Liz Talks Podcast, Episode 22: Liz Talks to Cassy Joy, author of the Cook Once series, at the Fed and Fit retreat!

[in-person interview!] Liz would like everyone to know that Cassy Joy is her friend “in real life,” which she did nothing to deserve but greatly benefits from. Liz would also like to apologize for the way she said “crêpe.”

TRANSCRIPT

This is episode 22, topic: Liz talks to Cassy Joy; author of the Cook Once series at the Fed and Fit retreat!

In case you missed it, last weeks’ episode, number 21, was about vitamin A and eating liver during pregnancy. What does the science say?

Before I begin today’s podcast, I want to quickly thank Arrowhead Mills for their generous sponsorship of this podcast. Next time you go to the store, I’d love to have you support a company that supports my work and look for Arrowhead Mills products. Seriously; it is incredibly powerful for a company like this to support a podcast like mine. So I hope that you develop the same appreciation for this company and their products, as I have. You can also find them on Vitacost.com.

And a few people have been asking; we finally gave the Arrowhead Mills gluten free pancake mix a go, and it is fantastic! It’s not gluey or flat like many gluten free pancakes, but a true pancake texture and flavor that really did the trick.

So Arrowhead Mills was committed to sustainability and organic sourcing long before it was cool, and they’re still leading the way in quality. So let me know when you try any of their products, by tagging me @RealFoodLiz on Instagram.

Friends; ok. In today’s podcast, I have the privilege of talking with my cherished friend, Cassy Joy Garcia, of www.FedandFit.com. She’s also the bestselling Cook Once, Eat All Week and Cook Once Dinner Fix cookbooks, among many other things. It is very important to me that you know that this wonderful, entrepreneurial, creative, visionary human being is actually my friend in real life. Because in my mind, this connection actually makes me a better person; that this type of person could actually find my friendship worth having. So just everyone should know that we’re actually good friends in real life.

Our podcast is actually a recap of the Cook Once Academy retreat. And Cassy will explain a bit how it is I came to be there and what my role was.

I also wanted to throw in; I also mentioned the idea of mixed analogy in my conversation with Cassy. And I think what I really meant was mixed expressions. And of course, since my brain fires on about two-thirds on the required cylinders on any given day, I couldn’t think of another example. But one just hit me, and it danced across my mind the other day too, and I wanted to share it.

I accidentally said; baffled my mind. I didn’t say that in this podcast, but I said it about something in conversation at some point recently. What I really meant, obviously, was boggles my mind. Or boggles the mind. So this is an example. I was mixing; crisscrossing, baffled me with boggled my mind. And that is what I meant. You’ll hear it when I talk about it with Cassy, but that is what I meant my mixing up common sayings and expressions.

And now, by the way, I hear and see this type of thing everywhere. Just people crossing wires on their expressions. So it’s nice that it’s not just me.

Anyhow. This podcast is really for anyone. Anyone who knows and loves Cassy. Because to know her is to love her. And anyone who doesn’t know Cassy, too, if there are any of those people left in the world. Because there’s nobody who can’t benefit or be uplifted by listening to her or connecting with her. She is truly one in a million.

And if you haven’t already checked out her books or her work or the website that she runs with her team, www.FedandFit.com, you’ve got to do it. She’s a phenomenal resource.

And also, please stick around for my overshare at this end of this podcast, where I talk a little bit more about one of my more egregious travel mishaps throughout the course of this trip. There were several. But I want to share one in particular. And it’s; I mean, it’s a doozy. So stick around for that.

Alright, here we go.

Liz Wolfe: Hi!

Cassy Joy: Hi! {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: {laughing} How are you?

Cassy Joy: I’m good, how are you? {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Good. So we’re squeezing in this podcast. Cassy and I are sitting in her beautiful office, and doing a little Liz Talks podcast. I’m watching the sound. We’re kind of doing this on the fly because I’m headed to the airport in like 2 seconds.

Cassy Joy: Yep.

Liz Wolfe: But I brought all my podcast stuff. And I was like; if Cassy and I are going to be face to face, we have to record something face to face, because the sound is just so much better.

Cassy Joy: Yeah!

Liz Wolfe: And the interaction is just so much better. So I’m excited that it worked out.

Cassy Joy: Me too!

Liz Wolfe: So what’s up?

Cassy Joy: Whew. I’m a little dehydrated. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: {laughing} Lips a little chapped.

Cassy Joy: Lips a little chapped.

Liz Wolfe: It was a big weekend.

Cassy Joy: I’ve got some electrolytes in the cup. It was a big weekend.

Liz Wolfe: We had an inordinate number of discussions about electrolytes this weekend.

Cassy Joy: We did.

Liz Wolfe: Like, the whole crew. Everybody that was here. We were all very; it’s fun to get together with a group and just be dorky.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: About these types of things. We were talking about the element; is it element or LMNT?

Cassy Joy: I usually say element.

Liz Wolfe: I’m sure it’s element.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: But they should have expected some confusion.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: Around that. So you want to tell everybody what we were just doing all weekend?

Cassy Joy: Yes! Yeah, we had our first Fed and Fit retreat. And I invited my friend Liz; whom you know.

Liz Wolfe: That’s; I know her well. A little bit too well.

Cassy Joy: {laughing} You might know her.

Liz Wolfe: She’s great…sometimes.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: She can hold it together for a couple of days.

Cassy Joy: A grand majority of the time, as far as I’m concerned.

Liz Wolfe: {laughs} That’s me, Liz.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} This Liz. Just to avoid any confusion. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: You can’t see me, but I’m pointing. Two thumbs.

Cassy Joy: This guy. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Yes. This guy.

Cassy Joy: Gal.

Liz Wolfe: Ok, so you had your friend Liz out.

Cassy Joy:  I did, yeah. So we had our first Fed and Fit retreat. So we had a dozen readers come in. And I had said that we were going to do; I was going to have a special guest. And when it came down time to it; I’m kind of coming back from maternity leave. So it’s like this weird fog of time standing still and also going really fast.

Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.

Cassy Joy: And then I looked up, and I was like; oh gosh. Who are my special guests?

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: Who is it? {laughs} And I thought; I don’t know. I feel very sisterly towards Liz. And just as I would my sister, I’d be like; I kind of need you to come to San Antonio! {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: I need you! {laughs} And I was like; I can’t. But I’ll make it work. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: You did! {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: It was so perfect. It actually worked out really well. We had all the childcare in place. I don’t know; I’ve been having this problem with mixed analogies lately. What did I say the other day; I can’t remember. But I want to say the chips fall into place. Everything fell into place. Not the chips fell where they may. I’m going to work on some mixed analogies to let you guys know what I’ve been saying lately; but it’s all backwards and wonky and mixed up. But yes, everything fell into place perfectly.

Cassy Joy: It did.

Liz Wolfe: And I came out here and did a little; we did an Athletic Mom mobility flow with the group, which was really fun. On the beautiful terrace of the Fed and Fit HQ; Fed and Fit offices. And that was lovely, because I got to kind of share that with folks. And then I did some nutrition talks and all of that. It was delightful and very funny. Because I was like; you know, I’m used to doing book signings and stuff like there where I know people are there because I know who I am. {laughs} Not that I’m anybody. But you know, in a small niche of people in certain circumstances. Like, you can reasonably expect the people know why they’re there.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Sure.

Liz Wolfe: So I was like; just to get kind of a baseline; because I’m nerdy. Some of the things I say are weird. You can’t just walk into a room and start talking about liver pills. You know. So I was like; I just need to kind of know what I’m working with her. So I was like; has anybody read my book. Are you familiar with any of my work? And everyone was like; no. {laughing}

Cassy Joy: {laughing} Actually I think they were shy.

Liz Wolfe: Maybe so.

Cassy Joy: They told me at breakfast, at the end of breakfast, three different people had said how excited they were to meet you.

Liz Wolfe: Oh, ok. Good.

Cassy Joy: Because they had followed your work. So I wonder if there were more.

Liz Wolfe: Maybe so. I asked the first group, and then I don’t know that I asked the second group. Because it was just like; ok, we’ve got a baseline. Probably don’t talk about raw liver pills. Things like that.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: But it was great. And I feel like, at the end, you know, I got some good feedback from some of the folks that were new to my work. So it was fun to be; you know. Introduce myself to a group of people.

Cassy Joy: Good.

Liz Wolfe: And have those conversations with them.

Cassy Joy: Oh good. It was a delight. Liz also judged; it was a big, there was fitness. There was a lot of food, wellness talks. And we had a team competition at the end of the day. Liz also made her own lunch; I made her make her own tamales. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: {laughing} It was glorious.

Cassy Joy: And then we did team competition, and one of them was to build their own fry sauce. And you were the judge.

Liz Wolfe: Which was very; I mean, it was the right fit for me.

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: A French fry; something involving French fries. That was great. And that was; I needed your help. I was like; Cassy, I’m going to tell you which one I like. But first you tell me which one you like!

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: So I know if I’m on the right track. {laughs} And we aligned.

Cassy Joy: We did.

Liz Wolfe: We aligned on both of them. And that was really fun. And it was hard, because I want everybody to win.

Cassy Joy: I know. I know.

Liz Wolfe: You know? So I could have; I probably could have done best presentation, best flavor, most heart rending backstory. You know? {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Yeah. {laughs} Totally.

Liz Wolfe: That part was really fun. And all the food.

Cassy Joy: It was a lot of food.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. So talk to me about all the food that you planned throughout the weekend.

Cassy Joy: Oh gosh. So we started off with a breakfast taco breakfast.

Liz Wolfe: Oh my; the breakfast tacos in San Antonio are beyond.

Cassy Joy: We don’t play. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: NO! {laughing} They were so good. The tortillas!

Cassy Joy: I know. And if you ever want to see what a breakfast taco looks like in human form, my third child, Dagny, is

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: Is what that looks like. Just a reconfiguration of those calories.

Liz Wolfe: Oh my gosh. She’s such a muffing.

Cassy Joy: Because I was sustained by breakfast tacos during that entire pregnancy.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. It all just reassembled itself in the form of a darling, adorable, little muffin baby.

Cassy Joy: Just pure magic; talk about a miracle.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. Yes.

Cassy Joy: To take one thing that’s delightful and turn it into another thing that’s infinitely more so.

Liz Wolfe: How was it even possible? But you did it.

Cassy Joy: I don’t know! {laughing} Women’s bodies are amazing.

Liz Wolfe: It’s that amazing real food.

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: Real food placenta! {laughing}

Cassy Joy: It is! {snorts} Oh, it’s an inside joke. My husband likes to brag about my placentas. {laughs} This is good company, right, to talk placentas?

Liz Wolfe: What? Yes.

Cassy Joy: Ok.

Liz Wolfe: Absolutely.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: What other thing should a man brag on? That should be the number one thing.

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: To recognize and honor the miracle of a gigantic placenta.

Cassy Joy: Just a custom baby organ.

Liz Wolfe: {laughing} It’s incredible.

Cassy Joy: It is incredible.

Liz Wolfe: I was a big fan; I didn’t get to see my placenta with my. I mean; how many minutes are we in here, like maybe 10 minutes. And we went for it.

Cassy Joy: We did.

Liz Wolfe: But I didn’t get to see my placenta with my first because it was just this crazy emergency C-section situation. And so for my second, she was born at home. And I was like; I’m not just going to see it; I’m going to look at it.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: I’m going to investigate it. It’s a freaking miracle!

Cassy Joy: It is.

Liz Wolfe: We talked about this; we have a whole section. Some people might remember Baby Making and Beyond. We have a whole section where we talk about the placenta being the body’s only temporary organ. And I’ve heard it described as the body’s only disposable organ.

Cassy Joy: Oh, interesting.

Liz Wolfe: And I’m like; no, not disposable. Temporary. The body builds it, uses it, and then hands it off to mom. And then the breastfeed journey; or whatever feeding journey you’re in. But the placenta just kind of passes the baton to mom and says; ok, I’m done. And you know what; you encapsulate it. You can make a tincture out of it. You can bury it under a tree in your backyard. I mean, there are a million different ways to use a placenta these days.

Cassy Joy: Yep. There sure is.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. So I love that. Ok, so breakfast tacos.

Cassy Joy: Yes, we did lots of breakfast tacos. Taught everybody how to make tamales. I pulled out my old, great aunts teaching me how to make the masa, roll the tamales. Except we made them my style, in an Instant Pot, instead of letting them steam for several hours.

Liz Wolfe: So good.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. And then lots of chips and queso. We had lots of Mexican food. And then we went downtown to a restaurant called Pharm Table; which is a play on words. P-H-A-R-M, and they kind of approach of using food as medicine.

Liz Wolfe: Yes.

Cassy Joy: So it was just a lovely experience. And then crepes for our last breakfast.

Liz Wolfe: And then {French accent} crepes!

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: I don’t actually know how you say that.

Cassy Joy: I think you nailed it.

Liz Wolfe: I think I nailed it too!

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: And we were talking about how French food is the most; I mean, I feel like, you know, we know French fries. But French food is like my favorite kind of food.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: And nobody talks about French food.

Cassy Joy: I know.

Liz Wolfe: I mean, there’s maybe one French restaurant in Kansas City. Maybe two. People are like; no, there are 17 French restaurants in Kansas City. I know of like 2. And they are so good. And I was saying the other day I’m the best person to go to brunch with. Because if I want, even just a bite of anything, I’ll order all of it. So my brunch bill, just for me, will be like $75. Because I’m like; I need the savory crepe. I need all of it. I need the Quiche Lorraine. So I got a savory crepe, and I got a sweet crepe. I don’t know, all kinds of stuff. And we all share. Have whatever you want. I had the rest of my {French accent} crepe for breakfast this morning, and it was glorious.

Cassy Joy: I had a protein bar that I didn’t realize until afterwards. I was like; what is that extra flavor.

Liz Wolfe: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Because Bishop, my 2-year-old, was wagging it around. So of course I ate her leftovers and called it breakfast.

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: And I realized it was covered in toothpaste. {laughing} What an efficient breakfast!

Liz Wolfe: Adult toothpaste, or child toothpaste.

Cassy Joy: Child toothpaste.

Liz Wolfe: Ok.

Cassy Joy: Which is why I had a hard time placing it.

Liz Wolfe: Strawberry protein bar? {laughing}

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: That makes sense. Sweet Bishop. Well, I was fortunate enough to stay with you all last night, and do family dinner with you. Speaking of family.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: So family dinner with mom, dad, with the sisters, with Bishop, with Gray, and with Dagny and Austin and everybody. And what struck me the most about this amazing family dinner. And talking for hours about every topic you could possibly think of; just everybody around this dinner table. I mean, it really felt like something out of a movie. But what struck me the most was the continuous flow of new gigantic dogs coming through the door.

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: Your whole family; giant dog lovers.

Cassy Joy: Giant dogs.

Liz Wolfe: I mean, there were schnauzers.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: And there were slightly smaller dogs.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: But it was just dog after dog after dog. All so sweet.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: None of them knocking anybody over.

Cassy Joy: No.

Liz Wolfe: I got a little bit of a kiss from the shepherd, right?

Cassy Joy: Oh yes. Mm-hmm.

Liz Wolfe: That was one where you don’t want to go down to meet the dog, because the dog is going to come up to you either way.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: But at one point, your sister, Sam had just arrived and opened the door, and I just thought I had seen all the biggest dogs I could possibly have seen over the course of the weekend with Gus, and with Ben. And then all of a sudden; in walks literally Beethoven.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: Everybody should remember the movie Beethoven, featuring Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, and Stanley Tucci.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: Which is one of the greatest movies of all time. And David Duchovny. And this gigantic St. Bernard walks through the door, and I was like; it’s Beethoven! And I was transported to being 9 years old at my friend Emily’s house watching Beethoven. Unbelievable cadre of dogs that you guys have.

Cassy Joy: Yes. And she, in particular; Goose is her name.

Liz Wolfe: Goose.

Cassy Joy: Appropriately named. Is magnificent.

Liz Wolfe: Yes.

Cassy Joy: I mean she’s just a magnificent creature.

Liz Wolfe: Magnificent is the word.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: For sure. So sweet. I mean, how much does that dog weigh, 200 pounds?

Cassy Joy: I think she’s close.

Liz Wolfe: Oh my gosh. Like, a 200-pound lap dog.

Cassy Joy: Literally.

Liz Wolfe: It was glorious. The whole experience was absolutely glorious.

Cassy Joy: I’m so glad!

Liz Wolfe: Thank you for sharing with me.

Cassy Joy: Thank you for being there! I kept Liz out late.

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: I didn’t realize it until we got in the car, and I saw the clock. But it was just one of those; she said, do you do this every week? I was like; I mean, yeah, we do. Every Sunday we have Sunday family dinner, but I usually don’t stay that late because we go home to get the girls in bed by 7, 7:30. So Austin and I usually leave. But this was my excuse to hang back.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: And it was so fun!

Liz Wolfe: It was so fun.

Cassy Joy: To just chat. And you know you’re part of the family when the ghost stories come out. {Laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Yes! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Which was the end of the night. That was everyone’s cue.

Liz Wolfe: That it was winding down? But it wasn’t winding down. I mean, it was just. Until it was time to go, it was just full steam ahead.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: And I think I had just gone to the bathroom to put in eyedrops, of all things. Because you know, if you wear contacts, towards the end of the day your eyes will tell you that it’s time to take the contacts out. But I didn’t have my glasses. So I was asking your mom; or I asked you. I was like; does anybody have eye drops. Because I can’t go home because my contacts are failing. This is too good. So I think I went to the bathroom, put the drops in, came back and the ghost talk was starting.

Cassy Joy: Had started. {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: Yes. I was like; oh my gosh. This is a good one.

Cassy Joy: It was intense.

Liz Wolfe: I mean, it was lovely.

Cassy Joy: We were at that dust bowl, though. My eyes are a little pink from all the dust at the golf tournament.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. Which was another really fun stop that we made.

Cassy Joy: It was an action packed weekend.

Liz Wolfe: Yes! We packed it in for sure. And Dagny was a champ.

Cassy Joy: She was.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. An absolutely champ.

Cassy Joy: Sweet baby.

Liz Wolfe: Ok. We did pack a lot in this weekend. And the next thing I have to pack in is to leave for the airport. But before I do that, would you just give a little bit of a rundown of what you’re doing with Fed and Fit?

Cassy Joy: Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: Tell me anything that you want anybody to know. They probably already know. But I love what you’re doing, and would love to just hear your elevator pitch.

Cassy Joy: Oh, thank you so much. Fed and Fit; coming up on 11 years. I can’t hardly believe it.

Liz Wolfe: Unbelievable.

Cassy Joy: We’ll celebrate 11 years this summer. We have; incredibly privileged and blessed to have this office space and this studio kitchen and I hope to do more here. I hope to do more retreats in the future, and working to support our audience by way of the website, www.FedandFit.com. We have thousand-plus free recipes on there. And we always try to do what’s easy and approachable, and also customizable. You know? The enchilada casserole where we have instructions on how you can make your own sauce; and also, here’s our favorite jarred variety. You know? Meet folks where they’re at is really the goal at the end of the day.

Two most recent books are definitely the best selling. Cook Once, Eat All Week and Cook Once Dinner Fix, which are available everywhere books are sold. And then trying to just help people with little blips of inspiration on social media, on Fed and Fit. Usually Instagram.

Liz Wolfe: Usually Instagram. So @Fed and Fit on Instagram. So talk a little bit about the concepts behind these two books. because I think they’re phenomenal. And I have a lot of cookbooks, and these might be some of the only ones I actually use on a regular basis. Yours and Nom Nom Paleo’s cookbooks.

Cassy Joy: Oh, ditto! Those are the two on my counter at home!

Liz Wolfe: Yes. Love them.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Michelle is a brilliant mind. So Cook Once; the idea behind it is; it was honestly started as a personal problem, as all good solutions do. Right? I was like; I love to cook. That’s not the problem. I love to cook. I love food. And also getting dinner on the table night after night felt like this unnecessarily challenging battle. It felt like a battle going into dinner time. For all of the different reasons. Small kids at home. Long day. Exhausted. Trying to think through; how am I going to nourish my family. And I kept thinking; there’s got to be a better way.

And we’re not the kind of meal prep people; it doesn’t work for me to cook 7 meals and then eat those 7 meals as leftovers all week long reheated. I tend to get a little bored with that. So the idea of Cook Once came from combining a couple of principles. We batch cook main components. So Cook Once, Eat All Week is for the meal preppers. It’s the people who are happy to batch cook 5 pounds of chicken, a whole bag, three pounds of sweet potatoes, and a whole bunch of broccoli. So I walk you through ow to cook all that, and then combine them; mix and match into three totally different dinners throughout the week. A stuffed potato, a casserole, and some kind of a bowl. A festive bowl, different flavors.

And then Cook Once Dinner Fix does a similar thing, but we focus on the main proteins. So let’s say you buy a chuck roast. I show you how to make a fabulous easy, always easy, chuck roast for meal number one with some really fun sides. Roasted vegetables. And then you use the planned for leftovers of the chuck roast and turn them into barbacoa tacos.

Liz Wolfe: Mm, yes.

Cassy Joy: Which is a fun spice blend. So the whole idea is you’re still getting a fresh meal. You still get to do something homemade. But it’s so much faster. So much easier. And it provides us with a plan. We’re kind of spoon fed a plan. Which, even on my busiest weeks, I’m leaning on these resources to help me get through.

Liz Wolfe: I love that. But bulk cooking is one of the things that keeps me; it’s not accountable to any kind of diet or anything like that. It’s literally just being able to feed yourself something that nourishes you. That fills you up. That gives your body what it needs. Rather than what I usually do and what you did this morning, which is like a toothpaste covered protein bar. Whatever it might be.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Liz Wolfe: And I will find myself, if I don’t do that prep work ahead of time, eating six granola bars in a day. And maybe grabbing a precooked chicken breast out of the refrigerator. And that’s just boring as all get out. So this concept is like; batch cooking/bulk cooking, but with flavor and with creativity and with a meal that you’re actually excited to eat. because there are times when I would rather just not eat anything than pull another chicken breast out of the refrigerator and just wrap it in a paper towel and eat it on the way to work.

Cassy Joy: Absolutely. Yep.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Ok, well I love that. The books are Cook Once, Eat All Week, Cook Once Dinner Fix. And www.FedandFit.com. And I’m really lucky, because you’re my friend. So I can just email you or call you or Voxx you any time.

Cassy Joy: Yes. Please do.

Liz Wolfe: So my life is good.

Cassy Joy: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: Thanks for doing this with me, friend. Before I shoot out to the airport.

Cassy Joy: Thank you for being here, Liz. This was really fun.

Liz Wolfe: Alright, friends. Now it is time for the promised overshare. And I am going to call this the airplane handicapped bathroom disaster of 2022. And this, to me, reads like a Seinfeld episode. It was just so disastrous. And I can’t remember if I was coming or going. I think I was headed to San Antonio when this happened. My first flight was delayed multiple hours. My second flight was delayed multiple hours. Which was actually good, because I would have missed it otherwise. So all day, dealing with all of these travel mishaps. Sitting on the tarmac for an hour. Then finally making it to the airport, and hustling to the next flight where it was literally snowing on me. The plane was so cold that there was some moisture that was kind of dripping down from up overhead. Basically, as snow. And I was like; is this ok? Are we ok here? Are well going to be fine? Because I can’t really tell at this moment.

But, when I finally arrived, I believe it was in San Antonio. I had packed carryon only. And I had packed a lot of stuff in my carryon. And I feel very fortunate that I actually did that because; well, I’ll tell you. Basically, what happened was, I was sitting on the plane for so long, and at the same time, was on my period. And what ended up happening; it was one of those first days when the flow was really heavy. Again, guys, I call this section overshare for a reason. So I apologize; hope anybody that has people around them that doesn’t want to hear this has already turned it off.

But it was one of those heavy flow days. And I have talked about this on a previous podcast, about menstrual products. How I can’t really find the perfect one that I like for me. I’ve tried the menstrual discs. Organic tampons. And yes, during this particular leg of the trip I was also wearing my backup Thinx period panties. So those are supposed to catch everything too. But again, I just haven’t found the perfect thing. And in particular, things can kind of move around. In particular, the menstrual discs, can move around when you go from sitting to standing.

So I basically had the leak of the century while I was sitting on the airplane. And luckily, we were all deplaning. I had a very long cardigan on, so that really helped. But of course, I was wearing brand new yoga pants. And for the first time in a million years, I was not wearing black yoga pants. I was wearing navy yoga pants; which is close enough. But thank goodness I wasn’t wearing some lighter color. Because I leaked everywhere.

And this is where the Seinfeld episode begins. Because I’m trying to figure out what to do, where to go, and how to handle this. And I think to myself; I’ve just got to find a bathroom and try and get some clothes out of this overstuffed suitcase and change my clothes. So I find a bathroom. And of course I have to go into the handicapped stall. And haven’t we all done that once or twice? For whatever reason; whether it’s because you’ve got two kids with you or a bunch of bags or a carryon suitcase that’s stuffed to the brim with clothes that you don’t even end up wearing. You think; ok, I’m just going to really pray nobody comes along that needs this bathroom. And usually, nobody comes along that needs that bathroom.

I’m actually thinking there is a Seinfeld episode around this topic.

So I go into the handicap bathroom, and spread out. Open up my suitcase; my carryon suitcase, and start trying to find something that I can change into; somewhere that I can put these clothes that are now a total biohazard. I’m trying to change. I’m trying to clean up with this airport toilet paper. Sorry; again, overshare. Trying to just get everything to an acceptable place so I can actually move on. Get my rental car, and head into town. And it’s taking 10 minutes. And then it’s 15 minutes. And then it’s 20 minutes.

And I actually notice a little pair of feet right outside the door. Nobody has knocked; nobody has said anything, nobody has tried the door. It was a very awkwardly shaped bathroom. And so I’m thinking; ok, this person must just be waiting for; I couldn’t tell if it was a little kid or a grown up or whatever. Because the feet were small, kind of nondescript type of shoes. So I’m like; oh gosh. There’s nothing I can do; I’m committed! I’m in this airplane bathroom. My stuff; you know. My S-H-I-T is basically in the street here. I just have to finish this process.

So you take off your shoes, so you can get your yoga pants off. And then you have to kind of stand on your shoes, so your feet don’t touch the dirty bathroom floor. And then you’re trying to take the pants off without the pants and the underwear showing, as you take them off underneath the door. You know, you don’t want somebody that’s peeking under the door to see you actually; the crotch of your pants and the crotch of your underwear. So it is just a comedy of errors going on in that little bathroom stall.

And finally, I swear, I was probably in there for 20 minutes. And I hear this; tap, tap, tap on the door. And this sweet older elderly woman says; “Are you going to be in there much longer?” And I was like; oh my god. The one time somebody shows up and actually needs the bathroom. And the one time that I actually need to spend a really long period of time getting my sh*t together. These two things have intersected, and now I am that person. That jerk who spent an hour and a half in the handicap stall doing whatever she needs to do with her fully abled body, keeping this person that actually needs that stall from using it.

And I felt horrible. So of course, I go; “I just had a little wardrobe malfunction on the plane, I’m so sorry!” And just apologized profusely to this sweet person who had been standing out there waiting. And really I said it that way because I felt like I needed the entire bathroom to know that I’m not a jerk; that I actually had a little bit of an emergency. A wardrobe emergency.

Oh gosh. So embarrassed. So of course, I dump myself into whatever clothes I can find in the suitcase, and try and get out of there as quickly as I can. Apologizing over and over and over. And just making awkward comment after awkward comment. Trying to fight my way to the sink that was wedged into the side of this bathroom. Anyone that’s ever been in an airport under construction can imagine. Just this bathroom that was kind of half blocked off, half supposed to be there, half just kind of an afterthought to get the airport through construction. It was just a mess.

And then, of course, I also get stuck washing my hands and not being able to find a paper towel, or the soap, or get the water to start. Waving my hand underneath this automatic faucet that turned out to not even me an automatic faucet. I had to actually turn it on. And basically, I walked out of there so mortified. Feeling like whatever good karma I had from anything that I’ve done decently in my life had been entirely used up just on that one situation.

I have since forgiven myself, fortunately. But every time now I see an open handicap stall, I just say; nope. Nope. Not going to do it. Because if lightening strikes twice, and I do that to someone AGAIN, I can’t imagine I could ever forgive myself.

All of that said. Even though the travel to and from San Antonio was mishap after mishap, I was actually pretty calm headed. Of course; until I stole the handicap bathroom stall from someone who actually needed it. But truly, just being to travel without kids made me feel like almost any delay, any issue, any inconvenience was just nothing to get worked up about. Until that moment.

So thanks for listening. I hope you’re all cringing with me on that one.

Ok, that’s it for episode 22.

A big thank you to Arrowhead Mills for making this episode possible. I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to follow me @RealFoodLiz on Instagram, or if you’ve made the very wise decision to not be on social media, catch me on my email list. You can go to www.RealFoodLiz.com to get on board; it’s super easy. Just pop your email address in the box.

I appreciate you. I’ll see you next week!

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