[00:00:00] Dr Renee White: Knowledge is power, and we are all about empowering the mamas of the world. In each episode, we will unravel and interpret the latest research and evidence based practices for pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. As mums and researchers ourselves, we have experienced firsthand the overwhelming complexity of information, myths, and those classic old wives tales.

[00:00:27] I'm Dr. Renee White, and this is The Science of Motherhood. Hello and welcome to episode 159 of the Science of Motherhood. I am your host, Dr. Renee White. Thank you so much for joining me today. We have got a very special episode. Now, if you are a longtime listener, you'll probably be thinking, uh, this is supposed to be a check in Tuesday episode, Renee.

[00:00:50] You are absolutely right because we do those every fortnight, bookended by a longer guest episode, but we have rushed this episode because in fact, the guest today has got a very special launch of a new cookbook. It is none other than Justine Schofield. Now, I tried really hard not to fangirl in this interview because I watched Masterchef many, many moons ago when she was in the first series of Masterchef Australia.

[00:01:28] And so I kind of had to try to keep it together, but it was such a beautiful interview because We kind of bonded a bit over like being mums and what that looks like, and I guess, you know, motherhood journeys and influence, um, on our motherhood. You will hear in this episode how Justine has just got some beautiful role models in her life with her mum and her grandma, not only with cooking, but also with how she spends her time and mothers her beautiful two year old, Louis.

[00:02:04] Now, as I said, it is very exciting day today because it is launch day for Justine's new cookbook. It's called Cook Ahead. You are going to absolutely love this book. I have, I've had a very good look at it and I have like dog tagged so many recipes. I guess the premise behind this book is cook once, eat twice, which I think everyone who is the master chef of their own house is probably screaming out a resounding hell yes.

[00:02:37] That is how I like to cook in our house, because if you're going to chop one onion, you may as well chop two. And if you're going to do one batch of spaghetti bolognese, I make four and I just freeze it away because times are busy, right? And sometimes you want to be reaching for a delicious quick and easy meal out of the freezer instead of calling up that Uber Eats again because food's expensive, right?

[00:03:08] So in today's episode we are going to hear from Justine Schofield, as I said. Now, if you've been hiding under a rock, here's a little snippet. Justine, we first kind of saw her on the first series of MasterChef Australia, as I said, she now hosts her own show, Everyday Gourmet, and has done for the past 15 years.

[00:03:30] And this is not her first rodeo guys, Justine is the author of four bestselling cookbooks, Dinner with Justine, Simple Every Day, The Weeknight cookbook and the Slow Cook, and you will hear that the inspiration behind this latest book is literally being a mum. Like, she's just like, we need to utilise our freezers better.

[00:03:51] And I could not agree more. So you're going to absolutely love this episode because she gives some really great tips on how we can, how we can maximise our bang for our buck and stay tuned because if you jump over to our socials this week, we are going to be sharing two of the delicious recipes from Justine's book.

[00:04:18] So jump over to our Instagram @fillyourcup_ and you can have a sneak peek at a couple of those recipes. All right. Until further ado, here is Justine Schofield. Hello and welcome to the podcast.

[00:04:34] Justine Schofield: Hello. I am so well, even better now talking to you.

[00:04:39] Dr Renee White: Oh, thank you. So we, obviously everyone would know from the introduction that they would have just heard that we are here celebrating the launch of your amazing new cookbook, Cook Ahead, which we briefly chatted about offline, I guess about the inspiration and things like that.

[00:04:57] We are going to get to that, but I would like to just dive a little bit deeper. Obviously this cookbook is very much aligned with mums, parents, all the like. Hey, if you're happy to share, what was your motherhood journey like with Louis? Because is he, he's two now?

[00:05:18] Justine Schofield: Yes, he's just over two now. And you know, a lot of people have, I mean, everyone has their own story. And for me, it just, I think you could prepare as much as you like, but you actually just, you can't prepare at all. And I actually was very, uh, it was important for me not to read all those books and all. I just, I just stayed away from all of that and just went on experiences through my friends and saw what they did and what they didn't do and then even then I still didn't know until you're actually in it. Right?

[00:05:54] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:05:55] Justine Schofield: And at the beginning, it was confronting. I just remember and I'm sure you've heard this story over and over again, just leaving the hospital and getting in the car and not even knowing how to put Louis into a car seat, let alone drive. We didn't have to drive far. And I just was, you know, Just so sad.

[00:06:11] Cause I was like, I don't know how to do this new life. I was also on high emotion cause I literally found out I had COVID as I was going into hospital. So quite a dramatic birth and quite intense birth. And we were in hospital much longer than we were supposed to and, He got jaundice like a lot of bubbas do and all sorts of things like that.

[00:06:32] I didn't have him for the first night because I had to test if he was okay because it was a bit of a stressful birth. So all of that was just building up and I was like, yep, I'm very happy. I'm very happy. I've got a new baby, but deep down, I I think it's called baby blues that nobody, and I have a lot of girlfriends that have a babies.

[00:06:49] Not one of them told me that this thing existed

[00:06:52] Dr Renee White: Really?

[00:06:53] Justine Schofield: Hit me at day three, no sleep, you know, latching on, trying to get Louis to latch on and it was very stressful for me and we were just stuck in a room because of COVID so we couldn't go anywhere. So. I'm giving way too much detail but.

[00:07:07] Dr Renee White: No, I think this is really important though because it's like as as challenging as is and it's your personal experience unfortunately it's actually quite normal to have all of those feelings crop up and I think any opportunity where we can discuss that and normalise it.

[00:07:27] I think the better, because as you said, your girlfriends didn't even tell you about this baby blues thing. You know, I, I've, I've experienced this as well. I think I was the second person out of my group who was, had a baby, so there wasn't much to go with. And I don't know about you, but I had like a sense of almost like anger. I was like, hold on guys, like, I feel like I've missed a memo on like all of these really important things that I should know.

[00:07:53] Justine Schofield: Exactly. And it's really hard for a partner to understand. And so naturally that causes some issues there too. It's just, Really hard to explain the feeling and, um, of course, you know, that was just, it didn't last for long because, you know, once you get into a rhythm at home and it was just pure joy and bliss and he's just the most delightful thing, but it was that shock of having a baby and then you bring it home and then your life is different and that's that and you know I spent all this time preparing my freezer and making sure everything's all ready to go when I get home. So I don't have to worry about that aspect. I can focus on the baby and it was difficult, but lucky I had a lot of support around me, so much support around me and it was just, it was good. But yeah, the hospital part was a little scary, definitely scary. And getting in that car, getting home was. It was scary. It was scary.

[00:08:45] Dr Renee White: How much more hypervigilant are you? You're just like, Oh my God, don't. Like you're like going 40 down the road that you would normally go 60 and things like that. Oh my God. It's such an out of body experience.

[00:08:56] Justine Schofield: Yeah. And just, it was the, my biggest thing was the temperature of, Is he cold? Is he hot? Is that, is that warm enough? What, I mean, how many layers like they say, but do you really know? So all of this information, these tiny things that no one can prepare you for until you're in it, but yeah, wouldn't change it for the world because I have my baby Louis and he's just perfection. And he's just, he's delicious. Like every day, it just gets more and more, such a good baby boy.

[00:09:22] Dr Renee White: I love it. And two is such a beautiful age, I think.

[00:09:25] Justine Schofield: It really is. It really is. And he's just the vocabulary and just the way he talks and just the way he's growing. He's just turning into this gorgeous little man.

[00:09:36] Dr Renee White: Mm. I want to talk about that support system because reading through. your cookbook and also, you know, like your background. I mean, I was a MasterChef fan, like I'm trying to not fangirl here. Um, but it's pretty well known that your mum and your grandmother. She's French and I don't know how to pronounce grandmother in French, but they were a really big influence on your cooking career.

[00:10:09] Are you happy to share like some of those imprints that you got from each of those and maybe not only how it's affected your cooking, but like as a mum as well?

[00:10:20] Justine Schofield: Hugely, hugely. I was very, very close with my maternal grandmother. But she lived in France, so quite far away, and we were lucky enough, Dad worked for Qantas, he was a tug driver actually, and the benefits back in those days were incredible, so you could fly quite regularly, and we would, I mean, Mum would even send me by myself.

[00:10:41] With another child who was around roughly the same age and we would go, she would be, you know, the French community quite tight in Sydney. Yeah. And um, they would send us with a little thing around our neck to make sure we're, we're labelled. We'd never do that with kids these days, but we did it. We did it. And I just remember fond memories, not feeling homesick or anything like that, but because I was going to see my maternal grandmother who was pretty much an extension of my mother. Um, and I think that's why we're so close and, you know, we're spending weeks there and then mum would join later on because she was obviously working and dad too. But it was, I, I just remember her, even being so little, I just remember her so much. Just everything from the necklace, she'd have a black pearl, to her cooking in the kitchen, the smell of her apartment, you know, walking down, just doing our regular walks and picking you know, when I was there in summer, the raspberries were just incredible.

[00:11:35] I just, I remember that so much. Um, and it's the food that's the connection because. when I'm, when my mum makes a Pot-au-feu, for example, which is a very French boiled dish. A lot of cultures do it. It smells like my grandmother's home. And then of course, it was like my mother's home. And so I want that for Louis that he smells those smells in here.

[00:11:57] And they remind him of home cause you can look at as many pictures as you like, but that feeling that you get, I almost get goosebumps thinking of it when I smell the dish that is so family orientated, like my ma mère's dish or my mum Francoise's dish. It just brings back so many memories. Yeah. And mum's like, mum's been a massive, just mum and dad, but you know, naturally as a mum and I'm the only daughter, we are extremely close. Sometimes you wouldn't tell because, you know, she's French and she screams and she's very loud and, you know, she's got a very stern face and, you know, very, quite strong and stoic.

[00:12:33] And, um, when she doesn't like something, she will tell you, but there's this connection there and that's quite, quite strong. And I guess, you know, my mum was close with her mother and then she had, she left France and came to Australia to set up. So the importance of connection with mother and daughter is quite strong, um, strong there.

[00:12:53] Don't get me wrong, when I was a teenager, I was an absolute pain and put my mum through the wringer. But now being a mother, I think we've become very, very close in everything in life.

[00:13:02] Dr Renee White: Yeah. What was your favourite meal that your mum and your grandmother used to make, or you made together, or like they taught you to make.

[00:13:13] Justine Schofield: Look, there's so many and I, you know, it'd be nice to say, oh, a little creme brulee or, um, tart au pomme, you know, apple tart. But it's actually a really old school dish that we, I just love it. It's, it's veal dish. It's called a blanquette de veau, which is, it translates, a weird name, um, blanket of veal. What it is, is poached veal stew.

[00:13:35] Uh, served with a rice that you make with that delicious stock and then you make a white sauce again from the stock. And I just remember eating it at restaurants when we were in France and my grandmother cooking it and then my mother cooking it. And you know, you tell any French person about it, they go, Oh, dégueulasse, as they say in French, disgusting.

[00:13:54] Like it's just so old school. Peasant style food. Yeah. I just love it because it was a dish that would just, I would just crave to eat. And I do cook it for Louis sometimes. Sometimes I do it with fish instead of the veal or do it with chicken. But, uh, it's just a stunning dish that again, just smells, I can smell it right now.

[00:14:16] The, the bay leaves in the, in the stock pots and, and the veal and carrots, just a delight to eat. Definitely reminds me of both of them equally.

[00:14:26] Dr Renee White: I love that. And I think I interviewed, um, what her actual title is, but her name is Dr. Deborah McNamara. She's from the U. S. and she talks about how food is not just food, but it is about the connection with the you know, the meal and the people around you and the environment. And as you say, the smell, it's all those things that are kind of coming together that, you know, it's the, it's the family table, you know, that we sit at and we do feast style and all those things. Um, because we, yeah, we were talking about like, quote unquote, picky eaters as children.

[00:15:05] And she's like, like her argument is, I actually don't think there is picky eaters. I think it's just that we've lost that connection somehow with the family meal. And as you say, that connection, like with grandparents and cooking with them and stuff like that.

[00:15:20] Justine Schofield: Yeah. I mean, in the French culture, eating at the table is just non negotiable. Eating at the table is not an annoyance. It is part of life, like brushing your teeth. You sit at the table, you eat, whether there's one person or there's 20. The table is set, we don't go and plate up and bring it to the table. Food is on the table and people help themselves. That's how we eat. And that's where you connect.

[00:15:45] And that's where you discuss it. And I think that's why my family, my brothers, my dad, we, cause even if you're having a bad day. You talk at the table, just talk life. You know, there's no orange juice or Coke or any of that last it is Wine and water. Like it's the only options. I remember as growing up is, you know, going to other, you know, friends houses and they have Coke and orange juice and milk of all things.

[00:16:12] Oh, my goodness. Milk at the table. Like sacrilegious, you know, and I'm like, why can't we have it? And I remember like, mum's like, fine, if you don't want water, you can have wine, you know, as a kid. These are your options. And there's nothing, and it makes sense because it wasn't even just about having a sugary drink.

[00:16:27] It's about ruining the palate, ruining the taste of the dish. You've got a beautiful dish. You can have a sugary drink with it, like crazy child.

[00:16:34] Dr Renee White: Yes. Oh my goodness. I love French cooking. My husband and I actually eloped to France. So yeah, it's a, it's a kind of mainstay with us and we recently went back to Paris and we took my daughter for the first time.

[00:16:48] And I was just like, eat everything in sight, like just like indulge in everything. Like I was taking her to the, you know, the local, local bakery in the morning. And I was like, eat the crepes, eat the croissants, eat all the things. And she's like, can't we have the, because we were traveling with another family, she's like, can't we eat at the hotel, like at the breakfast buffet? I was like, absolutely not.

[00:17:12] Justine Schofield: And it's only in France that you can have a croissant a day and not feel guilty about it.

[00:17:16] Dr Renee White: 100%. Yes.

[00:17:19] Justine Schofield: But in France, it's like, oh just a croissant. It's just one croissant.

[00:17:22] Dr Renee White: Just one croissant. It's fine. I'd love to talk about the inspiration behind the cookbook. Obviously, you know, food has been a mainstay throughout your life, but what was the tipping point for you where you're like, okay, hold on a minute, I need to do this.

[00:17:36] Justine Schofield: God, I remember this so vividly when, because I hadn't written a book for a while, I think a couple of years, and you know, there was a few knocks on the door, my publisher's like, my agent's like, come on. And I'm like, Oh, cause it's. It's so hard to write a book, like you need so much time and there's a lot of testing and writing, writing, writing, and I'll write 300 recipes for everyday gourmets.

[00:17:56] I'm like, where am I going to fit this in? But I remember this complete need to share my experience with the humble freezer because the book is relating related to that when my little boy was five months I had to leave him just before six months to do a TV show in Malaysia for ten days we had to shoot over there and had been locked in for two years.

[00:18:20] So it was really hard to get out of it I was like, yeah, I'm committed And of course I committed before I had the baby then had the baby and had that full mum guilt of leaving him and it was serious mum guilt and I had high anxiety, which just never had just this, I can't do it. I can't leave him like he's, especially I was breastfeeding.

[00:18:39] So I worked myself up as in, you know, I had great support system. Mum was like, you can do it. Um, you know, my agents, everyone's like, you can do this. And I turned to the freezer. I'm like, all right, if I have Louis sorted and I know that he's going to be in his home, so he's not going to miss you know, he's got the, his regular environment, his mummy's not going to be there, but what can I give him that is going to be, you know, mummy there?

[00:19:04] And I'm like, oh, that freezer came in so much handy with freezing that much breast milk for 10 days. And he was just going on solids. I was just teaching on solids. And I can't tell you, the freezer was a rainbow because there was broccoli purees, there was apple and blackberry purees, there was carrot and cheddar purees, there was all sorts of purees, and I really just took it in my stride to make these purees.

[00:19:32] Store them as best I can. So it was clear as day on what he was going to have. And it was a real life saver, like this freezer, you know, it gets a bad rap. It's this thing that we throw things, throw pieces of chunks of meat in, it gets super frostbite. We bring it out a year later, I don't know what it is. It goes in the bin.

[00:19:52] And I'm like, I'm going to change that around because the lead up to Louis, I had done that. I've cleared it out. And like most mums out there, they freeze batch, batches of food, but it was that moment where it was like giving me empowerment. The freezer was giving me empowerment to go and there was some nourishing, delicious food in the wholesome food for him, not from the packet, but I've cooked.

[00:20:17] And it's just going to be just as delicious as a snap frozen. So the nutrients are in there. All it needs to do is to be reheated was something that I'm like, Oh, okay, let's celebrate the humble freezer. And of course, I've got a chapter about babies and toddlers, but let's make it even more.

[00:20:33] And let's see this as an opportunity, particularly in a time where, you know, we have to be budget friendly, because it's just, food is expensive. Let's face it, food is really expensive. Let's be nifty with things that we have in our freezer, in our pantry, in our fridge, and, you know, snap lock it so we can, um, nourish ourselves.

[00:20:53] And it was that pivotal moment. I mean, look, I've really taken I'm not going to take 10 minutes to tell you my story there, but basically it was when the baby was six months. It was six months and he was a baby and I used that freezer to the best of its capability.

[00:21:06] Dr Renee White: But I love that though, because I love the fact that you were so self aware that you were like, okay, I really want to do this as a mum. This is my career. This is, you know, part of me. And I can't control that part because I still want to do it. But what are the things that I can control? And that is the fact that you're like, let's just fill that freezer to the brim. And then it just kind of offsets, as you said, offsets that anxiety and that you can kind of, you can still do it.

[00:21:35] I mean, I know. For a fact that I have to have multiple meals in the freezer ready to be heated and go for my own mental health because there comes a time during the week and particularly, um, you know, around this period where you're just like, I'm tired, I'm exhausted like, I just want to like grab, set and forget.

[00:22:00] That's like my perfect opportunity there. And as you say, you want it to be, you want it to be wholesome, nourishing food for your kids because we've, we've kind of always taken this tact of like whole foods as close as we can get to whole foods, the better, because it, it, it has a real impact. We have in our family, it has a real impact on gut health.

[00:22:26] My husband has issues with gut health and then also I just find that. Too much processed food? My child goes a little bit la la. So.

[00:22:35] Justine Schofield: Yeah. And there's more and more education out there. My, my best friend, not to, to change the subject too much, but my, my beautiful best friend, Beth passed away this year from stage four bowel cancer. And you spend your time going, why did this happen to her? Why, why, why? We don't know still, right? That's why we need to raise money around this. Cause it's not just the genes. We don't know, like is it ourselves. Early onset bowel cancer is massive it's funny. Why? And a lot of doctors say this has got to be something with what we've been eating with our age group. So I'm going to be 40 next year.

[00:23:10] What have we been eating? That processed bread, all of these things. And it might not be right, but it's something that I am acutely aware of. And nourishing my baby is imperative and knowing what's in the food is imperative, not just for him, for me, my partner, for all of us, like eating well is imperative.

[00:23:29] And that comes, stems from my family upbringing, you know, with my mother and my father, just making sure we eat whole foods. It can be simple, but eating whole foods will always be better for you. No matter what.

[00:23:43] Dr Renee White: Yeah. I saw that you dedicated your book to Beth. I was going to ask you who that was.

[00:23:47] Justine Schofield: Oh, sorry.

[00:23:48] Dr Renee White: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I thought I was like, okay, this is obviously someone who's quite. close and dear to you. So thank you for sharing that with everyone.

[00:23:57] Justine Schofield: Oh, yeah. I start getting very emotional about her, but she was an amazing person and she would always love when my cookbooks came out. She's actually one of, in my third cookbook.

[00:24:08] She just loved eating and is just the most positive person I've ever met. And it's just such a shame she's not here anymore because she would be so proud right now to see this book.

[00:24:17] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:24:18] Justine Schofield: But it's for her. So And, um, even though she was a terrible cook and she was always a very great supporter of sitting with a glass of wine and having a chat about life and just loved me cooking for her.

[00:24:34] So I miss that. Yeah.

[00:24:37] Dr Renee White: Obviously your love language.

[00:24:38] Justine Schofield: Sure is. Yeah. People sometimes don't get my love language, you're just so much gentler. I'm like, mate, if you want to know that I really love you, I'll cook for you. Once I do that, you know, I really love you. If I bring freezer food for you, if I've cooked you a batch of meatballs in a lovely container labeled and dated for your freezer, You know that you're one of my favourites.

[00:25:03] Dr Renee White: Yes, 100 percent and you know what, to be on the receiving end of that I think is so, so amazing. I want to ask you though, do you have a favourite recipe in the book? Something that's like in rotation in your house all the time?

[00:25:17] Justine Schofield: Look, I'm going to have to, I have so many in there because, and you know, I changed this book so many times with the recipes, what to add in there.

[00:25:24] Like there, there's a lot of different things in here, but I think one of my favorites would have to be, and I cooked it last night, the Moroccan meatballs. They just freeze so well I just love meatballs in general, right? But just serving this with, I love it because it's my, the, what I love to eat now is very different because I want Louis to love it too.

[00:25:48] Right? So this is my opportunity to inject a tiny bit of spice to make it a bit more interesting. I add zucchini, carrot. onions and you can go even further adding other vegetables to it but I inject it with loads of vegetables they're soft and fluffy and serving it with couscous I just it's a dish that I grew up with and and having a double batch so you know you'll see that I add you know, a kilo of mince in it because you can have 500 grams of that.

[00:26:16] So half of it for dinner and the rest goes in the freezer and it's just the humble meatball, but they just so delicious because they've got the cumin and the coriander in it. There's nothing in this book that you freeze. I was, it was really, I was really strict to myself to freeze everything and taste it afterwards because there's nothing worse than something that tastes nice.

[00:26:35] Everything fresh is going to be the best, of course, but it needs to defrost and still taste bang on as these meatballs time and time again are fantastic. And, you know, it's just about, um, bringing it, making sure that you bring it out the night before when you're defrosting food too, you will get. The best of it. So rapid, rapid defrost yep sure. But if you think ahead and train yourself differently to use that freezer, well, as in right, I'm going to eat this tomorrow. Let's bring it out tonight before bed. Yeah. It's great. There's one more that one dish.

[00:27:08] Dr Renee White: Oh yeah. Tell me.

[00:27:09] Justine Schofield: Oh, there's so many. So we could talk forever, but I love sweet and sour pork from takeaway Chinese, right?

[00:27:15] Dr Renee White: Yes. Okay.

[00:27:16] Justine Schofield: A very rare occasion that I have it, I would say once a year. Takeaway Chinese and it's really weird because I love it so much, but just because it's just highly salty and all, but I don't mind it once a year. Okay. So I wanted to replicate that, but I did a slow cook version where you use pork scotch fillet, which is neck.

[00:27:34] And it is absolutely delicious with five spice. There's loads of capsicum through it. There's pineapple. So it really tastes like the OG from takeaway Chinese, which is actually Yeah, page 79 in big batch. Okay. But it freezes so well and defrost really well. And I just love that dish because it doesn't have any of the extra salt and the nasties in it.

[00:28:01] You've made it from scratch, make a big batch of it. And it is to die for. It's got that lovely, like I said, the Chinese five spice. It's got the sugar and vinegar

[00:28:12] Dr Renee White: ingredients there. I reckon my child would love that.

[00:28:15] Justine Schofield: And you can change it. You can put chicken if you like, instead of pork, you know, there's so many different things that you can add to it. And I just, I just love that dish because it's sort of, it's a play on a takeaway. And I talk a lot about in the book of convenience, right? Because naturally you want to, sometimes when you're so busy, Oh, look, let's just, let's just call the local takeaway and get it where I'm wanting to celebrate having your takeaways at home.

[00:28:39] You can have that lovely classic sweet sour pork, but make it. Eat it for one night and the rest of it freeze and you can have, um, with just some rice. Dinner's done very quickly and it tastes better. It'll always taste better if you make it yourself.

[00:28:54] Dr Renee White: A hundred percent. I think this is the key also, like we talk about this with the mums that we help and support through our doula services and it's just kind of like we appreciate that everyone is so time poor, like any opportunity where you can cook once, eat twice, you just go for it. Cause if you're at, if you're in the kitchen, just do it. Cause I think we, I'm kind of in two minds. Like I see these people on social media and stuff and they're like, I meal prep on Sunday.

[00:29:24] Justine Schofield: Oh my god I was just about to talk to you about this.

[00:29:26] Dr Renee White: And I'm just like, I hear you. I'm like, that's great. But doesn't that take you like 3000 years to do? And I'm like, I want to enjoy my Sunday.

[00:29:37] Justine Schofield: You know, it's just. I can't tell you, and I, and I write exactly about this because I, I can't believe you literally took the words out of my mouth because I see that I'm like, who's actually going to do that.

[00:29:50] Like I don't want to do that on my Sunday. My time's precious.

[00:29:53] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:29:54] Justine Schofield: My whole idea about the book, cause I really want to emphasise it because naturally people go, Oh, we'll just cook all in one day. It's not, it's tonight we're going to make meatballs, whether it's mine or not, instead of using 500 grams of beef mince use a kilo or 1. 5. If you're going to grate one carrot to put into the meatballs, just grate two.

[00:30:12] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:30:12] Justine Schofield: Get two cans of, of tomatoes or, you know, a whole jar of passata. You're going to make it anyway. So see the opportunities when they arise and slowly feed the freezer and then you'll see, you'll reap the benefits.

[00:30:26] It's three months down the track when you can defrost that as long as it's labeled because storage is super important and how it's labeled because it's appealing when you go, Oh, meatballs that were cooked then. Yep. Fantastic. I know what they are. I remember doing them. Let's defrost them tomorrow.

[00:30:40] Dr Renee White: I want to talk to you about that because my freezer is currently a mess. Like, you know, you would just like, and you're going to go open it and be like, ah, what is that? When did we put that in? Uh, yeah. I looked at my freezer the other day. We're quite lucky. We've got. A dedicated freezer in the garage, as well as like a small one, obviously, in our kitchen. But I was looking at the, you know, the deep freeze the other day and I thought, she's going to need a clean out soon because I don't even know when I put that in.

[00:31:06] What are your, like, top tips when it comes to organising and storage as well? Because I see people who are like, don't store it in this, store it in that. Like, is there kind of like, uh, you know, any rules to the, to storing and labelling.

[00:31:22] So

[00:31:23] Justine Schofield: I always start with, before you get started on cooking things, let's, let's, let's get into that freezer and work out what's in there. And you'd be surprised, things can freeze longer than if it's been stored properly than you think. Okay. The general is three months for just everything, just in general.

[00:31:40] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:31:40] Justine Schofield: But. Getting using that stuff because again, I hate waste. I'm just, I really hate wasting food. Food is expensive. It's not wasted.

[00:31:50] And there's also a lot of hungry people out there. So let's just be a bit conscious about that. And there are so many times where you do just go, oh, look, I'm going to remember that. Obviously, like, it's, it's red. It's going to be a Bolognese it's definitely, i'll remember that. But after a while, you can't see what it is.

[00:32:06] So labeling and that's just some sticky tape and a pen and labeling it and then putting even just a little bit more sticky tape over some clear stuff so it doesn't so you can actually see it. It will like time and time again I see it and it's just like label it and it will save you down the track and then just using all those things up first before starting in.

[00:32:30] So it's always the reset. Just clear that out, eat it. Or if you don't really don't know what it is, it scares you. Okay, get rid of it. Start by doing that. So do a reset and rotate also. So just think about how you are in a grocery store where things are rotated. The oldest comes to the front, so you use that.

[00:32:49] So even if you might not feel like that bolognese and you want to go for that apricot chicken at the back, that, that bolognese is ready to go, just use it somehow before going to the next one. So rotating to make sure that you have that power and it's every six months just giving it a clean out is, is my general rule.

[00:33:07] And also you can do, you can, um, categorise, like, so you can divide your freezer into, into different spaces. So I've got, for example, three shelves, one thin, one medium, one, and a large one. So. You know, all the big chunks of meat go in one section, the bread goes in one section, and my pastries, and then my ready made meals, as in that I have cooked, go in another section.

[00:33:28] Dr Renee White: That's great.

[00:33:29] Justine Schofield: So, you know, even when you just go straight away to your freezer, you know where you're going, so you're not scurrying around and looking for it. And also using freezer, um, space friendly containers, even like plastic bags.

[00:33:45] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:33:45] Justine Schofield: So, sometimes I put my bolognese , once it's cooled, put it in Ziploc bags.

[00:33:48] Dr Renee White: That is like a, I think it's a secret weapon to do all of that.

[00:33:53] Justine Schofield: That's a secret weapon. It's so, because they just flatten it and then you can just pile them up really easily and categorise it because you just label it. It's so easy to see.

[00:34:01] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:34:03] Justine Schofield: Is great. And I, I try to stay away from plastic, but we just can't. Right. So that's just, I say we can't. I'm sure there's people out there that can. I'm not up to that stage yet, but I use a lot of glass where I can and, um, just really good quality containers that are all shapes and sizes. Like, I mean, we could talk forever. There are just different things, but the Ziploc bags work a real treat when you want to stack correctly.

[00:34:28] And like, sometimes you want to just do a small batch, like for example, you're going out to dinner and you need food for you, your child, making sure I only have some, I have also have small batches of, of, of little food. So bolognese in a Ziploc bag, that's been flattened. That doesn't take long to defrost at all.

[00:34:44] You can bring that out and be ready in a couple of hours, not even, because sometimes you just need that one batch while you're going out to dinner or you're going out to dinner. Boil some pasta, put that bolognese in, a bit of cheese, bobs your uncle faster than any delivery that you're going to get.

[00:34:59] Dr Renee White: Yeah, 100%. Oh, I'm curious to know, because we invested in those silicon pod type, um, you know, what do they call it? It's not like an ice block thing, but like, But for my daughter, and that was a game changer for that because I was like, Oh my God, how am I going to do portion sizes for her? And like you say, you're going out for dinner and you're like, okay, my child's not going to eat anything from here, but I could just pop a pod and then, you know, get that all sorted.

[00:35:30] Yeah. Did you use things like that as well?

[00:35:33] Justine Schofield: Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:35:34] Um, those, they work so well, you know, you do little pestos and then you freeze it in the containers and pop them out and put them in a Ziploc bag. So you can store them so they don't get frostbite. And sometimes, even just for me, so when I'm just eating one for one person.

[00:35:49] Dr Renee White: Yes.

[00:35:50] Justine Schofield: You don't have to be a mum to do that or whatever. Just sometimes you just want a quick. Pesto pasta.

[00:35:55] Dr Renee White: Yeah.

[00:35:56] Justine Schofield: So throw two of those in and some pasta and it just works treat. Even marinades. I sometimes do cause I'm like, Oh, I don't peel more garlic and you know, I do my marinades and put them in the blocks and there's some that just need my quick honey soy recipe for that.

[00:36:11] It just, it comes straight out of the freezer and it works every time. Silicon's a funny one though. I don't know. Sometimes I have this taste, this silicon y taste.

[00:36:19] Dr Renee White: Oh really?

[00:36:20] Justine Schofield: I don't know if you get that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It sort of absorbs a lot of flavor. So, um, yeah, there's many different ones on the market, I guess.

[00:36:29] Dr Renee White: Before we jump into our rapid fire, I want to know, we have a lot of listeners who are obviously mum's parents. Do you have any recommendations about returning to work? You know, anything that you could kind of give as a tip or anything apart from obviously stocking your freezer? Was there anything else that kind of helped you along the way?

[00:36:51] Justine Schofield: Yeah, I, I love working and I love what I do. So that will also helps going back to work, just being prepared and knowing your baby's going to be okay. Like if you prepare yourself and surround yourself with the securities that make you feel comfortable. So if it's, you know, your partner taking a bigger role, looking after the child or bringing a really good quality nanny in or having a great daycare, like starting earlier.

[00:37:20] And that was my thing being prepared. So I knew I had to go back at five and a half months, Louis five and a half months. So I started early so I didn't feel scared when it came up, I was prepared. So I had the daycare in place and my freezer in place had mum. What dates is she going to be in Sydney? So I can use her here and there.

[00:37:40] And when she's here, I can, you know, work. So, and mums do it better. I'm sorry. Dad's love you guys. There's nothing like a mother forecasting future. Yeah, it's forecast and we prepare.

[00:37:52] Dr Renee White: Yes,

[00:37:53] Justine Schofield: We are powerful in that way where we can see what we need to do and going back to work it was imperative that I had everything lined up ready to go to make sure that the transition and selfishly it's not because the baby is all you in most cases going to be fine we know that it's the mums that feel the guilt and it's the mums that have the high anxiety and like it's only mums can actually feel this it's so hard to describe trying to explain it to dads and stuff it's just Different.

[00:38:23] It's just different. And it's just the brain is always constantly thinking who's going to be doing that washing. Well, what about clean? How are we going to clean house? That's an insight into my brain, but then having little things that will empower you in that way, having control of what you can control and letting everything else go is the best.

[00:38:44] Dr Renee White: Absolutely. Great advice. Okay, we're going to jump into our rapid fire. First question. What is your top tip for mums?

[00:38:53] Justine Schofield: Top tips for mums. Fill your freezer up with great delicious wholesome food. You'll thank me later.

[00:39:00] Dr Renee White: You will. You will. It is such a, you know, as you said, speaking about the mental load of running a household, having a career, being a mum, all the things. You knock that off the list, then bang, you kind of, I feel like you're halfway there, to be honest.

[00:39:16] Justine Schofield: Oh, you will just go oh that. Justine, she knows what she's talking about.

[00:39:21] Dr Renee White: Did you have, I know you said that you didn't read any of the books when you were becoming a mum, but did you have a go to resource or maybe a piece of advice that your friends did give you when you were becoming a mum that you found really, really helpful?

[00:39:36] Or even once you became a mum, you know, I've, I've, I've had. for example, people say a book or a workshop or even like some poetry or something like that, was there anything that kind of stands out for you?

[00:39:48] Justine Schofield: Well, you see, I, for me, it was very, I have triplet nieces.

[00:39:53] Dr Renee White: Wow. Okay.

[00:39:54] Justine Schofield: Not identical. They're all separate.

[00:39:56] Dr Renee White: Okay.

[00:39:57] Justine Schofield: And my sister in law, so my brother and my sister in law had them and she's a pediatrician on top of it. So I really leaned into what she had to say, really leaned into how she coped and, and I know her story is way different. She's an, it's so interesting how they went through, through their, their, their, their thing.

[00:40:18] But just watching and being around. I was helping out with the triplets a lot and that was a savior and it didn't come back to me because they're much older but back then the things that I helped with learned about babies then really helped me as a mum so being around other little babies and holding them like I didn't know how to hold a baby like I struggled with the little ones like even Louis like I don't want to break his little neck or things like that but so being around them when the girls were were first born Actually, I held onto those little tools that I learned, you know, when you see them accidentally kind of choking, but they're not actually choking.

[00:40:54] They're just learning their reflexes in there. It was so important. And I'm not going to say one, but also I did a little class when Louis was already born. So the girls came to, and I can't remember the name. I can probably get it, but they're two wonderful ladies that came over to show us how to do all the medical things, if the baby's choking, what do you do?

[00:41:15] So that class was really important just to settle the mind on and just learn a few little things. If something happens, when do you take your baby to hospital? When do you give your baby a Panadol? When do you not? Those things really did help me. Um, it was more when I had the baby that helped, it helped me.

[00:41:32] Lead up, I was trying to really stay away from too much noise. It was when I actually had the baby and I could, Oh, okay. Yep, being around my triplet nieces when they were babies and how to deal with them came back to me later on.

[00:41:45] Dr Renee White: Yeah. That's so interesting. Cause, um, There's a study that showed that there was kind of four pivotal pillars for mums to thrive. And one of those things was sharing of experiences with other mums.

[00:42:01] Justine Schofield: There you go.

[00:42:02] Dr Renee White: And so I think it's such an important message.

[00:42:05] Justine Schofield: Yeah.

[00:42:05] Dr Renee White: To share that, you know, being around other mums and I think we've kind of lost that, you know, we're all kind of in insular families and in some circumstances away from our families. And so, yeah, that's really interesting that you found that as kind of like a ping core memory.

[00:42:21] Justine Schofield: I didn't remember it at the time, right? And didn't go, Oh, I should remember that because I want to do it one day. Cause this was five years, four or five years ago. But just watching them grow and learning and watching my brother and my sister in law and how they dealt with it, it was new for them too. But, oh my god, that's interesting you do it that way. Oh, that's interesting. Oh, how do you use the thermometer? How do you do this? How do you use a syringe to give them Panadol?

[00:42:45] All of these little things really, oh, okay. It came back into force when I needed it.

[00:42:51] Dr Renee White: Yeah. Our final question, which we ask all of our guests, a little bit left of centre. We borrow it from Brené Brown. What do you keep on your bedside table?

[00:43:01] Justine Schofield: What I keep on my glasses. Oh, that's boring, isn't it?

[00:43:05] Dr Renee White: Oh, no. Someone said dust once.

[00:43:08] Justine Schofield: Dust. That is brilliant. I know. I was like,

[00:43:12] Dr Renee White: spectacular.

[00:43:15] Justine Schofield: Do you know, at the moment, I have my cookbook and it's so boring, but I'm just so in love with it that I'm just making sure that I've made no mistakes in it. So, yeah. at the moment is on the side of my table. Cook Ahead I'm still quite chuffed.

[00:43:29] I managed to do that book, um, with the hellish year I've had this year. So yeah, it's um, it's a proud moment for sure.

[00:43:38] Dr Renee White: Oh, you should. Be very proud. It's an amazing cookbook. Justine, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been so lovely to hear, like, I guess the personal perspective and how your upbringing has really influenced this book.

[00:43:52] And I know looking through recipes that so many mums are going to go, you know, Yes, yes, yes to stocking the freezer. And I'm so glad we kind of squashed that myth of like, Oh, there goes your Sunday for meal prep. And let's just be more efficient with our time when we're in the kitchen anyway. Right?

[00:44:08] Justine Schofield: Exactly. That's the message. That's the strong message with that. Um, and it's, you know, thank you for having me on. It's actually really, I never talk about my birth journey and me being a mum. I just, don't talk about it much. So yeah, it's been really nice chatting with you.

[00:44:23] Dr Renee White: My pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing. And all right, everyone, the book is out today, so you can go grab it for yourself and see how spectacular it is, but we will say goodbye and see you next time listeners.

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[00:45:15] Ensuring you feel nurtured, informed and empowered so you can fully embrace the joy of motherhood with confidence. Until next time, bye!