Kathi (00:01.424)

Hey friends, welcome to Clutterfree Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And sitting here with me is now officially, officially the co -host of Clutterfree Academy. Why did it take us so long? Why, why, why? It is Tonya Kubo. Hey, Tonya.

Tonya Kubo (00:23.696)

Hey Kathi, I don’t know why I just got all excited and got like warm fuzzies. This is so fun.

Kathi (00:26.786)

Yes. It’s well and you’re the co-host of two podcasts. So you’ve officially joined the crazy club. What’s your what’s your other podcast? Just so people know.

Tonya Kubo (00:34.28)

You

Tonya Kubo (00:39.47)

It’s called the business you really want and has absolutely nothing to do with clutter.

 

Kathi (00:45.224)

But you know what? A lot of our cluttery people are business moguls. So there is going to be a cross-section. So yay.

 

Tonya Kubo (00:50.47)

You try?

 

There is, there is. And you know what? I just find creatives tend to be cluttery, right? We have so many ideas, so many interests. So yeah, it totally makes sense for there to be overlap.

 

Kathi (00:59.514)

Yep, it’s so true.

 

Yep.

Kathi (01:06.436)

Well, and today we’re going to be talking about another aspect of my business because for the last time in the foreseeable future, I have a book coming out, which in the foreseeable future is I, know, there’ve been a number of books and like Kathi needs a break now and this book is all about having a break, which so this makes a lot of sense, right?

Tonya Kubo (01:18.6)

It is not the last time, Kathi. It is not the last.

 

Tonya Kubo (01:32.134)

Right, right.

 

Kathi (01:36.04)

So in October, I have a book coming out it’s called Sabbath Soup and it’s all about creating weekly rhythms and routines and of course, I want my cluttery people to have the first inside scoop because Let’s be honest Tonya. I wrote this for us Yeah, yes Well because I don’t know about anybody well, I do know about some of you, but I’ll just speak for myself

 

Tonya Kubo (01:55.366)

Right. Thank you. Thank you. I needed it. Okay.

 

Kathi (02:05.254)

The fact that dinner comes around every single night is the most annoying thing in the world. Like, didn’t I just do that and you want me to do it again tomorrow? Are you insane? And I do really well with a routine. And I do really well with batching tasks. I hate doing the little, you know, mic, I don’t know.

 

Tonya Kubo (02:20.915)

Hmm.

 

Kathi (02:31.034)

The idea of cooking a new unique dinner every single night just makes me absolutely insane. And so I have been working on this book. mean, this book has been a thing for a couple of years now and I’m, I’m not going to lie. I’m very, very excited about it. And, so we just wanted to take this podcast to really talk through the process that I feel like

 

Tonya Kubo (02:38.174)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (02:59.944)

is built especially for cluttery people. It’s about doing one kind of task each day so that you can feed your family and or yourself or your roommates or whoever it is, but also so that you can actually have a break on Sabbath, whatever that Sabbath may be, know, Saturday, Sunday, we happen to celebrate from sundown.

 

Tonya Kubo (03:03.07)

Mm

 

Kathi (03:26.084)

on Saturday to sundown on Sunday. And that is a lovely rhythm for Roger and I, the people, and I cook for a couple of extra people. I cook for my mom, I cook for our neighbor, but that to me has just worked out to be a great rhythm for Sabbath. Tonya, when do you tend to celebrate your Sabbath?

 

Tonya Kubo (03:49.02)

you are so cute, Kathi Lipp. I’m still working on the rest part. Well, I mean, right? Like you said, you wrote the book for us. And what I’m really excited about talking about today in the process that you’ve mapped out is we gave a sneak peek about this to our Clutterfree for Life members earlier this year. So, know.

 

Kathi (03:54.596)

Okay, okay, yes, right.

 

Kathi (04:14.118)

Yes. Yes.

 

Tonya Kubo (04:16.796)

We got to kind of run it by them and see how the cluttery people feel about this idea of Sabbath. And I’m just gonna be really blunt and admit the fact that so many of us, because of our cluttery ways, we don’t feel like we deserve the rest, right? And the Sabbath feels like something we have to earn. And I, you know,

 

Kathi (04:22.982)

Yes.

 

Kathi (04:38.136)

Mm -hmm, it’s so true.

 

Kathi (04:43.484)

Yes.

 

Tonya Kubo (04:45.786)

I know we’re going to talk a little bit about the routine because I think that’s so important for people to wrap their brains around. But I would love actually to just kick us off and talk about that. Talk to me as the person who oftentimes still works seven days a week. Like, talk about Sabbath as an earned reward versus Sabbath as you believe we are intended to experience it.

 

Kathi (04:58.916)

Yes. So.

 

Kathi (05:11.026)

So I believe that Sabbath doesn’t need to be earned. In fact, it would be like receiving a gift and saying, how much do I owe you for that?

 

So I get the feeling that I need to get everything done before I can take a Sabbath. I understand that feeling desperately. And also, can I just say, and I don’t mean this to denigrate who we are, but if you’re an American listening to this, it’s a very American way of thinking. Like I have to earn my rest. I have to complete everything.

 

Tonya Kubo (05:32.51)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (05:51.528)

Mm

 

Kathi (05:56.808)

on my to -do list in order for that to happen. And can I just say, Tonya and I are in very different stages of life. Your life is very 24 -7. You have kids who want your attention 24 -7. They have lots of activity. 100%, I get it. And let me say, when I needed this the most was when I had kids at home.

 

Tonya Kubo (06:13.746)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (06:25.286)

You know, and that’s when we really started to drill in on some of these Sabbath routines saying, because I don’t believe that Sam Sabbath needs to be earned. But for people like you and me, Tonya, who did not grow up necessarily with the idea of Sabbath, a Sabbath cannot be earned, but it must be planned. And yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (06:45.96)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (06:53.478)

Right. And what you’re helping me to kind of think about really on the fly here is planned and protected. I mean, isn’t that really what the book’s about too?

 

Kathi (07:02.728)

Yes. Yes, yes, it really is. So planned and protected to say we are going to be intentional. Now, Tonya, I don’t think you can go from zero to 70. I think, you know, the first step is to say, guys, I’m cooking lunch on Saturday that we will eat on Sunday. Or I’m ordering lunch on Sunday. You know, whatever that

 

Tonya Kubo (07:24.382)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (07:29.928)

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

 

Kathi (07:32.46)

is. It’s the, it’s the, because here’s what I believe. It’s very easy for everybody else in the house to have a Sabbath except for mom. I are your, yeah. Are your kids really like working and planning ahead for the week on Sunday? I don’t think so. You know, and I know Brian is a partner with you when it comes to things, but for many of us,

 

Tonya Kubo (07:43.664)

Exactly.

 

Tonya Kubo (07:51.428)

No.

 

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (08:00.942)

the mental load and like the most basic of the mental loads, especially on the weekend is feeding the people. And so if that falls to you, then there is no break. And here, here’s the other thing I know. If we do not respect the rhythms that have been established for us, the rest is going to come one way or another.

 

Tonya Kubo (08:13.694)

Mm

 

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (08:23.144)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (08:28.378)

It’s either going to come by choice or by breakdown.

 

Tonya Kubo (08:31.886)

Right. I was going to say, and the alternative is not necessarily one we want.

 

Kathi (08:36.4)

Right exactly. So I would love if sabbath is like, ha ha ha isn’t that funny? Can you start by saying? What would Sunday look like if I didn’t have to prep? lunch What and here’s what I mean about prep Even if you’re not the one doing the cooking You’re still the one probably doing the running

 

Tonya Kubo (08:52.072)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (09:00.232)

Mm

 

Kathi (09:04.23)

or the grabbing or the deciding, or this kid doesn’t wanna have chicken fingers and this kid desperately wants to. But if there’s a plan to pre-decide what is for lunch, and then the next thing is to pre-decide what is for dinner, and then to pre-decide what is for breakfast, that can take, it’s enough to make

 

Tonya Kubo (09:06.622)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (09:12.296)

Right.

 

Tonya Kubo (09:16.658)

Mm

 

Kathi (09:33.316)

that Sabbath day feels special, to feel different, to take some of the hustle out of the day. that’s, Tonya, I have a dream. And my dream for the Kubos is to have a day where mom doesn’t have to make those kind of decisions. Maybe you make the kind of decisions, do I take an hour nap or an hour and a half nap?

 

Tonya Kubo (09:36.871)

Right.

 

Kathi (10:00.04)

Do I watch a movie with my kids? Or do I just say, go do you? I’m going to read a book. Or do we decide as a family that we’re going to go do an outing? We’re going to go take a drive? It lays open some possibilities. Those are the kinds of decisions I want you to make.

 

Tonya Kubo (10:09.48)

Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (10:22.886)

I love that. that makes it’s funny is because you know, Brian likes to say that I am the executive function for the entire household. And I, I love that he recognizes that. And I hate that that is a reality for so many, right? And who, who don’t have that acknowledged. And so I appreciate the purpose of the book. I appreciate the dream. I definitely, Kathi, just want to say thank you for you.

 

Kathi (10:30.674)

That’s exhausting.

 

Yes.

 

Kathi (10:39.952)

Yeah. Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (10:52.2)

kind of laying out a customized gentle approach because now I’m going to ask you the really hard question, Kathi, which is thank you for the gentle approach that applies to the Kubos, but what is your routine like at this phase of life living on a mountain in the middle of nowhere in a house that tries to kill you quite frequently?

 

Kathi (10:59.933)

Yeah.

 

Kathi (11:03.386)

Yes.

 

Kathi (11:08.474)

Yes. Yes. So here’s what I’m going to do. We’re going to take a quick break. We’re going to pay some bills. We’re going to come back and I will tell you what our routine looks like with the inclusion of Sabbath soup because it changes everything. It really, really does. So we’re going to go back, go away, come right back, and let’s talk about our routine.

 

Okay friends, we are back and Tonya asked me what does our routine look like? So our routine is very different than when we lived in the heart of Silicon Valley, but I really wrote this for the people who are doing that kind of life, but it also works for my kind of life. So is it okay if I just kind of break down what we do each day? okay, so this really is a six-day plan and I know that sounds

 

Tonya Kubo (11:57.468)

Yes, please.

 

Kathi (12:03.162)

It’s a five or six-day plan. on Monday, I am preparing for next week’s meals. And you may say, okay, that’s very type A of you, Kathi. No, it is very type G of me. I don’t want the constant stress of what are we going to eat tonight? And so for me, who only really goes into town once a week, which is

 

Tonya Kubo (12:25.672)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (12:32.338)

by the way, a gift to me. There’s a lot of pre-planning that goes into it. And you’re like, well, I don’t have to plan that hard because I can go to the supermarket seven days a week if I want to. But why would you want to? That’s my question. Why would you want to do that? So Monday, I start with meal planning. So I might do a little inventory, like are there things that we need to use up? Are there things we’re running low on?

 

Tonya Kubo (12:34.888)

Mm

 

Kathi (13:01.8)

and then I plan out meals accordingly. I also take a look at what do we have coming up that week. Like this weekend, we have a double blammo. We’ve got our kids coming to visit, but also I’m going to a 30-year-old’s birthday party. So, you know, there’s this double whammy in the best way possible that.

 

Tonya Kubo (13:17.03)

Yay!

 

Tonya Kubo (13:25.918)

Mm

 

Kathi (13:28.612)

Not only did I need to prepare a meal for the birthday party, not a meal, an appetizer, but we also have kids coming who have dietary restrictions. So I take a look at all of that and I plan our meals. and in the coming weeks, Tonya, you and I are going to be talking about, okay, how do I plan these meals if I’m running, if I don’t have a lot of time? Like, how do I plan these meals if we’re on a tight budget? Those things.

 

So we’re gonna get to all of those. please, if you are not a subscriber to this podcast, hit that subscribe button because we’re going to unlock all the secrets. For everybody who’s listening, we want to make this easy for you. Okay, so Monday is planning day. Tuesday is I clean out my fridge. Now, Wednesday also happens to be garbage day, which we are taking much, yes, it really does help a lot. But that’s also when I make my shopping.

 

Tonya Kubo (13:56.284)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (14:08.563)

Yes.

 

Tonya Kubo (14:20.915)

That’s helpful.

 

Tonya Kubo (14:26.088)

Mm

 

Kathi (14:26.564)

So I will make my shopping list on Tuesday. And here’s the beautiful thing. I order a lot of our groceries from Sam’s Club or from another supermarket that we have here in California called Rayleigh’s or Safeway, one of the others, depending on where we’re going to run our errands. So I will put that order in the night before because Wednesday is typically when we would go to town.

 

Tonya Kubo (14:48.094)

Hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (14:52.846)

Mm

 

Kathi (14:52.936)

Things have changed since I wrote the book and now we go to town on Tuesday So I’m doing a lot of things on Tuesday But for the plan of the book if your shopping day is Wednesday, that’s gonna work out really really well for you. So Wednesday, I’m gonna go pick everything up and I pick up everything that we need for our cooking sessions I pick up anything that we’re running low on like cereal or milk that kind of thing but

 

Tonya Kubo (15:01.031)

Yes.

 

Tonya Kubo (15:09.96)

Mm

 

Kathi (15:19.194)

It’s all waiting for me. And can I just tell you, if you’re not already a Sam’s Club fan, I actually was interviewed for an article about how much I love Sam’s Club, because I really do. They load it into the back of your car. Do you have a Sam’s Club near you, Tonya? No, I’m sad for you. moving on for those less fortunate.

 

Tonya Kubo (15:30.107)

you

 

Tonya Kubo (15:37.35)

how nice.

 

Not really, no.

 

Kathi (15:46.106)

And you know, we go to Costco every once in a while too, but Sam’s Club is my ride or die. So Thursday is really prep day for me. So Thursday is when I get out the Cuisinart, I’m chopping all of the veggies, I wash, spin, chop. I do that for salad ingredients, all of that kind of stuff. It helps me not feel so overwhelmed on cooking day.

 

Tonya Kubo (16:14.162)

Mm

 

Kathi (16:14.606)

And I might even do things like saute the hamburger meat or something like that to start prepping my meals. And then depending on my schedule, Friday or Saturday is cooking day. And it helps me so much to have that plan already laid out. I know what I’m gonna do.

 

Tonya Kubo (16:22.238)

Mm

 

Kathi (16:41.232)

I try to be as organized as I possibly can, but that Monday through Friday routine never varies. Things come up every once in a while, I may need to do the cooking, mean the shopping and the prepping on one day. Sometimes I’ll need to do that, but, and sometimes I like to work ahead. Like if I’m doing cookies, I may do the cookie dough on Thursday, because that’s an easy thing to do.

 

But it makes it so much easier. I’m prepared. I know where we’re going to eat for the rest of the week. It makes it a breeze.

 

Tonya Kubo (17:21.854)

Okay, so it sounds like it’s really organized. It sounds like it’s fairly easy for you to sort of switch things up as they need to be if your day into town changes. So how does this benefit your Sabbath, your day of rest?

 

Kathi (17:33.424)

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

 

Kathi (17:41.052)

Because I don’t do anything on Sunday except for reheat. Right, right.

 

Tonya Kubo (17:44.52)

Okay, but you have to like explain this whole do nothing thing. That’s hard for Tonya Kubo to understand.

 

Kathi (17:51.17)

Yeah, so I almost every single week make a big pot of soup for us to have after church on Sunday. And I so that’s one of the main meals I’ll cook. So that is I do that on Sunday. I also prep our breakfast for before church. So if I’m going to do say like French toast, what I’ll do is I’ll have all the ingredients there.

 

Tonya Kubo (18:00.744)

Mm

 

Kathi (18:20.996)

It’s already decided what I’m doing, right? The bacon is defrosted. The bread is already set out. If I get ambitious, I might even whip up the eggs and milk and cinnamon and nutmeg to dip the bread in. The fruit is already chopped.

 

Tonya Kubo (18:24.414)

Got it.

 

Tonya Kubo (18:29.096)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (18:45.31)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (18:49.79)

Got it.

 

Kathi (18:50.756)

The dinner that I’m doing Sunday night is going to be usually some kind of casserole or something like that. Also, Saturday night is like our main meal. So like I might do a roast chicken or I might do a ham or soup because I’m going to take those ingredients, that chicken and whatever we don’t eat on Saturday night, that becomes part of Monday night’s dinner or Tuesday night’s dinner. It’s leftovers on purpose.

 

Tonya Kubo (19:16.904)

Mm

 

Kathi (19:20.622)

So I am making all my decisions earlier in the week. So Sunday, it’s just like, I need to put the enchilada casserole in the oven. Bam, it’s done. It’s not that I need to cook or prepare the enchilada casserole. No, I just need to put it in the oven. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

 

Tonya Kubo (19:32.744)

Done.

 

Tonya Kubo (19:40.006)

Right. Yeah. And so I, you know, in the book you talk about your big cook day. So I’m going to be honest when, when you talk about it, I know you have explained it to me privately and I want you to explain to listeners because every time it comes up, like my default thought is I have to cook from like six in the morning until nine at night. So

 

Kathi (19:45.702)

Mm -hmm. Right.

 

Kathi (19:51.74)

Yeah.

 

Okay. Yes.

 

Kathi (20:05.242)

I would never do that, that sounds terrible.

 

Tonya Kubo (20:07.793)

Right, so tell me, tell me about the big cook day. How does that work?

 

Kathi (20:10.586)

Okay, so remember we’ve prepped everything on Thursday as far can we all agree that chopping all the vegetables is usually the worst part of all of it?

 

Tonya Kubo (20:21.086)

100 % 100 % zero notes. Yes.

 

Kathi (20:24.398)

Yes, yes. So that’s why like on Thursday, I’m pulling because I don’t know about you. Like my food processor, I never want to pull it out because it’s kind of a pain in the butt to clean. But if I’m chopping all the onions and I’m chopping all the carrots and I’m chopping all the mushrooms and I’m chopping all the celery, and I’m chopping all the pepper, you know, here’s the thing, I’m just going to wipe it out between chops. And I’m only washing it once.

 

Tonya Kubo (20:36.839)

Yes!

 

Kathi (20:51.784)

By the way, can I tell you the best part of this plan? I hate to do dishes. It’s it’s it’s my kryptonite you know, who doesn’t mind doing dishes is mr. Roger and So I do all the cooking he does all the cleaning now sometimes he’ll help me prep Especially if we’re snowed in or something like that, but I I don’t I pretty much don’t touch a dish But even if I had to I’d rather do the bulk of dishes on one day

 

Tonya Kubo (20:55.326)

Please.

 

Tonya Kubo (21:11.666)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (21:22.148)

than all throughout the week because it really does cut down on our dishwashing throughout the week. But okay, so I have learned things about doing this big cook since writing the book. Like, my goodness. Okay. I think you are. So I used to just say, okay, I’m going to work on this recipe. Then I’m going to work on this recipe. So a couple of things I’ve done.

 

Tonya Kubo (21:24.006)

you

 

Tonya Kubo (21:36.67)

Tell me. Because I feel like I’m getting inside information along with everybody else.

 

Kathi (21:49.668)

And Tonya, I will get pictures of this so we can put it in the net. One thing I do for each recipe that I’m preparing, I have a plastic basket. And the on Thursday, I put all the things I can in that basket for that recipe. and this is really important. For each recipe, I have a clipboard that I have either photocopied the recipe.

 

Tonya Kubo (22:18.27)

Mm

 

Kathi (22:18.492)

because you’re allowed to do that if you own the book. You can photocopy that recipe and I’ll put it on that clipboard or print it out, however you’re gonna do it. And I clip that onto the clipboard. I put that clipboard in the basket. So when I’m going and gathering all the ingredients, all the ingredients are in the basket, except for we’re not putting raw chicken in the basket on Thursday. yes.

 

Tonya Kubo (22:26.056)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (22:43.282)

I appreciate that clarification.

 

Kathi (22:45.53)

We you know, we’re putting things in there like the can of salsa the jar of tomatoes the loaf of bread the the peaches, know, whatever that is so everything’s going in that basket because I feel like So much of the cooking experience is going around and finding all the stuff so

 

Tonya Kubo (22:56.797)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (23:08.462)

my gosh, that’s the 6 a to 9 p thing. It’s racing back and forth on your kitchen.

 

Kathi (23:11.18)

Yes, yes. Right, so all the spices are going in there. And somebody said, well, what if you’re using the same ingredient in a bunch of different things? So you put like the salt and pepper, I put that in the basket I’m preparing first. And then I’ll just put the salt and pepper into the next basket. The other.

 

Tonya Kubo (23:29.278)

Okay, that makes sense. I could figure that out all by myself, Kathi. I could.

 

Kathi (23:33.776)

Yes, I you know, but you know, sometimes people we we both have people in our lives, Tonya, they’re newer neurodivergent, right? They’re neuro spicy. And until you tell them exactly what to do, you know, they don’t want to do things wrong. And I appreciate what not wanting to do things wrong. So we’re going to help out our friends that and it’s not just neuro spicy people. It’s all of us who sometimes just we need to be taken by the hand.

 

Tonya Kubo (23:36.862)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (23:43.058)

Mm -hmm. Yep.

 

Tonya Kubo (23:56.382)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (24:03.214)

Another thing that I’ve learned since writing the book is I have two sets of measuring cups. I have two sets of measuring spoons, one for wet and one for dry. And that and then a bunch of measure glass measuring cups and a set of bowls, one for wet and one for dry. And that has made a huge difference to me. And

 

Tonya Kubo (24:03.39)

Mm

 

Tonya Kubo (24:21.309)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (24:31.256)

I’ve learned that since writing the book because I just always did what I always did and then I really challenged myself. How can I make this easier? How can I cut the time down? And I feel like I went from cooking for about maybe four hours on the weekends to closer to two or three. Yeah, so I think.

 

That does not include doing all the dishes. Can we just say you’re gonna have to do dishes for a while? But you’re doing them all in one day instead of everything else. So I will put some pictures of how I do the baskets with the clipboards, but game changer, absolute game changer.

 

Tonya Kubo (25:14.864)

Okay. Okay. So I’ve been at your house before. You have more counter space than I do, but I wouldn’t say you have a ton of counter space. So where are you setting all of this up?

 

Kathi (25:18.715)

Yes.

 

No, I don’t.

 

Okay, so a couple of things. I’m doing it on my kitchen table for the most part. Having an extension cord has really helped out with being able to move things around. And also, I spent some time in my kitchen really thinking about how I’m using my space. And we actually just bought a kitchen island on wheels.

 

Tonya Kubo (25:31.483)

Okay.

 

Tonya Kubo (25:39.634)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (25:54.269)

Kathi (25:54.96)

Have I not shown this to you yet?

 

Tonya Kubo (25:56.644)

No, I do not. I have no knowledge of this. Is your life changed?

 

Kathi (26:00.6)

Tonya, my bright blue kitchen island is everything. Because not only is it gorgeous and it gives me more prep space, it has cabinets underneath where I can store everything I’m using for this process.

 

Tonya Kubo (26:10.302)

Whoa.

 

Tonya Kubo (26:21.766)

You know we Clegary people love a good cabinet.

 

Kathi (26:24.376)

And this is a great cabinet. I’m like, Tonya, this is going to make you weep openly. I have not filled up this entire thing.

 

Yeah, it’s kind of beautiful. So I would encourage you, you may not think you have the space for something. And when I say I rethought my space, can we just be honest? My friend, Tenille, came to my house and helped me rethink my space. And she said, yeah, she says, I think you should have a kitchen island. And I said, where? And she showed me how and we had to move my kitchen table about eight times.

 

Tonya Kubo (26:46.376)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (26:51.87)

Tenille is so good at that.

 

Kathi (27:03.88)

and we finally dialed it in. And you know, we sometimes have big groups to our house. So I needed to be able to put the leaves in the kitchen table. But really 90 % of this is set up on my kitchen table. so having that extension cord has been a game changer because I can leave my mixer set up over there. I can, if I want to, I can cook in my air fryer on my kitchen table.

 

Tonya Kubo (27:06.366)

Mmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (27:22.27)

Mm

 

Kathi (27:33.0)

We’re making it work. It’s kind of a beautiful thing.

 

Tonya Kubo (27:38.664)

That sounds so efficient.

 

Kathi (27:42.022)

Mm -hmm.

 

Tonya Kubo (27:43.408)

How long? mean, like, how much? I feel like this is like a life’s work. Like, this is your opus.

 

Kathi (27:48.474)

I, yes, I do feel that deeply. Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (27:52.51)

So how long did it take you to sort all this out?

 

Kathi (27:57.668)

So this has been in phases for sure. I think you remember me talking about six chicks freeze and fix. My cooking club that I did, especially when my kids were younger, where we would each make three meals, six of us, each of us would make three meals, but we’d make six family size portions of it. And then we’d swap it all together. So I learned a lot by doing that. And then when it was just me and Roger,

 

I said, I don’t need to plan anymore. And then I got really mad at Roger for wanting dinner on a regular basis. And I’m like, well, maybe I need to rethink these things. And I got really mad when everybody could relax on Sundays except for me, because people still needed to eat. But I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money going out for every meal, right? And so this, I feel like this is my master’s.

 

Tonya Kubo (28:57.448)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (28:57.8)

and cooking and planning, but the gift is not becoming a professional. The gift is getting a day off a week. And it’s made me, it’s made me very, so I feel like people who have never really in a real way experienced a Sabbath are actually gonna have a transition time if they start to do this.

 

Tonya Kubo (29:06.738)

Yeah.

 

Kathi (29:25.112)

I don’t say dive in with I’m just gonna lay around all day Sunday, like transition in small ways. to put, I think it’s really important to not have a big old day just kind of looming out there in front of you, but to say, and to dream about if my family had the time, what would we do with it?

 

And I think that that’s a really beautiful way of approaching it. And let me also say this, like this Sunday, I’m gonna cook on Sunday, but let me explain why. It’s because my stepson Jeremy is coming. And every time he comes up here, we try to perfect our ravioli recipe. And so we’re going to enjoy our time cooking, but we don’t have to cook.

 

Tonya Kubo (30:11.382)

Aww.

 

Kathi (30:18.076)

the rest of the time here because it’s already planned out. I already know that on Saturday we’re having salmon and we’re having potato salad and asparagus. I already know that. We’re gonna cook some of that on Saturday night because we wanna have it on the barbecue and Roger loves to barbecue. But the ingredients are already bought. I have no stress about it because it’s already happening. It’s a gift.

 

Tonya Kubo (30:46.078)

That is such excellent advice. mean, you’ve talked about starting small. You’ve talked and you’ve given us a great plan of how we can do that. You’ve talked about, you know, just how we can make this manageable, how we can maximize our space. I really appreciate how thoughtful this is. I feel like I’m not going to say this is better than getting the book because the book is what has the recipes. This just has a detail of the process. But I feel like

 

Kathi (31:11.814)

Yeah. Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (31:14.876)

This episode is such a great compliment to the book. Any final thoughts for us? Anything else we need to know after listening to this whole process laid out?

 

Kathi (31:21.295)

Yeah.

 

Kathi (31:26.192)

So I love what you said about starting small. And so I would really encourage you, if you do nothing else, can you cook a pot of soup on Friday or Saturday to have on Sunday? So the reason it’s called Sabbath soup, and there are a million different kinds of recipes in here. Yes, it’s not just soup recipes. Like there are so many bangers in there.

 

Tonya Kubo (31:49.03)

I was gonna say, you have to tell them it’s not just soup recipes.

 

Kathi (31:55.686)

the macaroni and cheese, the roasted chicken, like there’s so many great recipes. But here’s why I think soup is such an excellent Sabbath meal. Because it’s usually a one pot meal. I’m gonna cook it on Friday or Saturday. I’m gonna let it cool down. I’m just gonna stick that entire pot in the refrigerator. And then I’m going to pull it out when I am ready to cook it.

 

You can buy a loaf of bread at the supermarket. You can buy a bag salad to put with it. You’re done. That is you have already checked off one meal. And by the way, if if you don’t have leftovers from soup, what are we even doing here? And there are some bigger families who are going to have to have double some of these recipes. But we love to have that soup on Tuesday night. So we’re going to have it.

 

Tonya Kubo (32:43.858)

Yeah.

 

Kathi (32:50.564)

on sat on Sunday after church and then we’re gonna have it again on Tuesday night. And if it’s chili, we may put it on top of a potato, we’re gonna figure something else out with it. But sometimes because it’s just the two of us and we’re feeding our neighbor and my mom, sometimes it has enough for eight that I just freeze some of that and that’s fast food for another week. And like I have so many blocks of soup and I just feel like they’re little

 

bags of gold in my freezer. It makes me so happy because all I have to do is pull it out the night before Let it defrost and i’m ready for lunch the next day. So I would say start small Find a recipe you love if you don’t get the book. It’s okay Find a recipe you already love that you already make i’m going to tell you all the ways to prepare for your cook day are

 

between this podcast and the book are there. And I think so much of the mental break that so many of us are looking for is somebody just laying out the plan. And I feel like I’ve done that for you. I’ve done the research, the hard work, the ideas. You can adjust a lot of these recipes for your family’s dietary needs or their preferences.

 

You’ll notice there are not a lot of green peppers in the book because I think they’re disgusting. It’s my own prejudice, but you can put them into your family meals. I will not be discouraged. Yes, yes. So Tonya, you are not a Sabbath person. So I’m going to turn the tables on you. what, what, is there something you think you can grab onto here?

 

Tonya Kubo (34:21.658)

All you want, right?

 

Tonya Kubo (34:29.48)

Okay.

 

Tonya Kubo (34:34.526)

Well, yes, I mean, as you know, we’re recording this the week before school starts. And we have a whole new thing with kids in different schools. We haven’t had that before. And it’s about 50 minute drive between schools we mapped out. And so I’ve actually really been leaning in. I don’t have the full book, right? But I have like a little sampler of it and I’ve been really leaning into the process and I am actually fortunate.

 

Kathi (34:39.131)

Yes, yes.

 

Kathi (34:44.52)

Kathi (34:49.66)

Mm -hmm.

 

Kathi (34:55.783)

Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (35:03.422)

maybe even more fortunate than you, Kathi, because I have a Brian who quite honestly is very similar to Mr. Roger. But I also have a Lily who is 14 and is very excited about taking on some of the cooking for the family. And so I have a partner. You know, I have more than one partner in my house to do this, but we’ve already been talking about like implementing the book. And so for us, it’s really going to be about starting with

 

Kathi (35:07.26)

Yes.

 

Right.

 

Yes

 

Kathi (35:23.452)

Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (35:32.722)

getting used to having a plan to soup a week, then the next step is going to be cutting down on our grocery store trips. Because Brian likes to go to the store every day on the way home from work. And so then it’s going to be about what does it look like if we only go to the store once a week? And I feel like the plan is going to come together with those two things. Everything else is really going to fall into place for us.

 

Kathi (35:43.728)

Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

 

Kathi (35:54.716)

Yeah.

 

my goodness, I just love it. And guys, we are going to put information about how to get the book. Right now it would be a pre -order, but there is a gift if you pre -order the book. It’s a sampler. I don’t know, how else would you describe it, Tonya? Is it? Yes. Yes, okay. Okay.

 

Tonya Kubo (36:15.474)

That’s what I call it, it’s a sampler. That’s what I have, right? Because I’ve pre -ordered the book. So I have the sampler. I love it. You know, people think I get all this stuff for free. I buy this stuff, folks. I buy it.

 

Kathi (36:25.392)

Okay guys, I offer to her for free But yeah, just so you know, I know because she’s amazing and I do that for people I support too Because I want them to have that sale. I want them to know that I’m in it and I want the pre -order Bonuses, so we’re gonna put all the information in there because the sampler will get you started That’s what I want for you. The sampler will get you started

 

Tonya Kubo (36:28.862)

But I still buy it!

 

What’s in it?

 

Tonya Kubo (36:39.902)

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

 

Tonya Kubo (36:49.275)

Yes.

 

Kathi (36:53.576)

So we’re gonna give you all that pre-order information. You can get it at any of your favorite retailers Tonya I feel like this podcast episode is the best companion we could have done to Sabbath soup. I’m so excited Thank you so much for being excited with me and we’re gonna have to we’re gonna have to find out what Lily’s favorite recipes are We’re gonna need we’re gonna need a report back from her on that. Okay

 

Tonya Kubo (37:07.996)

I think so too.

 

Tonya Kubo (37:20.178)

We will do it in the name of research for you, Kathi.

 

Kathi (37:22.18)

Okay, I love it. Well, friends, you’ve been listening to the Clutterfree Podcast. I’m Kathi Lipp. Now go create the clutter-free life you’ve always wanted to live.