I was hit by a semi in a civic about nine years ago.
So she did.
I'm sorry, she did send like the beginning stuff,
but I just wanted to get to the question.
And walked away from it.
Are you?
Sorry, this is not funny.
This is like a that's like a horrific thing to happen.
OK.
You just like skipped her pleasantries.
I'm trying to do it.
I'm sorry.
OK, and she walked away from it.
So she has an unrealistic image of Honda being super safe.
That's a thing.
People who get in accidents in that car.
That's a thing I won't touch, though,
because I who am I to say?
If you feel like the car saved your life, I agree with you.
Yeah, totally. Get the car again.
I agree.
OK, so she has an image of Honda being super safe
because of the incident.
I hate not being the biggest thing on the road.
My husband and I are getting ready to move out of a 2016 Ford edge.
Our other car is a 24 F 150.
I used to have a suburban and loved it.
However, we're not in a position to spend 70 K on a vehicle,
and I prefer not to buy with high mileage.
We have two kids in car seats, a dog and my husband is six seven.
So space is huge for us.
We travel three hours each way one to two times a month
and do a quarterly five to eight hour
trip each way to see family.
We're considering a full size vehicles and the Honda pilot.
I want the third road for our dog,
but I just don't know if I'm going to have the same feeling
in the pilot as I do that that I do in the edge of it being too small.
If we go full size, I feel like we need the expedition max,
Yukon XL or the suburban versus the shorter versions of the vehicle.
So we have room for our bags of the third row up.
Objectively, am I crazy for feeling like we need a second large vehicle?
And all of these options,
what would you recommend the most bang for our buck on how much we travel?
Thanks so much for your help.
So the other thing is that they have the 24 F 150
and they they have two kids, but they do have a dog.
So I think they're trying to decide like what to do.
I do think it's kind of I do think it's kind of
a true she's like Honda pilot or long wheelbase car.
Well, I don't think she was a long wheelbase car.
I don't think they have that.
I don't think she wants to spend the money.
Like I know what she said,
but like I just don't think she wants to spend the money or do with the mileage.
So I think you will be happier in in in something in the midsize category.
And I don't think I agree with you.
I don't think you need a full size.
I mean, you're going from a four edge now, like it's which is such a good car.
I love that car.
I don't hate the pilot.
How old are her kids?
She didn't she just said we have two kids in car seats, car seats.
I'm a little worried about the leg room for the tall husband
with car seats behind him, if I'm being honest.
Hmm.
I don't wonder if like the traverse or the Alice would be better options,
which are very similar in size to the pilot.
They're both top safety picks from the IHS as well.
All three of them are.
But I don't hate the pilot.
And we also don't know if the kids are forward facing though.
That's true.
We also don't know like I think she's asking pilot or full size.
So I think she has like maybe other reasons.
I don't want to try to talk her out of a Honda because I think it's good.
I think it'll work.
I don't think you need a full size.
So I'm going to lock in with the pilot.
Okay.
I think you should do what we did with Merrick and you should go see the pilot
and then you should go see a short wheelbase full size.
Totally.
But it's still the money thing.
But because you yeah, because it's just interesting because she said
we're not in a position to spend 70 K on a vehicle.
But then she says if we go full size, I feel like we need the expedition max.
Why do you need the expedition max?
Like that's a crazy that you don't need the expedition max.
I just, I urge you because if you, she said because we want the more room with the trunks.
But like the trunk space is going to be better in the regular expedition
than it is in the Honda pilot.
Yeah.
So I would just urge you to actually go take a look at them both.
I think that's good advice.
Okay.
Next question.
I also think like just like on the topic of trunk space, like, and I mean, I mean this
with such love for you guys.
I think some of us are a little dramatic with the amount of trunk space we need.
And I'm going to be totally honest with you.
Some of us are not.
But again, like let's not buy.
I don't think you should buy an extended wheelbase for the trunk space for the road trips.
I think you should get a cargo cover or cargo topper.
I think you should be more mindful about how you're packing.
I just feel like if unless you need the extended wheelbase or the bigger trunk for your daily life,
I think there's other workarounds that you can use.
It's the max.
I can't express to you if you've never driven the difference between the expedition,
the expedition max or the Tahoe versus the suburban.
The extended wheelbases drive so much different.
They're so much more expensive and they're so much harder to park.
They feel so much bigger.
It's such a difference.
Sometimes they don't fit in your garage.
Sometimes they don't fit in the garage.
So it's just such an extra step if you're not needing the trunk for your daily life.
And again, like the expedition trunk is okay as is.
It's like to your point.
It's the same size as anything in the midsize category.
Sometimes I just think people are kind of oversteering the trunk space they need.
I'm not going to debate you.
I'm not going to debate the hockey or the lacrosse moms because yeah,
I'm starting to probably do need that trunk space.
But like stack tall, you know what I mean?
Let's stack it tall.
You're fine.
You're probably fine.
And I mean, I do think to your point, because they do sound like they travel a lot.
So like they are kind of a road trip family.
But if you are a road trip family, I could see the argument made that maybe you want the full
size, but I could also see the argument made that actually investing in a good cargo topper,
you're the perfect person to invest in it.
Because if you're just doing it occasionally, then it might be like, okay,
well, then we got to buy it and we got to store it and all the things.
But if you're using it all the time, it's probably a good thing to invest in.
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Okay.
Next question.
I'll read the repositories first.
Hi, first and foremost, I love the pot and all your content.
My sisters and I are best friends and love seeing other families with close bonds like mine.
A little bit about me.
Are we ready to learn now?
Sorry.
I'm like, I can feel the giggles coming on like, you know, when you just like
have to laugh at everything, like you're in church and like you're not supposed to laugh,
but you can't, I'm feeling that coming on.
So I'm sorry if I start acting inappropriate.
A little about me.
I am a new single mom with two little girls.
My oldest is three and my youngest is two-ish.
They are in, they are both in gray coat slim fits.
I just had to give my ex-husband our 23 Honda Pilot and I got the 2014 Mazda CX-5.
Well, I love the CX-5 when I was in college.
I now hate it with the girls.
I need to get something bigger, but I'm very overwhelmed on where to start.
Below, I've listed a few things to help you steer me in the right direction.
I trust you explicitly.
I'm open to, I'm open to leasing since my whole life is up in the air right now,
but I drive about 25,000 miles a year.
I work in Atlanta.
Absolutely not.
You're not leasing that.
Okay.
We're not leasing.
Okay.
So she lives 20 miles from her office and goes in two to three times a week.
I am open to a hybrid, but nothing fully electric.
I need a third road.
I love my Honda Pilot and could get the same thing, but kind of want,
but kind of think I want something different.
I was looking at the Ford Expedition, but don't know if I need that much car.
I don't like super fancy tax.
I'm fully happy with just Apple CarPlay.
If buying my budget would be $40,000.
Any assistant is helpful.
I am having a ton of decisions to fatigue these days.
Um, okay.
She shouldn't lease because if you drive more than 15,000 miles a year,
like leasing just doesn't make sense for you.
Like you drive very high mileage.
So because you're a high, she's a 25 a year, right?
Yeah.
That's a lot of miles.
That's a lot of miles.
Yeah.
So because of that and because of the $40,000 budget and because the need for a third row,
I'm kind of left with like, okay, we need something that is good because $40,000,
unfortunately just like doesn't get you as far as it used to get you.
So we're going to have to go, we're probably going to have to find a car with mileage to
get the third row, but it also needs to be a car that can handle a lot of mileage because
you're going to put them on so quickly.
So I'm going to kind of land on a car that you're probably not expecting.
And it's going to be smaller than the pilot, but it's bigger than the CX-5.
And I think that's a W that you should just take at the moment.
And I think you should go buy a Toyota Highlander.
Oh, that was so random.
Not the Grand Highlander.
It's because that's going to be out of budget, but just the Toyota Highlander,
filing for $40,000, it'll go for forever.
It'll be reliable for you.
It'll hold its value.
It has, it's not like the most functional third row in trunk space.
Like you just have the two kids.
So, and I don't, I'm assuming you're not going to have any more anytime soon.
So I'm locking in with that.
And that's honestly the perfect car for you.
Okay.
All right.
Is there like a certain year, like wouldn't go this far would kind of stay within this
year range?
Just kind of see what you can get.
I would honestly prioritize low mileage.
Okay.
So like I wouldn't be scared of going back further to get lower mileage because of how
high mileage of a driver you are.
Okay.
We have one more, Cal.
Hi ladies.
Love the podcast and I'm looking for some advice as we embark on the two under two journey
next month and we have to get a new car in July.
Right now we have a Jeep Grand Cherokee L with captain's chairs and we like the size of it.
However, my dream is to eventually go bigger.
I absolutely require a bench in this next car.
I'm an open to pretty much anything beyond that.
I've, I've been a leaser my whole life, but financially would like to buy.
So we have some trade in value down the road if necessary.
I think our options are, I think our options are down to buying a new large mid size
tester of the pilot and that list so far both fine.
I still want to test drive the Traverse as well or buy a used Tahoe expedition or Yukon.
We will, God willing, have one to two more kids over the next, over the course of the
next two to five years and we'd possibly be in a rear-facing, rear-facing, forward-facing
situation by 2028.
What car slash situation do you think will be best hold its resale value and fingers cross
stay 50K and under?
Well, if you had to do the bench, you absolutely don't need to waste your time driving a Traverse.
Okay.
Great information.
Traverse is not very three across friendly.
A bunch of seats are almost impossible to find.
To do three across in the mid-test category, it's Atlas by a mile and then behind that is
the pilot.
The Atlas is more versatile.
The Atlas is wider.
So like the pilot works and the pilot has the fundamental middle seat and everyone talks
about it, but the Atlas has a bigger bench.
Like if you're doing three boosters, you're in an Atlas and it's still tight, but you're
in an Atlas.
You're not doing three boosters in the pilot.
So if you're going to have three, if you want to keep this thing for a long time,
I don't really get what you're saying about trade in value.
I think that's like not, doesn't really make any sense to me.
It sounds like this might be the first car that she's buying.
And so she's excited to have a trade in.
So she's just like, that's very forefront of her mind.
Okay.
But she said she wants to keep it for a long time.
I don't think she said that she'll keep it forever, but she talked two to five years.
They want to have more kids.
So I'm getting the vibe this is like a long-term car.
Under 40.
Under 50.
Under 50.
Thank you.
I think the problem with, well, one, like 100%, like the only, to me, like the bench is,
it's the expedition.
Like that's the, that's the full-size expedition.
That's the full-size bench option.
It's just going to be kind of a unicorn to find.
Like to find under 50, and then not impossible, but like it's just, I wouldn't,
I don't want to put you on a wild goose chase.
But if you can find under 50 expedition with a bench or a Tahoe, I mean a Tahoe will work.
It is good for three across.
I think definitely I would not go extended wheelbase.
I don't think you need that.
How many kids do they have now?
They're about to have two under two.
Well, it's kind of like, and then these are really hard consoles to do because like,
I feel like my, like three kids versus four kids, like it kind of has different answers.
You know what I mean?
Well, and it kind of sounds to me like, she said like within the next two to five years,
they might have three, and then, you know, who knows when they're going to have four.
So it's kind of as like, if you're getting a car right now, because you have to, for whatever
reason, get the Atlas and then in five years, I agree with you.
You can revisit where you're at.
I agree with you.
Let's lock in with that.
Okay.
Locked.
Locked.
That was so fun.
Such different answers.
So what did we have?
We had the Highlander, Trivert, Highlander, Atlas and.
Pilot.
Pilot.
All different.
That's so fun.
And that's why there's no best family car, because everyone is so different.
If there was, I'd be out of work.
Classic.
Okay, guys.
Well, I believe we just have to wrap this up with little detail and then we're done.
Yeah, sure.
Well, now it's time for Ditch The Drive-Thru.
We give you an easy dinner recipe to mix it up to get you out of your.
Dinner rep.
So I have a new hyper fixation meal that I've been dying to share on the podcast.
Oh yeah, shoot, guys.
She will not.
And I'm so excited to hear about it again.
That is the hard part about doing a podcast, isn't what I talk to every day.
It's like, we literally do just hear the same stories over and over and over again.
But we just have to have the same conversations.
And sometimes when you hear it the first time, you have the best reaction.
But I don't think I gave you a great, I did give you a good reaction the first time.
I'll try and recreate it.
Well, on Instagram also gave me a good reaction.
So I think like everyone's been waiting for me to dive into this hyper fixation meal more.
Because I don't know if I've mentioned, but I'm on a sugar-free journey.
And it's been a really hard week for that journey because I'm craving,
my cravings are like through the roof.
And I'm probably just not, I'm having that sensation when like I'm having trouble getting
full no matter how much I'm eating.
You know, same.
Yeah, but like I'm not pregnant.
So that's just like not the most fun.
Anyway though, so I wanted to do like an Asian inspired salad.
So I've really been into air frying chicken.
Like I cannot believe I haven't just been doing this for years.
I haven't been, I like don't think I've ever air fried like raw chicken.
Elizabeth, I can't believe I've been wasting my time over a hot stove to make chicken.
Really?
It's disgusting that I've been wasting my time.
So what I do is I chop up a breast into like cubes.
And then I put it in my air fryer.
I like an air fryer liner because I'm just like looking for easy cleanup.
And I spray it with some avocado oil and I add paprika and garlic salt.
Now, I don't actually know what paprika tastes like, but it's good for the color.
Oh, no, paprika has a good taste.
Sure.
But I don't want to taste like.
Even if it didn't, like it adds the color that you're looking for.
So it's not just like white white because that's not as appetizing.
No.
So like don't skimp on the paprika.
So I do paprika and garlic salt and I put in the air fryer 385 for 10 minutes.
It comes like it's perfectly cooked every time.
And then you just have these chicken bites that could literally go in and on anything.
I'm like, I'm hearing you and I know you did it and you live to tell the tale
because you're here right now.
But like cooking raw chicken in my air fryer, I don't know if that's something I can do.
But people are doing this.
People are cooking fish in their air fryer.
And you know what?
I can cook a salmon in my air fryer, but like for some chicken.
People are weird about chicken.
Myself included, myself included.
It's changed my whole trajectory.
Like now when I use my chicken from the store, I'd be like,
Oh, what am I going to turn this into?
It's like, I'm going to turn into chicken bites because they're delicious.
The kids just dip them in ketchup.
So I made my chicken bites and I'm like, I want to do a salad.
And I had bought at the store like coleslaw mix, which is basically just cabbage.
It's like just plain coleslaw mix.
But I like the crunch of the coleslaw mix and it's very low calorie, very high volume.
So like it's good for someone who's like trying to, I'm trying to eat a lot
and it's not like too high in calorie.
So do a cup and a half of the coleslaw mix.
I add my air fried chicken.
Something I really enjoyed on my sugar free journey has been herbs because they're like
sugar free, but they pack so much flavor.
They're also again, so low calorie.
So then I chop up cilantro, like a ton of cilantro, throw it in my coleslaw mix,
squeeze a lime on top.
So good.
Cut up a cucumber.
Then after my chicken was cooking, I went back to my air fryer
and we had some leftover cooked rice in our fridge.
I just put a thin layer of that cooked rice, slammed it down.
I mean, things were touching.
So it was a layer, sprayed it with avocado oil.
Again, added the paprika for color, put it in the air fryer
until I made it had crispy rice.
You use air fryer liners, which I think is an important note because...
No, I can't say that enough.
This is made possible by air fryer liners.
Okay.
I don't know if you already said that.
And like, I did say that.
Oh, sorry.
But that has been such a difference.
So then I pull out the crispy rice, added it to my salad for a little crunch,
for a little carb, just like yummy.
Then Aldi was selling this, first of all, I say Aldi's and I'm getting roasted for it.
I've noticed you've started to correct yourself and you've been saying Aldi.
Everyone around us says Aldi's.
It's Aldi's.
It's Aldi.
Aldi's is a better name.
We're going to Aldi's.
We're going to Aldi's.
No, it doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't end right Aldi.
Ends in a vowel.
Fine.
You know me about ending in a vowel.
I'm not about it.
I'm going to go back to Aldi's because that's what we call it.
And I think our Cumin Western twang is part of our likability.
Sure.
So then anyway, at Aldi's, they had this ginger dressing that kind of tastes like the one that
you get, like when, you know, when you go to like a, like a hibachi.
Sure.
Not as good, but it has no sugar.
So I added that to the top and then I added just a little bit of soy sauce too.
And then I added a scoop of natural peanut butter because I was trying to like emulate
like a peanut sauce.
Mix it all together.
Best salad ever.
You added a lot.
I did add a lot.
Hopefully you guys are keeping that.
But like best salad ever.
Now last night, yesterday I had it without the crispy rice and it was still great.
Okay.
So that, you know, that saves you 10 minutes in the air fryer if you need to get on the table quicker.
But yeah, it was unbelievable.
No notes.
Sounds really good.
Sounds like something that like I want you to make me.
Like I don't really want to go through the hullabaloo of making it.
Totally.
But like I would love to have it presented in front of me.
I know.
I would too, but I will do that for you.
Thank you.
And then like for the kids, like then they just had chicken bites, cucumbers and rice.
Yeah.
Like I love when I can just deconstruct a meal.
Yeah, that's great.
Make something fab for me and Tyler, me and Tyler like, you know, kind of appreciates it.
And then the kids can just have a deconstructed version.
Sounds great.
It sounds, it sounds absolutely delicious.
Dinner tonight.
I'm so impressed you put all of those things together.
Thank you.
I was too.
Dinner tonight, all your girls got is two tubes of ground beef that I don't exactly know what to do with yet.
You know what I love to do with ground beef?
Tell me.
Big bang.
Maybe you'll have to go get the extra ingredients, but a crunch wrap.
You're always talking about crunch wraps.
I know.
Well, I make them a lot because it's like it is my version.
Hey, are you saying you literally buy a tostada and put it in a quesadilla and fold it up?
Here's how I make it because you're really simplifying the art.
I take my make my ground beef.
It's like it's as easy as making tacos, but packs a much bigger punch.
My husband is always so impressed with me, which is always a good feeling.
And it is the only fast food that I can genuinely remake at home flawlessly.
You're going to make your ground beef.
You're going to get a like extra large burrito sized tortilla.
You're going to lay the first layer is going to have queso.
So put queso on your tortilla, just like in a little circle.
Then you're going to top with ground beef.
Then you're going to take your tostada and you're going to put it on top.
Sour cream, lettuce, tomato, whatever you want.
Fold up the sides, throw them on the on a skillet to get toasted up.
Delicious.
Insane.
10 out of 10.
Everyone loves it.
It does sound good.
I asked him, I just like, I might, I just some kind of craving Taco Bell.
No, I know, but like you could just make this.
It is, and I get the jarred Taco Bell hot sauce too.
So I think that helps me like recreate the perfect Taco Bell.
It is insane.
Yeah, I'm starving now.
Thanks for that.
Yeah, you're welcome.
And if you have the toast, like if you always have those tortillas,
which like I always have tortillas, now I just have the large ones.
And the tostadas stay fine for like ever.
They're just like having chips.
You could even do it with a chip with chips.
No, I bought tostadas many moons ago, probably a fortnight ago.
And then we were out of tortilla chips one day.
So then I just had to bring in the tostada.
Yeah, and that too.
Yeah, you can use a tostada.
I've used tostada as chips before.
But now I'm out of tostadas.
So I never use them for the for their tostada destiny.
That's why you just like need to have crunch reps on the menu.
Have you ever made them before?
No.
Kelly, it'll change your life.
Just trust me.
I do need to double you in the kitchen.
And I kind of feel bad because like my husband,
because my husband didn't enjoy the salad.
And like he kind of has been scrounging lately, you know.
Maddie has told me it's my favorite thing that I make.
OK, maybe I'll give it a go.
Just like I need to get a lot of specialty ingredients before 5 p.m.
Yeah, you do.
You probably need to get going then.
Yeah.
So anyways, that's going to be our episode.
Thank you so much for listening to the Caramel Podcast.
We hope you have a fab dabbulous weekend.
And we will be back on Wednesday with much to recap.
I should have my dollhouse in by then.
And what else do you need?
You will have dinner with the priests.
I will have had dinner with the priests.
I will have had Indiana Jones Butter St. John for over a week.
We're so interesting.
We're so interesting.
Three under three.
Three under three.
I do it all.
All right.
I love saying.
I don't know why it's like such a like a badge of honor.
Four and five years.
Like when I can't say that.
I mean, well, I guess I can always say that because I did do that.
But I love saying like four, six and under right now.
Yeah.
At what point is it just like, OK, so you have four kids?
Well, I don't even think four, seven and under.
So I have a month left of that.
Four, seven and under doesn't have the same punch to it.
No.
Yeah.
It's a little bit.
A bit of a mouthful.
It doesn't really.
So I think this is my last year.
It doesn't mean much.
This is my last year.
Yeah.
Summer.
All right.
Well, thanks so much for listening to the carpool podcast.
We'll talk to you next time.
See you.
Thank you for listening to the carpool podcast with Kelly and Liz.
Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode.
And if you enjoyed riding with us, tell everybody, you know,
there's room in the car for everyone.
About this episode
Kelly and Liz chat about life with kids and a new puppy, sharing parenting insights and humorous anecdotes. They dive into spring fashion struggles, wedding hair regrets, and nostalgic trends making a comeback. Industry news highlights a custom Ford Explorer gifted to Pope Leo, sparking discussion about vehicle choices. Listener questions focus on family SUV recommendations, balancing space, budget, and mileage. The episode wraps with fun dinner ideas, including an easy air fryer chicken salad and a homemade crunch wrap recipe, blending practical advice with lighthearted conversation.
Does this week feel long to anyone else or is it just the pregnant mom with a new puppy? Lizz and her family are adjusting to the newest bundle of joy and the timing couldn't be better with the weather warming up. However, both Kelly and Lizz are not leg ready for summer. But really, who is?
Kelly has a confession about her wedding, she really would love a hair redo. Everything else was perfect, but the part has not stood the test of time. It's more proof that millennials had it right all along when it comes to fashion. Even Coachella looks are all millennial-coded.
The ladies have a big evening ahead as Kelly is cashing in her big dinner auction spend for an evening topped off with dinner cooked by the priests. It's going to be a big night with games, wine and NO kids! They're going to have some adult fun like their parents did at their ages. But not as much fun as they've recently discovered from their mom.
Kicking off Industry News with a reminder that tickets for the Car Mom Auto Show are on sale NOW! Click here to get yours. Elsewhere in the industry, Ford has brought back the Explorer Hybrid for one very important person: the Pope. Could this be the collab of the year? Speaking of cars, three moms need some car advice in the advice segment and Kelly is lending her expertise.
Finally in Ditch the Drive-Thru, Kelly is all about cooking chicken in her air fryer. Then Lizz reveals Matty's favorite meal she makes.