Shop Your Kitchen First

Takeout isn’t just a food choice — it’s often a planning failure that shows up right when everyone is hungry and time is tight.

In this continuation of our meal planning series, we check back in with Pilar Ortega as her new habit moves from early momentum into real-life chaos — and then back to something sustainable. After a strong first week with real wins (less takeout, noticeable savings), the next week brings packed schedules and dinner stress. The breakthrough turns out to be surprisingly simple: writing the meal plan down with the details that actually matter — who’s home, who’s cooking, and when flexibility is needed.

We talk about how “shopping your kitchen first” can dramatically reduce food waste and grocery spending, especially when the fridge, freezer, and pantry are already full of half-plans and forgotten ingredients. Pilar shares the creativity that makes meal planning stick — transforming leftovers into fried rice, soups, lettuce wraps, or crunchy rice paper “tostadas,” and building a batch-cooking rhythm with simple building blocks like shredded chicken, stock, and rice.

We also explore the power of planned flexibility: flex nights for leftovers, and even planning takeout intentionally so it supports your values instead of draining your budget.

Then we widen the conversation beyond the kitchen to how we shop and source food. Our rule of thumb becomes:

Kitchen first → Farmers market second → Grocery store third

Along the way, we unpack food system buzzwords like no-till farming, pasture rotation, and regenerative agriculture, and how asking farmers a few simple questions can connect you to better ingredients and healthier ecosystems.

If meal planning has ever felt overwhelming, this episode shows how small shifts — writing things down, cooking in building blocks, and planning for real life — can make dinner feel manageable again.

Download the free meal plan template in the show notes and start your own meal planning journey with us.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s tired of the nightly dinner scramble, and leave a review so more people can find The Kitchen Activist Podcast.

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Reach Florencia Ramirez at info@eatlesswater.com

Transcript

Week One Check-In And Wins

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Hello and welcome to the Kitchen Activist Podcast. I'm Florence Ramirez. Right now on the podcast, I'm underway in a series around meal planning. And we're following real people as they rebuild the habit of meal planning in their everyday lives. You know, cooking dinner can feel like it is hard. And there's a lot of forces pulling us away from it, like work schedules, old habits, the ease of takeout, and the simple fact that no one ever really taught us how to build a structure around food in our home kitchens. And I feel strongly that's the reason, a huge reason why 43% of food waste occurs in the home kitchen. So in this series, I'm walking two women in different parts of the world through the same process I used in my own kitchen, starting with a simple meal plan and some shopping tips and rebuilding the rhythm of cooking one step at a time. What I love about these conversations is that they aren't polished success stories. They're real-time reflections. They're wins, the resistance, the small adjustments that slowly start to change how we eat and ultimately how we feel about our contribution to the environment and our own health. In today's episode, you'll hear two check-ins from my ongoing conversation with Bilad. A couple weeks ago, you can listen in on our my first week with Bilad, and she's continuing to develop her meal planning habit. So let's dig in to Bilad. I'm so looking forward to hearing all about how your first week went, what your challenges were, celebrations that we should have during this episode. So how did it go?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Well, you know, it we're making some progress, but it's definitely, I feel like it's it's a project. It's something we really have to all come together and change our mindset. I think that's the main main idea with this, is just everyone be aware that we have plans that that we need to stick with. And just in general, just get those things kind of established. I think there were a few things we implemented this week that that were successful, definitely, when it comes to shopping our fridge and shopping our cupboard and our freezer. We really tried to go in before going shopping and see what we had and how we can include it in our weekly planning. So that was good.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah, that's huge. So did you find that you spent less money with your grocery store run? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Oh yeah, I think so. We didn't do a huge purchase this week, and that was another thing. I was trying to stick with like a couple of recipes and meals and not overdo it for the week just to see where we landed and in the amount of food that that we can manage for one week, and I think it went great. We I think we only ran out of milk in the middle of the week. But everything else we had, and we had like to go out for like uh a little veggies for one of the days. But other than that, we were pretty good at using what we had in the fridge.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

So everything this week was from shopping your kitchen first except for milk and some produce.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

My my husband did go out and bought what he needed for the three meals that he made this week. But other than that, like in the middle of the week, we didn't have to do go out and get snacks or let's get something like takeout. We didn't get any takeout, I don't think. No. So no takeout. No takeout, no takeout. No takeout.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

What's a normal week?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

We do like at least three times sometimes, depending on sometimes it's just like a lunch meal or something, something not for dinner, but like in between. Like after school, go stop by and get something for my daughter. If we don't have if food is gonna take longer than then she needs to eat, we end up doing that because sometimes she just needs to eat right away. And and you didn't do that at all. So that no, we didn't do that this week. No, we had it all.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

So that would be another savings. You say you saved. Yeah, definitely. And then you saved by not going out to eat those three times. Would you say that's a hundred dollars that you saved?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, around I would say, definitely. Because the takeout is pri it gets pricey.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

It definitely does, especially if you're buying for more than one person.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Right, yes. Yeah, you get meals for three people these days, and you spend sixty dollars, seventy.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Really, it's probably closer to two hundred dollars then that you saved. Yeah. Between$150 to$200 you saved in just not going out to eat. That's pretty great. That's a lot.

Leftovers Creativity That Beats Takeout

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Yeah, that was yeah, that was good. I was like, who would have thought that just making food that you already have in the fridge would save you? It's a thought that you have, but it's not like you don't you most of the time I just go like, oh, we'll put it in the planning next week. We use it in like the planning, but I feel like this week we used it as a backup plan instead of putting it into the plan.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

So, Pilad, what were some of the things that you cooked this past week?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Something we did yesterday with leftovers was fried rice, and then we had a little bit of meat that like ground beef, it was ground pork, something like that, that my husband had used for a meatball or albondiga soup he made. And he put it into, and then we had this wonton wraps that we've had in the fridge for a couple weeks, and he just made like a little mix with the ginger and garlic for the wontons and the meat, and then fried rice were that we threw some veggies in. We already had the rice, the white rice in the fridge, so he just cooked it with other the veggies that we had in the freezer too. It was like some peas and stuff like that, and that's it. That was a great meal, actually. It was really good. It tasted like takeout, but better, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:55

The better because you didn't have to spend the money, and I would imagine also your body felt better afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Yes, oh yeah, that's a good point. Definitely, yeah. It didn't feel like after eating like Panda Espresso or something, you feel a little heavy.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

That all the oils that they're using, they use more salt, more everything.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yes, yeah, all the sodium, yeah. And we put a little soy sauce, but not overloaded, just a little dash. So that was good.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Oh my god, that sounds really delicious, really delicious. You're giving me some good ideas. So that was one night. Is there another night? Yeah, that was one night.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

We kept using whatever we have in the in the produce drawer to just add to things. Like he he put a lot of what we had in the soup. I know we had also like a crab salad that we kept just eating with different things. We had some lettuce, we did like some lettuce wraps, and then another day we with the crab salad inside of the lettuce.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

Oh, yes. And the crab salad was in your freezer, or you had you already had that.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

That we just you just made it at the beginning of the week. Isn't our like savior for whenever we're hungry? It's like a cold salad, so it's easy to just eat it with whatever you have, like a dip almost. So, but it's also good in like just with the chopped lettuce and then put it on top. Or I even oh, there was another day. Did I eat it? Oh, yeah, I know. Oh, that was this was funny. So we didn't have anything to eat the crab salad with that was crunchy, and I was feeling like eating something crunchy like crackers. I've had this pack of rice paper rounds, those that you use to make the Korean like spring rolls, and I was like thinking, I like I feel like I've seen people fry these and make like puffed crunchy things. Yeah, so I just got a little oil and and got it really hot and threw one in there and it was perfect. It puffed like a little like a tostada, exactly. That's what I was trying to go for. It was like a tostada because I was like the crab salad, it's almost almost like ceviche kind of food. If I put it on top of like a crunchy thing, like a tostada, it's gonna be perfect. So I did that and it came out really good. And I didn't need to go out and buy tostadas, I just made my own with the rice paper I had. I was definitely feeling inspired to be more innovative and I don't know, like trying things.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

Yeah, it definitely there was a lot of innovation happening by shopping your kitchen first, the creativity, right? As you know, it's a culinary arts, it's an art form.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

It is, it is, it's pretty fun actually. So I like that, and and I'm telling you, I've been going through that pack of the rice paper wrappings, and I've been making quesadillas with it too, which is apparently something you can do. Yeah, it's no idea. It's still going, it's still going. You buy it to just make like a couple of spring rolls, and then what do you do with it? It just sits there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

What do you do with the rest of it? Yeah. So are you nearly done with those papers, or you still have a lot?

SPEAKER_00 12:40

It's still going, it's still there. So I'm gonna have to keep using it. I'm gonna have to keep it in the rotation.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Yeah, it sounds like it. Or freeze it. You could look up to see what's the best way to freeze it and take it out.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Yeah, I mean, those are like it's strange, they're almost like plasticky. I don't know how to describe them, non-perishable, they're literally just like sitting in the cover.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Okay, yeah, okay. It sounds like some interesting things you can make with it, but it's out that's just go on TikTok. Okay, but you don't use that with the wontons, right?

Writing The Plan For Week Two

SPEAKER_00 13:16

That was something different. No, we had the wontons, we had the other ones that are like I think those are like a dough that's okay cut into squares, yeah. And that one does have flour, I believe. If I'm not mistaken, not like a hundred percent, but yeah, my because my husband likes experimenting with different cuisines, and he's been into the wonton soups, and um he made like a wonton lasagna soup, which was really good. I don't know. Sometimes I tell him you need to share this thing. You're so good. I think he found that on the internet actually, but yeah, that sounds very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Huge win with shopping your kitchen first, but now moving into week two, I would imagine most of your refrigerator was pretty shopped down. Did you have you written the meal plan? Like, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

No, you know, that's that's the thing that we're gonna have to tackle more this week is just being more organized about that. So writing down exactly what we're gonna eat because I think we just thought of a few things in general and then just kind of fit them in in the week without much thought of having a theme, like we talked about, and more structure. That's what we need to start moving into. The thing is, like a lot of times the way we see meal planning, it's like we only want to cook two days, our days are off, and then the rest of the week we want to do as little cooking as possible. Sometimes it's just to fit that into actual having each day have a different theme, a different meal. So I think we're still working on that.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Well, you did do that. That doesn't have to change, the only thing is just putting it down and just spending a little bit more time to be more intentional, so you're not getting more food than you need, or it stops you from going to get out, right? Because I'm like, well, I'm not gonna go out and get food when I already said here we're gonna make wontons today. So for example, but you use the ground beef one night for the Avondiga soup, and then you still it later for wontons and fried rice. So you're you already have those multiple things going on. So for example, a roasted chicken, you roasted the chicken, that was the one night. Then you already know you're gonna have leftovers, so then that roasted chicken would turn into taquitos, it could turn into tortilla chicken soup, it can turn into all kinds of things, right? But it's just planning well, what are the things that this is going to become if we're gonna make this larger amount of food, and then putting that onto your shopping list so that you make sure you have all the ingredients. Because if you don't have the ingredients, if you don't have the ingredients you need, then you end up going out to get food. Right. Because yeah, because it's like, oh well, if I'm gonna go to this to have if I have to go to the market to go buy the ingredients and still come home and make the food, well, and I'm hungry, well, we might as well just go to Panda Express and get and get food, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

That's where the meal planning comes really comes in handy because it brings more ease because you already know what are the things that you need to have in your refrigerator to execute, even if it's two days of major cooking, and knowing that those ingredients that you're using throughout the week. So you're your batch cooking is what you guys are doing, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:33

That's that's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

That's for your family because you often have days of the week where you're working at dinner time at the restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah, that's true. And yeah, I mean, and then I guess I should look at eating up at work as eating out too, which I didn't consider. But I think uh yeah, we probably like Saturday I definitely ate at work, so I didn't have dinner at home. So that makes sense too. But there were a couple of days that that definitely didn't make the rounds of eating at home.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Yeah, but then those are your eat out nights. You're right, it's not to say you eat out, but it's part of the plan. For us, we knew last week we were gonna eat out for Valentine's. And then you that's on the plan. What are the other nights? We have a flex night always, which is a left leftover night, so that's a night you don't have to think about. And you have your one night, maybe because you guys do work in the restaurant. Why wouldn't you eat the food there?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

You just know right.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

I mean, why not? It's delicious food, but these are for the nights at your home and also for your daughter. What are the things that we're cooking when we're when we're at home? And and then writing that down. I it'll be interesting next week when we talk, as you to see how it feels different, if it does feel different to have built the plan, having made those decisions before the week begins, before you go shopping and see what happens. And if it does bring more ease to your week.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yes, no, absolutely. I think that's yeah, I'm excited to see how that how that rolls out, what the challenges become then, but definitely just having that plan will help have more like peace of mind too. And then we can start working on shopping and seeing what the better options are for including those in the plan as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

The goal for this time would be writing it down, planning out your week, knowing what your schedule is. You already know which days you're working this week, right? The two of you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Yeah, right now.

Habit Resistance And Accountability

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Then based on that, just filling in the blanks of what are we gonna do each night? And if it's gonna be eating at the restaurant, write that. Eating at the restaurant. And we'll then we'll check in. And next week, our goal will be just to dial in on we you already you've got shop your kitchen first, which is a key. Yeah. First thing to do, shop your kitchen first. So what else do you have left that you need to use this week that you can base some of your meals this week on? And then the second piece would be, which is what we'll work on next time or talk about and give ideas around shopping your farmer's market second, and then going to the grocery store third. That'll be perfect. But let's celebrate what you've done this past week. Instead of going out for takeout three times, it was zero, two hundred dollars saved, and also exactly and shopping your kitchen and your freezer, your refrigerator, eating lots of those rice papers. Lots lots to celebrate, lots to celebrate, lots of wins for sure. I like that thing just like anything, it takes time. A friend of mine had said that habits are comfort food for the mind. Our brains want efficiency. We don't want to have to think about things, like raising my arm up. I don't have to think about it. If I need to reach for something, I don't have to think, reach, move your arm forward. Your brain just naturally does it. All of these things all day long. And that's what it needs that efficiency. So when we're trying to unlearn something and then learn something new, there's going to be that resistance, of course, because it doesn't come natural. The natural thing is for each of us is different when it comes to meal planning or our relationship with food, how we plan each of our meals, like all of that is different based on years and years of learning and watching and modeling our families, all the things, right? All the ideas that have shaped the way that we approached food in our kitchens. Now I'm asking you to unlearn a lot of it and then and then start with this new way of okay, now Pilad, I know you've done all of these things in one way, and it comes so easy and natural, you don't even think about it. And now I'm telling you to stop and now think about it. I'm telling you, you need to stop and look at a meal plan and plan sit down with your husband or you by yourself, and you write down what those things are. Right now, because it's new, your mind is struggling. What is this? This is not easy. I have to think. About it, right? Your brain, that's what's happening, but eventually that becomes the new efficiency because then it'll replace the way that you had done things, and then suddenly your brain, at least for me, I've learned when I don't do it, because now it becomes a default. Meal planning is the default for us. So then that's where it's easy. But it didn't always feel that way. It was like, oh shoot, we need to meal plan. Okay, what are we gonna think? What should we do? But for you guys, it's that part is easy in terms of the creativity and the innovation because you're in that field. But for many people, they don't have that. I didn't have that. So it was like, oh gosh, where do I look for recipes? Where do I make? That took learning. But now it's just a simple thing to do because we've been doing it for so long. And you just have to get to that spot. And I do think that after four weeks of starting to think they that's at least that's what experts say is to make a new habit, it takes 30 days, it takes a month to create a new habit. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to create habit with the goal of saving money, which you're already doing, the health of you and your family, and increasing the health of the planet.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I agree. I agree. It's it's a struggle to find the time to bring yourself to just having those plans and sticking with them. I think we're really gonna work hard in that this week.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Well, I would suggest because I know you we're gonna end this call, and I know again, as a mother, how there's always things happening all the time in addition to working full time. And I know you're gonna drop your daughter off soon. I know that you have 10 minutes in there between now and the time you need to go. Could you spend those 10 minutes mapping out your week right now? Yeah, we get off. And then maybe an accountability sending a picture of your meal plan to me.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Okay, perfect. Yeah, okay. Let's do that. I like the accountability part.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Okay, that sounds great. Thank you, Pilot, for opening up and sharing what's going on in your kitchen and in your world and letting us walk through this process with you because there's so much learning for all of us. And some good ideas for meals.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Thank you. I I like that. That's the fun part. I think that's why you do it first because you're like, okay, I can do this. Yes now you just have to get to the part that's most important that's gonna structure everything else. Thank you for helping me.

Week Three Gets Real

SPEAKER_02 26:22

When Pilat and I spoke the following week, we checked in again to see how things were unfolding. Like most new habits, meal planning doesn't click overnight. It takes a little experimentation, figuring out what actually works in the middle of a busy week and noticing the small wins along the way. So here's our next conversation where Pilar shares what worked, what didn't, and how her confidence in the kitchen, specifically around meal planning, is beginning to shift. I'm joined again by Pilar Ortega, who is in week three of her meal planning journey. I hope you've been listening to previous episodes. And if you have not, I suggest you start from the beginning. But this is such a great way for us to be inspired and cross-pollinate and learn from each other through each other's journeys. And thank you again, Pilad, for opening up your kitchen and your food practices with us, which is an intimate process. Thank you for doing that, for your generosity of spirit and letting yourself be raw with us, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

Yeah. Tell us about how did last week go?

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Well, last week was it was okay. I think it wasn't as good as the first week. I feel like the first week I just had that inspiration and I was just it was new. It was new, and I was finding new things that I was doing, and I was like, oh, perfect. This is I'm listening. Last week was a little bit more chaotic here. We had a lot of activities and ended up eating out a couple of days or just grabbing some food on the way home because we didn't have much time to spend at home. Just activities that my daughter was doing on the weekend and work. It was a little bit more tricky to just eat what we had at home. But at the same time, I think we did cut on the cooking. So it it worked in the way that we didn't have that many leftovers this weekend either, because we ended up eating everything that we either cooked or that was purchased on the go.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

So when so you had activities, and just to remind folks, you have a 15-year-old daughter who is very active at school, right? She's in mock trial. So there's lots of evening things going on. So the activities that occurred over the last week, were they unplanned or were they things that were reoccurring? Like you already knew that they were happening.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

To be honest, it was more of like we miscalculated the amount of time that she was going to spend doing this thing. So I kind of thought that it was gonna be like a day. And they went longer, and they went longer, so we we had not really planned for that. So we ended up just scratching the cooking, cooking that those meals and those days, and then just getting takeout, basically. But you had to change the plans, but you didn't have a lot of waste at the end of the week, right? You wouldn't know and why was that?

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Is it because you planned you already knew certain nights you weren't going to be there? Let's just back up. Last week we talked about that we that you were going to write the plan down. Your plan down. And did you do that this week? Or this last week?

SPEAKER_00 30:11

I I did, yeah. This week everything is planned out. I wrote everything down each day, including who's gonna be at home, who's gonna be cooking, because those are important things for us. So I added those details just to keep in mind what kind of support we need in those days. Or yeah, that's brilliant. I know when you think about it, you just put everything on a piece of paper. I guess it just clicks a little bit more of what are the details that you really need. And I think maybe that's my my progress this week, let's just say it's just looking at it from that perspective of who's actually gonna be here, what's the support they need, and what are the things we need to make that happen. Just looking at the history and what we really do. Because, like I mentioned before, sometimes we would plan something, a meal, and then I'll leave that to my daughter to do when she's here by herself or on the weekends or something. And she would push back and say, No, I don't want to do that. She would just eat something else instead. So then that plant kind of like fell through uh in that way. But now that we're all on that same page, I'm like, okay, so she's not gonna do all this, so maybe just limit her, do like something more simple for her. So what was an example? What what's so basically what happens usually is that she doesn't want to do all the reheating and or cooking something, so she just defaults to like a salad with some protein on top.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

That's her cooking, which is good, which is uh yeah, that's healthy for her. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

So you wrote that in that this week, I have that planned for her on Saturday since she's probably going to be cooking her own meal that day because you'll be working that night. I have I'm working a double that day, so I know that I won't be here and her dad too. So she's I have her down as salad and half protein ready for her to add to the salad. And we did shopping yesterday, so we included that on our shopping to have that salad ready, and then just to make sure that we don't use that before that Saturday, that's the other part of it, just make sure things are accounted for.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

So walk me through what you wrote down for the week just to give others ideas because it's so helpful. That's part of the cross-pollination, right? Because you'll say something and I'm like, oh yeah, that's a great idea. And I think of that. Or you help to remind, we remind each other of things that we might have forgotten.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

We started with a plan yesterday, and we decided to batch cook a couple of things that we can reuse, and we wrote down rice, chicken stock, and shredded chicken, which my husband did yesterday. And using that, we have plans on making chicken tenga tostadas. Um yeah, that's coming up, and we have chicken taquitos, which are similar but uh not the same, and then we also have salmon, like teriyaki salmon with veggies and rice. What day is that?

SPEAKER_02 33:57

So if you guys so tom tonight is tinga, the tostada?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Tonight is tinga, yeah. And as your home tonight, your home exactly because I'm home tonight, and we actually had the salmon for today, and we were gonna do the tinga yesterday, but we had to switch that because the tinga was going to take a little bit more time. My husband makes the chicken, like he cooks the chicken in stock and then shreds it, and then makes the tinga sauce and then cooks the chicken with the three-step. So we decided to switch and had the salmon yet last night, which was good and healthy, and a good way to start the week with a focus on less it's healthy. Yeah, so he used some of it and then froze the rest of it. So we have that option in the freezer now. Nice further for next week, and then so again, the chicken will come into play on the tinga tostadas and the taquitos, and then we also have Friday.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Oh, I made uh Thursday flex day, which is the day you shop your shop your ingredients that you've made, your leftovers, yeah.

Planning Takeout Without Shame

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Yeah, I have that here for flex day, and then Friday we're using whatever rice uh to make fried rice, some guillasas, which we still have from last week in the freezer, so that's part of the shopping my fridge, and we also have some veggies in the fridge that we can use for that, and then Saturday again. I have that option for Lucia since we're not gonna be here. And Sunday I have takeout.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

I know it's bad, but it's not bad, but do you know where you're gonna go, where you're gonna get takeout?

SPEAKER_00 36:01

That's a good point.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Yeah, and because when it's planned, then it doesn't have to be so dissatisfying, then it could be satisfying. Oh, we're gonna we're gonna go out that night or pick something up, and it's gonna be from whatever place it is that you really like.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Yeah.

unknown 36:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Because you know you're gonna get that on Sunday. You're looking for it. Exactly, because it's a place that you really like.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

When you're when we're meal planning, I'm not saying don't, I don't want you to feel shame around, oh, I can't get takeout. It's just planning all your meals, whether it's meals that you cook at home or meals that somebody else is cooking for you. And then it's thinking about what are their practices, like for myself, like that's the next step is okay, if I'm not going to cook for myself, and then I'm planning on where am I gonna eat out, I want to choose kitchens that are in in alignment with my own practices. So then I'm thinking about what are their sustainability practices, or would they be fine if I bring in my own Tupperware containers so I don't have to take their plastic containers? Because some places I've gone to where I'll bring my own container so that they could pack, pack the stuff into my stuff, and then I don't have to throw away and bring my own canvas bag. And most places are open to that, but there's those places that are not. So then I'm like, okay, that's fine, but I'm not gonna go back to that place. Just those little things. It could be like your your restaurant, your entire menu is not organic and regenerative agriculture, but there's aspects, there's there's ingredients on there that are. It's not about perfection, but if we're all doing more, and then we're encouraging more of it if we're showing up at those places, those establishments, and them know that that's why we're there because we like what they're doing. We want more of those practices and we're voting with our dollars.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I like that. I like the way of seeing it too when you plan on the takeout and you have those things in mind. Thank you. I'll write that down.

SPEAKER_02 38:27

Let's talk a little bit about groceries, about where you shop. So we talk, you're really doing a great job with shopping your kitchen first. I noticed this last week you didn't have any of the egg roll papers. So you needed a little break from those. Sounds like exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

No, I I flex night might still show up. They might come up, they might come up for sure.

Farmers Market Second Grocery Third

SPEAKER_02 38:54

You got shop your kitchen first, and then really, you know, what was interesting is when you look at the data of why people waste food, uh the biggest reason we waste food in our kitchens is because we're purchasing duplicate things. And I totally get that because it used to be before I started to really dig into this idea of how do I dial back my food waste and creating this meal plan, I would show up to the grocery store like many of us, and you're busy, and then you're writing down what you need to shop in the car in the parking lot in front of the grocery store, you know, just going off of memory of what you think you have. And that at least my memory, it just that does not work. And so there I am writing it down with the back of an envelope or something, right? So I have a shopping list, but it's not really a shopping list that is reflective of what's happening in my kitchen. So the shopping list has to happen while you're in your kitchen so you can shop, right? And you know, okay, I don't need to get this produce. And then you've already taken it to the next step, which is how do I build my menu based on the produce I already have and the ingredients that I already have, instead of, well, I have broccoli here, but I'm not I'm not gonna pay attention to the fact that I have broccoli and carrots when I'm making this menu. I'm gonna go out and buy more different kinds of produce. Let's look at what your ingredients are, let's figure out what my menu is based on those ingredients, and then looking at what else it is that I need, writing that down, and then going out to the farmer's market second. So that's what I suggest is going to the farmer's market second, second, then the grocery store third. And that's a big change for most people, right? Is to go to your farmer's market. If we are going to move towards eating in season, for example, and also moving towards that list that I have of better invest in the shopping guide, which is not just organic, right? Now I'm now I'm taking you into these other areas, probably words that you've not seen before. Like, do you have it? Do you have it up there?

SPEAKER_00 41:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

Okay. So what are some of those words that you're like, what is she talking about?

SPEAKER_00 41:31

No-till.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

Yeah, no-till. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Yeah, or organic no-till. No idea what that is.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Oh, yeah. So organic no-till, instead of them tilling the soil after they've harvested, they leave the plant material, they just roll over the plant material with what they call a crimper. And then in that way, the plant material is decomposing and it's feeding the soil. And there isn't a lot of folks who are doing that. But if I'm putting down like what are the best practices, people are doing that in conventional farms. That is happening, but in a no-till organic, and the only way you're going to find that out is if you're looking at their about us pages, or you're going to the farmer's market and you have folks in front of you and you're asking them questions like, are you using pesticides? Right? Like that's just like the easiest thing. Are you using pesticides? And of course, people can lie to you, but for the most part, people don't. They, you know, they're going to tell you what it is that they're doing. Do you are you using the other question I like to ask is, are you what kind of fertilizers are you using? Because you don't want petroleum-based fertilizers. You want it, but if they're organic, then they'll start to tell you things that they're doing. And then that's also part of the building relationships with folks. And you start to get, then it's like, Bilad, hey, how are you? from week to week, you know, and those are the that becomes part of the richness of the experience and the connection we have with food. So for example, at my farmer's market that I go to here in Oxnard, on Sundays, I have been buying from Jose. Jose grows in Ventura, and he's an organic, not a certified organic, because a lot of these guys are so small that doing the paperwork for USDA, it's just costly in both money and time that they don't have. Because it's just like one, two, three people operations. They just don't have the capacity. But they're often doing well beyond the organic guidelines. But you got to ask questions about what are they doing? And you start learning. You start learning from they're the one, they're the experts, these regenerative farmers, and start telling you the kinds of things that they're doing, which is super interesting. And it also feels good for them to be able to express what it is that they're doing that people want to know about what these extra steps they do. So when I buy my carrots, lettuce, and beets from Jose, then I know I I definitely then it suddenly waste, food waste has a different, a different meaning because how can I how can I not use these beets that Jose grew?

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Like you know, I love that. I totally relate to that. It puts a face in on your hands and you just see it as a different thing and something someone grew with care. Yeah, yeah.

Better Eggs Through Pasture Rotation

SPEAKER_02 44:52

And you don't have to the questions that you ask, and I'm going to um send you the script that I have. It's part of it's in the it'll be in the kitchen activist book. So I'm gonna send you the script just to help you with those questions. To ask for different types of foods. So, like crop rotation, for example, that's something that you would ask if you're looking for the very best eggs. So the best eggs or the best meats, like the animal proteins, you want those animals to be moving around so that they're not eating down the pasture, which is causing desertification. So that's not good. If animals are on one patch of land, I don't know if you've ever had backyard chickens, because I have. So if you keep them in that same spot and there it could have been lush grass, give them a couple weeks, maybe even less than that, and it's just dirt. They just eat it down to dirt because that's what they do. They just eat and eat and eat meat. But if you're moving them around, which is what they do in these crop rotation systems, or not crop rotation, it's called pasture. Gosh, what is it called? No, I can't remember. What do I have on that list?

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Pasture raised, but also yeah, I think that's rotated.

Finding Brick And Mortar Food Makers

SPEAKER_02 46:16

So they're rotated. I keep saying crop rotation because it's like they're crops. When you're rotating crops, they're rotating animals in that same way in a fenced in area. It's called holistic managed. I think the best animal protein for seeing how they communicate, how they're raising animals, is on egg cartons. You'll start to notice if you start to look at egg cartons, they'll like if you open the lid and they'll say things like rotated on pasture. And that's really the best thing because you want animals to be in relationship in a symbiotic relationship with the land. Because when you have these really big, large-scale, confined animal feedlot type of situations, they are kind of removed from the land and they're not giving back to the land, instead, they're just extracting. And then there's all this manure that the land can't handle, and then you have runoff, and there's negative environmental aspects that come with these large-scale animal operations. But with these small guys, they have just smaller flocks. That's what you find at the farmers market. And you, these questions, when I give you the script, and then the next time we can go over some of the questions together, but you'll you only have to do it once. You find your person for dairy, you find you find your egg producer that you like. You only have to do it once. You find your baker once, you know, those types of things. And then you start building those relationships. And when I talk about farmers market, we think about it as the pop-up farmer's market that comes, you know, that comes up once a week.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:07

But there's the brick and mortar farmer's market, the one that's happening in our communities all week long. Like the bakery that is fermenting their sourdough and using ancient grains, for example, the chocolatier who's buying direct from farmers in the tropics and was paying fair wages for that organic chocolate. Your coffee roasters who are doing the same thing. And they are not at the farmers, the pop-up farmers market. They have their shops, and you start to get to know what are those shops in your area. And then that's a fun thing too, because it's like a field trip. And you don't have to do it all at once either. This is like all of these folks that I've come to know in the places that I come to shop has taken me years, really. And people change, places change, we change, right? Not it's not a next week when I talk to you, I want you to know your baker and your coffee roaster and your chocolatier and have your cheesemonger and your like I'm not suggesting that at all. But maybe you could find one place that's different at the farmer's market, whether you go to the pop-up farmer's market or you find somebody in a brick and mortar farmer's market in your community.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

Yeah, I like that idea. And also kind of looking at the places that I'm already going and asking those questions. Maybe I'll be surprised that some of them already have practices like that. And I just never thought of asking.

SPEAKER_02 49:54

Yeah, absolutely. So the farmers market, what so how does that land with you? So shopping kitchen first, farmers market second, grocery store third.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Yeah, I never thought of that, but I like that. Putting putting the farmers market first, it's a great idea. Especially to get most of the vegetables and food. It's a good idea. We'll talk in a week from now. Perfect. All right, thank you, Florencia.

Kitchen Activist Mindset And Free Plan

SPEAKER_02 50:28

Thank you. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. So, next week we will continue with the journey with faith. I'm really enjoying her journey as well. And this is what it's like. We're just experimenting, we're finding out what works, what doesn't work, we're refining. And that's the work of becoming a kitchen activist. We're building small habits that reconnect us with our food, our kitchens, and the systems that feed us. And remembering that if it's good for a river, it's good for our bodies. I want to also remind you that in the show notes, I do have a link for the meal plan, which is free. It's a free template so that you could also start your meal planning journey with us. Thank you again so much for listening. I will be back next week.