Chilly Evenings, Warm Meals: Embracing Fall Eating Habits

This week we're talking about Fall foods! There's lots to love about Fall foods: lettuces, bitter greens, winter squash, and root vegetables. Fall and winter foods tend to be richer and more slowly cooked, so savor the preparation and the flavor.

But there are some pitfalls too. Pumpkin spice latte anyone? We cover these too and give you some tips to remain healthy and strong as the days get shorter.

00:01:34 I love fall foods, like bitter greens and winter squash.
00:05:46 Hard sell: bitter greens, healthy, vitamin c, antioxidants, try recipes.
00:09:49 Comforting foods and spices create grounding practice.
00:11:41 Moon cycle affects women; food, meditation, walks help.
00:15:13 Complex winter meals; simple summer salads.
00:17:50 Be aware of portion sizes during winter.
00:22:26 "Eating order affects digestion and glucose levels."
00:25:02 Alcohol-free options: Seltzer water, Seedlip elixir.
00:29:32 Cook bones with herbs, water, remove fat.
00:30:57 Health store sells bones, lengthy but worth it.

Amelia's bone broth
Place 2-3 bones (I use beed bones from my daughter's farm) in a crockpot or instant pot
Add 6-8 cups water
Add desired herbs such as rosemary or thyme sprigs
Add 1-2 tsp salt (optional)
Cook on low heat for 10 hours.
Remove from heat; put in glass jars and strain fat with cheesecloth or using a coffee filter. Alternatively, refrigerate and skim solid fat off the top.

Mocktail resources:
www.seedlipdrinks.com
https://www.thehelpfulplate.com/spring-recipes#/lemonsage-mocktail/

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Transcript

0:00

Amelia, what's for dinner? So excited, Cam. We're into fall, and I'm having spaghetti squash with sauce on it and a green salad. Hi. I'm Cam, Holistic health coach, mom to 2 humans and 4 pets. Hi. I'm Amelia, laboratory scientist by day and food scientist by night. Welcome to our show. Join us as we share our holistic approach to life after 50. You can expect real life stories with a dash of humor and a ton of truth. If it happens in midlife, we're going to talk about it. So hit that subscribe button and follow along. We're the Midlife Mommas. Very good. We're here today, everybody, to talk about fall and fall foods and I am super excited. We're actually recording on October 1 and it is a great beautiful day in North Carolina, so great great. It is the same in Kentucky as well. Sun is out, but it's different. It feels different. And, like, have you been sleeping later? Have you has that happened in your house? Yes. A 100%. Like, usually, I'm up in the 5 o'clock hour, but I've been sleeping into the 6 o'clock hour. So yeah. Definitely. Yeah. So it's definitely just past the equinox, and we're officially into the fall season. And we're gonna talk about fall foods, but also just what does that mean energetically? Like, we cannot go go go forever. That would be summer. Summer's out there, you're going. Fall is a time to be more inward and we're gonna talk about foods that support that part of your life. I love that, Cam. We're always such a good team about talking about things, nourishing things whether it's on your plate or off. So as far as like what what foods are fall foods, one of the things I love is the fact that fall brings, lots of cool weather vegetables and these are things that we enjoy in the spring as well, namely things like lettuces and spinach and bitter greens. You know, those are those are all the bitter greens are things like, mustard greens, turnip greens, Swiss chard, but also Root vegetables are fall vegetables, radishes, turnips, carrots, potatoes and one of my favorite things about fall are the winter squash, acorn, butternut, delacatta. I'm sure I'm leaving some out, but those are some of my favorite things. Do you have a favorite fall food? I mean, You know, I'm not really sure I do. I just like the coziness of it all, and I was thinking about getting ready for this episode. So many of these foods are grown literally in the ground, And I to me, like, fall is a grounding kind of season. Like, it to to get back in touch with yourself. So do I have a favorite food? No. I would love to know more about squashes. Every time you bring squashes up, I'm like, oh, I should try that. Oh, anyway. They they are fun and I've turned, my daughter who lives in New Jersey onto winter squash. Delicata is one of her favorites. So folks, if you're thing and you don't know what that is, do a quick Google search. So and the interesting thing about some winter Squash is Cam and the reason I love them is you don't always have to peel them. I usually do peel my butternut squash before I cook yet, but acorn squash and delicata and I wanna say there's 1 I need to look it up real quick. I wanna say it's called kombucha and clearly that's not correct, but there's some Other word, but you can literally roast these squashes as slices or, you know, as wedges and you don't have to peel them. And they the peels feel really tough, like, why would I wanna eat that? But once it's roasted, it's kinda soft and it gives you roughage which is great. Yeah. And so so they're they're fun. Generally, I roast the winter squashes or put them in soups, but they're very versatile. Yeah. We were at Trader Joe's this morning after church, and, like, they have a they have a big box of, obviously, pumpkins, but these amazing gourds and all this other stuff. And they were so interesting, like, they had a gooseneck. It was crazy looking. Have you seen those before? I have. And some of those things are not are are decorative. Right. I can't remember which ones exactly. I mean, clearly oh, it's I think the squash I was thinking of is kabocha. It's spelled k a b o c h a. Anyway, it looks a little bit like a pumpkin. It tastes a little bit like acorn. Anyway, sorry about that sidetracking. But, yeah, the squash squashes are always a a good addition. So would, spaghetti squash fit into a fall food? Yeah. Oh, okay. Absolutely. I got spaghetti squash on Thursday at my farmer's market and I'm using it tonight instead of pasta. I love spaghetti squash. So do you Cut yours in half or do you bake it whole? Tell us how you do it. Yeah. Good question. I cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, brush the cut side with olive oil, and my oven is ancient and it leaks, you know, like heat and it's still a little bit warm here, so I put mine on the grill. I roast it on the grill. Oh, awesome. That's amazing. Yeah. I forget the temperature, but I roast mine on parchment face down. Same same thing. Cut it long lengthways, Scoop out the seeds, brush it with olive oil, salt, pepper, face down on the parchment, and I don't remember how long until I can with the oven, then I can squish it. That's how long I do it. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And a lot of these squashes I mean, you can use them in place of potatoes. Of course, sweet potatoes are also a fall vegetable, Cam, and that's one of my favorite things. So but a lot you know, use these in place of where you would use a rice as like a starch side or, a potato. Anything with color is gonna be better, in my opinion, than something that's white, and they're fun to play with. I totally agree with that because eating diverse Both is amazing for your gut health. And so, yeah, this is a great time to introduce some new veggies. Yeah. And I got 1 I wanted to pause one second there. Bitter greens are also a little bit of a hard sell if you don't know what they are. I grew up in the south and my mother cooked turnip greens, but These are super healthy. They're loaded with vitamin c and they also have antioxidants. So if you're not familiar with things like arugula, even watercress, Spinach is an easy one, mustard greens, turnip greens, and Swiss chard. Give them a try. There's a ton of, Recipes on the Internet for any of this stuff and in fact, I think on the helpful plate website, there's a beans and greens recipe with probably Swiss chard. I can't remember, but I've experimented with a lot of this stuff and you can actually imagine like a thick soup, like you've roasted your butternut squash, you've added maybe Some almond milk or even coconut milk if you want a richer flavor, you puree it, and then maybe you add some beans for protein and some bit of these bitter greens, and it's a Super healthy, loaded with nutrients and comforting food. I was talking about you this week with my group. Did you did were your ears tingling about you and your beans? Honestly not. That's funny. We were talking about leftovers, and I'm like, Amelia's favorite way to add to leftovers is to add beans to her leftover roasted Geez. Yeah. I love it. And and they're full of fiber and, yes, and proteins. So there you go. Absolutely. So, you know, we've cover oh, lettuces. I said that. Mhmm. We usually cover lettuce, Cam, when we talk about salads in spring and summer, but they're actually a cooler weather vegetable. So like tonight, I may do a side salad to go with my spaghetti squash with meat sauce. So don't forget your lettuces. There's tons of different kinds of lettuce, bibb, butter, romaine that make a beautiful salad. And you've told us before, Cam, that if you eat Your greens are a salad before a meal, especially that contains starch. It will blunt your blood sugar spike, which I love that. Absolutely. It's called a veggie starter. So if you start your meal with fat, fiber, or protein, and so fiber would be your green veggies. So a veggie starter is a great way a great way to Control your blood sugar, which is a big deal in midlife. Let's be honest. It is a very big yeah. It's a very big deal. Yeah. So let's talk about how our eating might change as the season gets cooler, but also you mentioned at the top of the episode about the shorter days. So the first thing I wanna bring up actually the first 2 things I kinda pair together and I already mentioned the soup. So it's easy to do more 1 pot meals because there's a lot of things that are ripening this time of year that lend itself. Like I said, the bitter greens and the squash, but also we're more inclined to hot foods. Who wants to eat hot soup in July? So those are the so those are my 2 things for how my eating changes as it gets cooler. Do you have anything that you notice about your eating patterns now? Yeah. So I did make chili throughout the summer, and I thought that was really weird. But I found a recipe I love, and every time I'm like, who cares? It's called game time chili. And, you know, So yeah. So I know that I will be doing more of that. I have a black bean and lentil soup that will be coming out of, of Hibernation and bringing that back, that's like a staple, and it's super fast and amazing. Yeah. So I agree, the warmer foods. But, again, I broke the rules, which is okay. I'd had made chili all summer. I love it. I love it, and I break the rule. You know? We think of turkey as a, you know, holiday fall bird. And I love turkey, so I eat it all year. One of the things I wanted to ask you about with regard to how our eating patterns change, Do your eating patterns change when the days are shorter and it gets dark earlier? Yeah. I mean, in general, I like to eat most of my calories earlier in the day. That's just That's just what works for me. And so I don't I love eating dinner early. So the earlier, the better. It's hard for me. It messes up with my sleep if I eat too late. Mhmm. And I'm really ready for bed by 9 to 10. Yeah. Yeah. And so yeah. Anyway, sometimes it's hard when those schedules are a little wacky, but I try to eat as early as possible. What about you? Same. Same. And it's easier for me when it's darker earlier. I feel more like, okay, it's dinner time. It's a little harder for me to pull off plus My husband has a job where he works outside in the summertime and sometimes he doesn't get home, and so there's this whole do I wait for him or do I not and go ahead and eat. But one of the things also you mentioned these foods that are grown in the ground and that are comforting and grounding, I like to pair these grounding foods with what I call warming spices. Again, this this works great with the squashes or things like cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, cayenne, even horseradish or paprika. And there's something about the grounding time and I love that you brought this up already, this time of year where it's not go go go and so we can use foods to Actually, either reestablish or lengthen or deepen into a grounding practice. I mean, I love that. So I'm taking I'm actually an intuition class right now for entrepreneurs, and it's amazing. And we just have this crazy super full moon. Did it affect you, Amelia? Oh, girl. It was awful, like and until, like so listener side note, we had a text conversation about this this morning and it didn't connect. I was like, why did my week suck So bad last week and I really think it was the full moon. My sleep was better than it usually is on a full moon cycle, but, yeah, I was affected. Well, anyway, so my intuition Leader of this group this class I'm taking, she's like, make sure you eat grounding foods this week. And I'm like, that is beautiful. Yeah. I thought, well, of course, I'm going to. I'm gonna eat Food that is a lie that is colorful and diverse that rots and goes bad to help me get out of my craziness of this full moon feeling. It was crazy. On a side note, I have both kids are doing things. My daughter moved. My son's getting deployed, is deployed all today today, October 1st. And so this mama has been feeling it all. And then you throw a full moon in there. Holy cow. I've been a mess. I cannot imagine. I know that that's Yeah. I can't even imagine. Like, I don't even want to to say I could, but I do think that the the moon cycle, there's so much that can affect how we and as women, I think we're I personally have observed that it's a more profound effect and in fall, I'd like to think that while we or how do I put this? You know, leaning in and feeling the feelings and and really processing Seeing what that is and using things like food and meditation and walks to to process. Yeah. I think having some kind of stress relief practice is Your duty in midlife, it's not selfish. It is self care, literally. So I just thought it was really interesting that this coach mentioned that Grounding foods will help you through full moons, and I'm like, that's what we're talking about today. So food can help support your system. It totally can. And on the Converse Cam, Food can destroy all an already difficult situation. So if you're self medicating with food when it's difficult, whether it's chips and salsa or beer or whatever your ice cream maybe Mhmm. You know, it can really make a bad situation worse. It does for me anyway. It wrecks my sleep and my my tummy feels funny, so, you know, both sides of the coin. Yeah. And it's really easy to eat your feelings or not, just missing that. We've all we've all been there with the chips. I'm the I'm the chip girl over here. I used to be ice cream. I've shifted, Yeah. Anyway I'm with you. I'm with you. I I just think it's about self awareness. So I guess the point of my story is to realize that these foods Can nurture yourself inside and out emotionally, spiritually, physically, all the things. All the things. So let's just talk about with this shift and what's available and what we eat if we're somewhat trying to eat seasonally, which I do. What does this mean nutritionally? And one of the things, I I try to eat healthy carbs. I know that we need carbs, but there's there's really good ones like the complex carbs in winter squashes. And honestly, Cam, another thing I eat more of in the winter is oatmeal. I know I I wanna say in our blood glucose episode, was it oatmeal that spiked yours? It was probably that's true. So how could you stop that? I would eat something that had fiber or protein before. I ate the oatmeal for sure. Yeah. So it is like a slower burn carb if you will. It doesn't turn to sugar as fast as other carbs, but yes. Yeah. Right. And you know, winter foods By virtue of the fact I I I think it's just mother nature taking care of us. We don't sweat as much in winter usually and so a lot of these foods are contain less water and if depending on the environment you're in and the source of heat, it you may not realize you're dehydrated in the winter, so you have to Really be conscious of your water intake. You know, your skin may end up feeling a little bit dry or your bathroom habits may change and you're like, what's going on? You may We'd be dehydrated. That's very that's a very valid point. Yeah. So and also just check with your skin. Have you ever done, like, the pinch test where you pinch your skin? Yeah. And I used to be a CrossFit coach, and you would see men coming in, and you could see where their their work socks were. And I'm like, you're dehydrated. Yeah. So So if you've noticed, like, weird indentations, from your socks or if you pinch your skin and it stays up instead of going back, those are other signs that you're dehydrated. Plus, Check your color of your urine. That's another another way to check it. Yeah. A 100%. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, and in the winter For some reason, Cam, I include more beans and legumes. I think we talked about that before, but just those diverse proteins. And for me, with the shorter days, At first, I kind of embrace it because I love meal prep, so it gives me more time in the early evening to think about what I'm gonna make for the next day and it, Therefore, my meals tend to be more complex in the fall and winter because I tend to plan them more. In the summer, I throw together something cold, a salad, a spacho in the blender and done. Mhmm. But in the winter, I spend a little more time and, like I mentioned, more 1 pot meal. So, yes, do our nutrition needs change? Sure. They do. But, Also, let's talk about our movement. Right? So, you know, maybe your movement changes some in the fall. Do you feel like you move your body Differently in the fall or in winter than you do in summer and spring? Yeah. So the last winter last year of January, whatever, until about April, I was in a really bad funk, and I wasn't walking like I normally was walking. So that whole experience was not positive. So I'm going into this year with, like, a more of a mindset. Said I'm gonna put on my hat and my gloves and my boots if I need to and get outside even if it's cold. I'm gonna do that. I love that commitment. We're gonna be talking about that again in December. I'm gonna ask you. I have a friend that I haven't spoken to in a while, but one of her favorite her Christmas Eve ritual was to run. Like, this was when we were, like, 40. So Mhmm. But and I thought that was such a beautiful thing. She put on her hat and her gloves, and she She went out it because it was quiet. You know, everybody's in with their families, and it was just something for her, which I thought was kinda cool. I have a friend that loves running in the winter. You know who you are if you're listening. So yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, I've made a commitment to myself because that was not fun. Undoing that funk from, like, Mhmm. January until April? No. Thank you. Yeah. And I don't know about you, Cam, it takes me longer. Like, when I was in my thirties, I could undo Something like that in a couple of weeks, and it feels like now it takes many more weeks. Many more weeks. And also, I'm gonna be using red light therapy, which is totally different, but I think I need I need that. I think it helps my mood. So anyway, I'm gonna be committing to that through the winter too. Awesome. I love that. So, you know, with with the change in season, we have shorter days. Mhmm. It may bring on a little bit season seasonal depressive of disorder if you're inclined to really, get energy from the sunlight. You may eat your feelings, we've already talked about that. So so let's Talk about some of the the the pitfalls especially around food and movement for the fall. Yeah. So you may be moving less. You may be Getting less daylight. You may be bored, so there's that. But also just be conscious of your portion sizes because, like, it's a cozy season, and why not get a 2nd serving or 3rd serving or get a really humongous 1st serving or whatever. So being careful of your portion size because you are moving less, the days are shorter, And just be aware of what you're doing. Totally. We have to still be intentional. Right? Like, it's but we talk about that, like, every week. One of the things that I have seen happen so many times is people hide in their sweaters. So, you know, it's sweater weather and jeans and boots, and it's Like, oh, it really won't matter, you know, you can't see it. It's not until like you said around April we're like crap. It's almost anything soon. Right. Right. What happened here? Yeah. So, you know, we're going into fall, so be conscious of that now. Like, don't say I'm gonna be hiding in a large sweater for the next, you know, 4 to 8 months. So so keep it keep it in front of yourself and hold yourself accountable. Yes. I have a Client and a friend, and she calls jeans with zippers hard pants. When you put your hard pants on, you know what's What's going on? Can you zip them? Can you button them? I love it. I'm gonna use that. That's hilarious. And the other thing around this time, it's October 1st and, you know, Pumpkin spice is like a whole cultural phenomenon now. Let me just tell you, if you are a pumpkin spice fan and you go to any coffee shop and get a pumpkin spice latte, you're talking about, I would guess, 3 or 400 calories. I think it's more than that. I saw, Flav City. I forget his name. But he did a thing. It was America runs on Dunkin', and he did, one of the Dunkin' drinks. And it was like, I feel like it was 1100 calories, Amelia. Oh my god. In one in one drink. That's crazy. So, you know, in the summertime, we're drinking lemonade or iced tea, which, you know, that can have calories if it's got sugar in it. But these robust comforting drinks that are hot, You know, we don't think about it, but that's is that's more than a meal. That's like 2 meals at least. Yeah. So be very careful about your pumpkin spice. Yes. Be careful about that. Yeah. So what are some healthy habits we can use in the fall? What would you what would you say? Yeah. I I mean, I think I mentioned this already, but one of the things I love to do is take time to meal prep. And, you know, it it's not all about just the cutting and the dicing. Sometimes it's looking at a magazine and getting inspo from whether it's food pictures or I don't. I'll look at a magazine and I don't necessarily follow the recipe. I kinda get an idea, but that's just kinda my forte. Some people can't do that. So take more time to do that meal prep and enjoy what you're doing while you're doing it. Yeah. The last week, I think it was last week, my husband went to the grocery versus me, And he brought home veggies I don't normally bring home, and it was really exciting. Like, he brought home a whole artichoke, and he brought home a squash And a zucchini, and I was like, oh, this is really fun. You know? So I think it's, it's fun to meal prep different foods. And we're like, well, how do what do we do with this artichoke? And so we got on the Internet and Figured something out and it was amazing, by the way. That's good. Is that a fall food, by the way? You know, I'm not sure. I I should not admit this, but artichokes are a little bit of a conundrum to me. I have seen videos on preparing them, and I've heard that when you prepare them Fresh, they are delicious, but it's not anything I've tried. So I am not sure. Okay. Well, you and your grill, I know you grill them. Cut them in half. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, okay. So we know so take some extra time to meal prep, explore new veggies that are in season, and also enjoy the rich foods, but just be aware maybe smaller portions is a good idea. Yeah. Yeah. I would totally say that because Some of the things that maybe your mother or your mother-in-law cooks and you go for Sunday dinner or whatever and we we'll get to holiday eating in a few weeks, but, You know, just be conscious of it. Don't be, you know, unkind with your, like, oh, I don't wanna eat that. But, yeah, I think that we can Manage the season by managing portions. Yeah. We used to say, we haven't said in a minute, taste everything, binge on nothing. Remember that? I do remember that, and I love that. Yeah. It's time to pull it out. We're moving into fall and winter. Let's move that one back to Front. Absolutely. And the next one is 1 you've already said, eat your green salad before or your protein and fiber before your fat and carbs, And that's pretty easy. It's just it's just creating that habit. Yeah. And eating yes. So what what's happening, like, from a scientific point of view, you're giving your digestion a head start, and And it's going to be digesting and working on the fiber, the fat, and the protein, right, versus something that turns to sugar quickly. So if you had a plate and you started with a starchy starch like rice even though maybe you had a steak on your plate and you had a salad. If you start with the rice, your glucose is gonna spike Despite the steak and the salad because that's what's going in first. So it's just a matter of order, really. Yeah. And I've had To embrace that, Cam, I've had to learn that because, you know, a lot of restaurants serve you bread. Oh, yeah. Or chips. And you're like, what? Or chips. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And, you know, this is something I've taken too, and I know you've been such a proponent of is taking a walk after dinner. Now After dinner in a few weeks, it may

be actually dark even if it's 6 o'clock or 6: 23:15

15. So just if you take like, we take a flashlight. My husband goes with me, and I don't want to scare our listeners, but it's definitely snake season in Northern New Orleans. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Twice in the last week, we've seen I I won't tell you what kind, but we've seen 1 and I'm like, oop, time to take the flashlight. So be safe. You want cars to see you, but I still think it's a valid activity is to take a walk after dinner. Now okay. I'm a former science teacher. They're cold blooded. What the heck are they doing out in the dark? Why why aren't they Well, they what they do is They, when when the temperature starts to drop, the the black pavement retains heat. Oh. And so they slither out there to stay on the pavement. Now, You know, 9 times out of 10, a car comes by and chops it up all, you know, smooshes it, but still, it's not fun to be walking along your road and, you know, something moves and you're like, oh, man. Okay. So that makes sense. So there's yeah. They're getting the heat from the asphalt. Okay. Totally makes sense to me. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. So I like that. Take a flashlight. Get out there. Yeah. Get out there. No excuse. And we mentioned this a minute ago, but the holidays are on our heels. You know, I don't know about you, Cam, but I woke up I went to bed one day and it felt like it was the end of August and now it's October 1st. So the holidays are coming. Right? And so, you know, we know Don't don't here's another saying we haven't said in a minute, you know, embrace, don't brace. It's not like we have to dread the holidays and the parties and the cocktails and the cookies. But now is the time to button up your eating habits so that if you do go to the parties in November, you're nutritionally sound already. I love that. That's a great idea. Next on our list is find some good mocktail recipes. So, Amelia, what's your go to right now? Yeah. Great question because I've been largely alcohol free for a while, so I personally, Seltzer water with a lime twist is my absolute favorite. When I go out with my girlfriends, I always ask for club soda and lime or Pellegrino, but there is a, it's actually called an elixir. It's called Seedlip, s e e d d l I p. It's made in the UK and it's a botanical spirit that has 0 sugar, 0 alcohol and 0 calories and there's 3 flavors and I add basically an ounce or 2 of that to the to ton it usually with a lemon or lime twist and that's my favorite, but there's lots of ways to do this. You can chop up some Ginger really fine and maybe put it in a little piece of cheesecloth and put that with a half a cup of water and maybe even just a couple of teaspoons of sugar. You could actually muddle some mint leaves. In the summertime, I use berries, but that's not really in season. So you can use some of these quote, warming herbs or spices and just and and make something out of just, you know, water and add it to, you know, whatever, like maybe a little bit of ginger ale if you drink that or some fruit juice, but there's lots of ways to to enjoy something that's special that's not alcoholic and not high in calories. I love it. I'm gonna experiment more. I'm Still drinking wine, so that's my admission. So Well, that's okay. And I'm not I'm not a 100% abstaining, but it's easier for me. Like, You know? I don't know. It just it has to be pretty special at this point, but and I love it. I really love it. So, you know, to each his home. Right? It doesn't have to be a 100% this or that. Yeah. It's just nice to have options. I think that's what's beautiful for sure. Okay. It's sleeping weather. Fall means sleeping weather. What do you mean by that? Yeah. That's a great question. So I sleep better when the temperature is lower. And in the summer, you have to crank that air condition up to Achieve that and I love this time of year when the temperature drops in the evening especially in the fifties and depending on where you are, maybe it's even colder. Maybe you even crack the window a little bit and feel that cold air and you're bundled up in your blanket. That for me is the most amazing sleeping weather. I love it. I went camping not the last 2 weekends and so tent camping. And I it's it's been in, like, the seventies, eighties during the day day, but it's, Like, in the fifties at night, and it was so fun just to snuggle up in your sleeping bag. It's amazing how sleeping in in nature can be so So restful. Yes. It and it is surprising. I do wear earplugs just because I gotta get out of my head and I do take melatonin and progesterone. Wrong with that. Yeah. Yeah. So I do have sleep aids, but I don't have my sleep sounds. Just nature. Yeah. Just nature. Cool. And, you know, one of the things I I put on our list is, And I think I got this from you, a bone broth latte. We talked about avoiding the high sugar drinks, but is that something that you've done in the past It's a bone broth latte. Absolutely. A client and friend that I used to train at CrossFit gave me the recipe, and I drink it a lot and I recommend it to everybody. It has, like, 19 grams of protein. It's like a it's like a tea, if you will. It does have butter or coconut oil or some kind of fat in it, and it has, like, turmeric, salt. You can put rosemary in there, so it can be savory. It's just yummy. It's so good. And I'm I as a former vegetarian, I'm like, what what? I know. You're drinking what? No. But it's one of those comfort drinks. Right? It's you've replaced something that has zero nutritional value with something that's So nourishing. And when I put that on there, you know, it sounds like bone broth latte. I can see some of my friends going, ugh. Oh, yeah. But when you describe it and the way you enjoy It just makes me so happy. I love it. It's very cozy. So speaking of bone broth, I had somebody ask me, how do you make your homemade bone broth? Could you explain that to us? Yeah. I sure will. So I get my daughter's a farmer and she has cows and I'm not even sure what all animals, but these are basically cow bones. When she takes a cow to butcher, she gets some of the bones and I get them from her. So some of the recipes will Tell you that you should baste or bake the bones before making the broth. I did that one time, Cam, and it's very messy. It creates a lot of very, very thick and hard to get off of your baking pan. Almost it's not I guess it is some sort of grease, but it's really hard to clean. Mhmm. So instead of doing that, I basically take my bones 2 or 3 out of the freezer, I put them in my instant pot and I add maybe 3 sprigs of rosemary or some thyme, a little bit of salt, However, I wanna flavor it and I put a good 6 or 7 cups of water. I mean, it covers it covers the bones for sure. Then I set the instant pot to 8 to 12 hours on slow. So you could do I don't own a crock pot, a old fashioned crock pot anymore, but that's all I do is I submerge the bones with the water and let it cook on low. Mhmm. Then when it gets done and here's the part where it's still a little bit messy because there will be fat in it and if you can't, you can strain that off and I am super old school, so I have wide mouth jars that I'll Cheese cloth is the preferable thing, but I've been known to use a coffee filter and you just rubber band the top of the lid and slowly pour your broth through there and it catches the fat. Then you the alternative is you refrigerate all of it and then the fat solidifies and you just scrape it off. And I've actually this is me being the weirdo that I am. I've actually Giving jars of bone broth as gifts and it's people that know and appreciate it are truly appreciative. They're like, oh my like, it's like it's a gift of help for them. I totally agree with that, and that was is an honor to get some of your home broth. Yeah. Love it. I mean, It is a lengthy process in some health food stores. I know our local health food store does sell it. I don't know the origin of the bones though. So when I get the bones from my my daughter, butter. I'm pretty secure in that. So it it it's not the easiest thing in the world, but I think it's worth it. And if you make that much, which ends up being almost like 2 quarts. Mhmm. It'll last you, and you can freeze it if you want to, and then you could use it in soups and stews. That's what I love about it. Yeah. We cook our brisket using bone broth, But we buy it from the store. So anyway, I love it. Thank you. So for the listener that wanted to know, you now, you have your answer. You gotta move your secret. Okay. Absolutely. I think we've covered a lot about fall. I'm just it just makes me even more so more excited even about the cooling temperatures. Have you got any last minute like tips or tricks or secret wisdom you wanna share with us about your fall planning? Yeah. It's just a time to embrace. You know, we're coming out of this Go go go summer season, and it's time to go inward and nurture yourself with grounding foods, and we've given you a whole bunch of sala. You can find us on Instagram@midlife.mommas. For all of our other contact info, check out the show description below, And we will talk to you next week.