Meal Prep Monday Podcast™

Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares her other passion project today, Miscarriage Hope Desk. She founded Miscarriage Hope Desk after experiencing multiple miscarriages herself and strives to provide miscarriage support, science-backed articles and an extremely supportive community for anyone struggling with miscarriage or infertility. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Miscarriage Hope Desk: https://miscarriagehopedesk.com/ Miscarriage Hope Desk Podcast: https://miscarriagehopedesk.com/podcast/ Allison’s Fertility Journey: https://miscarriagehopedesk.com/about/allison-schaaf/

Do you have some big dreams you want to work toward? Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares how writing down her goals and intentions has made a big difference in achieving them. She shares both professional goals for Prep Dish and personal goals like traveling to 40 countries before turning 40. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!  

Prep Dish founder and mom of two, Allison Schaaf, shares how she adjusts the weekly Prep Dish meal plans to meet her family’s needs. She walks through the January week 3 Super Fast meal plan and how she makes substitutions and edits quantities to make the most of the meal plan. Meal Planning Tips - How to Customize a Meal Plan to Work for You Quantity - My go-to is to double most of the recipes. My family eats most of our meals at home so we generally eat each meal once for lunch and once for dinner. There are some items I don’t double though, like garlic and fruit, as I usually already have those items on-hand. Subs for Preference - I often sub lettuce for collard greens for wraps as it’s easier for my kids to eat. Kid-Friendly - I sometimes add extra carbs to make sure the meals have enough carbs for the kids. For example, I like to do a 50-50 mix of cauli rice or broccoli rice and regular rice. Protein - I sometimes switch up the protein based on what I have from Costco or Butcher Box. I also double or even triple the amount of protein to meet my family’s needs. This is also a great place to comparison shop in terms of prices for different cuts of meat that week. Sauces - I often double the sauce recipes because I love to have a homemade sauce on-hand to liven up meals. Allergies / Intolerances - I sub walnuts and pecans due to an intolerance. We include subs for common allergies, like nuts, in our weekly subscriber newsletter. Spices - Over time, you won’t have to buy the spices every week as we use many of the same spices from week to week. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Prep Dish Super Fast Meal Plans Video: https://youtu.be/qzuuAn1jGgo (

In episode 151, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares tips on customizing the Prep Dish meal prep meal plans to make them work for you. This includes lots of tips and advice straight from real life Prep Dish subscribers! Meal Prep Tips from Subscribers: One subscriber adds meat to vegetarian meals and adds a carb to any low carb meal. Adding in a favorite side dish is a great way to make meals your own or stretch meals further for a bigger family. Using separated recipes instead of the meal prep instructions works well for one family. Another subscriber uses the gluten free meal plans because she loves the recipes but subs non-gluten-free items for gluten-free. One subscriber said she doubles all of the recipes. She also subs pork chops for fish and subs ground beef or pork for ground chicken or turkey. She subs a whole chicken for a specific cut of chicken to save money. Finally, she’s found a friend to do Prep Dish as well, which has made it a lot more fun! A low carb subscriber said she adds carbs for her husband and kids. Adding in some rice or bread to make the low carb meal plans work for kids is a great tip. One person said she used a scale for the salad dressings for a while to get the ratio more exact, and now she can just eyeball it. Another subscriber subs veggies based on what’s on sale and also swaps for allergies. Our weekly subscriber newsletter always includes tips for subbing for allergies! Deconstructing meals can make them even more kid-friendly. This also makes it easier to mix and match to make new meals! Adding legumes to recipes is an excellent way to bulk up a meal in a budget-friendly way. Including half legumes and half meat is a good way to do this. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Prep Dish Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/  

In this episode, Prep Dish founder, Allison Schaaf, shares how she’s using time as the foundation for new year goal setting in 2023. In thinking about goals for the new year, I ask myself, what are my values? What is really important to me? These are the things I’m reflecting on and reevaluating as we head into a new year: Date Night: This has become so important to me after we had kids. Knowing I have a regularly scheduled time when this can happen and getting it on the calendar has made this doable for me. Movement: Again, scheduling this in at a regular time makes this easy and takes away the constant mental effort of trying to fit it in. Daily Walks: I’ve built in a minimum 20 minute walk into my daily schedule and it really energizes me. Meals: I base my meal prep time on grocery pickup as we live far from the grocery store. I know that Tuesday works best for me for grocery pickup so I plan around that. I periodically reevaluate and make sure our weekly rhythm is still working for us. Reading & Learning: To make more time for reading, I’ve cut back on tv time. I’ve also tried to be more flexible with fitting in more learning and growth-based reading earlier in the day. Travel Planning: I want to be better about planning trips in advance and getting them on the calendar. Flow of the Week: I like to reflect on my weekly rhythm and the flow of the week and make sure it’s still working for me. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Ep #137 - Strength Training: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep137/ Ep #141 - Batching: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep141/ Tranquility by Tuesday: https://www.amazon.com/Tranquility-Tuesday-Ways-Chaos-Matters/dp/0593419006/ref=asc_df_0593419006/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564685171189&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10429607676466212358&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019256&hvtargid=pla-1634736753566&psc=1  

In this episode host, Allison Schaaf, shares tips and lessons learned for setting up a temporary kitchen during renovations or home repairs. She just underwent a kitchen renovation and wishes she had done these two things differently! Two things I wish I had done: Freezer Meals - More freezer meals would have been so helpful! Set Up a Temporary Kitchen Sooner - What are you losing access to? If you won’t have a fridge, you may need to get a mini fridge (or borrow one!) Will you have access to the stove, oven, sink? If not, what are you going to do instead? For our recent renovations, we set up shelves in our dining room with bowls, plates, silverware, some cooking utensils, a knife and cutting board and some pantry items. In terms of cooking, I used a plug-in griddle for anything I would normally cook in a pan on the stovetop. My rice cooker also came in handy! An Instant Pot and slow cooker also work well without kitchen access. Having a good sink was also a challenge. We have a utility sink we set up as a dishwashing station with a table next to it. Thinking through all of the things you’ll be missing and establishing a temporary kitchen setup is really helpful during a renovation! Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Homemade Freezer Meals: https://prepdish.com/meal-planning/homemade-freezer-meals/ 10 Freezer Meal Prep Hacks: https://prepdish.com/meal-planning/freezer-meal-prep-hacks/ 10 Healthy Freezer Breakfasts: https://prepdish.com/recipes/freezer-breakfasts/ 3 Ways I Use My Rice Cooker: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/what-can-you-cook-in-a-rice-cooker-3-ways-to-use-your-rice-cooker-l-ep129/

In today’s episode Prep Dish founder, Allison Schaaf, shares her experience with the Oura ring after using it for a little under a year. What is the oura ring? It’s a ring you wear on your finger that tracks fitness, sleep and different related numbers. Here are a few of the features I use the most: Sleep - It tells you the number of hours you spent in bed vs actually asleep. It also tells you resting heart rate, HRV (heart rate variability), etc. Using this over time can help you see how eating times, workout times, etc. impact your sleep. It also tells you deep sleep and REM sleep numbers. The trend data it shares is also quite interesting. Restorative Time: The Oura ring also tracks restorative time throughout the day, which measures times of lower heart rate. Activity: It will alert you if your active time throughout the day does not match the goals you’ve set, which can be motivating. Body Temperature: It measures body temperature as well which can be really interesting. A recent study actually shows that the Oura ring can detect pregnancy much earlier due to the rise in body temperature. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Miscarriage Hope Desk: https://miscarriagehopedesk.com/ Oura Ring: https://ouraring.com/  

Chef & RD Allison Schaaf shares 4 food gifts she loves to give and receive for different occasions. Soup I recently received a gift of soup with gluten free rolls and cookies from a company called Spoonful of Comfort. They have great gluten free options if needed. Of course, if there’s someone local, it’s nice to give a homemade gift like soup or lasagna as well. Baked by Melissa Cupcakes I recently sent these to the Prep Dish team members to celebrate Prep Dish’s 10 year anniversary. These are healthier cupcakes but are SO tasty with amazing flavor options. They’re fun because they’re really small but that means you can try lots of different flavors. I’ve also sent a little mimosa kit with mini prosecco with blood orange juice along with the cupcakes. Shipped Whole Foods Order I do this a lot because I like being able to pick and choose. I always include flowers, often lilies, some of my favorite dark chocolate and some fruit. Other items will depend on the person and the situation. This is a great way to put together a gift without paying the surplus of a pre-curated gift company. Handmade Coffee Mug I’ve also sent a handmade coffee mug, I think from Farmhouse Pottery, with some of my favorite teas and nut pod creamers. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Prep Dish Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Spoonful of Comfort: https://www.spoonfulofcomfort.com Baked by Melissa Cupcakes: https://www.bakedbymelissa.com/

In episode 146 Prep Dish founder, Allison Schaaf, shares details of her recent kitchen remodel including favorite parts, decisions on countertops and lessons learned. Instant Hot Water: You have to be careful to warn people but it is so useful! It’s wonderful for tea, hot water with lemon, etc. I also use it a lot when washing stainless steel pots and pans as well as the kids’ water bottles to sanitize them. Countertops: We went with quartzite and, so far, are really happy with it. It’s more durable in terms of staining but has a beautiful look similar to marble. Built-in Trash & Recycling: Aesthetically, it’s nice to have it hidden but it is nice to be able to pull out the trash can during meal prep for efficiency purposes. Second Dishwasher: This hasn’t been installed yet but my favorite brand is Miele. I love that they have a cycle for wine glasses! They also have a quick cycle that I love. Lighting: We updated these to be more our preference. New Island: Having more workspace near the refrigerator has been really nice, even though I didn’t know I needed it! It feels like a more efficient setup. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Episode 130 - My Dream Kitchen: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep130/  

Eric Jorgenson has a concept of 4 types of leverage. In today’s episode, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf dives into how each of these 4 types of leverage applies to meal prep and meal planning. 4 Types of Leverage as They Relate to Meal Planning 1. Tools What are some tools you could leverage to up productivity? One example is a food processor. If chopping takes you a long time, the food processor can save you a ton of time. 2. Products Prep Dish is a great example here! Prep Dish meal plans give you time back in your day because you no longer have to spend time searching for recipes or making a grocery list. 3. People How can you have other people help out with your meals? If you are using the meal plans, you can easily hand off the meal plan to your spouse, older kids, babysitter, etc. 4. Capital You could pay for a chef to come into your house and make all of your meals for you. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Eric Jorgenson: https://www.ejorgenson.com/