Meal Prep Monday Podcast‪™‬ Allison Schaaf

In episode 222, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf welcomes Denaye Barahona, Ph.D., LCSW of the Simple Families podcast to chat about simple family meals and mealtime with children, from a child psychologist’s (and mother’s!) perspective.
 
Denaye hears quite a bit about meal time and food in her work.  The idea of coming together at the table can help foster relationships and well-being, provided the family circumstances and season of life allow for it.  Sometimes, however, the dream of family mealtime doesn’t necessarily match reality.  Where you’re at in life, plus children’s personalities, often determine how families gather at dinner, and this can also be unpredictable.  Denaye suggests finding a different way to connect with your kids if meal time isn’t fostering togetherness in your family.
 
The Prep Dish service and prep-ahead approach has worked well for Denaye and her family, especially with support in the meal prep either from her husband or their nanny.  She often will use the Super Fast menu and not always complete the prep day work ahead of time.  Denaye also finds that choosing 2 meals from the menu and doubling them for the family’s meals during the week is the ultimate minimalist hack!
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
 
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!
Episode 338 of Simple Families: The Family Dinner  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-family-dinner/id1202569587?i=1000598521446
Simple Families: https://simplefamilies.com/
IG: @Simple_families

In episode 221, founder of Prep Dish Allison Schaaf discusses some of the best small kitchen appliances and compares the Instant Pot vs. Crock Pot to help determine which one can work best for you in your kitchen.
 
While the majority of Prep Dish customers either have an Instant Pot or a Crock Pot, you certainly do not need to have both in your kitchen.  Allison discusses how each kitchen appliance can be most useful when cooking up family meals, and notes that timing is what really matters.
 
If you have time in the morning to prep your ingredients by chopping and mixing, the Crock Pot is an “easy button” to manage dinner mealtime and simple cooking features, such as temperature variations.  If your schedule dictates that you’re thinking about meal prep later in the day, the Instant Pot will be a more useful kitchen appliance for you, as heating can happen much more quickly.  Instant Pots offer more cooking features as well, providing more options in dinner preparation.
 
Consider your own schedule and timing, along with your own season of family rhythms when determining which appliance will work best for you!
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
 
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Reset Meal Plan: https://prepdish.com/shop/specialty/reset/
Instant Pot Recipe Resource: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep136/

In episode 220, Allison Schaaf, founder of Prep Dish, talks about the popularity of healthy high protein recipes and shares why she thinks they’re worthy of their moment.
 
Earlier this year, Prep Dish featured a special bonus high protein recipes menu that went out to all subscribers, and those were a huge hit with the meal prep community.  Behind the scenes, our food editing team reviewed the Prep Dish meal plans to confirm that most meals do reach the optimum 30 grams of protein mark to ensure those counting macros could find meal plans that support their health goals.
 
Prep Dish is excited to announce we’re launching an educational protein workshop that digs into reasons why increasing protein at meals can be beneficial, help you to discover why high protein can support your health goals, and provide creative, tasty protein recipes that you can make in your own kitchen.
 
The protein workshop begins by finding out the “why” behind increasing protein and will guide you to discover your personal motivation:  whether it’s to keep up with the kids or grandkids, aid in intense workout recovery, or to reach a healthy weight so you can enjoy your favorite hobbies, the aim is to bring motivation front and center.  Then comes the fun part of discovering a carefully-curated menu of irresistible, easy recipes that reach the optimum protein mark per serving.
 
The Protein Workshop begins Saturday, May 4, 2024.  Premium Prep Dish subscribers get free access to the Protein Workshop after opting-in from their accounts.  Now is a great time to upgrade and gain free access!   Listeners who aren’t current subscribers can get a $10 discount on the workshop with code JOINMPM.
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
 
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Sign up for the Protein Workshop: http://prepdish.com/challenge
$10 off the workshop with code JOINMPM
Health Metrics with Laura Ligos: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep205/

In episode 219, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf continues the meal prep basics series by addressing a common question: what’s better to have in your kitchen - a blender or food processor?
 
Though Allison does have both tools in her kitchen, she advises that just having either a blender or a food processor is necessary.  But which one to choose?  A lot depends on what you’ll be whipping up in the kitchen.  Blenders work best for recipes with mostly liquid ingredients.  If you’re mixing up smoothies, marinades, dressings, homemade nut milk, or soups, then a blender is the way to go. Pro chef tip: elevate your simple salad dressing recipes with a stick (hand) blender.  It makes all the difference in taste and texture!
 
A food processor is the kitchen tool of choice for making energy bites, thicker pesto or dressings with herbs, homemade flours, or in baking recipes such as when making a crust.  Head over to our Facebook group and weigh in on which kitchen tool is in your meal prep space - we’d love to hear from you!
 
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
 
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!
 
Vitamix: https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/
Prep Dish Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/

In episode 218, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf discusses basic kitchen skills in a month-long series and shares some of the best ways to keep your knives sharp.
 
One of the number one items on Allison’s list of kitchen equipment must-haves is a good quality knife, and she encourages meal preppers to upgrade their kitchen knives.  Some brands Allison has in her kitchen include Wusthof, Shun, Nakano, and Eberhard Schaaf.  Allison notes that the best way to find the right kitchen knife for you is to put it in your hand and see what feels most comfortable.
 
Once you’ve got a high-quality kitchen knife, it’s important to keep your tools in top shape on a regular basis, preferably sharpening them twice a year.  Allison has used local sharpening services, door-to-door services, and most recently Kife Aid, which sharpens your kitchen knives by mail.
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
 
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!
Choosing Quality Kitchen Knives | Ep#160 https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep160/
Three Must Have Knives for Your Kitchen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icilR3xb164
Knife Aid https://knifeaid.com/

In episode 217, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf welcomes cookbook author, chef, and seasoning mix creator Michelle Dudash to chat about healthy flavorful meals.
 
Michelle is a Registered Dietitian, personal chef, seasoning mix creator, and one of Allison’s earliest mentors when she started her career.  She is the cookbook author of Clean Eating for Busy Families and Clean Eating Kitchen: The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook, created her own seasoning mix line, SpiceKick Seasoning Mix, and loves helping people get delicious, healthy meals on the table.
 
Allison and Michelle discuss what inspired the beginning of the SpiceKick Seasoning Mix line, as well as helpful kitchen tips and tricks to flavor food that everyone in the family can enjoy.  Plus, Michelle shares what’s worked best in her family when it comes to serving up food her two children love to eat!
 
Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!
Michelle Dudash:  https://www.michelledudash.com/
SpiceKick Seasoning Mix:  https://spicekick.com/