The Art of Gentle Meal Prep: Creating Space for Sabbath with Kathi Lipp

Do you currently practice a weekly Sabbath? God instructs us to do it (not suggests) because He has wired our minds and bodies to THRIVE when we adequately rest. This can be tricky though, in a world that applauds over achieving and idolizes productivity. 

Today’s episode features a conversation with Kathi Lipp, author of "Sabbath Soup," discussing the intersection of meal planning and Sabbath rest. Kathi shares her journey with Sabbath practices and introduces her gentle approach to meal planning that allows for true rest and enjoyment of family time. 

We discuss: 

• Kathi's personal practice with Sabbath and how it evolved over time
• The importance of rhythms and taking care of your future self
• Overview of her "Sabbath Soup" book and its meal planning approach
• Gentle journey into meal planning throughout the week
• Using leftovers creatively throughout the week
• The many benefits of meal planning for your Sabbath
• How Sabbath meal planning can help with intuitive eating and portion control
• Kathi’s favorite meals and kitchen cooking equipment

PURCHASE SABBATH SOUP HERE

Visit SabbathSoup.com for goodies & preorder bonuses

LINKS DISCUSSED

• Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
• Ninja Foodi Air Fry Countertop Oven
• Zester
• Kitchen Mama can opener

CONNECT WITH KATHI

www.kathilipp.com

Instagram: @kathilipp 

Facebook: AuthorKathiLipp

Twitter: @kathilipp

YouTube: @KathiLippAuthor

Kathi Lipp is the Publishers Weekly best-selling author of over 20 books, including Sabbath Soup. She and her husband Roger ran away to the mountains of Northern California where they grow their own food and tur

Transcript

Kathi Lipp

Amy Connell: Kathy Lipp, welcome to the graced health podcast. 

Kathi Lipp: Oh, my goodness. I'm so glad to be here with you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm

Amy Connell: Well, not as glad as I am that you are here. Um, you do a lot of different things and you serve a lot of different people and I show up in your spaces listening and I'm on the receiving end of listening to your wisdom in a lot of different areas. And so truly, Kathy, it is just a joy to invite you into this graced health space.

And I'm so glad that we are going to get to talk about Uh, Sabbath soup and meal planning and prepping and all of that kind of stuff today.

Kathi Lipp: thrilled. It's my favorite thing to talk about and I love talking about it with friends. So what more perfect combination could there be? 

Amy Connell: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Okay. So you've written this book called Sabbath soup. I talked about it a little bit in the intro.

Um, but I'm curious before we get into that, I would love to know what your relationship with the Sabbath is, which is kind of a weird thing, right? Because it's something that God commands for us.

However. We all have a different story of Sabbath in our life. So just

in general, I was wondering if you could speak to that.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah, I didn't really grow up with a Sabbath practice. I mean, my, my family for some of my life went to church on Sunday mornings, but that was essentially it. And then as, um, I got older, got married, had kids. Uh, I went to a church that talked a lot about Sabbath, about the things you shouldn't be doing and what you I took that on as, let's be clear, because it was the nineties that it was my job to make sure that everybody had a rest.

So I, I would work like a dog so that everybody can have a nap and, uh, that we didn't have to leave the house. We didn't have to go to restaurants and there was a lot of don'ts with that Sabbath. And then, um, you know, as my kids got older, as I got remarried. I don't know. I just, I saw Sabbath as a gentler thing that, uh, God was saying, here's this gift, you know, this gift of recognizing my provision and being with my people and being with me.

And, but I still didn't have that missing link of how do I make Sabbath happen without killing myself. And so that I think that's been the evolution of saying, okay, I, I know how to, to enjoy a Sabbath without also being a martyr without, um, having other people put expectations on me that feel unrealistic.

And I really do enjoy. That time as the gift that it is, but it's taken me 57 years, 57 years, you know? So, okay. 

Amy Connell: We're all on a learning

journey. So,

yeah, and you know, it is a gift and it's such an invitation. But it's also hard to do. I used to lead a group, a small group at my church of young adult, and it was such a special group to me because they were like 20 to 27 and they were either in college or in their early on in their young adult. And we did a study, I'm sure you've heard of it, the, um, ruthless elimination of hurry

by John Mark Homer. And it was a great book and we, we were reading it and.

I told them, I'm so glad that they are thinking about this now so they can establish these rhythms, because that wasn't even on my radar. I didn't, it, it wasn't, it just, it just wasn't there.

And I thought, gosh, how, Nice. It would be for them to, as to integrate this into their rhythms as they are starting their careers, as they are potentially getting married and, and all of that. So, yeah, I love it. You know, you talked about, um, some of the, you know, that you found all of some benefits in honoring the Sabbath.

You didn't even realize what some of those, um, opportunities were. Can you, do you mind sharing some of those with

Kathi Lipp: No, of course not. So I think, uh, you, you hit on a key concept, their rhythms and, you know, it's so interesting, you and I, um, both, you know, live through the nineties and, Um, I lived through the 80s as in the, you know, somewhat of an adult, somewhat of his child, but I remember, uh, growing up under the idea of if you just worked as hard as you possibly could, then good things would come to you and, uh.

One, that's a lie too. It didn't take into consideration the wholeness of our bodies. And when I say our bodies, I'm also talking our mind, our spirit, all of that. You know, we didn't, we just thought, uh, you know, if you just worked as hard as you could, your company would recognize you, you would get the promotion or get the raise or whatever that was.

And then at some point when you needed to, you could rest. And that just did not take into consideration any reality, you know, of anything going wrong in your life, wanting to have balance in your life. And now there's kind of a backlash to saying, well, your life is never balanced because, you know, there's always some spinning plate that's kind of out of control.

And I would say that, but also. I'm a very busy person. I'm a very focused, driven person. There are lots of things I want to do, but I have realized that by taking a Sabbath, I am ready for the work ahead and I've recovered from the work that's behind me and not everybody gets to live that out. And so to, to say I'm too good for Sabbath or I'm too driven for Sabbath.

If it feels like such a rejection of God saying, look, I, I know who you are. I know how I've designed you. And, um, I'm nicer. When I've taken a Sabbath break, I am healthier, uh, you know, probably a little bit about my health journey, but at one point in my life, I was a hundred pounds more than I am right now.

And. That's when I was living that 24 seven lifestyle. Now, I'm not going to say, you know, if I had just taken, you know, those 24 hours off, I wouldn't have had a weight issue. I was a 10 pound baby. I was destined for a weight issue my entire life. But, um, uh, once I finally kind of aligned a lot of things, I could start making better decisions that were not just about recovery, but they were about how can I live in alignment.

How can I live with purpose and not just recovering all the time from living at extremes? 

Amy Connell: The thing that came to mind when you were talking is I feel like when we are in this Hustle, hustle, hustle more, all of that, then we are continually amped up in that high stress state.

Kathi Lipp: Yes.

Amy Connell: And we aren't able to be in alignment. We aren't able to feel that wholeness when we don't allow ourselves to come down,

take a breath.

Kathi Lipp: Can I tell you something so interesting? Uh, there was a study done at UCLA and you know, one of my other passions is clutter. My dad was a hoarder. Um, we lost him 10 years ago to He day that we're recording

Amy Connell: my goodness.

Kathi Lipp: crazy, right? And, um, so clutter has always been an issue I've dealt with. And, uh, the stress hormone cortisol is.

Out of whack when women are surrounded by clutter. It doesn't affect men. It affects women and so that chaos factor in our lives, uh, UCLA says that's affecting our health. And so when you think about that, when you think about living in these extremes, you know, I, I always talk about it as I'm trying to learn to take care of my future self.

So if I am Preparing food on Friday that I'm going to eat on Sunday. That's taking care of my future self. If I put the scissors back in the butcher block when I'm done using them, that's taking care of my future self. And all of those things are not only lowering my stress level, they're also helping my health.

And they may be just like tiny little incremental things. I'm doing it for good. And that's what I want.

Amy Connell: So funny thing about the phrase taking care of your future self. You

say that a lot. And at the

end, I'm going to actually ask you to share all the different spaces you're in, because my connection to you is more writing at the red house podcast,

communication, all of that kind of stuff. But that is a phrase I learned from you.

And My son, when he was a junior in high school, um, I would, I say this to them all the time or when they were in the house, we are, we are brand new empty nesters and his, um, one of his teachers would have a phrase on the chalkboard of like, this was the phrase that they honed in on the entire school year.

And at the end of the school year, my son said something to her about taking care of your future self. And she went. Oh, that's next year's phrase. 

So your wisdom is just continues to live on 

Kathi Lipp: Oh, 

Amy Connell: through high school students. 

Kathi Lipp: Oh 

Amy Connell: Yes. 

Kathi Lipp: makes me so happy You know what because oh my goodness if our high schoolers 

Could learn that thing because let me tell you I was at my Much of my life was at my worst in high school Like studying at a midnight or like it's too late. Never mind You know, that was a lot of my living and even if they could see the rewards just a little bit sooner Than in their 20s.

What a gift, right? Oh

Amy Connell: along these lines of taking care of your future self, you have written a book to help us take care of our future self. It's called Sabbath Soup. And this is when I was kind of prepping and you saw this phrase, but I, I feel like it helps us navigate this physiological need for food so we can feed

our soul during the Sabbath. I invite people to fill out a form when they join my community so I can kind of understand, you

know, where people's pain

points are and a huge portion of people who fill it out. One of the things that they say is a big pain point of them is meal planning. Like I

just can't. I'm

so overwhelmed with it by

this. I have gotten to take a peek at Sabbath soup and this is what I love, Kathy. So I'm going to, I'm going to say what it is. I'm going to let you talk more about it,

but

it is you guys, if you want to be spoonfed, this is it. Kathy tells you how to do it.

She tells you what days, um, all surrounding getting a weekly rhythm. So you can take a Sabbath. So with that.

You can clarify or correct anything that I said, but

also I want to hear what inspired you to write this.

Kathi Lipp: Chaos. You know, the desire for the lack of chaos, uh, Amy, I, you're probably too young to remember this, but some of the people who are listening are not. There was a book, uh, back when, you know, my kids were, you know, Little little beans and it was called once a month cooking and it was 30 recipes that you would cook on one day to get ahead in life.

And I did that for years and it was wonderful. Okay. I'll just say 

Amy Connell: Wait a

minute, all 30 recipes in one day 

Kathi Lipp: Yes. 

Amy Connell: you had littles.

Kathi Lipp: different recipes, 30 different recipes.

Amy Connell: that's great if your kids are gone all day

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. And you know, back in that day, I don't know that I could, I thought I had permission to, you know, say, Hey, husband, could you, I'm married to somebody different now. But could you take these children while I do this? So let me tell you the evolution. So I went from that and we didn't really enjoy the recipes.

I'm not gonna lie. I love them because they were done, but My, my family did not enjoy them. Then the next evolution was we did something called six chicks, freeze and fix. And I love a good title. So I came up with that title where I had five friends and myself, we would each. Make three main dishes and we make six portions of them, freeze them, then we get together in the Costco parking lot at eight in the morning and we'd swap them all.

It looked like a, a drug deal gone bad. It was so weird looking, right? But we went 

Amy Connell: with tinfoil. 

Kathi Lipp: exactly. We went home with 18 different meals and. It was such a help. It's hard to do that. These days. We didn't know as much about food allergies and intolerances as we do now. And so this is kind of a natural evolution for me where I just decided I, I needed to get ahead.

I needed to take care of Monday night, Kathy, who, you know, I, like you, like everybody who's listening Monday, we're shot out of a cannon back to work doing all the things. And it's just like, how do we even do this? So what, what I've done is just said, okay, what can I do Friday or Saturday, whatever your cooking day is so that.

I can have that real 24 hour break and I can have a plan for the rest of the week. So, um, you know, we do this, if you're cooking on Saturday, then, um, you're prepping on Thursday. So you're chopping up vegetables and things like that. Wednesday is when you're going shopping. Tuesday, you're making the list and cleaning out the fridge.

Monday, you're making the meal plan each day. You're saying, I'm taking care of my future self and it's a gift.

Amy Connell: This is a new concept to me because I will, I have always been in a rhythm of meal planning for the week,

going to the grocery store,

I'm I used to be great about only going once that sometimes gets a little muddy, but I find it interesting and intriguing that you are kind of doing a couple things in tandem because you're still enjoying the meals that you had prepped.

So you're kind of cooking and consuming. And when I say cook, I mean like the real, um, secondary stuff that you did from the week before, but you're also prepping and planning. So like Monday

night, this is novel to me. Like Monday we're planning, we're meal

planning. Of what we are going to purchase and prep on Friday or Saturday.

Kathi Lipp: Right. Because I don't have a full day to be doing any of this. And you know a little bit about my situation. I do not live in town. Uh, I live about an hour and 20 minutes from a chain grocery store. And so It this has helped with my rhythm to say I'm not doing a big thing on any one day Except for my actual cooking day where I'm taking a couple of hours to do that But you know if I can determine on monday What i'm going to be eating Saturday night.

I don't feel rushed to say, okay, I'm making the meal plan. Now I'm making the grocery list, um, because I have to check what we already have in stock. And now I'm prepping like none of it wears me out. It's a gentle, it's a gentle journey into. I should be very clear. Sabbath soup is not a diet book.

It is if it's, and I think you can consider it healthy or unhealthy, depending on what, you know, what your natural eating plan is and what, what you do. But let me just say the process is the healthiest I've ever been in. Um, yeah. So. I look at my refrigerator and you don't have to follow the meal plan.

Nobody's getting gold stars out here. But if you're like, I don't have everything for that mushroom soup, but I have everything for, uh, chicken tortilla soup, go off. That's exactly what I want you to do. What I've done, there's some meal plans. It's, it's kind of like Saturday night is kind of our big meal.

And maybe you decide I want to do that on Friday night or Sunday night. It's fine. Do whatever you want. Like, that's the night we'll have a roast chicken or we'll do, you know, something along those lines. Sunday after church is our soup. And then Sunday night is kind of more of a comfort food thing, something fun, like maybe a chicken enchilada casserole or something like that.

And those are our three main meals. And then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we're eating the second portions of those, maybe re, you know, that roast chicken turns into, um, chicken tortilla salad or something like that. But we're just, we're re imagining that. And then Thursday and Friday, we're eating out and we're having a pizza because I don't know life without pizza.

I don't, I don't fully understand it. And we happen to have a pizza oven. So we're a little, we're a little bougie with it, but. Even if it's just mom putting in or dad, let's be honest, dad putting in a frozen pizza. You see, you don't, cause you need a couple nights to not even think about it. Right. And that's what I want for you. 

Amy Connell: For years we did a Papa Murphy's Friday night, which Papa

is kind of the take

and bake.

And so it's the best of both worlds. They prep it and then you

bring it home and you cook it when you want it. And

I loved it. And there was just some freedom about like, okay, I don't have to do anything. But I want to get into some practicalities here. So you'll say, so Saturday is your big cook day. You have prepped the veggies that you're going to use on Thursday. You have gently journeyed your way into big cook, um, Saturday. And then,

so then are you making, you're making then Saturday night, your big dinner, your roast

chicken or whatever,

and the soup and the enchiladas.

Kathi Lipp: Yes,

Amy Connell: And that sustains you really until the end of the week.

Kathi Lipp: it really does. And so also, sometimes I will throw in there like, um, you know, some kind of breakfast casserole or something depends, you know, if you're one of those families who are like, we are just grabbing and going just so we can have a hope of getting to church within 15 minutes of it starting go off.

Right. But, um, You know, there is when I do those three main meals with some sides, you know, Saturday night, I'm putting that of it, that chicken into the oven and roasting it and then it's when it's got leftovers, it's just going back into the fridge. The soup I'm cooking on the stovetop, or maybe in the slow cooker.

I'm letting it cool down. I'm putting it back into the fridge and then Sunday after church. I'm either, um, putting it on to the stovetop to reheat or Sunday before we go to church. I'm just sticking that back into the slow cooker and it's ready and waiting when we get there and the, uh, the enchilada casserole on Saturday when I'm cooking.

You know, preparing that stick it in the fridge, pull it out on Sunday night, stick it in the oven. It's good to go. So I'm doing very minimal things on Sunday and here's the beautiful thing and, you know, you like, uh, taking care of your future self. The number one way to do that is to pre decide like I've already decided what we're eating.

I've already decided when I'm prepping it. I already know the sides that are going with it. Um, the other thing is we do a dessert on Saturday nights. So, you know, yes. Right. We just had, we just, um, out of the cookbook, we did spice peach cobbler. Um, And I'll be happy to send that to you so that you can share it with your audience.

Amy Connell: Yeah, 

Kathi Lipp: you know, it's just something a little different taking advantage of summer and fall fruits. It it's worth it just a little something to look forward to. And so, and, you know, Saturday night is our night to kind of linger around the table or bring part of that dinner to a neighbor who maybe is struggling.

If you have a larger family. Instead of one roast chicken, you may be doing two. That's what I did when we had four teenagers at home, but it works and you can, you can kind of, you feel the pressure off of you the rest of the week. It's a beautiful thing.

Amy Connell: I love that. And I also love the idea of something like a spice peach cobbler, because oftentimes there will be, there will be. Um, extras that you can enjoy

again.

Kathi Lipp: percent 100%. 

Amy Connell: Well, and I tell you what, I'm going to put this in the show notes that I

email out.

Um, so you, if you're listening to this, it'll already be in your inbox. If you get those, if you just get my monthly newsletters, I'm going to put that in the monthly newsletter. Um, and Kathy, you do provide, this is one thing that I found interesting too, and I like it is you provide.

Just kind of some inspiration for like, here are some meals. And then you also provide many, many recipes and especially those soup recipes alongside it. But, you know, and I can't remember, um, the example of one of them, but like, there are some things that we all have our own little. personal 

recipes for. Um, but you know, you've got some great things in there. I mean, you've got this, you know, you've got some pesto chicken, you've got air fryer smash baby potatoes and roasted better not squash soup. I mean, you guys, there are so many recipes that we can make on this Saturday or whatever your big cook day is to be kind to our future self.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. There are 24 soup recipes and over a hundred, I think like 120 different recipes in there. And I mean, we have everything from wonderful ways to prep some vegetables to Nutella brownies. Like we, we make sure we cover everything there.

Amy Connell: we're there.

Kathi Lipp: Because I want, I want my Sabbath meals to feel special, you know, I, it's a break.

Yeah, some of those other meals are like, hey, you know, the chicken, um, tortilla salad, you know, things like that, just Caesar salad, those kind of things. Those are, you know, weeknight staples. But I, I want some Nutella brownies in my life that I'm not gonna lie. Yeah.

Amy Connell: We all do. Of course. We all do.

The word that I'm coming, that I think of when you say you want your Sabbath meals to be special is nourishing. So Yes, physically nourishing, but also, you know, we've had a lot of conversations on this show about intuitive eating and about discovering

the satisfaction factor and realizing that food is so much more than just sustenance.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah,

Amy Connell: It really, and the, the experiences that we have around the table, and so you are wanting nourishment on that Sabbath, which to me, it has to be one of the things that God was wanting us to have. On Sabbath, not to put word in God's mouth, but, but it,

it's gotta be, it's gotta be in alignment with that.

Kathi Lipp: you know to be nourished is to be satisfied right and one of the tenets of Sabbath is to recognize the provision of God in our lives. So you're not putting words in God's eyes Uh, mouth. God is putting words in your heart and your mind. So you're good on that. But also, let me just say this.

I am no expert at intuitive eating. Okay, let's just be 100 percent clear. But there is something about planning these meals and saying, Hey, we're using part of this as leftovers, where I am really checking in with myself to say, Oh, That's enough. I'm, I'm satisfied. And, uh, you know, just, I think sometimes when we're, we're just planning for that meal, we've got our proportion set out and we're like, okay, you get a quarter, you get a quarter, you get a quarter, you get a quarter.

And it's very easy for me to eat that quarter and not check in with myself to say, is that enough? Do I feel satisfied? Not just my hunger. Do I feel satiated? But do I also feel, And let me like truth in advertising here, please. And I'm on those Empik, okay? Because my saiety trigger is broken. It has been broken my whole life.

This is helping me to check in with myself. And I am so grateful for that. And I'm also grateful knowing, Hey, that was delicious. And by the way, I can have that on Monday night too. It's okay. It's not going anywhere. And so to be okay with that, not I, as somebody who struggles with clutter and some food issues, like the hoarding tendency is strong with me, it is strong.

And so to know that there's enough, and I'm going to be okay is something I have to remind myself of. But I feel like this way of cooking really lends itself to that. 

Amy Connell: I think that is wonderful insight. And I had never thought about hoarding and food issues, particularly as they relate to that food noise in your brain

or the insecurity

of, well, gosh, is, am I going to have enough? I'd never thought about those going together, but that makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

Kathi Lipp: It has been such a gift to me. I mean, it really has to to be able to say it is enough and I'm okay. And by the way, if I'm hungry later, it's okay to go back because it's okay to nourish myself. But it's it's having to have that new conversation. And again, I am not an expert. I'm just saying this is what's helping me.

Amy Connell: Well, everything you've mentioned is actually one of the 10 principles, um, or you mentioned a lot of the things. There are 10 principles of intuitive eating. One of them is feel your hunger or, um, honor your hunger. One of them is feel your fullness. One of them is discover the satisfaction factor. So all of these things that you're talking about are absolutely in alignment with that because God gave us these bodies.

Um, to be able to regulate what we need and sometimes things get a little off. So yes, I love all, all that you are saying. Okay. Sabbath soup 

Kathi Lipp: comes out October 8th. This is airing October 1st. Okay. I have a personal plea. If this is interesting to you, if you're listening. Then, because I know the backend and I know how publishing works, if you can preorder, that is so helpful to the author. It is. And if you could see Kathy's face, she is just like, you know that, you know, when you like shake your head, like, and just like look down and like, Oh, you have no idea. Like this is, this is the response I'm getting from Kathy right now. It is so helpful. So if you are interested in this preorder, you've got seven days to preorder it and you'll get this amazing book. Plus, um, It'll be helpful to Kathy.

Well, and also, let me just say, if you're one of those people who's like, I want it in my hot little hand, let me, let me just say, there is a pre order where we, okay, can I tell you, I've never worked so hard on a book in my life. And then they told me, Kathy, you need to cut out four weeks. And I'm like,

Amy Connell: Oh,

Kathi Lipp: me, Jesus.

But they said, but don't worry, we're going to turn that into a pre order bonus. And I'm like, okay, that keeps me from. Wanting to drive up there and have words and throw throw fists. Um, so yeah, if you do it, you know, If you go to sabbathsoup. com, you can see how to pre order. Plus there is also a little bonus.

It's called Soups On. And um, if you just, you know, type your email address in there. It is, it's an ebook it has more recipes. It has more ideas. It has just more. So you can get started today

Amy Connell: you can, you can absolutely get started today. That is awesome. Um, I assume we can purchase Sabbath Soup wherever we normally purchase our books. Okay. That's great. That's great. So I asked these questions because I know that there is a little bit back end. Is there one place that is the most helpful to pre order it?

Kathi Lipp: I, Amazon, I'm sorry, guys. You know what? If you do it on Barnes and Noble, if you do it on Christianbooks. com, may your household be blessed. But Amazon is the problem. Okay, so little insider, which I know, you know, Amy, but people who aren't, who aren't in publishing may not know. Amazon purchases the number of books based on the pre orders.

So if you pre order the book, they're going to say, Oh, this is a good book. We should keep more in. What happens is if everybody waits till like October 8th, they run out of books because they haven't ordered enough. It's this whole game that we have to play. And, but if you go to sabbathsuit.

com, like you can see all the fun places to order it and all the freebies, but you know what, just even, even if you, you're like, I'm not in a financial place to do that right now. If you want to order the, get the freebies, I'm happy for that. I just want to help everybody where they're sitting right now. 

Amy Connell: That's wonderful. That's, that's super generous. Okay. Kathy, I've never done this on the show before, so you'll

be the first, but

would you be open to a lightning round of questions? Um, all centered around kitchen stuff.

Kathi Lipp: absolutely. Let's do it. 

Amy Connell: lightning round kind of first thing that comes to mind doesn't have to be, you know, we don't have to have a full conversation about

it. Okay.

Are you ready?

Kathi Lipp: Yes. Go for it.

Amy Connell: One piece of kitchen equipment that you can't live without. So something that's a little bigger.

Kathi Lipp: Okay. Bigger. So, um, the ninja, uh, air fryer, it's a, it's a, I think it's an eight and one air fryer, uh, oven, uh, pizza oven. We just got this like a month ago. It's 138 at Costco. Not that I'm obsessed with this. We use it two to three times, maybe more than that. We use it for every meal. It's, it's just the best thing I've ever used.

Amy Connell: All right. That's a lot of wonderful things.

Okay. Now, kitchen gadget that you can't live without. So think something that goes in a drawer.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. Okay. So, uh, oh, this is such a good question. I've got like seven that are competing. So I think a zester is a really, underutilized thing, because if you could just zest a little lemon or lime or orange on about 80 percent of your things, whether it's savory or sweet, or just, um, some, um, Parmesan cheese it makes everything better and you don't need much. And so I think a zester just explodes things.

Amy Connell: I have to remember that. I do have a zester. I make a lot of things just with straight salt and pepper. Um, so I'm going to have to remember that. I made some fish last night and I thought, Ooh, I should have done that now. Yeah.

Kathi Lipp: Okay. You know what? I'm sorry. I have to give you a second one 

Amy Connell: Please.

Okay. 

Kathi Lipp: it's called mama kitchen and it is okay. It looks like a giant bullet and you put, it's a can opener that you just put on top of your can and you hit a button and it turns all the way around and it's not very big, like we have one in our RV, but if you have any mobility issues, especially like in your wrists or your hands.

It's game changer. I love it 

Amy Connell: Good to know. 

Kathi Lipp: you feel like you can multitask.

Amy Connell: Okay. All right. Good to know. Okay. I'm asking this question. This is going to sound like a strange question to someone

who doesn't know you, but because I've been listening to you, I know that you love cheese and

I know that you have chickens and

that you're do a lot of chickens.

So choose one and those chickens produce eggs.

Choose one of these foods to eat every day for a month, cheese or eggs. 

Kathi Lipp: Oh, come on. That's like Sophie's choice. Um, but okay, here's an interesting answer. Cheese. Because. Fresh laid eggs can last up to a month. 

Amy Connell: Oh,

strategic being

kind to the future 

Kathi Lipp: yes, and I could make so many angel food cakes, which require 12 eggs, um, at the end of that. So, yeah, I probably don't eat eggs every day. But I do I'm sure I have some little form of cheese Like I just had chili for lunch.

And of course a sprinkle of cheese makes it so much better It's just a little bit. You just need a little bit. It's so wonderful.

Amy Connell: Okay. I like your thinking with that. That's very strategic. Current favorite dish to cook. 

Kathi Lipp: Oh It would either be our homemade pizza Or, um, I, you know, you mentioned it earlier. I just did the pesto chicken and I could probably eat that. I don't know, like several nights in a row because we have a garden and we've got basil from that garden and I was able to freeze a bunch of it last year. And so I love a good pesto.

So yeah, pesto 

Amy Connell: I need to know more about that. Um, okay. This is the final question. Describe a meal that nourishes your body and soul. So this will be a Sabbath meal.

Kathi Lipp: Okay. So this is going to sound really crazy, but I want to talk to my friends out there who are not big fans of cooking. I love so much a pull together meal. I have a couple of them in the cookbook too, which are the no cook cookbooks, but like to get that roast chicken at Costco, to do like a little charcuterie board to put alongside of it and anything where you can nibble and linger, uh, That is a soul satisfying meal to me and I'm, I don't drink alcohol, but I would serve some of our local wines with that because somebody would enjoy that.

I don't drink. So I would have like, a sparkling, like, apple juice or orange juice or something like that. And, or, and then, you It would have to finish off with some cookies and a really good coffee and that that's like my perfect Even if I don't feel like cooking I can gather the ingredients The only thing I wouldn't have on hand is the chicken and or I might make Um, I make a killer chocolate chip cookie and to have those that come fresh out of the ninja oven with some coffee, uh, it doesn't get better than that.

Amy Connell: No, it doesn't sound like it could. Thank you for participating in our first ever lightning round.

Um, I love that and I'm definitely gonna have to check some of those out. Okay. I've got some questions I ask all my guests. Uh, one of them is I love learning about people's tattoos because I have found that when someone puts something on their body for the rest of their life, a lot of Often they have a meaning behind it. Um, I don't have any, but I like to learn about other people's.

So I was wondering if you have any tattoos, um, would you be willing to share what one or more, or just one of them if you have more, um, and the meaning behind it. But if you don't have any, but you had to get one, what would you get and where would it go?

Kathi Lipp: I do not have any tattoos. Uh, but can I tell you a story, a quick story? Um,

When I was going through my divorce, and I think this is a lot of times when people get tattoos and really short haircuts, right? Like, you're going through something that's so life changing and so monumental. And so I really wanted to get a heart that, you know, an outline of a heart that had my son's name on one side and my daughter's name on the other.

And when I told them about this, They were mortified. They thought that was the worst idea they've ever heard in their entire lives. They could not believe I would do something like that. My daughter now has about 10 tattoos and did not ask for 

Amy Connell: I was going to say, probably did not ask for a consult on this.

Kathi Lipp: Right. And, um, I always ask her to tell me the story behind them.

They kill her grandmother. I just think that they are part of who she is and her self expression. And I, I too love to ask people about their tattoos because if you, if you were willing to go through that amount of pain, I need to know what, what was so meaningful to you. So again, as a fellow non tattooer, I love to hear the story.

Amy Connell: I do too. And I have to say, good thing you listened to your kids because with the, um, with your husband who you're married to now. You also have two bonus children. And so they would have felt really left out. 

Kathi Lipp: Or they would have been really weirded out if I had gotten their name. So it's best that we just all decided no tattoos and we, we love them all. Yes, 

Amy Connell: That's right.

That's right. Okay. Kathy, how can people connect with you?

Kathi Lipp: I, I would love for you to go to sabbathsoup. com. I don't mean to keep repeating that. Or, if what we were talking about with clutter, Kind of rings a bell because I know that that is an issue for a lot of people on Facebook. We have a free group It's just called Kathy lips clutter free Academy And if you just need some support when it comes to decluttering and getting your life a little bit more aligned We would love to have you over there.

Amy Connell: Yes, that is, and you call it the kindest little corner on the internet, I

Kathi Lipp: It truly is truly is We kick There, there's between 000 people over there, and we are very quick to kick people out. If they are unkind or judgmental, we don't stand because nobody grows in that kind of environment. So we are very, we are very kind until you're unkind and then you're on your way out.

Amy Connell: you have boundaries. This would, this is good.

This is good. Um, okay. Do you have a Bible verse that you would like to share?

Kathi Lipp: Yes. Okay. So this has just been so helpful to me. It's Mark 2, 27, when I get wrapped up in am I celebrating Sabbath correctly? Because I'm doing some deconstructing from my childhood and my teenage years and young adult years that talks about, you know, the Sabbath was made for man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not ma'am for the Sabbath.

It wasn't about us obeying Sabbath to get that check mark. God said, this is my gift to you. And to really treat it as that, to go gently, you know, I just read a quote , it's something along the lines of when we're living in high gear all the time, rest feels like stress and I'm trying to retrain my body.

To say rest doesn't have to be exhaustion. It can be that gentle journey. And that's what I'm trying to learn that it's not bad to take a nap on a Sunday. It's not bad to watch an episode of television that you really enjoy. It's not bad to take time away and sit down and play a board game with somebody you love that.

Sabbath was made for man.

Amy Connell: That is so good. And I have been on that journey as well. It doesn't matter what time I get up on Sunday mornings. It doesn't matter if I

sit around and have

coffee for two hours, or if I go for a really intense workout, I. always fall asleep after church. We come home from church, we have

lunch. And then I lay down and it's gotten to be a joke with my husband.

I'm like, well, I'm quote reading. And then I read for 15 minutes and it's like, God's like, you've got to rest. So I love that.

Kathi Lipp: you know what? I have learned to love the linger, you know, and whether that means I fall asleep or I'm just in bed hanging out with my dog. You know what? Sometimes I'm scrolling tech talk like there are lots of different ways to disconnect. And people talk about disconnecting from social media. And if that's what you need to do, absolutely fine.

But a lot of my life is lived in that, that third gear. And I want to be able to say, you know what? Um, let's have a glide for a little while. Yeah.

Amy Connell: Yeah, that's beautiful. Um, Kathy, before I ask my last question, I just have to tell you how grateful I am for you in my life. Um, you have had some wonderful podcasts for communicators. You currently have the writing at the red house. I have learned so much from you. Um, that in my first book, I said to one of my online mentors, Kathy lip, and I thought, I'm sure that you got that.

And you're like, I need to look her up again because I'm not

Kathi Lipp: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I've always known exactly who you are friend.

Amy Connell: the point is, um, I just honor the work that you do, um, for communicators. And I brought that up because we have some bloggers in our community. We have some communicators. And so you guys, if you, um, need some guidance and need a gentle hand with that, go listen to writing at the red house , Clutter Free Academy and then the Sabbath Soup.

You guys, this is such a great resource. Like I said, I've gotten to have a sneak peek at it. It is wonderful and beautiful and definitely worth your purchase. But Kathy, I just, I do like feel like I need to just, it's a full circle moment for me. So I'm, I'm so, um, honored to have you into our little graced health space.

Kathi Lipp: Amy, let me just say, I think, um, you know, if, if I could have two legacies, can I pick two, can I pick two legacies? One is to help women, especially around my age to be gentler with themselves. And two, um, I, every once in a while, I'll see like these two people are connected on Facebook and I'm like, Oh my gosh, these two people are connected.

I love that. How do they know each other? And so I'll send them a little message. How do you guys know each other? And they said, we, we know each other because of you, Kathy. And I'm like, That's my favorite thing ever that I introduce like this amazing person and this amazing person. So you know what that it means the world to me, Amy, it really, really does. 

Amy Connell: Yeah. Well, thank you. You do a lot. Um, you rest well, or you're learning to rest well at

least, 

but when you're not resting, uh, you serve a lot of people. So I just, I just want to thank you for that. Okay. 

Final question. We talked about a lot. What is the one simple thing that you would like us to remember about our conversation?

Big or small? Just one simple thing.

Kathi Lipp: You don't have to do a week's worth of meals. You don't have to do all the shopping and plan. If you're like Kathy, I can't, I can't even, I can't even. Can I ask you. On Friday or Saturday, could you make a pot of soup that you could put on the oven for Sunday? Could you just take care of your future self?

Because I'm guessing if planning a week's worth of meals is too much, Then somebody needs to be taking care of you and it may be your past self taking care of your future self. I just want that for you. And if you're preparing soup means you buy two, two containers at Costco, then let that be your soup.

But I just want you to take care of you. Um, that, that would mean the world to me. 

Amy Connell: Yes. So good. Okay. That is all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.