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The Raw and The Cooked

Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living

Episode 193: The Radical Gift of Sabbath

Today is Yom Kippur if you’re reading this in real time. I’m not actually writing in real time — as you’re reading this, I’m in synagogue, fasting, praying, and unplugging completely. But I didn’t want to skip my Thursday post just because it’s a holiday.

Today’s topic connects beautifully to Yom Kippur: the Sabbath. Most people don’t realize this, but the Sabbath is actually considered the most important Jewish holiday. It’s weekly, it’s in the Ten Commandments, and it’s ancient.

I want to share why the Sabbath is so meaningful, how it looks in our home (imperfectly but joyfully), and how you can create your own version — even in 2025, with all our distractions and busyness.

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Episode 192: A Millennial Mom’s Screen-Free Journey, Part II 📵

Today I wanted to continue the conversation I started a couple of weeks back — my journey to becoming as screen-free as possible and doing everything I can to break my cell phone addiction.

The iPhone has been around for almost two decades now. And while it promised to make our lives easier, simpler, and more streamlined… most of us can admit it’s done the opposite. Instead of peace, it’s brought distraction and addiction.

I’m not ready (yet!) to give up my iPhone for a dumb phone, but I have taken major steps to treat my smartphone like a “dumb phone.” And honestly? It’s been great.

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Welcome to My New Project: Reading the Bible as a Mother of Four

Introduction to the Series 

I’m a 37 year old wife and mother of four, deeply rooted by Jewish faith and meaning, even if we don’t practice in the traditional Orthodox way. At the heart of this new project is a simple desire: to read the Bible week by week and reflect on the wisdom I find. I’m deeply curious about how ancient wisdom can shape the messy, beautiful work of raising a family and building a home.

My children — currently six, five, three, and one — are the joy of my life, and my hope is to help them grow into kind, conscientious adults. I wholeheartedly believe the best way to do this is by drawing wisdom from the Bible. Not just for my children, but for myself as well.

Upon reflecting on my own journey with scripture, it struck me: I’ve never actually read the Bible cover to cover. Even if I had, I wouldn’t know how to make sense of it in the context of my daily life as a wife and mother. 

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Episode 191: The Summer 2025 Reading Roundup: Hits and Misses

Back in May, I outlined my summer reading list: 10 fiction books for myself and 4 chapter books to read with my kids.

Summer, for me, is all about light, breezy reads—the rom-coms, the murder mysteries, the “turn your brain off” novels. Fall and winter are when I dig into heavier nonfiction, but summer? Loosey-goosey, popcorn reading.

So—here’s how it went. Some hits, some duds, and a few surprises.

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Episode 190: Digital Reset: Apps, Emails, Photos, and Calendars Made Simple

I’m so excited about today’s digital reset because it ties directly into my goal of using my phone less. Think of this as a quick, practical guide — 10 minutes at a time — to clean up the digital clutter that drains your focus.

I feel like so much of our world is digital now, and it’s easy to let things pile up because it’s not physical clutter. Who cares if your camera roll has 14,000 photos or your inbox 10,000 emails? You can ignore it—until you realize it’s quietly taking up mental bandwidth.

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Cutting My Phone Pickups in Half: A Millennial Mom’s Screen-Free Journey

I grew up in a world where phones sat on the kitchen wall, not in our pockets. Where we printed MapQuest directions, checked email once a day (if that), and boredom wasn’t something to be escaped with a quick scroll. Now, as a millennial mom raising four kids in the smartphone era, I’m reckoning with how radically different their childhood memories will be from mine—and how much my own attention has been stolen by the little screen I carry everywhere. This is the story of how I realized just how often I was reaching for my phone, and the system I’ve started using to reclaim my focus, my faith, and my life.

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