The Playbook #1- What to eat, watch, read, clean, and do this week!
I've done the planning so you don't have to!
To jump straight to this week’s Playbook simply scroll down.
So, I was talking with a friend the other day, making suggestions for things for her to watch, and read, and a new product she should absolutely try (because I am nothing if not a recommender), and I joked that I was going to start a YouTube show where I just made decisions for tired, busy moms. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “Where do I sign up?!”
Ding, ding, ding! Folks, we have a winner!
Thus this new little venture has been born. Because the honest truth is that so many of us are tired and overwhelmed. We want to take care of ourselves and our families, and still enjoy things like shows and podcasts and self-care, but there are so many options and so many people asking us questions and we just want an ever-loving break!
Enter- The Playbook. A weekly YouTube show (find my channel by searching “MacKenzie Koppa”) and newsletter (ahem- this one right here that you’re reading) that will give you suggestions for all the things you might have to decide in a week. I’ll make the decisions and do the figuring out so all you have to do is follow the plan.
What this is:
A general game-plan for you to keep on top of things in your life.
A way to find new content that you might love but don’t have the time to go looking for.
A way to eliminate some of the decision fatigue from your life.
This is not:
A to-do list! Rather, this is the place you can come to when you just don’t have the energy to make a decision or find things on your own. You don’t have to watch and read and clean everything on this list! In fact, please don’t! Take what works for you and leave the rest behind.
A competition. There is no reward for doing everything on this list!
This Week’s Playbook
Start With the Plan
Take 10-15 minutes (I recommend on Friday, aka, today) to look back over this past week and look forward to the week ahead. Grab a notebook, planner, Google doc, or heck, even the Notes app, and quickly record the following-
What worked and what didn’t work this past week?
Are there any moments you want to remember?
What is a quick brain dump of things that need to happen next week?
Take a good glance at your calendar to familiarize yourself with the upcoming week (I like to copy events and appointments from Google Calendar into my paper planner to really solidify them in my brain, but you do you.)
All the Eating
(Find a complete menu with recipes and shopping list by becoming my friend on Plan to Eat- go to “Plan",” Click “Menus” on right side, scroll down to “Friend Menus” and find my name, look for the menu titled “May 2025-Week 1”)
Breakfast- Protein coffee and a loaded avocado
Lunch for You (prep on the weekend, eat all week- because we like to keep things simple)- Turkey & Veggie Saute
Dinner
This week you are going to cook up a SERIOUS amount of chicken in the instant pot on Monday and then eat it for days in various forms-
Monday- Tacos
Tuesday- Quesadillas
Wednesday- Tortilla soup
Thursday- Honey Lime Enchiladas
Friday- Loaded Nachos and Leftover soup and Enchiladas
Just Clean It!
Wouldn’t it be glorious if we all had housekeepers (or Rosie from the Jetsons) to come in every week and do all that deep cleaning that inevitably accumulates around us? For most of us, though, that’s just not reality. However, we also don’t have the time to keep up on all the nitty gritty all the time. So in this section of The Playbook I will make a suggestion for the thing we can all collectively clean or organize that week. The things that we have perhaps let go a little (or a lot).
(And if your house is spotless and you have no need for this section of the newsletter, more power to ya! For the rest of you, welcome- you are my people.)
The Kitchen Sink
I’m talkin’ deep clean that sucker! Break out the stainless steel scrubber (or whatever works for your sink) and get after it. Go around the base of the faucet and if you have a backsplash behind your sink. Clean around the hand soap dispenser and any other items you might keep around your sink. Run some cleaner through your disposal (I like this one). Maybe even consider grabbing a new fresh, new dish scrubber or two.
Take it up a notch
Now, if you really want to knock it out of the park, try to make sure that the sink is empty every night before you go to bed if that isn’t a practice you’ve been in recently.
All the Content
Finally, the fun part! Here is where you will find my favorite recommendations to you for the week.
Podcast- The Telepathy Tapes
Show- The Residence
YouTube- Kara and Nate
Book- The When in Rome Series by Sarah Adams
So, what do you think? Was this helpful? I’d love to know your thoughts and hear any suggestions for things I might be able to add to the list. I will also be exploring making an income as a busy freelancing mom on my channel, so let me know if you have any suggestions or questions in that area as well!
You’ve got this!
MacKenzie