Healthy Meals in 30 Minutes with Celestina Brunetti from Save Time Cooking

This is episode number 132 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hacken, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and pay no attention to Kevin who almost blew the introduction.

Man, you know, I— it's It's funny because it's kinda late and kinda early depending on your perspective.

Depending on your perspective.

Yeah.

It's all relative.

Yeah, it's either been a really long day or a really—

I didn't take the bumpity bump. We just talked about this. We literally just talked about it.

I just— there you go, Chell.

So now we know.

Now we know.

And she didn't know before, but now she knows.

I mean—

So we'll get to who knows what here in just a second. So the important question of the day. Yeah. Is do you top sheet?

Oh my goodness! We are gonna go there. We okay. Those of you who follow us on Facebook know that this post absolutely blew up.

It was you know it was it was bigger than whether or not you're Biden or Trump.

Oh my goodness!

It really was. It was it was lines were drawn in the sand.

Well, what's really weird is the line that was drawn. was at about 35.

Was at about 35.

That's right, years old, that is.

So here's the deal, those of you who don't have a clue what we're talking about here, some people don't even know, it's really disgraceful if you don't know, like if I said top sheet.

Don't even know what we're talking about?

No, I immediately wanna smack you.

Yeah, yeah, okay, Matt, you're one of them.

I haven't seen him yet, but he's got one coming.

He's got one coming, well, you'll see him this weekend. So, one of our buddies was like, what's a top sheet? So, here was the whole thing, right? Apparently, it's a thing for millennials, younger people, all the way down to children, don't sleep underneath a top sheet. They got their fitted sheet on the bed and then a top sheet, but they don't sleep under a top sheet, they just sleep like under a blanket or a comforter or something like that. Um, but most of us who are older are like, don't sleep under a top sheet, what's wrong with you?

I don't— they, they're sleeping underneath that filthy comforter, that's what they're doing.

No doubt.

In their own filth, it's disgusting.

Yeah, exactly.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Yes, yes. I don't know, this is the weirdest conversation.

Which now that I've made this, this line in the sand, yeah, is a great opportunity to bring in our guest.

Yes.

Celestina, this is not your area of expertise, but I think the people wanna know whether or not I've been offensive to you now. Do you top sheet?

Totally top sheet.

Yes!

So I am a millennial. I didn't know that people don't sleep without the top sheet. That's schmutzy.

Oh, that's a great word.

Yeah.

We don't get that word, schmutzy?

Schmutz, I got no idea. All I know is that she said she sleeps under a top sheet, we like ya.

I heard an old lady call her dog that one time.

I don't think it was endearing. I don't know.

It could have been.

It's hard to know.

Definitely means like dirty or gross in Yiddish.

Oh, it wasn't a cute dog.

Yeah, well, I'm, I'm with you. It's, it's weird. I'm not gonna lie. It's just weird. I, I mean, it's like there's no barrier between like you and sweat and whatever else is under there, this is, it's weird. I don't know, I got nothing. But, okay.

Other than disdain for all of you non-sheeters.

Yeah, you non— where's the sheet?

That's right. So this post, I don't know how many times it ended up getting shared, but I actually, like, when it starts happening, you try and follow the rabbit trails and it's just impossible. But I actually saw, a couple get into a fight off of someone else's shared post because she said, we don't sleep with a top sheet, but I know that our guest house— our guest room does have one. And she was replying to someone who had stayed in their guest house.

Oh.

And the person who had stayed in the guest house was like, look, you ain't got a top sheet in there.

Oh.

And so then she starts tagging her husband in the post going, honey, go in the room and check and make sure that there's a top sheet. And he's like, babe, there ain't no top sheet in here.

Oh.

And she's like, He's got husband vision, I gotta go home and check for the top sheet now. And I'm like, what have we done?

I think she broke.

We sent them to counseling. Yeah, she broke. We gotta have an episode on that now.

I guess so.

So, yeah.

Okay, and so what's really, really funny about all this is, so then I turned it around on Craig, I'm like, Craig, do your kids sleep under a top sheet? And the answer is?

My kids don't even sleep in a bed.

No, they don't. So most of you that listen to the podcast regularly know that during the snowmageddon that happened like, 3 weeks ago at this point, seems like yesterday. Um, we, we wound up over at Craig's house for a few nights and we were actually sleeping in his son's room. And at one point, he— his son was told to go to bed, right?

Yeah.

And so he goes up into the room and my wife's up in there already in bed and just like starts talking to her for like 20 minutes, right? Like, hey, what are you doing? Oh, you're sleeping in my bed, huh? Okay, well, I was told to go to bed, but I think I'll just talk to you for a while. So you just have this conversation, and the next thing you know, he's sleeping on the couch.

He's sleeping on the couch, yeah.

Yeah, and, and, yeah.

Which is one of the better places that he ends up. It wasn't like the pasture.

Oh, that's funny.

So.

Funny stuff.

Anyway, we have a really cool episode for you guys today. We're super excited about it because this is a monumental occasion for The Homeowner Show. It is our first international—

Yeah, baby.

Interview.

Yes.

So we're gonna, we're gonna throw some, uh, some internet vibes across the Atlantic.

Yes.

And try and hit Germany.

Man, that's a long way away.

So we, we have our, our good friend Celestina. Uh, Celestina, how you doing?

I'm good. Thank you so much for having me on, guys. I'm well caffeinated, 2 cups in. It's pretty early my time, but I'm super excited and I'm sorry I don't have a cooler accent. I'm American, I just happen to live in Germany.

We would love you even if you were German, but you're not, so that doesn't really matter.

How dare you not even try and fake it?

I don't need to be disrespectful to the country that's hosting me for the next couple of years.

That's a good point.

We don't need to put some higher fences around the area that you're staying in, right? Make them love you.

Cool. Well, go ahead.

I was gonna say, could you let everybody know, like, because you were telling us earlier you're from New York, how did you end up in Germany?

My husband's in the Air Force, so we move a lot, but I also moved around a lot before we were in the Air Force. So I think I've lived in like 5 different states in every time zone.

Wow.

Oh wow.

That's amazing.

So what was the last American state that you lived in?

Florida. We were in Pensacola for a little over a year.

Do you know where Crestview is?

Yes, it's just north of that.

I grew up there.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, like, they don't remember me. They never write, they never call, but whatever.

I will say that that area, one of my favorite things about driving into the area is seeing the the Blue Angels statue display on the— on the— is it I-10 that you drive down anyway? That somewhere down there that has the, the Blue Angels statue that it's just unbelievable. And then it's like, here's Pensacola, and then you gotta drive like 20 miles to get to it.

So the statue is great because it doesn't make sound. In real life, when you live like 3 miles away from base and the Blue Angels are doing like really low levels above your apartment.

It's rough.

I don't recommend it.

I bet. I bet. That would be almost as bad as someone asking you to wake up at 5 o'clock for an interview on a podcast.

I've been up since 3.

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

She's 4 cups in. She's fine.

Yeah, she's— it's gonna be an interesting 7 o'clock hour, but for now it's fine. It's fine. Well, listen, thank you for coming on. So we do want to kind of get into this a little bit. Tell us a little bit about you and what you do and how you kind of got into that.

Yeah, definitely. So I, by, I guess, trade, if you will, I'm a personal chef and a registered dietitian. So blending those 2 worlds is really where my sweet spot is. And I love working with families who typically have homes, I would assume, which is why I'm here. Um, but I was cooking for families several states ago, even most recently in Pensacola. And I found that on days when I wasn't cooking for them, they were eating crappy food. They were eating pizzas like from the funky place down the street or rolling through the drive-through because they didn't have time to cook or just didn't have the skills to cook. So they were using like boxed helper meals. So I was like,

okay, cool. There is definitely a need here. like for time management perhaps, but also for like a skill learning kind of situation. So I created an online course and that's how I virtually help people now. So it is a totally virtual course for busy families who want to learn how to make dinner quick, easy, and delicious, basically cooking in under 30 minutes even on the busiest of weeknights. So that's how I got into this space and I love what I do. I really Love seeing families transform over a couple of months working with them. They're picky eaters going from like not eating veggies to enjoying veggies and just like the family dynamic changing.

Wow. So, so what's the— what is that shift?

Do you—

I mean, obviously it's got to be a little bit more than just saying eat your vegetables, right? I mean, what's— what do you think that shift is for them?

Yeah, definitely. I would say mindset is huge. So it starts with the parents and then trickles down to the kiddos. So like if you're saying that you don't have time or you don't know how to cook, like that's a mindset shift that you're gonna have to make.

Sure.

You're gonna have to prioritize cooking. And I mean, we all have the same amount of time in a day and like I get it, some people work longer hours than other people do, but like if this is a priority for you, you're gonna find the time to do it. So I feel like that usually comes around like week 3, week 4, and then people eventually start to prioritize this in their lives. And then getting the kiddos involved in the kitchen. We can talk about other ways to like get them involved or like combat picky eating, but like getting them involved in the kitchen or in the process helps so much because they get excited about it. And then I think they value the

food and where it comes from because it's not just like poof, it ended up on the plate, you know?

Yeah. So it's like, it's like, look, you made it. You're more likely to actually eat it. Because it wasn't just given to you, you had a part of the process. That makes sense.

Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. Cool. Well, so there's a lot that kind of goes into this because there's— it's— our family's really kind of gone through a shift over the last, I don't know, 6, 7, 8 years where we went from like, okay, it's just my wife and I. to now we've got kids. And so our timeframes get completely shattered of when we can do food and, you know, how long it takes to do that. And so we were even looking into like, you know, like 4 to 6 ingredient meals and all of those sorts of things. And so I'm just curious, like, what types of things do you encourage whenever it comes to Getting a family to eat at home and, and

those sorts of things?

Yeah, definitely. So I think it really differs per family. Like some families really like prepping completely on a Sunday, you know what I mean? Um, or like they have time to do that. And some families are last minute planners or like, my gosh, don't know what we're having for dinner and it's 5:30 and we have to eat in 30 minutes. So I think it really differs family to family. That's totally okay because there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach for everybody, right? Like that's just not how the world So I think figuring out what works best for you is really key. And like, I definitely work one-on-ones with families with that. But like what you're saying, so you probably have kiddos who go to a variety of different sports and

then you get home super late and you want food on the table. So I think basic tactics that you can employ are like cooking grains ahead of time. That is huge. So like getting rice or quinoa or even like a sweet potato or something along those lines, like cooked ahead of time, because if you're doing rice or quinoa, that takes like 2 minutes of your time to literally like scoop the grains out into a pot, add liquid, and let it do its thing. Put a timer on so you don't forget it. 'Cause I don't know how many times I've burnt rice.

Ooh.

You'd be surprised. Um, or just like putting sweet potatoes in the oven. Like that's kind of a set it and forget it thing. So I think doing small things. to help throughout the day, especially now that more people are working at home. So if you have 5 minutes while you're like maybe between Zoom calls or something along those lines, like that can be really beneficial to help mellowing out your evening. Other tactics for busy families. So I am a no recipe approach kind of person with this because like you said, you're looking for like 4 or 5 ingredient recipes and like, If you understand the methods behind it, you're not even gonna have to follow a recipe. You're gonna be able to use what you have in your fridge.

So having things that cook quick, like frozen veggies, oh my gosh, those are a lifesaver because they're already prepped out for you. You don't have to cut anything. You don't have to get a cutting board dirty. You don't have to get a knife dirty. Literally all you have to do is open a bag, put it on a sheet tray, and put it in the oven. Like those are, I don't think, again, there's like no one-size-fits-all, but like those are just some like quick approaches that you can take on a busy weeknight to make sure that you get meals on the table. Do you want me to go into more detail about like—

No, please.

Yeah.

Specifics of food?

Absolutely.

Cool, cool. So, I would say like my best tip for busy families on weeknights would be cooking that grain whether you do it earlier in the day or you're doing it at 5:30 to eat at 6:00, right? Like, this is all possible in 30 minutes. And usually, like, you don't have to get a cutting board dirty and that's Huge. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like cleaning, right? Like at all.

Right.

So, uh, okay. So yeah, like you'd start with your grains. I like building flavor from the ground up because it feels like you put a ton more effort into it, but you really didn't have to do anything. So get a pot on the stove, um, at the same time, or like right before, preheat your oven to 425 Fahrenheit. And that's about 220 Celsius. In case you guys happen to have a Celsius oven.

Um, we can, we can switch it over just for fun. Just to make it a little, mix it up for the night.

There you go. So get your oven hot, get that preheating, and then get your pot hot for your grains. Um, and quinoa and white rice cook really quick. I know white rice kind of gets like an unhealthy bad rap, but on busy weeknights, like I think if you get a side on and like, that's, that's way more impactful than having to worry about getting the whole grains in. And that's coming from a dietitian. So everything in moderation, guys.

Mm-hmm.

So get your pot hot.

So when you're talking about doing grain, when you're talking about doing grains like that, like rice and quinoa, are, are you talking about like, like steaming them in like in a pot? Are you talking about doing like sort of like a risotto preparation? I mean, yeah, definitely.

So it's kind of like a mix of both because like building flavor is kind of a mix of both. Right. So get, if you get oil the pot first and then you put your grains in there and allow them to toast for a minute or 2, they're going to get nutty and fragrant and they're going to have so much more flavor than they would have if you just put water in and then added your grains in. Because I don't know about you guys, but quinoa, plain quinoa is disgusting. I don't know if you agree. Y'all know.

It's gross. 100%. I mean, so when you're doing that, when you're talking about building flavor, are you going in Like, I mean, thinking about quinoa and rice, I mean, are you going in with water? Are you going in with like chicken stock, vegetable stock? I mean, like—

Oh, you're beating me to the punch, Craig. I love it.

You don't quite understand that Craig's a cook. So let's just throw that out there. Craig loves to cook. He's very good at it. He enjoys it. So you're in good company over here, at least.

I'm about to blow your mind then.

Oh, boom.

So yeah, building flavor. Yes. So I think the next thing that you would add after toasting your grain, whatever, would be herbs and spices. And it really is like whatever you're feeling that day. So if you're not comfortable cooking off script or without a recipe, like open 2 or 3 spice or herb containers, smell them together, and if they smell good together, then typically they're gonna taste good together. If you're not even sure where to start there, spin the globe, put your finger on a country, and try and mimic the flavor profile of that country just to— as a good way to start. So once you have your herbs and spices chosen, so let's just say for the purpose of this example we're

choosing ginger and maybe a tiny little bit of cinnamon because that can be really aggressive, and then you want to choose a flavorful liquid. So this kind of answers your question, Greg. Broke college me refused to eat ramen, so I would take tea bags and put them in my rice. So literally just like 2 black tea bags or like 2 green tea bags, like open the little piece of paper thing off and just like pop that in during the cooking process. You can add in water there so that you're like steeping in tea. You can add in like chicken stock or veggie stock like you said.

Yeah.

Or one of my favorites, you can do like a mango nectar or like an apricot nectar and water. combination so that you're really infusing flavor in.

What do you think? With the mango and the ginger that you're talking about with the cinnamon, that'd be fantastic.

I'm digging it.

It would be so good.

Is there a particular kind of like— so tea, you're close enough to England and some of these other countries that you know how serious this business can be. What kind of tea are we talking about? Because even here, I mean, like, there are some grocery stores where, like, you know, it's just, it's just vats. It's, it's free-range tea, basically. You know, we're not talking about tea bags. I mean, we're talking about, like, here's the tea, you need to put it in, like, the little metal, you know, tea. So are we talking about, like, a particular kind of tea that would go well with something like that? I mean, I'm very intrigued by this whole tea thing now.

Oh yeah, no, I just use whatever bag tea that I happen to have. Um, it's nothing fancy. But don't like use pre-sweetened Lipton. I'm not trying to call Lipton out, but like don't use that.

No, no, no. Let's call them out. Listen, Lipton. All right.

So Louisiana.

We're tired of your garbage tea.

So use a Louisiana instead, right?

That's right.

Great Value even.

Well, yeah, why not?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I honestly like Great Value tea is, is works perfectly for this. So whether it's like I probably wouldn't use a chamomile tea, but like any kind of herbal tea would be really good. Green tea, black tea. Um, you know, like those like lemon infused teas or like those raspberry infused teas. As long as there's no sugar added into like the tea bag itself, you can use any of those. Mix and match. Use your nose.

Okay. So, because it felt like you were kind of going like a, like a South Asian vibe going on there. I didn't know if we were looking for like jasmine or what.

Oh, I typically use jasmine rice.

Jasmine, okay.

That's a fun way to infuse flavor as well. Oh, that's a really good point too. So like the oil that you choose or like the fat that you choose can help infuse flavor as well. So like if you do want like an Asian flair to something, you can toast your grains in coconut oil and then add in like lemon zest, like when you would add in your spices and then kind of let it do its thing. That sounds really good.

Yeah, I'm ready. Let's make a meal. There's a, Is it sesame oil? That's the one you got to watch out for, right?

Yeah. Yeah. If you use sesame oil, use like 1 or 2 drops in olive oil. Yeah.

Because it's, it's really like potent, right? I mean, like it's—

Oh yeah.

Yeah. But I mean, like it would probably, it would probably like what you're talking about. It would probably give that, that cool nutty flavor if you're trying to do like an Asian vibe on that, on that rice.

Oh yeah, totally.

I'm digging it.

So do you wanna, you wanna restructure that rice? Maybe we can use a little bit of sesame oil in with the olive oil, toast the rice, add some ginger, add some black tea bags, add some water, maybe some mango nectar, maybe some other water. And okay, cool. Now it's going.

We got some goodness going on. I'm loving it.

Wow. Theoretical cooking at its finest.

And all of a sudden, all of a sudden we're at like 6-ingredient rice, let alone 6-ingredient meal.

You made it wild, man. Okay. But that, I think it's really good to point out here, right? Like, yes, it sounds really complicated when you're like theoretically cooking and just talking about it, but in your kitchen, all of those ingredients would be like right next to each other. If you're smelling different, like I keep my spices next to my tea. So like they're right next to each other.

Mm-hmm.

And like my rice is like 2 seconds away in my pantry. So I think if you like think of your kitchen layout. Oh, there we go. This is how it ties into the homeowner show, guys. Think of your kitchen layout. And like the efficiency there, I think it can save you a ton of time too. And that's not really talked about very much. Like kitchen efficiency.

Yeah. And what you're talking about is not necessarily— I mean, this could be cooked ahead of time, right? I mean, totally, you could cook this on Sunday, not eat it until Tuesday if you really want to, correct?

Yeah, totally.

Yeah, I mean, because that's part of— I think that one of the things I'm really hearing, especially going back maybe, you know, 5, 10 minutes ago in the conversation, was you were talking about trying to make these delicious meals in 30 minutes or less and all these sorts of things and, you know, bringing the kids into it and all that kind of stuff. Like, what I'm hearing is there's got to be— and you mentioned mind shift— like, there's definitely got to be a different way that you structure your time and you manage that time. And so, like, one of the things I know for me specifically as a dad is like, I get home from work

and my kids are already home. My wife had already gone picked them up from school, that kind of stuff. I get home from work and they just want to play, right? And sometimes it's like, look, it's, it's already 5:30. It's time. We, we get in bed early at my house with my kids. So we— I got to help my wife get in there and get dinner ready, all these sorts of things. But what I heard is I could actually be spending time, quality time with my kids if they were in the kitchen with me, helping me do those things. And they're learning a valuable skill at the same time. Right?

100%.

Yeah.

So I mean, they may not be like, you may not want them at the stove because I get it, like flame heat. That's scary. But they can definitely help you choose the flavors, right? Like they can be in the kitchen with you, like choosing the different herbs and spices that go together. Obviously, like Check their— check what they choose before you just like dump it in there, just to make sure. Give it the, the double check. Um, but yeah, I mean, the next step, like, they could totally help with. So I like to get veggies on next. And like I said earlier, like, frozen veggies are my go-to on busy weeknights because you don't have to get anything dirty.

You don't have to clean up. Um, so yeah, they can totally help like open a bag of broccoli. and just literally dump the full bag of broccoli on a parchment-lined sheet tray. The reason I say parchment-lined is so that the cleanup is easier because that's what this is all about, right? Like saving time.

Yeah.

So, I mean, they can help out with that. Maybe they're not like putting it into the oven, but when that comes back out, like they can help like put different herbs and spices on there as well. So, let me, let me retract. So, We're cooking in under 30 minutes. We have the rice or grains going, and then the next step would be to get the veggies and the protein going. So typically, I would like to do the protein first just because that might take a little bit longer than the veggies, but choosing quick-cooking proteins can be really impactful in saving time on busy weeknights. So boneless skinless chicken breast is a really good is a really good one, and I know people overcook that, so we can talk a bit

little bit about that in just a sec. Pork tenderloin is another Really quick cooking protein. And then any kind of like frozen fish fillets. So like frozen salmon fillets. Uh, I prefer the ones without any skin just because the skin is what like makes your house stinky. So if you don't have skin on your salmon or on any of your fish, like you're not gonna get the stink in the house. So with frozen fish, I think that that's perfect for busy weeknights because it can literally come out of the freezer onto your parchment-lined sheet tray.

Mm-hmm.

No defrost needed and it'll be ready in like 15 to 18-ish minutes depending on how big the fillet is. And like that's something you can literally just— I don't know, you can do different herbs or spices on there. But one of my favorites is to just squeeze some Dijon mustard on the frozen piece of salmon and like encrust it. There you go.

Yeah.

Literally squeeze it on and like pop that in the oven and then it's good to go. So there are definitely some simple tricks to make food really flavorful and not have to do a lot to it.

So yeah, I think, I think Dijon is probably one of those like, you know, overlooked condiments as far as like adding spice to like proteins and other things. Like, I mean, there's a—

it can add a lot.

I mean, especially what you're talking about, like a piece of salmon, and that, that's delicious just with, with, with the Dijon.

Yeah, definitely. And like When it comes out of the oven, like different ways to amp up that flavor, just so again, it feels like it was really well thought out. Like you could finish it with like lemon zest or lemon juice, or if you have fresh herbs, perhaps in an herb garden, like finish it with some, I don't know, fresh basil or something along those lines, or fresh thyme or oregano. So yeah, there's definitely a lot of ways to like amp up flavor throughout the cooking process that don't necessarily take more time. Mm-hmm.

So if I'm hearing you right, are you talking about cooking that salmon in the oven?

Yes.

So that's why we had that, you know, 200-some-odd degrees, whatever it was. Celsius, Celsius, we need to acknowledge our metric friends.

425.

Or would that be Chelsea-us for our friends? Chelsea-us, that's right here.

Oh.

Okay, see what I did there?

See, there you go.

It may be late, but it's dad joke time. All right, go, go forth with your comment.

Just try.

Yeah, so I, I think, um, I, I think one of the things that, that is really important is making things simple because it is really, really challenging. Um, just, you know, there's so many things. There's homework, there's, um, there, there's, you know, bedtime, there's showers, there's all of these things that have to happen within like a 2 or 3 hour time span. And yeah, if for my kids, I know if they don't eat, it all is just going downhill fast, right? So getting them fed with something they will actually enjoy, something they'll actually eat, um, it's a big thing, you know? It's a really, really big thing. So—

Totally.

So you, you mentioned chicken. We eat lots and lots of chicken in my house because like you said, I mean, it's, it's very accessible. It's inexpensive and it cooks up quick, you know?

Yeah.

But I'm very careful not to overcook chicken. But what are your methods?

Yeah, definitely. So I think the best, maybe not the best tool, but like a really good tool to have in the kitchen is a thermometer.

Yeah.

An instant, like a digital instant read thermometer. That's going to save you every time. But if you don't have one of those, using ye olde chef method of your hand. So like if you poke like the squishy part by your thumb, uh, without like any of your fingers curled, that means it's raw. And then more fingers you put down. So like your pointer finger down, that would be like mid-rare or— yeah, mid-rare. Uh, and then the further you go down, medium, medium well, and then your pinky hitting the squishy part of your thumb.

Mm-hmm.

That would be well done.

It means you're a monster.

Yeah, there's something wrong with you. And it really doesn't matter what kind of meat, right?

You're, you're a non-top sheeter.

I, I can define you as a non-top sheeter.

Yeah, I've, I've learned everything I need to learn about you as a person at that point.

Yeah, exactly.

I think for chicken though, like, people just get scared of like undercooking it because of salmonella and Whatnot. But, um, I think like if you have, if you don't, okay, not like a giant piece of chicken, like, you know what I mean? Like the—

I'm not talking about like a whole chicken.

Like, yeah, you don't need like a giant piece of chicken, like the size of my hand. But like if you have, I don't know, like a piece of chicken the size of the palm of your hand, that's gonna cook up in like 12 to 15 minutes. If you have a slightly larger piece of chicken, like in the oven at 425, that'll be done in like 20 to 25 minutes. So there's no reason for the chicken to be in the oven for 45 minutes. One of my friends cooked the tiniest piece of chicken in the oven for 45 minutes and her husband refused to eat it.

Well, yeah, I couldn't chew it. No, right? It's like you threw it at the dog and it like hit him in the head and it's like bounced off.

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So like, I, I think, I think one of the things that has really helped us is we've actually gotten away from buying full chicken breasts and going the chicken tenderloin route, just because they're, they're smaller pieces. They are, they're, they cook quicker. And typically for my kids, they're a better portion, already portioned out. So the chicken tenderloin route might be a really good option for people.

So.

Definitely.

There you go.

Sometimes they are a little bit more like price point-wise.

Worth it.

If—

yeah, I was gonna say if the time is worth it, then yeah, totally.

Yeah, yeah. So we actually buy ours at Sam's in like the fresh, fresh meat area. They come pre-packaged, but, um, it, it might be slightly more expensive, but at the end of the day, it's, it's easier to, to cook up. And, and the other thing you mentioned, the GMO, like I, I had a, I had a friend who, who worked in with, in like the chicken industry for a long time. And basically, he was telling me the difference in like the way they're, they're breeding chickens today versus, um, you know, more free-range type, type chickens is there's a difference in weight between like, you know, like a 6-pound chicken or like a, a 10-pound chicken.

And they're, you know, they're realizing that the time it takes to grow a 10-pound chicken is only like an extra couple of weeks. And so it makes more sense for them to do that. And then they can sell them quite a bit more because it's the same price, you know, per pound, right? And so if they—

Yeah.

If they sell a larger chicken breast, they, they make more money. But that is a really difficult piece of chicken to eat, and it's a difficult piece of chicken to cook. So Yeah, I mean, paying attention to what you're purchasing also makes a big difference. And I don't, I don't know if you get into that with, with some of your, the people that you're teaching with, with how to purchase food. Is that something that, that is, is part of what y'all talk about?

Yeah, definitely. So there is a whole week on like how to approach the grocery store and like price point-wise versus I guess quality-wise and what's going to work best for you and your family. So, yeah, we definitely do get into that. And I get that for some people, buying hyper-local and hyper-organic or grass-fed all the time, that's expensive.

Yeah.

So, I get that that's not an option for everyone. But if you can do it in a couple of areas, there's usually a list every year like the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 13 or something along those lines for like the cleanest vegetables so that you don't have to buy them organic and then the dirtiest vegetables that you probably should buy organic. So yeah, there's definitely ways to kind of budget and see what works best for your family there. But I'm not going to give a straight up, you got to do this, because not everyone can and I totally understand that.

Yeah. And at the end of the day, a frozen vegetable is going to be better than a non-vegetable, all, you know, not eating a vegetable, right? And I was—

That's actually a really good point. So frozen veggies are actually picked at like prime ripeness and usually processed on the farm where they're picked or like very close to the farm where they're picked within hours of being picked. So oftentimes frozen veggies are actually going to be more nutritious than the fresh veggies that you're purchasing at the grocery store. Because those veggies have been in transit for probably a week depending on where they're coming from. Um, and then they're in your fridge for a couple of days at least before you're eating them. So oftentimes frozen veggies are actually going to be more nutritious.

Yeah. And they're, they're a lot of times they're, I've heard this term before, like flash frozen, right? Like they, they freeze them really, really quickly. And that way it kind of locks in some of the nutrients and those sorts of things. Is that, is that true?

Totally.

Okay.

Yes.

Do you have some, uh, some, some go-to frozen veggies that are like, you know, like, I always have some of these in my freezer to make sure that— because these are really easy to prepare quickly and, and that, you know, the, the flavor works well with a lot of different profiles?

Yes, this leads so perfectly into the next step of the 30-minute process as well. So the best veggies for roasting by far: broccoli, cauliflower, Basically, anything cruciferous like that.

That is a word that no one in this room over here understands.

Nope. Yep. Well, thank you for projecting on me.

No, I knew that already.

I do sleep under a top sheet, Craig. I know things, but I don't know that.

To simplify it, it's all of the veggies that kind of give you a little rumble in your tummy.

Beans?

You know what I'm saying?

Are you talking about beans? You know, good for your heart, that kind of stuff.

Not beans, but like, no, like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage.

They give you the toots, Kevin.

Oh, okay. Gotcha.

Yeah. So those reheat really well in the oven. Same with like carrots. I think that those are all perfect for roasting. So those are really great to have on hand. I also really recommend having like dark leafy greens on hand. So like kale, spinach, things like that, because you can do more with them than just add them to soups. So if you guys actually check out my Instagram, I have a reel this week of like a couple of different ways to use, um, frozen greens in particular. So I think having those on hand is really good. Um, honestly, all of those vegetables, like frozen corn, frozen peas, I even have like frozen sliced onion and frozen sliced bell peppers because some nights I just don't want to

get a cutting board dirty, to be completely honest.

Yeah.

The only thing about some of these veggies, so like especially the onions and the bell peppers, for example, like they're not going to have the same crunch that a fresh bell pepper or onion would have. So I think that it's just important to note that like the You can't really cook them al dente. They are going to be a little bit mushier, but that doesn't decrease the nutritional value of them, if that makes sense. So I think having these on hand though can make your life so much easier because you're skipping the whole step of having to prep anything and you're literally just going to cooking. So all of the frozen vegetables, if you have a freezer that's big enough for them, have all of the frozen vegetables on hand so that you can really mix it up throughout the week. But

going back to just dropping veggies on a sheet tray, so your little kiddo can help you open a bag of frozen broccoli, for example. You put it on a parchment-lined sheet tray. It's directly into the oven. Like, you literally do nothing to it before it goes into the oven. Reason being, it's going to release water. So if you put any herbs or spices on it, or if you put olive oil on it before it goes into the oven, you're gonna have a water-oil slop mess at the bottom of your sheet tray, and that's all of— like, everything you put on it is just gonna get washed away.

And from what I've heard about oil and water, they don't get along.

Hmm, no, they don't.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Yeah, so it's just a rumor at this So like at this point in the cooking process, your grains are basically done. Your meat's already in the oven. Um, your greens or whatever veggie you chose is already in the oven and everything should be done around the same time. I would say like that 25 to like 28 minute mark. So when you're pulling all of this out, um, especially the broccoli, for example, like you want to drain the remaining liquid because it will release liquid and that's when you're going to want to toss it with a quality, I would say like extra virgin olive oil, just because you're not cooking it. So you do want to use something that's like actually going to taste good here. And then you can add different herbs or different spices

on it as well, but do that when it comes out. And yeah, you'll have dinner super quick and it'll be well balanced and it'll feel like you spent hours cooking it, but it came together super quick.

Yeah, I think a lot of people tend to season before they put things into the oven or into the pot. I think that's what you're— what I'm hearing you say is probably backwards for some people.

Just with frozen veggies though.

Okay, okay, gotcha.

Yeah, all right, with fresh veggies, do the things the normal way— olive oil, your herbs and spices beforehand. But just with frozen veggies, everything's a little bit backwards. Same with sautéing, like like relatively cold pan, relative or still frozen veggies, and then you want to like steam them in the pan before you add in any olive oil. Because if not, you're just going to have a water-oil spitfire coming at you and it's going to be super dangerous.

Could be fun. I mean, a little adventurous, you know. I'm not saying you should do it. I'm just saying, you know, it'd be funny. It could be interesting. You get a story out of it.

Yeah. For sure. Okay, I got another question.

You can't see my arms, but I have tons of stories from burns.

Oh, yeah. Okay, so here's another question. Where does fruit come into the mix? Does fruit—

I mean, you can totally have fruit with dinner.

So, for my family, like, my kids, we don't give them lots of, like, candy and those sorts of things. So fruit is huge in my house because that's where they get most of their sweets, right? So are there, are there fruits in your mind that are, that are better than others? I know that, you know, for example, like, like an apple is going to have a whole lot different nutritional value than, I don't know, a blueberry, for example. So, do you have any suggestions as far as that goes?

Eat the rainbow.

Okay.

Eat the rainbow and, if you can, eat seasonally, depending on where you live. Seasons are going to be different depending on where you live. But, if you can eat seasonally, then the fruit's going to taste really good. I don't know if you've ever had a blueberry out of season, but it kind of doesn't taste like anything. So, really take advantage of those seasonal fruits when you can. Have the most juicy peach during the summer. In the winter, enjoy an apple, enjoy a pear. And actually, if you eat seasonally like that, whether it's fruits or veggies, you're gonna be, I guess you could say, like, more well-prepared for that season. So, like, in the wintertime, we have these, like, dark leafy greens and citrus, and those both have a ton of

vitamin C. So that's actually gonna, like, naturally prepare us to, like, fight off a cold. during the wintertime.

Hmm.

So I think if you can eat seasonally, eat a variety of different things, then that's going to be really beneficial. That being said, I get fruits and veggies— yeah, I get fruits can be— especially berries can be really expensive. So buying those frozen can be really cool too. Frozen berries are a great addition to like yogurt in the morning or just like defrosted and like, I guess, like a little slushy snack. They're also really good in oatmeal.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

True.

I haven't had a good bowl of oatmeal in— I can't remember when.

Mm. Okay, so here's a—

I'm too tempted to like make it half brown sugar.

Well, yeah, that's because it tastes better that way. So, but, but here's a question.

And butter. It's basically just a bowl of brown sugar and butter.

Well, yeah.

I've never put butter in my oats before. That sounds so good.

Oh really?

It's—

no.

Yeah.

Oh, any— in milk too.

Well, I mean, you can. Oh yeah, I had milk.

Yeah.

Milk.

Yeah. Yeah, but, but definitely those two.

So all the creams, why not?

Here's the really important question.

Mm-hmm.

Have you ever maltomealed?

No, I sleep with a top sheet.

Oh, so maltomeal is one of those things that most people like—

Isn't like a weird kind of like chocolate?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's, it's, um, no, it's like the inside of a Whopper. No, no, no, it's not like the cheeseburger, like the candy.

Like that, that's malt inside.

No, it's not chocolate.

I know what I'm talking about here.

You might, but you're wrong.

It's malt.

Um, no, you're wrong. So, uh, you should go check it out. Most people that, that have ever tried malt-o-meal think it's terrible. However, I have this really, really, um, I will forever have childhood memory of going to my grandparents' house and my granddad Um, we called him Papa. Um, he, he made malt meal every morning, every morning for himself and, and for us. And nobody could ever make malt meal like he made it. But, um, most people just don't know how to make it. And I think that kind of speaks to your point over there, Chell, is that like making things the correct way tastes really good, right? But whenever you don't It's just like, that's terrible.

I need— Kevin, I need you to read that for me right there.

Whoppers. That's not a malted milk. That's Whoppers. Whoppers are a what? They're a malted milk candy. There you go. Yeah, but that's not malted milk. They're different.

That's not different.

It's the exact same. No, no, no.

Chunky?

No.

Is it like oats?

No, no, no. It's actually really smooth.

It's like grits.

It's, it's definitely got a more smooth texture than grits even. It's, it's— yeah, it's more powdery for sure.

Have you had the inside of a Whopper?

Like the chocolate candy? Yeah, powdery. That, yeah, that's malt.

It's powdery. Yeah, but it's—

Kevin is— he's trying to get out of this because he don't wanna be wrong. Malt is on the inside of a Whopper. It's the same stuff from malt-o-meal.

Yeah, but it's not chocolate. You said chocolatey.

Yeah, I know that, but that's 'cause it's inside of a Whopper. There's chocolate on the outside of a Whopper, on the inside is malt.

Y'all, we do this all day long. You don't even know. Most people don't know. We just argue most of the time. And neither of us win.

I won.

No, you didn't. It's on the internet, it's true. Yeah, exactly.

It's the top result. It's right there.

Oh, Wikipedia, okay. No, that's right.

I'm sending you the link, Joe.

Okay, cool.

That's awesome. Hey, I got another cool thing here because we were on Instagram. You do something that's really, really fun, and that is that you you have people come on your show and you give them the opportunity to go to their pantry, right? Can you, can you tell us a little bit about that segment?

Yeah. So I started it a couple of weeks ago. Oh my God, like 8 weeks ago now. So like 2 months ago. Wow. It's called Mama, What's in Your Pantry? And we go live together and she tells me 3 items. It's a total surprise, 3 items that she chooses that are in her pantry and Live à la minute, I give inventive ways how to use those items.

Wow!

Oh, I want. I want right off the bat. What's the weirdest one you've gotten so far?

That's my question too.

Um, there's been a lot of repeats, but I would say like pumpkin. I feel like people don't know what to use pumpkin for.

I do. Like the trash goes straight into the trash. Your trash. Yeah.

Get that in.

Like not during like PSL season or like pumpkin pie season. Like people just have pumpkin in their cupboards the whole year.

Interesting.

I love savory pumpkin stuff.

Yeah. What would you do with it?

Well, I have filled ravioli with like chipotle and ricotta.

Yeah.

That was super tasty. I've made a sauce with it before too. I mean, it depends on if it's sweetened or not. So if it's sweetened, it makes it a little bit more challenging, I think.

Definitely. I was thinking like a pumpkin risotto could be really cool. So like putting some of the pumpkin like puree into like the liquid that you're like using for your risotto.

Oh yeah, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Sorry, I don't like pumpkin.

He's, he's a picky eater, Joe.

No, I'm really not.

He is. Don't let him fool you.

No, I just don't like pumpkin. I mean, it's fine, right?

No, it's not.

Okay.

It's un-American.

Okay.

And she's in Germany and she knows that.

Yeah, I'm sure she does.

I think another one that I got that, like, you would typically think of as a sweet item, uh, was cocoa powder.

Hmm.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, it's interesting. It's interesting how, how many people think that cocoa powder is a sweetened type of thing. Like, oh, it's gonna be sweet. Like, I actually put cocoa powder in chili. Yeah, most people— yeah, most people are like, chocolate? It's like, no, I don't think you have the right understanding of what cocoa powder actually is.

I've seen a lot of people throw like Hershey's bars into like pots of chili.

Oh, okay.

Just to kind of get that flavor.

Yeah, that cocoa.

So yeah, well, you say like, you like cocoa powder. I mean, like, my brain immediately goes mole.

Hmm. Oh, yeah.

Interesting. But yeah.

I love doing a fole. Mexican grandmothers, I'm sure, would roll over in their graves, but folies don't have to be complicated.

No, they don't. So what do you mean when you say fole?

I use like red Mexico chilies, rehydrate them in some water, and then add in cocoa powder, cumin, coriander, Chili, like chili powder and just let it go for a little bit.

Yeah.

Uh, and then I'll add in my beef or like pork or whatever protein and just let it go. But that's, I feel like it's a disrespectful mole, but it's really good.

Sorry, we're, we're laughing over here because, um, our friend David, he lives out in California. Uh, he just posted that a ribeye on the grill is less than 30 minutes.

Actually, a good ribeye on the grill is about 45 minutes.

grill is actually less than about 5 minutes.

Yeah.

I feel like, I mean, I mean, I think it depends on how thick your ribeye is.

But yeah, that's fair.

I worked for a restaurant in Vegas where we had like 2.5-inch thick ribeyes.

Oh yeah.

And it was 10 minutes on either side. So like 5, and then you like do the grill marks and then you flip it 5, do the grill marks, and then you still have to cook it on the fat. Yeah. So yeah, it was like a 25-minute pickup time.

Oh wow.

Easily.

I still— David, to your point, I'm still under 30.

Yeah.

Still under 30 minutes.

He's not wrong. He's not wrong.

That's good. No, your, your folie sounds amazing. I, you know, I don't care who starts rolling over in their graves, I would eat it.

So. Thank you.

Yeah. All right, so, so here's a quick question. Do you have a favorite, like, genre of food? Like a flavor palette, whatever you really want to call it.

Yeah, so I've only worked in Italian restaurants. I think that's saying something, but I really enjoy cooking like Asian at home. Okay, I do a lot of stir-fries. I really love using fresh ginger and a ton of garlic, whether that be Italian-related or Asian-related. But yeah, I really love doing stir-fries.

We did a stir-fry, uh, couple of nights ago, and we don't do that very often, but it was really very quick. It did not take long, and it was, it was really good. We don't cook with a lot of ginger just because it's not— we don't do lots of Asian foods. But, um, but yeah, it was really, really good. We love garlic, so that's perfect for that type of stuff.

Yeah, and like, if you don't want to prep and you don't mind veggies that like don't have a ton of crunch in them, Like using those frozen, um, the frozen bell peppers or frozen onions is like a perfect way to start a stir fry. And then like you can get, I don't know, they have like other frozen veggies that you might want to add in, or they even have like a frozen stir fry blend that you can use. I like doing that and then adding in like tiny little frozen shrimp and that stir fry comes together in under 10 minutes and you literally just get one pan dirty.

Nice. Yep.

Anytime you can do dinner in one pan, you're winning.

Yeah, totally.

Most definitely, most definitely.

Well, I'm actually curious. I mean, I'm thinking about, you know, potentially moms and dads listening to this going, yeah, I can get dinner on the table in 30 minutes with what you're talking about, but like my kids are, you know, chicken nugget and mac and cheese kids. How do you, you know, help turn the tide on some of that where it's like, okay, like we're not gonna do the noodles and cheese and the chicken nuggets, but like we're gonna shift it a little bit Yeah, definitely.

So it's a mindset shift, and if this is something that you're just starting, it's not going to happen overnight. This is going to take at least a couple of weeks, if not a couple of months or longer, to be completely honest. So I think presenting them with foods that they still find familiar and then introducing new foods as well. So maybe the first couple of weeks it is, you know, a little bit of a struggle to get them to eat mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and just that roasted broccoli component that you're doing. And then as time progresses, then they're seeing the chicken that you're eating and they, they can start to incorporate that in instead of the chicken nuggets. So I think slow incorporation can be really

beneficial, especially if you're dealing with a particularly picky eater.

You mean like Kevin?

But it's also—

exactly. Jerk.

But it's also about— it's totally also about your mindset too. So like, if you're saying to your child, hey, we're learning to like this, it's okay. Like, it's okay if it's not your favorite right now, but we're learning to like this, rather than saying or like reinforcing that they don't like it. So I think a change in, a change in your tone, a change in your words is really important there. So empowering your child by saying like, okay, so tonight you can have broccoli or you can have carrots. And those are 2 choices that are like okay with you as the parent, but they feel like they're making a decision. So you can do that with a variety of different things. Like it

doesn't just have to be veggies. Like it can be, would you like mac and cheese or rice? And then they at least feel empowered to make that decision.

Yeah.

It may be more challenging for the first couple of months, but then they get used to it. Like through that transition, maybe challenging for longer than that, but I think empowerment is really important, especially if they are picky and still learning to enjoy different foods.

Yeah.

Are there some techniques you can use to kind of help the flavor profile of some of those maybe more challenging vegetables and things like that?

Definitely. I think presenting them, using different cooking methods to present them, right? Raw broccoli tastes different than steamed, and it tastes different than sautéed versus roasted. So exploring different cooking methods, and it doesn't have to all be in the same night, but present vegetables in different ways to your kiddos. And don't just drown it out in cheese. Like, allow them to try the veggie on its own first. And the first couple of times, like, especially if they're not super into it, it might just be that like, They're touching it and playing with their food. And depending on their age, like, that might actually be okay because that's like a sensory development thing. So if they're getting to

like play with it, cool. Maybe the next time they'll touch it to their lip and then that's all they have to do that day. Maybe the next time they'll like take a bite, roll it around in their mouth, and if they're still not digging it, like, you can still give them the option to spit it out. And not in like a dramatic way, but like— Hey, this is something that you're not into. Like, That's fine. You can spit it out, but do it without the dramatics. And then maybe eventually they will actually try it, swallow it, enjoy it. But that takes time. But I think it also helps if, like, you're enjoying it and you're, like, making yummy sounds and, like, you're like, oh my gosh, this is so good. Or if they did help with it, because

that can be really impactful as well, be like, wow, Johnny, like, This is so good. You did such a good job cooking the broccoli. Don't you want to try it? Or something like that. So I think all of those combined can really be helpful to getting your family from point A to point B on the picky scale.

Yeah, and I think you just alluded to it right there, is like them being part of the cooking process probably really helps them buy into actually wanting to try it and eat it.

Definitely. Oh, so food shaming isn't really the way to go?

Like, not ideal.

Oh, okay. Okay, just checking.

Except in this instance right here in which we're going to shame you.

The problem is I feel no shame.

We'll see about that.

I don't care. I just don't care.

Give me time.

All the time in the world, buddy. Oh my goodness. Where were we? I derailed.

Yeah, you did.

Oh, you're good. I was just gonna say, on busy weeknights, like, I get it, it's gonna be hard to get your kiddos in the kitchen. But even if they're just in the kitchen like once a week with you, maybe it's a Friday evening, maybe it's on the weekend, it's gonna be so much more impactful than them not being in the kitchen. So yeah, it's just once a week.

Yeah, and it goes back to what we were talking about, like, you can still spend time with your kids And not just feel like, oh, they're, you know, they're not getting quality time with mom or dad, right? They're still getting quality time and they're learning a skill and they're buying into what they're actually eating. It's kind of a win-win-win in my opinion.

Yeah, totally.

Well, do you have any go-to gadgets in the kitchen that really help speed up things on dinner time?

I think kitchen essentials are at least 2 sheet trays. And that's just like, I guess what you would call like a baking tray, like a rimmed baking tray with those 1-inch sides. 2 of those for sure. A quality chef knife and ditch the— oh, what are they called? Ditch the ceramic ones. Those suck.

Right.

Get yourself, get yourself like one good chef knife and it doesn't have to be expensive. You just need to keep it sharp. So that being said, like, get yourself a hone as well. And like once a week, just make sure your knife is honed and you'll be good to go.

Yeah. Um, might be a good skill. Learn how to sharpen the knife. That's, you know, yeah, definitely.

It's not difficult.

No, not at all. And if you guys need a video on that, let me know on Instagram and I'm totally happy to make a reel on how to sharpen a knife.

I think you should.

Um, yeah. I might, I might.

We could, we could, we could get on there together. We could, we could do like a little, you know, a little sharpen. No? Okay, that's fine.

Is that, is that how you sharpen your knives, Craig?

Every Tuesday.

Dance a little bit? There's not a lot of sharpening going on, but my wife needs a show.

I'm not taking her downtown.

That's the one she gets.

That's the one with the knives.

Oh man, it is late here, y'all. Oh my goodness. All right, so good knife. What else?

Uh, a plastic cutting board, like, like a decently thick but plastic cutting board. People who have glass cutting boards, throw them away now or use them as a cheese board. Do not cut anything on that. It's gonna ruin your knives.

Yeah.

That's like huge. Do not do that.

Um, no wooden cutting boards.

Oh yeah, you can totally use a wooden cutting board. My only concern with that though is that like they hold on to smells. So like if you're cutting chicken, for example, like don't use your wooden cutting board, you know.

That's, that's what I've heard about them is like they, I mean, like they tend to absorb things and then retain them.

Well, there's only one thing that I would say to that, and that is that it really, really, really depends on the wooden cutting board. I mean, if you buy your—

you mean the kind of wood Not—

yes, yes, definitely the kind of wood, but also the finish that's put on it. Like, if you buy your cutting board at Walmart or Target and it's wooden, um, it's probably a piece of junk. But it— well, a good quality—

Is that a sponsor now?

Yeah, sorry, Walmart is his sponsor.

We're just knocking them off right now. Yeah, that's right, narrowing the list.

But seriously, if you get a good hardwood cutting board and it's finished out really, really well, and a lot of times they're not finished out with the types of things that you think that they're finished out with, like grapeseed oil and different things like that, or, or ways that they can stay really, really good. And so if they're done really well, they retain the smell less. However, I do agree with you. At the end of the day, if you don't want it to retain smell, Plastic's got to be the way to go.

Yeah, and you can't really put a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm not a huge fan of washing dishes.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I understand that.

Fair. I got a little elbow grease in me. I can do it.

Yeah, I don't like it. Well, that's the point though, that you don't like it, so use the dishwasher.

I'm not like looking forward to it.

Okay, I'll scrub a dish. Okay. I mean, I actually do most of the dishwashing at my house, but that's fine. It's all good. So, all right. What else?

I think the last 2 things would be a really good, like, stainless steel pan. I'm not a super huge fan of nonstick just because, like, you can't cook high heat on them and, like, they're nonstick for maybe a month after you buy them. And then, like, the weird Teflon coating or, like, whatever the new coating's on, it comes off on the new pans, like, comes off. It gets funky. That's toxins in your body that you don't need. So, get some good stainless steel pans and also get yourself a good cast iron. Both of those can totally be nonstick. You just have to heat them up like before you use them.

Yes.

Like on your stove or in your oven, drizzle them with a little bit of olive oil, and then they'll be good to go. And, yes, you can wash a cast iron pan. I know that that is an unpopular opinion, but I've had a cast iron pan where someone cooked the lamb in it the day before and then a cookie And it was gross.

Oh, well, I think I'd rather eat pumpkin.

So here's, here's, here's the deal with that is you— I mean, I think you and I talked about this before. So we had the, the cowboy catering company that we, that we had before, and so we had specific dessert cast iron and then savory cast iron for that very reason.

Yeah.

Now, if you've only got one, yeah, scrub it out. But other than that, I mean, just get another one. I mean, like, they're what, they're $20?

No, they're not. They're not too bad.

Yeah.

And they last forever.

Yeah.

Yeah. Especially if you take care of them.

Unlike cast iron plumbing.

Hmm. Yep. That—

I don't know why it's a difference, but it is.

Well, I think it's seasoned differently.

It's definitely a different seasoning.

You're not rubbing your pipes with salt and olive oil on the regular?

Initially, yes.

Right. It gets weird.

Secondary seasoning is where it gets you.

It's more acidic, really, the secondary seasoning. That's right.

All right, so I have a very important question for you because I feel like we're on the the same plane here when it comes to cooking. And I don't know how many previous episodes you listened to, but one of my big things— well, let me just ask you this. How do you feel about microwaves?

I think they're great for convenience. Of like, if you're, for example, like if you're at work and you need to reheat food real quick, right? Like, You're not gonna use your car as like a solar oven to reheat your lunch. So I think if you're, if you're on the fly and you need it real quick, sure, go for it.

Right.

Um, but I'm not gonna cook a full meal in there, you know?

How, how often do you use one?

Uh, literally just to reheat stuff on occasion.

Yeah.

I, I'd prefer to reheat it in a pan though, most of the time.

Thank you.

Yeah, in our last apartment we didn't even have a microwave, so I had to like— I like specifically froth my milk for my coffee in the morning, and I needed a tiny little pan to be able to do that.

Yes.

So I haven't had one for 6 years. I just— I despise them. I think they're of the devil.

It's true. That, that's definitely what he thinks.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't like them at all.

No, he's had plenty of— in fact, we did a, we did a like a top 3 kitchen, kitchen appliance episode.

Like what would be like our top 3 appliances in the kitchen.

And he, I think one of his was not microwave. Not microwave. Something like that.

Yeah, so there's many reasons One, I just, I've never, I've never taken anything out of the microwave and gone, this is the most delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth.

Oh yeah, no.

Never happened. So why would I do that to myself?

Yeah.

I mean, it's like using a steaming cooking method or like boiling, you know what I mean? Like it's just not lending any flavor to the cooking process at all.

Well, and like, I think, you know, it's been very good marketing, right? Because everyone says, let's just microwave the food. And I'm like, okay, how about if I told you let's radiate the food? Because that's really what you're doing.

Sure.

It's radiation, which I mean, like if you told people that's what you're doing, I mean, like they would never do it again. Like if that was like on the label, like, hey, let's radiate this food to where it's scalding hot and it'll burn a hole in your intestines. That sounds delicious.

We should definitely start a campaign, blow it up.

He's doing the best he can.

I don't know what else to do. I've got this show. We've got this platform.

That's really the only reason we started this was so that he could tell people how much the Maytag people have a Lincoln parked out in front of the property. Yeah, they're exactly. I mean, his wife even hates him a little bit for it. So I'm not wrong, am I?

No, no, she loves me.

Put it on your Facebook group and it'll blow up and it'll be the next. top sheet.

Oh, that's actually true. Okay, I think, I think she's on to something there.

I'll do that. Yeah, the— I need to— this needs to be like a political campaign. Like, the—

it does.

It definitely needs to be carefully thought out. Yeah, and, and the Canva, you know, background meme thing needs to really be well positioned. And, um, I mean, this could take the Anti-Radiation League. Yeah, I mean, this is something that should take you at least 10 minutes to think through.

No, I need a good 5. Otherwise, I'll just lose steam.

That's okay.

ARL. Oh man. Yes.

I'm making t-shirts right now. It's going in my Amazon shop.

That's good. All right, well, here's a— A good question to kind of wrap things up. What have we not touched on that you really think is important? Anything that we haven't really hit on that you want to mention?

Yeah, so for busy families out there, if you guys want to start saving time in the kitchen, um, hit me up on Instagram. Uh, follow me there. I post a ton of information of like fast, easy ways that you can start saving time. If you love what I have to say, I have a mini course where you can get a little bit more in depth and learn some of these skills. And if you really, really like me, we can work together for 3 months and I can help you gain tons of time back in the kitchen and make more time for your family, which is what matters.

That sounds awesome.

Yeah, very, very cool. Awesome.

We're gonna, we're gonna link all that up in the show notes, make sure everybody can find all that information. Um, so if we don't have anything else, Kev.

Yeah, so, um, it's, it's time for the, the one thing that people really listen to the show for.

They've been hanging on this whole time.

They've been waiting with, with bated breath, and that is the Final Four.

The Final Four.

That's right, the final 4 questions we ask each and every one of our guests. So you are not immune to this either, Chell. So—

I think that bated breath this week has got a little garlic hit to it.

Yeah, well, all right, you know, it's fresh garlic. Fresh garlic.

That's different, right?

So, all right, here we go. So these are the 4 questions that we ask all of our guests. So the very first one here, Chell, you ready? What is the must-have tool that you won't leave your house without?

Oh, I feel like this is such a millennial answer, but—

Oh, there it is.

Because it's, it's my business though. Like, literally everything is on there, and I almost dropped it in the river one day when I was running. So—

Wow.

It's good. What do you— what do you—

is that— you rocking the iPhone? You rocking some Android? What do you got there?

Uh, no, it's the iPhone. It's the one— it's the really crappy one that came out last year. between the 11 and the 12 because I was too cheap to buy the other one.

Yeah, okay, but it works.

Yeah, it's fine.

All right, it's fine, whatever. No, but honestly, number one answer we get on here is the phone.

iPhone.

Yeah, or just phone in general. For good reason. Yeah, for good reason.

It's everybody's everything these days.

Absolutely. So I, I don't leave my house without it. Yeah, it's right there.

I can see it next to you.

Yeah, right. I mean, there's literally very few things that I don't leave my house without except my phone and clothes. And thank God for that. It's optional every once in a while on that one. So, all right. Second question. What is it? What is a job or a project that you've walked away from? So when we were designing this question, a lot about You know, home renovations that we kind of had in our mind. You start a project and then it just, you know, get into it, you can't really do it. But we miswrote it and we actually said, what is a job that you walked away from? So a lot of people even take that as a

career, maybe something that you've changed in your life over time. But anyway, do you have anything, a job or a project that you walked away from?

So, I don't own a home. I live in someone else's really nice condo.

Awesome.

So, I can't do anything. I can barely hang things on the walls. So, I think a job that I walked away from was in the hospital setting, like as a dietitian in the hospital setting, and that was because I gave heart education to a former cardiac doctor who was in the ICU for heart failure.

Oh my goodness.

Wow.

Yeah.

Ooh, that man.

I couldn't make a difference there.

That's.

There's no there's no crack in that that walnut.

No. I mean, you've done what you could, right?

Yeah.

All right. Well, cool.

I don't know. Imagine.

I don't know what else to say.

I don't know how long ago that was.

I don't.

I can't imagine he's still with us. No.

I would think that he just was like, you know what, screw it, I'm done, right?

So let me rephrase that. Like, I didn't walk away immediately. It's not like I left the room mid-education and I was like, peace out, I'm done, right?

No, I ain't doing this.

Yeah, I'm out. That's funny. That's funny. All right, 3rd question. How do you wind down at the end of a long day?

Uh, rom-coms. I love a good rom-com.

Okay, you have one in particular that you love?

Uh, I feel like the one that I go back to often, it's an oldie but a goodie, is Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake.

Okay. All right. Wow. I, I can honestly say I've never seen that.

I was, I was just thinking she probably had McConaughey on repeat.

Of course.

I mean, he only did like 20 of them.

Yeah, I mean, I do.

She's laughing because she knows what I'm talking about. Oh yeah, she's seen a couple. Oh yeah, I know Failure to Launch.

Oh yeah, okay, now that one, that was great. It's fantastic.

What was the one where he was like a deep sea diver and, uh, Goldie Hawn's daughter is in it? Oh yeah, Escape Me.

Um, deep sea diver.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, they were like in the Caribbean.

Yes, and they were on like a, like a a giant yacht, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Ah, crap.

That's not like Sahara, is it?

Fool's Gold.

Fool's Gold. Okay, that's the one. Yep.

I haven't seen that one.

No, they're— I mean, they're all the same and awesome, so— and they're not on the Hallmark Channel, so it's fine. It's acceptable.

It's Norwegian Motion Pictures.

That's right, exactly. Yeah, they— people actually watch them because they're good. All right, lots of people are gonna make fun of me. It's fine. All right, last question. What's one of the best pieces of wisdom or advice you've ever received?

Can I curse?

I mean, you can. You can.

It's a free country.

Why not?

If it's not scaring the shit out of you, then you're doing it wrong.

I like that.

Yeah. Wow, that really hits for sure.

Yeah.

Speaking of cast iron piping. Sorry. Oh man, we did have a problem once, but I'm not gonna go there. So, okay, I'm curious, like, tell me, what do you think that means? What does that mean to you? Because I think that that could be taken a lot of different ways for sure.

I think for me, like, especially being a business owner, if you're not going outside your comfort zone, then you're never going to grow. And I think that that's important to keep growing, seeing how you can improve. And if it's not scary, that means you're staying within your bubble and you're not reaching out far enough.

Yeah, no, I completely agree.

Not just business.

Sure. Have you, uh, have you read any, uh, Jordan Peterson? No, he, he talks about that. And I don't know about his new book, but his old book, 12 Rules for Life, that's one of the things that he talks about, um, is, is that, uh, I mean, I forget the phrase. I'm, I'm— I'd be butchering it or paraphrasing it at best, but like, you know, that fear outside of fear is where the thing that you need exists. And so like most people can't move beyond their fear in order to get the thing that actually will fulfill them and make their life meaningful. So it's a great book if you haven't read it.

Yeah, there you go. All right, well, I have to warn you, Craig always comes up with one last question. But you've already kind of answered it. So we're going— the question is, uh, how do people get a hold of you? But we've already kind of broached that. So, uh, we will link all of that up at the, um, you know, the bottom of the, the podcast here. And, uh, that way you can get all of the information on how to get a hold of Chell and, you know, check out all of the things that she does. And, um, man, I, I hope that you do because I'll tell you, this is, this is really good information. Craig, Craig and I are big proponents of family. We're big proponents of, of living life together

and not just getting overwhelmed and lost in the mix. So anything that we can do to, to have a better relationship with our families, to live life a little bit better together, I know just from listening to you that you're a big proponent of that as well. So listen, thank you so, so much for Coming on and waking up early for us and, and of course, giving us all the information.

And real quick, what are those, those channels that you have on, on Instagram? And if, if you have any other places as well, what if people are going to go searching for them? What would they go searching for?

Yeah, definitely. It's @savetimecooking on Instagram, on Clubhouse if you guys are there. And I believe my Facebook group is also called Save Time Cooking.

Okay.

All of the places, Save Time Cooking. My website though is wellnesscucinallc.com.

Awesome.

Fantastic. And for those, for those that don't know, I mean, we actually connected with Chell over on Clubhouse and Kevin and I are actually on Clubhouse now and you can go follow all 3 of us over there. And we're actually hosting a Thursday afternoon chat room over there with Eric G, Around the House with Eric G. We're going to be talking all things house. We took some questions today, kind of took a couple of left turns. We had some, some international guests on there as well. One guy from Germany, another guy from France, basically telling us that, you know, the houses here are crap.

Yeah.

Which they have a point. I mean, theirs have been around, you know, a couple hundred years longer than our country. Yeah.

So, you know, they kind of know something. They know a little something. Yeah.

So, but anyway, it's always, always a good time to hang out with with Eric.

Yes.

And pick his brain, because that guy just knows a ton about houses.

He does.

So anyway, this has been an awesome episode, Chell. Thank you so much for jumping on here with us and just dropping the knowledge. Yeah, thank you so much, Craig.

Thanks so much, Kevin.

And the flavor.

And the flavor.

And the flavor.

Absolutely. Yeah, well, thank you all for listening. If you're live on Facebook, thank you for sticking with us. Thank you for downloading the episode. For all you audio listeners and for those of you who want the video, we are always on YouTube as well. So lots of different ways to consume our content. And we hope that you've already gone and liked our Facebook page. And we would love for you to leave a rating and a review on iTunes. That would be fantastic. Thank you for downloading the episode. We hope that you will continue to do so because we are going to keep doing it. each and every Tuesday. So until we see you next time, we'll see you later.

See ya!