100% Fresh with Two Chef Mission: Meal Planning Tips for Busy Parents and Professionals

In this episode we share a bit more information on our new free workshop for 2024, the Confident Kitchen Kickstart! It is a virtual workshop where you get to learn from the comfort of your own home, and we dive into jumpstarting your meal planning with the basics.

Day 1: Mindset

• We teach why a mindset on food effects your goals and execution in meal planning.

Day 2: Organization

• Flow in the kitchen allows for your planning to flow into set up, prep and cooking.

Day 3: Meal Plan Basics

• We teach you the basics on how to plan your meals efficiently and effectively.

Day 4: Cooking

• Join us in the kitchen where you get to cook virtually with us!

The next Confident Kitchen Kickstart starts February 21st! Not able to make it live. No worries, we will have replays available to watch later. Ready to join? Sign up HERE for free! Have a question about it? Send us a message.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

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Working in professional kitchens is quite honestly pretty chaotic. Not only is everything hot, but it is very fast paced and easy to make mistakes. The goal is to have as few issues as possible and to catch them before they become major, but overall, there are bound to be some mishaps in the kitchen. In this episode we dive into some behind the scenes of when this has occurred, what we learned and how we handled it.

What kind of mishaps mainly occur?

• Individual's Mistakes: This could be a number of things from trying to catch a falling knife, grabbing hot pans and burning yourself or forgetting ingredients in recipes. This could be the fault of your own or someone lacking communication. We cover a few of these throughout the episode.

• Ingredients Missing: This could be needing to adjust for a restriction or allergy, missing ingredients because of unavailability or forgotten within ordering. This has definitely helped grow the ability to think and adjust quickly as needed so that it can be fixed quickly where no one would notice on the receiving end.

• Equipment Mess Ups: This could be a piece of equipment malfunctioning or being broken and this can happen in a number of different ways in the kitchen. This could also be user error when using equipment which is what we cover in this episode.

Top Lessons from the Kitchen:

1. Learn to Think on Your Feet
2. Grow Skills in Adjusting Quickly
3. Communication is Key

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% Fresh with Two Chef Mission. We love getting to share some funny stories from behind the scenes. Please like and subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend that would find value in it.

Connect With Us\Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

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The poll selection from the group is in and the winning choice was Fruit and Cheese Kits! We're excited to share some super easy, filling and delicious snack pairings. In this episode we dive into our top 4 fruit and cheese kits and some tips for quick grab and go snack prep. We also have access to our 24 Fruit and Cheese Kit Combos down below.

1. Sliced Brie with Honey and Sliced Apple: for added crunch you could throw in some crackers.
2. Quick Watermelon Feta Salad: chopped watermelon, feta, arugula, and your choice of seasoning or dressing (our tops: balsamic or red wine vinaigrette).
3. Tomato Caprese Toss: mixed grape tomatoes halved, mozzarella pearls, chiffonade basil, and your choice of seasoning or dressing (our top: balsamic vinaigrette).
4. Sharp Cheddar and Berries: we used raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

Want more fruit and cheese kit ideas? We have a list of 24 combinations for you to have for easy prepping. Grab your free ⁠24 Fruit and Cheese Combinations Download HERE. We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

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Travel is not just about vacation for us. It's also a big way to continue our growth within the culinary field. While many examples we have are from outside the U.S., there is still a ton to learn throughout the different states. In this episode we do a deep dive into how travel has directly influenced our professional lives as chefs.

Learning and Immersion:

• New Flavors and Ingredients

• How To's and Learning New Methods

• Learning the Different Cultures and Immersing Yourself in it

(For Tony's comment on gluten: my research did not turn up with any helpful articles on this, but there are many on guides to eating gluten free in Italy)

Why is it Necessary for Learning in Culinary?

1. Things are always growing and shifting within culinary, so there is always something new to learn to keep up with what is going on in the industry.
2. It gives you more skills, knowledge, and ideas to implement.
3. It helps grow your passion and makes it fun.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

If you're parents like us you probably have snacks in your house. Our kids are big snackers, so we are always looking for ways to make sure they are having snacks that are also nutritious. Those are the ones that we make sure that they have easy access to. In this episode we share our tips to how to set up a snack station.

Areas of Focus:

1. What snacks do you want them to have?

• healthy options, protein and fiber to feel full longer, energy boosting.

2. Where will the snacks be located?

• will it work in the pantry or do you need to find a space.

3. How will it be organized?

• this provides structure.
• bins, cart, rotation

4. What you see is what you will eat.

• out of sight is out of mind, so make the snacks that you want to be eaten easily accessible.

Remember to join the Facebook group if you want to join in on the snacks this coming Friday, Jan. 26th!

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

Part of building a diverse diet with variety in ingredients, recipes and meals it is inevitable that you will need to start trying out new things. This can be a challenge for your family if you have picky or more selective eaters or it can be challenging for yourself as it is new and different. In this episode we offer some insight and tips on getting others and you involved in the trying new things process.

Tips for Getting Kids to Try New Things:

• Lead by example: our children look to us for what to do. If you want them to start adding in more to their normal diet, do it for yourself first. They are watching and they will be interested.
• Get them involved: involving your kiddos lets them experience for themselves and gets them more excited to try. This could be through picking out items or meals or through having them cook with you.
• Make it fun: kids learn through play so a easy way to get them interested is by making it fun and creative. Utilize easy snacks or meals that they can help cook.
• Keep a positive outlook and response: this will not be easy, clean or organized. Kids are chaos, so expect a little of that in getting them in the kitchen with you so that you can lessen the stress of hoping things go super smoothly. As you do it more it will get easier.

Start with Familiar Flavors

• Mix go-to recipes with new added ingredients when possible.
• Trying new items with familiar favorites lets you dip your toes in to see what you like without the overwhelm of fully launching into massive change.
• It may seem small but, baby steps are still steps forward.

Explore New Flavors with Learning about Different Cultures

• This definitely brings in some of the fun side of food we talked about above.
• Learning about different regions and cultures through their food makes it more immersive, interesting and it also helps you grow your skills in the kitchen while also getting you to try new recipes and flavors.

Try Shopping at a Farmers Market or a Specialty Grocery Store

• Exploring your local farmers market will let you not only see some different produce to try but there are also tons of vendors selling new and exciting food items to try.
• Doing this will also get you to see more of what is in season throughout the year.
• Specialty grocery stores also generally have a tom more variety in things to explore and try out.

Always remember that when you are implementing new things into your meals that it is a change, and it takes time to get used to. Some things may take more time than others to be accepted as you try out new ingredients. It also takes more than one time of trying an ingredient before you truly know whether you like it or not (about 12 times for kids), so be patient with not only your family but also with yourself. And always remember to celebrate the wins of getting new variety added in, even if it doesn't go to plan.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

We think we can all agree that there is a ton of information that can be found on food and some of it can be conflicting or confusing. Don't eat this or that, x is the healthiest, if you don't do it this way you will fail. We have heard a lot on convenience foods and their good or bad qualities. In this episode we talk about how to utilize convenience foods while also still being aware of what is going into your meal.

What are convenience foods?

• Definition: food that has been further processed to make it easily consumable. It may be entirely prepared or a type of food that is convenient to eat in nature.
• With so many choices the important things to know is that the selections are not all created equal when it comes to looking for something convenient, but also nutritious.

Why is reading labels important?

• This allows you to take more ownership on what you are selecting by being mindful of what is in the item.
• Look for items that are mostly whole ingredients and don't have a ton of unknown ingredients.
• When in doubt do some research on the added ingredients in your favorite items to learn more of what is going into it.

Look for whole ingredients.

• This could be precut produce, nuts, grains, rotisserie chicken, shellfish (already peeled) and so much more.
• Using these items is a great way to have convenience but still get fresh and whole foods into your meals.

Why frozen fruits and veggies?

• Because they are picked at the peak of season frozen fruits and veggies are at the top flavor wise and nutrition wise.
• These can be super helpful to add to a meal when you may be pressed for time.

Canned items.

• Canned items can still be nutritious and are a good added support items to your meals.
• The "canned" taste can be removed through the cooking and seasoning process.
• They can also be especially helpful with items such as beans that would usually take hours to cook.

Our Top Choices

1. Frozen Fruits and Veggies
2. Rotisserie Chicken
3. Salad Kits (Sometimes)
4. Canned Tomato Products and Beans
5. Yellow Rice
6. Frozen Meatballs (Kids Favorite)

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

Having a mealtime routine is important. Not only does it help set up and close the day, but it also gives you important time together as a family. In this episode we focus on some of the top reasons to get a routine set up.

1. It Helps Build Structure in The Day: meals start and end the day, so this is a great time to get a jumpstart to a great day and a good close to the night.
2. It Allows Family Connection to be Built: this is especially true as kids get into school age and they are away for most of the day.
3. It Creates Memories That Will Stay with You: time spent together is not only shared time, but also shared experiences, stories, and memories that will shape and grow your family.

While meals together may not happen every day as we know activities can fill up space in our schedules, it's important to make a structure around setting the time to make it happen when it can. Here are some additional tips on making a mealtime routine a bit more of a priority:

• Be in the moment and focused on those around you. Remove external distractions.
• Plan meals together around how the weekly schedule will be. Find the busy times and open times and block them out.
• Schedule it or it probably won't happen.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

While the holidays wrap up, it's time to get back to our regular daily schedules, which we know for many of you are packed with work, kids, and activities. In this episode we share some great strategies to speed up your meal planning while also keeping it super simple for all of you have tight schedules.

1. Master Recipe List: these are your go to recipes. They are reliable, quick and easy.
2. Theme Nights: this can help simplify your decision making. It also offers variety without complexity
3. Monthly or Biweekly Menu Rotation: this can help with decision fatigue. It also will hugely simplify your planning and shopping.
4. Separate Meals by Time: this can help you categorize your super quick meals from your longer recipes, ex) 15 min. Recipes, 30 min. Recipes, 1 hr+ Recipes.
5. Recipes That Utilize Appliances: these use items such as a crockpot, instant pot, or air fryer. This helps reduce hands on time which can save time with you physically being in the kitchen.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support

Flexibility with meal planning will help customize it to your preferences, schedule and life. In this episode we talk about the top ways to utilize it and how it helps.

1. It makes your meals more adaptable.

2. It helps with stress management.

3. It allows for adjusting recipes for the season.

Our Top Tips for Flexibility

1. Look into and use batch cooking.

2. Have a backup meal plan or emergency meal in the freezer.

3. Use versatile ingredients that fit into multiple meals.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of 100% fresh and would love to answer any questions you may have. Connect With Us Follow us: @twochefmission Join our group: ⁠Meal Planning for Busy Parents⁠ where we go live each week to discuss different cooking and meal planning topics.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100-fresh-twochefmission/support