Caroline Chambers Throws Out All The Cookbook Rules

Forever35

Hosts Dori Shafrir and Elise Hu welcome Caroline Chambers to discuss her new cookbook, 'Make It Fast,' which focuses on efficient 15-to-30-m

Key takeaways

• Caroline Chambers' new cookbook prioritizes 1-pot meals and 'un-chef-y' ingredients like frozen vegetables to save time.
• Building an email list is a vital business asset because creators maintain ownership of their audience regardless of algorithm changes.
• The 'cook once, eat twice' method involves preparing extra protein or grains to be repurposed into different meals later in the week.
• To maximize iron absorption from red meat, it should be paired with citrus or other Vitamin C-rich foods.
• Using a freezer for leftovers like cooked rice or chicken portions is an effective way to minimize food waste.

Main topics

• Caroline Chambers' cookbook 'Make It Fast'
• Building a Substack newsletter
• Quick and easy meal preparation

Notable quotes

Everything can break except for your email list. You always own those people's emails.

Conclusion

The episode offers highly practical, low-stress advice for busy indivi

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:11) and welcome to Forever 35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Dori Shafrir. And Speaker 2 (0:18) I'm Elise Hu, and we're just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums. And today we have a Speaker 4 (0:25) pod, I think I would, safe to say a pod favorite on the show. Yeah, yeah. A woman who has been very influential in my life, Caroline Chambers, who writes the What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking sub stack. Speaker 4 (0:41) She just came out with her third cookbook and it's all about making things quickly. Yeah, Speaker 2 (0:49) it's called Speaker 4 (0:49) Make It Fast. Make Speaker 2 (0:51) It Fast. Speaker 4 (0:51) And Speaker 2 (0:51) so there's Speaker 4 (0:51) an Speaker 2 (0:51) entire section that's just 15-minute dinners and 15-minute meals that you can prepare for you and your family, which love. I don't want to spend more than 15 minutes throwing together dinner. No. Speaker 4 (1:03) Well, Elise, what's been going on with you? I know we talked on a casual chat about your Speaker 2 (1:07) trip to New York. Yeah, I had an awesome trip to New York. And shout out and thanks to my friend Pamela for bringing me along. We got to see two women's semifinals matches. On the night of the U.S. Open women's semifinals, you get to see not one, but two tennis matches of, you know, top 10 players in the world. And so we got to see Sabalenka defeat Jessica Pagula, which was kind of a boring match, honestly. There weren't any. Speaker 3 (1:35) Long rallies, really, because Sabalenka just Speaker 2 (1:37) dominated that. And even Pagula afterwards was like, there wasn't much I could do. She was Speaker 4 (1:42) just Speaker 2 (1:42) playing at the top of her game. And then, but the second match was very cool and everybody was there. Like Cynthia Erivo was there, Michelle Obama, Al Roker, his wife, Debra, SZA. Like all the celebs came out for one of the biggest American tennis celebrities, Coco Gauff, who was sadly defeated. She tried to make a comeback in the end, but she was sadly defeated. by the eventual U.S. Open champion and number one women's player in the world, Elena Rabakina. And that was a really fun match to watch. There was a little bit of controversy because Coco, like 99 % of that stadium, Arthur Ashe Stadium, was behind Coco. And so as soon as the match was over and she lost, the arena just emptied out. The stadium just emptied out right away. It was a little disrespectful because Rabakina, the winner, was like just starting to be interviewed on court with her like victory interview and everybody was just gone. People were like, we're getting out of here. Speaker 4 (2:41) That Speaker 2 (2:41) is kind of awkward. I Speaker 3 (2:42) don't Speaker 2 (2:42) think it was intentional. Yeah, I don't think it was intentional to be rude. It was just sort of like, hey, everybody was here for Coco. And also it was, I want to say 1230. You know, it was like half past midnight. And a school night. It was literally a school night because the day. of that semifinal was the first day of school in New York. Oh, wow. Which is wild because our kids here on the West Coast have been in school for like five weeks. So it's sort of strange to think about. But so there was a little, yeah, there was a little consternation among the tennis newsletters about that. But otherwise, it was a super fun time. Loved being in New York and getting to see folks. Speaker 2 (3:26) Now back in the swing and back. The only sports that I'm getting to see, the only live sports that I'm getting to see in the next two weeks will feature my children, my Speaker 3 (3:40) progeny. Speaker 2 (3:43) How about you? Henry has started soccer, right? Recently? Or has that season began? Speaker 4 (3:49) That season has begun. Yes. Henry has started soccer. Don't have much to say about it because it just started. Okay. But he's doing like rec. He does rec soccer, not like a club team or anything. And the first day I couldn't go, Matt, there was just like a casual like meet the team kind of thing and get your uniform and all this stuff. And Matt sent me this picture and he was like, Henry's like a... foot taller than like all these other kids. Are you sure Speaker 3 (4:22) he's in Speaker 4 (4:22) the right group? And I was like, yes. I had to like send in a birth certificate. And then I went to the game last weekend and I was like, oh, he's like a head taller than all these other kids. And then I realized the old rec soccer that he did was the age groups were like every year. So it was like six you, seven you, eight you, nine you. But this one is. six you and eight you. So he's with kids who are like a full year younger and he's already kind of tall for his Speaker 3 (4:57) age. So he's Speaker 4 (4:59) like with all these kids who I think are younger than him and look like. He just looks enormous. Like he's so, he looks so, and he's Speaker 3 (5:08) not, like Speaker 4 (5:08) he's tall for his age, but he's not like a giant. But next to these kids who I think are younger than him, it was just sort of funny. So, but he's having fun. He didn't want to go. And then he went and had a good time and like scored a kind of a crazy goal. It wasn't a free kick. I forget what it was called. See, that's the other thing. I know nothing about soccer. I'm like kick. the goal. Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Ball. Okay. You get it in there. Great. I didn't play soccer. Like I don't really have an interest in soccer. So I don't really know what anything is called, but there was like a, he had a kick. It wasn't technically a free kick, I guess, or penalty kick. I don't know exactly what it was, but Speaker 2 (5:52) it just sailed over everyone's head. head and landed in the goal. Yes. He's using his height to an advantage. And Speaker 4 (6:01) everyone was like, Speaker 2 (6:02) whoa. Speaker 4 (6:04) Making Speaker 2 (6:04) it bend like that, that's special. That's a Speaker 4 (6:08) skill. So they ended up losing by one goal, but I think he was just so, he was so happy that he had scored and like in this sort of crazy way. And so it was, it was fun. Speaker 2 (6:20) Oh, good. Yes. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. I have spent time mostly on the casual chat sort of being chagrined about the costs of sports and the pressure of youth sports these days. But the reason why the girls play, the two out of three girls of mine that play sports play is for all of those kinds of confidence boosting reasons, right? And like the socio-emotional benefits of being on a team. and being accountable, and then also the diligence that it takes to continue going to practice and to work at something and get better and to be able to get back up after suffering defeat. I think all of those benefits tend to be absolutely worth it. I just, I think when parents... have gotten way too caught up in it or are trying to drive Speaker 3 (7:16) towards like D1 Speaker 2 (7:17) scholarships. That's where things get a little less fun. And so we're back in that season here in, on my, with regard to Ava's sport, volleyball, we're back in the season of preparing for tryouts. And right before, she's already playing on the school team. This would be tryouts for the club team. And last year was her first full year of club and this would be her second. And it seems as though there's so much wheeling and dealing going on behind the scenes. Oh, interesting. Speaker 4 (7:48) Where Speaker 2 (7:48) these teams are kind of, the coaches or the clubs kind of already know who they want by the time tryouts even happen. Because I'm hearing about parents like... already talking to coaches and saying they want this and negotiating for what kinds of positions and playing time they want for their kids. And I'm just like, I don't even want to be having these conversations. So today, a coach called me, a coach from my prospective team for my daughter called me and he was like, what are your priorities? What's your family looking for? Oh, my God. It was so funny because I was like, I just don't want to drive that much. And he laughed and he was like. Okay, okay, I can work with that. I can work with that. I see that that's important to your family. I'm like, I mean, I just don't want to drive that much. That's my main thing. I want to save money on like having to hire somebody to drive, which is what ended up happening last season. And then, and I also like just think it's worth it to be able to have the family all together for dinner at least a few nights of the week. And so if we can make that happen, then our prospect of yours can go that way. You know, so that's my main like card that I want to play right now. Or like that's what I want to try and wind up with. For Ava, she wants to play like at a certain competitiveness. Like she I think she has is now used to a certain level of play. And so she wants to be on a team that will. be going for higher goals or be striving a bit. And I think we can satisfy that without having to drive too far. So those are kind of the priorities. But it's that interesting season. And I'm just praying to God that she doesn't sprain her ankle again on tryout day, which is what happened last time we wound up in the emergency room. Speaker 4 (9:38) Oh, dear. On the Speaker 2 (9:39) day Speaker 4 (9:39) of Speaker 2 (9:39) tryouts. And it was, you know, she obviously still wound up playing the full season. But yeah, I Speaker 3 (9:44) mean, you don't Speaker 2 (9:45) want that to happen. But yeah, so. all that kind of stuff is going on here. And as we're rushing around or beginning the fall season of rushing around, it's really timely to have Carol Chambers on because she's all about feeding your family and feeding your family fast. And what I especially love about what she does in her work is like repurpose things. She's a big proponent of fried rice and just throwing stuff in fried rice. We do that in our family like multiple nights a week. So love that. And she is also what she's... Mother of four? Yeah, she has Speaker 4 (10:19) four boys. Speaker 2 (10:21) That's a lot of mouths to feed. It's a lot of mouths. It's a lot of mouths. Well, Speaker 4 (10:27) let's get to our convo with Caroline. I will read her bio, which is just as charming as she is. Caroline grew up in a kitchen on her mom's hip, learning how to cook in their Winston-Salem, North Carolina home. With experience as a chef, caterer, and freelance recipe developer for a host of publications and brands, she published her first cookbook in 2018, Just Married. And in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caro began sharing her recipes and connecting with home cooks on Instagram at Caro Chambers and launched her newsletter, What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking, which flew to the top of the Substack charts. Her next cookbook bearing the same title was published in 2024. and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Caro lives in Carmel Valley, California, with her husband, George, and their four sons, Mattis, Callum, Cashel, and Tavish, one of whom can almost always be found in the kitchen on her hip. And before we get to Caroline or Caro, as I think she is called by her friends, just a reminder that you can call or text us at 781-591- Email us at forever35podcast at gmail.com. We love getting your messages. We include them in our bi-weekly You Ask, We Answer episodes. So please call or text or write in. Visit our website, forever35podcast.com. We have links there to everything we mentioned on the show. Follow us on Instagram at forever35podcast. Join our Patreon at patreon.com slash forever35. We have so much... fun bonus content on there, including our weekly casual chat, which we do on video. We have live casual chats every few months. We do a monthly pop culture episode. We have a community chat going on Patreon. There's Speaker 3 (12:17) a Speaker 4 (12:17) lot happening