brad Crowell 39:12  Now, welcome back. Welcome back. I hope you're loving life. Welcome back. Let's start that again.Lesley Logan 39:19  He's just waiting for me to smile.Brad Crowell 39:21  I was, I was, my, my mind did a little loop there. All right, welcome back.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Lesley Logan talks with Stephanie O'Dea—New York Times bestselling author, viral blogger, and now a slow living coach—about what it really means to live intentionally. From building a wildly successful crockpot recipe blog to burning out on hustle culture, Stephanie shares how tuning in, slowing down, and redefining success helped her create a life she actually wants to live. This is a must-listen for anyone who's tired of chasing someone else's version of success and ready to start trusting themselves again.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How Stephanie's slow cooker challenge became a bestselling brand.Why she walked away from hustle culture to embrace slow living.How redefining success helped her build a life she actually enjoys.Why slow living isn't about doing less, but about doing what matters.How to release guilt and build intentional routines aligned with your values. Episode References/Links:Stephanie O'Dea's Website - https://stephanieodea.comFree Daily Journaling Worksheet - stephanieodea.com/dailyStephanie O'Dea's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stephanieodeaStephanie O' Dea Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/StephanieODea.authorSlow Living Book by Stephanie O'Dea - https://a.co/d/dK5en1ySlow Living Podcast - https://stephanieodea.com/podcastGretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin - https://a.co/d/gQ5ToVpGuest Bio:Stephanie O'Dea is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and coach specializing in Slow Living. With a background in social work, early childhood education, and trauma-informed yoga, she offers a holistic approach to wellness. Through her books, coaching, and Slow Living podcast, Stephanie helps people slow down, reconnect with their purpose, and create sustainable balance. Her latest book, Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle-Driven World, reflects her mission. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, three daughters, and a basset hound named Sheldon. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Stephanie O'Dea 0:00  Slow is simply look only within and it's the idea that you actually have the answers, and you don't need to be saved. You don't need bro culture or internet marketers to tell you what you should be doing. If you're slow and calm, the answers kind of bubble up.Lesley Logan 0:19  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:01  Hey, Be It babe, how are you? Okay, I promise you you've never heard about a living like this before, and our guest today is like the queen of what she does. I'm gonna let her tell you what she does, but I'm gonna tell you right now, I wanna live next to this woman. I want her to be my neighbor. I want her to be a friend that I can just call. I am going to save this episode just so I can hear the end of it over and over and over again, especially on the days that I need to hear it. You guys, Stephanie O'Dea is our guest today, and if you think that name sounds familiar, it's because it will. You'll hear about that in a second. And I am just so obsessed. This interview is kind of one of the reasons why I'm like, oh my god. I love that I get to do this podcast. I am feel like the luckiest girl in the world, because I get to learn from these amazing guests, and then I get to share that with you. And so y'all, buckle up, take a deep breath, slow down. This episode is gonna rock your world in the best way. Lesley Logan 1:58  All right, Be It babe. This is gonna be really exciting. I think we've never had this topic before. I'm always interested when there's something new, a new way for us to be it till we see it. And today's guest is Stephanie O'Dea. Can you tell us, everyone, who you are and what you rock at?Stephanie O'Dea 2:11  Absolutely, I'm Stephanie O'Dea, and I write, coach, teach and speak about all things slow living. Lesley Logan 2:18  Okay, right. Stephanie O'Dea 2:20  I know. I promise I'm not just sitting on the couch, twiddling my thumbs, eating Bonbons, doing nothing. I promise there's a method to the madness. Lesley Logan 2:28  Yeah, obviously we're all intrigued, like, what is slow living? But maybe we need to know what that is before we can figure out how you got to doing slow living. So we're also on the same page, yeah.Stephanie O'Dea 2:38  Yeah. So I look at slow living as meeting your goals, all of them, your personal and your professional goals, in a slow, steady and sustainable way. And if we can circle and highlight and underline and put some pointers at sustainable, that's what it's at. Because I think we all know the feeling of being gung-ho. And I'm going to do this now, and I'm gonna eat this way, and I'm gonna work out this way, and I'm gonna get up at at 3 a.m. and I'm gonna have rock star abs at the end of the week. Lesley Logan 3:09  Oh yeah. Stephanie O'Dea 3:09  Yeah. And spoiler alert, if you're listening, chances are you're a human and not a robot. And well, who knows, the robots may be taking over, but in real life, people have ups and downs and all arounds and variables they can't control. So slow living, first off, has an acronym attached to it. I'm a super nerd when it comes to acronyms, and that's because my grandpa, when I was about seven, told me that the word SNAFU had the F word hiding in it, so it's situation normal, all effed up, like he told me, he told me, when I was seven, he actually said that, the bad word out loud. And I'm like, grown ups hide bad words in regular words. And so, like, since then, I've nerded out with acronyms. So slow living, slow is simply look only within and it's the idea that you actually have the answers, and you don't need to be saved. You don't need bro culture or internet marketers to tell you what you should be doing. If you're slow and calm, the answers kind of bubble up. So it's a big part of listening to your inner voice, to your inner gut, to your intuition, and then taking action on it. So the three-step success formula is mindset plus action plus consistency equals success. And so the new, yeah, the new book is broken up that way. And the idea is, when you're in a good mood, just ask yourself, like, what's the next best step for me to take? And then go quiet and listen, because you know the answer is inside. The answer is not going to be on a doom stroll of TikTok. It's legit inside of you, and you know what you're supposed to do. And then just do the thing over and over and over again, and even when you don't want to. Lesley Logan 5:03  I love this so much because I love that you put consistency in there. The only way to be consistent is if you actually are at a pace that you can consistently do. We were in Singapore the other day. I picked a bike taxi and the car, I was trying to figure out what's going on because the guy was driving the car, it would go, whoo. You know where your whole body moves like someone's taking off too fast at a red light, and then it would slow down, and then it would go like that again. And was like, literally for 16 minutes, the body was going like this, and like this, and like this. We were on the freeway, but I felt like urgency to leave the intersection, and then a hard -ish break but not a full break. And I got a headache. I got sick. Brad felt nauseous. I was like, I hope we don't get that cab going to dinner. Like, I cannot be in that car again. That's the idea of you can't be consistent at a pace like that, because you can't, your body doesn't do well, your brain doesn't do well. And so being consistent is so key to having the things that we want. But I also love you add, like, listening to yourself, because it's really hard to do that when you're kind of going too fast, like, you don't have time when everything is chaotic. How did you get into doing this? Like, were you born working slow? Stephanie O'Dea 6:07  No, no, I'll tell you my back story, but I got to tell you, my mom drives that way, and now my kids don't want to get in the car with her. They're like, I always feel sick when I drive with grandma so. Lesley Logan 6:17  Okay, so there's, I literally was looking at his leg. I'm like, is he doing this, or does he is it like the car is like, oh, there's a car that's too close. Like, I don't, could not figure out what's going on. Stephanie O'Dea 6:26  I think my mom is full acceleration, and then foot off, and then full acceleration, and then foot off. And there's a happy medium there. So what's interesting about my backstory is I got started writing online crock pot recipes, crock pot slow cooker recipes. Lesley Logan 6:42  Okay, I definitely was wondering if slow living meant, like, like, slow cooker. Stephanie O'Dea 6:46  Yeah, so, so, yeah. So, I'm very Google-able, but I got my start in 2008 because I made a New Year's resolution to follow through on using my crock pot slow cooker every day for a year and writing about it online. And it, it took off. It went viral. Lesley Logan 7:02  I've heard of you. You are Google-able.Stephanie O'Dea 7:07  Yeah. So, when (inaudible) funny, because 2008 depending on how old you are when you're listening, that could sound like a long time ago or not that long time ago, but at the time it legit, was the first crock pot recipe site written by like a normal person, and it went crazy. I made yogurt. I invented, like, quote-unquote, invented lots of things, and because of that, I ended up on national television multiple times. Good Morning America, Rachel Ray Show did all the magazines and got a book deal. It worked great. At its peak, it was making $1,000 a day just in banner ads, and it was amazing. So the good news is is I understand mathing and I understand the Internet, so I knew what goes up must eventually come down. And so that absolutely did in about 2016 with the Instant Pot. And so my book publishers and agent, they're like, you should translate all your recipes. So I bought one, and I hated the thing. I get it. The tech part is fun. Yay for the scientists for discovering that they can cook a frozen chicken in 45 minutes. But for me, what I liked about the crock pot is I could put it on the morning, I'm highly caffeinated and coherent, I push a button and then I never think about dinner again. So it eliminated a whole bunch of decision fatigue, and it just was lovely, because cooking is great, but I'm not going to get a Zen moment chopping an onion. I'm just not. Some people are, great, no, but for me, it's a chore. Lesley Logan 8:41  I see you. You are seen.Stephanie O'Dea 8:44  Yeah. So anyway, I got fired. I got fired, and I had this like, sort of voice of God, of like, hey Steph, just because you can do something fast, it doesn't mean you should. And so I spent some time away from the internet, I sort of unplugged everything for a while. And one really lovely, amazing thing about passive income is even when you're not working, it works for you. So I was in a very privileged state that I could kind of pontificate what the next best step for me to take was, and I realized that following through on my resolution, following through on all of the goals that I've always had for myself has been my secret sauce. Writing crock pot recipes was really just a way to feed the internet. And so that's how the slow living podcast got started, and how I started working with women from all over the world to help them meet their goals in a slow, steady and sustainable way.Lesley Logan 9:40  I'm obsessed with this because I think it's because here's what I love about this. I was like, Oh, I wonder if slow living means, like, slow cooker. And then I was, I don't even use my Instapot. Do you see how, like, I put the two together, even though they're not. Thank you for educating me. I clearly.Stephanie O'Dea 9:52  Gold stars, Lesley, gold stars. Lesley Logan 9:53  I am not the person who cooks in this household. I think that's pretty evident. I was just like, oh. And then I but I was reading all the stuff and I was like, oh, but, like, we're talking about goals, and I'm like, totally in on this, how this works. So, but I love that the intuitiveness was there, so that's really great. But the other reason I love this is that you are the perfect example of how you get started and what you have done in the past. That's not that it has to ever end, but also that you can evolve from it. And it doesn't have to be like the next pie over, which is the Instant Pot. It could be like all the way on the other side of the pie and be like something that's different, but they're not. They're the same. Stephanie O'Dea 10:27  No, absolutely I and it's funny. So I have three kids, and I'm constantly telling them like you are your own person, in your own entity. Sure, Dad and I might have ideas for you, but you get to decide. And every year, people get so excited about New Year's resolutions and different things and the idea that they can reinvent themselves, and then they have the first few dismissive thoughts of, well, I can't do that, or, Oh, this is too hard. And so then they give up. And the fact is, if we're lucky, life is long. Sure, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, but don't live your life thinking that instead, where are you going to be in your 50s, your 60s and your 70s? I mean, I work with women of all ages and stages. If you want to crawl around on the floor in your 70s with your grandchildren and do yoga and have, I don't know, prize-winning tulips. Start now. Start setting the stage now, and plant those metaphoric seeds to get you from where you are to where you want to goLesley Logan 11:29  You are correct. As a Pilates instructor, one of the things that people like when should I get started? I'm like, well, yesterday was a better day, but that's fine, we'll start now. Because I've had people come to me at 70 going, I'm in aches and pains. I've got this thing, and now I've got a hump on my back, and I'm like, so the time to prevent the hump was like, 20 years ago. So there's not much I can do now that you're in that position, but here's what I can do to keep you upright so you can play with your grandchildren. And people don't realize, and they wait until they realize they weren't hit by a bus earlier, and then they're like, now it changes. And that's not that it's ever too late, but there's just some things that if we got started sooner and when we went more consistently, we went more slowly, we took our time handling the obstacles and the setbacks and reevaluating that we would actually get to where we wanted to go, I guess, faster.Stephanie O'Dea 12:15  So it's true. I mean, it's legit. The metaphor of the tortoise and the hare just slow, steady and stay on track. And so that's why I like that mindset, action, consistency formula is when you're in a good mood, don't make up rules for yourself when you're in a bad mood, because you're just punishing yourself. But when you're in a good mood, decide what the next steps are, and a lot of it is putting blinders on and not worrying about what other people are doing. So if you're listening to this right now and you're thinking, well, Lesley got to be in Singapore last week, and I'm wasn't in Singapore last week, and my life sucks. So okay, you are playing your own game. So again, because I am such an acronym junkie, I rewrote FOMO to figure only myself out you play your game, and if Singapore is not in your cards right now, okay, great, but maybe put it on a vision board and maybe start saving and start pivoting to have that come to fruition. But it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong if you never had the thought like six or eight months ago or a year ago when Lesley decided to go to Singapore, you weren't there yet. So if you're there now, okay, great, start pivoting and make that way. And same with the hump on your back. If you're like, oh, okay, I do want to be that person in my 70s. But actually really like my nightly wine, and I like doom scrolling, and I caught up on all of the seasons of younger and now I don't know what to do with myself. Okay, then, then go do some stretches and start working on it in a very slow, steady and sustainable way. Lesley Logan 13:55  You're absolutely correct. And I have a funny story about the Singapore thing. You guys, normally, when we fly to Cambodia for our retreat, we always choose the shortest. Doesn't everybody, when you want to go, you want to get to where you want to go when you're traveling. So it's like the shortest. Well, ever since the pandemic and the way the flight paths have changed, it has been twice as much to fly to Cambodia as it usually is, and it irritates me, because I know it's not that expensive. Double is not the right price. So my assistant presented like three options, and the two shortest options were $1,500 per person, round trip, 23 hours of travel, still a lot, still full day, exhausting. But then there was a flight that was 31 hours of travel. It was $500 cheaper per person, and it had a 13 hour layover in Singapore. And in Singapore, you can leave the airport. You can apply for the day visa. It's so easy to do. You do it online. And we were landing in time to go to dinner, and I was like, wouldn't it be cool to go to Singapore for dinner? And here's the thing you guys, it wasn't about saving $500 it was about enjoying the trip to Cambodia. Because I'm like, this is I don't I'm so tired of being tired when I get there. And so I thought, let's just see what it's like. Instead of having six hours, which is not enough time to leave an airport and just walk, do laps in the airport, what if we had 13 and we went to dinner and we slept in a hotel and then we got up and we flew the next place? You guys. I loved it. I loved it. I had two on the way into Cambodia. I did dinner in Singapore on the way out. We did dinner in Singapore. Fabulous. I felt like it was so luxurious. It felt so it felt so it felt like I was like a first class traveler. So anyways, that's my share on evaluating doing things a little differently. Your FOMO, like, figure my own self out. I'm tired when I get there. What? What can I do? So that's my little tip there. But I want to highlight that you said, make the decisions when you're in a good mood, because you're correct. People are punishing themselves when they're like, you don't feel good, you feel exhausted, you hate your job, and then you're like, I'm gonna do this. And it's like, it is a punishment. I never thought about it like that. Stephanie O'Dea 15:49  Yeah, no, it's true. I mean, and especially since you're in the fitness realm, the idea of, I'm gonna force myself to do this workout every day, no matter what, with the idea that if I skip a day because I'm sick or I don't feel well, or the toilet overflowed, or the kid had a bloody nose in the middle of the night, I failed. No, no. So I tell people all the time, if you're embarking on a 30-day challenge and it takes you 45 days to do the 30 days, you're not graded, you're not to be in trouble, you're the grown up in the room. You only fail when you completely and totally decide to give up. But but keep going and think of yourself at, again, as that 70 year old, you would be way more proud of yourself for keeping going, even if you have to take a day off here and there. And that's a big part of the sustainability, part of slow living. Lesley Logan 16:48  During the pandemic. I got really interested in, like, some people create habits, and how do they not I don't know if you've read Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies, like having meet expectations. So I thought, well, I'm an upholder. That's easy for me. But what about the rest of the people? As a fitness person who wants people to move, and I always tell people do what's possible. Finishing is optional. Why aren't they listening? Why can't they listen and what's going on? And I got to sit at BJ Fogg, and he talked about these tiny habits. And it's crazy to see how people legitimately cannot do the tiny habit. They actually are like, it's not enough to just put my shoes on. It's like, but you don't go to the gym now. So you're asking yourself to put out the gym clothes early. Pack a gym bag, get everything on, drive to the gym, find a parking space, enter the gym, put the bag in a locker, do the work of oh, you forgot your towel, so now you're gonna be late for work. Otherwise, now you have to leave early, and it's just all we're asking ourselves to do such huge leaps and bounds before we've actually created the ability to do that consistently, and then we fail ourselves. And it's like even when you went to school, you didn't get the F until the end of this the whole semester to get a better grade.Stephanie O'Dea 17:57  Yeah, no, it's true. I mean, when people come to me with those kind of obstacles. First off, I definitely have squirrel brain. I have lots and lots and lots of markers of ADHD. And every time I talk to anyone, because I can talk myself well, I write and I speak so I know how to talk to people. And they're like, you don't have ADHD. I'm like, that's fine. Just, just help me, but, but the only reason I found out is I've got one in grad school, and so she's applying for law school, and so needing to sit for the LSATs and that kind of stuff. All of these things came up. I'm like, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just like me. And I'm like, oh, wait.Lesley Logan 18:33  Right, right. Stephanie O'Dea 18:34  But anyway, as far as that, when I'm working with people who can't break things down in a bite-sized chunk, and they get overwhelmed. Or halfway through the assignment, they're already moved on to something else. We gamify the system. And so earlier, when I gave you gold stars, I legit hand out gold stars if you did something, give yourself a sticker, like, like those old school chore charts on the wall where you're giving yourself a happy face absolutely pay off and then reward yourself. Maybe not if you're trying to do a fitness routine, maybe not with like a hot fudge sundae, but maybe with a pedicure, or maybe with an afternoon off work for no reason except for you want to take a really cozy Bougie nap, and you you have your your weighted throw, and then you're just so happy. That is a reward, and that's something that you can look forward to, but definitely game the system. Lesley Logan 19:33  Yeah, I love gamify. I love a reward, or like something tactical that you can do, like some sort of celebration. But I also want to highlight hi, I also was someone who didn't think that ADHD, and I was like, oh, my husband, my husband has ADHD, right? Because that's where all the symptoms. And he, like, is legit, like, model of a male with ADHD. And we were applying for a business license, type of a thing, like some sort of certificate, and the woman who files the paperwork, I met her, and so we're talking, and she like, okay, you have your women in business certification I'm like, yeah, we've got that. She's like, okay, where's your disability certificate? And I'm like, I'm so sorry I don't have a disability. And she goes, Well, you have ADHD. And I was like, oh, my husband does, but I own the business for the women in business owners, so I don't have she's like, no. She's like, you just haven't been tested girl. You have ADHD. I can see all of it. And I started looking up women signs of ADHD. I absolutely have it, so I'm with you, and we forget how we figured out how we can make our lives work. And so I just want to highlight to anyone listening, if you have ADHD, and that's a reason why it's a problem for you to, like, finish the thing you've started. There is a superpower that you can tap into once you acknowledge it and like you look into how can you work best for yourself? And it's, it is not through punishment ever. Stephanie O'Dea 20:47  Yeah, no, it's, it's celebrating your process. So because I'm a writer, this is the 11th book I've written, I know my process, so I no longer beat myself up. I know for a fact I don't miss deadlines, so that's great news for me, but I also know that I'm not linear. I am up and down and all around and if I have a brainstorm at 3am it's better for me to get up and write any of those how to be a successful published author checklists that they show on the internet for clickbait. That's not me, and that's not really any of us. That's marketing hype that's trying to get you to click. If you've been online long enough I'm certain you have clicked on something only because you were feeling a little anxious, maybe a little vulnerable, and you're like, oh, the answers to my prayer. But the fact is, the answers are inside and with you. And it's not going to come from doom scrolling TikTok. It's going to come when you're calm and you're in a good mood and you're like, okay, I am not feeling the best right now. Not going to gaslight myself. I legit do not feel good in my brain and my body right now. What is the next best step for me to take and then going quiet and then doing what it is, chances are your brain is going to say you need more water, you need to cut back on wine. You need to stay away from Jane down the street, because she makes you feel really shitty. Can I say shitty? Sorry.Lesley Logan 22:19  No, I love it. We love it. And, yeah, stay away from Jane. Stephanie O'Dea 22:23  Yeah, no, just like you, you know, you know. And I get it because, I mean, I met Lesley online. We're all trying to carve our own little niche out. But the thing is, is you're more vulnerable and you're more susceptible to following advice made up by, by stupid businessy. I'm gonna say men, just for lack of a better term, bro marketers, when you're feeling down on yourself. Lesley Logan 22:50  Yeah, it's really interesting, because I, just before I came on this I had a YouTube comment, and it was on a video that was like the best Reformers to buy for home, and I, look, I hate the title because it's that clickbaity title, but I promised myself, okay, I have to do the titles that they want, because these are the things that people will click on. But I can be honest, right? And so I was completely honest about how I don't love the Reformers that are $300 because I know that a quality Reformer costs $4,800 why do they cost $4,800 because they're not made of plastic, because they're made of metal, they're made of wood. It takes, it takes a long time to make them. And they last decades, right? They last decades. And these cheaper ones, while they look very similar to the ones you're seeing in studios, I don't know what the weight requirements are. I don't know if you can stand on them and they have, I don't know that they have the same safety mechanism. So then you're going to take my classes or someone else's classes, and, like, I don't know. So I was very clear of like, here's what I would say. So it ended with, there is not an affordable one. Like, it just isn't. But here are all the things you can do. So this person wrote, okay, so great, so just don't give me a cheaper option so that I could modify the exercises to do the thing. And she was on and on, and she was so angry with me that I wouldn't give her a cheap one to buy. So I actually wrote back right away, because I was like, so you need a car. You need a car that can get you to work, and the car that would be the best gas mileage for you, that would not require any maintenance, it actually has the best safety standards. It's outside of your budget right now. So instead, you would like me to sell you a car that gets the worst gas mileage, that needs maintenance every week, that breaks down on you on your way to work. And so instead of actually getting to work on time, you're now taking the bus anyways, when you could have just waited and taken the bus in the first place until you could afford the car that has the best gas all these things. I'm so sorry I refuse to sell you crap, and I know that's frustrating, but no, I don't want you modifying exercises to make the equipment, because then you're not gonna get the benefits. It just makes me think of this stuff like people. Have gotten to this place that now have gotten so they've now been trained so much by the clickbait they want to be sold the quick, fast thing, but that's not gonna get what you want. So I'm not gonna sell it to you. And it's really, really hard because I you and I are people like we want to be honest with people on the internet. I want a relationship with you whenever I tell you that this is the right thing, that you can trust that it's the right thing. And it's really hard in a world everyone's go so fast they want the thing today, and they'll rather buy the cheap thing than the thing that will get them there. How do you get people out of wanting it quickly? I guess we can help people who don't want to be helped. Stephanie O'Dea 25:35  Yeah. So, so we're recording right now, and I know you are captivating the the video. So this is a standard bedroom that happens to have cabinetry filled filled with crock pots, by the way. But on the other side of the room, I have a framed print, and it says, discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most. And that's the thing. Slow your roll, peeps, slow your roll and have a little bit of discipline. We teach children that patience is a virtue. Practice that be that there's a reason why Buddhist monks and people who meditate a lot and do lots of yoga and meditation are calmer is because they have quieted their squirrel brain, and they have delayed gratification enough to know that while sitting in a meditative stance for 10, 20, 30 minutes isn't as quick as a fix as I don't know, taking some drug or down and a half bottle of Wine, but the end goal, if you do it over and over and over again, is so much better. So I'm going to repeat it. Discipline is choosing between what you want now versus what you want most, and keep that most in your mind when you are scrolling, so then you can have that thought of great for them, not for me, right? Great for them, good everyone's everyone is allowed to make money. Everyone's allowed to make money. Great for them. Good for them. They're, they're gaming the algorithm. Good for them, good for them, good for them, not for me. And then now, now I'm going to coach you for a second, Lesley, because I think you're adorbs. I too, get the click bait thing. I know how to play the game. I know when I was writing recipes that it would be way better for me to say this is the world's easiest and best pot roast recipe you'll ever have, better than your grandma blah blah blah. And the fact is pot roast is pot roast, is pot roast, is pot roast. And if you put in paprika versus liquid smoke or blah blah blah, it doesn't really truly matter in the great, big, huge scheme of things. But the hope is you get someone to click, and then that someone gets to know you and see your video and read your writing and connect with you and say, Okay, I get what Lesley is doing here. It's fine. I'm going to cut her some slack. And that's another great, big thing that I would love for us to do online is to remember that there are real humans there, and give people the gift of grace. And sometimes we mess up. I messed up, and the hope is that when I do, I apologize and I acknowledge it, and then I try and better myself. If I don't try and better myself, that's where the problem is, and that's where the disconnect is, and that's not you. You are amazing. Lesley Logan 28:26  Yeah. Well, thank you, and thank you for seeing me, and it is so interesting world out there that we live in. I like to think that everyone's doing it the best way that they can when they know how, you know, I would give that grace, and I think that the more of us who could do that would be the world be a better place. But I think that, you know, we have to just keep doing it. And I agree, like, when we all make mistakes and it's like you get to apologize, and if people can't accept that, it's almost better that they we find out now so they can go away.Stephanie O'Dea 28:53  Totally. It's funny. I'm intolerant now to people who can't own mistakes and apologize and so so again, back to my crazy ego. My crazy acronyms. The acronym for ego is Edging God Out. And regardless of your religious belief, the idea that you are the Almighty and know everything and aren't humble and don't have enough humility to acknowledge a mistake is a big problem. So so check your ego. Just check it, because everybody's shit stinks. They really do.Lesley Logan 29:26  I'm obsessed with you already. You mentioned stopping the scroll a few times, and I think that that is definitely a hard problem for a lot of people, like even people who don't even have to post on the internet for a job. My mom does not have to post on the internet at all, and she but she has a scrolling problem, right? And I even, because I have to open up and talk to the people and respond to comments and all that stuff, I found myself yesterday picking up my phone after the end of the workday to go check and I was like, hold on, I'm not working right now. And I had to, like, literally, put my phone across the room and pick up a book instead. And I was like, what would make reading this book more pleasurable? I liked it all the things, you know, heard different guests say, oh, I'll make it more pleasurable if I was sitting in front my red light. Okay, I'll sit from my red light. I'm gonna do this thing. And I read a book for like, 45 minutes. It was so lovely. It felt so good. I went to bed. I slept so good last night because I did not scroll. But I think it's an addiction that people have to just pick up when they're bored. So how do you stop your scroll? Stephanie O'Dea 30:22  Yeah, so, so first off, you are definitely not alone, and I've been working online for probably a lot longer than you are, because I'm probably a lot older than you are. So one thing I needed to do for myself, and this is only for people who work online, probably is it's not on my phone. My phone is for phone stuff, and work stays work stays on the computer. So and for me, social media is work. It's not pleasurable. It's not fun. In real life, I want to talk to my friends on the phone, text with my friends in real life. So there's that. And then as far as normal, regular, everyday people who have the old school FOMO, and think that they will miss out on staff, schedule it in, time block it. So I'm a huge proponent of time blocking, and the way I teach it is to decide, on purpose that your day is kind of set up like a school day. So think back in high school you are not going to finish your history book in first period. You're just not but the good news is, you'll have first period every day, so schedule in what it is you want to do every day, so you don't have that feeling of having to catch up, because spoiler alert, you will never catch up on social media, they have designed it to be never, ever, ever ending. But if your allotted amount of time, and my suggestion, would be in 10-minute chunks. 10 minutes, set a timer. Love bossing Siri around. She will just set timers for me all day long, and then scroll, do what it is you need to do, and then step away with the idea that it's going to be okay, because you're going to revisit this time block again tomorrow, and it's fine. Lesley Logan 32:01  Oh my gosh. Stephanie O'Dea, I just, I love you, and I love that. I love that permission. Like, it's not like, don't do it. Or it's not like, only you get five minutes a day. It's like, oh, just schedule a few 10-minute blocks. And it's true. You guys walk around this house at any moment. Brad is like, Siri, set a timer for seven minutes, Siri, remind me to do this tomorrow like. Stephanie O'Dea 32:24  I love Siri. I So, so first off, I love the idea of a live-in personal helper. So the fact is that she's in my back pocket all the time is amazing and and I'm very nice to her in case the robots do take over the world. I thank her. Yeah, tell her she's pretty Yeah, just in case you never know. Lesley Logan 32:41  You are better than I. Brad was talking to my Siri the other day, and he was connected to my phone, and he was like, hey Siri, and he's like, she started answering like I told her to fuck off the other day, and she's not come back. So I think that's my fault. You know, when, like, she wasn't understanding me, she kept talking when I wasn't winder and I was just like, fuck off, and she never came back. So I, I don't know. I don't know. Stephanie O'Dea 33:06  Okay, so does that mean you have to, like, go back in the settings and actually turn her back on?Lesley Logan 33:09  I think so. I think that's where we're at. There's an update that's gonna happen tonight. I'm hoping she goes back. At any rate.Stephanie O'Dea 33:18  If she's listening to me right now. I love you, Siri. I'm like, thank you. You're fine.Lesley Logan 33:23  They are and you are correct. I need to be nicer, because the robots are going to take over, and hopefully they just give us permission to keep doing what we love. All right. I could talk to you for hours, but we're gonna take a brief break and then find out how people can find you, follow you and work with you. Lesley Logan 33:38  All right, Stephanie O'Dea, where do you hang out? Where can people just become a more obsessed with you?Stephanie O'Dea 33:44  So I'm a real person. You can email me at any time, and I will write back to you, steph@stephanieodea.com, that's the main site is stephanieodea.com. I do have a slow living podcast, and the new book is called Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle-Driven World, and that's wherever books are sold. Lesley Logan 34:02  Oh my God, I'm gonna read it. I'm so excited. I feel like, so blessed that we all got to talk like, even think about this and your acronyms are amazing. They're, I mean, you know that already, but they are amazing. And I know several listeners who, because I, I'm lucky enough to get to meet our listeners all the time, and they mention different episode numbers and like, I know this is one that they're going to use, because there's such tangible things that they can do to just take time to listen their body and do what's next? What's the best next thing? You've given us a lot, but you know, we love the the Be It Action Items, the bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Stephanie O'Dea 34:40  So it's interesting. Before we hit record you were talking about, don't tell people to journal unless you like, tell them how to journal. So I have a guided daily journaling worksheet, and you can download it. It's super, super free, stephanieodea.com/daily D- A-I-L-Y and and people write to me and they're like. I don't do anything else except for this worksheet, and what it does is it helps, again, get you in the right mindset, because it's putting you in a good mood because you're journaling, and then it's helping you move forward on all of your personal and professional goals. So the action steps and then doing it every day, using that muscle creates the consistency that you need for success. Lesley Logan 35:19  So the reason I say I tell guests like, please don't tell them to not journal, because some people say just journal every day. And then I get what do I journal? The reason I know that this is true is because my therapist had told me back in 2020 when I started therapy, I was like, think this is going to be a really long time that we're doing this, so I think I'm going to need to do some therapy. And she said, okay, I want you to journal every day. So the next week I got on, I was like, so what was I supposed to put in the journal? How do I start? Is it a letter? Because I'm an overthinker and a recovering perfectionist, and so I love that you are like, here is a simple worksheet that you can do to journal, because it gives people an idea of how to make the journal work for them. Because I do believe that journaling works. You just, if you don't know what you're doing, it can feel overwhelming.Stephanie O'Dea 36:00  Absolutely and what I like about this worksheet, and it's, it's a printable, guys, so people have tried to put it in a Google form, and that kind of stuff, your brain is different when you're using a pen and paper. And so that's why there's definitely a method to the madness. And I want you to slow down like, hello, spoiler alert, I legit, I want you to slow down. And then also you're collecting data, so you then you can look back and on the worksheet, I ask you what day or cycle you're in, because that's a big deal. So if you're like, how come I walked it last Wednesday? Well maybe it's because you were on day 15, and now you're on day 28 and you hate the world that is important, and that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, because you are not a spreadsheet, and anyone who says anything, and usually they're bro marketers that you have to like improve yourself by 1% every day, or you're doing it wrong. No, no, because humans have ups and downs and all around and if I can give you any parting words of wisdom, it would be that I just want to hug you and tell you that you're doing a great job and there's nothing wrong with you, and you absolutely can get to where you want to go, but you have to trust in yourself that that you can do the things and then just you'll get there when you get there. Lesley Logan 37:20  I mean, I already thought this is going to be an episode that people would hit save on but, and like, replay just to re listen. But I really think they'll just do that, just for that last part right there, like you're doing a great job. Like we all need Stephanie O'Dea to tell us you're doing a great job. I love that your journal has people put the day of the cycle. Because, yes, we've been talking about that a lot, because that affects how you work out all the different things. And it is true, you are going to have days where you can take over the world, and days where you're like, I just if someone talks to me at all, I'm going to lose my mind.Stephanie O'Dea 37:49  Yeah, yeah. No, it's true. So I've been married 25 years, and sometimes, thankfully, I can just tell Adam. So today's not a day for you to actually engage with me. He's like, oh, okay. Thanks, thanks for the warning. You're breathing wrong today. Sorry. You fix that and circle back around.Lesley Logan 38:11  Yeah, I said to Brad, I said, I don't feel awesome today. He goes, it's the day before your period. You're not going to feel awesome. And I was like, thank you. That's right. That's why I married you. He didn't go, of course, you're awesome. He just was like, You're not just not gonna feel it. And it's like, yeah, thank you. Ah, okay, well, clearly I want to keep talking to you, but we'll do that another day. Stephanie O'Dea, thank you so much for being here, you guys. How are you using these tips in your life? Please, tag Stephanie. Tag the Be It Pod. Tell us how you're slow living. Share this with a friend who needs it. Imagine if all of your friends were like acting in the FOMO in the best way, and they were actually listening to themselves and taking some time. Imagine how much easier that would make your life. So share this with the friends in your life who need them. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 39:02  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 39:44  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 39:49  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co. Brad Crowell 39:54  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. Lesley Logan 40:01  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 40:04  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Send us a textIn this deeply moving episode of The Autoimmune RESET Podcast, VJ Hamilton sits down with singer-songwriter Eva James, whose powerful new single The One You Lose has resonated with many living with chronic illness. More than just a musician, Eva opens up about her journey with MCAS, POTS, and endometriosis, and how these conditions reshaped her identity, her relationships, and ultimately, her music.Eva discusses the long road to diagnosis, the internalised shame of invisible illness, and the turning point that led her to share her story publicly. She explains how music and health are inextricably linked for her—how the act of creating, performing, and connecting through music has been a lifeline in her recovery.You will hear how Eva manages her symptoms through low-histamine eating (with tips like using the Instant Pot and freezing meals), and a strict pre-performance routine to protect her vocal cords. She also shares how she navigated toxic relationships, reframed her inner dialogue to one of compassion, and rebuilt her relationship with her body through practices like yoga and mirror work.This episode is both practical and poignant—full of insight for anyone managing chronic illness, particularly performers or creatives. Eva's vulnerability is matched with resilience, making this a must-listen for those seeking hope, healing, and a sense of community.Key Topics Covered:Chronic illness and identity lossThe link between music and nervous system regulationMCAS, POTS, and endometriosis diagnosis journeyLow-histamine lifestyle tipsToxic relationships and their impact on healthSelf-connection and emotional healing through musicLiving and performing with chronic illness

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Emmy award-winning and Golden Globe-winning comedy writer, actor, and comedian Monica Piper. After a smash-hit run off-Broadway, her one-woman show, “Not That Jewish,” returned to The Braid in Santa Monica for the show's 10 year anniversary; it runs through the end of May.   Piper was a high school English teacher, before she left to try comedy and eventually create this show. She has been a standup comic, a writer for “Roseanne” and “Mad About You,” and head writer on “Rugrats.”   “Not That Jewish” is a love letter to being Jewish, as Piper tells stories of her family - particularly her funny father and passing on the humor gene to her son - and her foray into comedy.   “Someone asked me what's my favorite thing about being Jewish … there's so many things, but right up there was food,” Piper shares. “They said, ‘Even gefilte fish?' Yes, even gefilte fish.”    In fact, a chopped liver sandwich, one of Piper's go-to comfort foods, is something she strongly associates with her Jewish identity.   “Food is so much a part of life and Jewish life, but it's the comradery,” Piper says. “As a child, my memories [of Shabbat at my aunt's home with] people talking and arguing and laughing is so much a part of me, so I associate that with food.”    Monica Piper shares food memories, the importance of laughter, and her “Not That Jewish'” origin story, which came with encouragement and assistance from The Braid founder and artistic director Ronda Spinak. There are also tangents on the Instant Pot, goals, and a shared fandom of The Braid.   Taste Buds host Debra Eckerling recently did a Sunday at the Braid event for her new book, “52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting,” via Zoom, hosted by David Chiu and along with Katie Chin and Elaine Hall, who are in the book. The Braid's newest salon show, “For the Love of Animals,” opens next week.   Learn more about “Not That Jewish” at The-Braid.org/Monica and the new show at The-Braid.org. Watch Debra Eckerling's Sundays at The Braid conversation at @TheBraidStories on YouTube.   For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

Find Out If Your Belly Fat is In the Danger Zone —and What to Do About It First things first:   ❌ You don't need a clock.   ❌ You don't need another app.   ✅ You just need a tape measure.   (And a little honesty.)   Here's how to check — the right way: How to Measure Your Belly Fat Accurately 1. Grab a flexible tape measure (the kind used for sewing, not the metal construction one from the garage!).   2. Stand up straight, but relax. No sucking it in like a before-and-after photo. Inhale, exhale, and let your body be.   3. Find your measuring spot: ○ Place the tape measure right around your belly button, just above your hip bones.   ○ Make sure it's snug but not cinched tight. It should rest comfortably against your skin — not digging in.   4. Look straight ahead and read the measurement — no tilting your head or pulling tighter. Honesty is power here.

The Instant Pot is fundamentally a pressure cooker, a device invented way back in 1679 by the French physicist Denis Papin.

We just back from a six-day road trip with our family of six, and I'm excited to share my latest tips for making travel work with a bunch of kids (especially while 25 weeks pregnant). After years of taking these trips - including our annual month-long summer adventure - we keep finding ways to make things 1% better each time.  In this episode I share: How we solved our food challenges by bringing an Instantpot and griddle to cook simple hotel room meals Why eating at restaurants for lunch instead of dinner completely transformed our evenings The pre-packed toiletry and activity bag system that saved me from hunting down everyone's toothbrushes How we handled long car rides with zero screens and kept everyone happy Finding the right mix of free museum visits, hotel swimming, and paid activities I'll also share our biggest challenge – dealing with overtired kids in tight hotel quarters where everyone can hear everything! And the important parenting lesson we learned about solving problems rather than trying to control behavior. If you're interested in seeing exactly how our travel systems work, I'll be sharing all of that in the Family Systems Playbook to the Surviving To Thriving Toolkit. You can join the waitlist HERE to be the first to know when the doors open again! Resources Cooking Set: https://amzn.to/3E0uwae (affiliate link) Toiletry Bags: https://amzn.to/4jkGryp (affiliate link) Activity Bags:https://amzn.to/4jghZ1a (affiliate link) Brother Label Maker: https://amzn.to/4i13Jbz (affiliate link) Sterilite Drawers: https://amzn.to/420Rw1V (affiliate link) Instant Pot: https://amzn.to/43IDJhO (affiliate link) Griddle: https://amzn.to/42py9OZ (afiliate link) Previous Travel Episodes 20 Secrets For a Fun Road Trips With Kids: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/20-secrets-for-a-fun-road-trip-with-kids-episode-172/ Successful Family Road Trip Systems: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/successful-family-road-trip-systems-episode-224/ Easy Car Organization on A Budget: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/easy-car-organization-on-a-budget-episode-265/ Reflection and Travel Tips From A Family Road Trip + 5 Day Hotel Stay: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/reflection-and-travel-tips-from-a-family-road-trip-5-day-hotel-stay-episode-309/ The Ultimate Guide to Family Road Trips: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-family-road-trips-episode-273/

Hey, hey!   Spring is in the air—and we're bringing those fresh, light, and flavorful vibes right to your dinner table! In this episode, I'm sharing a 7-day healthy, fast, and delicious meal plan using a variety of cooking methods—from the grill to the Instant Pot to the air fryer. Plus, I've got a funny little “ring-a-ding” phone call story that saved my dinner and might just save yours too!   Here's what you'll find in this episode: A spring-themed meal plan packed with fresh flavors Quick and healthy dinners that take 30 minutes or less A fun story about how a friend helped me wing dinner with brilliance A reminder that you are never alone in this dinner hustle Sneak Peek of This Week's Meals: -Grilled Chicken with Rosemary Baby Potatoes & Steamed Green Beans -Sheet Pan Lemon-Herb Salmon with Asparagus -Instant Pot Burrito Bowls -And a few more! So be sure to tune in here.   Want the full meal plan with recipe links?   Become a Meal Planning Insider—it's totally free! You'll get the full meal plan and all the clickable recipes delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday.   Click here to join now!   **And P.S.—**If you missed Wednesday's episode, I shared my heart behind my brand-new $5 book Clean Living Simplified—a gentle, doable guide to switching to safer, cleaner products without the overwhelm. Grab your copy here.   P.P.S. If you want to go beyond the meal plan and get tips on stress reduction, clean living, inspiration, and finding a little balance in the chaos—tune in every Wednesday for bonus episodes that are all about helping you simplify life and breathe easier.   Let's make dinner time feel lighter and life feel calmer—together. Have a blessed and beautiful week, xx Blaga Let's connect: Instagram Facebook

If you're tired of generic, robotic AI content, keep reading and discover how to turn ChatGPT into your content-creation partner using a simple strategy that makes your content more aligned, human, and efficient. I bought an Instant Pot during a Black Friday sale a few years ago. Everyone was raving about it, but when I opened the box, I was overwhelmed—so many buttons, pressure valves, and a manual that made me question my intelligence.I was so intimidated that I moved it across two states before I ever used it. But once I finally gave it a try, I realized how simple and powerful it really was. That one small shift changed everything; now, I use it all the time. Using ChatGPT is a lot like that. If you've ever felt intimidated or frustrated with AI because the results were off-brand or robotic, I get it. But with the right method, you can turn ChatGPT into your content creation partner—and love what it produces.In this week's Amplify Your Authority podcast, I'll share a powerful, user-friendly approach that flips the script on prompt engineering.Instead of obsessing over the perfect prompt, I'll walk you through how to provide the context AI truly needs. When you do, ChatGPT becomes more than just a tool—it becomes your content creation partner, helping you write faster and more effectively.Using my C.O.N.T.E.X.T. Method, you'll turn ChatGPT into a reliable writing partner that understands your voice, your brand, and your goals. What You'll Discover in This Episode:Why prompts alone often lead to weak or off-brand AI resultsA formula for turning AI into a content partner that reflects your voice, brand, and intentThe full breakdown of the C.O.N.T.E.X.T. MethodHow to drastically cut content editing time—and love what AI gives you the first timeHow to eliminate hallucinations and endless editsListen to the "Amplify Your Authority" Podcast! Click Here! Rate & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Tip: Answer these questions inside of ChatGPT (free or paid) and have AI craft your review! How did you discover this podcast? What's your biggest takeaway from this episode? How has this podcast helped your current journey? Thanks so much for taking a few minutes to craft a review!

We have Ollie to thank for bringing us this ep about a topic near, if not dear: the headache of feeding ourselves and others. (We have to do this multiple times a day?!?!). The app helps you figure out what to cook, makes your grocery list, and *learns what you like*—it's a whole thing, and we're grateful for the robots for helping us with this task. In related topics: our always-on-hand grocery items and supermarket immersive theater.   Stuff always in our pantries/fridges: Chara's Kitchen Barbeque Sauce, Kewpie Roasted Sesame Dressing (the made-in-Japan version!), Mutti Cherry Tomatoes, Bjorn Qorn (related:nutritional yeast), Chaokoh Coconut Milk, The Rice Factory Rice, Painterland Sisters Skyr Yogurt, Portugalia Market tinned fish.    Recipes we love rn include Eric Kim's shredded chicken in the Instant Pot for Food52, Sarah DiGregorio's salmon and kimchi skillet for NYT Cooking, Smitten Kitchen's slow-roasted sweet potatoes, and the tofu sheet-pan dinner from the cookbook Kid in the Kitchen by Melissa Clark,    Two exceptional easy-cooking cookbooks with companion newsletters: What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers and Small Victories by Julia Turshen.   Download Ollie today in the app stores or at ollie.ai/athingortwo to save two of the recipes we're cooking most.   What's your grocery routine looking like? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva.   Let Ollie help you figure out dinner: Download the free app and use the promo code ATHINGORTWO to cook what we're cooking. YAY.

Today's recipe is Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings.Here are the links to some of the items I talked about in this episode: #adHomemade Buttermilk BiscuitsStovetop Chicken and DumplingsInstant PotHomemade Poultry SeasoningChef's KnifeChopping BoardAll New Chicken CookbookThis episode was also published in April, 2023.Here's the Recipe Of The Day page with all of our recipe links.If you want to make sure that you always find out what today's recipe is, do one or all of the following:Subscribe to the Podcast,Join the ROTD Facebook Group hereHave a great day! -Christine xo

Today's recipe is Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage.Here are the links to some of the items I talked about in this episode: #adInstant PotLiquid Measuring CupsMeasuring SpoonsServing PlatterAll New Chicken CookbookThis episode was also published in March, 2023.Here's the Recipe Of The Day page with all of our recipe links.If you want to make sure that you always find out what today's recipe is, do one or all of the following:Subscribe to the Podcast,Join the ROTD Facebook Group hereHave a great day! -Christine xo

Want to help the environment and try something new? Discover how eating invasive species can help the environment! Learn how proper prep avoids risky situations. Join radio hosts Rebecca Wanner aka 'BEC' and Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt (Tigger & BEC) with The Bend Radio Show & Podcast, your news outlet for the latest in Outdoors & Western Lifestyle News!   Season 5, Episode 228 Why Eat Invasive Species Like Swamp Rats?    Invasive species such as swamp rats, green iguanas, and feral hogs are wreaking havoc on local ecosystems, consuming native vegetation, and threatening wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encourages people to hunt and eat these species to reduce their population and mitigate their environmental impact. While it might sound odd to consider eating swamp rats, they are often described as having a mild, rabbit-like flavor. Swamp rats were introduced to the U.S. for the fur trade but have since spread uncontrollably. They are prolific breeders, causing damage to wetlands by eating plant roots and accelerating erosion. Should You Try Swamp Rat Meat? If you're up for a culinary adventure, swamp rat meat can be a sustainable choice. Experienced chefs in Louisiana turn these rodents into gourmet dishes like gumbo and Nutria à l'Orange. Some even say it pairs wonderfully with wine, such as a vibrant Zinfandel, or with a refreshing beer. Though the idea might be daunting for some, swamp rats are not only eco-friendly but also tasty. One commenter on the Fish and Wildlife Service post above mentioned they thought swamp rat tasted like pork loin and found it delicious. If you're curious, it could be worth trying—especially if you're looking to support local ecosystems. A Delicious Alternative: Irish Corned Venison Recipe While swamp rat meat may not be for everyone, wild game offers numerous other flavorful and ethical alternatives. One such dish is Irish Corned Venison, a great way to enjoy venison, a lean and nutritious meat. Corned venison is easy to prepare and perfect for a family dinner or holiday meal. Ingredients for Irish Corned Venison: 4 pounds venison roast (any cut, ideally from the shoulder or leg) 1/2 Gallon Water 1/2 cup Cure (Tender quick) 1/2 cup Kosher Salt 1/3 cup White Sugar 1 TBSP Whole Peppercorns 1 TBSP Mustard Seeds 1 TBSP Coriander Seeds 1 TBSP Dried Thyme 1 TBSP Caraway Seeds 6 Bay Leaves   Instructions Prepare the Brine: In a large pot, combine the kosher salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice, cinnamon, garlic, bay leaves, and pink curing salt. Add enough water to cover the venison and bring to a simmer. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Cool the Brine: Once the brine is well-mixed and simmered, allow it to cool completely. This step is crucial for safety and flavor. Brine the Venison: Place the venison roast in a large non-reactive container (glass or food-safe plastic). Pour the cooled brine over the meat, ensuring it is fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate for about 5 days. Turn the venison once a day for even curing. Cook the Corned Venison: After the meat has cured, rinse it thoroughly to remove excess salt. Place it in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker with about an inch of water. Cook until tender. (Example: Instant Pot - 50 Minutes on Pressure Cook with natural release. Slow Cooker - on High for 3-4 hours.) For extra flavor, you can add vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and cabbage during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Serve and Enjoy: Slice the corned venison thinly and serve with the vegetables. The tender, flavorful meat pairs beautifully with a simple mustard sauce or alongside your favorite potatoes. Conclusion: Embrace Wild Game and Sustainable Eating Eating invasive species and wild game like venison can help protect our environment while providing you with a unique and flavorful meal. Whether you're adventurous enough to try swamp rat meat or you prefer the familiar taste of venison, these meats are a sustainable way to support wildlife conservation. Try the Irish Corned Venison recipe for your next dinner and join the movement of eco-conscious eating. References https://www.fws.gov/story/2025-02/eat-invaders OUTDOORS FIELD REPORTS & COMMENTS Call or Text your questions, or comments to 305-900-BEND or 305-900-2363 Or email BendRadioShow@gmail.com FOLLOW Facebook/Instagram: @thebendshow https://www.facebook.com/thebendshow SUBSCRIBE to The Bend YouTube Channel. Website: TheBendShow.com https://thebendshow.com/ #catchBECifyoucan #tiggerandbec #outdoors #travel #cowboys The Outdoors, Rural America, And Wildlife Conservation are Center-Stage. AND how is that? Because Tigger & BEC… Live This Lifestyle. Learn more about Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt & Rebecca Wanner aka BEC here: TiggerandBEC.com https://tiggerandbec.com/ WESTERN LIFESTYLE & THE OUTDOORS Jeff 'Tigger' Erhardt & Rebecca 'BEC' Wanner are News Broadcasters that represent the Working Ranch world, Rodeo, and the Western Way of Life as well as advocate for the Outdoors and Wildlife Conservation. Outdoorsmen themselves, this duo strives to provide the hunter, adventurer, cowboy, cowgirl, rancher and/or successful farmer, and anyone interested in agriculture with the knowledge, education, and tools needed to bring high-quality beef and the wild game harvested to your table for dinner. They understand the importance in sharing meals with family, cooking the fruits of our labor and fish from our adventures, and learning to understand the importance of making memories in the outdoors. Appreciate God's Country. United together, this duo offers a glimpse into and speaks about what life truly is like at the end of dirt roads and off the beaten path. Tigger & BEC look forward to hearing from you, answering your questions and sharing in the journey of making your life a success story. Adventure Awaits Around The Bend.

Building a strong nutritional baseline is the key to long-term results. In this episode of Beast Over Burden, we break down the daily habits lifters need to create structure, eliminate setbacks, and stay consistent. Forging Daily Nutritional Habits: Actionable Steps Build a Routine: Establish fixed meal times, eliminate caloric drinks, and cut out mindless snacking. Prioritize Whole Foods: Create a repeatable meal plan that minimizes decision fatigue. Use Habit Stacking: Drink water before meals, prep your gym bag the night before, and link new habits to existing routines. Understand Your Triggers: Identify what leads to unhealthy choices and develop strategies to overcome them. Eliminating Detrimental Habits: Behavioral Shifts Say Goodbye To: Excessive alcohol, added fats, and hidden sugars. Practice Mindful Eating: Pay attention to hunger cues, savor meals, and eliminate distractions while eating. Embrace Cooking & Meal Prep: Control ingredients and develop a deeper connection with your food. Identify Root Causes: Recognize stress eating and social pressures, then create solutions to stay on track. Cultivating Long-Term Habits: Consistency & Tools Fuel Your Enjoyment: Find healthy meals you love and experiment with new recipes. Leverage Accountability: Track your meals, work with a coach, or join a support group. Practice Self-Compassion: Learn from mistakes and get back on track without guilt. Utilize Helpful Tools: Simplify meal prep with an Instant Pot, griddle, immersion blender, and smoker or gas grill. Build a solid nutrition foundation and fuel your performance. #NutritionForLifters #HealthyHabits #BeastOverBurden #FitnessFuel PS - IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TAKING ONLINE COACHING FOR A TEST RUN, CHECK IT OUT HERE.  Connect with the hosts Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email podcast@barbell-logic.com

Do you even remember the sound that a pressure cooker used to make? It was a definitive rattling sound; one that could never be mistaken for anything else. This episode lovingly merges the humorous effects of a faulty pressure cooker and the warning of morning sickness during pregnancy. In industrial settings, the safety valve release mechanism is crucial for averting all kinds of potential disasters, making them an indispensable component in various settings, especially in the high-stakes fields of oil, gas, and chemical processing. But who would know that (spiritually) the safety valve could be also a metaphor for protection when it comes to walking with and serving God. Lots to process here, but it's a fun yet informative way to process His love for us. The need for physical safety pales in comparison to the universal need for spiritual safety. One may be in great danger in this world of physical harm and still have the assurance of an eternity of security in heaven. We fear not those who can only harm the body yet never touch the soul (Matthew 10:28). www.sueduffield.com www.childfund.org/sueduffield

This episode we're joined by cookie maker extraordinaire Amy Wong of Batch 22 Bakery. Lunar New Year might be a little behind us for the year but Amy's dish, leen goh, is so classic and so beloved we'll talk about it any time of year. We talk about Amy's diligent testing to turn her grandmother's loosey-goosey recipe into a near-exact replica, her mother's version that could feed an army, and honoring the recipe while still using an Instant Pot for a lil modern day ease. We also talk about pivoting from the perceived stability of a cushy tech marketing job to being a baker, the near-comical naming conventions—or lack thereof—of Chinese pastry, and if Amy's dad may or may not be Garfield.  Be warned that we have a lengthy cookie discussion so maybe have a snack first or keep some cookies close by!

As food costs continue to rise, making the most of your groceries, especially produce, is more important than ever. This week on Meal Planning for Busy Moms, we not only bring you a variety of quick, healthy, and delicious meals but also share essential tips on how to extend the life of your fruits and vegetables.   What You'll Learn in This Episode: ✔️ Innovative storage solutions to prevent spoilage ✔️ Tips on buying in bulk and storing properly ✔️ Creative ways to use produce before it goes bad ✔️ This week's meal plan features mixed proteins and diverse cooking methods to keep mealtime exciting and economical

In today's episode, we are going to talk about some of the things that our clients have raved to us recently about. Sometimes, more than one of our clients will really love a certain product or app independently, so we have been keeping track of those things to share with you in case you could use some of these tools. There's some pretty cool stuff that's come around, from air fryers, to instant pots, to walking pads. But we want to make it clear that we're not here just to tell you to buy more stuff! You can just eat well and move and not need any products or purchases to support you in that. However, the whole reason this podcast exists is because it's not always simple and it's definitely not easy to eat well, maintain a healthy weight or stay fit.Guidance and tools can be helpful and even necessary to succeed.  And most importantly, they can make the whole process more fun and enjoyable. From hard goods, gadgets and gizmos to apps from your phone, check these out:HARD GOODS:SHAPA ScaleGlass storage containers with lidsDressings containerMini Bands (Amazon search)Dash Mini Waffle IronWalking PadNinja Foodi, Instant Pot, Air FryerAPPS:Wheel of Feels (Apple or Android)Slow Eats (Apple App, can use the timer on your phone instead!)Sunnyside Mindful Drinking (only available in US, CA, UK)Recovery Record (Disordered eating management)Finch (Daily Self Care) Which ones would you add to your list of tools that have made your confident eating journey easier? Let us know by sending us a message at confidenteaters.com.Connect with Georgie and the Confident Eaters Coaches: WebsiteFacebookGeorgie's Instagram Christina's Instagram Have you ever thought, "I know what to do, I just need to consistently do it"? Who hasn't? Sometimes we need accountability. Sometimes we need specific strategies, new tools, or a bit of help. If you want help learning to become a confident, sensible eater with 1:1 shame-free personalized attention, sign up here.

Today's recipe is Instant Pot Pork Loin Perfected!Here are the links to some of the items I talked about in this episode: #adInstant PotInstant Read ThermometerProbe ThermometerChef's KnifeAll New Chicken CookbookThis episode was also published in March, 2023.Here's the Recipe Of The Day page with all of our recipe links.If you want to make sure that you always find out what today's recipe is, do one or all of the following:Subscribe to the Podcast,Join the ROTD Facebook Group hereHave a great day! -Christine xo

What if you could create indulgent meals at home—without spending hours in the kitchen?We all crave meals that feel luxurious and special, whether it's for a date night, a dinner party, or simply treating yourself. But too often, indulgent cooking feels intimidating or overly complicated. This episode explores effortless ways to bring decadence to your table using simple techniques and a few game-changing ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.By the end of this episode, you'll:Learn the secret to making the creamiest, dreamiest risotto - without all the stirring! Turn a humble ingredient into a rich, nutty dressing that makes a salad feel indulgentDiscover both savory and sweet dishes that have a big wow factor with 5-ingredients or lessTreat yourself to the kind of rich dishes that fill your kitchen with delicious aromas and big flavors—press play now!***Links:Brown butter vinaigrette by Tami Weiser for The Kitchn. Make sure your lettuce comes up to room temp, as advised by Jennifer McLagan in the “Double Butter Salad” recipe from her cookbook, Fat .Parmesan oven risotto from Smitten Kitchen, and an Instant Pot version of risotto from Our Salty KitchenSheet pan roasted sausage and grapes by Sheela Prakash for The KitchnAnd Smitten Kitchen's harvest roast chicken, olives, and grapes Justine Doiron's spicy tomato beans with hot honey Garlic and lemon buttery beans from The Mediterranean DishCarbonara in a jar from GrubstreetCheese fondue night from The Kitchn 5-ingredient chocolate mousse from Nagi Maehashi (with video too!)Silken tofu chocolate mousse from As Easy As Apple PieSkillet chocolate chip cookie by David Turner from King Arthur Baking ***Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.Order Sonya's cookbook...

Are you feeling the chill in the air and looking for a cozy meal to warm you up?In this bite-sized episode, we share delicious moments about the best things we ate this week to inspire each other – and you! By the end of this episode, you'll want to whip out your big pot to cook up a spicy, aromatic, Moroccan stew that is full of veggies. You'll also discover the tips to making the easiest, most delicious, buttery, garlicky noodles for a quick weeknight supper.Tune in now for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration! ***Links:Lamb and chickpea stew from Jo Cooks, similar to what Sonya made, and an Instant Pot version from Zestful kitchen Ali Slagle's lemon garlic linguine from NYT Cooking, and a similar recipe (with a little less butter) from Pinch & Swirl ***Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.Order Sonya's debut cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!We love hearing from you — follow us on Instagram @foodfriendspod, or drop us a line at foodfriendspod@gmail.com!

Let's talk about cooking, more specifically, let's simplify how to cook lighter with your Instant Pot! It's happened, I too have jumped on the bandwagon of cooking with an Instant Pot… and can I say, I LOVE IT. It makes batch cooking a cinch and the versatility of what you can make, my goodness, I feel like I'm just scratching the surface!  My all-star special guest today is celebrity cookbook author, Jeffrey Eisner and he's simplifying how to cook lighter with an Instant Pot. While yes, you could make super gooey, creamy and decadent meals like mac-n-cheese in your Instant Pot, Jeffrey is also going to show us a way to lighten it all up, cooking to your specific eating lifestyle. Whether it's Keto, Paleo, Gluten-free, or vegetarian and vegan, it's all about eating wholesome, real food that raises your vibration rather than ones that sink you into a food coma and total brain fog… but here's the caveat: he promises we won't lose any of the flavor along the way.  Here's how.  My all-star special guest today is Jeffrey Eisner and he's simplifying how to cook lighter with an Instant Pot. We tackle and simplify all aspects of it, including: For those just getting started using their Instant Pot, the 2-3 tips that would help you feel less intimidated, so you can get going with experimenting, playing and cooking food with it this week What “cooking lighter” looks like for him these days and which recipes he's enjoying making right now, which might give you a few ideas on what to cook tonight Which must-have staples you need stocked in your pantry, specifically for pressure cooking Lawry's seasoned salt beef, chicken, vegetable stock, specifically Better than Bouillon concentrated stock base  dried beans (black, pinto, white beans) quinoa, rice (white, brown, wild), and farro herbs & spices - TIP: buy one new spice each week to build your pantry and experiment with new flavors! How to cook for kids or picky eaters with an Instant Pot - he shares his best advice for parents without much time to cook, but want happy bellies around the dinner table …and ultimately, he shared a little bit about his own wellness journey - what he wished he knew earlier on when it comes to eating lighter and maintaining his weight. Q: Are you ready to cook lighter using an Instant Pot? If yes, this one is for you. It's time to #DoTheThing! ---- Show notes available with all links mentioned here: https://www.thesimplifiers.com/posts/371-how-to-cook-lighter-with-an-instant-pot---with-jeffrey-eisner-all-star

Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of switching to a plant-based diet? In this video, we'll share simple, time-saving strategies like batch cooking, stocking your pantry with staples, and using kitchen gadgets like Instant Pots to make plant-based eating easy and stress-free. Whether you're a beginner or just looking to simplify your routine, these tips will help you save time and feel confident in your plant-based journey.

Hey, hey!   Happy New Year, my fabulous foodies!

Join Jen Carlson as she shares the faithfulness of God through life's trials and encourages simple, heartfelt hospitality. Even if you're not a natural planner, Jen offers easy practical tips for creating simple yet delicious recipes that can feed a crowd. Jen gives advice on creating a welcoming space with interior design ideas, cozy lighting, and good music. Plus, she shares how her hospitality influencers inspired her along the way. You'll be inspired too! We're so glad you're here!  Visit www.comeoverfordinner.com for recipes, product links, and more!

Today's recipe is Lucky Collard Greens in the Instant Pot.Here are the links to some of the items I talked about in this episode: #adInstant Pot Black Eyed PeasInstant PotTongsAll New Chicken CookbookThis episode was also published in January, 2022.Here's the Recipe Of The Day page with all of our recipe links.If you want to make sure that you always find out what today's recipe is, do one or all of the following:Subscribe to the Podcast,Join the ROTD Facebook Group hereHave a great day! -Christine xo 

Today's recipe is Instant Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken.Here are the links to some of the items I talked about in this episode: #adInstant PotCutting BoardChef's KnifeAll New Chicken CookbookThis episode was also published in February, 2023.Here's the Recipe Of The Day page with all of our recipe links.If you want to make sure that you always find out what today's recipe is, do one or all of the following:Subscribe to the Podcast,Join the ROTD Facebook Group hereHave a great day! -Christine xo

- Sponsorship with BudDocs.org for medical marijuana services, including telemedicine by Dr. Shen Latte and dispensary discounts.   - Overview of BudDocs.org pricing for transfers, existing, and new patients.   - Updates on Godzilla-themed pinball machines and their appeal as status symbols.   - Anecdote about unexpectedly receiving a pinball machine.   - Lighthearted intro and humor woven into podcast opening.   - Brendan O'Connor's arrival, casual humor, and discussions about drag queens Trixie and Katya.   - Commentary on fatherhood, generational parenting shifts, and societal expectations.   - Complaints about family obligations, kids' birthday parties, and unnecessary graduations.   - Nostalgia for attending a child's last elementary school event despite discomfort.   - Humor about dad attire and coping with rich vs. blue-collar lifestyles.   - Lavish anecdotes about rich friends, extravagant parties, and peculiar behaviors.   - Listener stories involving helicopters, Pitbull, and bizarre vacation mishaps.   - Reflection on Salvation Army's donation methods, persistent bell ringers, and religious-based aid critiques.   - Brendan recalling skiing to school and challenges of snow-heavy childhoods.   - Discussion about holiday triggers and awkward bell ringer encounters.   - Operation "Nightcap" uncovering drug sales in downtown Orlando bars and its implications for bar owners.   - Debate over city policies enforcing permits and security in nightlife areas.   - Anecdotes about downtown Orlando bars, financial misconduct, and lost nostalgia.   - Nostalgia for *RoboCop* and eccentric actor antics, including Peter Weller's Oreo demands.   - Discussion of YouTuber Mark Rober's educational content vs. superficial trends in YouTube videos.   - Observations on YouTube revenue surpassing traditional media and disparities in educator pay.   - Shoutout to Mark Rober's charitable initiatives and inspiring local projects for autistic adults.   - Brendan's luxury resort visit, upcoming trips, and exploration of quirky Key West spots.   - Nostalgia for Sanford's festive holiday atmosphere, including dining at Hollerbach's.   - Reflection on sponsored travel experiences, including challenges like bedbugs and disappointing cruises.   - Debate over airboats' environmental impact and Florida's kitschy attractions.   - Stoned food experiments, childhood snack nostalgia, and creative Instant Pot recipes.   - Highlights of Brendan's radio show, local bar visits, and the upcoming Science on Tap event.   - Anecdote about a car giveaway mishap and quirky grandma fashion show at the Grandma Party Bazaar.   - Shoutout to John Busteker and Mo's Christmas Party at Gatorland.   - Tom reminiscing about past spontaneity and fun during “Fat Tom Van” days.   ### **Social Media:**   [Website](https://tomanddan.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tomanddanlive) | [Facebook](https://facebook.com/amediocretime) | [Instagram](https://instagram.com/tomanddanlive) **Where to Find the Show:**   [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-mediocre-time/id334142682) | [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2FtZWRpb2NyZXRpbWUvcG9kY2FzdC54bWw) | [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Mediocre-Time-p364156/) **The Tom & Dan Radio Show on Real Radio 104.1:**   [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-corporate-time/id975258990) | [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2Fjb3Jwb3JhdGV0aW1lL3BvZGNhc3QueG1s) | [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Corporate-Time-p1038501/) **Exclusive Content:** [Join BDM](https://tomanddan.com/registration)   **Merch:** [Shop Tom & Dan](https://tomanddan.myshopify.com/)

Hey, hey!   Welcome to another episode of Meal Planning for Busy Moms!

Hey, Hey!   Welcome back to Meal Planning for Busy Moms! This week, I'm sharing a brand-new weekly meal plan packed with delicious, easy-to-make recipes that your family will love. We're talking tacos, salmon, chicken thighs, and more, all using different cooking methods to keep your dinners fresh and exciting.   Plus, I'm sharing a 30-second genius hack to save you time, money, and stress—perfect for those days when your veggies are looking a little sad.   And the best part? I've got a way for you to get this entire meal plan, complete with recipe links, delivered right to your inbox! Tune in for all the details.   What You'll Learn in This Episode:   A full weekly meal plan with a variety of proteins (beef, chicken, turkey, salmon, and pork).   New recipes that are quick, delicious, and use different cooking methods (stove top, sheet pan, slow cooker, Instant Pot, and one-pot meals).   How to freeze veggies like a pro to save money and reduce waste.   How to join the Meal Planning for Busy Moms Insider List to get meal plans and recipe links sent straight to your inbox.   Weekly Meal Plan: Monday: Beef and Veggie Stir-Fry (Stove Top) Tuesday: Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps (Quick Stove Top) Wednesday: Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs Friday: BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders (Instant Pot) Saturday: Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken (One-Pot) Sunday: Soupy Sunday – Hearty Lentil and Sausage Soup (Slow Cooker)   30-Second Genius Hack: Before your veggies go bad, chop them up and freeze them! Spread them out on a baking sheet to freeze flat, then transfer them to a freezer bag or container. This hack saves you time, money, and stress while ensuring you always have veggies on hand for quick meals.   Loved this episode? Want the meal plan and recipe links delivered straight to your inbox? Join my Meal Planning for Busy Moms Insider List!   Want some "What's for Dinner?" meal inspiration join out Facebook Community here.   Wanna know more about me?  Click here to learn more and connect!   Thank you for tuning in! Share this episode with a fellow busy mom, and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. Have a blessed and beautiful week!   xx Blaga 

Hey look, Jason is back! If you aren't slow cooking, are you even cooking? The age of M is upon us. Imagine having actual choices in your electronics purchases. The Foot Reloaded. Jason's Update from Japan 00:00:00 Last Episode (https://listen.hemisphericviews.com/123)

#481: How do you make chicken safe for babies to eat? If your family eats animal foods then there are nutrition, flavor, taste and texture benefits to trying out chicken. But learning how to make chicken safely for early eaters can be a challenge. Listen to learn the best ways to make chicken for baby-led weaning to help lower choking risk. Listen to this episode to learn: When it's ok to introduce meat on the bone like chicken legs or drumsticks How to make soft shreddable strips of chicken that won't dry out or pose a choking hazard Why offering chicken early on in weaning helps from nutrition and developmental standpoints Shownotes for this episode can be found here: https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/481 Links from this episode: Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program  Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners Other Videos & Episodes Related to this Topic Baby-Friendly Chicken Adobo Recipe: Family Meal Made Easy How to Make a Whole Chicken in the InstantPot for Your Baby Episode 178 - White Meat Your Baby Can Safely Eat

#481: How do you make chicken safe for babies to eat? If your family eats animal foods then there are nutrition, flavor, taste and texture benefits to trying out chicken. But learning how to make chicken safely for early eaters can be a challenge. Listen to learn the best ways to make chicken for baby-led weaning to help lower choking risk. Listen to this episode to learn: When it's ok to introduce meat on the bone like chicken legs or drumsticks How to make soft shreddable strips of chicken that won't dry out or pose a choking hazard Why offering chicken early on in weaning helps from nutrition and developmental standpoints Shownotes for this episode can be found here: https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/481 Links from this episode: Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program  Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners Other Videos & Episodes Related to this Topic Baby-Friendly Chicken Adobo Recipe: Family Meal Made Easy How to Make a Whole Chicken in the InstantPot for Your Baby Episode 178 - White Meat Your Baby Can Safely Eat

A very special guest on the podcast, Kathi Lipp. Dr. Vickie: The main reason I wanted you to have to have you on the podcast today is because you are an expert on connection and social connectedness is such a part of lifestyle medicine and so many people struggle with loneliness. Kathi: I'm going to be totally honest with you. It's something that Roger, my husband, and I have struggled with up here. And we've had to be super intentional about it. So, even though I may be an expert on it, it means I still have to work at it. Dr. Vickie: Well, most people who are an expert on something have had to work through it themselves, right?  But set the scene about the red house first of all. Can you just let our listeners know what it's like to be there, to live there, and how you came up with the idea for your newest book, which is Sabbath Soup. Kathi: So several years ago, Roger and I, we love to go to the mountains to kind of get away and to write and to work and do all of that kind of stuff. And we started praying about, could we get a little tiny cabin in the woods that for us to be able to do that? And then, as dreams often do, it got out of control the and we ended up buying the house with the intent of living in San Jose, and going coming to the mountains, Airbnbing this place, and then also doing writer's retreat. Well, every time we came here, we didn't want to leave. So we eventually sold our house in San Jose and moved up here full time. only And so we have a much bigger house than we could ever use, but we're able to use it in different ways like the retreats and we can have guests here. We've had people who have been in the midst of a crisis come and stay with us. So the house gets used in ways that we never imagined. And the we just feel very lucky that we get to live here Dr. Vickie: How far away is your nearest  neighbor?  Kathi: It's about a 20 to 25 minute walk depending on who's doing the walking. We've had to make really deliberate attempts to be able to be connected with people.  Dr. Vickie: So many people do struggle with connection and loneliness, and they're like, well it's hard for me because, and it was hard for you because, but you found a way to overcome that, and a lot of it revolved around meals. Kathi: We had the Caldor fire come through our county and we we only lost two acres and it didn't touch our home But one of the reasons that our home was saved was because of the volunteer firefighters who live on both sides of us. All those firefighters are living together, sleeping together, eating together Well, this was at the height of the covid pandemic, and Paul got covid and was in the intensive care unit. It was really really bad. When he got out I'm like, "Could I bring you some soup?" and come to find out, If I didn't bring him soup, he was going home to Lunchables. That's what he eats. So I said, Oh, we can do better than that. So we've just started to bring him meals every week.  I'm used to cooking for six, Vickie, we were a blended family of six and you don't lose those muscles really quickly when you're cooking for a crowd. And so, we bring him meals. And just yesterday way we brought Nancy and Patrick meals because they're going through  a health crisis. And we just show up with food and it takes one burden off of them and is a very, low and easy connection point for people.  Dr. Vickie: And I think people associate soup with health. I asked my listeners on Facebook this week, what's your comfort food? And so many people said soup. You've got chicken soup, but there's so many other soups and, I got to feast on them when I was there and it just makes you feel warm inside and it's a big pot that you share with people. There's so much about soup that just screams connection. Kathi: It really does. And, you know, I found that the easiest way to reach out to somebody, a neighbor, a friend, a coworker is to just say this simple line, I made too much soup. Can I bring some over? And it's such a low risk way of reaching out. And it's also a low risk way of receiving Because I think we're very hesitant to receive from strangers, or, even people we don't know really well, because it's like, what are they going to want from me? Are they gonna, you know, are they going to try to recruit me for their multilevel marketing system or their religion? And to just say, no, I just care about you. And soup's a really easy way of doing that.   Dr. Vickie: Well us a little bit more about Sabbath soup. Kathi: So, you know, Roger and I have really been on a journey. I think when you kind of pull away from some of the hustle, I mean, we, we're from Silicon Valley, so hustle was built into what we were doing. And when you kind of pull away from that, you start to see, maybe I haven't had some of the healthiest habit. As you know, I've been on  a  weight journey and a food journey, and those have been going really well. But a couple of things that I was not doing great at, rest and stress management. You can go live in the middle of the forest, like Roger and I do. is And if you're not intentional about those things, they can continue to be not great for you. So we really got intentional on about Sabbath, about saying, "Hey there's this day set aside for rest." And, you can't just say, "Oh, we're resting on Sunday. Everything  stops." People still want to eat. It's very annoying. And so to spend a little bit of each day preparing since so that Sunday can be taken off. And the reason it's soup is because if you make a soup on Friday or Saturday, one, it's the easiest thing in the world to reheat and two, soup tastes better. Then after a couple of days, it just does. So that's why we got into the habit of having soup on Sundays. Dr. Vickie: So  that's your routine every Sunday. Kathi: And here's the beautiful thing for those of us who are overwhelmed. Vickie, If you say I'm having soup on Sunday, your decisions go from infinity to about 25. Most of us know of about 25 soups that we like and we could make. Soup is pretty simple to make and if you are overwhelmed by decision making just saying, okay, Sunday soup and then I add a salad, even if it's a bag salad. I don't care if your soup needs to come from Costco or the grocery store. Do what you need to do. There are a lot of busy people who are like, I can't even think about cooking. If you just make the decision soup, the next time you go to the store, you pick up a couple of containers, you're buying yourself some pre decision. Taking away some anxiety about what am I going to feed these people or myself?  Dr. Vickie: That's so good because you've mentioned so many pillars of lifestyle medicine, rest and stress management. And I mentioned that this is all part of social connectedness, but also nutrition. And I have to tell you what I did the other day, I did not want to go to the grocery store. I had been traveling a lot and came home and I didn't have a lot of groceries and I literally went into the pantry and found what I could find in the pantry and in the freezer. And I threw it all in a big pot with some vegetable broth. And I made a bean and corn and fire roasted tomatoes. And I put my secret ingredient that my husband really loves and that's just a little bit of cloves. Cloves and beans. That's my secret. And he loved it and I took some leftovers to my mom.  so, you're right, it goes, I mean who makes soup for two? Kathi: You really don't.  There are so many things I want to respond to there. One, wouldn't we agree that for so many people in North America, one of the biggest stressors is finances  and soup is such a beautiful way of using up those odds and ends. Beans are so inexpensive and I'm going to try your cloves because I can taste that in my mouth right now. The beans and the cloves. That's amazing. I love it. Because also I like some cinnamon with beans. I love soup because it's very easy to make a big batch of, it's so easy to share like you did with your mom, it's so easy to freeze. love these things called super cubes, S O U P E R cubes. They are just silicone molds to freeze portions of soup. And we call that homesteader fast food where you can just pop out one of those cubes, that heat up in the microwave and you've got lunch. And, I think about it like this, every once in a while we like to go to fast food. We're Americans. We like to do that. But for the 2 of us to go to fast food is 30 dollars, which is nice for a treat. But leftover soup is pretty much free. And so economically, nutritionally, and community wise. It works on all levels.  Dr. Vickie: It really does. Beans in particular are so high in fiber, so high in protein, and they're inexpensive. You can do them out of a can, and they're almost just as healthy as they are any other way. You've gotta watch the sodium content. But also, you can do them in the Instant Pot, and you don't have to soak them overnight and do all that Kathi: They are very blue zone. They are very, very blue zone.  Dr. Vickie: Yes, they are. Well, what's your favorite soup recipe in the new book Sabbath Soup? Do you have one? Because I do. Kathi: Okay, when I  want to be a little decadent, the tomato and gin soup, That's  my favorite. Everybody loves it. What's yours?  Dr. Vickie: Same. It was so good, I love it. And like I said, that would be for a sort of a treat occasion, but I love tomato soup anyway. And that tomato soup recipe was delicious.  Kathi: Okay, Vickie, the next time you need a treat and you want to double up on your treat, there's no more classic combination of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, right? Which has nothing redeeming about it. Let's just be super honest, except joy. And in the book, I have a recipe for Cuban sandwiches. That's like a grilled cheese sandwich on steroids. It's so, so, so good. So if you, if you want something kind of decadent, it's a real crowd pleaser.  Dr. Vickie: That's awesome. And I love a pickle with my grilled cheese sandwich. Kathi: That's that's what the Cuban sandwich is all about is the pickle.   Dr. Vickie: Well, I want our listeners to know all about your book and where they can find you and the book because it is a gorgeous book and it is full of so many good recipes.  Kathi: They really did a beautiful job on it. So if you go to SabbathSoup. com, we have a lot of little gifties there for you, some menu plans, some other bonuses you can do, but you can buy Sabbath Soup at Amazon and any place you love to buy books. You can buy it there. It's available everywhere.  Dr. Vickie I will put the link to your website and all of the links to that. so much. In the show notes, because I know people are going to want to check that out. But I, I love the, just the connection that's involved with, with food and with soup in particular, Kathi: You know, I always think about it this way, Vickie, I've never been fed without feeling love. I did an interview yesterday and they talked to us about how God created us with the need for food. God didn't need to do that, but God is invested in our connection and our joy and that's what food does.  Dr. Vickie: That's so true. And, and I think eating a meal without someone to share it with,  magnifies loneliness. I went through a season of singleness and I said, I ate a dinner for one at a table for 10. It just magnifies the fact that you're alone. And my father passed away about three years ago. And so my mom's had to eat her meals alone and it's difficult for her to go to the table and do that. So that's why I take her my leftovers, but how beautiful that just to show up at your neighbor's door and say, Hey, I made too much soup. And would you like to have some? I love that. Kathi: Yeah. And I love what you said there. Show up. Don't ask, what can I do? Just say, Hey, I made you some soup. What time can I bring it over? That works for you? It's such a different because nobody wants to put anybody else out. But when you say it's already done, it brings, it brings a different level of connectedness. Dr. Vickie: You're absolutely right.  And even better, stay with them. I remember when I was sick and people would bring me meals and a lot of times it wasn't anything I could eat. The prednisone made me diabetic and I had to be very, very careful what I ate and I'm sort of a health nut anyway, so I was careful about what I ate, but what I really wanted was for them to stay and visit. It's not something that you drop off on the doorstep and ring the doorbell and run away. If you can stay and visit that, that's the, that's the decadent cream on top. Kathi: Yeah, and I think asking. Roger went to visit our neighbors yesterday and there was a nurse there and it just wasn't a great time. So, Roger said, I'm going to call you later to find out when a good time would be. You're there to serve somebody's needs. And that is the deep connection - seeing that need. And it's such a gift to the receiver to let them know, even if now doesn't work, later on will, and we're going to be back. We're in this for the long haul. If you can just make a decision for one day a week in advance what you're going to eat and one, make it a little special and two make it easy on yourself. It's going to create a rhythm in your life that is going to be life giving.  Dr. Vickie: My husband thrives on a rhythm like that. And so we do the same thing every Friday night and the same thing every Sunday night. It's just relaxing to me because we don't have to talk about it. We don't have to decide anything. We don't have to plan anything. We know what we're doing.  There are tons of recipes in this book. It's a beautiful book just to even have sitting in your kitchen. So thank you so much for being here.  Kathi: Vickie, it's such an honor to see everything you've started with this podcast and now to be a guest, it just feels like such a full circle moment and I'm so proud of you and I love what you're doing to serve your community. It's, it's just awe inspiring. Dr. Vickie: Well, thank you so much. It was great having you.     RESOURCES (may contain affiliate links): Kathi Lipp Website Sabbath Soup Website Souper Cubes Sign up to receive podcasts by email

This week, we're excited to bring you a thought-provoking conversation with the wonderful Stephanie O'Dea, bestselling author and advocate for slow living.In this episode, Stephanie O'Dea dives deep into her journey from being known as the "crock pot queen," where I first connected with her (see her Slow cooker Brussels sprouts and Apricot Brie recipes below) , to embracing a more deliberate and slow-paced lifestyle. While we are in the month of Crocktober and Stephanie's book, “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow,” is never leaving my shelf, I also was really interested in her new “Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle-Driven World” pivot.Here's a quick look at what we talked about and… a recipe!

This week, we're excited to bring you a thought-provoking conversation with the wonderful Stephanie O'Dea, bestselling author and advocate for slow living.In this episode, Stephanie O'Dea dives deep into her journey from being known as the "crock pot queen," where I first connected with her (see her Slow cooker Brussels sprouts and Apricot Brie recipes below) , to embracing a more deliberate and slow-paced lifestyle. While we are in the month of Crocktober and Stephanie's book, “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow,” is never leaving my shelf, I also was really interested in her new “Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle-Driven World” pivot.Here's a quick look at what we talked about and… a recipe!

Feeling a chill in the air and looking for a way to warm up after a busy fall day?As the days get shorter and cooler, we crave comfort food that are nourishing, while still simple to make at home. But with so many different recipes out there, how do you choose a soup that will truly hit the spot? Whether you want a quick weeknight option or a slow-simmered weekend treat, this episode will inspire you to make the most of soup season. By the end of this episode, you'll…Discover the viral “Glow Soup” — creamy, nutritious, and 100% plant-basedLearn tips for creating hearty, flavorful broths in your slow cooker or Instant Pot that can be enjoyed as a healthy snack or used to elevate classics like tomato, lentil, or chicken noodleGet creative with root veggies and hearty greens, combining them with pantry staples like smoky spices and coconut milk to take your soup game to the next levelTune in now to learn how to create soul-warming soups that will carry you through autumn and into winter with ease and comfort!***Links:The viral TikTok “Glow Soup” by Maddie Harrington/NutriouslyeasySimilar to Kari's soup: Andouille sausage + black bean soup with fire-roasted tomatoes by Sarah Carey for Martha Stewart, or this sausage, kale, and lentil soup (just swap the tomatoes for fire-roasted ones)Olia Hercules' Tarragon Soup from her cookbook Kaukasis: The culinary journey through Georgia, Azerbaijan & beyondClassic French onion soup with beef stock and white wine, and a mushroom farro version from NYT CookingSlow cooker carmelized onions from Gimme Some OvenParsnip soup options – Easiest parsnip soup form Taming Twins , Carrot-Parsnip Soup from NYT Cooking, and Apple parsnip soup from Dana's TableWhite chicken chili (with 3 different methods!) from Add a Pinch, and a 5-ingredient white chicken chili from Gimme Some Oven***Got a cooking question? Call in and leave us a voicemail on our kitchen phone! 323-452-9084Sign up for our newsletter here for special offers and opportunitiesOrder Sonya's debut cookbook

Are you a CSA farmer that has to get their members to "renew" every year and it always feels like a STRUGGLE? I've got you, my friend, because in this episode, I share my process for setting up my CSA early sign "renewal" promotion every fall in the final week of my CSA. I give them only 7 days to make up their minds. I've used the same sales system for the last 7 years, and I consistently get 75-85% of them to renew.  Here is an overview of the steps that I walk through in more detail in the episode. Use this as your checklist for running your own campaign: Set the three key dates. Review any changes you might want to make to next year's products/sites/fulfillment. Confirm with vendors and site hosts. Build your irresistible offer. Set up your online store/POS -- the tech! Build the content strategy map. Map out the key messaging points on a calendar, day by day. Write the email onboarding sequence. Build social media post graphics. Write the email marketing sequence. Schedule the emails and social posts. Build the "master checklist". Test the funnel on 1-2 customers who are let in early to find any bugs. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- In this episode, I mentioned how I would be building my CSA Early Bird Renewal Promo campaign this month. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch. Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! You'll find my video trainings for the Early Bird Challenge inside here for a few more days. Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

In this episode, we dive into the powerful psychology of consistency and how small commitments can lead to bigger, lasting customer actions. Inspired by Robert Cialdini's principle of consistency from his book Influence, we explore how getting your customers to take small, meaningful steps—like participating in social media posts or attending a farm event—can prime them for bigger purchases down the line. We'll also discuss how this principle helps customers claim an identity and align their values with your farm, creating a loyal, committed base. Tune in to learn how to leverage this strategy to boost customer engagement and drive sales! This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Influence by Robert Cialdini - I reference this best-seller in the show. It teaches the psychology of sales. This is not an affiliate link. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- In this episode, I mentioned how I would be building my CSA Early Bird Renewal Promo campaign this month. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch. Episode 119 How My "CSA Giveaway Challenge" Experiment Built Some Major Brand Identity - listen to this challenge to get some ideas for questions you can use in a Daily Challenge, designed to build commitment! Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

Are you in search of a pressure canning appliance that can do it all? On this week's episode of Perfectly Preserved, we discuss kitchen appliances that are marketed for pressure canning.Jenny discusses the technical differences between pressure canners, pressure cookers, and electric pressure cookers. You'll learn the capabilities of a pressure canner that allow it to safely preserve shelf-stable food. Tune in as Jenny debunks the use of Instant Pots or other electric pressure cookers as pressure canners, and shares all the ins and outs of the Presto Digital Pressure Canner. Low-acid pressure canned recipes aren't the thing to play around with. Follow these recommendations to steer clear of toxins and enjoy your delicious food! Thanks for listening! Send your food preservation questions to perfectlypreservedpodcast@gmail.comJoin us on InstagramFollow Anna @SmartHomeCanningFollow Jenny @TheDomesticWildflowerSupport the showPerfectly Preserved is made possible by our listeners! Learn how to support our show with Buy Me a Coffee

@Lauren_McDuffie, is the author of the beautiful and inspiring cookbook "Homemade-ish: Recipes and Cooking Tips That Keep It Real" Known for her knack of blending home-cooked charm with modern-day convenience, Lauren's work has been making waves in the culinary world. We'll dive into her creative process, chat about her beloved blog "My Kitchen Little," and get a glimpse into the life of someone who beautifully marries food, photography, and writing.So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and get ready to be inspired by the delightful Lauren McDuffie.TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:Stephanie [00:00:15]:Hi. Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, and I am here with the author Lauren McDuffie, Talking With My Mouth Full , and she is someone that I'm just getting familiar with. So Lauren, welcome to the program.Lauren McDuffie [00:00:26]:Thank you so much for having me.Stephanie [00:00:28]:Yeah. Your book, Homemade-ish, I think I saw it, like, on maybe a publisher's weekly list, and then I started paging through it. And you're I I hope this, like, hits you in the right way. You're kind of, like, sort of semi homemade ish, but not exactly.Lauren McDuffie [00:00:48]:Yes. No. That's you really hit the nail on the head with that. Okay. Yeah.Stephanie [00:00:52]:I used to watch semi homemade with Sandra Lee you. In the beginning of the Food Network days, and she's kinda gotten a bad rap. What I loved about her and what I loved when I was going through your book too is just this idea that we don't have to, like, make every single thing from scratch in order to put a decent meal on the table for our family.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:16]:Right. It's just that's just true.Stephanie [00:01:19]:And it prevents people sometimes from cooking at all. This idea that cooking is so complicated and so hard. And as someone who I mean, I'm just a home cook, and I feel like that's a great space where you can sometimes take shortcuts and also knowing the shortcuts to take.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:38]:Yes. Exactly.Stephanie [00:01:40]:So your book, Homemade-ishLauren McDuffie [00:01:42]:Mhmm.Stephanie [00:01:43]:Is really lovely. And I felt like was the modern day version of sort of that idea because your food looks incredible. Your you must be a are you a a photo stylist? Because your food in your book is, like, amazing.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:58]:Thank you. Yes. I did the photography and the styling for all my books, and it's I just love that part of the process so much. So thank you for saying that.Stephanie [00:02:07]:I did laugh because you have a piece in there you, talk about, like, I just love this. This is my joy. And I'm in the middle of finishing a second book, and I'm not feeling that it's my joy.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:23]:I get that too. Yeah. That's fair. I was like, I'm all the time. So I under Yeah.Stephanie [00:02:30]:I have 35 pictures left, and I don't even wanna eat the food anymore because I'm so sick of it.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:35]:Yep. You've spent enough time with it probably. Yes. I get that. I do.Stephanie [00:02:40]:So catch my listeners up a little bit about you and who you are and your blog.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:46]:Okay. So I yes. I run a, a recipe website called my kitchen little, which I think it just turned 5, like, within the past week. So I I don't know. In blog years, that's not a baby anymore. So and and I run it as a business, which I really, I really enjoy. But prior to this website, I had a blog, which was very much a writing space. I love to write, and I started that, I don't know, maybe 12, 13 years ago, a long time ago back when food blogs were still sort of a novel thing.Lauren McDuffie [00:03:19]:Not everyone had one at the time. So I started I started that when my daughter was was a baby, and I just needed an outlet. And for me, cooking has always been my favorite sort of creative outlet. I love food. I love to talk about food, and a blog just seemed like a really nice way to gather together my creative interest with writing and cooking. And and, eventually, I fell in love with photography just by necessity because I learned that people want to see what you're talking about. Yes. So I grew a new love for that whole side of it too.Lauren McDuffie [00:03:50]:So so I had a food blog for a really long time purely as a hobby, but I I I met a lot of other people along the way who were in in food land just like me but in different ways. And, I had the opportunity to do my my first cookbook several years ago, which was kind of an homage to my Appalachian roots. And then I did another book a few years later, which is called Southern Lights. I lived in Charleston, South Carolina at the time. AndStephanie [00:04:15]:You did? My brother lives there. I love Charleston so much.Lauren McDuffie [00:04:18]:I love you. We moved to Portland a year ago from Charleston, and I was very sad to leave. But I love Portland too. So so it's it's been fine. But, yeah, I have a special spot in my heart for Charleston, and that book sort of was inspired by just my time living in, the low country and in the south, and I wanted to show off the healthier side of the southern table, which was a really fun book project. But, this book, Homemade ish, I just really enjoyed doing because I've found that a lot of my actual friends, like in my neighborhood and in my real life, are really drawn to things that are genuinely easy, truly low maintenance, and unintimidating. You know, I love a long cooking project with the best of them, something that takes all day and then I have to go out into the world to find really obscure ingredients. I like that because I'm a food nerd, and that's the kind of stuff that makes me happy.Lauren McDuffie [00:05:11]:But a lot of people, in fact, most people that I know, they're not like that. They they do, however, want to make food themselves in their home because there's a lot to be said for that, but they wanna do it with the least amount of fuss, you know, possible. And so that's really where the idea for this book came. And I also did use to watch semi homemade, and I appreciated kind of the heart of the show. The point of it made so much sense to me. So, yeah, I kind of wanted to breathe some modern new life into that concept. And because ready made foods and store bought foods have really come a long way since the nineties, and there's so much out there, that's that's really great fodder for jumping off and being creative and doctoring up into something new. And that was that's kind of the point of the book.Stephanie [00:05:57]:Yeah. So you take something that's maybe giving you a a a helping hand as it were, like pesto or deli meats or even, rotisserie chickenLauren McDuffie [00:06:08]:Yes.Stephanie [00:06:08]:And then you kinda take it the rest of the way.Lauren McDuffie [00:06:11]:Absolutely. Yeah. I think that cookbooks really serve a wonderful purpose in just giving ideas also. I think sometimes just coming up with what to make for dinner can be, you know, a deterrent in and of itself. And so I'm I'm hoping that these recipes are also fodder for people's own just riffing and and their own interpretation. So, hopefully, it'll help people see their grocery stores kind of in a new light. Like, what do you mean for me? Yeah. Yeah.Stephanie [00:06:38]:You mentioned in the book, I think it's 5, like, of your favorite products that everyone should have in their pantry at all times that you always have a meal available. And maybe it wasn't exactly 5, but I think it was pesto was 1. Yep. Curry. I think prepared curry was theLauren McDuffie [00:06:58]:paste. I love I love a curry paste.Stephanie [00:07:01]:And can you share a few more?Lauren McDuffie [00:07:03]:Sure. And I think that this list probably changes, a little bit, but for me, a rotisserie chicken is always a go to. I I tend to never get sick of finding ways to wield a rotisserie chicken because you can just do so much with them. But I think this is gonna you know, people scoff at at bagged salads sometimes, which is silly to me, but I do a lot in this book with bagged salads. I usually have one in my fridge to play on and and riff on. I think they're really valuable because it saves you time with chopping and Yeah. Procuring all of the individual things. I just there's something to be said for that.Lauren McDuffie [00:07:41]:SoStephanie [00:07:41]:Do you have bagged salad? Like, are you an Aldi person? Are you a Trader Joe's person? Are you whatever your grocery store is where you are? Because they apparently someone told me once that the bagged salads at Aldi that are $3 are really quite good, and I've never hadLauren McDuffie [00:07:57]:I haven't either. Although, I'm people I see people talking about Aldi more and more singing its praises. So I will have to check that out. That's really good intel.Stephanie [00:08:07]:I can't get past the quarter to get the cart.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:10]:Oh. Oh, yeah. I can't do that.Stephanie [00:08:12]:I'm like, come on. Like, it's a quarter, but people say it ensures that the people bring the carts back into the store.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:21]:I see. Okay. Okay. I'm just like, chargeStephanie [00:08:24]:me a dollar. I don't care. I just want I don't wanna have to fish around in my bag for a quarter.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:29]:Right. I know. That's true. I didn't know about that whole thing. Okay. That is interesting. But it's funny you mentioned Trader Joe's because I just went there last week for the first time in, like, 6 years for no reason other than that. I've moved a few times and COVID happened, and I just hadn't been in a while, and I forgot how much I love that store.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:49]:Yeah. And it it's perfect for this book because they have so many wonderful things that are already kind of made and started for you. But, yeah, I almost panic bought so many things when I went in there because I was like, oh gosh. It all looks so good.Stephanie [00:09:03]:You are my person because I'm a panic shopper. Yeah. Like, where I just and and during COVID, I mean, I have still nightmares about trying to go to the grocery store during COVID and just literally throwing things in your cart and running out. But I'm also a panic orderer at a restaurant because I want everything.Lauren McDuffie [00:09:23]:Oh, I know. I I feel you on that. I'm a little bit like that. I close my eyes and just play roulette andStephanie [00:09:29]:Yes.Lauren McDuffie [00:09:30]:That's like your dog. No. I get that. But I did I got some salads there last week to your point that were very good. So but, yeah, normally, I I grocery shop so much just for my work that it's almost a daily thing. And, I do get delivered groceries, which people think is funny because I don't always pick out my own individual this and that. But for pure efficiency sake, again, which is sort of the heart of this book, I just shop at, like, my big local supermarket and and get all my bagged salads and sundries there and, you know, use them in a pinch. They're always helpful.Stephanie [00:10:04]:Every day, what does your day look like? Like, are you already working on the next book, and is that what you're doing every day?Lauren McDuffie [00:10:11]:Yeah. You know, I, I did this book right before we moved from Charleston to Portland, and I did it really fast. For me, it was it was fast. And it didn't burn me out, but it definitely gave me a nice kind of pause in in the the cookbook making because I had a book come out a year ago as well. So I had 2 come out pretty close together, which has been really fun. But I'm just kind of enjoying sitting back a little and looking at the stuff I've made, and and I'm actually working on a non food related book, right now just to see, if that can go anywhere. So but I've been focusing a lot on my my website and growing that. I just you know, as I said before, it's past the 5 year mark, and it's really nice to see that, coming more to fruition and and doing doing pretty well.Lauren McDuffie [00:11:02]:So I've just kind of thrown myself into the to that side of things, but I'm sure another book idea will will will surface because I love making them. But, like, you you were just saying, it's a lot when you're in it. It's like, woah. I'm I why am I doing this? But it's it's great when all is said and done, but, yeah, I took a little break.Stephanie [00:11:19]:There's been a kinda trend that I've been seeing with cookbook authors and recipe developers. I'm curious if you're thinking about this at all. We have a lot of people that have launched substacks, and Instagram and TikTok are just full of recipes. And we're in some respects, I feel like have reached this, like, everything is just like this free recipe, and people just comment like recipe, recipe, recipe. Yes. And Yes. With that, which is great because you build an audience and you build a community, there are some creators that are like, wow. I'm just putting all this time, energy, and money into this thing that the books aren't making money like they used to.Stephanie [00:12:06]:Podcasts have never really made money unless you're, like, the top 20. And so we have all these creators spending all this energy, and we're all chasing, you know, the few scents that you get when someone watches something on a YouTube. So I'm wondering if, like, we're almost at, like, some of the creators, Carolyn Chambers has talked about this, about taking all of her recipes off of her website and really funneling people only into recipe ways that she can monetize. Have you thought about that at all, or do you think about that when you're working on your blog?Lauren McDuffie [00:12:41]:Yeah. I do. Because sometimes it does start to feel almost futile when you really sit back and you think of I mean, and you just summarized it really well. I go back and forth. I mean, I actually started a substack, as well, and I've enjoyed that as a separate space for me to write more creatively because no one comes to food blogs anymore, as you know, to hear hear what anyone has to say about their life. I mean, that's a that's a big joke now. You know, get to the recipe already. And so my self stack became sort of that.Lauren McDuffie [00:13:09]:I think for me, it's been motivating because my own traffic on my website has grown exponentially over the last year, really, year, maybe year and a half, and that keeps me in the game. But I do sometimes wonder and I had someone ask me just last week about, another factor, which is AI is now a part of things as well too, which is so intimidating and it makes me wonder, is that where people are just going to stop, you know, for all of their their recipes? And are we gonna become obsolete? I don't know. It's scary actually to think about it. But but I have some very, very dear friends who are full time food bloggers and are very helpful resources for me and have taught me a lot about SEO, so I which is search engine optimization, and it's sort of how to play the game with Google so that you get your content in front of all the people out there who are googling things all the time. And it keeps me inspired and motivated when I talk to other people who have found real success in this. But I don't know. To your question, it is a little bit nerve wracking and and scary to think about what's gonna happen 5 years from now. I don't really know, but I just know that I enjoy doing it and I I'm enjoying the little wins and little successes that I'm seeing month to month right now, and that's keeping me going.Lauren McDuffie [00:14:27]:And and the books, like you said, you know, I don't know many people who write cookbooks to get rich, but, it's a wonderfully legitimizing thing to have. I love having a tangible representation of of my work, and it's it's just I I love them. I love that I've that I've done them, and it's it's valuable in other ways that aren't necessarily monetary. And and it all kind of works together as this little food machine and who knows exactly where it's going, but I I'm confident and optimistic that it'll still be, there's still a place for our blogs and recipe websites.Stephanie [00:15:01]:Well and to your point, I think what is also happening, which is sort of in your wheelhouse, I don't consider myself a writer. My husband actually is a writer, So I'm pretty careful about what that looks like in that space. I am a 300 words or less person. I am a bullet pointed list. I just that's how I think, and that's what works for me. But to your point, if you have, like, talent in the writing space and having your own personal points of view, I do think that there's always gonna be room for that where people align with your vision or your values or your lifestyle choices, and they get to know you and they wanna be more in your world?Lauren McDuffie [00:15:44]:Hope so. Yeah. I think so too. I really do. That that human element of the equation is special, and I think people like it. It's it's a really nice thing. And so I'm hoping in fact, you know, I've actually made a commitment to invest more into the writing in my website even though I'm not telling you a story about my life anymore.Stephanie [00:16:05]:Right. But youLauren McDuffie [00:16:06]:can still weave your voice into how you explain food. You know, most of my my blog posts, I don't even really call it a blog anymore. It really is more of a recipe website, but there's still tons of words in there. And you could pick and choose which words you use, and I try to make mine as useful, but also entertaining and worth people's time to read, and that's one way you can separate yourself from the bazillions of other people who are doing the same thing. SoStephanie [00:16:32]:Yeah. So I'm talking with Lauren McDuffie, and her book is Homadish. Couple of other things in your book specifically that I really loved. I I don't know. I I was, was thinking about this today. I was, doing a TV segment with a friend and there was a laundry guy on and he was talking about, know, the 5 things you need to have in your laundry room. And I thought, wow. You know, there's blogs and I've got, like, kitchen essentials and you really broke it down this in in your book, some things worth noting about what you should the 13 things you literally need to have in your kitchen.Stephanie [00:17:10]:I've never seen a list so small and so spot on. So good for you.Lauren McDuffie [00:17:15]:Thank you. Yeah. I, I that list came to be because I was photographing the book, and, I realized I have I have rooms filled with props and things that I've used for years because I work as a food photographer and a stylist. But in, you know, in the name of keeping things real and, authentic, I just used the stuff that I genuinely cook with in my real life. So, yeah, it made it it made it very clear that you don't need a lot. I love minimalism. It makes me feel good, and so I wanted to kinda capture that.Stephanie [00:17:47]:Yeah. So it was a cutting board, a chef's knife, a large deep lidded pot, a large skillet, a medium lidded pot, large baking sheets, a muffin pan, which I might argue with you on the muffin pan.Lauren McDuffie [00:17:58]:Yeah. Yeah. I know. I had to sneak that in because there's 2 recipes in my book that require it.Stephanie [00:18:03]:Okay. Alright. A Dutch oven, a grater, a can opener, a large spatula or spoon, a blender, or and a strainer. And and, like, I guess because the one thing that the muffin pan is is you can't replicate a muffin pan, really.Lauren McDuffie [00:18:17]:Well, that's true. Well and I think, specifically, I was just trying to say that you can literally make every single thing in this book with just these 13 things, but I'd be willing to stretch that and say you could probably get by with cooking a lot more for a lot longer with just these things. You really don't need I mean and you're right. The muffin pan is very unique to the to the book. But, yeah, I I think in general, less is more. I'm not a big, single use kitchen tool person. I used to be, but we have moved so much. Like, my family, we've moved a lot, and that'll make a minimalist out of you.Lauren McDuffie [00:18:52]:Yeah. It had it had me. So, yeah, I wanted to weave that notion into this book because I think it's kind ofStephanie [00:18:58]:refreshing. So do you have an instant pot or a slow cooker?Lauren McDuffie [00:19:01]:I do have a slow cooker because I love them. They're so helpful, and I love a slow cooked thing. Like, we're getting into that season now, so mine's like, I've just dusted it off and it's ready to go. But, yeah, I I don't have an instant pot, and I'm sure I would like it. I mean, I'm sure I would like an air fryer. I don't have that either, and I I know people love them. But that's just me probably being resistant to one change. And then also, you know, if we move again, that's another thing I'm gonna have to pack and unpack.Lauren McDuffie [00:19:31]:SoStephanie [00:19:32]:Yeah. You don't need a air fryer. And the only thing I would say about the Instant Pot is the pressure cooking aspect is really nice, and it's a slow cooker too. Oh, yes. But there's something kinda homey about your ceramic slow cooker. You know?Lauren McDuffie [00:19:49]:Yes. And I love just I love a Dutch oven, like, old school just but I also work from home, and so I'm here to to do that. But for I used to not work in my house, and I loved a slow cooker because it just it made everything so easy.Stephanie [00:20:04]:Yes.Lauren McDuffie [00:20:04]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:20:06]:So as you're thinking about food trends and kind of new products, like, one of the, you have a recipe that's kinda like this. You know, we went through a shakshuka phase.Lauren McDuffie [00:20:18]:Yes.Stephanie [00:20:19]:Mhmm. Are there any, like, trends that you're seeing on the horizon that you're like, oh, I need to simplify that?Lauren McDuffie [00:20:28]:That's that's a great question. I well, one trend that I've literally been working on just this morning is I'm really obsessed with chili crisp, which is something I see all over the place. I like spice. And so I've been trying to think of ways in fact, I just shared in my, I think I shared in my news letter, or I'm getting ready to, ways to kind of make your own but using a store bought one as your just like with homemade ish, using it as a launch pad. So I took a chili crisp that I bought, from maybe Trader Joe's, and I turned it into a southern style chili crisp by adding something like candied pecans and a little apple cider vinegar and, like Yum. Like, so it it and brown sugar, I think, or or molasses is what it was. But, anyways, I southernized, an already store bought product, which is very much what this book is sort of all about. But I keep seeing chili crisp everywhere, and it makes me so happy because I love it.Stephanie [00:21:23]:I really wanna put that on a white bean or cauliflower or puree. I'm just hearing you talk about it.Lauren McDuffie [00:21:30]:That's the perfect idea. Yeah. That would be fun.Stephanie [00:21:33]:Do you like, some of the as I look at cookbooks Mhmm. Sometimes I see, like, that and this is why I'm probably not a very prolific person when I do this. I kind of plot along. Like, oh, I'm gonna make, you know, this, double stuffed something. And then they find 12 other ways to make the same thing, but just with different twists on it. Do you think like that?Lauren McDuffie [00:22:01]:I think I do now, but that's because I have to think strategically about how I publish recipes on and on my website, at least, because that's very that's very useful just for getting views and getting people. It's funny how how my brain splits into when I'm writing recipes for a book. It's a very different it's much freer, actually, creatively. But then, to your question, when I'm working on coming up with recipes for my, for my website, yeah, if I can split something off and offer variations, that serves me really well. So, yeah, I think my brain does work that way. Yeah. The more the merrier.Stephanie [00:22:39]:Yeah. And and I know I I'm always like, there's a reason people are doing it like this. AndLauren McDuffie [00:22:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:22:44]:I'm not doing it like that, but I know there's a reason why people are. And it never occurred to me that it was due to SEO, but that makes total sense.Lauren McDuffie [00:22:52]:Yeah. That's why I would do it at least. Yeah. Yeah.Stephanie [00:22:56]:Are there other cookbook authors that inspire you or that like, books that you just will never take off your shelf considering that you've moved, so you've probably pared down?Lauren McDuffie [00:23:05]:Yes. I really have. I donated some books that I'd worn pretty well. But, yes. I, I love Alison Roman's books. I I just I think the well, her food is a lot like the food that I just cook for myself, on any given day because it's very simple. It's nothing more than it needs to be, and I like that. But I really respect and appreciate anybody that truly innovates and carves out their own style.Lauren McDuffie [00:23:32]:That's really hard to do. I mean, I live in this very saturated world of, you know, recipe development and food. And so anytime someone comes along and has a very distinct and sort of fresh feeling, point of view, I just think that's great. I admire that. At it. Yeah. She's good at that. She's she's done that for herself.Lauren McDuffie [00:23:50]:So she's the first person that came to mind. And and I have her books. They're sitting out, and they have been for a long time. So yeah. Yeah. I love her.Stephanie [00:23:59]:When you is there, like, a classic recipe that you just find yourself coming back to that's maybe from your blog that you just love andLauren McDuffie [00:24:09]:Yeah. I always say my, my most, I guess, well loved and well worn recipe, it's, I love Cajun and Creole, Cuisine, and I've got just this etouffee recipe that I have been making for a really, really long time, that's got shrimp and and chicken and andouille, and it's just so good. I've made it for, I think, everyone that has ever come to my house. It's just so tasty, and it tastes better the longer that it sits. Anything that can check that box, I'm gonna automatically be a fan of. But but I think that's my all time favorite, and I love, like, a Cocoa Van, as well. In fact, I'm sitting here today working on chicken stew collection, for my website, and that's just my favorite, I think, category of of food just in general. But my all time favorite would be the this like an etouffee, like a spicy one.Lauren McDuffie [00:24:59]:Yeah. I love them, and I make them all the time. SoStephanie [00:25:02]:Yeah. And that is super southern too. Like Yep. Something that you know, sometimes I think, like, oh, do I even need to, like, tell someone a recipe for this? Like, some of it seems so obvious.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:15]:Oh, sure.Stephanie [00:25:15]:That is something and and I guess you get accustomed. Like, I can make gravy like nobody's business. Yeah. Sure. But I you know, in the Midwest, we had grew up with gravy on everything, so it's Yeah. Sort of unique.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:28]:And appreciate that. I know. I I forget sometimes how, I I assume things are just, so easy and you don't need recipes for things, but then I'll have friends who just are like, Lauren, no. That's why I wrote this book. They're just like, you know, I don't know what I'm doing. My brain doesn't work that way. And so I always equate it to the way that I am with gardening. I don't know how to do anything with plants at all.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:51]:I'm so ignorant, and so I always just try to remember, like, how I am with plants is how some people are with cooking. It's just not your you wanna do it, but you just aren't super well versed in. SoStephanie [00:26:01]:yeah. Alright. Well, I'm gonna put a link to the book, obviously, homemade ish, in the notes here. I will also, remind me of the name of your blog again.Lauren McDuffie [00:26:12]:It's called my kitchen little, and so it's just my kitchen little dot com.Stephanie [00:26:15]:It's cute. And then, I'll find your substack, and I'll link to it too. Great. And we'll go from there. But it was really lovely to spend time with you. I Right. Really think the book is clever. I felt like I knew right away people in my life that would really get a lot out of this.Lauren McDuffie [00:26:33]:Good to hear.Stephanie [00:26:34]:And, it's beautifully shot, which is also I really admire that because I'm over here with my stupid iPhone, but it's, it's beautifully shot. It looks great, and I would recommend that people buy it. I when I really sat down with it and went through the recipes, I liked it very much. It's homemade ish. Recipes and cooking tips that keep it real. And I liked your 13 things you need in the kitchen probably minus the muffin pan.Lauren McDuffie [00:27:01]:That's fair. That's fair. I get it. Alright. Thanks, Lauren. Thank you so much.Stephanie [00:27:06]:Okay. We'll talk soon. Bye bye.Lauren McDuffie [00:27:13]:Bye bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

@Lauren_McDuffie, is the author of the beautiful and inspiring cookbook "Homemade-ish: Recipes and Cooking Tips That Keep It Real" Known for her knack of blending home-cooked charm with modern-day convenience, Lauren's work has been making waves in the culinary world. We'll dive into her creative process, chat about her beloved blog "My Kitchen Little," and get a glimpse into the life of someone who beautifully marries food, photography, and writing.So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and get ready to be inspired by the delightful Lauren McDuffie.TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:Stephanie [00:00:15]:Hi. Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, and I am here with the author Lauren McDuffie, Talking With My Mouth Full , and she is someone that I'm just getting familiar with. So Lauren, welcome to the program.Lauren McDuffie [00:00:26]:Thank you so much for having me.Stephanie [00:00:28]:Yeah. Your book, Homemade-ish, I think I saw it, like, on maybe a publisher's weekly list, and then I started paging through it. And you're I I hope this, like, hits you in the right way. You're kind of, like, sort of semi homemade ish, but not exactly.Lauren McDuffie [00:00:48]:Yes. No. That's you really hit the nail on the head with that. Okay. Yeah.Stephanie [00:00:52]:I used to watch semi homemade with Sandra Lee you. In the beginning of the Food Network days, and she's kinda gotten a bad rap. What I loved about her and what I loved when I was going through your book too is just this idea that we don't have to, like, make every single thing from scratch in order to put a decent meal on the table for our family.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:16]:Right. It's just that's just true.Stephanie [00:01:19]:And it prevents people sometimes from cooking at all. This idea that cooking is so complicated and so hard. And as someone who I mean, I'm just a home cook, and I feel like that's a great space where you can sometimes take shortcuts and also knowing the shortcuts to take.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:38]:Yes. Exactly.Stephanie [00:01:40]:So your book, Homemade-ishLauren McDuffie [00:01:42]:Mhmm.Stephanie [00:01:43]:Is really lovely. And I felt like was the modern day version of sort of that idea because your food looks incredible. Your you must be a are you a a photo stylist? Because your food in your book is, like, amazing.Lauren McDuffie [00:01:58]:Thank you. Yes. I did the photography and the styling for all my books, and it's I just love that part of the process so much. So thank you for saying that.Stephanie [00:02:07]:I did laugh because you have a piece in there you, talk about, like, I just love this. This is my joy. And I'm in the middle of finishing a second book, and I'm not feeling that it's my joy.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:23]:I get that too. Yeah. That's fair. I was like, I'm all the time. So I under Yeah.Stephanie [00:02:30]:I have 35 pictures left, and I don't even wanna eat the food anymore because I'm so sick of it.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:35]:Yep. You've spent enough time with it probably. Yes. I get that. I do.Stephanie [00:02:40]:So catch my listeners up a little bit about you and who you are and your blog.Lauren McDuffie [00:02:46]:Okay. So I yes. I run a, a recipe website called my kitchen little, which I think it just turned 5, like, within the past week. So I I don't know. In blog years, that's not a baby anymore. So and and I run it as a business, which I really, I really enjoy. But prior to this website, I had a blog, which was very much a writing space. I love to write, and I started that, I don't know, maybe 12, 13 years ago, a long time ago back when food blogs were still sort of a novel thing.Lauren McDuffie [00:03:19]:Not everyone had one at the time. So I started I started that when my daughter was was a baby, and I just needed an outlet. And for me, cooking has always been my favorite sort of creative outlet. I love food. I love to talk about food, and a blog just seemed like a really nice way to gather together my creative interest with writing and cooking. And and, eventually, I fell in love with photography just by necessity because I learned that people want to see what you're talking about. Yes. So I grew a new love for that whole side of it too.Lauren McDuffie [00:03:50]:So so I had a food blog for a really long time purely as a hobby, but I I I met a lot of other people along the way who were in in food land just like me but in different ways. And, I had the opportunity to do my my first cookbook several years ago, which was kind of an homage to my Appalachian roots. And then I did another book a few years later, which is called Southern Lights. I lived in Charleston, South Carolina at the time. AndStephanie [00:04:15]:You did? My brother lives there. I love Charleston so much.Lauren McDuffie [00:04:18]:I love you. We moved to Portland a year ago from Charleston, and I was very sad to leave. But I love Portland too. So so it's it's been fine. But, yeah, I have a special spot in my heart for Charleston, and that book sort of was inspired by just my time living in, the low country and in the south, and I wanted to show off the healthier side of the southern table, which was a really fun book project. But, this book, Homemade ish, I just really enjoyed doing because I've found that a lot of my actual friends, like in my neighborhood and in my real life, are really drawn to things that are genuinely easy, truly low maintenance, and unintimidating. You know, I love a long cooking project with the best of them, something that takes all day and then I have to go out into the world to find really obscure ingredients. I like that because I'm a food nerd, and that's the kind of stuff that makes me happy.Lauren McDuffie [00:05:11]:But a lot of people, in fact, most people that I know, they're not like that. They they do, however, want to make food themselves in their home because there's a lot to be said for that, but they wanna do it with the least amount of fuss, you know, possible. And so that's really where the idea for this book came. And I also did use to watch semi homemade, and I appreciated kind of the heart of the show. The point of it made so much sense to me. So, yeah, I kind of wanted to breathe some modern new life into that concept. And because ready made foods and store bought foods have really come a long way since the nineties, and there's so much out there, that's that's really great fodder for jumping off and being creative and doctoring up into something new. And that was that's kind of the point of the book.Stephanie [00:05:57]:Yeah. So you take something that's maybe giving you a a a helping hand as it were, like pesto or deli meats or even, rotisserie chickenLauren McDuffie [00:06:08]:Yes.Stephanie [00:06:08]:And then you kinda take it the rest of the way.Lauren McDuffie [00:06:11]:Absolutely. Yeah. I think that cookbooks really serve a wonderful purpose in just giving ideas also. I think sometimes just coming up with what to make for dinner can be, you know, a deterrent in and of itself. And so I'm I'm hoping that these recipes are also fodder for people's own just riffing and and their own interpretation. So, hopefully, it'll help people see their grocery stores kind of in a new light. Like, what do you mean for me? Yeah. Yeah.Stephanie [00:06:38]:You mentioned in the book, I think it's 5, like, of your favorite products that everyone should have in their pantry at all times that you always have a meal available. And maybe it wasn't exactly 5, but I think it was pesto was 1. Yep. Curry. I think prepared curry was theLauren McDuffie [00:06:58]:paste. I love I love a curry paste.Stephanie [00:07:01]:And can you share a few more?Lauren McDuffie [00:07:03]:Sure. And I think that this list probably changes, a little bit, but for me, a rotisserie chicken is always a go to. I I tend to never get sick of finding ways to wield a rotisserie chicken because you can just do so much with them. But I think this is gonna you know, people scoff at at bagged salads sometimes, which is silly to me, but I do a lot in this book with bagged salads. I usually have one in my fridge to play on and and riff on. I think they're really valuable because it saves you time with chopping and Yeah. Procuring all of the individual things. I just there's something to be said for that.Lauren McDuffie [00:07:41]:SoStephanie [00:07:41]:Do you have bagged salad? Like, are you an Aldi person? Are you a Trader Joe's person? Are you whatever your grocery store is where you are? Because they apparently someone told me once that the bagged salads at Aldi that are $3 are really quite good, and I've never hadLauren McDuffie [00:07:57]:I haven't either. Although, I'm people I see people talking about Aldi more and more singing its praises. So I will have to check that out. That's really good intel.Stephanie [00:08:07]:I can't get past the quarter to get the cart.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:10]:Oh. Oh, yeah. I can't do that.Stephanie [00:08:12]:I'm like, come on. Like, it's a quarter, but people say it ensures that the people bring the carts back into the store.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:21]:I see. Okay. Okay. I'm just like, chargeStephanie [00:08:24]:me a dollar. I don't care. I just want I don't wanna have to fish around in my bag for a quarter.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:29]:Right. I know. That's true. I didn't know about that whole thing. Okay. That is interesting. But it's funny you mentioned Trader Joe's because I just went there last week for the first time in, like, 6 years for no reason other than that. I've moved a few times and COVID happened, and I just hadn't been in a while, and I forgot how much I love that store.Lauren McDuffie [00:08:49]:Yeah. And it it's perfect for this book because they have so many wonderful things that are already kind of made and started for you. But, yeah, I almost panic bought so many things when I went in there because I was like, oh gosh. It all looks so good.Stephanie [00:09:03]:You are my person because I'm a panic shopper. Yeah. Like, where I just and and during COVID, I mean, I have still nightmares about trying to go to the grocery store during COVID and just literally throwing things in your cart and running out. But I'm also a panic orderer at a restaurant because I want everything.Lauren McDuffie [00:09:23]:Oh, I know. I I feel you on that. I'm a little bit like that. I close my eyes and just play roulette andStephanie [00:09:29]:Yes.Lauren McDuffie [00:09:30]:That's like your dog. No. I get that. But I did I got some salads there last week to your point that were very good. So but, yeah, normally, I I grocery shop so much just for my work that it's almost a daily thing. And, I do get delivered groceries, which people think is funny because I don't always pick out my own individual this and that. But for pure efficiency sake, again, which is sort of the heart of this book, I just shop at, like, my big local supermarket and and get all my bagged salads and sundries there and, you know, use them in a pinch. They're always helpful.Stephanie [00:10:04]:Every day, what does your day look like? Like, are you already working on the next book, and is that what you're doing every day?Lauren McDuffie [00:10:11]:Yeah. You know, I, I did this book right before we moved from Charleston to Portland, and I did it really fast. For me, it was it was fast. And it didn't burn me out, but it definitely gave me a nice kind of pause in in the the cookbook making because I had a book come out a year ago as well. So I had 2 come out pretty close together, which has been really fun. But I'm just kind of enjoying sitting back a little and looking at the stuff I've made, and and I'm actually working on a non food related book, right now just to see, if that can go anywhere. So but I've been focusing a lot on my my website and growing that. I just you know, as I said before, it's past the 5 year mark, and it's really nice to see that, coming more to fruition and and doing doing pretty well.Lauren McDuffie [00:11:02]:So I've just kind of thrown myself into the to that side of things, but I'm sure another book idea will will will surface because I love making them. But, like, you you were just saying, it's a lot when you're in it. It's like, woah. I'm I why am I doing this? But it's it's great when all is said and done, but, yeah, I took a little break.Stephanie [00:11:19]:There's been a kinda trend that I've been seeing with cookbook authors and recipe developers. I'm curious if you're thinking about this at all. We have a lot of people that have launched substacks, and Instagram and TikTok are just full of recipes. And we're in some respects, I feel like have reached this, like, everything is just like this free recipe, and people just comment like recipe, recipe, recipe. Yes. And Yes. With that, which is great because you build an audience and you build a community, there are some creators that are like, wow. I'm just putting all this time, energy, and money into this thing that the books aren't making money like they used to.Stephanie [00:12:06]:Podcasts have never really made money unless you're, like, the top 20. And so we have all these creators spending all this energy, and we're all chasing, you know, the few scents that you get when someone watches something on a YouTube. So I'm wondering if, like, we're almost at, like, some of the creators, Carolyn Chambers has talked about this, about taking all of her recipes off of her website and really funneling people only into recipe ways that she can monetize. Have you thought about that at all, or do you think about that when you're working on your blog?Lauren McDuffie [00:12:41]:Yeah. I do. Because sometimes it does start to feel almost futile when you really sit back and you think of I mean, and you just summarized it really well. I go back and forth. I mean, I actually started a substack, as well, and I've enjoyed that as a separate space for me to write more creatively because no one comes to food blogs anymore, as you know, to hear hear what anyone has to say about their life. I mean, that's a that's a big joke now. You know, get to the recipe already. And so my self stack became sort of that.Lauren McDuffie [00:13:09]:I think for me, it's been motivating because my own traffic on my website has grown exponentially over the last year, really, year, maybe year and a half, and that keeps me in the game. But I do sometimes wonder and I had someone ask me just last week about, another factor, which is AI is now a part of things as well too, which is so intimidating and it makes me wonder, is that where people are just going to stop, you know, for all of their their recipes? And are we gonna become obsolete? I don't know. It's scary actually to think about it. But but I have some very, very dear friends who are full time food bloggers and are very helpful resources for me and have taught me a lot about SEO, so I which is search engine optimization, and it's sort of how to play the game with Google so that you get your content in front of all the people out there who are googling things all the time. And it keeps me inspired and motivated when I talk to other people who have found real success in this. But I don't know. To your question, it is a little bit nerve wracking and and scary to think about what's gonna happen 5 years from now. I don't really know, but I just know that I enjoy doing it and I I'm enjoying the little wins and little successes that I'm seeing month to month right now, and that's keeping me going.Lauren McDuffie [00:14:27]:And and the books, like you said, you know, I don't know many people who write cookbooks to get rich, but, it's a wonderfully legitimizing thing to have. I love having a tangible representation of of my work, and it's it's just I I love them. I love that I've that I've done them, and it's it's valuable in other ways that aren't necessarily monetary. And and it all kind of works together as this little food machine and who knows exactly where it's going, but I I'm confident and optimistic that it'll still be, there's still a place for our blogs and recipe websites.Stephanie [00:15:01]:Well and to your point, I think what is also happening, which is sort of in your wheelhouse, I don't consider myself a writer. My husband actually is a writer, So I'm pretty careful about what that looks like in that space. I am a 300 words or less person. I am a bullet pointed list. I just that's how I think, and that's what works for me. But to your point, if you have, like, talent in the writing space and having your own personal points of view, I do think that there's always gonna be room for that where people align with your vision or your values or your lifestyle choices, and they get to know you and they wanna be more in your world?Lauren McDuffie [00:15:44]:Hope so. Yeah. I think so too. I really do. That that human element of the equation is special, and I think people like it. It's it's a really nice thing. And so I'm hoping in fact, you know, I've actually made a commitment to invest more into the writing in my website even though I'm not telling you a story about my life anymore.Stephanie [00:16:05]:Right. But youLauren McDuffie [00:16:06]:can still weave your voice into how you explain food. You know, most of my my blog posts, I don't even really call it a blog anymore. It really is more of a recipe website, but there's still tons of words in there. And you could pick and choose which words you use, and I try to make mine as useful, but also entertaining and worth people's time to read, and that's one way you can separate yourself from the bazillions of other people who are doing the same thing. SoStephanie [00:16:32]:Yeah. So I'm talking with Lauren McDuffie, and her book is Homadish. Couple of other things in your book specifically that I really loved. I I don't know. I I was, was thinking about this today. I was, doing a TV segment with a friend and there was a laundry guy on and he was talking about, know, the 5 things you need to have in your laundry room. And I thought, wow. You know, there's blogs and I've got, like, kitchen essentials and you really broke it down this in in your book, some things worth noting about what you should the 13 things you literally need to have in your kitchen.Stephanie [00:17:10]:I've never seen a list so small and so spot on. So good for you.Lauren McDuffie [00:17:15]:Thank you. Yeah. I, I that list came to be because I was photographing the book, and, I realized I have I have rooms filled with props and things that I've used for years because I work as a food photographer and a stylist. But in, you know, in the name of keeping things real and, authentic, I just used the stuff that I genuinely cook with in my real life. So, yeah, it made it it made it very clear that you don't need a lot. I love minimalism. It makes me feel good, and so I wanted to kinda capture that.Stephanie [00:17:47]:Yeah. So it was a cutting board, a chef's knife, a large deep lidded pot, a large skillet, a medium lidded pot, large baking sheets, a muffin pan, which I might argue with you on the muffin pan.Lauren McDuffie [00:17:58]:Yeah. Yeah. I know. I had to sneak that in because there's 2 recipes in my book that require it.Stephanie [00:18:03]:Okay. Alright. A Dutch oven, a grater, a can opener, a large spatula or spoon, a blender, or and a strainer. And and, like, I guess because the one thing that the muffin pan is is you can't replicate a muffin pan, really.Lauren McDuffie [00:18:17]:Well, that's true. Well and I think, specifically, I was just trying to say that you can literally make every single thing in this book with just these 13 things, but I'd be willing to stretch that and say you could probably get by with cooking a lot more for a lot longer with just these things. You really don't need I mean and you're right. The muffin pan is very unique to the to the book. But, yeah, I I think in general, less is more. I'm not a big, single use kitchen tool person. I used to be, but we have moved so much. Like, my family, we've moved a lot, and that'll make a minimalist out of you.Lauren McDuffie [00:18:52]:Yeah. It had it had me. So, yeah, I wanted to weave that notion into this book because I think it's kind ofStephanie [00:18:58]:refreshing. So do you have an instant pot or a slow cooker?Lauren McDuffie [00:19:01]:I do have a slow cooker because I love them. They're so helpful, and I love a slow cooked thing. Like, we're getting into that season now, so mine's like, I've just dusted it off and it's ready to go. But, yeah, I I don't have an instant pot, and I'm sure I would like it. I mean, I'm sure I would like an air fryer. I don't have that either, and I I know people love them. But that's just me probably being resistant to one change. And then also, you know, if we move again, that's another thing I'm gonna have to pack and unpack.Lauren McDuffie [00:19:31]:SoStephanie [00:19:32]:Yeah. You don't need a air fryer. And the only thing I would say about the Instant Pot is the pressure cooking aspect is really nice, and it's a slow cooker too. Oh, yes. But there's something kinda homey about your ceramic slow cooker. You know?Lauren McDuffie [00:19:49]:Yes. And I love just I love a Dutch oven, like, old school just but I also work from home, and so I'm here to to do that. But for I used to not work in my house, and I loved a slow cooker because it just it made everything so easy.Stephanie [00:20:04]:Yes.Lauren McDuffie [00:20:04]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:20:06]:So as you're thinking about food trends and kind of new products, like, one of the, you have a recipe that's kinda like this. You know, we went through a shakshuka phase.Lauren McDuffie [00:20:18]:Yes.Stephanie [00:20:19]:Mhmm. Are there any, like, trends that you're seeing on the horizon that you're like, oh, I need to simplify that?Lauren McDuffie [00:20:28]:That's that's a great question. I well, one trend that I've literally been working on just this morning is I'm really obsessed with chili crisp, which is something I see all over the place. I like spice. And so I've been trying to think of ways in fact, I just shared in my, I think I shared in my news letter, or I'm getting ready to, ways to kind of make your own but using a store bought one as your just like with homemade ish, using it as a launch pad. So I took a chili crisp that I bought, from maybe Trader Joe's, and I turned it into a southern style chili crisp by adding something like candied pecans and a little apple cider vinegar and, like Yum. Like, so it it and brown sugar, I think, or or molasses is what it was. But, anyways, I southernized, an already store bought product, which is very much what this book is sort of all about. But I keep seeing chili crisp everywhere, and it makes me so happy because I love it.Stephanie [00:21:23]:I really wanna put that on a white bean or cauliflower or puree. I'm just hearing you talk about it.Lauren McDuffie [00:21:30]:That's the perfect idea. Yeah. That would be fun.Stephanie [00:21:33]:Do you like, some of the as I look at cookbooks Mhmm. Sometimes I see, like, that and this is why I'm probably not a very prolific person when I do this. I kind of plot along. Like, oh, I'm gonna make, you know, this, double stuffed something. And then they find 12 other ways to make the same thing, but just with different twists on it. Do you think like that?Lauren McDuffie [00:22:01]:I think I do now, but that's because I have to think strategically about how I publish recipes on and on my website, at least, because that's very that's very useful just for getting views and getting people. It's funny how how my brain splits into when I'm writing recipes for a book. It's a very different it's much freer, actually, creatively. But then, to your question, when I'm working on coming up with recipes for my, for my website, yeah, if I can split something off and offer variations, that serves me really well. So, yeah, I think my brain does work that way. Yeah. The more the merrier.Stephanie [00:22:39]:Yeah. And and I know I I'm always like, there's a reason people are doing it like this. AndLauren McDuffie [00:22:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:22:44]:I'm not doing it like that, but I know there's a reason why people are. And it never occurred to me that it was due to SEO, but that makes total sense.Lauren McDuffie [00:22:52]:Yeah. That's why I would do it at least. Yeah. Yeah.Stephanie [00:22:56]:Are there other cookbook authors that inspire you or that like, books that you just will never take off your shelf considering that you've moved, so you've probably pared down?Lauren McDuffie [00:23:05]:Yes. I really have. I donated some books that I'd worn pretty well. But, yes. I, I love Alison Roman's books. I I just I think the well, her food is a lot like the food that I just cook for myself, on any given day because it's very simple. It's nothing more than it needs to be, and I like that. But I really respect and appreciate anybody that truly innovates and carves out their own style.Lauren McDuffie [00:23:32]:That's really hard to do. I mean, I live in this very saturated world of, you know, recipe development and food. And so anytime someone comes along and has a very distinct and sort of fresh feeling, point of view, I just think that's great. I admire that. At it. Yeah. She's good at that. She's she's done that for herself.Lauren McDuffie [00:23:50]:So she's the first person that came to mind. And and I have her books. They're sitting out, and they have been for a long time. So yeah. Yeah. I love her.Stephanie [00:23:59]:When you is there, like, a classic recipe that you just find yourself coming back to that's maybe from your blog that you just love andLauren McDuffie [00:24:09]:Yeah. I always say my, my most, I guess, well loved and well worn recipe, it's, I love Cajun and Creole, Cuisine, and I've got just this etouffee recipe that I have been making for a really, really long time, that's got shrimp and and chicken and andouille, and it's just so good. I've made it for, I think, everyone that has ever come to my house. It's just so tasty, and it tastes better the longer that it sits. Anything that can check that box, I'm gonna automatically be a fan of. But but I think that's my all time favorite, and I love, like, a Cocoa Van, as well. In fact, I'm sitting here today working on chicken stew collection, for my website, and that's just my favorite, I think, category of of food just in general. But my all time favorite would be the this like an etouffee, like a spicy one.Lauren McDuffie [00:24:59]:Yeah. I love them, and I make them all the time. SoStephanie [00:25:02]:Yeah. And that is super southern too. Like Yep. Something that you know, sometimes I think, like, oh, do I even need to, like, tell someone a recipe for this? Like, some of it seems so obvious.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:15]:Oh, sure.Stephanie [00:25:15]:That is something and and I guess you get accustomed. Like, I can make gravy like nobody's business. Yeah. Sure. But I you know, in the Midwest, we had grew up with gravy on everything, so it's Yeah. Sort of unique.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:28]:And appreciate that. I know. I I forget sometimes how, I I assume things are just, so easy and you don't need recipes for things, but then I'll have friends who just are like, Lauren, no. That's why I wrote this book. They're just like, you know, I don't know what I'm doing. My brain doesn't work that way. And so I always equate it to the way that I am with gardening. I don't know how to do anything with plants at all.Lauren McDuffie [00:25:51]:I'm so ignorant, and so I always just try to remember, like, how I am with plants is how some people are with cooking. It's just not your you wanna do it, but you just aren't super well versed in. SoStephanie [00:26:01]:yeah. Alright. Well, I'm gonna put a link to the book, obviously, homemade ish, in the notes here. I will also, remind me of the name of your blog again.Lauren McDuffie [00:26:12]:It's called my kitchen little, and so it's just my kitchen little dot com.Stephanie [00:26:15]:It's cute. And then, I'll find your substack, and I'll link to it too. Great. And we'll go from there. But it was really lovely to spend time with you. I Right. Really think the book is clever. I felt like I knew right away people in my life that would really get a lot out of this.Lauren McDuffie [00:26:33]:Good to hear.Stephanie [00:26:34]:And, it's beautifully shot, which is also I really admire that because I'm over here with my stupid iPhone, but it's, it's beautifully shot. It looks great, and I would recommend that people buy it. I when I really sat down with it and went through the recipes, I liked it very much. It's homemade ish. Recipes and cooking tips that keep it real. And I liked your 13 things you need in the kitchen probably minus the muffin pan.Lauren McDuffie [00:27:01]:That's fair. That's fair. I get it. Alright. Thanks, Lauren. Thank you so much.Stephanie [00:27:06]:Okay. We'll talk soon. Bye bye.Lauren McDuffie [00:27:13]:Bye bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Do you want to incorporate more meatless meals into your week but feel stuck on what to cook? In this bite-sized episode, we share delicious moments about the best things we ate this week to inspire each other – and you! You'll want to make this one-pot kale pasta recipe that follows a streamlined technique for easy cleanup, and you'll be seduced by a crispy tofu dinner that's served with an Instant Pot creamy polenta.Tune in now and don't miss out on these two vegetarian dinners that will work for any night of the week!***Links to from this week's show:Greens Pasta by Joshua McFadden via NYT Cooking Tofu katsu recipe from Food52Carla Lali Music's instant pot polenta for Bon Appetit***We love hearing from you — follow us on Instagram @foodfriendspod, or drop us a line at foodfriendspod@gmail.com!Or give us a CALL on our kitchen phone! 323-452-9084Sign up for Sonya's free Substack, or order her debut cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

Fixed Price discounts. You've seen them. "Save $5 when you spend $25!!" Percentage off discounts. You've seen those too: "Get 20% off when you spend $25 or more!" But which one is more effective? If you were going to build a coupon code in your online store, or offer a promotion at your farm store -- which one will lead to more sales? Well... it depends. As it turns out, there are best practices surrounding the use of the fixed price v. the percentage off discount. And it all revolves around sales psychology.  Our brains just "feel better" when we use one over the other -- in certain circumstances. In this episode, I share with you what conventional marketing wisdom says about when to use a fixed price discount over a percentage off discount. Test these out in your farm marketing and see what works best. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- In this episode, I mentioned how I would be building my CSA Early Bird Renewal Promo campaign this month. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch. Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

When it comes to selling raw milk to the public, farmers face legal and health challenges that make it really hard to provide this product. Luckily there is a work-around. It's called the "herdshare." The problem is, it's awfully hard to explain. In today's episode, I'm interviewing a second generation dairy farmer, who is moving her product line to raw milk. She has faced these communication and sales hurdles head-on, and she shares her unique sales strategy that is slowly but surely getting new customers in the door. We discuss: the public perception of raw milk the obstacles she has to overcome when it comes to messaging this product what types of customers want raw milk the unique questions she must answer in order to make someone ready to buy legal restrictions -- what you are and aren't allowed to do when it comes to selling raw milk how a herd share works her scrappy, brilliant sales method that closes the deal almost 100% of the time what she focuses on in her messaging to drive sales mistakes she's made along the way Even if you  aren't ever going to sell raw milk (raising my hand here), you'll hear some great beginner-farmer marketing tactics. Katie may not realize it, but she has built a few pieces of a marketing machine that will eventually be able to scale. Come take a listen and see where you can find your story in hers. Who is Katie Miller? Katie Miller is the owner of Positively Grown Farm in the small town of Hopkins, Michigan. She's a 4th generation Dairy farmer following in her dad's footsteps who has been farming for 35 years. She is the first to pursue the Raw Dairy industry and have one successful year under her belt with no slowing down in sight. When she's not milking cows she enjoys riding her Harley with friends, going to Festivals and being a mom to 4 Emus, a duck, 3 cats and her Lab/Pit Ruby This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer

September 18, 2024 What if you could brainstorm your personal marketing strategy for a new enterprise in a 1:1 call with another farmer? Well, that's exactly what happens in today's podcast. You get to be a fly on the wall, listening in on my monthly Farm Marketing School Zoom call, that turned into a 1:1 coaching call with one of the members. This month, Allan Laird was in the hot seat, and he and I work out how to build up a clientele for his goat's milk soap line. This is a brand new enterprise for him and he wasn't sure how to get started. So we built out his short term game plan in under an hour, so he has clear marching orders. If you've ever wondered what should you be working on first, second, third -- this is an episode for you. You'll hear the familiar themes from this podcast showing up in this case study. It's also loaded with tons of little nuggets and ideas that you can surely apply to your farm enterprise. By the way, I help farmers put these kinds of strategies together in Farm Marketing School. Join me inside my monthly membership this fall and winter as we decide what your strategy will look like, and then start buidiing the different parts of your machine so they all work together. Get your marketing machine DONE! Podcast Guest: Who is Allan Laird? Allan Laird returned to his farm roots after retiring from a 46-year career in public safety. Together with his wife, Sue, he now tends to 10 acres where they raise Highland cattle, various poultry, and maintain sustainable pasturelands. Committed to sustainable farming, they render fat by-products from their hogs into lard, which they use to craft goat milk soap. What began as a hobby for friends and family is now evolving into a promising business venture. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Hit play and let's get started! Listen to this episode on Stitcher. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts Listen to this episode on Google Play Listen to this episode on Spotify. Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts! Now if you're feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on Apple Podcast, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they're also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you! My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at mydigitalfarmers@gmail.com. Right click and save as to download this episode to your computer.

What do I post on social media? If you're a small farm in your first 3 years, you're likely spending a fair percentage of your "marketing time" doing social media. But are you using that time wisely? Social media has its place in the marketing funnel, but only if it's strategic. In this episode, I share with you the 5 "goals" for social media, and I list of 10 different categories of post content that should regularly be in your monthly social media rotation. If you're doing social, start off by scheduling these 10 styles of posts in your Business Suite, so you know they're covered. THIS is the "strategy." Then, use your discretionary time during the week to pop in additional "bonus" posts as inspiration strikes. Sure to become a classic episode! Grab my Social Media post ideas PDF guide here. It will give you other suggestions for the kinds of topics you can post about to drive traffic, and get leads. This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch.  Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline Some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Join my free email list! I have a great "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better. Subscribe at https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe Episode 274: Scaling Your Marketing: What Farms Do Differently at Each Level - Interview with Andrew from Local Line - Andrew and I discuss the three "levels" of farm business, and what farms do differently in each one. This is a great episode if you want to know what you should be working towards as you scale. Episode 275: Tips for Using Video in Your Farm Marketing - Getting Started - This will show you ways you can use social media VIDEO in your marketing Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, acquiring and deploying testimonials, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms  Start and cancel your membership anytime. Join my CSA Academy Library -- this is my digital cooking resource library that I provide for my CSA members to help them learn how to become a better home chef and cook the CSA way. It includes a Beginner's Guide to CSA mini-course, Vegetable University (A to Z video tutorials for every veggie); Canning Club (canning videos); Exit Strategy videos; Instant Pot tutorial, and my Recipes and Resources pages (with weekly CSA box recipes and unboxing videos). Farmers can subscribe for a monthly fee to have access to these resources to help them support their own CSA members. Early Bird Campaigns that Convert -- In this episode, I mentioned how I would be building my CSA Early Bird Renewal Promo campaign this month. IF you want to learn my system for how I do this every year, I offer my step by step online course to help you get it done. This course will teach you how to build a compelling offer that gets your current members to decide to renew during your promo campaign. I show you the emails to write, the posts to create, and the ENERGY you need to generate in the week before you launch.  Find my marketing Facebook group for CSA farmers! Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer Subscribe and Review in Apple Podcast I'd love for you to subscribe to my podcast! I don't want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in Apple Podcasts! Now if you're feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on Apple Podcast, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they're also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you! My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at mydigitalfarmers@gmail.com.

Yes, we have all been p0wned; more Tesla recalls; Waymo honking greetings; Cruise recalls robotaxi fleet; more OpenAI content deals; Cortex delivers both fewer and more errors; just how bad was Musk's Twitter deal; billionaire calls major crypto PAC stupid & selfish; the Acolyte not getting renewed; Disney+ no longer a safe space; Chick-Fil-A streaming service; Megalopolis trailer shenanigans; revisiting Ted Lasso, House of Cards; the Anonymous; Alien: Romulus; more Overcast stuff; Sonos can't unroll app update; Procreate condemns GenAI; subscription sous vide.Sponsors:1Password Extended Access Management - Check it out at 1Password.com/xam. Secure every sign-in for every app on every device.Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month.SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!!Show notes at https://gog.show/662FOLLOW UPNPD Breach CheckTesla issues an in-person recall for its Model X SUVMicrosoft will release controversial Windows Recall AI search feature to testers in OctoberTexas judge blocks the FTC from enforcing its ban on noncompete agreementsIN THE NEWSWaymo director says the company's cars won't honk at each other anymoreCruise recalls robotaxi fleet to resolve federal safety probeOpenAI will now use content from Wired, Vogue and The New Yorker in ChatGPT's responsesArs Technica content is now available in OpenAI servicesThis invention has just destroyed the Internet forever: It programmes 100 million times faster than a human beingIn a leaked recording, Amazon cloud chief tells employees that most developers could stop coding soon as AI takes overBankers Have Lost So Much Money Thanks to Elon's Terrible Twitter DealBillionaire Pulls Support From Major Crypto PAC, Says It's Too ‘Stupid' and ‘Selfish'MEDIA CANDYStar Wars: The Acolyte isn't getting a second seasonDon't Expect Boba Fett to Make an Appearance In The Mandalorian and GroguAfter massive public outcry, Disney stops attempt to kill lawsuit after killing restaurant guestDisney+ is no longer a safe space after it added Hulu contentChick-Fil-A Reportedly Planning to Launch a Reality TV Streaming ServiceDenny's New Beetlejuice Menu Could Give You SandwormsMegalopolis‘s New Trailer Prepares You for a Critical BacklashLionsgate Admits Using Fake Quotes in New Megalopolis TrailerRevisting Ted LassoHouse of CardsThe AnonymousAlien: RomulusAPPS & DOODADSOvercast Account LinkApple Podcasts now has a useful web interface for browsing and listening to shows“Disappointing”: Sonos CEO says old, user-preferred app can't be re-releasediPad Illustration App Procreate Condemns Generative AIProcreateAnova will charge customers to use its sous vide app, because everything must be a subscriptionInstant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide 800W Precision Cooker,Immersion Circulator,Ultra-Quiet Fast-Heating with Big Touchscreen Accurate Temperature and Time Control,WaterproofCLOSING SHOUT-OUTSPhil Donahue, talk show host pioneer and husband of Marlo Thomas, dies at 88Alain Delon, Seductive Star of European Cinema, Dies at 88Zorro 1975 | Alain Delon, Stanley Baker | Action, Adventure, Comedy | Full Length MovieAlain Delon's family refuse to put down pet dog the actor wanted to be buried withNasir Ahmed: An Unsung Hero of Digital Media His digital-compression breakthrough helped make JPEGs and MPEGs possibleSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We've got the lazy dinners you need to enjoy the last days of summer eating while also managing the hectic back-to-school transition. Make packing 180 school lunches a breeze with our Stress-Free School Lunch Guide. You'll get our tried-and-true school lunch packing tips, an essential school lunch grocery list, our list of favorite lunchboxes by age, our top 15 lunchbox recipes, and more. MEAL PLANNING FOR EVERYONE Looking to reduce the overwhelm of feeding your family while saving time AND money? Meal planning is the answer! We can help you get meal planning right (even if you've failed before) with our Meal Planning for Everyone audio course. We've made it possible for anyone to become a meal planner — even you! Crack your meal planning code today.LINKS Our audio course, Meal Planning For Everyone Our Stress-Free School Lunch Guide Join our free community Gorgeous Green Sauce recipeHow to Make Instant Pot Black BeansCarnitas recipe (for the stove top or Instant Pot!)Marinated Beans on ToastTomato Butter PastaTuna Mayo Rice BowlFish Stick Tacos from Bare Minimum Dinners cookbookOne-Pot Cheesy Sausage and OrzoOur favorite Peanut Sauce recipe for noodles and moreLots of Chicken Nugget Salad ideasChinese Chicken Salad with Sweet and Sour NuggetsShortcut Tortellini en BrodoHow Sandwiches Can Save Back-to-School SeasonHow to Turn Any Ground Meat Into a Delicious DinnerNinja Woodfire GrillOur Sponsors:* Check out ByHeart and use my code DIJFY for a great deal: byheart.com* Check out Quince: quince.com/dijfy* Check them out today at feathersnapcam.com!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jennifer and her husband are busy—they spend their weekends occupied taking their 3 dogs to agility competitions—and Jennifer suspects her Instant Pot would help her make dinner quicker and tastier. The only problem? She's terrified of it. So Shilpa and Chris join forces to help Jennifer conquer her fears and take advantage of her electric pressure cooker.Recipes & Links:Instant Pot Pork CarnitasPork Spareribs with Jammy Barbecue SauceInstant Pot: Summer Cooking Hero