The Lazy Genius Podcast - #133 - Ten Helpful Thanksgiving Strategies

Episode Date: November 25, 2019

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post titled Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving Weekend. Looking back on it, I realized some things changed, and that’s okay. That’s why I’ve put together ten strategies that will help your entire Thanksgiving week whether you’re hosting or not. This can be such a beautiful time of year, especially if you think like a Lazy Genius and be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t. Helpful Companion Links For Thanksgiving Week The inspiration behind this episode is The Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving Weekend. The first-ever Lazy Genius bundle will be on sale Black Friday through 8 a.m. EST on Saturday. Get The Swap, The Meal Plan, and The Holiday Docket for one discounted price! The best way to remember this limited time offer is to join my mailing list. If you want to embrace brainless crowdpleasers for your meals leading up to Thanksgiving, listen to One Simple Step That Changes Meal Planning Forever. The most downloaded episode of this entire podcast is The Lazy Genius Loses Weight. Spoiler alert: I do not think you need to lose weight. If you are deadset on cooking a new recipe this Thanksgiving: read How to Know If a Recipe is Any Good first. A fun, slightly messy, but delicious kid activity: Stupid Easy Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels. Download a transcript of this episode.   This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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From binge all episodes exclusively on Paramount Plus. Hey, lazy geniuses. You're listening to The Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi, and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today is episode 133, 10 helpful Thanksgiving strategies. I was inspired by a blog post I wrote a couple of years ago called The Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving weekend. But some of my commandments have changed, and I wanted to add more tangible help to your entire Thanksgiving week, whether you're hosting a meal or not. Some of these strategies are for being a guest, others are for being a host, and others are for just being a person. If you're not celebrating Thanksgiving, for whatever reason, I love you, I think you're great. You can obviously skip this episode if you'd rather just like, you know, get back to your audiobook or whatever. A quick reminder before we get started, the first ever lazy genius bundle will be on sale this Friday on Black Friday until Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Eastern time.

The lazy genius bundle is all three digital lazy genius products. The meal plan, which is the lazy genius guide to happy dinners at home. The swap, the lazy genius guide to decluttering for life. And the holiday docket, the lazy genius guide to celebrating well. You get all three for one discounted price. And those details will go out to the mailing list on Friday. So you can join that at the lazy genius collective.com slash join. Or if you'd rather just like try and remember where to go,

the bundle will be available at store.the lazy genius collective.com slash bundle. Again, store. the lazy genius collective.com slash bundle. And I'll put links in the show notes too. Also, a quick heads up in case your brain starts thinking about like Christmas gifts as soon as Black Friday shows up. I will have a gift guide available this week on the blog on Tuesday. It's only stuff I have used or own and love. Super tried and true. tested. I love it. So be on the lookout for that. Okay, let's walk through these 10 helpful Thanksgiving strategies. Number one, plan easy food for all the meals leading up to Thanksgiving. Whether you're hosting a

meal or cooking a few sides for someone else's meal or really not even doing anything but showing up at someone else's house for Thanksgiving, it's just a really great week to pull out zero stops for all the other dinners. This is definitely the week for brainless crowd pleasers, which I break down in a podcast episode called One Simple Step that changes meal planning forever. I will link to it in the show notes. But brainless crowd pleasers are recipes that require very little brain power from the cook and generally make the people eating it happy. They're not necessarily like knock it out of the park meals every single time. They can be, but they're always solid, dependable, and easy. Now, even though you might not think you need a lot of easy meals, especially if you're not hosting.

The energy around Thanksgiving week is usually different and it could use some built-in wins like easy dinners that don't stress you out. So plan easy food for all the meals leading up to Thanksgiving. Number two, leave food morality at the door. Okay, y'all, let's huddle up for a sec. I have some thoughts about food and calories and weight and body and I say a lot of them. And what is still the most downloaded episode of the entire lazy genius podcast, you guys, an episode called The Lazy Genius Loses Weight. And spoiler, I do not think you need to lose weight. But here's why leaving food morality behind is important for the week of Thanksgiving, no matter where you are in your food perspective. I hear and have also said phrases like, I'll be good tomorrow, you know, when I'm carrying my plate

of Thanksgiving food. Or you read articles about how you should drink a big glass of water before you go to dinner, so you're more full or eat a big salad first. Or, you're, or eat a big salad first. or just get like one or two small bites of things that you should quote unquote avoid. Food morality, in my opinion, is super harmful all the time. Food being good or bad. But be that as it may, please try and ignore the concept of food being good or bad around the Thanksgiving table. Food is food.

And it's a gift to enjoy it with people you love. So instead of thinking about portions and calories and being good tomorrow, don't see it as being bad today. And just simply listen to your body. pay attention to what your body wants to eat and eat it. Don't make foods off limits. Just enjoy yourself and help create an environment where other people can enjoy themselves too. Again, if you want a lot more words about that, you can listen to that episode. I'll put a link in the show notes. Number three, assume the best intentions. You're likely about to be around other people for a few days,

maybe not even your own house. And it'll do us a lot of good to assume the best intentions about everyone else. I am so grateful when others assume the best intentions about me that a comment or choice wasn't meant to be hurtful. Now, I'm not saying to ignore the hurt that you might feel from others, but if it's assumed hurt, think about what those intentions are. If you assume the best intentions of others and give people the benefit of the doubt in whatever they said or did that hurt you, you'll likely have a better time around the table and with your people. Number four, be a helpful guest. There are a number of ways you can do that. So let's run through a couple.

If you're bringing food to someone else's house for a meal, please bring it ready to eat. Your host likely has a lot of oven needs already. And asking to put your casserole in the oven real quick to warm it up will likely make things complicated. If you need to keep something warm and transport, use a cooler. Coolers aren't just for keeping things cold. they keep things at whatever temperature you need. Just line a cooler with towels. Put your hot food in there. Put another towel on top and close the cooler and you'll be all set. And if you think about it, go ahead and even bring like a serving spoon or whatever the dish might need to be served so that your host isn't

searching around in the kitchen for like a spoon or might have even run out of them because like all the big serving spoons are already in the dishes that he or she has cooked. Right. Another way to be a good guest is if you bring a hostess gift, something that doesn't need attention. You've likely heard this before. If you're bringing flowers, bring them already in a vase with water. If you bring wine, don't assume your host has a corks grow. I know this is crazy, but for years, I did not. So it's a nice thing to think about. I have since remedied that, by the way. Basically, enter into someone's home without requiring them to accommodate what you're bringing in. And obviously a way to be a helpful guess is to help. One thing I found over the years of hosting and being hosted is rather than saying, can I help you? Say,

how can I help? Or what can I do? Or give me a job? When we say, can I help you? The answer is either yes or no. And a lot of people feel weird saying yes. We think it's like the sign of a good host if you don't need help or if you just, you know, you want to be welcoming by not putting someone to work. But having connection in the kitchen and around the table is a really beautiful thing. If you want to offer yourself to be part of that, Don't ask if you can help. Ask how. Aw isn't something we need to travel for. It's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces

can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Number five, be the boss of your plan. If you're hosting a meal, a plan is essential, for real. There are generally just way too many moving parts to Thanksgiving to get away with not having a plan. So yes, make a plan for what goes in the oven and when, what needs to happen the day you host, how things might go once your family or guests arrive. But remember that you are the boss of your plan. Your plan is not the boss of you. We fool ourselves into thinking that plans, will save us and then we get wonky when the plan doesn't go according to plan. Don't let the plan be in charge. It's just a path you've already mapped out, right, to make thinking or the lack of thinking easier down the road. But if you go a little slower or faster or skip one part, especially in the name of connection and just being a person, do it. Be the boss of your plan. Don't let your plan be the boss of you. Number six, don't be an apologetic.

stressed out host. Being the boss of your plan helps with us. But we all have this tick sometimes of apologizing for everything in our house when someone comes over. I'm sorry this room is so messy. I'm sorry this bathroom isn't more put together. We're in the middle of a renovation. I'm sorry the turkey's probably dry. I'm not a great cook. I'm sorry. The green beans aren't as good as grandmas. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What that does is put your gas on guard. They might feel the pressure to counter your apology and make you feel better over something that they didn't even really notice. It also makes you focused on yourself rather than on your people. If you keep seeing things to apologize for, your lens could use a change.

Don't be apologetic because it stresses you out and it stresses your guests out. And it makes the vibe not at all what you want. Which leads us to number seven. Be welcoming, not impressive. It's okay to have a beautiful table. It's okay to want to make like an absolutely delicious meal that makes people roll their eyes back in happiness. It's okay to light candles in the bathroom and have a pretty front door and anything else that's beautiful. But if you're doing those things in order to be impressive, you'll be left disappointed. Instead, let the lead be welcome. Be welcoming. Think about what would make your guests feel welcomed. That could be things like a pretty front door and candles lit in the bathroom, but it could also be a smile and a hug and like a warm mug of something waiting for them. A welcoming environment is only halfway about the. the physical environment. So much of it is the energy you bring to the room. So instead of having an

impressive energy, have one of welcome. Number eight, be smart about new recipes. If you're cooking a meal and want to try out a new recipe or two, go for it. Do your thing. But please make sure it's good. Now, you could do that by cooking it ahead of time as practice to make sure. But if you don't have time for that, which I get, I have a blog post for you that I will put in the show notes. It's called How to if a recipe is any good, it's fine if you serve something that's a bust. It happens and it doesn't affect your value as a person. But you don't have to take a necessary risk in trying something new. So read that post if you're dead set on trying something new. And if you get recipes from websites, read the comments. You'll likely learn a lot by browsing those and finding, like you might notice

that everyone suggests adding more salt or something, which is almost always the case, by the way. Nobody uses enough salt, you guys. Oh, my gosh. Number nine. Actually, should make number nine use more salt? I won't do that. It could be though. Okay, number nine, give the kids a project. Over the last couple of weeks, as we've talked about Thanksgiving, on Instagram especially, I've seen a lot of questions about kids. What do you do with kids? How can you keep them entertained before the meal or later on when all the adults just like want to sit around? Well, kids occupy each other. So if you're around cousins and friends, you're probably fine to just like let them be. But if it helps to get those things going either before or after a meal, give them a project.

Have them put flowers in bud vases for the table. Or have them stand at the door to welcome people. Let them write names on place cards or light candles if they're like a little older and trustworthy with a lighter. If you're looking for a project that actually pays off later and doesn't just like make a crafty mess, I will put a link in the show notes for my stupid easy chocolate dipped pretzels. You basically dip pretzels in cups of chocolate and then dip that into sprinkles or chocolate chips or, you know, whatever. It's really easy. They're so cute.

And it's a fun thing to keep kids occupied. Also, use Google. Google is totally your friend in this. So search for indoor activities with no cleanup or something like that. Give them a project and it'll probably help. And finally, number 10. Be where you are. Just be where you are.

be in the conversation, be in this life stage that you're in, be in this body, be in this discomfort or this joy, be where you are. Presence is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, not presence with a tea. Presence, mindfulness. And it's a gift to the people around you as well. Don't look around and compare. Don't always look ahead at only what's coming next. Don't look back at what you did wrong. Just be where you are. It'll make a huge difference in how you feel this week. I hope those 10 things are helpful as you prepare yourself for Thanksgiving week. This can be such a beautiful time of year, especially if you think like a lazy genius and be a genius about the things that matter and then lazy about the things that don't. I hope it's a week that is beautiful and warm and

helps you remember the truth of who you are. That, you know, how good your turkey is or how pretty your table is or how funny or smart or thoughtful you are with your family, that your value does not lie in any of that, that you are enough as you are, and you can rest in that as you walk into rooms that might have more baggage or expectation than usual. You've got this. Happy Thanksgiving, friends. I'm not trying to be cliche when I say that I am incredibly grateful for you. I am. This work wouldn't make a bit of difference if you guys weren't here. And I'm just truly, truly grateful. And don't forget about that lazy genius bundle available on Black Friday. All the links are in the show notes. Okay, guys, until next time. Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy

about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next week. You ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life, because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch, I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A-plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You, wherever you get your podcasts.