Teaching life lessons to kids in the kitchen with meaningful meals.

Welcome to this episode of the #6 ranked stress podcast, where we explore ways to help families optimize stress and live happier, healthier lives.  In today's episode, Lindsay talks with grandma and author Lynne Bowman about how to simplify family life and connect with kids through meaningful moments in the kitchen. 

Segment 1: Lynne's background

Lynne raised 3 kids as a single mom and is now a proud grandmother. As a working mom in an era when women were trying to establish themselves as equals in the workplace, Lynne had to balance raising kids, managing a home and prioritizing her career. As a result she had some insightful conversations with her kids about how to fit in the most important things.

Segment 2: Throw it out of your wagon

In order to find balance in her household, Lynne  realized she needed to simplify. She asked each of her kids to choose one brainy activity and one body activity (physical activity) to pursue. What they came up with might surprise you. Lynne also touts the simplicity of soup for busy families!

Segment 3: Mealtime: the learning lab

Over the years, Lynne prioritized mealtimes with her kids. She also used mealtimes as social interactions, teaching moments and opportunities to foster responsibility. She shares ideas for simple ways to involve kids in the kitchen.

Segment 4: Genius Soup

Lynne knows that modern life is full of great things. With her cookbook and outreach, she is passionate about helping families make simple, nourishing meals and to make the most of their time together in the kitchen.

In Conclusion:

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Stress Nanny podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate the podcast here, or review us on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to join us next time as we explore more ways to optimize stress and live happier, healthier lives

Lynne Bowman is the author of the Amazon bestseller brownies for breakfast and she has been featured at women's expos throughout the country teaming up with actress Deirdre Hall to write and publish Dierdre Hall's "Kitchen Close Up" and Deirdre Hall's "How does she do it?" She's won national awards as a creative director for Silicon Valley companies and was the creative director at E & J Gallo Winery, advertising manager at Red King laboratories, and freelanced for agencies in San Jose, Los Angeles and New York. She's also worked as an actor, actress, makeup artist, screenwriter, Illustrator, legal journalist and television weather person. Lynne has three grown children, two absolutely perfect grandchildren, and is president of the Pescadero Community Foundation. She and her husband have a small farm on the coast of Northern California. You can connect with Lynne via her website or her book, Brownies for Breakfast.

Lindsay Miller is a kids mindfulness coach, mindfulness educator and  host of The Stress Nanny Podcast. She is known for her suitca

Lindsay Miller is a distinguished kids mindfulness coach, mindfulness educator and host of The Stress Nanny Podcast. She is known for her suitcase tricks and playful laugh. When she's not playing catch with her daughter or rollerblading on local trails with her husband, you can find her using her 20+ years of child development study and mindfulness certification to dream up new ways to get kids excited about deep breathing. Having been featured on numerous podcasts, platforms and publications, Lindsay’s words of wisdom are high impact and leave a lasting impression wherever she goes. To sign up for Lindsay's "Calm & Collected" Newsletter click here.

Transcript

Lindsay Miller: 0:07

You're listening to the Stress Nanny podcast and I'm your host, Lindsay Miller. I'm here to help you keep an eye on your family stress levels. In our fast paced lives, the ability to manage stress has never been more important for kids or adults. When it comes to stress, we have two choices we can decrease stress or increase our resilience to it. Here on the number eight ranked stress podcast, I interview experts and share insights to help you do both. When you tune in each week, you'll bring your stress levels down and your resilience up so that stress doesn't get in the way of you living your best life. I'm so glad you're here. Hey, there this is Lindsay, thanks so much for tuning into this episode. I'm excited to share it with you. I had the chance to talk with Lynne Bowman, and she's going to talk to us about all things food with kids. I know sometimes this can be such a sticky topic because different kids have different preferences. There's so many messages we get about food and she kind of breaks that down for us and her goal is to simplify it while also creating a lot of opportunities for us to connect with our kids in meaningful ways around food. So I hope you enjoy. Welcome to this Stress Nanny podcast. I'm your host Lindsay Miller and I'm so glad you're here for my conversation today with Lynn Bowman. Lynne is the author of the Amazon bestseller Brownies for Breakfast and she has been featured at women's expos throughout the country. Teaming up with actress Deirdre Hall to write and publish Dierdre Hall's Kitchen Close Up and Deirdre Hall's "How does she do it?" She's won national awards as a creative director for Silicon Valley companies, was creative director at E and J. Gallo Winery, advertising manager at Red King laboratories and freelanced for agencies in San Jose, Los Angeles and New York. She's also worked as an actor, actress, makeup artist, screenwriter, Illustrator, legal journalist and television weather person. Lynne has three grown children, two absolutely perfect grandchildren, and is president of the Pescadero Community Foundation. She and her husband have a small farm on the coast of Northern California. Lynne, thank you so much for joining me today.

Lynne Bowman: 2:15

Lindsay, this is just great, great fun for me, I love what you're doing. And I relish the opportunity to talk to your listeners. So let's do this.

Lindsay Miller: 2:25

Yeah, I'm excited to there are so many topics we've kind of already talked about diving into. But I want to start out with the stress that we kind of face around feeding our families, I mean, feeding ourselves and feeding our families. It's a big job. And I think sometimes we don't maybe recognize all of the pieces to it. And like why it's such a complicated task.

Lynne Bowman: 2:46

It really isn't as complicated, I think is we've made it Lindsay but you know, I think a lot of us are on such cognitive overload now, because we, okay, we have the gift of this amazing information that we can get every day is just roaring across the transom to our debt. We've just got hundreds of emails and all this information about food and health. And you know, dieting and weight loss and this and that thing, and then kids until it just makes you nuts, trying to sort out what matters and what doesn't matter. You know, what do I need to feed my kids? What don't I need to feed my kids. And, and so I love talking about this, because I do believe it can be simple for me. I mean, hugely simplify. And without losing any of the quality of what you're doing as a parent. And which is why I wrote this book Brownies for Breakfast. Because it's not, it shouldn't be complicated. You know, I don't count calories, I don't measure anything. I'm a messy cook in the kitchen. I mess up right, and then I fix it. Like all of us. I don't spend even though my kids are now grown and I'm in the grandparents stage. I don't spend all day in the kitchen, I don't want to sometimes I will sometimes I'll really cook. But the rest of the time, what we all want to do is pull something out of the freezer, heat it up, throw something in it, and serve it and have it be really, really good. And know that it's good food for ourselves and for our family. So I've definitely got some tips and tricks about how to do that. And you read my bio, which is kind of crazy because back in the day, you know, we we didn't have a plan. We women especially we just came out of school or you know, quit or whatever, and just started doing stuff and getting jobs. So that's the way I approach life and is just, okay, yeah, let's do this, whatever it is. And so I do not have a degree in nutrition. And I don't have an MD. And I don't have a reality TV show or any other sort of what credential for doing this. But I'm a grandma. And I think a thing that is difficult for all of us families now is that so many of us are separated from family, and separated even from friends who would support us, throughout history, ancient history, women have always had a community of other women to support them. And kids play in the mud in the middle of the village or the town square, with dogs and cats, and, you know, chickens, and the moms were busy doing stuff, but they were together. And so they were watching kids together, they were cooking together, and learning from each other. And then there were the old ladies like myself, The babushkas, you know, who, who had been there and done it and fought the battles. And who could say to the younger women, you pick that herb, and you give it to the kid, you know, and so, and we, what we have now, are professionals, advisors, you're a professional, I don't mean to make light of that. But I get the sense that before you're professional, you're a mom, and you're an interested woman who wants to help other women. And I, I feel like that's a bit of a missing link today that that we need to, whenever possible, kind of get back to relying on friendship and community and communion. But that relates to food too Lindsay is we've separated food from community. So every mom and are dad, but I'm talking to moms today, is left to sort it out herself, and figure out dinner herself and figure out shopping herself. And she's also I betcha working a job of some kind, or two, or three. And she is driving for hours, sometimes every day. And she is this is the part that gets really iffy for me, taking kids to choir, to sports, to language lessons, all this stuff. So, my advice my granny advice to you wonderful ladies, number one, and this relates to food, I'll get around to it. But number one, what can you throw out of the wagon? Because you're gonna need to throw something out of the wagon? You're doing too much. You know that? Right? Well, yes, I want I want to back you up on the that, you are doing too much. So you know, make a choice or two. And sometimes those choices are going to be hard. What I said to I had three kids, single mom and I was their sole source of support. And I had a homicidal ex who made our life a living hell. But one of the things that I did that I look back and go that was that was a smart thing to do. Sat the kids down one night said, Look, how much do you really love soccer. And they kind of looked at each other and looked at me and went, well, we don't really love soccer. I said, Okay, let's not do that anymore. Because it was three uniforms, three snack mom responsibilities, three different sets of games that had to be played in different places in different brands. So I said, each of you can choose two activities, one kind of brainy activity, and one kind of body activity choose and I'll support you. So they all went okay. All right. And they went off. And then I don't know a week or two later, my son who at the time was maybe I want to say 13 or 14 came back and said, Okay, I've got it. I know what I want to do. What? Fencing What? What? Yeah, I want to fence. Okay. Do some research, find out where and get back to me. Oh, I already did. Okay. So it turns out there was a salt. A school, okay. A couple miles from us in downtown San Jose, which is where we lived at the time. And so we went over there to look and all three kids ended up going yeah, this is for us. We signed up. They loved it. It was a great it was it was on this same place at the same time. And my youngest ended up as 15th in the country. I mean, she just really took to it. And fencing is an interesting sport that really is very equitable for men and women. So all three kids, and I tell that story, to let you all know that you don't have to do it, like everybody else. Really don't. And so that relieves us of all kinds of stress right there. And plus, I got to sit indoors, not in the rain. It's comfy, which I love. No more muddy Saturday mornings at six, you know?

Lindsay Miller: 10:50

Windy, rainy, we've done a few tournaments this winter, and it's been cold. So I hear you indoors,

Lynne Bowman: 10:56

taking those uniforms back, and you're funny. So, that worked for us, and then the kids, one daughter took piano and, you know, and another one took cello for a while, but, but getting us off the soccer field was major. And I just, we're asking too much of ourselves, no question about it with too little return? And, you know, it's the question, we're all asking about our kids is well, what are they? What are they learning? You know, what's, what does this team thing mean for them? And how important is it and all the questions about coaches and coaching and parents on the field and so on. Sometimes you can just opt out. And it's okay. It's really okay. Because when you're 18, or 20, or 23, or 25, or 40, what still matters? Did it matter that you played lousy soccer on a lousy team on a lousy Saturday morning, making your mother crazy? What I felt my kids learned fencing. Actually, they retain I think some of those values it was it was fascinating. And, folks, it turned out to be a thing that could get you a scholarship into a good school, a good college, because there weren't a lot of kids doing that. So I would just ask you to really take a good close look at what you're whether it's cheer or whatever, if you if you love it, and your kid loves it. And that's the most important thing, good. Otherwise, out of the wagon, you know, you don't have to do it. Because all that takes away from what you're doing in your kitchen. And what you're doing in your kitchen is not just eating another thing that I want to share with you, because of being the age that I am, I just turned 77 Yay. Is that my kids are now saying to me, they're all in their late 40s. And they're saying things to me, like, you know, Ma, what really mattered. What I'm so grateful for that you did, blah, blah, blah, it may surprise you. And it surprised me that what my kids have said is they feel like dinner for us at our table was like a grad course in marketing. Because my friends were there often at the table because that had to be my social life. I couldn't go out and eat, you know, I had to invite people in which I don't regret at all that was fine. And my kids learn how to have that kind of social life. They learned how to eat at a table with grownups, how to have a conversation, about how to use utensils. We have raised two generations of kids eating out of a box or a bag with no utensils. So think about that. And is that what you want? You know, is that okay? It wasn't for me. And plus I couldn't afford it. I was always broke. So cooking fast and cheap. But healthy was what we did. And but but don't forget the social aspect of it because sitting at that table with you, with other family members with friends, ends up being maybe the most important education your kids get. And when they when it comes time for them to interview with schools to go and look at colleges and to start out their life apart from you. Are you sending them a way with the kitchen skills and dining skills, and housekeeping skills that matter more, I will argue, than the academic skills.

Lindsay Miller: 15:12

So this is interesting. Well, and it brings up I mean, my, my honestly, my knee jerk reaction is but wait, because I think there's so much value in. Like the, the realization that like, especially for women, I think that's what's hitting me is like for like to share the load and I hear you saying you were a single mom doing it. So it had to be just you, like, in my reality what what that looks like more and more is like, I'm not the only one responsible for those things, right? Like, it's the conversations on sharing, like, yes, family dinner, I feel like it's so important in our house. And I value the opportunity to sit down and connect and eat and, you know, teach manners and those kinds of things. And also, I found so much, like, I don't know if liberation is the word, but just like being able to team up with those tasks, instead of feeling like the weight of it felt, you know, like, it's only my job to make sure these things happen, being able to be like, Hey, we're, we're like married partner team here, you're gonna do this piece of it, I'm going to do this piece of it. And we're going to share the load, so that there's space for me to be doing other things that I want to do or that aren't, you know, like we can, we can create like a dynamic that has a little bit more fluidity than just like me feeling shouldered with, you know, all of the responsibilities.

Lynne Bowman: 16:41

Absolutely. And that's a whole other what I want to focus on particularly is all the parents who are being servants and not teachers. Because, yes, if you have a spouse, yeah, deal with it, and partner up. But it's equally important, maybe more so that your kids understand that they are part of the team, then you have responsibilities in the kitchen, that you don't get up after a meal and leave never, that you don't arrive at a meal and just go where is it ever. And I see that happening so much. Because the the excuses, the kids are so busy, they got homework, and they have this and they have, I'm sorry, I don't think anybody should be too busy to help out and your most basic thing, which is feeding each other, eating together. That's, I mean, it doesn't get any more basic than that does it? And you know, from the time your kid is on their feet, I want to see kids carrying stuff to the dishwasher, and knowing how to put them in the dishwasher, or in the sink and dropped dish, what's going to happen all that it's okay. But you have to learn these things. And the sooner you learn them, the sooner they become habits with kids, the happier your family is, I mean, literally, that's what makes a happy family. When parents aren't sharing sharing the load, or when kids aren't sharing a load, somebody's doing too much. And I'll bet it's you.

Lindsay Miller: 18:30

That is probably true. Yeah, well, and I appreciate the way you brought it up in terms of a conversation because I think sometimes that that like underlying burden of stress that can come by doing all the things and managing all the things and feeling responsible for all the things is one that doesn't necessarily get articulated. I know in our house, it'll get to like a breaking point where I'll be like, okay, something's gotta give. And then I have the conversation instead of you know, there have been seasons where we've been regularly like talking about the workload and who's doing what, and how are we teaming up. But I find when we're not having those regular communications, it'll like, all kind of overflow and then be like, you know, the moment where you sit your kids down on the couch, you're like, Okay, this isn't working. Like what can we toss what what can go out of the wagon, and like you said, so I think that that direct communication can be so helpful. Because if we do it before we get super overwhelmed and emotional about it, it can be just a really logical, right, like basic conversation like, Hey, this is what's going on. Here are the resources we have in terms of time, money and energy. Here are the obligations that we're currently sitting with. They're not a good fit right now. How can we recalibrate so that we can create a scenario that works for us?

Lynne Bowman: 19:42

And that sentence or two right there epitomizes is the way I thought about bringing my children up, I was in business and that and my dad was a businessman and that was his conversation at the table. So my language my love language, right? was was just what you're talking about. It's like, okay, what are our resources? How do we use them wisely? How are we using our time. And think of that, as the best education your kids will get, both for how to manage their lives, and how to function in the real world. Because that's how we do business folks. That's how we build society. That's how we build a home, you those skills, those negotiation, and planning skills are huge. And we can keep bringing it back to food. You know, it's, it's very natural was always quite natural to me to plan. Because I had to, I mean, I wasn't going to survive if I didn't. But when it comes to food, of course, you have to plan, if you are running out every night or two and grabbing ingredients for something or trying to think of what you would have, you'd be wasting an enormous amount of time and energy, and making you all crazy, you will make yourself crazy and your kids crazy. So unfortunately, what a lot of us wind up doing is just giving up the whole idea of cooking at home and you know, having a kitchen table conversation. And it's takeout is drive through all the time. So I want you and your kids cooking, so essential that your kids learn how to feel competent in the kitchen, that's absolutely essential. And it's essential that you let them fail in the kitchen. Because so many things are taught that way. It's okay to fail. Huge. Parents today, if I had to do a sort of blanket criticism of what I see going on, it's that parents feel that they can't allow their kids to fail to flop, either in school or in sports or in life. And that's how we learn. That's how you get tough. That's how you get smart is falling on your butt. And I'm an expert. Right? And, and I'm proud of those kinds of, spectacular in some cases, failures. But that makes you that gives you confidence, right? Once you've gotten up once or twice and dusted yourself off. When your kids see you fail and come back from it like okay, that was interesting. They learn so much. And and so all of this you can relate to cooking and food and your kitchen culture. But from a practical point of view, in my book, I have some some strategies, some recipes. One is called genius soup. And I'm bringing that up because if you're not doing this, I want you to do this. It's the soup that you make once a week or once every couple of weeks. And you use up all the kind of sad looking greens and stuff that you bought very well intention. They're in the bottom of the crisper and they're gone. Oh yeah, pale but I think I'm done. So this is a really basic so that so many grandmas all over the world makes some version of it. And what I have in the book is you make, you you saute onion, and celery and in the bottom of and carrots in the bottom of a big pot and you know, nothing fancy little olive oil. And then you dump in a bunch of stock if you have it. Water, if you don't have stock as it will make sort of its own stock. And then you clean out the fridge and you put in spinach and kale and cabbage and collard greens, anything that that you would call leafy, anything, put it in there and cook it all afternoon, or put it in your Insta pot or put it in your crock pot. And it doesn't matter. You can't mess it up, trust me. And so you're making this big pot and tomatoes by the way, fresh or boxed tomatoes and and then you'll season it up and I tell you how. But then the next night, you can make a Greek soup, and the next night you make a pasta and the next night you make tortilla soup, a Mexican kind of thing. And that soup, which is super nutritious, takes you through the week, just fine. And then you freeze a bunch of it and then the next week you can pull it out of the freezer and make other stuff. So it's strategies like that that many of you are already using. But if you stopped, if you've given up as many of us do, and just sheer fatigue, go back, try it. It's such a great strategy to keep your food homemade. And nothing is better than a good hot soup, by the way, which Americans don't eat enough of. And soup is cheap. It's super nutritious. People love it. But American kids are not brought up on soup. They're brought up on chicken bits up

Lindsay Miller: 25:33

You feel strongly about the fast food, I can tell

Lynne Bowman: 25:39

And I do have a real issue, I'd say with big food. Because the more you know about it, the more you're horrified that anyone could be part of that and sleep at night. No, I'm serious.

Lindsay Miller: 25:55

So I have watched the one where they let the hamburger sit on the you know, counter or whatever, for however many days before it didn't go bad. I mean, I hear you. I also I think my we tend toward like salad takeout at my house. So we'll go to like the there's like a little soup and salad place down the street. That's our favorite. So when you're saying fast food is evil, and I'm thinking of like the salad that we brought home. And like, I mean, I wouldn't call it evil. It was convenient, maybe more expensive than if I'd made it at my house. But I mean, you know, I think there's a range of choices when it comes to fast food that you know, the convenience sometimes is something that I opt for. So that's all.

Lynne Bowman: 26:33

You have better choices than I did believe me. There's a lot of it going on out there. I have have two young friends who started making donuts, from the recipes that I put out that are the donuts are sugar free, gluten free, high protein, because they're made with nut butter and really great ingredients, you bacon, you don't fry them, the recipe is in the book. These two ladies in two different parts of California have made very lucrative businesses out of making these doughnuts for people so that guilt free, you take them home, you could treat your family, your kids with these things made out of good, fresh ingredients locally artisanal, baked goods, yeah, that's different. What I'm talking about is the craveability industry, that designs food that you can't stop eating, and it's all salt, and bad fats and processed sugar. And, you know, yeah,

Lindsay Miller: 27:35

Yeah, no, and I hear you and I love Well, I love what you're saying too, about just the like the level of intention that you bring to the kitchen, you know, in, in all the ways that you can bring intention to the kitchen, whether you know, it's in the planning, it's in the, like, utilizing ingredients that you have in order to make something, it's in the teaching, it's in the communication, the discussion, I mean, so in terms of like the richness of experience that you can get in the kitchen. I mean, I hear you that, like there's nothing else that kind of can, can match that or provide quite as many opportunities to engage with the kinds of conversations and the kind of learning that, you know, that goes on when we feed ourselves intentionally.

Lynne Bowman: 28:18

When you read anything, you know, any novels or history, what is it that people are nostalgic about? What is it from their childhoods that they remember? With love and passion? And, you know, is it? What is it? Is it watching TV? Well, I guess sometimes it is, but in my experience what most people wax poetic about is sitting in the kitchen with their grandma, or their or their dad and smelling the smells that you can only smell in your kitchen. I certainly have those memories of my Aunt Frosty particularly making stuff for me. And another thing that I want to talk about a little bit and it seems you know, you think well, we've all got to much to do so don't give me anything else to do. But kids will eat what kids grow. And kids will eat what kids cook. If you're not growing anything with your kids, I would really encourage you to try and sometimes it's just a bucket. You know, it's sometimes just pots on your sink of parsley and basil and something that smells good and you can just snip up and put your food. Kids are so proud when they have grown something and what you learn by planting a seed and watching it grow or die

Lindsay Miller: 29:53

Let's be honest.

Lynne Bowman: 29:54

Let's be honest. You know that, that's the most important thing we teach our kids is how to make life. Right?

Lindsay Miller: 30:06

Yeah. Yeah, no. And I think well, and I think the, again, the simplicity, like, you know, they're the upside down tomato pots where you just you like hang it off a little hook on your back porch and it's, you know, growing the tomato upside down, or it's, there's so many different ways, you know, it's the strawberry pot, where it's just got those little tiny outlets where you put the individual plants in there, and it's just one pot, but you can get the strawberries off of it just to get started or just engaged with the process of growing, there's Yes, so much value value there.

Lynne Bowman: 30:38

And we gave them names. The plant and, and I'm still doing it, I mean, here I am with pear trees that have names and and I had to talk my husband into helping me get the fiddly fig out of the living room yesterday and drain her out because she was drowning, she had too much water. And Mrs. Figgy is her name. And she's beautiful. But the relationship that you teach your children to have with all living things, pets, animals, people, friends, and plants and birds, I will argue that that may be the very best education they get from you. It, you know that we we pile so much on the education system. And they're doing the best they can but you know, kids really do most of their learning at home. Like it or not. And they're in and that's negative and positive. Right. And another thing that that I have said over and over again to parents. And I think we need to remind ourselves continually is it's not what you say, it's what you do. You your parenting is being done by example. So look at yourself, continually. Am I being am I doing what I want my children to learn? So am I driving myself crazy? Giving away too much not having boundaries? Is that how I'm conducting my grownup life? Because that's what I'm teaching my kids. That is exactly what they're learning. So, I would argue that if you are laughing, and dancing, and singing, and cooking, and having friends then that's what you're teaching your kids. And I want you to be conscious of what you're teaching your kids. You know, it's not what's in that book. I mean, books I love. We all love it. It's what they see you being Yeah.

Lindsay Miller: 33:09

Yeah. And that reflection is sometimes humbling, sometimes inspiring when you see like little parts of you that are amazing walking around, and you're like, oh, my gosh, something about this is working. And then other times you're like, oh, no, that was from Me, too.

Lynne Bowman: 33:24

And well, as I sit back, and it's so interesting to have kids who are middle aged, who are now saying, you know, my when you did this, and when you did that, and I go really the things they remember, it's so interesting, the things that really impressed them. Because I was just trying to survive. I mean, you know, yeah, I mean, and it was the 80s Lindsay So, I would get up and I was in this peculiar professional situation, I was usually the only woman in the room. And, and it was the 80s. And so I would get up at five in the morning and put on a full set of lashes, and the whole you know, and, and the outfit with the shoulder pads, and the hat and the whole thing, and then I would get the kids up and do the whole breakfast and everything and everybody and so and then I would drop them at daycare. And then I would slide into the office but I had to be there early. There was no way that I was going to be late because I was already I had so many points against me because I'd female parent right? So I had to be one of the first ones there. And I had to look all perky as get out and never have a bad attitude. And the men would come in going, Oh man, I had a rough morning, you know? And I'd be thinking Mm hmm. Yeah. Who picked out your outfit? What is? Anyway, when when your kids then reflect back on the things that they thought were hilarious or heroic or stupid, or whatever that you did as a parent, that's really interesting aren't always what you think. And so, as I said, my two in my house, the surprise for me was when my kids all came back and said, You taught us how to do business. You taught us how to answer the phone. My office, I started my own company and 87. And so my office was in the living room. And there'd be an I wanted the kid, I wanted to be there, when the kids were home from school, when they were teens, even more important than when they were little. And so there'd be fighting and barking and just all kinds of chaos going on. And the phone would ring and go silent. And one of them would grab the phone and go, Bowman Creative Services. Right. And at the time, that was just, that was survival. And so so I taught them whatever skills I could, because I couldn't afford to hire people. You know, that was my life. But that also, they, they learned as teens, how to conduct a business, how to do a resume, you know, all these things that you kind of take for granted as an adult. But those kids have to learn those skills somewhere, somehow. And school is not always the place. And then there's also the confidence that comes with kids who have learned those kinds of skills at home, and seeing their parents have those kinds of skills, and seeing that those skills, get you somewhere or accomplish something. So they they really take it in, like, I want to do that. I want to be that. And you know, my kids have different very different lives than than I did professionally. But still, those basic tools are, I think, super important. And let's bring it back to the kitchen. If you are a neurosurgeon, and none of your team want to eat with you because you don't know how to eat properly. Or you're not good at listening and having a conversation. Are you a great neurosurgeon. I just I want us to remember those those things that your grandma teaches you.

Lindsay Miller: 37:38

The other yeah, I mean, this skills that make you a whole person, right? No, and I think yeah, there's been so many great things that you've pointed out and I've loved the snippets that you've shared from your book. As we close up I would love for you to share like another one or two like the genius soup you know, just being able to be efficient and be you know, intentional and then the doughnuts like okay, let's just do a healthy alternative to this. What would be a couple other things from the book you'd want to share as we go.

Lynne Bowman: 38:08

Well, one thing I hope people will do is learn how to eat more greens. And because our culture doesn't really promote that particularly and and this connects to having the pot of greens on the sink, I always have scissors handy and almost everything that I end up cooking or serving gets parsley, or oregano or basil or something snipped up under it or over it. Including, here's a cheat you're gonna love this. If you have a great taqueria in your neighborhood anywhere and I do and we're on the coast so they have a cheat for me that I love is a great shrimp burrito. And I I asked them to do it with no rice and they always remember that they know you know what, what we ordered when we come in. So a shrimp burrito if you can get really good tortillas, spinach or something great, but shrimp burrito, no rice, cut it in half. Don't eat the whole thing. It's two meals worth. Cut it in half. Put it on a bed of slice cabbage or arugula. And if you have radishes, great chop them up, they're so beautiful, purple cabbage, radishes and then this half a burrito and then sprinkle some cheese or cheese-like substance. You know if you've got vegan cheese, that's great sprinkles on top, put more green salsa, my favorite on top of it. So that's vegetables, all vegetables. And then you get and it's absolutely delicious and that's two meals instead of one meal. So just keep trying to think of ways you don't have to be eating solid bowls of of salad all the time. Just add greens always have cabbage and arugula, and a couple of other things that are green, or purple, and chop them up and throw them under an over anything you're doing. And they make it look better. It looks more appetizing. It's got a great texture that crunches. Good. So that doesn't add cooking steps really well. It's a step I guess. But it's so easy, right. And if you're not, you're not taking away you're adding, actually, to your pleasure and to the taste, and the texture of your food. And that's what I'm all about. I don't want to be deprived of anything good. I want all wonderful. And, and I think you're teaching your kids to appreciate the beauty of food, you know that you don't just narf it down, right? Look what you just made. It's purple and red and orange is got stuff on top and you know, put a flower on it and enjoy the whole ritual of eating. Even if it starts with a takeout burrito. I love it.

Lindsay Miller: 41:21

I love it. Tell us, thank you again for this conversation. It's been so fun to chat, tell us more where people can find you find your work at the book.

Lynne Bowman: 41:31

If you go on LynneBowman.com that tells you everything. Because I do on on Instagram and I have a YouTube channel. It's it's not beautifully curated. I just slap stuff up there. But you're welcome to come on and look at it because there's lots of parenting advice there for you particularly. So and that's just the Lynn Bowman, YouTube channel. So Lynnebowman.com gets you all rest. Just remember my name is L-Y-N-N-E B-O-W-M-A-N. The book is available on Amazon. And it's in paperback and hardback. And you can download it and just see how you like it. Because that's not doesn't cost you much. And I know you'll love it. And then you'll need the hardback, it makes a great gift. The subtitle is a cookbook for diabetics and the people who love them. Don't be scared by that. What that means is there's no sugar in the book, The it's all healthy stuff, that if you've got kidney problems, if you've got heart disease, if you've got kids that are having a weight issue, any of those things, this book gives you what you need in really simple terms. So the title of it is brownies for breakfast, and it's on Amazon, you can also ask for it at your independent bookseller. They'll order it for you. And there you go. I hope you will check it out. I have very good reviews, I'm happy to say. But that helps you if you go on Amazon, you can read what other people have experienced in the book. And that that will tell you if it's something that you're interested in. And I hope you are.

Lindsay Miller: 43:15

Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much.

Lynne Bowman: 43:18

Thank you.

Lindsay Miller: 43:20

Well, what did you think? I really appreciated the down to Earth way she approaches family meals and just food with kids. I liked the simplicity of it. And I really love the ideas she shared on ways to connect around the dinner table. And it's gonna look different for each of us depending on our circumstances. But if we bring that mindset of being intentional to those meals, there's so much that we can be gaining from those interactions with our kiddos. I'd love to hear what your favorite part of the show was. See you next time. Thanks for tuning in. You've just finished an episode of The Stress Nanny podcast. So hopefully you feel a little more empowered when it comes to dealing with stress. Feel free to take a deep breath and let it out slowly as you go back to your day. I'm so glad you're here. If you're a longtime listener, thank you so much for your support. It really means the world to me. If you're new, I'd love to have you follow the podcast and join me each week. And no matter how long you've been listening, please share this episode with someone who is stressed out. If you enjoyed the show, would you please do me a favor and go to ratethispodcast.com/thestressnanny and leave a review. The link is in the show notes. I'm so grateful for all my listeners. Thank you again for being here. Until next time.