The East family partnered up with Home Chef
Tell me what your summer has been looking like.
What are you and the kids up to these days?
Shawn Johnson East:It’s been a really big summer.
We just got back from a big trip to Greece, where we took our kids.
We flew into Tel Aviv, Israel.
We boarded a boat and we did a Greek Islands cruise.
The kids way exceeded expectations and had so much fun and were awesome.
We also got to take them to Disney World for the first time, which was amazing.
We have big family plans for the 4th of July, spending time on a lake.
Andrew East:Currently in Chicago for Home Chef’s 10th birthday.
It’s been good so far.
How did they enjoy Disney?
Shawn:They loved it.
Andrew:So fun.
Shawn:We did one day, which is enough for a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old.
But we did the park hopper passes.
We got to see a bunch of stuff.
We got to meet all the princesses.
Andrew:All of them.
Shawn:[We] got to eat all of the sugar that they sell.
The kids crashed around 5:00, which was great.
Andrew:It was a full day.
We crashed around 2 p.m.
I haven’t been there in a long time, but it looks exhausting to me.
Andrew:I was dragging my feet.
I was like, “Dang, are we really going to do this?
The kids feel a little young.”
But watching our daughter’s face as she met Elsa was well worth all the effort.
Shawn:Simplifying as many aspects as possible.
This is why we started [with] Home Chef the convenience and ease of it.
[We’re] simplifying different aspects.
It makes it easy and approachable in the sense you’re not spending hours and hours doing it.
You know it’s going to be delicious too, so it’s wonderful.
Andrew:And it takes about 10 times longer.
Shawn:They’re always wanting to help stir with the stovetop.
Our son wants nothing more than to stir on the hot stovetop.
I’m like, “Dude, this is a recipe for disaster.”
But we attempt to let them as much as possible.
Andrew:Shawn and I are both efficient.
Hey, let’s
Shawn:Get it done.
Andrew: put our heads down, knock this out, on to the next thing.
We tried to shift from that mindset to changing our expectations and inviting the kids in.
Cooking already stresses me out enough, so I can’t imagine adding kids to that.
Andrew:Oh, man.
For some reason, our son always goes for the sharpest knife.
What does a go-to dinner look like for you right now?
What are you cooking up?
Shawn:Whatever Home Chef bag is in our … We literally have a drawer.
It’s the bottom drawer of our refrigerator.
A Home Chef box arrives; we open it up and dump the packages in there.
Each night, it’s shopping through what sounds good, but it’s one of those.
My favorite is your salmon bowl … Shawn:I haven’t made that in a long time.
We should have that.
Andrew:We had it last week.
Shawn:I don’t know.
Andrew:You’re not going to say the recipe?
The tomato relish is the best.
You put tomato relish on it?
Is that the deal?
Shawn:Yes, I got it from Home Chef.
But like us, kids get tired of stuff, which can make them pickier.
On their plate, they have three or four different things.
We don’t repeat it a lot.
We take a stab at always be changing.
If they don’t like it, they don’t ever have to eat it.
That’s a rule in our household, but they always try it, which is great.
Andrew:There is something to having your kid get used to seeing different things on the plate.
Introduce something else besides the mac and cheese.
Andrew:Is that right?
That’s a lot.
Shawn:It’s a lot a lot of rejection as a parent.
A lot of trial and error for sure.
You both have been traveling a lot lately, you mentioned.
Andrew:Shawn’s a boss when it comes to that.
She’s so good at preparing and packing.
We did Greece without having too many issues.
She brought the big sound machine.
Shawn:Pack and plays.
A lot of your success comes with packing.
We always pack a suitcase of toys, which keeps our kids entertained.
We always pack a ton of snacks or load up on snacks in the airports.
She always has a plan A through G of snack options.
Well, here’s the next thing."
She’s great about that.
Andrew:The biggest difference or similarity?
We could do both.
It’s the same thing for podcasting.
We put out a YouTube video a week, and that takes a certain amount of discipline.
You have to be disciplined to show up to the interview when it’s scheduled.
It’s like, keep trying.
I’ve been listening to his [podcast].
Andrew:It’s so good.
It might take us five years you never know but we’re going to keep trying.
There is a lot of overlap certainly a lot of differences as well, though.
Shawn:The difference is it’s a completely different career.
The biggest difference for us is we are our own coaches now, which is hard.
That’s a hard transition because you’re having to do it all on your own now.
But it’s fun.
It’s a big leap.
Shawn:I was always taught by my coach to never let your mind go down that route.
Could I have done things differently?
That anxiety did damage to my performance.
Shawn:See, you learned that because of it.
Yeah, that’s good.
Shawn:Maybe you wouldn’t have learned that.
Shawn:How should I answer that?
If you’re not comfortable answering, you don’t have to.
Shawn:You’re going to laugh.
I was doing a question and answer on Instagram, and people ask all the time about Olympic medals.
“Where do you keep them?
What do you do?”
Andrew:It came out this time, buried them in her backyard.
Don’t check by the play set.
My medals are in a safety deposit box somewhere in a bank.
But people’s responses were absolute …
I thought it was the most insane thing that I could possibly …
In my mind, I was like, “What’s the most ridiculous thing I could say?”
I wish you could have seen people’s responses.
They were like, “Those mean more to the world than you would ever imagine.
How dare you do something?”
People were so livid.
I was like, “We got to run with this.”
Someone days later was saying, “Did you actually do it?”
I was like, “Yeah.”
Buried them in the backyard."
Andrew:What are you supposed to do with them?
Supposed to look at them all the time or put them on your wall?
However, for me, the experience outweighs any material item I ever could have been given.
If I were to lose that medal, would it probably be a bummer?
But it’ll never replace that experience for me.
So it was a dumb thought that I ran with.
Andrew:Would you ever put them up for auction?
I don’t care.
Nobody can ever take that experience from me.
Andrew:But they can take the medals.
Shawn:Why not?
I’ll give them to my kids someday.
Shawn:It was comical how many people so blindly believed we buried them in the backyard.
And I’m like, “No.”
That’s a fine line.
That’s an interesting point.
Shawn:Maybe they should be in a museum.
Shawn:Protect your love for your sport more than anything else.
you’ve got the option to work through any adversity if you love what you do.
[If] you don’t love it, it won’t work out.
Whatever it’s crucial that you do to protect that passion, do it.
The opportunity for a long snapper to make it an NFL, the turnover is pretty low.
That’s great advice.
What else do you have going on?
Are there any upcoming projects you would like to speak on or anything else exciting?
Shawn:We’ll be going to the ESPYs this year, which is fun.
We’re enjoying building FamilyMade, enjoying Home Chef.
Andrew:We do our own podcast, “Couple Things,” which has been fun.
That’s what’s keeping us busy.
you’ve got the option to check out Home Chef’s recipes on theirwebsite.
Keep up with Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East on theirYouTube channel.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
