0:00

Okay mamas there

0:00

is no getting around it.

0:02

Mealtime is often the most

0:02

stressful time for many

0:05

families, every mom that I

0:05

talked to, at least in my own

0:09

circles, says the same thing,

0:09

the way that we feel as often

0:13

the primary caregivers to make

0:13

sure that our kids have all the

0:17

nutrition that they need, or to

0:17

even get them to eat the food

0:20

that we serve in the first

0:20

place. That can be so

0:23

frustrating. So in today's

0:23

episode, we're going to unpack

0:26

several ways to support

0:26

ourselves in preparing simple

0:29

and healthy meals and snacks for

0:29

our families, as well as how to

0:32

intentionally involve our kids

0:32

in that process. I'm Katie, I'm

0:36

a mom of a coach and a podcaster

0:36

focused on supporting eco minded

0:39

mamas to live sustainably,

0:39

saving 1000s of dollars and

0:42

living a life that is in

0:42

alignment with their core values

0:45

as they care for their families

0:45

and the earth. I'm here today

0:48

with Julia, a mama of two and

0:48

plant based recipe creator over

0:52

at the power plant blog. So

0:52

let's get into it. Julia, will

0:56

you share a bit about yourself

0:56

and your story with us first,

0:59

how did you get into all of

0:59

this? Hi, Katie.

1:04

So I

1:04

really got into this when I had

1:06

my kids. I was a I was an

1:06

omnivore before that, and then a

1:11

vegetarian for a bit. And I came

1:11

across this book. I don't know

1:15

some of you might have heard of

1:15

the China Study. Yeah, yeah,

1:19

quite an intense book. I'm not

1:19

going to talk too much about it.

1:22

You can read it if you're fine.

1:22

Find the time. But it should. It

1:26

just shocked me beyond words

1:26

where they kind of learn about

1:30

diet and what we did what we get

1:30

into our body with with meat and

1:34

dairy. And I basically more or

1:34

less from one day to the next

1:37

decided that this is not what I

1:37

wanted to kind of have in my

1:41

life anymore. And at this point,

1:41

my kids were probably about one,

1:44

I've got twins, so very, at the

1:44

same age. So yeah, it was a

1:48

steep learning curve, for sure,

1:48

because I got some quite

1:53

upset you harsh critics is maybe

1:53

a bit exaggerated. But people

1:56

definitely made this decision

1:56

with skepticism.

2:00

You know, some said, Oh, it's

2:00

one thing if you do that for

2:03

yourself, it's not safe for

2:03

children and so on and so forth.

2:06

I'm sure some of you will have

2:06

have come across this as well.

2:09

So I made it my mission to learn

2:09

everything there is to know

2:13

about the plant based kind of

2:13

lifestyle and diet and what to

2:17

look out for. But to make sure

2:17

that we get and and I just

2:22

really just really became like

2:22

my number one passion. Also, you

2:26

know, as much as I love animals,

2:26

and it was an ethical decision

2:29

as well obviously, I would not

2:29

use my children as guinea pigs.

2:32

So I do things properly. And

2:32

somehow I found that there

2:38

weren't an awful lot of recipes

2:38

out there that I thought were

2:42

like, nutritiously as sound and

2:42

as varied as I'd wanted them to

2:47

be. So I started to create my

2:47

own and eventually I thought you

2:51

know what, I could just post

2:51

them so almost to create my very

2:54

own online recipe library for

2:54

myself in a way. And then it

2:59

just became quite popular and I

2:59

really enjoyed it and one thing

3:02

led to the next and here we are.

3:02

I love that I and I've never had

3:07

meat in their lives or the area

3:07

and they're doing absolutely

3:09

fine. Yeah, here we are. Yeah,

3:14

that's amazing.

3:14

I think that's so great. And

3:16

yeah, your your recipes online,

3:16

I'll have all the resources

3:19

linked below. But the the

3:19

recipes online, your Instagram,

3:23

you at least currently are

3:23

always sharing like your lunch

3:27

boxes for your kids every day.

3:27

And it's just amazing to me, the

3:32

variety that your kids eat,

3:32

because how old are your twins

3:35

again? You You said you started

3:35

this when they were one. But how

3:38

old are they? Well,

3:39

they're nine now.

3:40

They're nine.

3:40

Okay, yeah, so eight solid years

3:43

of this nine. And that's amazing

3:43

that to me at that age, they are

3:49

eating the rainbow. You know,

3:49

you hear that phrase like

3:52

they're eating all the colors.

3:52

It's so amazing to me. And I

3:56

really want to pick your brain

3:56

because even parents who might

3:59

be listening to this podcast and

3:59

are not really interested in

4:03

being like fully plant based or

4:03

vegan or anything, they, they

4:07

could probably relate to the

4:07

struggle of just getting their

4:10

kids to eat vegetables at all,

4:10

like any colors. So I'd love to

4:16

pick your brain. How did you get

4:16

your kids like involved in this

4:20

process with you like even being

4:20

on board with what you're

4:23

serving them?

4:25

I think obviously it helps when you start from such a young age

4:26

because they simply don't know

4:29

any different now. But then I

4:29

also get lots of comments on

4:33

Instagram on my lunch boxes, for

4:33

example. People are really sweet

4:37

and lovely. But a lot of people

4:37

say Oh, you're so lucky that

4:40

your children eat this. And it

4:40

always makes me laugh a little

4:43

bit because it was far from

4:43

easy. It still is far from easy.

4:46

You know, like any child likes

4:46

page food, crisps and or chips

4:53

in the States or any sort of

4:53

nugget thing whether or not it's

4:56

meeting it or not based food is

4:56

very popular with children. and

5:00

to get them to eat spinach and

5:00

kale and all these kinds of

5:03

things, it's not it's not a walk

5:03

in the park, that there's

5:06

absolutely no way around it if

5:06

they learned from a very early

5:12

age, to just try these things

5:12

and to get used to the flavors,

5:17

and also to be told, obviously,

5:17

this gets a bit easier with age,

5:20

you can tell them a bit more

5:20

about it, you can tell them what

5:23

it does to the body, etc. It's

5:23

hard when that when they're

5:27

three years old and just picky

5:27

and wanting to throw things on

5:29

the floor. But I do believe that

5:29

if you incorporate something

5:34

over and over again, even if

5:34

they really despise it to start

5:38

with, they will eventually just

5:38

think you know what it keeps

5:41

appearing on my plate, it's,

5:41

it's just something she does

5:44

something we have, it becomes a

5:44

little bit of like a home

5:48

comfort, it's like a flavor that

5:48

you know, and it's just

5:51

something that happens in your

5:51

house. Sure, you have some

5:55

memories of your childhood, like

5:55

certain foods that you maybe

5:58

didn't love, but they just kept

5:58

appearing on your plate. And

6:02

eventually you just get on with

6:02

it, don't you, you know, and if

6:04

you're hungry, everything tastes

6:04

good. So I think the more

6:07

variety you can include from an

6:07

early age, even if it's small

6:12

quantities, but just loads,

6:12

loads of varieties, different

6:16

different plants, whole grains,

6:16

nuts, legumes, seeds, you know,

6:20

all these things, obviously,

6:20

from the appropriate age, I used

6:24

to pure everything when they

6:24

were small I was I was finding

6:27

that easier. Some people go

6:27

straight to, to finger foods,

6:31

but with twins, it was just a

6:31

bit of a mess. But then you can

6:34

pure anything, though and make

6:34

it tasty, and they'll eat it.

6:38

And then suddenly, when they

6:38

actually see it as an actual

6:40

vegetable, they start to be

6:40

picky. So you know, it's no one

6:45

said it was gonna be easy, but I

6:45

think it's worth it. And I think

6:49

it's it really pays off down the

6:49

line. And it sets certain food

6:53

patterns for life. I believe

6:53

that also kids who know how to

6:57

eat, I would say properly, you

6:57

know, like from scratch cooked

7:02

from scratch, actual real food

7:02

rather than Ultra processed

7:05

things and, and ready meals and

7:05

stuff like that. I think they

7:10

will always have a tendency,

7:10

even if they go through a bit of

7:13

a face during teenage years

7:13

where they go to McDonald's or

7:15

whatsoever, they will probably

7:15

find their way back. And then

7:20

maybe that's wishful thinking.

7:20

But I do think that if you know

7:24

it from a young age, you will

7:24

probably keep it up in one way

7:29

or another for for your life.

7:29

That's what I hope for anyway.

7:35

Yeah.

7:35

And I think that

7:35

what stands out to me about what

7:38

you said is, and this is

7:38

something that resonates based

7:41

on all of the experts, like you

7:41

know, nutritional experts and

7:45

pediatricians and everyone that

7:45

I've been trying to learn from

7:47

as a mom, because I do have a

7:47

three year old right now.

7:50

It's

7:50

a hard age, three years old.

7:53

It's hard he is

7:53

all of a sudden in this super

7:57

picky phase. And yeah, it wasn't

7:57

always that way. But I think

8:01

what you said about exposure,

8:01

that's the key from what I keep

8:05

hearing at least just like, I

8:05

love how you worded it that it's

8:09

about, you know, this is just

8:09

something mom does, this is just

8:12

something that we do in our

8:12

home, this, you know, kale or

8:16

whatever it is just keeps

8:16

showing up on my plate. Because

8:20

over and over and over. If it's

8:20

there, even if they're not, you

8:25

know, eating it, and our job is

8:25

to not force them to eat

8:28

anything. But if it's there

8:28

eventually I mean, I talked to

8:32

this one. What was she she was

8:32

some sort of a feeding

8:36

therapists like a swallowing

8:36

specialist or something. She

8:39

said that her daughter, like,

8:39

would not touch asparagus

8:42

absolutely hated asparagus. And

8:42

then all of a sudden, one day

8:46

when she was six years old, she just picked up a piece of asparagus because it was still

8:48

on her plate consistently. And

8:51

she just started eating it as if

8:51

she had always been eating it.

8:54

Like it can

8:55

be frustrating as a mom as well, because you feel that you're

8:57

pushing and push as in, you have

9:00

to work so hard. And then

9:00

suddenly, they make it so easy.

9:05

You know, it can change from one

9:05

day to the next as well. It's

9:08

got so much to do with their

9:08

mental develop development as

9:11

well. I think a lot of the

9:11

refusal three years, for

9:14

example, is this sort of power

9:14

game, isn't it, they're trying

9:18

to gain some independence and

9:18

not eating what you're told to

9:21

eat is like, the perfect moment

9:21

to, to kind of you know, have a

9:26

little strop and try and fight

9:26

mummy a bit. It's very

9:30

unpleasant for us,

9:30

unfortunately, but I think we

9:33

all have to get through it. And

9:33

I do also think maybe it's a bit

9:36

old fashioned, but every now and

9:36

again it kind of pays off to

9:39

just put your foot down a little

9:39

bit. Yeah. You know, they try

9:44

and it doesn't change with age

9:44

to be to be honest. It's just

9:47

other things. It's that constant

9:47

kind of finding the balance

9:52

between being super strict, but

9:52

also obviously being

9:55

understanding and you know, I do

9:55

sort of give Mike It's two or

10:00

three things that they can

10:00

choose that they refuse to eat.

10:04

One of my sons will not touch a

10:04

banana over his dead body never

10:08

has done. And I'm not forcing

10:08

him to eat a banana. I think

10:13

it's bananas and avocados for him.

10:15

I still maybe like a texture thing or something. Yeah, think it is.

10:19

Yeah.

10:19

But as a as a tennis player, as

10:21

I said, How can you? How can you

10:21

even think about a tennis career

10:25

without eating bananas? But I

10:25

think you know, we have to cut

10:30

them some slack and give them

10:30

some little little bit of

10:33

freedom where they can, where

10:33

they feel like they have a bit

10:37

of authority, I suppose, or

10:37

freedom to choose what they

10:42

want. But I can be a bit strict

10:42

as well, that's for sure. I just

10:49

anything will taste good.

10:49

Basically, that's how I was

10:51

brought up. And that's one of

10:51

the things that I think,

10:55

essentially, I believe that's,

10:55

that is true, right? We've all

10:58

been there. Oh, yeah.

11:00

Well, that kind

11:00

of, you know, goes into my next

11:02

question that I had for you,

11:02

which was, how do you approach

11:06

and you've touched on this a

11:06

little bit now. But how do you

11:08

approach introducing new and

11:08

potentially suspicious foods to

11:14

your children like they now at

11:14

the age that they are, there's

11:17

probably not a lot of foods that

11:17

are new to them? Because you've

11:20

been doing this for, you know,

11:20

eight plus years? But maybe when

11:23

they were younger? Did you have

11:23

any strategies that you found

11:27

effective, or ways that you

11:27

talked about the foods that

11:31

you're putting on their plate

11:31

when they feel very, like

11:34

skeptical about it first?

11:37

Yeah,

11:37

it's not easy, but I think some

11:39

things you can cheat a little

11:39

bit. And for example, I used to

11:43

make a lot of mash out of

11:43

absolutely everything, you know,

11:46

you can put cauliflower butter

11:46

beans, you can make all colored

11:49

mash. Now you can make these

11:49

orange mashes that are made of

11:53

red lentils and sweet potatoes

11:53

and carrots and butternut

11:56

squash, and you can put whatever

11:56

in there. So there's, but then

12:00

obviously, you're hiding things

12:00

a little bit, which isn't

12:03

necessarily what you want to do,

12:03

because you want them to know

12:05

what they're eating and actually

12:05

like it because of what it is,

12:08

right. But when they're small, I

12:08

always felt like this is quite a

12:12

good way to kind of get them to

12:12

get used to the taste. And then

12:16

you can say you did actually

12:16

have butternut squash yesterday

12:18

and you enjoyed it. So why not

12:18

you try it roasted today.

12:22

Another thing I've always done

12:22

is like if I have any greens,

12:26

you know sort of spinach or kale

12:26

or or Swiss chard or anything, I

12:31

just lightly fry it or or steam

12:31

it. And then sometimes I blend

12:36

it together with pesto, you can

12:36

be like it's doable vegan pesto.

12:41

Yeah, I mean, simply just sort

12:41

of pimp your pesto. That's what

12:43

I call it. And you can get quite

12:43

a lot of greens into into some

12:49

pesto. Yeah, some people may

12:49

make the just like a green sauce

12:53

sauce, you can mix it with your

12:53

pastor. But for me, I think if I

12:57

mix it with with pesto, then

12:57

they'll have it has the source

13:01

is always a great generally a

13:01

great way. I mean, you can put

13:05

so many different vegetables

13:05

into a tomato sauce, as long as

13:09

they're quite small, and you fry

13:09

them a bit and season them

13:12

nicely at some lentils or some

13:12

soya beans. And they'll they'll

13:17

eat a or in a lasagna, same

13:17

thing. So you know, you can

13:21

cheat your way around it a

13:21

little bit. But eventually, I

13:24

think it's also helpful to just

13:24

just tell them and say, Look,

13:28

this is this new thing I can

13:28

make. What was it? romanesco you

13:31

know, that sort of green

13:31

looking? Broccoli slash

13:35

cauliflower thing? Oh, yeah.

13:35

Yeah. It's really beautiful.

13:39

It's a very beautiful vegetable

13:39

vegetable. And the boys were

13:43

like, What is this? I've not

13:43

seen this. This looks weird. I

13:46

said, look at it. Look how

13:46

beautiful it is, like absolutely

13:49

a piece of art. And we had a

13:49

good look there and they chopped

13:52

it and then we sort of cooked it

13:52

together and and then they were

13:56

interested to try it out to make

13:56

a bit of a bit of a thing out of

14:02

it. And still, they can still

14:02

give you the whole now not don't

14:07

like it don't want it don't want

14:07

to look at it. Yeah, it's you

14:12

know, there's no straightforward

14:12

way. But I find that explaining

14:18

things helps. Yeah, yeah. And

14:18

you send them with it and say

14:23

this is your plate and you have

14:23

to eat it now. Oh, yeah. It's

14:27

like when you do

14:27

that, and you're kind of digging

14:30

your heels in. I think it just

14:30

causes them to dig their heels

14:33

in even more and then it becomes

14:33

this power struggle which is

14:37

benefiting nobody. But But yeah,

14:37

I mean, I totally agree that I

14:42

think getting your kids involved

14:42

in the process of shopping or

14:47

preparing or cooking the food

14:47

baking the food however you can,

14:51

at least in my experience has

14:51

totally upped the chance

14:57

increases the chance that you

14:57

will we'll at least be open to

15:01

trying it because he was

15:01

involved in the process. So what

15:04

are some of the ways that that

15:04

you often have your kids, you

15:07

know, involved? I mean, they're older now. So they could probably be very involved in the

15:09

cooking process. But could you

15:13

give like maybe a little recap

15:13

of your journey through that?

15:16

How did you involve them when

15:16

they were younger? And How

15:19

involved are they now in

15:19

creating the food that they eat,

15:24

I would say I never involved in quite as much as I should have

15:26

done just mainly because of the

15:29

incredible mass they create.

15:29

Especially when they're younger,

15:33

and it was just sometimes a bit

15:33

overwhelming, I'm sure you know,

15:36

the feeling. Now that they're

15:36

older, they're a bit less

15:39

bothered. But I always had them

15:39

in the kitchen, we had this

15:43

setup where they were eating in

15:43

the kitchen, and therefore they

15:46

would, they would watch me, and

15:46

you know, I would give them

15:49

maybe like a peeler and let them

15:49

peel a few things or stir some

15:52

things when they were bigger.

15:52

They do enjoy that very much, I

15:56

should definitely do it more

15:56

often, quite often, I think us

15:59

as moms, we just think let's

15:59

just get it done that at the at

16:02

the minimum time, time is of the

16:02

essence. And as soon as you get

16:05

the kids involved, as I'm sure

16:05

you know, you're looking at a

16:09

slightly bigger operation,

16:09

right. But I think it's the best

16:14

way to include them, for anyone

16:14

who has the patience, get them

16:18

in the kitchen, and let him you

16:18

know, let them help. I always

16:22

let them help unpack the shop,

16:22

they get very excited when we

16:27

get our veg box delivered on a

16:27

Tuesday, they just stay out is a

16:32

team's for me at the age of

16:32

nine, they go to the front door,

16:35

and they check if it has

16:35

arrived. And when it you know,

16:38

like beautiful apples, I can't

16:38

wait to eat one of those. And

16:42

it's really lovely. I mean, that

16:42

might pass but at the moment,

16:45

the veg box is like a big thing.

16:45

But yeah, I mean, the more they

16:50

are involved and the more they

16:50

understand that, you know brown

16:54

characters, basically a

16:54

character has just been taken

16:56

out of the of the soil, and

16:56

that's where it grows rather

16:58

than on a supermarket shelf.

16:58

That will help help them

17:03

understand where the food comes

17:03

from, and appreciate it. And I

17:09

act just just to make that sort

17:09

of like a natural sort of

17:13

process that you you, you wash

17:13

vegetables and you peel them and

17:16

you chop them. And it takes some

17:16

time and a bit of commitment.

17:20

But that's just something that

17:20

happens. Or you eat now like

17:24

this whole idea of food

17:24

preparation rather than just

17:29

pushing start button on the

17:29

microwave. Right? I think that's

17:33

what was most or is most

17:33

important to me. I'm sure I

17:37

could improve on in many ways.

17:37

But they understand that when

17:41

mom's cooking, you know, that's

17:41

what's happening, basically,

17:45

yeah, it's so

17:45

important. I mean, you're

17:47

modeling for them, the value

17:47

that you place on their food and

17:52

where it comes from, and the

17:52

more hands on that they are, you

17:55

know, pulling that brown carrot

17:55

out of the bag, it's covered in

17:58

soil, they have to go wash it

17:58

off. That's, that's amazing. And

18:02

not everybody has that

18:02

experience. But I think if they

18:05

can be involved in any way in

18:05

just you know, washing the

18:09

produce or chopping it. I think

18:09

that it's important to get hands

18:13

on with our food and understand

18:13

where it comes from, especially

18:16

at a young age. And on your

18:16

website and your Instagram, you

18:20

have absolutely gorgeous

18:20

recipes. There's so many that

18:24

are on my list that I want to

18:24

try. And I think as we bring

18:27

this episode in for a close, I

18:27

would love if you could just

18:30

share with some parents like

18:30

what are some of your top tips

18:35

or your go to recipes for

18:35

creating these, like, wholesome,

18:39

you know, whole food based

18:39

snacks or meals, you know, if

18:44

it's something that's especially

18:44

appealing to children, like

18:49

maybe a good way to get in these

18:49

veggies, or maybe it's just

18:52

something that's really simple

18:52

to prepare together, what would

18:55

be a couple of your recommendations.

18:58

For

18:58

small children, I mean, my kids

19:00

up to the age of about five,

19:00

they pretty much lived on

19:03

something I sort of invented

19:03

that I called oat bar, which is

19:06

basically I made a puree of

19:06

whatever vegetables I had many

19:10

root vegetables and some

19:10

lentils, mix it with oats, and

19:13

then spread it on a baking tray

19:13

and bake it and I learned

19:18

obviously I sort of knew that

19:18

but I learned quickly that oats

19:21

bind very well and they turn

19:21

almost anything into into like a

19:25

solid half solid kind of bar

19:25

kind of thing is when you buy

19:29

all the snacks that they mainly

19:29

consist of either it's data

19:33

nuts, or it's something out base

19:33

now I started making these oat

19:39

bars mainly savory because I

19:39

feel like there's so many sweet

19:42

options. And actually, it tastes

19:42

right you know, obviously when

19:46

they're very small, you don't

19:46

add much salt but later on you

19:49

can season it a bit more. It's

19:49

actually totally fine. It's like

19:51

a little meal on the go. You

19:51

could get a ton of vegetables in

19:55

your child this way. And the

19:55

oats which is great, and you can

19:59

make it sweet Eat, we can make

19:59

it with apple puree or mango

20:02

puree or banana mash banana

20:02

butter cinnamon, you can add

20:06

some nuts to it if you want,

20:06

like the list is endless.

20:10

Another thing I often do for

20:10

sports competitions that they're

20:14

both very much into sport is

20:14

like I blend nuts and dried

20:19

fruit, you can literally buy a

20:19

mix that's ready, just you know,

20:23

like a nut and fruit mix that

20:23

you like and just chuck it in

20:26

the blender. And he'll turn into

20:26

a paste and you just roll it

20:29

into little bowls, and you're done.

20:33

It's a great idea.

20:34

It's so simple, and it will save you some money as well. And you can

20:36

kind of just change the ratio

20:41

slightly because most of the

20:41

store bought ones at least here

20:44

in the UK, they're very heavy on

20:44

the dried fruit side, which is

20:47

not wrong, but it's very, very

20:47

sweet. Whereas you know, the

20:52

ones you make yourself, you can

20:52

add some more nuts and as long

20:54

as it sticks, you can, you can

20:54

get away with anything, you can

20:57

add some cocoa powder, make it a

20:57

bit chocolatey, or some almond

21:01

essence and make it a bit sort

21:01

of like Marty parney kind of

21:04

thing. So I do that quite a lot.

21:04

I do sometimes just boiled

21:10

potatoes and carrots and maybe

21:10

some broccoli all in the same

21:12

pan at once. And just put that

21:12

in a Tupperware and they can eat

21:16

that as finger food basically,

21:16

it's actually not as hard either

21:20

or not as time consuming as

21:20

people think you just have to I

21:24

think planning is key. Planning

21:24

is key and have some things

21:28

frozen in the freezer, I always

21:28

have some cooked beans and

21:33

cooked grains, you know some you

21:33

have to soak overnight and then

21:37

cook for a couple of hours. And

21:37

not everyone thinks about it the

21:40

night before. So you just make a

21:40

whole big pan and then put a few

21:44

type of ways in the freezer.

21:44

Ready to go. That's the most

21:48

most of labor intense part or

21:48

time consuming part. I think the

21:52

grains and the beans obviously

21:52

you can you can buy them ready

21:55

cooked as well. That's fine. But

21:55

and yeah, just just just enjoy,

22:00

try to find some pleasure in the

22:00

cook in the process of cooking

22:03

and oh, we're all busy. But I

22:03

find you know, you can listen to

22:07

a podcast or you can it's a bit

22:07

of a meditative kind of moment

22:13

in a busy life where people run

22:13

around. It's just focusing on

22:16

one thing, it can be quite

22:16

creative. Think it's actually

22:20

really quite therapeutic.

22:22

Yeah, I totally

22:22

agree. I love the time that I

22:25

mean, if I'm involving my three

22:25

year old, like you said, it gets

22:28

very messy. It's much more hands

22:28

on. Yes. Exactly. It's more like

22:35

guidance focused. But there is a

22:35

huge benefit that comes from

22:39

that experience. And then on the

22:39

other hand, if he's not with me,

22:43

that's still beneficial, because

22:43

then I do get that sort of

22:46

therapeutic time. I love

22:46

listening to podcasts while I'm

22:50

prepping food. So yeah, this

22:50

whole idea of of planning and

22:53

meal prep. I mean, that's

22:53

another episode in itself. But

22:57

I'm excited because you have

22:57

joined The Eco-Minded Mama

23:00

Collective recently. And so

23:00

there's more information on that

23:04

linked in the show notes. But

23:04

that's basically our online

23:07

membership program. We have a

23:07

community of mamas coming

23:10

together and supporting each

23:10

other, to live this out to live

23:15

all of these things out all of

23:15

the parts of living sustainably.

23:19

And what does that mean? What

23:19

can it look like from person to

23:21

person. So we are very heavily

23:21

going to unpack this idea of

23:26

meal prepping and planning in

23:26

the next unit that we're about

23:29

to begin. So if anyone is

23:29

interested in joining that I'll

23:33

have that linked below. And then

23:33

I'll also have all of Julia's

23:37

information linked below, you

23:37

should definitely check out her

23:40

blog and her Instagram, even if

23:40

it's just to see on her

23:44

Instagram, her daily lunchbox

23:44

photos like these great ideas of

23:49

the variety that you can be

23:49

serving your kids. Julia, thank

23:52

you so much for taking time to

23:52

share your expertise with us. I

23:55

am so so glad that you're here

23:55

and that you are creating what

23:59

you're creating because it gives

23:59

moms like me so much more

24:02

inspiration to just try

24:02

something new, even if it's just

24:05

once a week and that's all I

24:05

have time for is to branch out

24:08

and try something new like that.

24:08

It's inspiring and motivating.

24:11

So thank you.

24:13

Thanks so much for having me.