Meal Prep Monday Podcast™

Hiring an au pair is a big decision. You have to find someone who you trust and who you're comfortable living with. Prep Dish founder and mom of two Allison Schaaf shares her insider tips into what to look for when hiring an au pair. Factors to Consider: Location: Some au pairs want to live in the country and others wish to be in a big city. The location has to be a fit. Age Preference: Does the potential au pair prefer to work with babies, toddlers or big kids? You need to find a fit with age. Personality Fit: Does their personality fit with you? Does it fit with the kids and other family members? Consider using something like the Culture Index, which delves into work style and communication style, to help determine if you'll work well together. Look for Second-Year Au Pairs: The au pair program is two years and sometimes you can find an au pair in their second year looking to work with a new family. These au pairs have already been in the country for a year and have adjusted to life as an au pair and want to keep doing it. Language: The au pair's home language might be important for your family, but we determined it wasn't the biggest priority for us. 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! Culture Index: https://www.cultureindex.com/

Host and meal prep expert Allison Schaaf shares how Prep Dish meal plans make it easy to delegate some of the meal prep to her family's au pair. Whether you have a nanny, au pair or a babysitter, having a clearly written grocery list, meal prep instructions and cooking instructions for each night makes it super easy to hand over some of the work to someone else! Prep Dish Meal Plan Elements: Grocery List: The grocery list is clearly written out, making it easy to ask a childcare provider to place a grocery order or go to the grocery store for you. Meal Prep: This includes chopping veggies, making marinades and sauces, etc. Meal prep is a great thing for a childcare provider to help with during nap time! Dish Day: Regardless of who did the meal prep, anyone can easily take over the night-of cooking with the simple instructions on the Prep Dish meal plans. No lengthy explanations needed! 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 87 - Childcare Options: Au Pair vs Nanny vs Daycare

Are you curious about the au pair experience? If you're a working mom (or hope to be a mom someday), figuring out childcare options can be a huge challenge. Today, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares how she decided to hire an au pair, including the pros and cons of an au pair versus a nanny versus daycare. An au pair is someone who comes from overseas to live with your family for 1-2 years and provide child care. In exchange, you provide a weekly stipend, room and board and a cultural experience. Pros: Time: If you work from home or don't have a daycare you like near your home or office, you'll save a ton of time not having to commute for drop-offs and pick-ups. Flexibility: An au pair is available for a set number of hours per week, but those exact hours are flexible. For example, an au pair may babysit for a date night and do fewer hours during the day. Breastfeeding: If you're breastfeeding, it's so much easier to breastfeed instead of pump with your baby at home. Cost: It's often more cost effective to have an au pair versus a nanny. Limitations: Restrictions: Au pairs have strict guidelines on how much they can work and what kind of work they can do. They can work 45 hours per week with a max of 10 hours a day and one full weekend per month. In addition, au pairs are only available for childcare-related tasks, not dishes, laundry, etc. Resources: While their weekly stipend is less than paying a nanny, you do need a room and a car available for your au pair. Stay tuned for the upcoming episodes which will discuss how to hire an au pair and how our au pair helps with meal prep! 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!

Today Allison Schaaf walks you through ten proteins that are totally delicious with just plain salt and pepper. Part of setting yourself up for success with cooking homemade meals is remembering that it doesn't always have to be fancy or complicated. Keep your meal plan simple with one of these delicious proteins plus some salt & pepper: Salmon Chicken Drumsticks Chilean Sea Bass Chicken Wings Steak Burgers Lamb Chops Whole Roasted Chicken Tuna Steak Pork Chops 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! Imperfect Foods: http://imprfct.us/v/allison_12174 Butcher Box: butcherbox.com/prepdish US Wellness Meats: https://www.jdoqocy.com/click-8743240-13964763 Vital Choice Seafood: http://www.gopjn.com/t/TUJGRkdLSkJGTklLRkpCRklNR0pM This post contains affiliate links, thank you for your support of Prep Dish!

In today's episode, host Allison Schaaf shares what she's eating and drinking these days while breastfeeding her 7 month old son. From specific foods that support milk supply to just staying hydrated, these tips are great for any breastfeeding moms, or anyone looking for ideas on healthy snacks and beverages to add to your meal plan! Breakfast Oatmeal - Oats are great for milk supply! You can make a big batch in the Instant Pot to feed the whole family. Two favorite combinations: Pumpkin oatmeal (oats, can of pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ground flax, raisins, peanut butter and bananas or chocolate chips) Blueberry oatmeal (oats, frozen blueberries or cherries, sliced almonds, milk, ground flax, sometimes collagen) Eggs - When the chickens are laying eggs, we also eat a lot of eggs for breakfast! (Hear all about our chickens here! https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep28/) Morning Snack: Dark chocolate + Tea Afternoon Snack: Overnight oats - oats soaked with yogurt, fruit and honey. Smoothie - My Strawberry Mojito Smoothie (https://prepdish.com/recipes/simple-strawberry-smoothie/) and Tropical Green Smoothie (https://prepdish.com/recipes/healthy-tropical-green-smoothie/) are great! Chopped veggies + nut butter Chips w/ mashed avocado or salsa with sparkling water + lime Hydration: First thing in the AM - Tulsi Tea (Holy Basil) or lemon water Green Tea or Siply tea Mother's Milk tea in the afternoon Sometimes turmeric chai or regular caffeine free chai tea in the afternoon or evening LMNT - electrolyte powder, without any artificial add-ins (https://drinklmnt.com/) Alcohol - Dry Farm Wines (dryfarmwines.com/prepdish 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! Tulsi Tea: https://www.amazon.com/Organic-India-Tulsi-Original-Herbal/dp/B088XWHB9Y/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=tulsi+tea&qid=1619873970&sr=8-5 Mother's Milk Tea: https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Medicinals-Mothers-Womens-Organic/dp/B07CTT6NKL/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=mother%27s+milk+tea&qid=1619874132&sr=8-2 Siply Tea: https://sipsiply.com/about/ LMNT Electrolyte Powder: https://drinklmnt.com/ Test Strips from Upspring Baby - You can test milk for traces of alcohol! (https://www.upspringbaby.com/products/milkscreen) Dry Farm Wines: dryfarmwines.com/prepdish This post contains affiliate links, thank you for your support of Prep Dish!

Today wraps up our Tiny Habits series! Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf walks through ten ideas for tiny meal prep habits you can start right away, in line with BJ Fogg's concept of starting small. One Time Actions: Buy nice meal prep containers - (See Allison's favorites here: https://prepdish.com/meal-planning/best-meal-prep-containers/ ) Choose a 1 hour block of time and mark it on the calendar for the next three months Ask family members which part of meal prep they can help with Sign up for Prep Dish! (com/mpm) Purchase a food processor to speed up chopping Ongoing Habits: Print meal plans every Friday - don't forget to set your prompt - print before your weekly Friday meeting or after dropping your kids off for school on Friday, etc. Set a timer for 15 minutes every time you get home from the grocery store and wash and chop as much as you can in that time Set out your meal prep containers the night before you plan to prep Prep just one item when you get home from the grocery store (e.g., wash and chop your strawberries) Spend 5 minutes after dinner cleanup prepping the next day's breakfast 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 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

Chef and RD Allison Schaaf continues the series on BJ Fogg's book, Tiny Habits. Today's episode focuses on Fogg's concept of a "Super Fridge," which he discusses in Chapter 6, page 185 of Tiny Habits. What is a "Super Fridge"? On the weekends, author BJ Fogg does all of the prep work for a week of beautiful, healthy meals - chopping veggies, making whole grains, etc. He celebrates at the end, looking at his fridge full of prepped, healthy food and saying, "beautiful". Fogg calls this his "Super Fridge" because it allows him to stay on track with his health goals, without the daily struggle of willpower and motivation. Prep Dish is the same concept! It's a system that makes it easy to prep healthy food for the week. The second piece is, Fogg doesn't let anything go to waste. His goal is to eat every item that he prepped for the week. This is a great way to focus on all the good things you can eat, rather than what you can't when you're trying to eat healthily. Again, Prep Dish uses the same concept. You've already put in the time and effort to prepare healthy food, which makes takeout and less healthy options so much less tempting. Having a "Super Fridge" creates an environment that prioritizes health and nutrition, and also quality family time. When meals are already prepped, dinner time can become a relaxing time to come together again. 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 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Share Pictures of Your Super Fridge in the Prep Dish Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

If you'd like to try our time-saving meal plans, check out our 2 week free trial for podcast listeners here: prepdish.com/mpm How do you break a bad habit? Today Allison Schaaf walks you through chapter 7 of BJ Fogg's book, Tiny Habits and discusses how you can apply it to meal prep and healthy eating. She talks about how to break a bad habit, without relying on willpower and motivation. When trying to break a bad habit, first focus on a new healthy habit. For example, if you're trying to break a takeout habit, focus on meal prep so you always have dinner prepped and have no reason to even think about takeout. Then you can focus on stopping the old habit. Here are some steps to include: Get specific. If you want to stop eating junk food, set a timer for 3 minutes and write out every single specific thing included in "stop eating junk food" from stop eating chips at night to stop ordering soda with lunch. Revisit the list, decide where to start and go from there. Identify the prompt for that habit you want to stop. If watching tv is a prompt for you to open a bag of chips, you might go for a walk instead of watching tv at night to remove that prompt to snack. It's always easier to remove a prompt than to ignore it. Consider Ability - how do you make a bad habit harder? For example, you might stop buying chips or ice cream to keep in the house. You likely won't usually want to drive to the store to buy those things at night. Or, you might just put them in a hard to reach spot like a high up cabinet or the back of the freezer. Swap with a new habit: For example, you might prep some cucumbers to swap with the nightly chip habit. Instead of removing the habit, you're swapping it for a healthier habit, which is sometimes easier. 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 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

How do your family, friends and community impact your habits? How do we change together? In today's episode, host Allison Schaaf invites you to join the conversation as we continue to explore BJ Fogg's book Tiny Habits, and what it means for meal prep. Community plays a huge role in habit change so please join our Facebook group if you haven't already! Simply follow this link and request access: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Then look for the threads on the following topics and share your thoughts, ideas and questions with the group! Prompt - What is going to trigger you to complete your new habit? What could you use as a prompt to complete weekly meal prep? Print your meal plan Set out your knife Leave groceries out until you prep Share your ideas with our Facebook community! Ability - How do you make a habit easier to complete? Take a knife skills class Try using a food processor to complete your chopping Share your ideas on our Facebook group! Celebration - Do you make time to mark your quick wins with a little celebration? How do you like to celebrate? Give your partner a high five Do a little victory dancy Celebrate each time you sit down to a calm and delicious dinner because you prepped! Share your tiny celebrations with us on Facebook! Resources mentioned in this podcast: 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 Prep Dish Facebook Group: Get your 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

In today's episode, busy mom and entrepreneur Allison Schaaf explains the tips and hacks behind Prep Dish's new Fastest Meal Plan Ever! Learn how to speed up your meal prep and create a meal plan that is delicious, healthy and won't have you spending all day in the kitchen. Quick meal prep for the win! Sign up at prepdish.com/mpm for a two week free trial for any subscription in June 2021 and get this bonus meal plan for free! Fastest Meal Plan Ever - Menu, Tips & Tricks: Meal 1: Maple Mustard Chicken w/ Roasted Mini Potatoes & Broccoli Maple & mustard add a ton of flavor with very few ingredients. Mini potatoes & pre-chopped broccoli florets require no chopping! All you have to do is stick them in the oven to roast with the chicken. Meal 2: Slow Cooker Italian Pork Shoulder w/ Asparagus & Peas This uses one of my favorite strategies, cook once, eat twice! We use the leftover pork shoulder for a different meal later in the week. Meal 3: Shrimp Tostadas Buy peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp. Include some elements to elevate the flavor and nutrition, like the fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice in this recipe. Fresh herbs and citrus are great when you want to keep ingredients to a minimum but still have something totally delicious. Meal 4: Italian Pork Shoulder Over Mixed Greens w/ Roasted Grapes & Goat Cheese Double the grapes and serve over Greek yogurt for breakfast - so good! Also, grapes don't require any chopping but really elevate the dish. Meal 5: California Burgers w/ Berry Salad Simple items, like mixed berries, can be delicious and healthy. Things like roasted vegetables, fresh fruit or even sliced cucumbers can be delicious and add extra nutrients to the dish. Resources mentioned in this podcast: 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 Get your 2 week free trial (and the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever) here: prepdish.com/mpm Learn more about the "Cook Once, Eat Twice" method of meal planning here: https://youtu.be/rJIlLjI4LM0