Mini-Ep 438: Lean Into The Season
Doree and Elise share their current fave prods as an old-fashioned Forever35 escape. Plus, the listeners shake up Doree’s Dinner Dilemma with so many great meal ideas!
Mentioned in this Episode
"Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake" ie pizza beans
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Transcript
This episode transcript is AI generated.
Doree Shafrir (00:10):
Hello and welcome to Forever35 Podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Doree Shafrir.
Elise Hu (00:16):
And I'm Elise Hu. And we are just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums,
Doree Shafrir (00:20):
And this is a mini episode where we hear from you, we share your comments and your thoughts, and we answer your questions to the best of our ability. But please do remember, we are not experts. We are podcast hosts, and we always encourage you to seek support first and foremost from a medical and or mental health professional as needed. Before we get going, I want to remind everyone that we are doing a listener survey, and you can find that link in our show notes episode description on our website, on our link in bio, in our Instagram. It's just floating around a lot of different places.
Elise Hu (00:57):
I think of these listener surveys like calling your Congress person in that they really, if you do call, they end up extrapolating a lot from the few people who call. And so it's an unscientific survey, but your voice really matters. My God. I love that. I love that because if you are the squeaky wheel, then you will get the grease, right? So go ahead and fill that out and let us know what you want more
Doree Shafrir (01:28):
Of true
Elise Hu (01:30):
And what you want less of, because even if it isn't an accurate sample of what the listeners at large want, just by filling it out, your voice is overrepresented.
Doree Shafrir (01:41):
I love this. What a pitch. What a pitch. Elise, how have you been since I last saw you an hour and a half ago?
Elise Hu (01:55):
This is our big taping day, and so we do catch up a lot. I should actually save up my stories. I should make a list and be like, these are my stories for the first taping of the day,
Doree Shafrir (02:09):
And
Elise Hu (02:09):
These are my stories for the second taping of the day.
Doree Shafrir (02:14):
Well, we got a text from a listener that I feel like is actually a good prompt for our conversation, which is any chance y'all can share a skincare product you're currently loving and the full scoop, this would be a throwback. I know frivolous and whatnot, but it's fucking crazy right now in the US. I'd love an old fashioned forever 35 escape.
Elise Hu (02:37):
Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to go first? I have to actually call up the name of this so I can tell y'all.
Doree Shafrir (02:43):
Sure. I feel like I've maybe mentioned this on the podcast before, but there is a vitamin C serum from a company called Malo, M-A-E-L-O-V-E, and it's called the Glow Maker. It is 15% vitamin C. It also has vitamin E and ferulic acid. You may think those ingredients sound familiar if you have ever come into contact with these SkinCeuticals C Farru.
Elise Hu (03:21):
Yes. I finally made the connection. Here we go.
Doree Shafrir (03:26):
Which by the way, the patent on that has expired. This was a big discussion in the skincare addiction Reddit recently, that the SkinCeutical CE Ferulic patent has expired, and this means that companies can copy the formula. Exactly. Now, of course, and many people in the comments pointed this out, this formula, which was very revolutionary when it first launched, is no longer as revolutionary, obviously. I think it's however long the patent expires, 20 years or something. And obviously a lot of companies like Melo and others have, maybe it's not the exact dupe, but it's pretty close. They've figured it out, so it's not as groundbreaking as you might think, but the SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic is, let's see, how much does this cost? It is $182 for 30 milliliters. The May love is 32 95 for 30 milliliters. Wow. Wow. So it is $150 cheaper. And look, I have tried SkinCeuticals in my day. They are lovely products. This little bottle of vitamin C serum, this 30 milliliters lasts me about a month, and I do not want to be paying, I don't think it is an extra $150 per month better, I'll put
Elise Hu (05:01):
It that way. Yeah, okay.
Doree Shafrir (05:03):
You know what I mean? So I've actually put it on a subscription from May Love's website, website, so I can kind of set it and forget it. It also apparently won the strategist Beauty 100 award in 2023.
Elise Hu (05:17):
Does may love one or the original skin?
Doree Shafrir (05:20):
The May. The May Love. This is the thing that I am it. It's one of my,
Elise Hu (05:26):
Okay, so I have two product wrecks. One is less of a skincare wreck, more of a makeup wreck, because we had a Rachel Goodwin episode on recently, and I remember somebody wrote in saying they would love a lip stain or a lip that actually stayed and lasted. And I think Rachel responded saying, you can just use your lip pencil and draw all over your lip and that'll stay as a base.
Doree Shafrir (05:57):
She did say that,
Elise Hu (05:58):
But there is a line of lipt tins from the Korean brand, Rome and nd that is incredible. And it stays. It's very long lasting without being too drying. And if you do feel like it's too dry, obviously you can wear a lip oil over it. But Rome and nd, it's spelled ROM and just the letter n and D, it's a very big Korean makeup brand, and their lip tins are excellent in terms of just staying power. Yeah, they're workhorses. And then I like their colors and you can get that online or depending on where you're shopping in some stores. So that's my lip tint wreck. And then the other product that I think is tried and true, especially when I'm on long flights or I just feel dry or I want to kind of feel super indulgent, it's like a $16 face mask. It's a $16 sheet mask. It's not a sheet, it's the rubber face mask and it covers everything. It's the doctor jar cryo rubber face mask.
Doree Shafrir (07:12):
Oh
Elise Hu (07:12):
Yes. It looks a little scary on the package. Yes. But I enjoy this. I'm familiar so much. I love it. I do it maybe once a month. I'll do a sheet mask pretty regularly, but if I'm on a long flight, I'll put on one of these rubber face masks and scare the shit out of my children and other children. Amazing. It's a lot of fun. Amazing. But you arrive at your destination so glowy. Yes. After scaring so many children and some flight attendants. Exactly.
Doree Shafrir (07:44):
Whatever. Well, those are some great wrecks. I also, did you hear about this whole beauty of Joon thing a couple months ago where they were no longer going to be selling their Korean formulas direct to US consumers?
Elise Hu (07:59):
Yes. And some people were like, what?
Doree Shafrir (08:02):
Yeah, so I bought a few sunscreens just to stock up and I've been using them and I'm getting to the end of a couple, which I'm kind of sad about.
Elise Hu (08:18):
I got you. I got you. Because my business partner, Rachel, is in Korea right now. What? Yeah. And she's flying back the day after tomorrow. So I'll just have her pick you up some at the airport. Yeah. Do you like the sticks or
Doree Shafrir (08:31):
Do you like the kind of cream? No, I don't like the sticks. I'll send you exactly ones that I like the best.
Elise Hu (08:36):
Okay. Yeah, we'll just have her mule those for
Doree Shafrir (08:38):
You. Wow. I am glad that I mentioned this.
Elise Hu (08:43):
I am too. Just in time to help you out.
Doree Shafrir (08:45):
Seriously. My gosh. Wow. Okay. That's awesome. This is like a combo thing to bring you joy slash beauty thing, but I started getting manicures again.
Elise Hu (08:59):
Oh, yay.
Doree Shafrir (09:00):
I went for a really long time without getting a manicure. And then when my tennis team was going to sectionals, I got a tennis themed manicure.
Elise Hu (09:11):
I remember that from your Insta story.
Doree Shafrir (09:14):
And then when it came time, and it was a gel manicure, I got a little bit of nail art. I got a tennis ball and a tennis racket, and when it came time to take it off, I can remove my own gel manicure, but I really prefer to have a professional do it. So I was like, oh, I'll go back and have them take it off and then I'll get another gel manicure because they use this premium gel. And at first I rolled my eyes, I was like, premium gel, whatever. But I was like, after I did it, I was like, oh, this really is better. It lasts. It lasts for so long and my nails have gotten so much stronger. It's kind of crazy. So I've been going, it lasts a month and probably would last longer, but my nails just get so long that I need to
Elise Hu (10:02):
Get
Doree Shafrir (10:02):
Another manicure. So I'm getting a gel manicure once a month.
Elise Hu (10:07):
Oh, nice. What a little luxury. And it's a little time for yourself too, since I have written a book about kind of a feministy book about beauty culture and all the ways that it can be exhausting, I worry that the message or the duality doesn't come through clearly, which is that there's another side of beauty culture that's really lovely, which is that feeling of touch and nurturing when we go to a salon or have the privilege of going to get our nails done. And that feels really connective with other people, whether you're going with other people or you're getting a treat.
Doree Shafrir (10:41):
And salon culture is so funny. And when I was there, there was a mom and a daughter next to me and the parents were clearly not together because the mom was like, her dad took her to get this bad gel manicure and she had come into the salon to get it taken off
Elise Hu (11:02):
And
Doree Shafrir (11:03):
Get it fixed, and she kept being like, yeah, her father took her eye roll very dramatically. And I don't know, the conversation was just funny to me, but it was true. You could tell that manicure she'd gotten was not good time to get the premium time to get the
Elise Hu (11:29):
Premium gel.
Doree Shafrir (11:31):
They spent so long. They spent so long deciding on what color she was going to get. It was really, and they had a really sweet relationship and the daughter was like, mom, I had an idea we could get the same color. And it was just really this sweet mother-daughter bonding moment.
Elise Hu (11:48):
And I
Doree Shafrir (11:49):
Was like, oh yeah, this happens.
Elise Hu (11:53):
Love it. Love it. I know. That's the kind of thing that you do appreciate about beauty culture.
Doree Shafrir (11:58):
Exactly. Exactly. All right, well let's take a little break before we get to some more of your voicemails and emails. And just a reminder, you can call or text us at (781) 591-0390. You can email us at Forever 35 podcast@gmail.com. Our website, forever 35 podcast has links to everything we mention on the show. We are also on Instagram at Forever five podcast. We have a newsletter at forever five podcast com slash newsletter, and we are going to take a short break and we'll be right back. We'll be right back. Alright, we are back and we have a couple of voicemails. Great.
Elise Hu (12:48):
We love
Doree Shafrir (12:48):
A voicemail. Yeah. So I don't know if you remember a week or two ago we got a voicemail from a listener whose friend's baby was in the nicu.
Elise Hu (12:58):
Yes.
Doree Shafrir (12:58):
And she was asking for advice about how to support her friend. So we got a voicemail about this.
Listener Voicemail (13:06):
Great. Here we go. Hi, Jordan. Elise, I'm calling it in response to Claire who called it about her best friend Rachel, who had just turned three five and had her first baby who's in the NICU with a congenital anomaly. I have two kids that are both NICU babies as a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old. I just wanted to say my situation was a little bit different. My kids were both just early, they didn't have anything wrong with them. So I'm sure this caller may be dealing with more doctor's visits, more surgeries, but there is an aspect of the NICU where as a parent there's only so much you can do. You be there to snuggle, to have thin to skin, to have that kind of personal time with the baby, which obviously is so important. But I guess what I was going to say is to really, the nurses and the doctors are so wonderful and are so great.
(14:04)
And to the one that the NICU taught me was that it really allowed me honestly to have time for me to recover. If I had been home, I wouldn't have had to have as much time for myself to recover. But because I was actually able to go home and not have a baby that had to be with through the whole night, I was able to sleep, take the time that they need to recover so that when the baby does come home, they feel fully themselves to go on the date night with the husband or their partner, whoever it is, to just have that time for themselves when they aren't there with their baby. To be able to physically and mentally recover. That to me was one of the blessings of the nicu. I really felt like I was much more able to focus on myself than I expected. But you have the most amazing babysitters, honestly. And so take advantage of that and also make sure you have a really good thick can cream because you're watching your hands a thousand times a day. I always use the laane butchering the pronunciation, the Shea butter hand cream, which is super thick and fantastic. Okay. That's it. Thank you guys so much. Bye.
Doree Shafrir (15:21):
Really good tips. I hadn't thought about the washing hands aspect.
Elise Hu (15:26):
Me neither. Yeah, I know that hospitals are freezing and staying at hospitals can be freezing. And so I had mentioned the blankies and just being warm and also that note about how these caregivers or these doctors and nurses, medical professionals are like great caregivers is another excellent dimension of this. Because my daughter's good friend Leah was a NICU baby, and I don't think she got to come home for three months, but by the time she did get to go home, her mom was like, she was on the NICU schedule. She had a sleep schedule, a feeding schedule, and all we had to do was follow it. We didn't have to figure it out for ourselves or get the baby on a schedule. She came prewired with a schedule. So that was one thing that I just remembered from people who have been through it too, and that reminded me of it.
Doree Shafrir (16:24):
Well, thank you listener for calling in. On a totally different note, we got a bunch of suggestions for weeknight dinners.
Elise Hu (16:35):
Ooh, Dory's dinner,
Doree Shafrir (16:36):
Rut do's Dory's dinner dilemma, rut, Dory's dinner dilemma. So this first email, this person wrote, Dory, here we are in a dinner rut again, tale as old as time. I feel seen, I feel seen by our listeners. Here I will plug again the recipes of the marvelous Alley Slagel, who routinely contributes recipes that are accurately build as low effort, high reward for the New York Times, think one pot and sheet pan, but genius level. She also has her own excellent cookbook. I dream of dinner, which is almost if not entirely comprised of recipes using six ingredients or fewer. And an inspiring substack called 40 Ingredients Forever. Some of her recipes that I return to over and over again, these are all New York Times cooking subscription required cheesy white bean, tomato bake IE pizza beans, crispy rice with dill and runny eggs, crispy OC with sausage and broccoli.
(17:39)
I sub in plant-based sausage for this as I don't eat meat. For what it's worth, the sad meal you described didn't sound all that sad to me. You even, you thought it was tasty. Well, I do recognize that you've managed to land on a satisfactory division of labor with Matt regarding cooking and cleaning. I have a similar arrangement with my husband. I would submit it's not an entirely equitable trade. There's so much more work that goes into preparing meals every day beyond simply the execution of the recipe, the mental load of simply coming up with ideas for meals that will satisfy everyone are in your household's preferences is quite a lot of work. So I would a advise you to give yourself a break and some grace because they simply cannot all be bangers and B, enlist Matt and Henry to weigh in on ideas for what they want to eat. So at least some of the creative burden is shared. I'm not certain of the best way to administer this task. I know you used to have sort of a weekly schedule for what food or food type was for each specific day, but I could see this getting sort of boring and repetitive. Would it be worth creating a forever 35 shared spreadsheet for recipes? Might be annoying to organize slash categorize what we have such a great pool to draw from for inspiration. Just a thought OXO goat Lauren.
Elise Hu (18:47):
Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea.
Doree Shafrir (18:51):
So you might be wondering what goat Lauren refers to.
Elise Hu (18:57):
Oh yes, yes. Good point. I didn't even really think about that, but
Doree Shafrir (19:04):
Now I am wondering, this is a listener who has been listening for a long time named Lauren Gitlin, and she used to work in media in New York and now she owns a goat farm in Vermont called Villa. Villa Kula Farm. Amazing. And they make yogurt and butter and all kinds, it looks like they're starting a retired goat sanctuary. I love goats. Lauren has been very supportive of the show.
Elise Hu (19:40):
Thank you Lauren. And how lovely that you are now on a goat farm because I love goats. I always say that I really relate to goats because we share the same diet. We both eat trash, and so goats eat everything, so So we have that in common. Wow. This reminds me, this is maybe something I should have brought up in the top of the show when we catch up, but this mention of a goat reminded me that I brought this yak, this felt yak back from Nepal last summer, and I was so excited about my felt yak and it's adorable. And it's carrying a pack on its back because the yaks often help the climbers get up the Himalayas and the many other multiple peaks. Nepal has the tallest mountains, is home of the home to the tallest mountains in the world. And I was so excited about my yak and that I displayed it in my living room. And today Oscar got out of his kitchen
Doree Shafrir (20:45):
Fenced
Elise Hu (20:46):
Area. No, and my mom came home from the grocery store and he had killed my yak. It was in a million pieces and some of it might be in a stomach and my yak is over. The yak is Oscar. I only have to go 9,000 miles to Nepal to get one. Oh my gosh. No big deal. And my mom was like, what is this dog? And I'm just like, it's hard to explain. Don't get started.
Doree Shafrir (21:13):
He's so poorly trained. Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay. Anyway,
Elise Hu (21:21):
So go Lauren, thank you for the call and thank you for this time to go on a little yak reverie.
Doree Shafrir (21:27):
Yeah. R-I-P-R-I-P Yak. Okay. Oh, and just to respond to her comments about the mental load. Yes, I agree. I do enlist Henry and sometimes I enlist Matt. Matt has very poor executive function, so anything sort of planning is a challenge for him. So I actually enjoy, I like cooking and I like making dinner and stuff and I truly hate doing dishes. So I know it feels, and it is inequitable in a lot of ways, but it's also, you know how they say for siblings, it's not about everything being the same. Right. It's about everything being just, or
Elise Hu (22:26):
What is
Doree Shafrir (22:26):
The right. Yeah, exactly. So I'm saying this very awkwardly, but I guess what I'm saying is I don't need everything that Matt and I do to be the same. You know what I mean? I would rather take on the mental load of planning dinner than do dishes. I truly hate doing dishes.
Elise Hu (22:49):
Great. Yeah, no, it's
Doree Shafrir (22:51):
What works for you. Yeah, the norm.
Elise Hu (22:52):
That norm has to work for the people in the relationship.
Doree Shafrir (22:55):
Exactly. No. Now that said, it is helpful obviously when they do weigh in with suggestions. Now Henry's suggestions are often like macaroni and cheese. I'm like, well, but yes, I agree. Alright, Elise, we're going to take another break and we'll be back with a couple other recommendations. Great. Alright, we are back. I loved this suggestion from another listener named Fiona who said, when my kids were little, I would make a giant batch of baked meatballs and then freeze them in Ziploc bags. I would then serve them in different styles over rice, pasta, couscous, smashed potatoes, et cetera. So one time as Italian with another time with teriyaki sauce, add pineapple and bell pepper, another time with barbecue sauce, another time with Swedish. Had to make the sauce from scratch, but not bad since I wasn't making the entree. Just change the sauce. And you have a totally different and very quick to the table meal. And when they're already cooked and in the freezer, you can heat them in sauce. Frozen or defrost day of in the fridge tip, I use my large cookie scoop to make them all the same shape and size quickly. And then Fiona link to the recipe from Fountain Avenue Kitchen.
Elise Hu (24:13):
We'll link that for you in the show notes.
Doree Shafrir (24:15):
We will. That is a hot tip. Thank you so much Fiona. Alright, I'm going to play a voicemail.
Listener Voicemail (24:24):
Oh my gosh. Doree and Elise, I just called a second ago to talk about surefire meals for feeding picky families. And I forgot about the other surefire thing in our families, make your own sushi bowls. So we got ourselves a rice maker, which is such a game changer. And my husband occasionally can be coerced into hot smoking salmon, but even if you just roasted salmon or any other kind of fish or tofu, and then we just make a DIY sushi bowl with veggies and soy and avocado and edamame and whatever other protein and the kids gobbled it up. So if you haven't thought about doing something similar, definitely recommend that as well. Okay, bye for real this time.
Doree Shafrir (25:17):
That's so great. They left another voicemail that I didn't play, but I just love this rice cooker tip for the Yeah,
Elise Hu (25:24):
That's so great. Yes.
Doree Shafrir (25:28):
Okay, one other voicemail.
Listener Voicemail (25:31):
Hey Elise and Doree. I am listening to the most recent episode where Dory is talking about being stuck in a rut in making, and I have some ideas. First of all, I'm also a mom and I'll just say sometimes you just get into these dinner songs and it's like nothing seems good. You don't feel like making anything. So it will eventually go away. But one thing that I usually do when I'm in a cooking rut is I'll look at what's in season because when you don't know what to make, you feel like you've been making the same things over and over again and you're bored bringing from the joy back into cooking by just seeing what looks really pretty and delicious at the market. Or even making a special trip to the co-op or the farmer's market or wherever you can just see what's in season and get something especially yummy and delicious.
(26:22)
And then make the meal that's featuring that item. Spring is actually a great time for that because there's all sorts of vegetables and fruits that only come in springtime and you can only make these great salads or whatever just in this special time when there's good asparagus or peas. And it's way better for the environment too because you're eating the things that are in season. You're not getting surface trucks from all over the world. In California, we're very lucky to have access to these seasonal produce and then you can just use your phone to Google a seasonal recipe out of what looks good or just start with your phone and see what seasonal recipe you might want to do. So that's my recommendation. Lean into the season and make something new. Okay, thanks. Bye.
Elise Hu (27:11):
I love lean into the season. Yeah, lean into the season. And now we have an episode title too.
Doree Shafrir (27:18):
Lean into the season. Yes, exactly. Alright, one last text. With a Costco wreck by the giant brick of Parmesan, you'll have freshly shaved Parmesan in your pasta for months. It stays well in the fridge. I wrap the brick in bees wax wrapped to keep it fresh. We also buy the block, the brick of Parmesan. It does not last us for months because I think we cook with Parmesan probably more than the average bear. But
Elise Hu (27:51):
Delicious.
Doree Shafrir (27:52):
It is delicious and it is such a deal. So yes, co-sign cosign.
Elise Hu (27:58):
I was supposed to go to a concert on Friday night at around 9:00 PM last Friday night. It was at the Troubadour and I was supposed to go and I was kind of on my way and then I just didn't feel like it. And I turned around and went to Costco and got a hot dog and some
Doree Shafrir (28:15):
Stuff. You made the right choice.
Elise Hu (28:17):
It was awesome. It was awesome. But oh wait, no, I couldn't get a hot dog. I went the turnaround and got to Costco and they were closing the cafe, but I ended up shopping for some bulk items.
Doree Shafrir (28:27):
Amazing. Alright, well everyone thanks so much for listening. Thanks for your dinner recommendations. Keep 'em coming and we will talk to you soon.
Elise Hu (28:38):
Okay, bye. Bye.