Life lately
Abby met her new niece on a recent trip to Portland.
Sarah is looking for listener tips on how to make the walk home from school more fun.
Reading lately
Abby read Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, and while she found value there she is also realizing that she may need to take a break from fiction for younger readers.
Sarah finished We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates. If you aren’t ready to commit to the whole book, she recommends reading The Case for Reparations.
[one_third]
Exercise and fitness
We discuss our philosophy around fitness, what we like to do for exercise, how we incorporate movement in our families, and what we do to get back on track when we’re in a slump. Last year we talked about our participation in organized activities and sports, so if you’d like to hear more about that you can listen here.
Eating lately
Sarah’s been instituting casual dinners when Neil is working late–snacky food, fewer rules.
Abby made an udon noodle soup that was okay, but what she really wants is an easy-to-make yet amazingly delicious ramen recipe. If listeners know of such a thing, please share!
If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!
Friendlier 
I laughed out loud several times during this episode just with how relevant it was – I was listening early this morning while power walking on the treadmill while pregnant – very relevant to several parts of the discussion!! Also, Sarah, if you want to hold a baby, I’m having one this summer, so if you’re in Indy, you’re welcome to get in touch 🙂
One thing I found myself thinking of when y’all were discussing was Laura Vanderkam’s reframing of our time in terms of weeks instead of days… like Sarah mentioned that she didn’t want to get up every day at 6am to go to a gym class, but would it be more feasible to plan one trip a week if that’s a type of exercise you really enjoy?
Great topic!
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Yay, your new baby!!!
I really like the idea of taking a longer term (weekly or monthly) view of exercise. It works for other things too, like toddler eating.
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Loved this episode! You two have such great attitudes towards exercise that I felt inspired and paused the pod halfway through to fill out an application to the Y. I really loved a particular cardio dance class back in the day at another gym that’s now inconvenient and expensive. The Y has cardio dance, Zumba, and a Bollywood class (!) so I’m hoping I can find a new dance class to love. I do also love walking with friends, but deeply hate running, and always hurt myself doing yoga.
I was a packaged ramen fiend for many years (Top Ramen ‘Oreiental’ flavor all the way! Oodles of Noodles!) but gave up added sugar and refined grains last summer so I’ve been also searching for the perfect umamified soup recipe.
This recipe is for a Thai soup, so it’s a different flavor profile, but it is SUPER flavorful:
https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/03/thai-curry-vegetable-soup/
I often use a different mix of vegetables based on what I have; as long as you have the base flavors and the coconut milk it all comes out yummy. When I freeze some of it, I don’t put any noodles in, but add them when reheating. I think this would work just as well with udon noodles as with the vermicelli Beth uses.
This soup has the flavor profile that’s closest to the Top Ramen ramen. I made it without meat, used vegetable broth, and never added the fried egg role wrappers (just the toasted sesame seeds.) but I think it would be very tasty with noodles! I think the flavor profile I am seeking ramen-wise is garlic/ginger/sesame, and I’ve also made a soup in the past with similar ingredients that also had white miso paste, so that might be worth a try for upping the flavor.
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/egg-roll-soup/
I feel like there should be a great Instant Pot ramen broth recipe out there…
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Oh, and I used soy sauce in place of fish sauce in the Thai curry soup, too. Just in case you also don’t use or have fish sauce and want to try it!
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Let us know how the Y works out! I am intrigued by the Bollywood class…
And I love a good That curry soup. Thanks for sharing! -S
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I have a question for Sarah! Do you have any specific recommendations for bicycles for me and my husband as adults who have not ridden in close to 20 years?? My 6 year old son loves to ride his bike (he learned on a balance bike first and thus has never had training wheels on his current pedal bike). I was thinking recently how it would be so easy and fun to just incorporate exercise in our day by going on a bike ride together but neither of us has in years. (We do both do other types of exercise but it is getting harder to make time for that for me especially given our son is now in school instead of full time daycare.)
Even if you don’t have a specific bike recommendation, do you have general suggestions—like should we buy a new vs used bike given how little we know about them, or a recommendation for a type of very comfortable seat? Or a good website with bike info for those of us who have been away from bike riding for so long?
Thanks for any thoughts!
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Ack! I saw this and wasn’t able to immediately give a thoughtful reply and then it got lost in the shuffle. Look for an email coming your way with my thoughts. 🙂
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Ok, thank you so much!!
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